Cartel A-Go-Go: Cartel gang completed 17/08/18

[Dr DeAth]

Is I supposed to be Colombia or a no name location?

It's a small country that borders Colombia, called San Bibbliador.   The capital of San Malador and the costal resort of Costa Bibblencia are notable kidnapping tourist hotspots.

[OSHIROmodels]

Resurrecting your drug cartel project? I had no idea you had one!

That hanger looks good, are those self cut trusses?

It was discussed at one of the Woking BLAM's but never got any further (apart from Mark buying figures  ).

All self cut of course  MDF though but don't tell anyone 

You won't be able to tell once it's complete.

cheers

James

[Sir_Theo]

Just started watching Narcos, I'll follow this with interest!

[Captain Blood]

Just finished watching Narcos... Great series - but grim times Can see the appeal of the 1970's/80's setting though...
The hangar looks brilliant.

You'll be able to use some of San Antonio de Bejar for the Narcos' haciendas too 

[OSHIROmodels]

The hangar looks brilliant.

You'll have gussed why the planes are for now 

cheers

James

[Elk101]

You'll have gussed why the planes are for now 

cheers

James

Almost immediately!   

Mdf or not, a hanger kit pack would be great. Ive been after a decent looking hanger for a while and I can't be the only one.

[Malamute]

You'll be able to use some of San Antonio de Bejar for the Narcos' haciendas too 

It's also a good excuse to build some more.

[uti long smile]

Right up my street! Lovely stuff.

[Silent Invader]

I recollect a discussion at a BLAM. Glad to see it coming together 

You'll also be needing a mini with a chainsaw 

[Overlord]

Looking forward to seeing this develop.  I recall the original mention of this.  5 years ago? 

Ok, some suggestions please for generic South American style government troops and a colonel type cigar smoking character?

Close but no cigar!  Copplestone Trooper Officer (FW35): https://www.copplestonecastings.co.uk/prod.php?prod=23


The TAG range has a number of possibilities for various factions in the Up Country ('Nam), African Irregular and Modern western civilian and corporate ranges: http://www.theassaultgroup-shop.co.uk/ultra-modern
Including a bald bloke in shades on the phone: "Si Senor, the penthouse has unrivalled views of the beach" 


Spectre Miniatures may have some, though most would be too modern: https://www.spectreminiatures.com/

The hangar looks good.  Very tempting to build one if some of the components were available somewhere....
No idea where I would store it though.

This is likely too big for what you have in mind... (Length: 16".  Wingspan: 12".  Height (To top of tail): 5")
Disney  Cars 2  toy jet aircraft:




You might need a bigger hangar... 

[OSHIROmodels]

No plane is too big 

Was it really five years ago? Don't time fly 

cheers

James

[dinohunterpoa]

GREAT excuse to collect new minis and build tons of scenery, truly a master plan worth of those masterminded gentlemen!  ,

Overlord, is that plane the one featured in a wargames magazine article years ago about spy-fi games?

Ok, some suggestions please for generic South American style government troops and a colonel type cigar smoking character?

[Malamute]

Thanks for the suggestions Paul. That Copplestone General is spot on for El Presidente.

[carlos marighela]

A few suggestions, take what you want from them.

The most climactic period of the drug wars in Colombia were the mid-eighties through to the early '90s. That's yer classic Medellin cartel, Cali Cartel period. El Patron, the bombings etc and also the most active period for the yanquis as well. Fear not, plenty of big porn moustaches. In fact, there still are to this day. I know this is 'loosely based on' ( a bit like Narcos) Colombia but Colombia in the late eighties is a good start point.

The Colombian Army at the time was wielding G-3s and mostly wore a leopard spot camo, in the nineties they moved into US woodland uniforms and started sporting Galils. That said they received a shit load of US weapons, M16s, M60s etc and the SF and elite intervention and anti-narcotics brigades tended to use M16s. Of course a scenario  'based on..' means you could use anything Western. Outside of Peru and contemporary Venezuela, you won't find any Eastern bloc weapons in use by the security forces. The national police would tend to OG uniforms and favoured an odd sort of bush hat with one side pinned up.

The TAG Vietnam range Special Forces would be a good choice. Another option might be Parkfield but on the whole, they weren't wearing tin hats in anti-narco ops. I've backdated Eureka's USMC Force Recon with some weapon swaps so they are another option. The old Wargames Factory survivor sets are great sources for the spares box.

If you want G-3s then you could use Bundeswehr as proxies but probably a better option would be the Eureka Portuguese with head swaps.

Eureka's African ranges are also a good source for narcos. Loads of civvy/ semi civvy clad types wielding AK-47s and Eureka's moderns are simply the best sculpts available, a world removed from the others. By the by, there are significant populations of Afro-descendent in South America. Colombia has a large Afro-Colombian population, especially in the coastal regions. Fortunately, the features are so subtle they paint up as non-Africans.

Your country, your rules but remember that Colombia, like the other cocaine producing nations is Andean. So the popular trope of palm trees and the tropics is a bit off.  Medellin, which is a wonderful city to visit, is known as the city of eternal spring and it averages about 24C year round.  Yes, it's tropical on the coast but whilst it may be where drugs are shipped they aren't grown there.

Mexican adobe isn't especially appropriate. From what I've seen, narco bosses favoured new built and glitzy for their fincas.  It was about showing off and displaying their power. Escobar's Hacienda Napoles famously featured a bull ring, a zoo with hippos,  a shed chock full of vintage cars and a dinosaur park with gigantic ferro-concrete dinosaurs.

If you are looking at more humble dwellings then the building material of choice across the region is the terracotta brick, which is essentially a clay breeze block, hollow in the centre. The hillside barrios in places like Medellin are a sea of them, usually tin roofed.

If you want suitable planes then Italeri recently came out with a 1/48 Cessna and Testor's do a Learjet in the same scale. Both can be picked up for around ten to fifteen quid.

[OSHIROmodels]

We're gonna make it up as we go along