Monday 14 February 2022

28mm US Marine Mortar Team

I'm not sure when it was that the day job became so demanding?  Just when I feel that I have a handle on things and start to post again then no sooner does another avalanche of pressing matters surge over the desk, smothering all in its path.  Much of my weekends are now given over to rest and repair, but having made it to the Spring half term break, I am determined to find some time for me!  In fairness to myself, I am still keeping up with my very meagre goal of one post a month, but it would be nice to capitalise on the time afforded me to push on a little more. 

So then, another 'Nam themed post this time showcasing some splendid  'Gringo 40s' miniatures.  From the outset, I have to confess that I am a big fan of the Gringo's miniatures.  They are beautifully sculpted, yet have a heft to them that reminds me of the Redoubt Miniatures range.  They appear accurate and yet don't have so much extraneous detail of say the Empress range.  This last factor has become more important to me of late as my failing eyesight finds the larger model more forgiving when applying paint.  

This rather splendid group is a US Marine Mortar Team in M1 Helmets and Flak Jackets firing the M1 81mm Medium Mortar.  With some lovely additional bits and pieces, I was able to base up a simple stand and enjoyed trying to get as much variety out of the seemingly limited green palette that was available to me.  As I had mentioned previously, my fledgling collection is at somewhat of a crossroads as I decide which company to favour with my pocket money.  In my naivety, I have previously claimed that I was untroubled by such trifling matters such as scale discrepancies between manufacturers, allowing me to just enjoy picking up whatever set caught my eye.  This approach could be seen to have some worth, especially when viewing the next image.  

Here we have an 'Empress Miniatures' combat photographer alongside the mortar team and you might, quite rightly ask, "what scale discrepancy do you speak of sir?"  And you would be right, what with careful positioning and the fact that the mortar team are slightly hunched over, one could be forgiven for thinking that they were, in fact, cast from the same stable.  It is on on closer inspection that we start to see the details like the giant feet and bulging biceps, but even then we could pass these off as just big men firing a big gun!  

"But if they are this close in scale, surely you could combine them?"  Again, looking at the comparison below* you would be absolutely right.  Although considerably taller in stature than his Empress counterpart, this N.V.A. officer might pass, unnoticed, into the rank and file of the collection.  They are mounted on the same size base and I have taken care to photograph them on the same line.

*My apologies for the dreadful photograph.

The problem comes when you see something like the discrepancy below.  Again based on identical bases and photographed toe to toe, so to speak, the result is laughable.  If I didn't know better I would say one was a 20mm miniature, but I can assure you that it isn't.

In conclusion, I am leaning towards the 'Empress Miniatures' range, simply because they are making more of the Special Forces units that my intended skirmish type games will use.  That said, looking at the 'Gringo 40s' range it may well be that I continue to add the odd pack here and there as they are just too nice to ignore completely, especially some of the diorama packs which make the table so much more interesting. 

So there we have it, the last 'Nam post for the time being at least.  I continue to root around the backlog of unpublished notes, but can't guarantee any semblance of structure at the moment, just the flailing of thoughts and images as I try to keep a tangible hold on this most wholesome of hobbies.

33 comments:

  1. Great looking mortar team Michael, most of the scale shots look perfectly natural, but that last one is very strange, it seems that they're Vietnamese comes from the land of the giants ! LOL
    Normally I have no problem, as people come in many sizes and shapes, but that one is odd !

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    1. Thank you Dave, like you I am quite forgiving on scale, but when I saw these too together it was a bit too far, even for me.

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    2. Ich möchte DR. AKHERE für die wundervolle Arbeit danken, die er für mich und meine Familie geleistet hat. Ich hatte eine ernsthafte Trennung von meinem Ex, aber als ich ihn um Hilfe bat, brachte er ihn mit seinen historischen Kräften zu mir zurück und half mir auch dabei einen Job zu bekommen, da er mich verzaubert hat, hat es mir wirklich gut getan und seit ich ihn kenne, ist mein Mann mir treu geblieben Hilfe, wenn Sie mit einer Trennung oder einem Eheproblem konfrontiert sind, wenden Sie sich einfach an diesen Mann, um Hilfe zu erhalten. Er wird Ihnen helfen, alles mit seiner Macht zu regeln. Bitte kontaktieren Sie ihn über seine E-Mail: AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com oder rufen Sie / whatsapp: +2349057261346 an Ihre Probleme werden gelöst.





































































































































      Ich möchte DR. AKHERE für die wundervolle Arbeit danken, die er für mich und meine Familie geleistet hat. Ich hatte eine ernsthafte Trennung von meinem Ex, aber als ich ihn um Hilfe bat, brachte er ihn mit seinen historischen Kräften zu mir zurück und half mir auch dabei einen Job zu bekommen, da er mich verzaubert hat, hat es mir wirklich gut getan und seit ich ihn kenne, ist mein Mann mir treu geblieben Hilfe, wenn Sie mit einer Trennung oder einem Eheproblem konfrontiert sind, wenden Sie sich einfach an diesen Mann, um Hilfe zu erhalten. Er wird Ihnen helfen, alles mit seiner Macht zu regeln. Bitte kontaktieren Sie ihn über seine E-Mail: AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com oder rufen Sie / whatsapp: +2349057261346 an Ihre Probleme werden gelöst

      Delete
  2. The mortar team looks great, even if a little 'clean', but the giant of Vietnames does look out of place against the child' soldier.

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    1. Thank you Joe. Hadn't thought about the team being clean, the bottoms of the fatigues got a light dusty, but you are absolutely right, their faces would have been dirty too!

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  3. Interesting comparison shot Michael, loving the Marine support.
    Cheers
    Stu

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    1. Thank you Stuart, certainly helped to make my mind up as to which way to go.

