Final Painting Challenge Submission - IDF Tiran 5 MBTs

Tiran 5 MBTs in 15mm - models from Battlefront.

The ninth edition of Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge has concluded! As the hours count down, participants try to get a bunch of submissions in at the last minute in order to boost their total productivity, and I was no exception.  For the last submission, I did something a little different - some Israeli Tiran 5 tanks in 15mm.  The models are from Battlefront, part of their "Fate of A Nation" range.

The silhouette of these tanks may seem oddly familiar to cold war gamers...well the Tiran-5 is actually a Soviet T-55 tank.  The IDF captured a large number of T-55s during the Six Day War in 1967, and they were not going to waste these assets.  They took the captured tanks and replaced the engine, switched out the main gun (to a 105mm gun) and made other changes, and put them into the battle line, for use against their previous owners.

T-55 MBT with new engine, new main gun.

During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, an armoured brigade equipped with Tiran tanks fought in the Sinai against the Egyptian assault across the Suez Canal.  Later I believe Tiran tanks saw service in Lebanon.

I love the decals from Battlefront...

When I was first diving into gaming the Yom Kippur War many years ago, I learned of the Tirans and I thought it would be really cool to do a unit of these tanks.  Old Glory had a model available in 15mm, but the quality of the casting was poor, so I only painted one of the vehicles.  Once Battlefront came into the period with T-55s, I wrote them asking to see if I could order some bits separately to create these tanks myself...I was told I couldn't get the bits! Well then...

Notorious for their cramped interiors, the IDF added extra storage on the exterior for the crew to use.

Fast forward to 2018, and I see that "Fate Of A Nation" has been re-issued (to match up with the newer "Team Yankee" rules), and that a model has been released of the Tiran-5s! I couldn't wait to get a company of them painted up to clash with Dallas' Egyptians in some games set in the Sinai in 1973.

Lots of MGs on the cupola...

Trying to paint a company of these things is exactly the sort of project I would slot in my mind for Curt's Painting Challenge. I had planned to paint 10 of these during this edition...and yet...well, again, you can see why I don't try to "plan" too much with my painting, particularly during the Painting Challenge.  I didn't finish the company, but I did finish these first three test models, enough to get the unit started, to refresh the memory on painting IDF vehicles. 

And the Painting Challenge has concluded - I exceeded my "points target", which I was pleased about.  While it is a "Challenge", you are really only racing against yourself, as you get to set your own target. The motivation you get participating with others in different parts of the world is very helpful. I hope you have an opportunity to check out some of the submissions - including a number from Byron and MikeF. 

Thanks for visiting - have a great day!

Even More IDF Halftracks

Old-school rides for IDF mech troops in '73 - Peter Pig on the left, other two are from Battlefront

It's been quiet on the painting table for the past couple of weeks, as summer-ish weather has suddenly appeared (weeks and weeks late) on the Canadian prairies, following a winter of Retreat-From-Moscow-pocalypse proportions.  And even though I love this hobby, I love a cool glass of wine outside on the patio even more...however, Prairiecon 2014 is almost here, and I needed to complete my preparations!  Here are some more IDF halftracks.

Two of these models are mixed resin/plastic/metal from Battlefront, and one is a metal model from Peter Pig, with the addition of a ball turret conversion piece from Battlefront.  The Peter Pig one had been painted last year, and so it has my older style of painting "Sinai Grey".  They don't quite match up, but Sinai Grey always looks different every I see it in pictures anyways, so I'm not too fussed about it.

All of the stowage pieces are from a Battlefront conversion pack - they are very nice

The Battlefront models were OK to work with, but Peter Pig makes a much better M3 halftrack. You really notice it on the cupola MG in particular - the plastic .50 cal from Battlefront is heavy on the seam lines and light on detail. With hindsight, I could simply have combined Battlefront's excellent halftrack conversion kits with Peter Pig models. Oh well. But they are just 15mm, so it doesn't stand out too much.

I left the extra stowage off of the Peter Pig track...just a way to mark it as a command APC

Where I do give Battlefront more credit is the decals - the air recognition stripes look MUCH better with the decals than with my weak free-hand painting on the Peter Pig model (how hard is it to paint a white stripe? jeez Greg). The decals look a LOT better.

Ready to roll for Prairiecon!

I now have five of these IDF halftracks completed - enough to mount a full platoon of IDF mechanized infantry.  These will take to the table on Saturday morning in Brandon Manitoba as Dallas and I will be staging a scenario set at the Battle of the Chinese Farm during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. I am looking forward to another Prairiecon!

