SKS

Last week I reread Thomas Goltz's Georgia Diary. I don't usually reread books, but this one is particularly good and I was certain that I'd enjoy it more now that I understand the modern history of Georgia better. It got me in the mood to paint up some figures suitable for the Georgian Wars (and other conflicts, too, I suppose).

All conflicts in the Caucasus in the 1990's seem to make some use of older weaponry. This is especially true of the earlier conflicts when post-Soviet chaos wasn't as rampant and the Red Army stockpiles weren't exploited yet. To represent these fighters I decided to use RH Model's SKS figures with M40 helmets. They don't come with other heads so I couldn't resist doing some swaps. In the future I envision doing more, especially with civilian colors and heads. I suppose I could even use figures with even older Moison Nagants. I think these will mix nicely with figures with shotguns and hunting rifles. It was good to get away from painting so many AKs! Below are some pictures that inspired me. I used the last picture to base the camouflage on.

RH Models MULT20SKS with head swaps

RH Models MULT20SKS with head swaps

South Ossetian militia (October 11th, 1991).

Opposition fighters resting in Tbilisi (December 27th, 1991).

Opposition fighters burn picture in Tbilisi, December 30th, 1991.

Abkhazian fighter running with child during fall of Sukhumi (September 27th, 1993).

Georgian fighters in Gagry (September, 1992).

My period of interest also shows much use of derby caps by civilians, especially earlier wars. I'll have to make some more of these later, but for now I did these two.

RH Models GDRMIL

Abkhazians block road, village of Tamysh (December 20th, 1992).

December, 1991: Opposition fighters in Tbilisi.

Lastly, I did two figures with pistols and a random Abkhazian militant. I've only seen a handful of pictures with pistols being used in Post-Soviet conflicts, so I can't overdo it, but a couple of these guys can't hurt. The standing figure had two pistols, one in each hand, which didn't work for my period. I cut of one of hands and sculpted a new one out of green stuff. My five-year-old daughter is always asking me to paint with some purple so I found an example of purple pants being worn and went with it. I think he looks a bit like a tourist in a Hawaiian shirt with 1970's Incredible Hulk coloring ... a perfect Abkhazian rebel!

RH Models URBPIST; URBAKEER

Georgian opposition fighter crouching in Tbilisi (December 28th, 1991).

Abkhazian rebels near Sukhumi, June 9th, 1993.