Insurgency rising - part 1

 Hello guys,

as soon as I got the box of WGF Survivors: the men (for newcomers, yes, I'm slow on the new toys :D), I had to crack it open and have a go immediately. I have decided to work on 4 figures at a time, but I've decided on 5 as I progressed. And then I made 10 in two days...

Anyways, for first batch of five, I just went down the list from FOF Quick start rules. I made a leader, who is a normal rifleman that has to stand out a bit, two riflemen and one each of RPG gunner and a SAW gunner. They have been done in two sessions so, they're kinda crude, but I think it's good enough. Only thing missing is perhaps a scarf or two around some heads. They are meant to represent westernish insurgents, so the traditional arabic scarf is really not what I want every miniature to have.

Below is a bad photo of all 5 of them (leader, RPK, RPG, AR, AR), but I was never much of a photographer.

 On a close up of the three rifles armed guys, you can see a leader with an M16 and two riflemen with AKs, one of them having a molotov cocktail.

I would prefer them all having AKs if that would be possible, but given the arms combinations and all, I've decided I'll also keep in some M16s and even SA80s (so US and UK rifles). They are all the same as far as rules go and not that I feel the need to justify my hobby, they could've bought the M16s on the black market and have gotten SA80s from the same source.

Miniature on the left is a leader. He has a vest under his long coat and a radio showing. Radio will be a defining feature of all my leaders to help with identification..but I think radios won't be the most noticeable things once the miniatures are painted. I've given him the peaked hat for the laughs, making him a bit more "easternish" and I'm not yet decided if I really like it - what do you think?
He was given an M16 because it suited the body out of the box. It made sense for a leader to be equipped with a "better" rifle (where better means more exotic so we can avoid the argument :D).

First rifleman, the ordinary Joe, is a young man reloading his AK. As most (but not all) of other insurgents, he has a chest webbing for 5 magazines. I'm not sure if the number is correct for any vest in the existance, but that's how many I could make and thats what I went with. Again, I'm not particularly bothered as long as it looks correct. All the pouches are way too thin, but I wouldn't want to make them so thick that it would ruin the positioning of the arms.

Second rifleman was a bit tricky. It's a guy in the overalls and he has a machete and a beer can/molotov in his other hand. I've cut the machete and put an AK on it's place (the arm is still holding a knife's grip, so it looks a bit too large up close). I've turned the arm around a bit to make him look like he is sprinting in cover/position to throw his molotov or something. I figured it looked kinda cool but it actually came out kinda silly. I don't like miniatures with too much movement in them. Also the bottle needs fixing as I've cut too deep. I didn't want to have it, but I had no better idea for it, either.

 

Moving to support weapons, now that was fun! I needed an RPG and an RPK (or something similar).

 

RPG stands for a rocket propelled grenade if we're talking about TYPE of weapons, but RPG-7, the weapon would stand for hand-held  anti-tank grenade launcher. Grenade not being an actual grenade as in 40mm grenades, but a mine. Complicated much? Not nearly! I've opted for sculpting my own, to see how hard it can be. I've decided to make a RB M-57. It's about as old as RPG-2, but it's said to be one of the best from it's generation. I'm a bit emotionally attached to it as my dad used it when he was serving YPA in 1980, when this weapon was already obsolete. It was also used in Balkan wars with quite some success. I figured my insurgents could get their hands on some of those, where they'd be used against infantry just as successfully as any other RPG, while being less effective against tanks. To complicate things more, this isn't strictly an RPG. With RPG-7, grenade has it's own rocket (hence rocket-propelled) that gives it extra speed. With M-57, the mine files only as fast as the launcher "throws" it. The launcher was recoilless as the blast was counter-forced with some sand that came out from back of the tube. So, every time it was fired, a huge puff of smoke was seen. Life expectancy of a man firing that during cold war was 15 minutes or so, before snipers would pick them off.

On photo below, the assistant gunner is armed with PAP M59/66 nicknamed "papovka", PAP stands for semi-automatic rifle. It's a  Yugoslav version of SKS and has nothing to do with my miniatures :P.

RPK is what you'd call a light support weapon. Basically an AK with longer barrel and a bipod. Not even a fully functional light machine gun as the barrel is not quick-changeable. Those are dead easy to convert, as I just have to cut the barrel and replace it. At first, I tried to be fancy and I wanted to trill through aiming point and under upper barrel part. It didn't work as they're too fiddly. I've just cut it all off then and replaced with some wire, measured by the eye.
I know you all love fun facts, so here's one! My RPKs are actually M72 light machine guns - you've guessed it, a Yugoslav made RPK. Difference is in the stock (and a barrel, but that's not noticable in 28mm :P) - for a "real" RPK, I'd have to work on the stock, as well! Isn't that cool?

M72

RPK

I better get my coat now...

Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo