My Generation Was Killed - Part 13 - 9/11

 

‘Sup Killers? Apologies for the late post. This time of year kind of creeps up on me…

24 years ago this week. 24 years ago was the day my life would change inexorably, and I didn’t even know it.

Without that day I wouldn’t even be writing this blog. There would be no GWOT, no invasion of Iraq, Matty would not have been killed, and Generation Kill wouldn’t have been made…

But there was, he was, and they did, so here we are…

This week was going to be a tribute to my dear friend Damien Reid, AKA ‘The Drybrush King’ 🤴 

So I will try and get back there…

Dry brushing? Remember that? The age-old art of turning flat, single-colour minis, into glorious three-dimensional highlighted works of art! Well, that’s at least what we tell ourselves… 😂

Since literally forever I have been using this brush in the middle. The other two are newer, but of the same style:

I bought that middle brush around 1983-4, and it cost me 20 pence, about 50c in today’s money 😂

It came from an art shop, and I know it cost me 20p as until recently, it still had the price tag affixed. Somehow hanging on after years of being handled!

It, like its two smaller, newer siblings, is of the traditional’Flat Top’ style that I thought was the standard for dry brushing. Recently I have been watching some YouTube videos and have seen the new wave of ‘Wonder’ dry brushes that are now available…

So I thought I would give some a try and picked a pack up from Mini Kiwiland. Great shop, loads, and I do mean LOADS of stuck, slightly odd retailer / owner…😉

Got a pack of three as below: 

Now, unlike the trad brushes, these are a round head and way softer, certainly not what I was expecting. According to the online vids, you also use less paint… SO I gave them a try on the next batch of Hummers, and well, verdict is still out…

On the plus side, you can get more control than with the flat-top brushes. On the down side, I found I was only able to detail a small area at a time as I quickly ran out of paint and had to re-load the brush. So, verdict is still out on these. 

I’d be keen to hear any of your experiences with these or something similar 🤩

So, what’s been on the bench this week..? I have completed C/S V-02 commanded by SGT Antonio ‘Poke’ Espera. Poke’s crew are; Driver CPL Jason Likely, Rear Seat CPL Nathan Christopher, Rear Seat CPL Hector Leon, and .50 HMG Gunner CPL ‘Gabe’ Garza.

Had some real fun making these trucks, and they are all converted from the 3D printed Hummers from T-Boss. All have had the roofs cut off, and various types of roll-bars and / or rear cargo decks fitted. Poke’s truck gets the most detail work, just like Brad’s did for V-01. 

His truck differs in the rear cargo decks with side bars etc. Lots of fun with plasti-card and what not!

In this pic I have airbrushed NATO green into the inside and undersides of the trucks. This would have been the OG colour before they had the desert cam treatment.

Using some tissue paper I stuffed it into the gaps and ensured seats etc were covered. I then sprayed them with the ‘ol desert colour 🤩

Then I peeled out the tissue paper and et voila! 

Close up showing the fabrication work required.

Shot from the other side.

Then it was on to adding cam, painting in the details including the air recognition panel, and making the bases. Then I glued them to the bases and went to varnish.

Poke and his driver are converted from BF WWII seated GI and JEEP driver figures. Added heads from BF Marines, added goggles and CBRN Mask bags from Grey Stuff.

The other three crew are converted BF Marines with added googles and CBRN bags from Grey Stuff.

Shot from the rear showing added stowage and the spare wheel.

Poke getting the range on a target as the rest of the crew aim on using the tracer rounds from the ‘Fifty.

TOW truck 1

GMG Truck

TOW Truck 2

This week it’s all models, no real life. I think we can all understand 9/11. I will never forget exactly what I was doing when I heard it on the radio.

I had been cleaning our married quarter as I was being posted from ATR Pirbright to 16 Air Assault Regiment in Colchester. I was in the kitchen, on my hands and knees cleaning the grout in the tiles with a tooth-brush…

I had Radio One playing, and it was the afternoon show with ‘Mark and Lard’. I cannot recall what song was on, but suddenly one of them announced, “we are pausing this song as we have just had an unconfirmed report that a plane has flown into one of the towers of the World Trade Centre, please stand by.” Then the song continued.

Before the song had finished, they paused it again, “We have had a report that a second plane has flown into the other tower. We are suspending all normal broadcasting whilst we receive more reports.” All I could think of was, ‘Great, now I have to finish cleaning the house with no tunes…’

Sarah and the boys were staying at her Mums and I was in barracks waiting to move. That night I was in my mates room as he had a TV. I can remember us both being sat on the end of his bed watching the Ten O’Clock news on ITV. 

This was the first time I had seen what was going on. We both sat in stunned silence as we watched events unfolding. They played the plane impacts time and again from different angles, all the while trying to understand what was happening.

One of us turned to the other, I don’t recall which it was and said, “That’s it, we’re going to war”. 3 Months later I was on my way to Afghanistan… That was easy compared to what happened next in Iraq…

As always, thanks for reading, thanks for your support, till next time, ‘Stay Frosty. 🫡