Operation Benevolent Prospector - Pastrian Yaygr

Pastria is a small colonial empire, whose holdings are in the polar regions of the world of Plan Red Reiver. They are a member of both the Continental Union and the Oceanic Alliance. Their expertise in polar warfare means they provide both training and training sites for the cold weather contingents of other Oceanic Alliance members.

Their special forces units are called Yaygrs and are specially equipped to live and fight in extreme cold weather.

Yaygr NCO with assault rifle and cold weather gear.

The figure was built from an Empress US Ranger. Unfortunately at Salute Empress did not have the French NVG helmets I was after, so this figure has removed his helmet showing the insulated hood worn under the helmet. This is a Crooked Dice balaclava head.

A scarf was added round the neck,and the shoulder ws tidied up.

At the back a poncho/shelter was added under the rucksack. I wonder if I should have converted the supplied tomahawk into an ice axe?

The figure was undercoated with Citadel Corax White spray.

The magazine, barrel and the blade of the tomahawk was Vallejo Black Grey.The gloves, straps, tomahawk handle, pistol holster and the furniture was Vallejo London Grey. Highlighting was with a mix of Army Painter Stone Golem and London Grey.

Western Forces HMMWV Weapons Carrier

 Civil War was a 2024 Action Adventure film written and directed by Alex Garland set in a dystopian future.

The film follows four journalists travelling across a country riven by civil war.

One of the secessionist movements is called Western Forces. 

This is a Western Forces HMMWV weapons carrier fitted with a protected turret and M2 HMG.

The model is from Empress (bought at Salute 2025).

The spare wheel carrier is made from Evergreen square and rectangular section plastic rod. The aerial is brass rod with an Evergreen plastic tube as the base.

Have you spotted the mistake yet?

The stars are five inch ones from Rubico 1/56 scale transfer sets.

This is where I went wrong.

I checked that the turret did not intersect with the smoke dischargers (from Spectre) before gluing them in place. The problem was I had missed that the gun shield is a lot further forward and will sweep through the dischargers.

Operation Benevolent Prospector - Ayeland Marine.

Operation Benevolent Prospector is a spin-off from PLAN RED REIVER (2019), a theoretical planned response of the Army of Blueland to an attempted amphibious coup de main against that nation's capitol.

The story, all names, characters, companies, countries, organisations, and incidents relating to Operation Benevolent Prospector and PLAN RED REIVER are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), companies, countries, organisations, places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.

There will be illustrations using commercially available models, these are used to illustrate aspects of the story but should not be used to infer any identification of characters, companies, countries, organisations, and incidents.

I will (after six years) get round to adding the Dramatis Personae page to the PLAN RED REIVER blog, but a quick recap.

While most of the Oceanic Alliance are supporting Blueland (ExLand and Zedland actually deploying forces on the ground in support), there has been some issues (which will be covered later) with another signatory to the alliance. This has led to some Ayeland forces based in Blueland becoming part of Blueland's 60th (Provisional) Royal Rifle Regiment.

One area of concern has been the uninvited deployment of two Ayeland Marine Reconnaissance Regiments  to another Oceanic Alliance state's territory.

A Marine from 3rd MRR. Though dressed in white camouflage, the other equipment is still in a more temperate green. 

Empress SWB Land Rover

 This is a test dry run for an Empress Short Wheel Base Land Rover with a pintle mounted mounted GPMG for use in Twilight 2000.

There are some moulding defects on the front grill. I will cover this with some camouflage netting and possibly some jerry cans.

That is not a wheel clamp, I just have not removed the tag from the wheel.

The gunner is from the BAOR32 Anti Aircraft Unit.

The base of the gunner will be trimmed and a plastic card insert created with the pintle mount attached.

This is going to be loaded up as a recce or security vehicle to provide protection for an anti-tank LWB Land Rover with the BAT recoilless Rifle.

Empress LK-II Light Panzer

 The Leichter Kampfwagen II (LK-II) was a German light tank developed towards the end of World War 1. Two prototypes were built by June 1918, but no more were completed  before the war ended. The design lived on, illegally exported to Sweden as the M/21-29, one remained in Swedish service until 1938.

There were two weapon options, one armed with an MG08/15, the other with a 57mm Maxim-Nordenfelt gun.

