Got given a Italeri landrover and turned it into a BSAP diorama.
The figures are from “storm front” Australian Vietnam which are similar to the Rhodesian soldiers.
The BSAP K9 teams were used very successfully during the bush war.
14 Likes
Try nice job on the diorama Troy. Great job on the camouflage uniform and figures as well. I’d love to see more pics of the Land Rover from different angles. Great job !
Very nice job I mean lol.
Hi Troy
Not only outstanding, but unique. Your skills are extraordinary to say the least. Nice to see some new and different topics and ideas, especially from the African Bush Wars.
Thank you so much for sharing this… so inspiring.
Thank you for the kind words, not much is done with Rhodesia and that was one reason I did this.
Also rather fond of Rhodesia.
Got two 1/35 Trumpeter helicopters, the Hind and the Mi-8 that I will do as an Afghanistan diorama, that will also be a combination of vehicles and figures as well, that will be a large diorama and will take some time to do.
The camo patterns on the BSAP figures was a real headache…
1 Like
I will get the wife’s phone and take some more pics for you.
Excellent, whenever you get the chance thanks!
Nice job especially on the uniform camo; the British South African Police were a force to be reckoned with that’s for sure.
Had family living there , they went to SA saw the writing on the wall moved to Israel, got too much red tape so they moved to Brazil to be with other family members and are doing well in the cattle biz. It was a beautiful country when I visited their farm.
1 Like
It was a great country; unwittingly perhaps (though soldiers can never choose where they go and even what they do) I was part of the country’s demise in a way, sent there as part of a BMATT (British Military Advisory and Training Team) to hasten the development of the then, new Zimbabwean Army. I ended up having a great tour, and was only dimly aware that my own government had, more or less, sold out the Rhodesians, the whole dating back at least to UDI and the subsequent talks on HMS Tiger and HMS Fearless, but such realpolitik was beyond my comprehension at the time.
Perfidious Albion indeed, sadly.
2 Likes
I’m looking at this scene again; Troy is that an M60 Machine Gun mounted in the back of the Land Rover?
That must have been a very interesting tour Brian. What year would that have been?
1981 Richard; it certainly had its moments!
I’ve written about it all, as part of my personal memories. I can’t post it here as it runs to some 7 pages, but Ill happily send you a copy (a Word document) if you say, PM me with a civvy email address).
1 Like
PM sent
Roger that; down the wire as I write, or rather, across the ether!
Received and thanks again!
1 Like
They have two L7 Gimpy LMG’s.
You really never see anything BSAP related and no K9 units.
I did a living history demo to tell folks about Rhodesia and the BSAP.
A part of history that the perfidious west wants forgotten.
I have also done up a Hunter and am working on the SA supplied DC4, finished a “what if” Rhodesian Bronco in 1/48.
1 Like
At least you were out of there before it got really nasty. The Gukurahundi which took place from 1983 to 1987, was a genocide against the minority Ndebele ethnic group in Matabeleland. The chief instrument of this policy was the North Korean trained and (heavily) equipped 5th brigade which was effectively a separate entity within the Zimbabwean National Army. The current President, Emmerson Mnangagwa (the then Minister of State for National Security), disputes (the extent of) his involvement.
Regards,
M
1 Like
I was indeed; it’s funny in a way, but soldiers seem to sort of drop in and out of the world’s events - always at the behest of their governments of course - right or wrong; the upside, at least for me, was I got to experience an awful lot, most of it good, though not always.
I’ve put my Zimbabwe experiences down on paper - around half a dozen pages or so; you’re welcome to have a copy if you like. It’s hardly an exemplar of the writer’s art I’m sure, but if you send me a PM with say, a civilian email on I’ll get one to you. prepare to be underwhelmed though(!)