Rhodesian Bush War

I'm currently working on a commision for Mutineer Miniatures with their 20mm African Militia range so in the same vein I thought I'd post some pictures of my Rhodesian forces that I've had for some time. Mutineer's African's work well as ZANLA or ZIPRA and below are some pictures of their nemises in the shape of RLI, Selous Scouts and Greys Scouts. There's a few diferences in my style now compared to these older figures, they will be getting tarted up and brought up to standard. Dougie

A 4 man RLI Stick, Liberation Miniatures, the metal on the weapons are painted in my old style which I'm now not happy with so they'll be getting updated.

Greys Scouts, Liberation figures converted with WW2 Cossacks! The figure on the right is nearly all sculpted by my goodself using a Liberation head on a wire armature. These figures are sporting the old gunmetal as well as my old basing, you can also see the old matt varnish I used which wasn't very matt, if you compare with the figures above you can see the difference.

There's a lot been written about the Selous Scouts and there's a lot of misconseptions about their role, to a certain extent this is courtesy of the Rhodesian Military who fronted the Scouts as a tracker unit with their PR people and the vast majority of photos you see have them in uniform examining spoor. Their main role was pseudo-guerilla work and the unit was mixed race with black african soldiers essential. On Ops white soldiers always wore "black is beautiful" face paint to blend in with their black colleagues. Towards the end of the war the Scouts did take part in a more conventional role in the large cross border ops.
Op. Virile in 1977 was a cross border raid into Mozambique to destroy bridges at Dombe and Espungabera, the Scouts had a converted civillian bus with a 12.7mm DShK mounted in the roof rack hidden by drop down screens and two .50 cals at the rear. The "passengers" were 10 African Scouts and 3 white Scouts.
The 3 white scouts wearing pseudo terr gear and "black is beautiful". The bear chested figure was a large conversion around a Liberation figure, again these will need "tarting up".

 The Bus

"The" book about the Scouts, "Selous Scouts Top Secret War" by Lt.Col. Ron Reid Daly

Mutineer Miniatures African Militia

Thought I'd post a couple of figures that I'm doing for a large commission, the excellent 20mm African Militia range from Mutineer Miniatures, link here;
http://mutineer-miniatures.org.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=20
The figs below are from the boy warriors AK47 pack.
Usable for lots of African conflicts, West Side Boys perhaps. Dougie

Falklands UKSF Plt Sgt

Another great Liberation Miniatures figure, I've added an M79 grenade launcher, he'll be helping out at Top Malo House. Dougie

20mm African Flesh Tutorial

Here's how I do African Flesh in 20mm, again a 3 shade tecnique going from darkest to lightest. The figure in question is one of the superb African Boy soldiers from Mutineer Miniatures.

1. The figure based and primed in matt black.

2. Shadow flesh blocked in leaving some black showing in the deepest shadows, eye sockets etc., using Vallejo Model Color 822 German Cam Black Brown.

3. Flesh tone blocked in leaving some of the darker shade showing, the colour is Vallejo Model Color 872 Chocolate Brown.

4. A highlight colour is mixed using 50% 872 Chocolate Brown and 50% Vallejo Model Color 874 US Tan Earth and applied to the very highest highpoints.

5. Combine Vallejo Model Color 802 Sunset Red with a touch of 874 US Tan Earth and paint the bottom lip. Paint the hair, black normaly but the West Side Boys did sport some interesting dyed hair shades. You're done!

20mm European Flesh Tutorial

Here's my current method of painting european flesh on a 20mm figure. The guy in question is a Liberation Miniatures 20mm UKSF trooper from the Falklands, the fig is slightly converted, I've added the M79 grenade launcher. On 20mm I use a 3 shade method painting from darkest to lightest shade. Just to clarify I haven't forgot to paint his hands, he'll be wearing fingerless gloves so I've only painted fingers and thumbs! Dougie

1. The figure has been based and primed matt black

2. Shadow flesh added, this is Vallejo Game Color 44 Dark Flesh, I never add eyes on 20mm figures for personal choice, you need to be covering the flesh areas with this colour leaving the black undercoat in the deepest darkest areas, eye sockets, sides of nose. Also leave the bottom lip and any hair.

3. Main Flesh added, this is Foundry Flesh Shade 5A, block in the facial areas again but leave some of the shadow showing in the deeper areas.

