Sahel Conflicts: Toytoa Technicals

Another set of vehicles that were part of the unpainted pile of shame.  I received these two Toyota techincals as part of Miska Miniatures North African Kickstarter back in 2022. I didn't (and still don't) have a 3D printer, so I opted for the physical copies rather than the STL files.

The physical prints had some issues. It appeared that the printing supports were not robust enough for the prints, so the vehicles sagged as they were created.  This caused stress cracks in both models. For the crew cab truck, it also caused the truck bed to noticeably bend and the roof rack to peel up in a few spots. The bent truck bed could be explained in game as a bent frame from rough use in the desert, but everything else looked unacceptable. I debated requesting new prints but decided I'd try my hand at repairs first. The roof rack was reassembled with superglue and clamps, and the cracks were filled with putty and sanded down. Luckily the end results were good enough for the table.

Painting the technicals was a bit tricky.  While the figures and machine guns were sperate pieces, all the gear was printed in place. This made it very hard to get the brushes into the tight spaces. To compensate, I used a liberal amount of dark wash in those areas to hide the bare areas. Weathering was done with a bit of drybrushing and the Mig pigments (a mix of brick dust and North African dust) applied with solvent.

Both figures were a bit fiddly to position in the trucks, but the Tuareg with the DShK machine gun was especially problematic. His left hand was printed as part of the truck bed rather than on the fighter, and I couldn’t get it to connect to his body properly when aligning him to hold the machine gun and sit flat on his seat. I have no idea why they chose this poor assembly option rather than having the hand attached to his arm, but the 2mm gap looked awful.  I ended up filling the gap with thick superglue. It looked wonky at eye level since the hand and arm connected at a strange angle, but fortunately it didn’t stand out when looking from above. 

The trucks were listed as being 1/56 scale and were very close in size to an old Footsore/SASM truck in my collection (I believe now out of production). The Empress technical (the least favorite modern vehicle I own) remained the squat oddball of my collection.

Despite the issues I had with the print quality, fit, and ease of painting, these Toyota technicals became my favorites out of the four I own. They had more detailing than the resin/metal models, and all the gear piled on them resulted in added character and a real life feel.  I look forward to having a chance to put them on the table.

Sahel Conflicts: BTR-60 and VAB

After my recent Haywire game with Steve, it got my juices flowing to paint modern forces. I didn't need any new figures, but I still had some unassembled vehicles sitting in the hobby closet. To start, I decided to tackle a couple of armored personnel carriers: The Soviet produced BTR-60PB and the French Véhicule de l'Avant Blindé (VAB).

Looking online, I managed to find find photos of two Malian BTR-60s from the Operation Serval/ Operation Barkhane timeframe. One showed a green/brown/tan camo pattern with spray painted black squiggles, and the other was the below image from the Associated Press taken in 2012 after a coup.  The camo pattern looked like it would be a challenge to paint accurately, so I opted for the all green vehicle. Plus, seeing some whitewall parade tires in use gave me a chuckle and I thought it would be a fun quirk on the table.

The BTR-60 I obtained was the 1/56 Rubicon Models plastic kit from their Vietnam range, which gave you the option to build either the A or B versions. I don't know how accurate the kit is, but the final result gave you a nice wargaming vehicle. The assembly was a a bit fiddly at times, particularly the handrails, but I was able to build it in an evening.  

I didn't have the recommended Vallejo Russian Green 70.894 paint (I'm assuming the Malians left this stock), so did my best to hand mix the color. I think it came out slightly darker and more bluish than it should, particularly after weathering, but not to the point that it was worth repainting.  The Woodland Scenics rub on decals I used for for the vehicle ID were a little too big to get the full 5-digit number (and the wrong font), but I think it captured the overall feel of the real vehicle. I had no photo reference for the other side of the BTR-60, but opted to throw on another whitewall.  For part of the underside weathering, I continued to work on my skills with the AK pigments and solvent. It wasn't perfect, but I think I'm improving.