The Empress kit comprises four resin mouldings and a bag of white metal pieces (two gun options and the rear step). I think it was originally sold by Mark Copplestone.

The kit is easy to put together, the main issue is ensuring the track units are aligned - super glue is not very forgiving. There're two gun barrels. The one seems extremely short (the surviving M/21-29 has a short barrel and appears to have a short cannon rather than an MG. What is confusing is that there are photographs that show the short barrel but appear to have a barrel sticking out of the centre - this may be a plug inserted to keep dirt out).

The model was undercoated with Citadel Chaos Black, followed by Citadel Mechanicum Standard Grey. Unfortunately, the Mechanicum have changed their standard as the spray and the paint are noticeably different colours, so it needed to be given a full coat of the paint.

The tracks were painted with a wet mix of Vallejo Hull Red, Army Painter Black and Vallejo Black Grey. The tracks were dry brushed with Army Painter Stone Golem.

The Iron Cross decals were from the I94 WW1 German aircraft set and the numbers from another I94 set (20mm WW2 German numbers).

The windows were painted Humbrol White, followed by Citadel Warpstone Glow.

It needs to be weathered.

Modern Journalist

Though the Exclusion Zone, by definition is supposed to exclude the wider world, there are always journalists who wish get past the Corden and report what is happening to the world.

To do so, they need local help (and the brighter ones know they need some muscle). This is where a local fixer will connect them with a crew, that if they do not trust, at least are reasonably confident will return the journalist reasonably intact so they get the completion fee.

Empress do a Journalist set in their Universal Soldier range.

The guy in front of the camera is based on a former soap star, which did not appeal as a grizzled reporter, well used to facing horrors.

The Crooked Dice Flamboyant Agent head sprue provided a replacement (Dapper Spy) head (right end of the sprue).

So armed with my trusty razor saw, I cut off the original head, trying not to damage the neck of the flack vest.

Once the head was removed I drilled a pilot hole with a 1mm drill, followed up with a 1.5mm and a final 3mm bit as a neck socket.

The neck plug on the head was then cleaned up and the head glued in place.

It is at this point I should have smoothed the surfaces a bit, but it was not obvious to the naked eye. 

The figure was primed with Citadel Chaos Black spray.

The boiler suit was Humbrol 30 acrylic, the flack jacket Citadel Steel Legion Drab.

Flesh is Citadel Bugman's Glow, highlighted with Citadel Kislev Flesh. The hair was painted Vallejo London Grey.

Boots are Vallejo Black Grey, the helmet was highlighted with the same Vallejo Black Grey.

The figure was dry brushed with Citadel Terminatus Stone.

The hair was washed with Citadel Nuln Oil, as were the boots.

The boiler suit was washed with Citadel Drakenhof Nightshade, and the flack jacket with Citadel Agrax Earthshade.

The skin was washed with Citadel Reikland Fleshshade.

Now to complete the camera man.

Empress BMD-01 progress

 As mentioned back in February, I received a BMD-1 from Empress.

It is now assembled and base painted.

So the detailing included an aerial on the left rear deck, cables attached to fittings on the hull nose and stretching back to the rear of the hull. Rubicon cable ends were used, the cable is brass wire. Holes are drilled into the hull a distance from end point (the distance being such that the cable ends will hook over the bracket and the ends of the wire). This secures the wire (the hole at one end is made very deep so that the wire can be tensioned by pushing the wire into the hole) and gives the impression the cable end is attached to the cable.

Notches were filed into the nose for the two bow mounted machine guns.

A rotating periscope on the rear hatch. A piece of thin plastic card is placed into a paper punch and a circular piece cut from the plastic. A piece of Slater's 0.06" microstrip makes the periscope.

The aerial is a piece of 1mm brass rod. The base is made from a piece of Plastruct rod.

It was at this point I noticed that the model was missing the periscopes just behind of the turrets. Again strips of Mircostrip provided the periscope heads.

The periscopes were painted with Humbrol 34 White acrylic (shown in the above photographs). They were then painted with Army Painter Deep Blue. The headlights are also Humbrol White.

This is the base painted model with Rubicon Soviet Tank and T26 decals. The numbers are from the Soviet Tank set (DCSV01) and the number in a triangle from the T26 set (DCSV05).

The grills have been shaded with Citadel Camoshade, as has the periscopes and hatches.

It now awaits final weathering and shading.