20mm Modern 'UN' forces.

I've mentioned my 20mm Modern UN forces in passing blog posts for some of my modern miniature games, but never really posted pics of the forces in their entirety.

These UN forces make great additions to my games as peacekeepers and such; delivering convoys of food and aid, manning a road checkpoint, or just trying to keep the peace in a troubled neighborhood.

The forces are composed of a variety of vehicles and trucks that one might expect to be found around the world.  I think the troops I painted were generic Russian infantry with AK-47's and light gear, painted with the typical light blue beret to distinguish them as peacekeepers.

 

The sum total of my United Nations (UN) forces.

 

Here's some of the peacekeepers themselves.  I had the extra 1/72nd scale Russian plastic infantry figures, so why not paint them up and put them to some good use.

Here's a modified Corgi Humvee and an M113.  Note the 'UN' flag on the M113. 

Here's some repainted Matchbox Landrover 4x4's.

More repainted Matchboxes, this time Ford Expedition SUV's.

 The 'UN' version (left) of the armed Humvee (right) to help with convoy security & protection.

Side by side view of the same Forces of Valour 1/72nd scale M113.  For the 'UN' conversion, the side 'baggage' and cages was removed and saved.  The armor and blast shield around the gunner position was removed.  The antennae was re-purposed for the UN flag.  Some of the removed baggage was added back to the top of the vehicle.

Here are my UN forces in action, escorting a convoy of food through an Iraqi neighborhood.

At this point in the game, a US squad and Humvee from a road checkpoint rushes to the rescue of the UN convoy being overrun by Jihadist's.

20mm Modern UK Utility Trucks

Since there's been some interest in my 20mm UK modern vehicles, I'll show you how I did it as a semi-tutorial. You may need to fill in some of the blanks in between steps. This technique can really be used to convert any of your favorite die-cast vehicles into a usable military vehicle.

 

The Third in line are my Modern UK Landrover Transport Vehicles. I got tired of trying to find them online and in stock, so I decided to make some myself. (Of course, having more time than money on hand helps as well.) Every convoy or force needs some generic vehicles for guests, dignitaries, news crews, journalists, and etc. 

 

Materials: Matchbox vehicle, appropriate paint, white glue, super glue or plastic's glue, paper towel (Bounty, etc..), plasticard or styrene sheet, plastic rod (about 1/16" diameter), balsa wood, Granny plastic mesh, x-acto knife, and a dremel with cutoff wheel.

 

 Vehicle 1: Landrover 4x4 off-road type vehicle.

Step 1:

The vehicle build begins with a Matchbox Landrover Sport. (There are several colors to choose from, but it doesn't really matter since it will be painted.)

 

Step 2:

Disassemble the vehicle cutting around the rivets on the bottom of the vehicle. This makes it soooo much easier and cleaner to work on and paint.

 

Step 3:

The vehicle is primed. The Body with a sand color and the base with black. The gear on top of the roof will be painted later as well as the front, rear, and roof lights.  The last detail will be any insignia or unit stencilling, if required.  

 

 

Step 4:

To give a couple of them a more 'protected' and 'military' look, I cut pieces of plastic granny mesh to fit the windows and front grill.  Now it looks like it can offer a slight amount of protection to the occupants when travelling down a crowded street. 

Step 5:

The last step is to glue the final assemblies together.

 

When I finish the last step, I will post some final pics.

Vehicle 2: Landrover urban transport type vehicle.

Step 1:

The vehicle build begins with a Matchbox Landrover SUV. (There are several colors to choose from, but it doesn't really matter since it will be painted.)

Step 2:

Disassemble the vehicle cutting around the rivets on the bottom of the vehicle. This makes it soooo much easier and cleaner to work on and paint.

 

 

Step 3:

The vehicle is primed. The Body with a sand color and the base with black.  The front and rear lights will be painted next. The last detail will be any insignia or unit stencilling, if required. 

Step 4:

The last step is to glue the final assemblies together.

