I wanted to start a project in 1/72 with African wars, using Insurgency Wars, AK-47 or FUBAR rules, but I couldn't find any 1/72 soft plastic miniatures to represent them. Then I saw somebody who used the Esci's North Vietnamese soldiers and Vietcong and some Esci's US Elite Forces as African regular troopers and I stole his great idea.
I also bought Esci's NATO troops that I'll use for, well NATO troops, but also to make some soldiers of fortune with them. Finally, I ordered 20 militia 20mm metal figures from S&S model, together with some civilians and a technical.
I want to have a group of regular militar African soldiers, a group of militia, a group of NATO troops and one last group of mercenaries.
Here is the first group, the African soldiers. They were painted in a bit of a rush and also the pictures are not very good as the day is cloudy and the light poor.
The whole lot, 22 figures. Maybe I'll paint some more later.
Close ups. The first RPG on the left has his head swapped, and the next his Asian hat removed with a knife and hair sculpted with same knife.
The first guy on the left has got the same hair cut, and the one in the middle his head swapped.
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Hey, Javier! It's been awhile since I've visited - apologies for that. Nice figures for a genre/period I have interest in, yet never collected figs for. I may have to being inspired by your stuff. Many years ago - about 30 or so, I used to read the post library's copy of Fire Power over and over. The one about Angola (FNLA, MPLA, etc.) and the mercs who got executed. Intrigued by the whole African wars since then.
ReplyDeleteHi Dean, nice to see you around, and no need for apologies my friend. You must check Lead Adventure Forum, in the thread conflicts that came in from the Cold, to see many threads about African wars in 28 and 20mm scales. Here's an example: https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=140417.0
DeleteCheers,
Well, it seems it is not allowed to publish full links?
DeleteThat sounds like an interesting project. The figures work really well, perfect for Russian or Cuban backed forces.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen the Call to Arms British Infantry? With British 1980s style webbing and SLRs they might work as well
I've just check them, thank you! They are a bit short, about 21mm. Sorry, what is SLRs? :)
DeleteFair enough, there is so much variation between 1/72 ranges! The SLR was what the FN FAL rifle was called in British Service
DeleteGood to know, thanks! BTW, I'll paint a few mercs with FN FAL from the NATO box.
DeleteHello! It's nice to see the start of a new project, and the fact of not having ready-made miniatures constitutes a stimulating challenge, and an opportunity to exercise one's hobby skills.
ReplyDeleteWe are not experts on African wars, but the look of your troops seems consistent to us. Which wars are you referring to with the term "African Wars" and in which period?
Hey Rodor. I'm neither an expert but I had a look at a few videos and pictures. There were many wars in Africa and my idea is not doing a specific one like the Bush Wars. I'm building generic forces to be used in any encounter ranging from 60-80's and of course I'm particularly intestested in Congo because the film last train to Katanga :)
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