Kit for Rhodesia

[CarlLeyland]

Hi,

 I was wondering if the Alouette helicopter from  AMERCOM magazine would be OK for Rhodesia? These can be picked up on ebay and maybe someone has used them? Any advice or tips would be good as I am no kit builder....this was my lazy option.

What other pieces of kit would you recommend for a start up Rhodesian force?

Thanks

[Westfalia Chris]

Hi Carl,

the Amercom Alouette looks quite nice, and being a diecast kit, will induce much less swearing than the Heller kits I used for mine. 

Generally, if you want to do Rhodesia proper, Sandsmodelsdo a nice-looking range of resin kits, especially useful for the more unique, homebrewed MAPVs. I haven't actually built any of those, but will definitely get a number of their Unimogs at some time.

In injection plastic, there are far less useful kits around these days. The AML armoured cars by ACE are getting increasingly hard to find and are no easy kits when it comes to assembly.

For civvy vehicles, I've mentioned the Oxford Diecast stuff, although they are quite short on the Japanese types which, AFAIK, were rather common in Rhodesia in the 1970s. Depends on how focused you want to be - one of the reasons I went "ImagiNation style" is that I wanted to use what I liked rather than painstakingly reconstruct a historical precedent.

Essentially, though, it should be more of an infantryman's war, and although I'm aware it sounds strange coming from me, one shouldn't overdo it in the vehicle department. That said, a flight of Alouettes dropping RLI troopers at the start of the game will certainly look the part.

[CarlLeyland]

Thanks for the info Chris, it is good to know the helicopter will be acceptable...finding a door gunner etc will be a challenge but I may buy a couple anyway.
SandS do seem to have the Scorpions ( I have wanted one since I saw a pic on here). I also have an Oxford die cast bus on order which is I believe due to one of your pics on here...a pattern is emerging.
An imaginary nation may be the way I end up going as even google seems a little sparse on photos and the book list is not huge-the best source so far has been on here and the FoF Bush Wars book.

[Arlequín]

Truth told a Bedford RL with a couple of sections of RR reservists, or two Landrovers and some Intaf guys, versus half a dozen 'Terrs' and you've covered about 95% of the actions in the War.

 

The more sexy stuff was largely confined to cross-border ops and of course Fireforce. In 20mm Sands has or will have almost everything you need before long, they seem to have gone on board with this in a big way.

As you can imagine in a fifteen year conflict things changed... most of the unusual vehicles appeared from about '75 onwards, along with the Unimogs and Mazda trucks etc to replace the Bedfords. 'Plain vehicles' started to disappear from ops in about '74 after land mine use became a pandemic, rather than an occasional hazard. Even plain vehicles had doors removed and a 'lid' replaced roofs, so that blast wouldn't be contained in the cab.

JWH has a 'Rhodesian wargaming blog' which is well worth a look. He was a subaltern in the RAR at the end of the war and has shared a load of pictures and other info. Nice guy and very approachable, as I'm sure Ash will confirm.

There are a few more guys out there with blogs relating to Rhodesia and their service, usually with loads of stories and photos. As with any vet, some tales are taller than others... but nevertheless well worth digging around for.

The 'Imagi-Nation' route is the low-drag option of course and does indeed give you a get-out as regards the hard-work (and it is hard-work). I'd offer the alternative of the ZDF in Mozambique's Civil War, fighting alongside the MPLA versus Renamo if you fancy something different, or even the 'Congo War' of the late '90s if you really want a diverse range of vehicles and forces to include.   

[The Travelling Man]

If you're serious about Rhodesia you need Peter Cooke's book Fighting Vehicles and Weapons of Rhodesia 1965-1980 http://www.rhodesia.com/book.html as it covers literally every variant of every vehicle and weapon system in use.

[CarlLeyland]

Thanks for the pointers and especially the links Arlequin and Travelling man! It looks like this "period" will be the one I settle on....the Blog did it for me-and the SLRs on the figures, I used one of these back in the early 80's and it is so nice to see them well depicted in miniature.
The Bedfords will be easy enough to find as will the 25 Pdr but what crew would you use? I did not see any on the Under Fire website though it was just a quick look.
Thanks again for the information.