 

When I finish the last step, I will post some final pics.

 

Note, for other forces, this same technique can be used to create equal results. 

Here's a white painted Landrover with 'UN' stencilling:

"UN" Landrover 4x4's 

"UN" Expedition SUV's

20mm Modern Landrover WMIK

Since there's been some interest in my 20mm UK modern vehicles, I'll show you how I did it as a semi-tutorial. You may need to fill in some of the blanks in between steps. This technique can really be used to convert any of your favorite die-cast vehicles into a usable military vehicle.

 

The Second is the Modern UK Landrover WMIK. I got tired of trying to find one online and in stock, so I decided to make some myself. (Of course, having more time than money on hand helps as well.)

 

Materials: Matchbox vehicle, appropriate paint, white glue, super glue or plastic's glue, paper towel (Bounty, etc..), plasticard or styrene sheet, balsa wood, x-acto knife, and a dremel with cutoff wheel.

Step 1:

The vehicle build begins with a Matchbox Landrover 4x4 off-road vehicle. (There are several colors to choose from, but it doesn't really matter since it will be painted.)

 

Step 2:

Disassemble the vehicle cutting around the rivets on the bottom of the vehicle. This makes it soooo much easier and cleaner to work on and paint.  I built 4 of these, with two different versions.  On 2 of them, I removed the wheel from the hood assembly and filled in the round hole with a piece of plasticard.  On the black plastic roll cage assembly, I removed some of the 'baggage' to be re-used later. 

Step 3:

Details are added.

Left Vehicle: 

(A) Plasticard is used to cover the hole in the front hood.

(B) A rolled up piece of tissue is glued in place at the rear of the front hood.  A piece of 'baggage' is glued in front of it, to semi-hide the plasticard repair.

(C) Another, longer rolled up piece of tissue is glued on the roll cage behind the driver. 

(D) Additional tissue is cut to fit the rear gunner station, then coated in watered-down white glue and glued in place. I tried to keep the netting to a minimum so as not to interfere with crew members when I add them.

(E) The cut off tire is re-glued to the left side of the vehicle. 

 

Right Vehicle:

(A) A piece of 'baggage' is glued to the right of the spare tire on the hood.

(B) A longer rolled up piece of tissue is glued on the roll cage behind the driver.

(c) Additional tissue is cut to fit the rear gunner station, then coated in watered-down white glue and glued in place.

(D) Other 'baggage' could be glued to the sides of the vehicle.  I made some additional ones cut and shaped out of balsa wood.   These included extra ammo boxes and gasoline cans.   

Step 4:

Here, the left and right vehicles are reversed, but they have been given their coat of paint.  The body was sprayed with a sand color and the base black.

 

Step 5:

The last step is to glue the final assemblies together.

 

Step 6:

I still have to finish stenciling and weathering the vehicle, but that is coming shortly. I also ordered some UK WMIK crews w/guns from Liberation miniatures which haven't been fitted to the vehicles yet or painted.

 

Here's a couple of pictures showing what I was building from:

 

20mm Modern UK Landrover Snatch

Since there's been some interest in my 20mm UK modern vehicles, I'll show you how I did it as a semi-tutorial.  You may need to fill in some of the blanks in between steps. This technique can really be used to convert any of your favorite die-cast vehicles into a usable military vehicle.


The First is the Modern UK Landrover Snatch.  I got tired of trying to find one online and in stock, so I decided to make some myself. (Of course, having more time than money on hand helps as well.)

Materials: Matchbox vehicle, appropriate paint, white glue, super glue or plastic's glue, paper towel (Bounty, etc..), plasticard or styrene sheet, plastic rod (about 1/16" diameter), balsa wood, Granny plastic mesh, x-acto knife, and a dremel with cutoff wheel.

 Step 1:

The vehicle build begins with a Matchbox Landrover Sport. (There are several colors to choose from, but it doesn't really matter since it will be painted.)

