Field repairs - dusting off an old army

In my recent house move, I had the opportunity to catalogue my wargames collection and develop a plan of action. During this process, I discovered that a few items had either been damaged during the move or needed dusting and repairs. One of these was a selection of 'modern' US Army soldiers from the 1990s and 2000s. These models originally belonged to my dear friend Paul Houghton, who sadly passed away nearly 20 years ago. I can hardly believe it's been that long, but it also gives you an idea of how old these miniatures are. After Paul's passing, I was given his wargames collection, and I like to bring his old miniatures out onto the tabletop every once in a while.

The miniatures are from The Assault Group's Ultra Modern American range. The box they were in had fallen to the floor, and several models were damaged and chipped. I dusted them off and started some field repairs. These models likely saw their last outing several years ago when I was playing my Black Ops rules. I thought it was time to dust them off, give them a few field repairs, and get them back in service on the table, after a spray of matt varnish to toughen them up.

The picture above shows the before (left), where I used white to highlight and undercoat the areas in need of repair, and the after (right, the finished model).

I was keen to preserve as much of Paul's original painting as possible, adding only a few touches of my own. My first task was to cover all the damaged parts where the metal shone through with a fresh coat of white paint. I used a white undercoat and an AK Flat White Real Color Marker.

The next task was to determine what paints Paul had originally used on the models. I also researched 1990s US uniforms to get an idea of the correct colors. Most of the anti-tank weapons, such as the M136 AT-4 and the Dragon ATGM, were green and never in a sand color. This might be one thing I change—only because I like the contrast between the desert yellow and the bright green of the launcher.

The main uniform color was a light buff. I couldn't quite find a perfect match with Vallejo, so I chose the closest option. I believe it was originally Iraqi Sand, but the current version is a bit darker. The boots were in a light tan, and the webbing was in various shades of green. I wasn't too concerned about getting these exactly right, as webbing and kit generally come in various shades of green.

Once the main repairs were done, I covered the finished models with Aly's Brown Liquid as a wash. This helps bring the model together and really makes them 'pop'. With a few highlights and some new basing, these models would be ready to return to the tabletop.

The finished models don't look half bad—better than they were originally. I could add some more highlights and possibly some edging to the bases, which look a little messy.

Now, I need to assemble what I have and see if I have enough for a US Army platoon. There's a bit more painting to do before I get close to that; It'll be at least 27 miniatures!