Centurion III: Uwanda's Armored Fist

My sole gaming accomplishment in the last two months has been to paint some Centurion Mk IIIs for Uwanda's Army. 

 

These are the 20pdr armed Centurion Mk III models from QRF and are quite nice.  The model comes in six pieces including the side skirts, which I opted not to use, as I expect to eventually have later 105mm armed Mk V, and want to readily distinguish between the two versions.

 

Though not the most modern tank in Uwanda Army service, these Centurions make up the heart of the Uwanda's armored formations, and have proved to be more than a match for Mugabia's T34/85s.  They will play an important part in upcoming battles between the two imagi-nations.

Above the Centurion is pictured with the other tanks in Uwandan service.  The Sherman Firefly (left) from Gaming Models, and the Vickers Mk III (right) from QRF.

Flashback: 20mm Moderns 1983 Style

I've been working a lot lately, and haven't had much oomph to paint or build anything. But, I have been sorting through stuff, trying to reduce my clutter and trying to narrow the number of projects to under a million.

During this adventure, I discovered some old figs that I didn't realize that I still had.  My old 20mm US Vietnam and "Modern" Cold War infantry.  I believe the figures are from the Firefight 20 line from Modelers Mart, and some were probably purchased from the old Breastplate Hobbies in Boardman, Ohio circa 1983-84.

Here are some of the figs:

 

 

 

And yes that is a crude M113 in the background.

 

 

The M113 and M2 Bradley were scratch-built out

of Balsa with wire for the guns

I bought a couple of metal jeeps from the line (which I can't find), but as a starving student in college at the time, couldn't afford the larger vehicles, so built my own.  There also used to be a BMP2 (probably the best of the lot), but I haven't found that either.

The figures stand about 22-23mm tall foot to top of hat/helmet, and look rather stiff and clunky compared to more modern figs, but we loved them.  Here are a few pix comparing them to Britannia's 20mm Vietnam figs,

 

 

Originally, I started buying the figs to do NATO v. WarPac games, but we had an immediate interest in Vietnam after encountering our first Nam game at a convention at about the same time.  Then, a short time later, we saw the movie "Uncommon Valor" and we knew what we had to do.

I got a couple of Huey models, painted the NVA, and Craig of Gaming Models built the prison camp.

The only photo that I have of Craig's original prison camp model circa 1985.

The camp was based on a three foot square of blue foam, with around 40 individual fence sections that plugged into the foam, and could be pulled and place on their side if and when the fence was breached.  Inside were the camp CO's building, a barracks for the guards, two prisoner buildings and the three watch-towers.  Each tower featured a blown up version, should they suffer any adversity during the game. It was built from bamboo, pine, and balsa.

We ran games at the Convention in Canton, OH in the mid 1980s, and may have taken it to Nowscon in Cleveland around that time (and possibly a couple other cons as well). 

In addition to the US and NVA, I had VC, East Germans and Soviets, about 40 of each, but unfortunately, I sold some off and gave some away, when I switched over to 15mm.

In time, I got back into 20mm Vietnam, first with 20mm FAA figs (nice figs, but limited line), and then Britannia.  Anyway, that's my flashback, I'm feeling better now. Time to start a new project.

Waltzing with Matilda in 15mm

In addition to my own projects, I have made a small number of masters for Gaming Models over the years.  One such project is Craig's upcoming 15mm Matilda I.  I've actually had most of this one done for some time, but have been piddling around with making the track assemblies, which have taken more consideration than most vehicles, due to the way the mostly fenderless tracks stand out from the hull.

Anyway, I'd thought I'd share a couple of pics.  These were taken when I was near to being finished with the hull and turret, but before I had done much on the track assemblies:

This has been an interesting vehicle to build as it feels very "Victorian", similar to the French Char D1 and Char D2 that I did sometime back.  Something about these prewar designs always strikes me as being so ugly, that they are attractive.  I'll be turning the Matilda I over soon, so that I can get on to some other early war projects. 

The Matilida will be available soon along with the rest of Gaming Models 15mm line of WWII vehicles and landing craft.