Wings Over the Golan: Syrian MiG 21

As our readers may recall, one of Greg's many cool projects this year has been to paint some forces to refight the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Greg has painted lots of tanks and infantry for the project, and I wanted to kick in a little escalation to goad him along (and provide another cool toy for our games!)

Quite some time ago I picked up a 1/100 MiG 21 "Fishbed" by Tamiya to paint up for the project. I've had it sitting in primer for awhile and after completing the Slammers infantry yesterday, I pulled the MiG out and painted it.

I'd found the colourscheme on Wings Palette, a Russian website that is my go-to for combat aircraft schemes, and found a plane that was noted as flying in 1973.

Tactical numbers in Arabic were added by brush.

I also freehanded the national markings. Although I had thought that the green roundels had been superseded by red by the time of the Yom Kippur War, Wings Palette indicated that this aircraft remained in green, so that's how I painted it.

This was a fun painting project for a Saturday afternoon and I'm looking forward to seeing it in action over the Golan in one of Greg's fantastic games!

IDF Infantry and APCs in 15mm

IDF Mechanized Infantry ready to defend the Golan Heights

Some more progress on the Golan Heights Project - some IDF infantry and APCs.  The models are from Peter Pig.

Peter Pig's IDF infantry is meant for Lebanon.  In 1973 the IDF troops mostly used SLR-type assault rifles, as opposed to Galils and M-16s that became common in Lebanon.  QRF does offer Israeli infantry, but having seen the quality of their other infantry offerings, I wanted to stick with Peter Pig. So that meant some head swaps were in order!

For this I was following the advice of Mark Kinsey, who has been very helpful and has been pursuing his own projects related to the Golan Heights and Lebanon for some time (see his blog at this link).  Assuming you can navigate Peter Pig's bonkers website, they offer a whole sweep of alternate heads for their figures! It's brilliant.  This way I could use the "professionals" from Peter Pig's AK47 range (models armed with SLRs) and swap out their cloth caps for heads with US-style helmets.

Who replaces heads on 15mm figures? I do!

The head swapping is really pretty easy - you need good nail clippers, a pin vice and you are in business.

The replacement heads sat pretty well for the most part

These models are "Professionals" from Peter Pig's AK47 Republic range - with swapped out heads

Here are some of the LMGs

Another view of the LMG gunners

For this initial round of IDF infantry I tried to approximate a couple of squads of guys - some LMGs, some NCOs, a few officers.
 

These NCOs are from the Lebanon range, but the head-swap worked pretty well, and the M16 is not too visible

For officers I used NCOs from the IDF Lebanon range (again, swapping out the heads).

These officers are actually WW2 US figures...they fit in pretty well

The M1 is pretty visible on the fellow in the middle, but I can live with it

To represent platoon-level officers I also poached some WW2 US models.  They fit it in OK - only one or two M1 carbines are clearly visible to give things away :)

A pair of bazooka teams for the IDF

I also used the WW2 US models for bazooka teams, as there are several reported instances of IDF bazooka troops making incredible stands against Syrian T-55s and T-62s.

Peter Pig M113s waiting for primer. I love all of the MGs on the model.

The M113s are from Peter Pig's Lebanon period.  There are probably one or two things that would make them technically not correct for 1973, but I thought they were close enough.  The IDF still made significant use of the M3 half-tracks in 1973, but one of the armoured infantry battalions on the Golan in 1973 for the Syrian surprise attack was equipped with the M113s, so I thought it would be good to start with a couple.

A finished M113 with infantry

I painted these using the same paint combo as my second go at the Centurions

I struggled assembling the M113 models.  You would think they are pretty straight forward, but I still found a way to make it complicated...I love painting, but I'm not a very skilled or patient modeller!  Still I think they turned out OK, although one of the M113s looks like it had some kind low-rider modification for a Saturday night cruise here in Winnipeg.

This view gives a good shot of the weathering powders at work...also how much I struggled to get the tracks on correctly! It looks even worse in person...

So now it is back to more Syrian tanks - T-62s to be specific.  Further progress beyond that will be limited - Canada Post returned my recent Peter Pig shipment AFTER telling me they would hold it.  So the local Canada Post outlet can ROT.  Peter Pig is watching for the returned package (sent two weeks ago) but there is no sign yet, so the pathetic incompetence of Canada Post will slow this down...