4. Highlight flesh added, this is Vallejo Game Color 4 Elf Flesh, paint the highpoints, bridge and tip of nose, top lip if you can see it, highest point of cheeks, ears, edge of jaw and chin.

5. Bottom lip painted Vallejo Model Color 802 Sunset Red and hair painted to your preference and you're done.

Painting a Mastiff

Guys, thought I'd put this tutorial on as I've had a few requests asking about my vehicle painting. First off I'd say get a copy of "FAQ AFV painting tecniques" by Mig Jimenez, or the newer "FAQ2 also by Mig. Now these books are expensive but they are worth the investment and your vehicle painting will improve! If the price puts you off get a copy of AFV Modeller Issue 59, this has a great article by Mig on how he painted a Panther II and covers most of the necessary tecniques. On to the Mastiff, a Britannia model, no appologies for being long winded its the way I paint Dougie
The beast as supplied

Assembled, all I've added are antenna bases and 2 wire cutters, made from brass angle iron.

Primed with Halfords grey spray primer

Base colour on Hannants Xtracrylix XA1813 British Gulf Armour Lt. Stone BS361

Highlights sprayed on, the above colour lightened, I know its difficult to see on the photo but it was done, honest

Filter applied, Sin Industries Brown Filter

Pin Wash using Mig Dark Wash

Very light drybrushing followed by chipping with Vallejo 822 SS Cam Black Brown


Details painted, wheels, windows, straight bars


Windows masked

Based, figures added, aerials attached, and given pigment treatment, dust applied, Tamiya Buff, finished at last

Terrain Tutorial

This tutorial is the system I use for all my Terrain boards and features. The idea behind the common system is so that everything, figures/buildings/vehicles all key in. The colours described are for use in my current Helmand Project but are easily adaptable. For boards and terrain bases I use varying thicknesses of mdf. The tutorial follows the basing of an Afghan Compound but is true for any terrain feature or board.

What you need:
Play Sand
5 X Terrain Colours
Rock Debris
Grass/tufts
Wood Glue

Play Sand - This is well play sand, if you're near a fine sandy beach use that.
Terrain Colours - Dulux Matt emulsion paint in the following colours, Rich Praline 2, Treacle Tart 1, Dutch Gold 2, Sundrenched Saffron 4 and Moroccan Sands 6. Any Dulux mixing centre can mix you these, B&Q in the UK is a good place to start.
Rock Debris - Woodland Scenics Talus in Brown in the following grades, fine, medium, coarse and extra coarse. Mix the grades up in a small container so you get variation.

Grass/tufts - Just one word, SILFOR tufts, I'm not beating the drum here but they are excellent, however you can use any sort of static grass.
Wood Glue - Any!

This compound was built and painted before attaching it to the mdf.
1. Glue the building to the base, I've used white glue.

2. Working very quickly paint a thick layer of your base colour on the base, this is Rich Praline 2.

3. Quickly cover the still wet paint with sand, leave to thoroughly dry, ideally overnight. Bare in mind that if your base is
particularly large you may have to work in sections as the paint drys fairly fast.

4. You can now attach your talus(rock debris) using white glue. Do this randomly, make sure you don't lay it down regularly.

5. When fully dry you can start drybrushing. The bigger the feature the bigger the brush. Darkest to lightest. This shade is
Treacle Tart 1.

6. Dutch Gold 2


7. Sundrenched Saffron 4.


8. Moroccan Sands 6. (Very very light !!!!) I didn't do this level on this piece because I was happy with the colour.
9. Glue on your grass/tufts and you're done. Dougie.

MULTICAM Tutorial

A short tutorial on how I do Multicam in 20mm Dougie. Painting camo uniforms in 20mm is always a bit of a thorny issue. My tecnique has always been to go for the "look" of the camo and lighten colours. Multicam poses a few problems as there's so many colours in the pattern, I've used 6!, so good references are essential, you can find loads on line and "Combat and Survival" magazine is always a good source to check as well. On to the painting, the figure is a 20mm Britannia Infantryman, all colours are Vallejo.
The figure based, primed and flesh done.

The base uniform colour on, Medium Grey 987, highlighted with Buff 976.

The pattern is worked mainly horizontally first colour is English Uniform 921.

Second colour applied, Golden Olive 857.

Smaller disruptive areas of USA Uniform Green 922.

Flecks/swirls of SS Cam Blk/Brown 822.

Small flecks/swirls of white.

Some shots of the figure after details/equipment completed