has been watching some documentaries lately set in the Western Desert, and was inspired to create this...
At my usual glacial pace, I've been painting up some Israeli forces for 1980s scenarios. According to my sources, one of the recon companies in a armored/mechanized division would be mounted in scout cars – and the early 1980s is when the RAM V-1 Scout Car was introduced into service.
The RAM V-1 is an open-topped vehicle with light armor. It is fast, rugged, and can be airdropped. There are three mounts (one in the front, two in the rear) which can take a 12.7-mm heavy machine gun, a 7.62-mm general-purpose machine gun, or a Mk.19 40-mm automatic grenade-launcher.
The RAM V-1 closely resembles its predecessor, the RBY scout car... which is good, because I don't have any RBYs yet.
I picked these 1:300 scale models up from Skytrex. The range has since been sold to Heroics & Ros. (There is also a TOW-equipped RAM in the range.)
The model measures 17mm long and 6mm wide. There are two variants - one with a single weapon in the front, and one with two weapons in front.
I chose to paint the models in the ubiquitous Israeli Armor Sand color, which is described as being a greenish grey color. Having no confidence in my ability to mix that color from scratch, I bought a bottle of Model Master Acryl Israeli Armor Sand Gray. The Acryl paints are supposed to work equally well, whether spray-painted or brushed on; I found them to be thin, requiring several coats for good coverage. The paint, when dry, seemed a bit too "apple green" to my eye.
I pictured these vehicles at war in the Middle East, so went for almost a "harsh" contrast. The models were primed white, basecoated with Israeli Armor Sand Gray, and detailed (tires: grey, weapons: black). I then applied a strong wash of black ink, followed by a drybrushing with a light sand color.
The models were then based on 1"-square Litko 3mm-thick wooden bases, which had previously been painted and covered in sand. I may add some crew figures eventually.