Some Cold War Research...Canadian Kit (pic heavy)

Hello hello...

Definitely one of my favourite things about this hobby is the chance to go out and research the topic, the history, vehicles, people, etc...I totally love the research...and with the need for research, another excuse to go the Canadian War Museum...

This was a very quick trip to the CWM...long enough to check out Gallery 4 (cold war era)...the Lebreton Gallery (vehicles)...and a chance to get a bite to eat courtesy of the War Museum...I've also included a few other pics from previous visits.

Enjoy.

Close-up-ish of Leopard C2...this is an uparmoured version of the Leopard C1.  If I recall correctly, the Canadian C1 equates to the Leopard A3 or A4.  You can see the lighter green external armour pieces on the turret that were added around 2005 (?...I think)

 

Not so close-up of the C2...

 

A couple more angles of the front end...the Leopard's were operated by the Royal Canadian Dragoons (RCD's) until the mid/late 1980's and then the 8th Hussars took them over...I believe until the return of the brigade to Canada.

2 shots with one...shot...M109 155mm Self Propelled Gun and next to it a Lynx Command and Recce APC...although it looks to have been named the 'M113 1/2' from the manufacturer...to me it was just the Lynx.  Very similar design and 'look' to the standard M113 but a lower silhouette...the forward hatch mounted a .50 caliber mg and the rear hatch mounted a .30 caliber mg...

 

Great view of the BIG GUN...during the Cold War, Canadian artillery units fielded the 109 in the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery regiments...If I recall correctly, 1RCHA was in Germany, 2RCHA was in Petawawa as part of 2CMBG with E Battery designated a jump battery (using pack howitzers), 3RCHA was in Shilo, and 5RALC (RCHA en francais) at Valcartier.  For the most part, RCHA regiments were mechanized, and RCA (Royal Canadian Artillery) were Reserve/Militia units using the 105mm howitzer.

 

105mm Howitzer, used by many Militia units across Canada...this gun occupies a special place in my heart...I earned my capbadge as a young gunner in Shilo some years ago...

 

Front profile view of the 109...NATO tricolour paint scheme

Various views and angles, in and out of light conditions to show the overall colour and a few details for those who OCD over their mini's trying to get all the colours right.

 

Lynx with a 113 on either side...

 

 

M113 in UN colours...

 

side profile of the Lynx...without flash...

...and with flash...on a sunny day there is definitely an abundance of lighting in the Gallery...

 

 

 

front profile view of the Lynx...

close up of the vision blocks at the rear hatch...

close up view of the vision ports at the commanders hatch...

light colours and configuration...

side profile, close up of the paint scheme and the wear pattern...

rear shot of M109 (in background) and a M113 TUA tow under armour (in the foreground)...as you can see with the external tanks, this 113 is an A3 variant 

M577 command track...fairly bare bones...hasn't been fully restored yet 

rear pic, same track...

 

missile turret on the TUA... 

shot of the TUA from the third gallery (ww2)...

close up of the drivers hatch and view ports... 

Some Team Yankee Soviet MR Troops...and a bonus platoon

Howdy folks,

While I haven't posted much last month, I'm trying to make up for it...while I was away from the internets, I was nonetheless heavily engaged fighting through the horde of Soviets on my workbench.  Over the past week or two I managed to finish up the vehicles I needed for a Cold War Soviet MR Company.

The vehicles were from Battlefronts recent Team Yankee line...very nice models; they're all plastic and actually were pretty easy to put together...I think they are the easiest kits I've put together yet.  I even had a fairly easy time with the smoke dischargers on the BMP turret...I totally expected to lose a couple of fist shaped clumps of hair over this...but nope, hairline intact!!

I used the same painting technique for the BMPs that I used for my T72's...base in Tankovy Green, cover over the brightness with quick coat of Vallejo 984...then shaded down 984 for highlights...and then weathering...

The only difference I did with the weathering was to use US Tank Earth after the Beige Brown dry brush...it's a little lighter than the 72's, but it kinda felt right...

Anyhow, enjoy the pics...take care...comments and advice are always encouraged.

 

The MR Troops...BMP2's moving up...

 

side profile shot of 201...when I eventually have a second MR Company, 201 will be promoted to Coy Cmdr...for now, he'll have to troop in 200's shadow

closer view of the shading, weathering, and colour choices for the posterior views...

 

All in all, very happy with these models...they only took about 3 nights/ a couple of movies to put together and the painting only took about 4 nights per box...pretty happy indeed...

 

Oh yeah...I almost forgot...I finished up the SAM masts for my diy Air Defence...pretty simple/barebones paintjob, but they should fit in very nicely in a few battlespaces.

 

 

 

Team Yankee objective...ala 4th Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group

Good day folks,

I'm definitely on the Team Yankee bandwagon...given the era I grew up in, the family history, personal history...any excuse will do.  However, although Team Yankee was always US centric...makes sense, very heavy boots on the ground presence, I have nonetheless elected to try to build my NATO around the Canadian combat brigade that was in Lahr during the timeframe of TY.

The main elements of the 4th Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group comprised the Royal Canadian Dragoons (RCD's with Leopard C1 tanks), the infantry of the Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR's, until mid 1980's) or the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI from mid 1980's onwards) or the Royal Vingt-Deuxieme Regiment (Van Doo's or R22eR)...in support there was the 4th Service Battalion, 4th Combat Engineer Regiment, 1st Royal Canadian Horse Artillery (M109's and air defence detachments)...I apologize as I know I'm missing some details, but this is the main bits off the top of the noggin.

4CMBG comprised of a 'flexible' organization that could be roled and re-roled as a infantry or tank heavy combat group with supporting elements.  So to start this grouping, I decided to paint up the Bannon CP objective in the scheme and markings of a CP from 4CMBG...to get to this point, I made use of an excellent reference site, The Armoured Acorn.

Anywho, hope you enjoy the pics...I've also included some diy update pics of another M577 that I plan on doing up as vehicle 1A modeled after this great pic I found via google:

courtesy of Jason Bobrowich from Canadian Modern Vehicles forum

Bannon's Boys Command Post objective

ala 4CMBG...in this case, the callsign 4 can be either the 4th company/troop/battery from a regiment or the 4th regiment of the Brigade Group...

And now, DIY additions to the Battlefront M577 blister pack:

large stowage bin stored at the back of the vehicle on a storage shelf...camouflage netting adorning both sides and top of the vehicle...as well as scratchbuilt stowage bin on the top.

Getting there...slowly but surely...