Finished: 15mm Dutch M113 C&V Recon Platoon II

Hi folks,

Another little unit, painted alongside the three Leopards again. 

Two resin and metal Battlefront recce vehicles, nothing much to add from my previous post on these. 

I used my standard bits on these, Battlefront decals, fishing line aerials and magnetic basing. I've had to vary some of the green tufts, as I've run out of one type and the company I bought them from seems to be gone. I'll try a retailer I found on Etsy, and hope that the shade and size roughly matches!

Finished: 15mm Dutch Leopard 2A4 Troop II

Hi folks,

Painting has continued, interrupted by summer holidays and some time spent building Space Marines (of all things). 

I'm getting towards the end of the Dutch collection, just in time for Battlefront to announce the new NATO Nations book due out in October. This will add some new units to the Dutch, potentially Leopard 2A6s, Apaches and 120mm Mortar teams. I may add some more bits, and will definitely pick up the book. 

Another three Battlefront plastic Leopard 2A4s, forming my second troop. 

As before, Battlefront decals on these, and my usual fishing line aerials. Commander in the hatch of the lead vehicle. 

 

Finished: 15mm PAH Anti-tank Helicopter Flight

Hi folks,

Chipping away at my 'Modern' Dutch force. Thankfully the end is now in sight... until the new 'NATO Forces' comes up in the next month or two and adds more options. Unfortunately, as I look upon the dwindling number of models still to finish, my motivation is also dwindling. 

Still, one of the outstanding units had been some West German helicopter support for my Dutch. I'd been helped out again by Dave, who'd used his airbrush to lay on the camo pattern on these. I was really unsure about painting these, but had fun doing the Tornados so thought I would bump them up them up the queue. 

Armed with up to six Euromissile HOT missiles, these Helicopters entered West German service in the late 1970s and only retired in 2016. They were also widely exported and served in the armed forces of a huge number of nations in a huge number of roles. 

These particular models are Battlefront 15mm plastic kits. From memory, they went together pretty easily. The main rotor assembly has been magnetised to allow easier transport, and the flight bases have also been magnetised. Decals came from the box. I may revisit the glass on the cockpit at some point, and add some more detail. 

I've not done any weathering on the decals of either these or the Tornados, but I may revisit that in the future. I like the aircraft looking a little more pristine, I'll have to see how it looks on the table. 

I also accidentally discovered a way of easily pin washing these models (without mucking about with enamels, etc), something I'm keep to experiment with going forward. Basically, painting some water onto an area would then give the qualities needed to have the wash flow as required. I think this might work even better with acrylic thinner. 

And just for the record, here's my tracking sheet as it stands. Peach represents built models, with shades of yellow, orange and green used to track progress. The light green entries are models that are currently WiP.