Trucks and Trucks

I've been building and painting some more vehicles recently. I'm aiming for models that will be generic enough to be useful in several settings, so I can get the most out of them.

For all guerrilla/insurgent forces modern and futuristic, they need cheap transports and weapons platforms - enter technicals. I tried doing it the cheap way by starting from some Matchbox pickup trucks, and the results don't seem bad.
I repainted a couple of Matchbox Honda Ridgelines and added Liberation Miniatures DShK heavy machine guns to them. The result looks haphazard and threatening at the same time - which is good for the intended effect.
The Matchbox die cast model has a full gray plastic interior, including cup holders, (!) and I left that all untouched.
The truck beds have boxes and packs in them, so I painted these to give the technicals a lived in look. The beds are also big enough so 1/72 figures can be placed in them to give them more flavour. All in all, this is pretty cheap and effective, considering that the trucks were $1 each at Wal-Mart.

I also built a pack of 2 Pegasus quick-build WWII US Army GMC trucks. These are very nice models, quick to build but with good detail at the same time. I painted them in a generic olive green colour that's suitable for many wars, settings, and factions.
These trucks are quick and easy to get to a gameable state, and are yet another Pegasus offering aimed at wargamers.
You can see the detailed folds of the canvas top, which I painted in a khaki colour.
The trucks also include a driver each, and I gave them a quick paintjob too.

I'm very impressed with the Pegasus trucks, and will probably get more. These will be good as both transports and objectives in gaming scenarios.

Sci-fi Miniatures and Scale, non-power armour

On the Ambush Alley forum, I was asked to post a size comparison similar to what I had done before, except with non-power armour GZG 25mm miniatures. So here they are:
A GZG 15mm Ixx, a GZG 25mm NSL Panzer Grenadier, a Caesar 1/72 modern French soldier, and a Caesar 1/72 nun.
A close-up of the Ixx, 25mm NSL Panzer Grenadier, and 1/72 French soldier.

After I took those pictures, something felt wrong, and I realized that I based the 25mm GZG figure on a washer so that the base was taller than the others. I then compensated for this by placing the other figures on washers of the same size.
These are the same as above, but with washers under the other figures so the 25mm GZG is not propped up unfairly.

What to think then? While the GZG 25mm power armour miniature can get away with being bulkier simply by virtue of being power armour, the non-power armour 25mm soldier doesn't look quite right with 1/72 miniatures. The proportions of the GZG miniature, even though it's miles better than heroic scale "28mm," still doesn't quite match the realistic proportions of 1/72s. So even as bulky sci-fi armour, it still doesn't really fit. But like always, this comes down to personal preference.

Aliens, finally

I've finally finished painting (still need to do basing) the first batch of GZG Ixx miniatures. These are nice miniatures, being 15mm but large enough to serve as aliens in 1/72 scale.
These are pictures of my first unit, a leader, 3 regular warriors, and a heavy weapon that I'll use as a flamethrower.
From left to right, a Caesar partisan, an Ixx, and a Caesar modern French soldier. This shows the size of these aliens, massive for 15mm, but a good "normal" size for 1/72.
Another shot with a Caesar modern French and an Ixx. These two will be on the same side in my campaign.
This is the second group of Ixx, with an autocannon style heavy weapon. I think two groups are enough for now in my planned campaign.

More Partisans and UAVs

Here are some more pictures of the painted partisans:
I use some Caesar modern urban resisters (insurgents) mixed with the partisans to create light machine gun teams. These fit together fairly well, and fixes the problem of the Caesar set not having a lot of support weapons.
Here are the RPG teams from the previous post, along with another light machine gun team. The Bren gun is the only support weapon included in the Caesar partisans set. Too bad they couldn't put in more.
I use an old ESCI WWII Soviet radiowoman as one of the specialists. She'll probably serve as an electronic warfare specialist or a hacker of some sort.
Another group of partisans with small arms. Their leader (on the right) is a James Bond wannabe.
Back to the regular army, I'm using some plastic Silent Death fighters as UAVs. This is a reconaissance micro-UAV.
Here's the UAV flying over an APC.
This is another fighter I'm using, as an attack UAV.

Partisans

I've painted up a mix of Caesar WWII Partisans, Orion Chechen Rebels, and ESCI WWII Russians to use as the Anarchist faction in my sci-fi campaign. They represent partisans who use a variety of civilian clothes, old military uniforms, and a mix of old and new weapons. The bulk of the group consists of Caesar's excellent WWII Partisans set. I only have a few photos here, but I'll take more tomorrow.
A few Caesar and Orion miniatures that I'll use for RPG teams.
A mixed group of partisans armed with various small arms.
A close-up of a submachingunner that shows the detail of the Caesar miniatures.

Sci-fi Miniatures and Scale

Due to the dearth of power armour in 1/72 or 20 mm scale, I asked for help on a mailing list. Someone replied that GZG 25 mm power armour will work just as well. My first reaction was "but they're too big!" However, since I believe in empirical observation, :) I actually took out a couple of my GZG 25 mm NSL power armour and did some comparison shots. The results are rather surprising.

From left to right, Caesar 1/72 modern French, GZG 25 mm NSL power armour sergeant, Caesar 1/72 nun, and another Caesar 1/72 modern French.

From left to right, Caesar 1/72 modern French, GZG 25 mm NSL power armour, Caesar 1/72 nun, and GZG 15 mm alien Ixx.

From left to right, GZG 25 mm NSL power armour with plasma gun, GZG 15 mm alien Ixx, GZG 25 mm NSL power armour, and Caesar 1/72 nun.

From the pictures, it's pretty clear that the 25 mm GZG power armour can be used with 1/72 miniatures as some sort of large armoured suit. It surprised me quite a bit that it would fit so well. Oh well, I guess I have power armour miniatures for my sci-fi campaign now.

Mostly completed sci-fi faction

I've done a bit more painting and now have a mostly completed force for one faction in my planned sci-fi campaign. The only thing left is painting the bases.

My science fiction setting involves a civil war in a colony nation called San Carlos, and I use the modern French troops to represent the militarist faction that has the loyalty of most of the regular army. This is the faction that has the most modern equipment, (San Carlos is a relatively "third world" nation in my setting) with toys like UGVs and UAVs, as well as alien auxiliaries.

Below is a full section of the Falangian Guard, the elite infantry of this faction:

The section consists of a section leader and two fire teams each with three men. The first fire team has a multi-purpose missile launcher and two men with assault rifles, and the second fire team has a SAW and two men with assault rifles. In Ambush Alley, each fire team will be one unit, with the section leader attachable to either one.

Here is a close-up of the section leader:

For transport, the infantry have wheeled APCs, and I use VAB models.
Here is a fire team exiting the rear doors of an APC:
For dedicated anti-tank duties, UGVs (Unmanned Ground Vehicles) with missile launchers are used:
Here's the full force I have so far, with two sections and transports, and an anti-tank UGV section:
Just for interest sake, here is a size comparison between a VAB and a BTR, which I will use for the military of New Harmony, a nation bordering San Carlos:
I guess I still have some more units to do. I still have UAVs and aliens (the GZG Ixx) that need painting, then I'll be going on to the Anarchists...