New Models, a Holiday and Other Ramblings

I have completed building and painting several of my new models that came Friday. The LAVs went together fairly well (the gun shield had issues, and there were several "bur" things to remove) and painted up nicely. That is one of my problems though, I think I will paint the second two in a lighter shade  of green such as "Tamiya field grey" instead of "JA green" like the ones in the picture here.

I gave it a heavy white wash to dull the bright camouflage and represent the dust of eastern battlefields

Pvts. Theodore and Hunter enjoy the added benefit of a 25mm to their team

 This brings me to the Challenger. It was very easy to build and came out well. I have yet to paint it (though I plan to today), but when I do, I will use my usual desert colors. Since I bought five of them I can make a variation for several theaters.

A shot of the two yet to be painted LAV-25s. When these are finished I will have a total of three.

 The Trumpeter Strykers were also a pleasure to build and paint. I repainted my first one (seen in earlier posts in desert camo) to make an all theater type unit. I've seen pics of them operating in desert conditions in OD paint. So I figured I would be cheap and make them in generic green as is the box cover model. Interestingly this Trumpeter model is a bit shorter than the Academy one I built a time ago. I've had the same problem with Dragon and Italeri/ESCI kits too so its not uncommon.

I realized after painting that the light guards are incorrectly assembled, please forgive me...

 Finally, for models at least, here are the HMMWVs by Dragon. They were a tad challenging to build as they are tiny and have some delicate parts, but I think the result is pretty good. I bough the last five boxes from a previously mentioned company, so I have a lot to work with.

I love this thing! It will look good in a spec ops game :-)

Oh my...the tires are to shiny and need some touching up in the edges

My "Good guy" vehicle box! I had to start a second one to accommodate my new forces! My Soviet/ bad guy box is separate from these. As are my two Modern infantry boxes.

Well, my other topics:
I'm currently reading Task Force Black by Mark Urban. I had also read his book on the 95th rifles in the Peninsular campaign and enjoyed it, so when browsing a Barnes and Noble recently, I discovered this and bought it knowing what a good author he is. It covers the bigger picture of the SAS and Delta operations in Iraq. I would rather it had more tactical content but that is not so. I have learned much more about the war than I expected; recommended.

Also, UCP is being discontinued in the near future. I kind of like the look of it, but its apparently not working. One soldier said hes only seen it work in a gravel pit! Better learn to paint Multicam huh?

Finally, happy 4th of July America! Its the birthday of the greatest country in the world, so be happy everyone!

Thanks for looking all.