15mm YKW - More T-55s and Terrain Project!

More Prairiecon preparation... just finished six more Khurasan T-55s given to me by Conscript Greg. I painted them the same as the previous three, so now we're fully stocked up with a whole company of flammable materiel...

Should be good to go for the convention game at this point. I remembered yesterday there was one more thing to do - a bit of terrain for the "Chinese Farm".

Greg's been researching this one a bit, but hasn't been able to come up with too much in the way of photo evidence of the battle. I decided to do some "pipes" terrain just to represent some of the irrigation equipment at the experimental farm.

Materials: some scrap plasticard, a few cheap flexible drinking straws, and some plastic tubing. Doesn't look like much at this point does it?

Amazing what a lick of paint can do! I painted the ground in the same style as the bases on my tanks and infantry. The piping is Mechanicus Standard Grey highlighted with Codex Grey and Fortress Grey, spiffed up with some Modelmates Rust Effects.

Should do for some ground cover at the Experimental Farm.

It'll work for generic sci-fi purposes as well. A worthwhile project for a weekend afternoon I reckon.

Now back to the NHL Eastern Conference Finals, Game 2... currently tied 1-1. Go Habs go!!

Battlefront's Egyptian ZSU-57-2 AAA Tanks - 15mm Arab-Israeli Wars

Eyes on the skies in the Middle East...

Continuing the theme of escalation in the 15mm Arab-Israeli Wars category here are a pair of ZSU-57-2 anti-aircraft artillery tanks. The models are from Battlefront's "Fate of A Nation" range.  They are very nice models and a breeze to paint.  The only challenge I had was to get the twin barrels to sit straight...I didn't quite meet it, but they don't look too cross-eyed :)

Zandri dust was the main paint colour, weathered, chipped and pin washed

These would have been important anti-aircraft assets for the Egyptian troops in 1967 - given the fact that the Egyptian Air Force was essentially obliterated on the ground by the Israelis, kit like this was all the desperate Egyptian troops in the Sinai could really hope for in terms of keeping the Israeli jets at bay!

The guns seem almost-straight from this angle..not bad...

The Egyptians took the terrible lessons learned in 1967 to heart, and their Soviet patrons started equipping them with much more serious kit. By the time of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Egypt's Operation Badr, the crossing of the Suez Canal, was covered by a lethal network of SAM missiles and ZSU-23-4 AAA tanks.  The Israeli Air Force paid a dear price against it. I think the ZSU-57-2 took a back seat to this newer kit in 1973, but they were still in the OOB somewhere...

These will come in handy for Yom Kippur War games as Dallas continues to build on his excellent assortment of Egyptians.  Like any wargamer, the first time I see a AAA tank, I think of how mean it would be to use against infantry and light vehicles, as opposed to its actual stated purpose :)  Those IDF jeeps with recoilless rifles would not be too happy to see these things...

I do want to do some Flames of War games set in the Six-Day War too (once I get enough relevant models painted :)  I have a pile of T-55s, BTR-152s and other Egyptian goodies waiting around for time on the paint table to take on my pile of IDF Shermans. It won't be anytime soon, however, as I need to get back to my Legion Project! Volkite Calivers are waiting...

15mm IDF Halftracks - Yom Kippur War

IDF halftracks from Battlefront

Some more Yom Kippur painting as we prepare for Prairiecon 2014! In this post are a pair of Israeli M3 halftracks.  The models are from Battlefront - the halftracks themselves are from their WW2 range, but they are tricked out with upgrade bits from their really, really awesome "Fate of A Nation" expansion for the Six Day War.

Mix of resin, plastic and metal - all in one little 15mm APC!

The US M2/M3 halftrack was the main APC of the IDF armoured infantry battalions during the Six Day War.  The IDF was in the process of replacing the M3 with the M113 by the time of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, but as is so often the case when bringing new kit to your armed forces, the IDF still relied on the tried and tested M3 as their reserves mobilized to meet the surprise attack by the Arabs.

Covered in soldiers' kit...I like the look - makes them look "lived in"

As with the venerable M51 Sherman, the M3 saw service with mobilizing reserve formations and saw action in both the Golan Heights and against the Egyptians in the Sinai peninsula.

Battlefront offers these models for their Fate of a Nation supplement.  The model is (of course) the US WW2 M3 halftrack with a conversion kit.  The pieces in the kit let you have the halftrack festooned with spare kit and bags, as these vehicles often seem to be when seen in photos from the Arab-Israeli wars, and also add the little ball-turret .30cal MG in place of the right-side front vision port. The air-recognition decals are also from Battlefront. 

