Hinds and Super Sabres

I seem to still be in my "let's paint loads of aircraft" phase, so my latest efforts have been geared toward that end. I've finished my first Polish aircraft, two Mi-24 Hind D's:

And here is my rendition of the Poles, as well as an East German one that I did, as I was already painting Hinds anyway:

I've also finished off two of Marcin's none too impressive F-100's for my Danes:

I didn't make mine nearly as "distressed" looking as the real ones were by 1981:

The usual apologies for the photo quality. One day I'll decide to spend money on a camera instead of the equivalent amount on minis. 

As I said in my last post on the subject of Danish F-100's (10/21/2014), they'll look ok on the tabletop, but I'm not very happy with the sculpt or the mess that was the aft end of the mini. 

All Denmark's aircraft had a national flag painted on the horizontal stabilizer ("tail"), but that's far too tiny for me to attempt to freehand it. I looked at a lot of Danish F-100's on Google and they all had the wing roundels a surprisingly long distance inboard on the wing, i.e. a long way away from the wing tip, so I've duplicated it on the models. It looks a bit strange to me, but it is correct.

More from me next time!

The Royal Danish Air Force in 1981

To continue on with the aircraft theme that I seem to be in lately, I thought I'd look at what minis I'll need in order to represent the ground attack aircraft of the Royal Danish Airforce (Kongelige Danske Flyvevåben) for my 1981 LANDJUT campaign. 

For interceptors, the Danes used the F-104G Starfighter, 

which they had the good sense NOT to press into service as a ground attack aircraft, thus avoiding the morbid "lawn dart" and "tent peg" jokes the West Germans had to suffer through. Even so, the Danish F-104 loss rate was 23.5% (12 out of 51). Oddly, the Norwegians, who also used them only in the interceptor role, lost only 6% and that in a country known for harsh weather! Oh! I just remembered another German joke - "What's the definition of an optimist? A Starfighter pilot who quits smoking." Ahem...well...moving right along....

The Danes relied on two aircraft types for their ground strike capability. The older of the two was the American-built F-100 Super Sabre, both the single seat D model:

And the two seater F model:

The Danes had been using the Hun since 1959 and it wouldn't finally be retired until 1982. Despite it's age, it could still pack a wallop with a 7000lb (approx. 3200kg) payload, although how effective it would've been over a modern battlefield against an enemy well supplied with up-to-date, shoulder-fired SAM's is debatable. 

The second strike aircraft used by Denmark was the Saab F-35 Draken; the single seat strike version:

Some of which were modified with chin cameras for an added reconnaissance role, the RF-35:

As well as some twin seat TF-35 trainers, normally unarmed, but which could easily be adapted for reconnaissance and strike roles:

Prior to the RF-35 reconnaissance Drakens, the RDAF used RF-84F Thunderflashes:

However, they were all retired in 1971 when the Drakens took over. Though they were kept in reserve for a few years, they were gone by 1981. I quite like this aircraft for some reason, so I may get just one, reasoning that a few might still have been in mothballs and pressed into service for the war emergency. Sounds plausible to me. The version available from O8 is the blunt-nosed fighter version, the Thunderstreak, like this West German one:

So I'd have to round the nose off with green putty. We'll see if I decide to get one. 

And lastly, in 1980, both the F-100's and F-104's began to be retired and replaced by the new F-16A's that Denmark started buying from the US:

These served as interceptors, ground strike aircraft, and in the reconnaissance role. In time, even the Drakens would be retired in their favor.

As you can see from the above photos, throughout the 1970's and up through 1983, all RDAF combat aircraft, save only the new F-16's in their three-tone grey scheme, were in overall gloss (except for the old Huns) olive drab green, for which, Humbrol 155 is an exact FS match. 

And here are my first Danish fixed wing aircraft; two Drakens:

Danish markings courtesy of  Dom's Decals. As usual, because the minis are suspended on a wire, it's difficult to get decent shots of the little devils.

Two F-100 D's should arrive in the mail on Monday and I have a pack of F-16's as part of the next order I'll be placing, so stand by for more!

Danish MANPADS and East German MT-LB's

I've been trying to finish off some odds and ends, so a bit of a mixed bag for this post. 

First off, Danish mechanized infantry units had no integral air defense, i.e. no MANPADS were issued to units below the brigade, or the independent regimental battlegroup, level. Each brigade held six 2-man Hamlet teams. Each team was mounted in a Land Rover, likely to be either an 88:

or a 109:

The teams were generally cascaded down, two to each infantry battalion in the brigade (two mechanized and one motorized). Two launchers are precious little air defense capability for an entire battalion!

The Danish Hamlet shoulder-fired missle was nothing but an American Redeye:

which was never known for its devastating effectiveness. Here's what my Hamlet teams look like:

I'll do three stands of two each to represent the six Hamlets. I've actually used O8's US two-man Stinger teams, but at 1/600 scale, it's impossible to tell one MANPADS from another. 

My second project is to provide some alternative prime movers for my East German 100mm antitank guns and 122mm D-30 howitzers. They were generally towed by a URAL-375D:

if they were attached to a motor rifle unit. However, if they were part of an armored unit, they generally would have had a tracked prime mover, which was most often an MT-LB:

Although Bulgaria used it as an APC, the East Germans seem to have used MT-LB's exclusively as prime movers:

All these are towing MT-12 100mm antitank guns. Given that the rear compartment wasn't exactly roomy at the best of times, I can't imagine that it could carry much ammunition with the gun crew already jammed in there. 

Here are my MT-LB's:

I'll do four stands, which is enough for two platoons of guns. 

O8's MT-LB isn't their best sculpt. As you can see from the above photos of the real thing, the MT-LB is quite squat and low to the ground. However, O8's version is noticeably too tall. Well, it'll have to do, but little details like that bother me. Damn that perfectionist gene!!

That's it for this post!!

Danish Armored Reconnaissance Squadron

After the past weekend's break from my regular painting routine, it's back to the salt mine this week. East Germans and Danes. Danes and East Germans. 

This week, I'm finishing off a Danish armored reconnaissance squadron. In 1981, it would have consisted of two troops of light tanks; unmodernized M41 Walker Bulldogs:

Also three squads of infantry (some squadrons had four), each mounted in an M113A1:

And a platoon of six reconnaissance Land Rovers (likely to be 88's):

This particular photo is of a British Army reconnaissance 88, but the Danish ones would be configured more or less identically, but substituting MG3's for the L7 GPMG's:

As usual, O8 doesn't have armed Land Rovers, other than the 110 SOV, so I have to grit my teeth and use it. And they don't have 88's period.

The squadron commander would be mounted in a Danish home grown M113A1 command vehicle, as Denmark never bought M577's:

The only differences from a standard M113A1 were extra radios, a 1kw generator mounted on the top deck, and the internal bay was converted into a small "office". 

And everyone together for the obligatory group shot:

Officers in the rear. Isn't that always the way?

The upcoming three day weekend has me full of plans to get loads of painting done, while it has Mrs. HistoryPhD full of plans to prevent me from getting that accomplished. Need I say whose plans will win out?  See you next time!

My Danish Bofors guns are finished!

I finished my Danish antiaircraft company; four Bofors 40mm L60 guns, with Unimog 1300L's for prime movers, as well as a Land Rover command vehicle. A full battalion would be three such companies, but I've not yet decided if I need/want a full battalion. 

In any case, here's the company:

Now I need to paint some Hinds for them to shoot at!

More during the weekend!