I bought a 3D print from jjgprint3d.com for the French VAB armored transport. They sell both a 1/56 and 1/50 version of the vehicle for 28mm, and I went with the later larger size.  In addition the size options, you could choose between the machine gun, ambulance and T20 turret models. The kit came as two main body halves (front and back), plus the wheels and turret. It took a little bit of sanding and putty to fill the gaps and hide the worst of the print lines, but nothing too serious.  The detailing wasn't as strong as a plastic model kit, but still very reasonable for a wargaming vehicle.

For the camo pattern application, it appeared to be standardized for all VABs.  I was able to find good photo references for the front and sides,  but I had to make some guesses for the back and top.  The intensity for the green seemed to vary in the photos depending on the lighting conditions, but I stuck with the lighter tone as it appeared in sunnier photos (and my other French vehicles). As with the BTR-60, Woodland Scenics rub on decals were used for the vehicle ID numbers, along with some freehand detailing. I didn't know if the unit markings were correct for the Mali deployment,  but I figured most gamers here in the US wouldn't know one way or the other.

Being in two different scales, there were some size discrepancies between the two vehicles: In reality, the BTR-60 is approximately 0.3 meters taller and wider than the VAB.  Even considering that 12% scale difference, measuring the the BTR-60 model showed it was a little undersized at 1/56 and the VAB as being slightly too tall for 1/50. However, those are nitpicky points and I think both vehicles can de be deployed together without it looking awkward in a game.

Sahel Conflicts: Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie

JJG Print 3D expanded their modern French offerings with a new series of armored vehicles designed by Guaro3d. I took the opportunity to up-gun my Foreign Legion with some support vehicles. First up was the Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie, which was a light wheeled tank/armored reconnaissance vehicle that was used by the FFL from the 1980s through the 2010s. The model can be purchased in 1/56 or 1/50 scale for 28mm gaming, and I went with the larger version. This came out as 10.4cm (not including the gun barrel) x 5.0cm x 4.9cm.

For my vehicle, I based it on the appearance of these ERC-90s seen in western Africa as part Operations Serval and Barkhane, though I didn't have any of the seen stowage to add.

Source: Twitter

Source: Twitter

The kit didn't have all the surface detailing of an injection mold  scale model, but as a wargaming model, the detail was quite respectable. The only missing item that I wish was present on the kit was the machine gun for the turret railing. I didn't have an appropriate machine gun available in the bits box, so had to go without. To create an antenna, I went with some black airplane rigging rather than wire, as I figured the latter was more prone to damage during transport.

For the camo netting, I couldn't find anything in 1/48 scale, so was forced to use 1/35. It looked less refined than I wanted, but for an issue I'll mention shortly, I felt I needed to still use it.

The kit came in three pieces: the turret and two halves of the body, with the wheels printed in place. There were no registration pins to help with positioning and a bit of a gap in some spots, so filling and sanding were needed to get a reasonable seam. 

While the print quality was good overall, there were some issues with the turret that had to be addressed. First up was a missing set of smoke launchers; the green ones were present, but the brown ones only had the mounts and no tubes. I'm not sure if they broke off somewhere or there was an uncaught printing error, but they needed to be recreated. Luckily I was able to do that fairly easily with some plastic rod and paper strips. It wasn't a perfect match, but were close enough that I think  they wouldn't be noticed on the table.

The major issue with the turret was a pronounced upward curve of the gun barrel. I tried reshaping it multiple times using heat and weights, and while I made improvements, I could never get it to remain straight long term. After eventually breaking it with my efforts, I gave up and opted to fill the dip with camouflage netting.  While you can still spot the issue when you get down to tabletop level,  I felt it was much less noticeable from the usual players' vantage. 

 Overall, I'm happy with the final results and am looking forward to seeing how it performs on the table. 

Sahel Conflicts: Insurgent Heavy Weapons

 My terrorist force for Mali continues to expand with the addition of some more heavy weapons.

First up is a mortar team, designed by Quartermaster 3D for their Iraqi line, and printed by JJG Print 3D. The set comes with two figures, but I've added a third crew member sine that's the standard for Bolt Action. I've also included a sperate spotter to call in strikes from his cell phone. 