Details were done on the hull by pin washing with GW's Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade

The Battlefront APC itself is a mix of old and new trends in gaming model design - the hull is resin, with plastic accessories. While overall the kit is very good, I'm not totally wild about the quality of the Battlefront plastic...it has an odd, rigid quality to it and not as much detail as the metal parts. Gamers often clamor for more and more plastic, and I worry we will regret this...

The .50cal MGs are plastic...and not inspiring plastic...but overall these are still real beauties to work with

And yet, even with my grouchy-old-man-style bleating, these are fun kits.  I am very much enjoying Battlefront's entry into 15mm Arab-Israeli wars as it is overall providing us gamers with some great stuff! The only problem here is that I should have finished four of these halftracks - not two - in order to mount the entire platoon.  I sort of ran out of bases...I hope to get the other two done in time for Prairiecon! But if the bases don't get sorted in time, we'll just add some M113s :)

We will be test driving the Prairiecon scenario at Dallas' place this week.  Looking forward to getting these on the table!

Magach 3s - 15mm Yom Kippur War

Magach 3s from Battlefront

Over the past couple months Dallas has been doing some really nice work on some 15mm Egyptians to participate in some Yom Kippur War gaming - see here for his really sharp tanks and here for some really nice infantry.  It's always fun when someone else in the group tilts over and joins in with a "New Insane Project", and in particular Dallas is great because he not only joins, but once he does, he provokes counter-escalation (Mike is great for this too).  And so here is a platoon of IDF Magach 3 tanks, ready to respond to this Egyptian provocation.

I used Vallejo's "Green Grey" on these tanks

The "Magach", as tread heads will immediately recognize, is a US M48 Patton tank.  The IDF acquired these from West Germany initially (I think) and then more from the US.  They equipped armour battalions serving in the Southern Command, the front facing Egypt in/on the Sinai. The Magach served in the Six Day War in 1967, and saw critical service again during the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

Decals from Battlefront

My initial Arab-Israeli war collecting was focused on the Golan Heights front, but with Dallas doing Egyptians I wanted to expand into the IDF tanks that saw service in the Sinai.  The Centurions and M51s saw action there as well, but the Magach tanks were pretty much exclusive to the Sinai and their rounded, egg-shaped silhouette is quite evocative of the desperate fighting along the Suez Canal in 1973.

Air recognition stripes

As with most of their tanks, the IDF set about improving them almost immediately.  They ditched the little mini-turret cupolas in favour of a more standard hatch, and up-gunned them from 90mm to 105mm. Tracking the many small modifications to the different version of Magach tanks is confusing and gives me a headache, but I think the main differences for gaming purposes are the main gun and the cupola. While there were only a relatively small number of the 105mm-armed tanks in 1967, by 1973 they were the norm in the IDF Southern Command, so I put the 105mm gun on these models.

You can kind of see the hacked-up cupola on the tanks

The models are from Battlefront.  The Magach kits are lovely, but unfortunately the cupolas are still the old-school "M1" cupolas from the original Patton tanks.  I believe the IDF used them in 1967, so this makes sense - Battlefront released these models for the Six Day War, after all.  But I wanted these tanks to "look 1973", so I attempted a crude conversion by simply cutting the MG off the turret and mounting a .50 cal MG on the top.  It's not pretty, and absolutely not a proper "Urdan" IDF tank cupola, but it will do for now!

I absolutely love the decals from Battlefront...

I painted the tanks with Vallejo "Green Grey" and pin washed them with GW "Agrax Earthsade" and "Nuln Oil" washes.  The decals are also from Battlefront, and they are REALLY excellent - no more free-hand attempts at Hebrew letters for me!!  I weathered them with pigment powders and they are ready for action.

Bring on the Egyptians! Hey - what's a "Sagger" anyway?

Dallas has kindly agreed to run a 15mm Yom Kippur War game with me a PrairieCon 2014 in Brandon this year.  We are hoping to play a test-game this week against his excellent Egyptians - stay tuned for details!

15mm Egyptian Infantry Platoon, 1973

Tonight I finished* my platoon of Egyptian infantry for Conscript Greg's planned Prairiecon Yom Kippur War game.

 

The figures are from Khurasan, and the platoon is organized per the excellent information on the Khurasan website. Two sections of eleven men including one RPG, one RPD, and squad leader with Port Said SMG; one section organized the same way adding the platoon commander; and a support element of two Sagger teams and a mortar. The way the Khurasan packs worked out I ended up with three extra figures: one leader-type, an RPD gunner and a guy toting an RPG. Not bad.