Syrians In September - More Infantry and T-62s

It has been a few weeks since I have posted any progress on my Golan Heights Project, but I haven't forgotten about it.  Here is some progress to hopefully prove it.  Again, apologies in advance for the pictures - whatever its merits, the iPhone sucks for miniature photography, and the lighting in my house does not help...

Up first are a group of Syrian infantrymen.  These are from Peter Pig's AK47 modern line, and the bases are from 15mm.co.uk.

Peter Pig "regulars" from their AK47 Republic range

Minimally equipped troops, but they will do the job for representing Syrians.

Colour references to Syrian uniforms for 1973 are universally absent, so I just made a best-guess

These troops will be ready to fight for the Golan heights

I added a few special weapon troops as well - two RPG troopers and two RPD MG gunners.

Two RPGs on the left, to RPD MGs on the right

And another pair of T-62s from QRF.  I now have 8 T-62s, almost enough for a company.

Two more T-62s ready to roll...

I was amused to note this thread on TMP, posted in august following my original commentary on these models, in which the proprietor of QRF miniatures manages to position each flaw (and there are many of them) with the QRF castings as somehow important to doing a proper model.

The back ends of the T-62s from QRF are a cloud of flash and mold lines....very poor quality on these castings. 

Not sure why Peter Pig, Battlefront and others can manage to a proper, in scale MG that isn't cast with the quality of a limp spaghetti noodle, but QRF can't.  But again, the QRF T-62s are really the only game in town for this particular MBT, and the flaws are annoying more than critical.

Up next are some infantry and APCs for the IDF.  Stay tuned!

Syrian Reinforcements - QRF T-62s

15mm scale T-62s from QRF

Continuing with the Syrian build up I have a couple of posts featuring some more vehicles.  Up first, a platoon of three T-62s from QRF.  My first platoon of T-62s were Old Glory models, and I wasn't crazy about them, so I was hoping to see an improvement with QRF.  At the same time, my history with QRF products is mixed, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

The QRF T-62 models were a significant improvement on the Old Glory castings.  The turret looks much more accurate.  The treads/wheels look a lot nicer.  The models come with a cupola MG (something that I find really "makes" the look on Soviet MBTs) and an unditching beam (again, another standby for Soviet tanks).  Overall the detail was much stronger on these than on the Old Glory tanks - and much better than the metal turd plops which were allegedly crew for the QRF 100mm AT gun.

These tanks received the standard Syrian treatment (it's getting to be an assembly line now) and are mounted on bases from Litko.  I continue to struggle with the Arabic numerals, but it's close enough for me.

These casting still have a lot of issues - the cupola MGs were very poor, thin castings. There were a number of flaws and flash tags on the treads and road wheels.  The mould lines on the turrets and main gun were particularly marked, and required a lot of work.  None of these issues were critical, but they bug me because you never see a lack of quality like this from the likes of Eureka, Khurasan, Old Crow etc. The contrast between this reality and the love-carpet-bombing QRF receives on TMP really bugs me.

But QRF deserves credit for the wide range of its offerings.  At least they sell at T-62! And it is still markedly nicer than the competition - so watch for more QRF T-62s appearing in this blog in the future.

Even More Syrians

T-55 from Peter Pig

Another chunk of Syrian stuff - a platoon of BTR-60s from Old Glory and a solitary T-55.

The BTR-60s were very, very nice models. They assembled smoothly and have a lot of detail on the hull in particular.  They are excellent renderings of this common Cold War era Soviet APC.

Very lovely castings from Old Glory

This T-55 is a "newer" one from Peter Pig - they have corrected issues on the barrel of the main gun, putting the fume extractor on the correct end of the barrel.

I wish Peter Pig would add MGs for the cupola on the T-55s...

The Peter Pig vehicle castings appear to be on the larger end of the 15mm spectrum - when compared with the T-62 from QRF, the Peter Pig T-55 is actually a little larger.  But it will all be fine on the table.

Peter Pig T-55 on the left, QRF T-62 on the right

I have half a company of T-62s and T-55s finished now - will want to get to at least a company-plus-command (about 11 tanks) of each.  Will need to make another order on the T-55s, but I believe a package of QRF T-62s should be along soon...

Golan Heights Project - First Attempted Centurion

Israeli Centurion from 1973

After finishing various bits of Syrian kit and some Syrian infantry, I wanted to get started on some test models to represent the Israeli side of the conflict on the table, namely the iconic Centurion Sho't tanks. Here are some WIP pictures, and some pictures of a first finished tank.  I just don't know about the colour...

