Roland, Roland, Roland...keeps those Rolands firing...ROLAND!
For those that recognize that terrible riff on the classic Rawhide theme song....you're old. Like me ;-)
This time we look at the Roland AA (GBX08) kit from Battlefront supporting the West German forces in Team Yankee. These bad boys are a Brigade level support for all the lists and you can get up to 1 Batterie of up to 6 launchers of these guys. Look out Soviet Airpower!
Battlefront continues to rock on these kits. The kits I have for prepared are pre-release versions. This is another old-school resin hull and turret with metal bits. Lots of detail everywhere. I know these are from newer molds/castings, but that only accounts from the cleanness of the models. There appears to be more little "grubbins" molded into the resin and metal than I have seen in older resin kits...this is a common theme so far in the West German kits. It makes be very happy for the future releases.
Build:
- Very simple build. Glue the tracks to the hull and the missile launchers and radar to the turret. When you glue the missile launchers make sure the missile pods hang under the launcher.
- You have an option with the side skirts. You can leave them off as in the cover art (and like I did) or you can put them on. You have the POWER!!!!!!
Paint Plan:
I followed the same process I used for the Luchs and Fuchs in my previous articles which is very close to the guide in Leopard on page 47.
- These were primed with the Team Yankee NATO Green Primer. There lots of little nooks and crannies so you might need several passes. Remember to use short controlled bursts and don't go full rock and roll sustained fire.
- Once you have the NATO Green base laid down, it's time for camouflage. Again look at the templates Battlefront has for these.
- First up are the black stripes. The guide calls for Worn Rubber. A good substitute is Vallejo Model Color 70.862 Black Grey. I airbrushed these using a mix of Vallejo Game Air 70.862 Black and Vallejo Model Air 71.048 at a 2:1 ratio. I am falling in love with Vallejo's growing range of Model Air and Game Air colors...and they're not not just for the airbrush. You can use them with a regular brush.
- Next is the brown. The guide calls for Woodland Brown. I used Vallejo Game Color 72.043 Beasty Brown which is a very close second.
- Next were the tracks. I deviated JUST a little bit from the paint plan in Leopard. Here I started with a 70.950 Black base and then added a dry brush of 70.862 Black Grey.
- Next I did a little clean up and used the Team Yankee colors to hide any of the little "splatter" marks that creep in when you airbrush and to add a little depth to the camo lines. The thinner nature of the Team Yankee colors help you keep the feathered airbrush edges...feathered.
- The Missile pods are next with a base of 70.893 US Dark Green, a shade wash of Monty Shade from the Color of War series of paints from Battlefront and then a dry brush of 70.886 Green Grey.
- Next in the guide is a drybrush of Dry Dust. I used the old standby of Vallejo Model Color 70.819 Iraqi Sand. You aren't trying to get the dirty/dusty look at this step. You lightly (and I stress lightly) drybrush the Dry Dust/Iraqi Sand. What this does is tone down the brighter/bolder tone of the NATO Green and Woodland Brown as well as pick out the many edges on the model. This went on the hull, the turret and missile pods, as well as the track and road wheels. On the tracks you need to have a very, very light touch as a little goes a LOOOONG way on that dark surface.
- Glass effects on the gunner's and driver's vision slots and head lights were done by starting with a 70.950 Black base then adding 70.816 Luftwaffe Uniform as a 1st layer on top of that. The you do a jeweling effect with 70.943 Grey Blue by adding a little curve on the outer bottom of the light and then a little dot in the opposite corner.
- The tail lights were a simple 72.010 Bloody Red and 72.007 Gold Yellow.
- Now, if you want to add some extra dust affects you can hit the model again with a few light layers of Vallejo Model Color 70.819 Iraqi Sand...or darker dirt colors. