Lebanon 1982, 1/87th &1/100th scale Syrian SAM´s and AA units

SA-6 Gainful and radar vehicle. QRF 1/100th scale. These were most of the "Bekaa SAM´s" along with the SA-2´s not shown here (wait, cool down boys -and girls- one of these days... they still have to be scratchbuilt).

SA-8 Gecko. QRF 1/100th scale!... I think...but made by another company(?).

Shilka´s. To the rear there is a 1/87th scale Trident kit and to the front 1/100th scale QRF.

SA- 9 (front) and SA-13 (rear). Skytrex 1/100th scale.

A marriage (forced one...) between two 1/87th Roco pickups and (left) Evergreen scratchbuilt ZU-2-23 and Peter Pig  ZU-4-23, this one in 1/100th scale. Figures are 1/100th scale Peter Pig.

Again, Roco 1/87th scale Unimogs with Peter Pig guns and crew.

Toy truck of unknown origin and Evergreen scratchbuilt ZU-2-23 with Peter Pig crew.

37mm from the Really Useful Range (I agree) of Irregular Miniatures with Skytrex 15mm-1/100th scale crew.

Lebanon 1982, 1/87th &1/100th scale Syrian T-72, 82nd armoured bdge

Let me stress this. These articles aren´t in no way any sort of marketing for the Assad regime and family. If these guys weren´t born the world would be safer (and this apply also to many of the Israeli leaders). The interesting thing about the modern Syrian army is exactly the fact that beeing a dictator's country, its army remains obscure and AFV markings and camouflage only now are seen in quantity through TV and photos thanks to the nowadays uprising.

In the 80´s and 90´s photos of the Syrian army were so rare that collecting it was a true challenge.

So, after some basing, let´s start with the Syrian T-72 from the 82nd armoured bdge of the 3rd armoured division.

These are 1/100th scale Skytrex and QRF. They were painted in different stages with slightly different colours and styles which is OK as Syrians aren´t rigid in those terms. We can see in the nowadays photos coming from Syria that there isn´t an AFV that looks like the next.

Petner Panzers and Salvat (resin and metal collectibles) in 1/87th scale. All these tanks have extra tarpaulins, flags, crewman (Rocco, CMSC, etc).

 There are two 1/87th scale T-72 that are transformed Salvat T-80. From the top you can see the major changes: Evergreen rear and side boxes and the Schnorkel in the turret, as camouflage netting and terpaulins to cover other details, reposioned rear bins and 12,7mm MG.

 Since 1973 the camouflage of most of the Syrian AFV´s are grey and sand (different tonalities) over the factory green. Nowadays they tend to be even more flexible... a little bit like germans in 43-45.

 The full brigade.

To the front the 1/100th battalion and to the rear the two 1/87th battalions. The bases for both scales of models are the same (4,5cm X 8,5cm) in a way to blend them.

Its funny to see that the two scales seem close. But this is really a fake as there is a big difference between both scales. But a son always smells nice to a father....

Lebanon 1982, 1/100th scale Syrian PT-76,

From time to time the 1982 Lebanon campaign comes to my mind. I remember beeing a teenager and watching the news and seeing Mig-21 crashing down in the Bekka Valley, long columns of Centurion MBT crossing roads and valleys and the news about hidden Syrian SAMs. Then came the Beirut siege and the horrors of Sabra and Chatilla. I never forgot those images. And, as many kids from those days, I wanted to be part of it somehow. The better was to make models, of course.

From the 90's on I´ve built more than 400 models in 1/87th scale, both for the Syrian and Israeli armies. The problem as that in those days 1/87th scale was the best scale to show this period of warfare, but also a very incomplete one. I started, remember pretty well, still as a student, ordering some BMP-1 and T-55 from CMSC after having some kilos of the normal Roco Minitanks that everyone had.

