Anzac Day 2024- WW1 digger

This figure is a companion piece to last year's Mike Broadbent sculpt from Slave 2 Gaming. I tried to replicate the paintjob. Here they are together:

Lest we forget.

Anzac Day 2023- Western Front digger

After Gallipoli, the Australian Imperial Force was deployed into the Western Front trenches from March 1916 until the Armistice.

This 54mm figure is from Slave 2 Gaming, sculpted by Mike Broadbent. There are some subtle areas for improvement on the webbing, but the stressful part was stippling on muddy splashes without drowning the detail. I haven't done any detailed groundwork on the 40mm base, but I do have more of these figures and could do some in the future.

Lest we forget.

Anzac Day 2022- M60 Gunner, Vietnam

Battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment (RAR) were deployed to Vietnam between 1965 and 1972. The proportion of conscripted National Servicemen ('Nashos') rose throughout the years. From 1967, New Zealand contributed an infantry company as part of the ANZAC Battalion.

Each doctrinal section had one M60 7.62mm General Purpose Machine Gun. 

5RAR 1966

7RAR 1967

7RAR, 1970

3RAR, 1968

7RAR, 1970

Oil painting by Bruce Fletcher, 1967

2RAR, 1971

This gunner is patrolling professionally, albeit with a finger on the trigger. He’s got his sleeves rolled down and has cam paint on. He wears a scrim scarf and a giggle hat. He’s made a protective belt sleeve from a cut-up plastic air mattress.

This is a companion piece to my 2016 Anzac Day post, a rifleman with an SLR. It’s an OzMade 54mm sculpt by Mike Broadbent I painted about 20 years ago. I made the distinctive front sight from a bent staple! I have given the figure a bit of a touch-up with a wash, and added some tufts to the base. I also used some HO ferns from JTT. The improved basing really brings it up a notch, but I could blend the groundwork in better. The plinth needs a touch-up as well.

Lest we forget.

Picture sources:

Top: Lyles, K. 2004. Elite 103: Vietnam ANZACs. Osprey Publishing.

All others: Australian War Museum

Anzac Day 2018- WW2 digger

This is one of my old OzMade 54mm figures I painted 15-20 years ago. He's carrying the Australian-designed 9mm Owen submachine-gun, and is kitted out for jungle warfare.

I added the helmet netting myself. I'm happy with the skin tones, but it could do with an overall wash to build depth and contrast, as well as better basing and foliage. (Not to mention fixing the chip on his collar...)

These evocative paintings by George Browning are of the 25th Infantry Brigade in the 1942 Kokoda Track campaign. I had the privilege of walking the Track in 2007- very hard to imagine doing it whilst being opposed.

That's me in the red.

Lest we forget.

All other pictures via the Australian War Memorial.

Anzac Day 2016- Vietnam infantryman with SLR

An Australian infantryman with SLR from the Vietnam war.  This is a 54mm OzMade piece I painted with acrylics about 15-20y ago. I think it stands up OK. The groundwork was made of Blu-tac, superglue and sawdust... It could do with some better grass and foliage.

Australia was involved in Vietnam from 1962-1975. The main infantry force was composed of rotating battalions from the Royal Australian Regiment, or RAR. The iconic small arm was the L1A1 SLR.

The 'Skippy badge'

Lest we forget.

Photos via Google Images

Anzac Day 2015- Lone Pine 1915

The attack on Lone Pine was part of the August Offensive in the 1915 Gallipoli Campaign. Over 6th-9th August Australians took and held the Turkish position at Lone Pine in a diversion to tie down the Turks whilst larger forces attempted to take the high ground further north. Parts of the Turkish position had fully roofed trenches made from heavy timber, with firing slits at ground level. The roofing had to be clawed off to break in. The complex and confusing trench network then had to be held from Turkish counterattacks. Seven Victoria Crosses were given for the action, and over 2000 Australian casualties were sustained.

'The taking of Lone Pine' by Fred Leist (1924)

'The Battle of Lone Pine' by Drew Harrison (2012)

This 54mm figure is a Mike Broadbent sculpt for OzMade Figures which I painted years ago. I sculpted the recognition armbands (from Blu-Tac cured with superglue!) and added 2nd Battalion colour patches. This week I touched it up with a wash, repainted where the paint had chipped, and rebased it after vermin had got at the basing material(!). He's probably a bit more neatly dressed than he would have been- jacket buttoned up to the neck, puttees, trousers not shorts.

The following picture is of a forced-perspective diorama made in the 1920s and maintained on display at the Australian War Museum.

Here's one picture of the Wargames Illustrated display from Salute 2011 (photo by Steve the Wargamer).

The master plan- "Lone Pine Maze" in the centre, main attack to the north. Note the scale.

A rotated view of part of the Lone Pine complex.

2nd Battalion, AIF

Gallipoli medallion

Lone Pine Cemetery, Gallipoli

Lest we forget.

Postscript: Please check out 'Mustering the Troops', the superb diary of the collaboration between Sir Peter Jackson, the Perry twins, and New Zealand gamers, to commemorate the Battle for Chunuk Bair. Chunuk Bair was part of the 'main attack' for which Lone Pine was the feint.

PostPostscript: The Australian Army's School of Infantry is located at Lone Pine Barracks in Singleton, New South Wales, along with a superb museum open to the public.

Further information:

Australian War Memorial
Australian Army Infantry Museum
Pictures via Google Images