Northern Ireland, the early days - suitable figures to convert?

[badger]

7 hours ago, Stashaholic Steve said:

 

Sadly this post has been overtaken by events and the company has closed. What a shame - their stuff looks excellent.

A seller on ebay has picked up some of the range - Osiris Models. They've just added some of the NI figures.

I bought a 1/72 CET and the service was great - well packaged and arrived in 2 days.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/387304365955?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=bo-0h0-bsby&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=gKCxPngSRVK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

All the best

Ben

[bootneck]

On 14/08/2024 at 11:42, RichG said:

Just received my order for a selection of 1/35 scale British Army figures (Operation Banner / Northern Ireland) from Syllys Mini Models, based in the Netherlands (figures illustrated earlier in the thread). They also do a range of vehicles, in addition to figures from other countries  (Dutch, Danish, Canadian, US Army etc). Really pleased with them and their poses look excellent. They'll go well with my figures / vehicles from Badger 3D. Perhaps not quite as crisp as the Badger figures but perfectly fine really. Unfortunately Bader3D has recently ceased trading so availability and any further additions to that range are probably unlikely.  

Syllys figures are well worth a look if you're modelling this era.

Rich 

Hi @RichG

Can you tell me how long it took for your order to be delivered?  I placed an order the same day as I replied to you, 14th August, and received a confirmation from Syllys Mini Models but nothing since.   I sent them an email this morning only to get a delivery failure message.

I tried the "Contact Seller" on Paypal but it only lets you raise a dispute and I don't want to do that until I am sure that there really is a problem.  The dispute just wants to know how much of a refund you want, rather than try to contact the seller via PayPal.

cheers,
Mike

[RichG]

Hi Mike

 

I have to say he really wasn't the quickest.. I placed my order on 23 July and it was delivered on 14 August so that's 23 days but yours is over that now. No direct comms once I'd placed my order (following the order acknowledgement email). In fact it partially slipped my mind, then Royal Mail emailed they'd got a package for me from the Netherlands. I gather 3D printing can take a while and have had similar delays from other suppliers. I imagine he prints to order rather than stocks the range.  Still not good if you are unable to contect - the email I have is:

[email protected]

 

I've actually placed another order for more from the range (on 16 Aug - decided I wanted a full-blown riot rather than a VCP...😉) and I notice the order numbers have increased by 25 between my 2 orders.. so fingers crossed for us both! If (sorry, hopefully when) I get mine I'll post.

 

Rich 

 

PS I just checked on their Facebook page and there's a post from them on 7 Sept. Perhaps you could try messaging them there?

https://www.facebook.com/syllys-mini-models

Edited September 10, 2024 by RichG

[bootneck]

Hi Rich,

I got an email back this afternoon, it appears he has the world on his shoulders.  Moving house, no room to pack up the packages etc., etc.; however, he did say that he will make some room tomorrow and try to get ten parcels out.  I said that I would give him another week. 

What other items did you order that would constitute a riot?

 

cheers,
Mike

[RichG]

Well that sounds hopeful. I guess life gets in the way sometimes.

 

I've ordered:

F-GB14 Commander during the riot with Bullhorn 

F-GB08 Baton (Webley) Riot gunner

F-GB13 The Defender (big shield guy 2)

F-GB11 Need to sit for a sec. 

F-GB12 Taking care of a buddy.

 

Initial thinking is a street scene with troops standing behind barbed wire, in fromt of a Saracen APC. I'm currently planning the street. I've scanned, scaled up and printed out a OO model railway terrace houses back scene (Scale Model Scenery). It came out a bit blurry so need to play around with my scanner/printer resolution. Failing that I might use as a template for cutting doors and windows on card stock and cover with 1/35 scale redbrick paper. Might try both. May also experiment making drain pipes and rusty corrugated iron to board-up the doors & windows or perhaps add a shop/pub to the terrace (to add a bit of colour). Ideally I'd like to make it modular so I can change things around perhaps for more peaceful street settings. 