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  4. I’m thinking that giant fellow might make for a better statue than actual member of the nva - those men were quite a bit shorter than their American counterparts in any case in the main.

    But I digress! The actual point of the post, the mortar team! Beautifully done Michael! And those biceps are large for a reason! Lugging that heavy kit and many arm workouts dropping rounds down that tube!

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    1. Love the statue idea Dai! Thank you though, lovely little team to work on.

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  5. Great work - looking forward to seeing more - I think Empress is the right choice personally - they are very nice figures.

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    1. Thank you so much. I have always enjoyed Empress as a brand, just love the work or Mr. Hicks.

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  6. Great work on the mortar team, Michael. I rarely mix ranges these days, and when I do its for an opposing force (not the same army). I do get that people come in all sorts of sizes, shapes etc. But that last example of yours shows what I see in my Mind's Eye even when the models are only a mm different in scale - hope that makes sense.

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    1. Thank you Simon and yes, makes perfect sense. I think any scale discrepancy becomes even more apparent when photographing the models together too, as in for battle reports and blog posts.

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    2. I just think of the people I work with: some a clear foot taller than me, some a clear foot shorter, some bigger around the middle, some evniably slimmer. When the little men are on the table, a meter or two away from me most of the time, as long as they don't look daft, I'm generally ok with differences.

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    3. You are not wrong and what with my failing eyesight anything past five feet away is a blur anyway.

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  7. Nicely done mortar Michael 👍 not a period I have really gamed but I can see the attraction. Keep up the hobby progress

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    1. Thank you Matt, this is just a flirtation if I am honest, but having some fin along the way.

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  8. Absolutely brilliant Michael! Great colours and true to life dirt and mud on the uniforms, something a lot of us miss when painting 😀

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  9. Beautiful work on the mortar team Michael, I think the scale problem is accentuated, because it's not only a taller miniature but the proportion are wrong too somehow, which is a shame as the other miniature you showed are perfectly acceptable, it does however raise the worry that the web-based photo's on the companies website wont show what's compatible with what.

    Not to confuse the issue further but have you looked at "Company B" they used to do some lovely US marines, that's where I got mine from years ago, sadly all sold off now.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thank you Roger. I have a couple more packs of Gringos to paint up, but have kept these to mini scene sets like casualties waiting for evac. I just think picking up filler troops might be a bit like playing Russian roulette.

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  10. Splendid looking mortar team, I'm also inclined to use a variety of makes, especially if they arent ranked up as it were, but the last photo does look weird!
    Best Iain

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  11. Great work on the mortar team Sir M. I'd probably go with Emoress too, that's a big difference, but once on the table you won't think about it.

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  12. Lovely mortar team, Michael! :)

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  13. Great work Michael, one way of been able to use the different ranges of models might be in different units, eg as mortar teams would always be set up away from other units, so the difference in scale wouldn't be so apparent imo.

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  14. That’s a fantastic looking Catachan mortar… wait, what? That’s no 40k you say?
    Oh, well they’re still very nicely painted bodybuilders ;-)
    Joking aside, you've done a magnificent job here. As to your comparison photos, you know I'm firmly in favour of the Empress figures, but seeing that Gringo 40 giant it’s actually quite ridiculous.

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  15. Impressive detailed work on show here Michael :)

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  16. Agree totally on scale . I stuck with Gringos - Ged says there is a lot more coming this year . Plus check out the Assault Group . I have some special ops from them and they match G40s fine . Good to see you painting again Michael

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  17. Lovely work Michael. I agree, the scale issue can be frustrating at times. I decided to go with 15mm for the American involvement in Vietnam purely for the vehicles, buildings and weapon ranges. Of course I say this blithely, not having painted a thing yet.:)

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  18. Great work on the figures and the mortar Michael!
    And in 20mm (scale 1/72) we have the same problems in size!

    Greetings
    Peter

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  19. Ich möchte DR. AKHERE für die wundervolle Arbeit danken, die er für mich und meine Familie geleistet hat. Ich hatte eine ernsthafte Trennung von meinem Ex, aber als ich ihn um Hilfe bat, brachte er ihn mit seinen historischen Kräften zu mir zurück und half mir auch dabei einen Job zu bekommen, da er mich verzaubert hat, hat es mir wirklich gut getan und seit ich ihn kenne, ist mein Mann mir treu geblieben Hilfe, wenn Sie mit einer Trennung oder einem Eheproblem konfrontiert sind, wenden Sie sich einfach an diesen Mann, um Hilfe zu erhalten. Er wird Ihnen helfen, alles mit seiner Macht zu regeln. Bitte kontaktieren Sie ihn über seine E-Mail: AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com oder rufen Sie / whatsapp: +2349057261346 an Ihre Probleme werden gelöst.





































































































































    Ich möchte DR. AKHERE für die wundervolle Arbeit danken, die er für mich und meine Familie geleistet hat. Ich hatte eine ernsthafte Trennung von meinem Ex, aber als ich ihn um Hilfe bat, brachte er ihn mit seinen historischen Kräften zu mir zurück und half mir auch dabei einen Job zu bekommen, da er mich verzaubert hat, hat es mir wirklich gut getan und seit ich ihn kenne, ist mein Mann mir treu geblieben Hilfe, wenn Sie mit einer Trennung oder einem Eheproblem konfrontiert sind, wenden Sie sich einfach an diesen Mann, um Hilfe zu erhalten. Er wird Ihnen helfen, alles mit seiner Macht zu regeln. Bitte kontaktieren Sie ihn über seine E-Mail: AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com oder rufen Sie / whatsapp: +2349057261346 an Ihre Probleme werden gelöst

    ReplyDelete

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