The DShK heavy machine gun was also procured from the same source as above. The kit only includes one crewman, so I have again bumped it up to three members, and also added a resin ammo crate I had.

Lastly is a second technical, this time from Empress Miniatures. Rather that get another heavy machine gun, I opted for the ZU-23 anti-aircraft gun. You have a few head options available for the crew, but I didn't think any looked right for my force. Using a photo of Malian militia on motorbikes as inspiration, I opted to use plastic heads from Warlord's 8th Army and Natal Natives sprues. I didn't glue the ZU-23 into the truck, so it can be shifted around in the bed to indicate the correct firing arc, and also deployed independently.

While I like the ZU-23 model, I have to admit I was underwhelmed with the truck and found it lacking in detail when compared to my Footsore technical. The Empress truck includes no side mirrors (mine came from the bits box), there is no detailing in the truck bed (added in some plasticard), and the rear bumper needed a step (plasticard again). In my opinion, that's poor showing from Empress. 

Rather than being based on the common Toyota Land Cruiser 70 series like the Footsore counterpart, this technical is built on a smaller truck frame (maybe a 90's era SR5?). Compared to the Footsore truck, the width and length aren't too significantly different.

However, what is significantly different is the height of the cab. While the Empress technical does sit closer to the ground with smaller wheels, it feels like a 28mm figure would never fit inside the cab.

Here is a kneeling heroic 28mm figure (same size range as Empress' own miniatures) and as you can see, the figure would be bumping his head against the ceiling even without accounting for a seat.  In my opinion, this is a really irksome design error that makes the technical look undersized on the table when placed next to other vehicles.

In conclusion, I give a big thumbs up to the Quartermaster 3D figures, but find myself once again disappointed with the Empress moderns. It's a real shame, as I have figures from their other ranges and absolutely love them. 

Sahel Conflicts: French Special Forces and Malian Army

The western aligned forces have expanded again, with the addition of elements from the French 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (1er R.P.I.Ma) and the Malian Army.

First up is a special forces version of the VLRA truck from JJG Print 3D. This is a fairly large vehicle, approximately 12cm long and 4.5cm wide, when printed in 1/50 scale. A 1/56 version is also available. 

The crew is sold separately, and to fit the figures in the cab, you will need to trim back the feet and also temporarily cut out the steering wheel to position the driver.

Despite JJG packing the box well, the trip across the Atlantic still resulted in a lot of breakage, with all of the guns and side mirrors being broken off, and 3 out of 4 wheels also broken. The front assembly took the worst of it, being shattered into 5 sperate pieces before I pinned it back together (I also got the rear tire glued on incorrectly at first, though I finally noticed and fixed it on the final model). JJG did include some extra machine guns and mirrors, which helped significantly with repairs. The only item I couldn't put back together was one of the handles on the grenade launcher, so I did my best to build a new one out of wire. 

One very odd thing about the crew is they are undersized, being only 25mm foot to eye (89% of the 28mm infantry figures). I don't know if this was due to a printing error or if it's intentional to fit the 1/56 version of the truck, but I felt the final visual of the figures in the 1/50 truck was poor when compared to the P4 and the infantry.

The smaller size also caused some issues in placing the figures in the truck, particularly for the grenade launcher turret. The gunner wouldn't seat properly, so I ended up placing him with the rear machine gun and adding an extra P4 crewmember I bought near the turret (who still had to stand on a box to be tall enough). That said, I think it won't be immediately noticeable when looking down at the table.

For the special forces infantry, I went with a 6-man squad along with a 2-man sniper team from JJG.  These were also damaged in transit, with all but one barrel broken and replaced by wire.