 

 

I previously got F-GB10 Small Shielder (shield guy 1); F-GB09 Baton club ready. I also have a couple of RUC Officers from the now defunct Badger3D (may be available from Osiris Models via eBay) plus a photographer and a lady in headscarf looking on from ModelU.  A little bit ambitious but as much as anything I'm using it to research & learn some new techniques - not least figure painting...!

 

    

Edited September 10, 2024 by RichG

[Black Knight]

A note; the troops would not be behind the barbed wire, rioters might be during the early days when the IRA made No-Go areas. Other wise, barbed wire was to protect Security Forces buildings and posts. The streets did not have it, but plenty of burnt out vehicles, normally buses, few cars, the odd lorry,

 

A lot of the news photos were staged. I know. I took part in several staged riots for the BBC cameras and US press

[RichG]

Ah OK. Many thanks that's very helpful - barbed wire's pretty optional anyway in my street (must've been in my mind's eye). A burnt out vehicle... mmm... now there's a challenge! 

 

Strange thing is I was over in Belfast in August 1969 (aged 9)... visiting my grandma! 

 

Rich

Edited September 10, 2024 by RichG

[Black Knight]

I find the best way to replicate something is to do it the way it happened

Get a cheap toy bus, double-decker preferably, or a single decker will do, and set fire to it!

The real buses, being aluminium bodied, burnt very well, until just a carcass or skeleton was left

 

If you can a 'flying pig' would be good in your street scene

A 'flying pig' was a 4 wheel APC ( I forget its name) with anti-riot wire mesh screens sticking out of the sides. The RUC and Army advanced into rioters behind one of these.

 

btw, you must have at least two RUC officers with the Army. The soldiers had no right of arrest so the RUC was there for that

[Tigerausfb]

27 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

If you can a 'flying pig' would be good in your street scene

A 'flying pig' was a 4 wheel APC ( I forget its name) with anti-riot wire mesh screens sticking out of the sides. The RUC and Army advanced into rioters behind one of these.

 

 

The Humber pig aka FV1611 aka Truck, 1 Ton, Armoured, 4x4, Humber

[Black Knight]

Oh, you do know that the RUC uniform was 'bottle green'? Darker than a Napoleonic Wars Rifles green. It was so dark it was almost black and thats why certain people called the RUC 'black bar-stewards' - they wuz colour-blind!

[RichG]

On 9/10/2024 at 4:47 PM, RichG said:

so fingers crossed for us both! If (sorry, hopefully when) I get mine I'll post.

@bootneck

 

Hi Mike
My order arrived this morning; hope you've got yours (or its on its way). The communications from Syllys Mini Models seemed much better this time round.

Many thanks for chasing things up with them and unblocking the hold up.

Cheers

 

Rich 

 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2024 by RichG

[bootneck]

Hi Rich,

 

my order arrived this morning as well.  I just inferred that I hope he wasn't like some companies, which are quick to take our money but slow to process orders.  I have asked him to let me know when things are settled as I would like to order more stuff from him.  I also mentioned about the vehicles not matching the scale of the figures; however, that's possibly just down to early days with him and other scales will hopefully be available later.

 

cheers,
Mike

[bootneck]

I already have an idea for one of the figures.

 

 

cheers,
Mike

[RichG]

I'm starting to wonder if the figures are perhaps a tad big when compared to other 1/35 figures I've got (perhaps closer to 1/32?) but I'm not unduly worried. They're big lads, I'm going to assume they're Guardsmen...🙂

 

 

[bootneck]

With beret and boots, similar to the one in the image above, they measure six foot.  That would make them about five foot nine or ten in bare feet, so I'm happy with that.

 

cheers,

Mike

[bootneck]

Hi Rich,

 

I think that I have identified the issue with size/scale.  I have measured some of the figures and the height between the eyes and the top of the beret is about 6mm, which works out at 9inches.  That's more like the height of a peaked cap.  I am going to file down the berets to a more suitable size by taking off 3 or 4mm across the set.  We used to shrink our berets to fit our head outline and I think some of the Para's berets looked like skull caps.

