20mm, 1983 Grenada/Cuba Moderns Project

Once again, I have been busy painting and flocking as of late. Here are my latest 20mm metal Cuban soldiers ready for assignment on the Island of Grenada. They are a mix of 20mm Stan Johansen Miniatures and some other metal miniature cubans.

 This is a unit of Cuban workers that have been trained to use weapons for 'self defense'. These men were responsible for the construction of the Point Salines Airstrip on Grenada.

 This is a unit of Cuban Revolutionaries.  They are ready to defend their position against any hostile invader to the Island of Grenada.

Here's another unit of Cuban Infantry, well trained and well armed for 'defense'.

The last miniatures are a couple of the Russian "Advisers" assisting the Cuban work crews.  It certainly looks like the officer on the right has a map of the Point Salines Airport on the southwest corner of the Island of Grenada.  These miniatures are from Stan Johansen Miniatures.

Cheap flight stands for your 20mm aerial vehicles

I think I accidentally found an inexpensive way to display my 20mm (1/72nd) helicopters and aircraft on the gaming table. It should also work for other scales as well including 15mm, 10mm, and etc.  (Probably not so good for larger, 28mm or 1/43rd scale aircraft.)

When I run 20mm games (Modern, Vietnam, WWII), I prefer to have aircraft that can be brought onto the table, even if for the brief moment that it affects the board of play.

I was using a simple, bulky wood block (for stability) with a hole in it to hold an expandable, magnetic holder. (Used for picking up small, magnetic, metal parts)  However, I hate the look of it on the table.

My recent discovery uses the same magnetic 'wand' (about $2+ at most stores), but gets rid of the wood block.  In it's place is an inexpensive, short camera tripod with a screw attachment. (The one I found, I found at the Dollar Tree for $1.)

The camera tripod is on the left, the magnetic 'wand' is laying in front, and the two of them put together are on the right.   To connect them, I unscrew the end cap off of the wand and remove the pocket holder clip.  (Put it in your bit's box for other uses.) The remaining, threaded hole is too small for the tripod screw.  So, I drill out the hole so that it is slightly smaller than the screw.  I then firmly screw the tripod into the end of the wand, making my own thread grooves.  The hole could always be drilled larger, and simple glue or epoxy the screw into place. (Make sure the wand is extended so you don't accidentally glue the assembly closed.) The completed assembly can also be tilted slightly if desired, but because of the center of gravity, a vertical orientation is more desirable.

Because the 'wands' magnet is usually not too strong, I add a 3mm thick by 1/2" diameter 'super' magnet that I picked up at Michael's for about $4 (6 pack).  I have steel washers glued (CA glue) to the underside of all my aircraft to complete the assembly.

Here are some examples of my modern 20mm (1/72nd) aircraft up on their platforms.

Here's a diecast 'Forces of Valour' Blackhawk (L) and a plastic Apache Kit (R).

Here's the Apache at a declining, attack angle.

(Not recommended for most, but this is a lightweight plastic kit.)

Here's a diecast 'Forces of Valour' Desert Hawk (L) and a diecast 'Forces of Valour' Blackhawk (R).

Here's a diecast 'Forces of Valour' Desert Hawk (L) and the plastic Apache (R).

Here's a recently painted 'cheap, plastic toy' Harrier Jet (L) and a Blackhawk down on the deck (R).

Again, the Harrier Jet (L) and a diecast Predator Drone (R).

I can't forget about my A-10 Warthog! 

(This one took out a building and the Insurgents hiding inside, during close support of ground units.)

I also have an V-22 Osprey, but it's not pictured. Lastly, all of my Huey's are currently under construction to be used for the Vietnam games and other 1980's games such as the invasion of Grenada and etc.. 

(Yes, my games tend not to be too boring with these assets available.)

New $1 find at Target

OK, I was at Target and browsing through the Dollar aisles at the front and found these two packs of cheap plastic army men.  At first I picked them up (thinking the vehicles had some potential use with my 20mm modern troops.) and then put them down again, and even walked away.  However, I had to go back to rule #2 of gaming acquisition: If you see something that will work, buy it now because when you go back for it, it will be gone!  I've violated that rule too many times to not heed the warning.  So, I went back and picked up a bag of each.

Here are the two bags.

Bag #1 (Left) has 28 pieces that included a truck with an absurd weapon on the back, an undersized plane, and 26 figures. I thought all of the plastic men were useless until I saw the four kneeling figures with a 30 cal. MG.  I'll probably cut these off to use with my Car Wars vehicle conversions or for use with the helicopter as a 50 cal. MG.

 Bag #2 has 22 (Right) pieces that included a tank, a helicopter, and 20 figures.  Again, I thought all of the plastic men were useless until I saw the four kneeling figures with a 50 cal. MG. I'll probably cut these off to use with my Car Wars vehicle conversions as they are too large to use with the helicopter as MG's.

 Here are the four vehicles with 20mm modern contractors (not completely painted yet) for scale.

Truck: I'm going to cut off the hideous weapon (that will leave a big gaping hole in the cheap plastic truck) and add a utility/transport bed made out of plastic styrene.  This will serve as a transport truck for one of my smaller modern contingents in need of transportation. (I.E.: 20mm Grenadians, Argentineans, Cubans, or Somalis.) 

Small Plane: I may cut off the bottom struts/wheels and use it as a UAV/drone. I'm not sure yet.

Tank: At first I thought it was too small, but after looking at it, I think it will be turned into an armored,  infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), sort of BMP-2-ish.  The turret needs to go, or at least cut off the main mantlet/gun and the rear portion and replace with bits of plastic and a new, smaller caliber, main gun.  Similar to the truck, this vehicle may be put into service with a variety of the smaller, modern contingent countries in need of a little armor.

Helicopter: The main reason for getting the pack was to turn this into a good/cheap replica of an OH-58 Kiowa. You can never have too many of these. I'll need to remove one of the sets of blades and maybe use a bead or something on top of the rotors for the optic sights to make it a scout. It will certainly come in handy and will be well used by my contractors employed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other hot spots around the world.

Here's the Kiowa glued together, mold line trimmed and sanded, and primed with some Krylon Fusion black paint. The 20mm contractor is shown for scale.

Here's the IFV glued together, mold line trimmed and sanded, and primed with the Krylon Fusion black paint. Again, the turret needs to go.  The 20mm contractor is shown for scale.  The hideous truck is in the background.  However, by the time I get done with it, it won't be an ugly duckling any longer.   Now that I think about it, I may have to either make some type of emplaced gun position out of the hideous gun, or just relegate it to the parts box.