Mighty Mite and Recoiless Gun for my Marines

 After spending most of my time concentrating on figures I finally added a couple of larger pieces. The Mighty Mite and Recoiless Gun for my Marines, they don't all have to walk and get the opportunity to bring up some extra fire power. They are more gorgeous looking models from Empress Miniatures, most of the vehicles I have are plastic or resin with only a few metal parts. So it was a learning curve with all metal parts for the two new pieces that I've added, going forward hopefully I will be able to make a better job of any that cross my paint table in the future. 

   So on to the models   

                                                          The Mighty Mite 

The vehicle comes with a trailer, stowage and 3 crew members. The trailer is about the only drawback, the Mighty Mite and the Jeep only come with the trailer has a set. Hopefully going forward they will come without the trailer, it would certainly encourage me to purchase a few more. The stowage features camo netting, fuel cans, tarps other bits and pieces, but I reckon the best one is the radio! I had completely forgotten about it until writing this, I will get it painted and added at somepoint. So quick review of the parts, the body, seats and axels are all cast in one piece, you get 5 wheels, separate windscreen, and separate tailgate, and steering wheel. The 3 crew are nice figures as always, minimal flash and clean up required. The guy in the back with the walkie talkie will be a great addition when I decide to where I'm going to use him. 

My Mighty Mite in all its glory

The colour of Marine vehicles were a different colour from the army's equipment so I decided to go for a colour that would stand out as different. I went for reflective green, highlight with the valejo colour I use for DAK tunics. I've had it so long I can't remember what it's called and to make matters worse the name as rubbed off completely. It may not be historically correct but it's good enough for me. I used my usual dry brush to highlight and then picked out separate details. The grimy rust I think sits nicely on the green and the mud which is purely just paint adds enough rather then going OTT with mud! It's taken a while to finish it up but it's lead me to my next model.

The Recoiless Gun

I absolutely love this model, the fact that when you buy it you also get the mule with a mounted gun and a version that stands alone with crew. Once again you get stowage with it and spare shells, the stowage is once again fuel cans, camo nets, tarps and other bits and pieces! Have I mentioned I absolutely love this model! Looking at the photo below I hoping you can see why. 

The Mule 

Pictured below the full set, the Mule with mounted gun and the gun deployed ready to supply a bit more punch! Once again the mule is WIP and all metal, learning curve part 2. I will post pictures once it's finished, but back to the kit. The gun and stand are very clean flash wise, I pinned the gun to the stand although I don't think I needed to. Like I said I have limited experience with all metal kits so I was maybe a tad cautious. Some of the equipment had quite rough mould lines in this set, which is completely different to the stowage that came with the Mighty Mite. It may be a one off but it seems out of character from Empress so I may just of been unlucky with this one. The Mule I will cover once I've finished it up and it's ready to be seen by the world. The two crew men are as always up to scratch, one carrying a shell and the other kneeling covering his ears. After seeing one of these guns in a documentary its a case of user beware, you certainly wouldn’t want to be stood in the wrong place when it was being fired. 

 

The Gun

I'm hoping I've pretty much covered every angle of the gun and crew, I think the amount of photos may just give away my fondness for the model. The size of the base gave me a chance to add a bit more detail and make it a bit more of a centre piece. The empty shells hopefully give the impression the guns giving valuable support, the detailing on the shells is really good and once again speaks volumes about Empress and the quality it produces. 

So that's about it for another post, my collection shows no sign of slowing down or where it will stop. So keep looking and I will keep posting.

Takecare and all the very best 

         Cheers Russ