 

cheers,
Mike

[bootneck]

This is the figure that I took the measurements of and, as can be seen, the beret is set too high above the eyeline; plus, the beret is too big, vertically.

 

I filed down the top of the beret and also attempted to bring the beret further down the forehead.  Then painted the figure as I remember the colours to be.

 

Apologies for the quality of the images.

 

cheers,
Mike

[Peter2]

That figure is coming along well as an initial foray. When you are considering adding some civilians, perhaps a couple (or three) youngsters will complement the scenes. Sometimes we forget the role of the young. There are numerous photos from that time showing mostly-skinny kids and teenagers hanging around alleyways, burned buildings and scrubby wasteland: the lads with lank, long hair and flared trousers/tank tops; some girls wearing Alice bands and white stockings, or minis if more grown-up. These young citizens with wary faces were part of the daily tension on the streets too, as much as the scarfed mothers and donkey-jacketed dads who are the standard clichéd characters of the early Troubles. 

[bwilt]

Silly models is a 1 guy company, he has a fulltime job in the army, does this in his spare time. Even in Holland it will take 1-2 months to get your orders delivered... 

[rayprit]

When I was in Northern Ireland in the very early days,(1970) we had the traditional steel helmet(WWll) and plastic riot shields, flak vests were surplus american vests with Kevlar inserts........also as a driver of the pigs, we had Mark 1 humbers........these had no door locks on them, we fabricated our own from strong wire to loop over the inside door handle and attached to anything inside the pig that was secure and a permanent fixture, in riots without that wire mod, doors could be opened by anyone from the outside.......About 1972 onwards the Mark 2 pigs came into force, these were uparmoured and many modified for specific tasks...such as flying pigs, Ambulances, bomb disposal by Royal engineers.....these mark 2s easily spotted as all bins cut off and rear doors cut in half allowing top half to be dropped down and a lot more armour.......Mk 1 pigs - bullets could penetrate the armour as enemy disadents were using American Armourlite

[bootneck]

4 hours ago, bwilt said:

Silly models is a 1 guy company, he has a fulltime job in the army, does this in his spare time. Even in Holland it will take 1-2 months to get your orders delivered... 

He is also moving house and everything was packed up when I contacted him, which was the reason for the delay.

 

 

11 hours ago, Peter2 said:

That figure is coming along well as an initial foray.

Initial foray, that describes my figure painting quite nicely!

 

3 hours ago, rayprit said:

When I was in Northern Ireland in the very early days,(1970) we had the traditional steel helmet(WWll) and plastic riot shields, flak vests were surplus american vests with Kevlar inserts

My unit was on Spearhead in 1969, actually on standby for problems in Mauritious, when we got mobilised.  That was 15 Sept 1969, a month after the first Army unit got sent.  My diorama will be set around that 1969/70 period when nothing had been up-armoured. 

I have noticed on the figures that the period is late in the troubles.  The boots are the high ankle lace-ups that we never encountered until seeing them on Argies in the Falklands.  We received our first sets in about 1983. Easy to resolve by sanding down the top three laces and painting brown to represent puttees.  The flak jacket is of a later type, with added fittings for radio etc.  Also, the figures don't come with gas mask carriers.

 

cheers,

Mike

[bootneck]

14 hours ago, Peter2 said:

...........When you are considering adding some civilians, perhaps a couple (or three) youngsters will complement the scenes.

Agreed,  it's still early days in my research phase but I have ideas for civilians.   This is one of the concepts that I am considering, the type of adults and children will depend on availability and my budget.

 

 

cheers,
Mike

[rayprit]

Check out tthis post on here     

 

[bootneck]

That links back to this thread. 

[RAFP8911]

Syllys Mini models from the Netherlands appears to have expanded their range of NI related 1/35 figures including RMP / RUC and now the “opposition” - rioters, woman with bin lid etc.

 

Syllys

 

(hopefully that link works!)