Imperial Sunset- 20mm Early War in the Far East

[Iain R]

AKA Bungle in the Jungle.

Got a bit sidetracked from the Ardennes this weather. The only thing that's sparking any interest in me of late has been the Malayan campaign (and the associated falls of Hong Kong and Singapore). Rather than try to fight it, I decided to indulge it, in order to at least paint something...

This'll hopefully be quite a limited project at present, with a (currently) under-strength infantry platoon, supported by a couple of choice odds and sods.

Some AB Western Desert troops transferred to the eastern fringes of the Empire. Will probably need to get some more to make up gaps in the platoon HQ and weapons teams.



This Zvezda 2pdr went together like a dream (aside from the sight not aligning with the corresponding gap in the gunshield, but I think that's on me, and I forsee some surgery required to get an AB gunner to sit in place...) the ACE Austin 8HP... not so much. To be honest I'd probably have been aswell whittling the parts from wood. Still, it's done now (though looking at some of those panel gaps, this was clearly a Friday afternoon completion at Longbridge...) Some work on the folded hood will be required to accommodate a rear seat passenger, and I'm still debating whether to glaze the windscreen seperately and attach it after painting, or do it just now and try to mask it carefully...



(I am now looking with trepidation at the vast pile of ACE British staff cars I have amassed in the stash.)

[Hu Rhu]

A nice start to the project.  Will be following this with interest. Will you be using AB models for the Japanese as well?

[Iain R]

Nah, there are no AB Japanese. My usual opponent (hah!) already has a Japanese force (done with plastics); aimed more for late war Burma, but they'll do in a pinch for the sake of getting the dice rolling... as and whdn we're allowed.

I'll be doing a late war British force for Burma in the future.

[Iain R]

WIP on the test figure for the colour scheme, and coincidentally my first foray into painting AB Figures.

Quite happy with the overall colour scheme, not sure if I'll persevere with the blancoed webbing, though, as apparently it accelerated rotting of the webbing in the jungle climate, however, sources for the campaign seen to suggest examples of blancoed webbing, scrubbed webbing, painted webbing and untreated webbing. Between this and his peely-wally knees, he's clearly a recent arrival...



Just need to crack on and actually paint some units now, individual figures do not a wargames army make...

[gamer Mac]

Nice start
I was looking at the ACE staff car kits but thought they were very expensive
What do you think are they worth it?

[Iain R]

Errr... suppose it depends how much you're paying for it? I got this one for less than £8 (and the hard top version for under £9, I think the bigger Humber ones are a couple of quid more). To be honest I don't feel that's mega pricey, the way I see it, they're subjects no one else makes, at least not in plastic, and for me I'm happier to pay a bit for the ease of working with a plastic kit (even a ropey one), over pissing about with resin or white metal.

[moiterei_1984]

That’s a fine looking chap! Can’t go wrong with AB. What manufacturer are you going to use for the Japanese?

[Unlucky General]

Excellent project and an almost entirely overlooked theatre of operations. Dutch, colonial troops, Chinese (not in Malaya but within the general theatre) Aussies, Indians and Kiwis and I'm sure I've left some out. Looking forward to it and in THE right scale also.
What rules?

[Iain R]

Cheers guys!

That’s a fine looking chap! Can’t go wrong with AB. What manufacturer are you going to use for the Japanese?

My regular opponent has that particular issue to contend with. I think he has a load of old bendy plastics stashed away somewhere (we've been planning on doing Burma 44-45 for years now...) but he'd honestly prefer something better. There are a couple of options, but I think ideally we'll hold out for St. Tony to do a range!

Excellent project and an almost entirely overlooked theatre of operations. Dutch, colonial troops, Chinese (not in Malaya but within the general theatre) Aussies, Indians and Kiwis and I'm sure I've left some out. Looking forward to it and in THE right scale also.
What rules?

Yep, loads of different troop options to consider beyond just the Brits, I quite fancy doing some Indian troops with a mountain gun for support...

Intending to use Battlegroup (no specific supplement for early Far East yet, so I'm working of the existing books and historical OsOB to represent a plausible force).

[genew492]

Eureka, Early War Miniatures and 1/72Scale all carry 20mm Japanese.

[Iain R]

So, where's this project sitting right now?

Current state of play has me with a small force to paint as follows-



Forward HQ- Austin 8 staff car (figures to follow)
Under strength British infantry platoon
2 pounder anti-tank gun
Vickers MMG team
3" Mortar team
Boys Anti-tank Rifle team

...and that's pretty much as much as I want to do. I will do some crap air power in the form of a Brewster Buffalo and a Supermarine Walrus (conjectural for Hong Kong), and do quite fancy doing an Indian artillery team with a 3.7" mountain gun. I'm swithering about an Indian infantry section to bring the platoon to full strength, and potentially an ancient armoured car (Rolls Royce or Lanchester) and maybe a Universal Carrier or two (tremble at the armoured might of Malaya Command...)

The 2 pounder is actually the second one I've done for this project; I butchered the first one with a wash of Agrax Earthshade that went wrong (I had to dry something different, didn't I?). It was easier to just build another one than try to strip it. Crew are also underway off camera...

[Iain R]

Crap air power!

Fortuitously this auction ended on my break at work, and I was able to get a last minute bid in. Nostalgia beckons...

[gamer Mac]

I presume you are playing CoC?
Why do you need planes, scenery?
Can we get a closer picture of your staff car,
Did you manage to fit the AB gunner to the 2lbs?
I used the gunner that came with the kit and he was a nightmare!
As you said it was a lovely well engineered kit went together like a dream, even though I had been putting off building it for years.
But trying to fit the traverse wheel between the legs of the seated gunner was impossible.
keep up the good work

[Iain R]

I presume you are playing CoC?
Why do you need planes, scenery?
Can we get a closer picture of your staff car,
Did you manage to fit the AB gunner to the 2lbs?
I used the gunner that came with the kit and he was a nightmare!
As you said it was a lovely well engineered kit went together like a dream, even though I had been putting off building it for years.
But trying to fit the traverse wheel between the legs of the seated gunner was impossible.
keep up the good work

Cheers.

No, not for CoC (Chain of Command, I'm guessing?) intended for Battlegroup, which is an all-arms encompassing ruleset, allows you to get esoteric stuff like engineers, logistics, aircraft, etc on the table, so will be a  on-board representation of air support in play.

I'll get a couple of close-ups of the staff car tomorrow.

AB gunner fits fine, however you need to leave off the elevation and traverse wheels to slot him into place. I'd imagine that would probably be the same for the kit gunner, too.

[Iain R]

Can we get a closer picture of your staff car,

There you go