"Mike Force Troop Conversions" Topic

Two platoons worth of Grubbys Tanks Malaysian range Ghurkas after converting to M16s and M203s.

I must have swamped deadheads computer with emails of my pictures and he will post as he gets to them.

Delighted to help

very nice.

Grubbys Tanks/Brittannia Minis Malaysian Emergency Ghurkas
converted to Mike Force figures.
M16s and M16 with M203s from Onlygames.

Once again, thank you Deadhaed.
Very much appreciate you posting these for me.

Honestly, no effort me old mate. Takes seconds and happy to show them painted. I just love to see conversions right now (even if I am totally committed to creating, with much Greenstuff, an 1815 Belgian Horse Artillery Battery in 1/72 scale…not my favourite scale but……)

Only thing that worries me, 24 hours since posting, 128 views. Where is everybody? If your posting was rubbish, OK, no responders, but if no-one is looking……

All giddy today.
Two platoons painted up of Eureka and Empress Australians as mike force in tiger stripes. Another platoon to go.

Oh the pain and my eyes.

But they should look great when done. I have just finished yet another carriage in 1/72 for the Waterloo Diorama, but have backlog of AFVs to do (mostly Sherman variants, but the odd A/C or half track too. Olive Drab on everything is so much easier than 1815

I am on a roll.
I finished my company of Eureka and Empress and am now two thirds of the way through my company of Commando minis.

The tiger stripe is not as good as I hoped but looks good to me for the tabletop. I did a dirty sand bases and then overlaid some field grey and faded olive for the camoflage stripes. It gives it a very nice faded look.

To get the true scale and stripes effect, you'ld need a brush with two hairs and a ten power magnifier!

Again, deviously bumping up a thread for Liam to find so he can post pictures I sent him.

Rob sent me some great explanatory text for each of these, but I had better let him add the captions now

Thanks deadhead!

These figures above are all from Commando Miniatures confrontatasi Range of Ghurkas from the Indovnesia conflict.
They come with the M16s, the XM148 is an addition to each suad from parkfield and the M60s are conversions.

They start off with veru British webbing including back braces that cross over each other in an "X" and of course the universal pouches. In the bare metal they are short, and chunky and I was concerned how to cover up or alter the webbing.

I have a complete three platoon company of them, as well as two 81mm mortars, a 57mm recoilless and a 106mm recoilless rifle.

To get the tiger stripe look, I went for the faded appearance, so rather than black I chose field grey and camo green. Dirty tan base, one or two stripes per leg or sleeve, shirt and hat, and then fill in the gaps with the green and not to worry if any tan shows through.

My eyes are too far gone for jungle boots, so black Bata boots for everyone.

The backs are covered by these backpacks I found on Shapeways. originally 1939 model soviet design, but the size and two pocket panels make them a dead ringer for the ARVN backpack. That covered up the cross braces and the universal pouches didn't seem anywhere near as chunky once I painted up the figures.

The first two pictures are a platoon command group. An M60 gunner, a radioman, the platoon leader and a figure that used to be a dog handler.

The second picture is from the back, small pack, radio, with 3 and 4 with the ARVN backpacks.

Sorry for the glare, the light was really, really bright. Even the green look tends to overly pale in the harshness.

Pictures 3 and 4 are the 106mm and then the 57mm recoilless rifles. Followed by groups and mass pictures of the mortars and all the support weapons.

Warbases who has the Commando figure range has one pack with two Ghurkas on a Vickers mmg. I found that I could get away using those figures pretty generically for all the support weapons.

The skin tone was a middle eastern flesh and turned out darker than the glare shows giving them a truly betel nut skin colour, awesome for the hill tribe look.

I did another company of Mike Force from Empress and Eureka Minitures combined that wound up on the Parkield minis in boonie hat thread. Similar painting camouflage style, darker green webbing for the nylon look but native american flesh for a reddish skin for Cambodians.

As blind as I am I really like the Mike Force figures that I have done so far.

The eye thing. I have never ever met a surgeon who was happy with the lighting or the view of the operative field (the anesthetist got the blame, "Can't you do something about the bleeding?" We all know the traditional response in the trade and it still gets a laugh after all these years of repetition).

Now? Magnification. Massive illumination. Elbows rested, but distal forearms equally stabilised, when painting detail. Washes to raise detail with highlighting. Faces? Easy, dead easy. Never do eyes, never. Highlight the nose, triangle inverted over each zygoma, and same onto tip of chin. We "see" faces in everything, clouds, fire embers, damp patches in churches. We are programmed that way, which really does help.

Your work is inpsiring and I hope it gets a good response

The fourth picture in, the close up of the 57mm recoilless and crew is probably the nicest to show the tigerstripe effect.

That field grey and camo green does blend in on the figures very well.

I suppose the magnification of the camera is a bit stunning to me. Kind of exposes all the things my vision didn't pick up or out when I was trying to paint them. God Bless the sculptors for having the details stand out and leaving the paint to just flow where it needs go.