For aesthetic reasons, I decided to only use Multicam on the uniforms, and left the webbing and other gear in plain green and earth tones. In my attempt at Multicam, I used the following paint recipe: 

Base: Vallejo 819 Iraqi Sand

Large spots: Vallejo 988 Khaki

Small Spots: Vallejo 875 Beige Brown and Vallejo 893 US Dark Green mixed with AK 3024 Light Green

Squiggles: Vallejo 918 Ivory and 822 Camouflage Black/Brown

Wash: Vallejo Mecha 521 Oiled Earth mixed with Vallejo Mecha 522 Desert Sand

The 6-man team consists of 3 standard HK 416 rifleman, a minimi machine gunner, a grenadier with a M203 under-barrel launcher, and a final rifleman with a Benelli M4 shotgun.

The sniper team consists on one member with a PGM Hecate II anti-material rifle, and the other with the HK 417 marksmen rifle. I've attempted to camouflage both guns according to real world examples.

Next up are members of the Malian armed forces. I couldn't find any African figures with the appropriate equipment mix I wanted, so I opted to use Eureka Afghan National Police, along with an insurgent leader from JJG. This resulted in a few figures with facial hair, bit I'm hoping it doesn't look too out of place. 

There are quite a few different camouflage patterns in use in Mali, but I opted for Centre Europe Woodland and a light DPM, which I have seen deployed together in photos.

Woodland:

Vallejo 884 Stone Grey, 893 US Army Green, 871 Leather Brown, 950 Black washed with Vallejo Mecha 521 Oiled Earth mixed with 522 Desert Sand

DPM:

Vallejo 971 Green Grey, 896 Extra Dark Green, 822 Camouflage Black/Brown washed with Secret Weapon Green Black

While I am considering adding a Malian BRDM-2 in the future, this will effectively close out my forces for this side and I'll be focusing on more insurgents moving forward.

Sahel Conflicts: More Insurgents and Journalists

 The last of my insurgents are now ready for the table.

This batch of insurgent infantry comes from The Assault Group's terrorist line rather than than the Africa irregulars, as I thought both the clothing and sculpting style was a better match for my current miniatures. In addition to the AK equipped members, I grabbed some PK machine gunners and a couple of snipers with SVD-63 Dragunov rifles. Sculpting was good, but I had to do a lot of clean up in the space between the arms and body.  Additionally, all the rifle barrels were badly bent coming out of the packages, and they took a fair amount of work to get straight (and I managed to break one during the process). TAG may want to looking into using thicker foam in their packaging to prevent this.

Next up is the Footsore technical and machine gun with an Empress gunner.  The body of the technical was a well cast resin piece and I had no issues with the primer and paint sticking to it.  Detail parts were white metal, and you got a variety of options, not all of which I used here. 

As Toyota seems to be the king of technicals, I used some Woodland Scenics dry rub decals to add the company name.  They were a bit fiddly to apply compared to wet decals, but I think the final effect is acceptable.

I also added some brass rod clippings to look like spent shell casings in the truck bed.

Finally, I painted up a few Empress journalists to use as objective markers during games. The sculpting of the main reporter's face unfortunately looked a bit like Voldemort with its very flat nose, but what are you going to do. The "Press" wording was added to his vest using more of the dry rub decals.

The journalist figures were another of the oversized type Empress is releasing in their modern range. As you can see below, this supposed 28mm figures is almost 33mm to the eye when on its base. I'll just have to say it's a Dutch news crew if anyone comments on the height.

Which brings me to the next question, how do all these ranges in my force compare to one another?

Left to Right: The Assault Group, Footsore (no cast base), Empress (base removed), Empress (base removed), Eureka

Left to Right: The Assault Group, Footsore (no cast base), Empress (base removed), Eureka

Left to Right: The Assault Group, Empress (base removed), Footsore (no cast base), Eureka

As you can see, there was some height variability among the Empress figures, and with the bases removed it was hit or miss on if they would still tower over the other miniatures. Figure bulk varied across the brands, with Footsore being on the thin side, Eureka somewhere in the middle, and Empress and TAG being a bit more hefty. Weapon sizes were fairly close across all the brands. With the unifying paint jobs and basing, I think they we will generally look good en mass, with perhaps just a few figures that shouldn't be put in the same units.

With that, it is now time to start on the French Foreign Legion force to counteract them.