Generic upgraded Centurion from Peter Pig. Base from Litko.

Thin lines of these tanks, in the hands of elite and determined IDF crews, held against the incredible tides of Syrian armour on the Golan Heights for 100 hours.  With precision gunnery and strong defensive positions, the IDF Sho'ts exacted a frightening toll on the advancing Syrians - who kept coming and coming despite the losses.

Some extras from Peter Pig - Jerry cans on the turret, a .50 cal MG and a tank commander

I am using models from Peter Pig.  The first Centurions I ordered were from Peter Pig's IDF range, but the tanks are actually more appropriate for the invasion of Lebanon in the early 80s.  They have ERA armour, extra MGs and a thermal sleeve on the barrel - upgrades that were not present on the Sho'ts which held out against the Syrians in 1973.

Centurion platoon waiting for primer...

I was thinking "screw it", but I checked through Peter Pig's listings and saw they had a more generic upgraded Centurion in their modern product line, and ordered some test models - and they arrived just in time to join me on vacation.   These models do not have ERA, and the gun is correct. They also have smoke launchers on the turrets, and the engine seems different (either upgraded again from the original version, or not yet upgraded - I don't know).

The photos I have seen from 1973 have very few tanks with smoke launchers, so I clipped those off the turrets.  As for the engine...well, close enough.  It will work for me.  To add a little more character to the tanks, I ordered some spare .50 cal MGs from Peter Pig as well.  The MGs came with some spare Jerry cans, so I glued some to the turret to give a bit of feel for extra stowage.

This picture from Osprey's "The Yom Kippur War - 1973 (1) - The Golan Heights" served as my paint guide - you can see the engine deck on this Centurion Sho't is different from the Peter Pig generic Centurion - but close enough for gaming - you can also see the tactical number "hung" on the rear of the turret

The Israeli tanks used a tactical number/letter system, but painted them on to panels that the crews would just tie on to the back of the turrets.  To capture this, I cut out a little piece of thin card and glued them to the back of the turret.

Card was cut out and glued to the rear of the turret

The trickiest part of this project overall is to try and get the colour right for the Israeli armour.  I have found many references to the colour of Israeli tanks as "Sinai Grey".   This is confusing to me for a couple of reasons, because the colour is for the Golan, not the Sinai, and also because it doesn't look grey at all.  The few colour photos I have found seem to be either a light sand colour - almost like a western desert tank colour from WW2 - or a yellowish green.  But no grey - even though the colour is apparently "Sinai Grey". Time for a test model, to see what happens.

Another shot of the card chunks intended to mimic the tactical number cards/tarps Israeli crews attached to the turrets

I based the tanks, primed black (as always) and then applied a base coat of "Death World Forest" from GW's new paint range (I think this is the wannabe "Catachan Green" from the previous range - FWIW Catachan Green is better).  Then I applied "Zandri Dust" from the new GW range, and then hit the tank with a wash of GW "Agrax Earthshade". Have I mentioned how awful the new paint names from GW are? Good lord...

Finished Centurion from the front.

These tanks only got one antenna - the other tanks looked a bit too bristly for the table. On this tank I used a sponge to try and simulate chips in the paint.

In this photo you can see the engine deck is different from that of the Sho't tank - I'm not sure if it is an older engine, or a different new version of the engine

I painted on some Israeli tactical markings (basically copied from the Osprey book) and did the usual weathering (dust, exhaust etc) and painted the "windows" (view ports etc).  The result looks OK for a tank, but I don't think I got the colour right.  Doesn't look green enough - looks like a tank for the Sinai (which, strangely, did not seem to be painted "Sinai Grey").  But what effect would storage in a depot, then the intense sun, then rain, then wind, and even snow in some instances in the Golan, followed by dust and use in heavy combat have on the paint colour in the first place?

The rings on the turret indicate battalion number, and the chevron is the company number - in this case, third company, second battalion

This is tank "Bet 1" - I think "B1" or "Beta 1" is the translation.  I also scribbled a unit symbol on the rear of the engine

Is this "Sinai Grey"? Maybe after a long time in service....I will have to try again...

I have two more primed tanks, so I will try some other concoction of paints and see what I can come up with. I think the colours I am working with are the right ones, but I need to work them out in a different combination. If anyone out there has suggestions or tips, feel free to share!