 

 

 Step 2:

Disassemble the vehicle cutting around the rivets on the bottom of the vehicle.  This makes it soooo much easier and cleaner to work on and paint.

 

 

Step 3:

(A) Using the dremel, remove the top portion of the cab of the Landrover and sand flat.  

(B) Cut a sizable hole in the plastic windshield assembly.

(C) Remove the rear 'spare wheel' from the black plastic frame assembly and save for future use.

(D) With the dremel, remove the exhaust vent on the left side front hood of the vehicle.  

Step 4:

Plastic card or styrene (I use spent gift cards, credit cards, and/or sample cards sent in the mail) can be used to 'box' in the rear, sides and top of the Landrover snatch.  The roof-top framed/armored firing position is large enough for the bases of my 20mm figures to fit into.  I glued a 'platform' to the top of the inside truck frame to give a more suitable firing platform for the miniature to rest. Keep the vehicle disassembled until the final painting is complete before gluing the assemblies together.

 

Step 5:

(A) The rear panel has lines scribed into it with an x-acto knife for the rear access door and panels.

(B) A piece of balsa wood was added to the top to complete the firing position.

(C) Using the plastic rod, a new exhaust vent was created to be glued to the right side hood position. (To simplify the process, you could leave the molded on exhaust stack on the left side.)   My plastic rod is actually a section of leftover plastic sprue.  Using a candle, I heat the sprue over the flame (not in the flame) until soft and can be gently stretched apart into a thinner plastic rod of the needed diameter.  I continue to heat and bend the center section to the appropriate angle, and then cut it to fit.  Glue the section to the body. 

Step 6:

The vehicle is primed.  The Body with a sand color and the base with black.   Paper towel/tissue has been cut to fit over the sides, rear and top as shown.  Then, brush watered-down glue onto the tissue, and glue to the vehicle. Smaller tissue panels were cut for the two doors and done the same way.  Apply another coat of paint to turn the tissue into a canvas/netting covering. 

 

Step 7:

To finish the vehicle, I cut some of the plastic granny mesh to fit the front and side windows and across the front grill. 

 

Step 8:

The last step is to glue the final assemblies together. 

 

Step 9:

I still have to finish stenciling the vehicle, but that is coming shortly.  

 

Here's a couple of pictures showing what I was building from.

Burned out miniature game blogging...but going to end 2013 on a high note!

I posted so much in 2011-2012, I got a little burned out and work has been keeping my busy.  However, I need to create a bunch of posts about what I've been up to this year.  So, stay tuned for a bunch of postings in the next couple of weeks.

David G.

Hip Roofs: Simpler than you might think.

Someone asked me about making hip roofs, so I sat down and sketched out how to make them as simple as I could.

For buildings with hip roofs, it's much easier if the building is rectangular, so that it has some type of Ridge. (see the diagram) You can still do a hip on a square roof, but you end up with 4 triangular pieces which are more difficult to connect and keep 'square'.

I know you don't want to hear this, but it does take some basic Algebra and geometry to figure out the dimensions to make your templates.

The Width (W), Length (L), and Height (Ht) of the roof are givens, or at least you figure out what they need to be.  The Ridge (R) length is simple enough to figure out.  The only challenge is figuring out the length of the line H1.  (It is the hypotenuse of a right triangle, drawn perpendicular to sides W and L) H1 is a line drawn perpendicular to either side of the W or the L for the end or side template.  The equation for H1 is pretty simple and can be done with a standard calculator with the square and square root functions.

For line H2, you don't even need to calculate it.  If you can accurately draw lines W, L, and H1, then you just connect the points A and B to form the line H2. (See the diagram)

**Note:  If you cut the roof panels out of anything thinker than cardstock (I.E.: Foam board and etc.), then you may want to 'chamfer' the interior surfaces so that they fit snuggly together.  

If you follow these simple rules, you'll get a pretty accurate hip roof, without all of the continual "trim to fit" that it seems a lot of you do.