Then the 1/100th scale appeared in strenght, and I  already had a credit card! And a Fax and phone machine from my brother in the basement were I have my collection! Yuppiiiii!!! And Skytrex, Peter Pig, QRF, Trident and such became my best friends. A very large collection collection portraying in a 1 to 5 ratio the 1st and 3rd  Syrian Armoured Divisions; the 85th Independent Brigade and several armoured Israeli Brigades all appeared in a mixed 1/87th scale and 1/100th scale. Strangely the aircraft were 1/72nd scale - what a stupidity!!- recently the 1/72nd Syrian and Israeli aircraft turned into Iraqi and USA, and proper 1/100th scale came as replacements.  After all I remembered pretty well my 1st wargames rules for WWII happily mixing 1/87th, 1/76th and 1/72nd scale...

Nowadays I wouldn´t do it. I would stick to a determined scale, due to the abundant number of models that exist in all scales.  But this collection for me is always about nostalgia. In a recent trip to Spain (<3) I found these plastic Eko 1/100th PT-76 in a small toy shop and just had to have them. They are 40 years molds but still look nice. Some Greenstuff for the mantlets and accessories, the 3 colour scheme for the syrians,  and here we go.

Nice quality photos, hem , PC?

This one is the Skytrex 1/100th scale PT-76, also painted for the Syrian army, a far better product with just half a dozen years but far less nostalgic.

 Below there is just a tiny fraction of the collection. As soon as I base the models, as I usually do nowadays (damn RF!...), I will show them to you.

28mm AOE Waterloo 1815 - III French Cavalry Reserve Corps (Kellerman)

The full III French Cavalry Reserve Corps in AOE terms, just out of the brush.

Top left- Guiton Cuirassiers; top right- Blancard Carabiniers; bottom right-Picquet Dragoons; bottom left-Donop Cuirassiers.

All figures are plastic Perry Miniatures.

 The blue paper seems to work nicely for these napoleonic figures. I´ve seen it in the Napoleonic Archive booklets about Waterloo. They were also suggested by my good friend PC who knows everything about photos as he works in the porn industry (hey... as a photographer...) and you can see his constant nice remarks on this blog, regarding lingerie and stuff.

Rapid Fire! 1/100th scale British Destroyer E Class, Normandy Landings 1944

This is a british destroyer I made sometime ago. It´s done in 1/100 th scale just because its almost one meter long in this scale and in 1/72nd scale it would be 1,5 meters long  so I would have no place to place it behind glass.

Besides, these sort of large vessels if made in 1/72nd scale can´t do properly what they are intended to in the wargaming table, at least for me, that is to support a landing and shelling the coast line. With 1,5 meters (1/72nd scale) this one would look like stucked in the beach and always too close.

 To make this scratchbuilt piece I used a small 1/600 kit of the same vessel I had hanging around, built it, and used it just for scale increase.

 Then many internet photos were consulted for the detail and painting. Yes, there are two lighters for the funnels.

 Many Evergreen plastic tubing and flat  parts were used in the construction. The bigger parts are balsa wood and that includes the base.

The turrets can turn 360 degrees with the help of Evergreen wonders.

 There are some 30 Skytrex  15mm WWII British Infantry converted to sailors scattered all over.

The one chosen had to belong to a class still operating in the 1944 landings. There were not many E class destroyers by then, but I had to keep track with the 1/600 th scale destroyer I was following as a mock-up.

Rapid Fire! 1/72nd scale LCT 5 and 6, Normandy Landings, 6 June 1944

And now for the american LCT´s. I built four in total: 3 are scratchbuilt and 1 is Britannia Miniatures (resin and metal).

The first photos are of the LCT 5, used in Normandy. They were built with balsa wood and  other parts in plastic card.

 The figures were sent by the late Dave Howitt of Britannia Miniatures. They were part of the LCT 6 model but Dave, as always a helpful person, sent them anyhow.

The two models filled with the usual cargo: the left one with M7 Priests, and the right one with M4 Shermans.

And now for the Britannia LCT 6. This model ws not present in the Normandy models, but its just too juicy to be left aside.

The last one is a balsa wood copy of the Britannia model, this one filled with late M4 Sherman.

 The two LCT 6 filled with M4 Sherman.