[CarlLeyland]

Sorry to spam this with questions but did the Rhodesians use the French armoured car AML 60/90? I see pics here and there but I am not sure what I am looking at...also does anyone make these in 20MM? I have seen the Peter Pig one which looks amazing but never one in 1/72 1/76.
Again, thank you.

[The Travelling Man]

Crew from S&S- generic with separate heads including bare heads and caps, beards etc

http://sandsmodelsshop.com/product-category/172-modern-figures/

AMLs produced by ACE- hard to obtain but not impossible or in much higher quality by Model Miniature

http://www.model-miniature.com/product.php?id_product=369
http://www.model-miniature.com/product.php?id_product=73

Good review of ACE kit here;

http://coldwargamer.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/review-model-ace-172-aml-90-armoured-car.html?m=1

[carlos marighela]

Well if you are doing it in 20mm the Amercom Alouette is probably the way to go. In 28mm there's no need to swear at the awful 1/50 Fujimi kit, there' a diecast from Solido available. Eureka do produce a resin, metal and vac formed Alouette but it's back in swearing territory. Pretty much everything you want for Rhodesia can now be found for 28mm, including pookies.

[The Travelling Man]

I'd also stay clear of the diecast helo- very difficult to hack away the canopy for the doorgunner and needs a respray anyway (only one I've seen is in red?).

The Heller kit is not too difficult to put together and you really only need one. Use either Elhiem crew or check with S&S who are producing a doorgunner kit with weapon system variants.

[CarlLeyland]

Thanks Chaps-it had not occurred to me that a door gunner would ever be available? Amazing that this niche is being catered for....

The helicopter I have found is this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/371111543607?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&var=640272838249&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I could be on the wrong track as there are two types of Aloutte on the page.

Just out of curiosity what do you Chaps base your artillery on? I usually use rectangular mdf but may try circular as the 25pdr is pretty small-any preferences?

[The Travelling Man]

Yeah that's a II. You need the III.

[Ash]

Re the Heller Alouette III: these used to be quite hard to find and then old and a tad brittle. There are currently a shed load of new kits on eBay, various versions (Gendarmarie, Sécurité Civile etc) essentially the same kit. Also available on Amazon
You can use them straight out of the box or festoon them in RhAF upgrades.
ie 'elephant ear' dust filters over the air intakes, anti Strella cowling around the engine exhaust, removal of the port side doors (replace the side support strut), don't bother with the port side controls, attach front chairs facing backwards, side steps just below the doors, port side twin .30cal browning mount (G-car) on side step, bench seat in cabin.
If you want to get really pedantic then pilot seat armour and instrument panel shroud. For the K-car remove port side door, again no co pilot controls and rear facing front seat (1), no need for bench seat as space taken up by 20mm cannon and gunner (+ seat).
For crew; personal favorites are the generic pilots from Elhiem, I like them as they don't have a ton of kit such as life jackets etc to file off, just the odd head swap for helmets and then door gunners from SHQ

I've had a go at a few: 20mm Rhodesians

For 25pdr, I really like the look of the empress 20mm 25pdr as it has the right mussel brake.

[Mike Bravo Minis]

Might be a daft question, but is it just the port side door that ought to be removed or both sides? 

(I have a 1/100 Heller kit that might have been overly hacked about...  whoops.)

[CarlLeyland]

Thank you Ash and Travelling Man for the help regarding the helicoptor....this is just the sort of thing I was looking for. The Kit on ebay has been found and I will certainly have a go at putting the gun and crew into it. Amazing work Ash, absolutley what this hobby is about-only far more difficult when the subject is Rhodesia rather than Panzers!
Who would have guessed that Empress had a 20MM line?? I like the gun but I can buy two Airfix guns and prime movers for the price of just one gun, given my budget Airfix wins out, maybe I can sort the barrel out?

In just a few hours you guys have helped me prepare a list of books, correct kits and figures that I would never have worked out myself, thanks for this. The bruising my bank account is about take is far easier to justify now! Ordering begins tomorrow!