See the modified hip roof of the building in the upper right of the photo. 

This Anglo-Saxon/Viking era building is a variation on the hip roof I just explained.

Happy Roof Building!

2011, Local Terrain Competition

Since we were bored, I issued a challenge to our group to take a pre-cut wood art's & Craft building and turn it into a 20mm, WWII terrain piece.

Here were the rules:

1st Annual Dragon's Lair Terrain Building Competition

Rules

1. The Model to be used is the pre-cut wood puzzle ‘Villa’ from Creatology. Also included is a 7”x8”

rectangular, 1/8” thick, MDF base.

2. You must use all of the pre-cut wooden pieces to create a 20mm scale building(s), mounted to

the base, and appropriate for WWII, European gaming. (I.E.: France, Germany, Russia, Italy,

and etc.)

3. You are not required to put the model together per the puzzle instructions and may cut the pieces

in various ways. You are encouraged to ‘not’ follow the instructions as included.

4. All terrain must fit on the 7”x8” base provided.

5. You may, and are encouraged to, add any number of terrain details, materials, or textures as you

wish. (I.E.: plaster, card stock, balsa wood, styrene, flocking, rocks, trees, and etc., to name a

few.)

Here is the $1 craft kit.

Cover

 

Wood Sheet #1 

Wood Sheet #2

 

Here is my submission (and a sort of step-by step process):

 

 

German/Italian House (with a Nazi/SS secret inside)

 

Here, I've redrawn the 'new' wall sections to the back of the two sheets of wood provided. (The old walls are die-cut into the sheets, so I had to add some glue to keep all the pieces together.)  Yes, I did not use the wall shapes as provided. (It wasn't against the rules.)

 

 Here is a mock-up of the building using card stock. ("Measure twice, cut once!")

The site actually has two buildings, with the smaller shed structure detachable from the main base.  See below. 

 Here, the walls take shape.

You can see the 'detached portion of the base.  It still makes a 7"x8" base as required. 

The roofs are added for their initial fitting.

Here, the interior is taking shape. It has entries at the lower level and main level, and an upper story. (3 total stories, with removable floors.)  

More details are added. Cereal box is added to the shed for a wood shingle appearance. Corrugated cardboard sheet strips are added to the roof for a 'mediterranean look.'  A foam chimney was cut, and stones carved into it. More cereal box 'squares' are added to the lower level as 'flagstone' paving.

 

Here, the stone steps up to the main level, and the retaining wall are taking shape. (More use of the wood scraps from the original model.)

 

Here we see the 'front' of the house and the main entry and walled entry garden.   

 "shhhh!"

One of the main secrets of the house..a hidden communication & planning room located below the entry.  It is accessible from the interior lower level, from behind an actual sliding bookcase.

Here we see the hillside taking shape around the house. Where'd that secret room disappear to?

Here is the model, primed black and ready for paint.

 

 Here is an aerial (from the bombers?) after paint has been applied.

 Here's the back.

 

 Here's the side (chimney).

 Here's the front.

 Here's the front entrance patio.

 Surprise I tell you...a secret Nazi Communication/Planning room below the house.

 There's a radio system in the corner on a desk, with assorted Hitler pictures and propagansa on the walls.

 The other wall has a bookshelf full of codebooks and etc., as well as another portrait of Hitler.

(It just wouldn't be complete without the details.) 

 The roof is off.  Here's the top level at the top of the stairs. 

There are numerous rugs on the floor.

 The third floor is removed to reveal the main level (2nd floor).  A door goes out to the balcony.  There are a few tapestries and paintings on the various walls.

 The second floor is removed to reveal the lower level (1st floor).

A door goes to the outside, under the balcony.

 On the lower level, here is the bookcase.

(Of course the hidden entrance is located behind the bookcase.)

Here's the hidden entrance to the secret (or not-so-secret anymore) nazi communication/planning room. The bookcase slides to the left under, underneath the stairs.