6mm Neo-NATO and Neo -Soviet SF forces

Having done some wargamer-scale "dabbling" in 1/300th Moderns for a while now (erm... 3 whole large armies and a lot of eBay fishing...) I'd been strangely drawn to the idea of supplementing the increasingly futuristic looking tanks and rather indistinct infantry with some SF Mechs and Walkers.

This new habit started with an unusually restrained initial outing at Warfare 2014 where I picked up a handful of Mechs and Walkers from Ground Zero Games. But then... I caved in and did some online shopping...

Now, 2 years later, it's all gone SF mad!

There are now two full pages and loads of photos of this stuff being painted and fully finished for you to browse on this website.

Of course, I have no rules yet but with Salute! coming up I think I will be investing in Horizon Wars (the new Osprey set), and possibly probably FWC as well.

Mainforce 6mm British infantry in 1980's DPM

Out of the many painting projects I have been avoiding, these Mainforce prone infantry for CWC have somehow made it to the top of the pile along with a handful of T90's.

See how I managed to generate fairly convincing DPM cammo in 6mm on prone figures here!

Me(c)h..

We've all done it, right? picked up some nice-looking models with one aim in mind, and ended up going off on a tangent that may end up being a new ruleset, army and scale?

Well, at Warfare this year I picked up some spider drones from GZG to see if they would work as unusual mechanical spiders for my Ramos Crew for Malifaux, plus a couple of walker drones to cannibalize and make a Mobile Toolkit for the same crew.

However, having scratchbuilt/modded the Mobile Toolkit fairly successfully, I had a couple of spare walkers and I was also a little unconvinced by the Spider Drones - they were just a bit too big really for the look I wanted. One of them is going to end up becoming a Brass Arachnid for Ramos (as it only seems to be available in a box set and I already have all of the other figures in it) but that left 5 spare ones.

So, the idea of having some NATO and WARPAC walkers to add to my Cold War Commander armies started to crystallize... sort of a "Weird World War III" thing going on, or possibly more realistically a gateway drug to 6mm Sci-Fi gaming. A bit of discussion with the ever helpful folks on the BKC/CWC Forum later and the idea started to take shape...

Anyways, these are the initial results:

NATO Combat Walker carefully avoids stepping on a greenhouse.

3-tone NATO cammo helps them blend in...

Well, sort of. I think it's this one from Ground Zero Games 6mm Future Wars range.

Walker supported by NATO 6mm infantry

Parked up next to a Leopard II

Parked and blurred (sorry)

A Russian-build 6-legged Spider Walker opens up on NATO infantry at close range

The Russian scientists had initially found that making a 6-legged walker was a huge technical challenge, however given their role as "the baddies" they felt it was worth persevering with the more sinister and evil look the 6-leg articulation gave the walker, and eventually the Spider Crab Walker was born.

Originally called the Spider Walker by NATO, it was renamed the Spider Crab Walker in recognition of many Russians rather unseemly love of sushi.

The bright green night vision searchlight allows the Spider Crab Walker to be effective in all weather conditions, as well as allowing it to hide effectively under beds.

Walkers and H&R AFVs and infantry

The idea of having Walkers in the same force as an M60 just amuses me ....

The Heroics & Ros Rapier Unit - assembled

Having needed a Rapier battery for some time to round out my Modern British force for Cold War Commander, I finally got round to buying a Heroics & Ros Rapier unit at Warfare 2013. This had sat in my to-do pile for some time as I puzzled how to put it together....

... and so eventually I asked for help from the nice people on the BKC Forum. Clearly several other people have been through the same thought process, and so I posted some instructions on this site to help explain how to put it together. Here is the outcome:

NATO armour in 1/300th scale

Just to prove that I've not been doing Xmassy things relentlessly for the last few weeks to the exclusion of painting and gaming, here are some pictures of NATO 1/300th scale armour that I've been working on earlier this year and only just gotten round to photographing.

The Brits !

Leopard II command unit

Retro-style M60 

1/300th Modern British on eBay

I'm currently selling some 1/300th scale modern British on eBay - photos of the chaps here. Click any photo to go to the auction for more details:

Scimitars and Scorpions

The complete force

Sultan CVT Command vehicles

MRLS and Artillery 

 Warrior IFV's 

Scorpions and Artillery 

Swingfire launchers

Scorpions and some Ferrets

Quite a tidy little force of mechanised infantry really...click here for the auction, which ends on Sunday 9th December

More 1/300th Modern stuff

This time it's Taliban infantry and softskins (including some scarily good GHQ "Technical" models) and a Syrian army as well - all refurbished using some ArmyPainter tinted varnish from an original base colour of a spray coating of dark sand.

6mm USMC Infantry - lying down !

Here's a load of photos of the rather clever Mainforce 6mm infantry from Magister Militum.

They are modern infantry which are a lot more bulky than most of the other manufacturers in this scale, but uniquely they have been cast mostly laying down - which makes them a lot more robust than any other infantry out there.

This lot are part of the repaint job I'm doing for someone with lots of 1990's USMC - including the helos

Inking 1/300th scale models..

I'm in the middle of doing a highly complex trade in which I've agreed to tart up some 1/300th scale USMC for someone, in exchange for a whole set of 1/300th West German tanks (that of course I don't really need).

This gives me a chance to show some "before" and "after" photos which I reckon are quite interesting..

This is an AAV7 which has been based and sprayed in an overall sand colour. I've then "manually" painted the tracks - fairly roughly - in a dark grey.

I used the same dark grey which I picked for the wheels of the Humvee's in this force, on the basis that painting "black" tyres creates a visual effect that is a lot less forgiving should you be unable to paint perfect circles (like, erm, everyone), or where the models castings are a bit indistinct. By painting them in grey any wobbly-hand syndrome mistakes seem to disappear as if by magic at the next stage.... which is:

..the now traditional Army Painter Quickshade Dark Tone wash. Quite a difference eh? But still not really table-top ready. 

How about doing some detailing, then drybrushing with GW Bleached Bone and adding some sand for basing next ? 

OK, this is a slightly different model, but after a coat of Testors Dullcote varnish I think this is not at all shabby for a 4-stage process.

Here are some infantry (from Magister Militum) done the same way. 

And here they are together..

Right, time to get back to the painting table... !