The figures are excellent - just as you'd expect from Khurasan. Most of them (in fact all except the RPG gunners) are wearing the unique "assault vest" favoured by the Egyptian frontline troops in the YKW.

The troops also feature a good mix of poses. There are several obvious leader-types and lots of guys at the ready or firing their AK-47s.

The Sagger teams come in two flavours - prone...

...and kneeling. The weapons look very nice and they all fit well on a washer.

The support weapons pack comes with a mortar pack too, as well as a heavy machinegun (not shown QED)

The models were pretty straightforward to paint, too. I sprayed flat black as a primer, then painted most of the figure GW Calthan Brown as a basecoat. The vest was highlighted with Zandri Dust then Desert Yellow, while the sleeves, pants and helmet were highlighted with Deneb Stone.

Flesh got painted Dark Flesh highlighted with Dwarf Flesh. Woodwork on the weapons was painted Vermin Brown and the metal parts, Leadbelcher.

After this step the entire figure got a wash of Agrax Earthshade, and the component parts highlighted once more with the lightest tone - either Desert Yellow or Deneb Stone - save for the helmet covers.

  

I had a tough time figuring out how to do the camo covers for the helmets. I didn't want to make them too obviously "camo" but at the same time, wanted to differentiate them from the colour of the tan pants and sleeves. I ended up just stippling the Deneb Stone over top of the Agrax wash, leaving random slightly darker blotches showing through.
 

The last step was to paint the bases (Desert Yellow over Calthan Brown) and add GW Dead Grass and Army Painter tufts to taste.

And hey presto! Platoon complete - well, except for those pesky machinegunners. A quick trip to Home Depot or Rona will get the base sorted and they'll only take an hour or so to paint. These should be enough to play a Chain of Command or Red Storm! game, with tanks and tank destroyers added to taste.

*Obviously they're not "finished" as I've not painted the heavy machinegun and crew. Unfortunately I didn't have enough large washers on hand. So it goes...

15mm Egyptian T-55s and SU-100s - Yom Kippur War

The thing about our group is that we love insane new projects. Another thing about us is that we're such inveterate hobbyists that we easily get sucked into one another's insane projects. So it has come to pass here. One of Conscript Greg's ongoing insane projects is the Yom Kippur War (a.k.a. October War) of 1973, and I've been sucked in.

After painting a test PT-76, I've dived straight in with a platoon of T-55s, a Christmas gift from insane-new-project-enabler Greg. (Thanks dude!) They're resin models from Khurasan, and they are quite nice indeed.

I painted then in the same manner as the PT-76: basecoat of Calthan Brown highlighted with Zandri Dust for the tan, and Castellan Green highlighted with Knarloc Green for the green. Wash heavily with Agrax Earthshade, then highlight again with Zandri and Knarloc.

Paint the tracks and machineguns with Mechanicus Standard Grey, wash with Nuln Oil, apply chipping with sponge and a mix of craft black and brown paint. Base to taste!

I painted some random Arabic numerals on the turrets as tactical markings.

I read somewhere that the Egyptians used white stripes on the fenders as tac markings in 1973 as well.

I also left off the auxiliary fuel tanks as I understand they were not taken into action.

Should I add antennas?? They tend to get knocked around during painting so I add them at the end, but it just occurred to me that none of the vehicles have them. I'll have to ponder that.

I really like these models! I may need to get more, particularly considering Greg's comment that "they'll look great burning in the desert"!

This platoon of SU-100s was next in the queue. Also courtesy of Conscript Greg - I swapped him a very nice copy of Warhammer Fantasy Battle 3rd edition that I found in a used bookstore. New insane project escalation goes both ways, I hope!

These are the Battlefront models - resin hulls with metal tracks and accessories. The metal gives them a nice heft - I kinda wish that Khurasan had gone with metal tracks.

The "command" vehicle comes with a very clever molded-in driver and separate hatch. I added the commander as well.

The vehicles were painted in the same style as the T-55s, sans camo. I did find one annoying thing during painting, though - the new pot of Zandri Dust I picked up last week is noticeably darker than the pot I'd just finished. Very annoying.

Fuel tanks were molded onto the hull, mostly, so these vehicles will take them into action.
 

I used a variety of flocking materials for the groundwork - some spongy green stuff that fell of my Woodland Scenics trees, GW static grass, and Army Painter tufts. Those things are pure magic.

Well, there you have it. Two platoons of vehicles for the Egyptians, a good start towards the Arab forces for the participation game that Greg and I are running at PrairieCon in Brandon in early June. Next I'd better get at the infantry platoon...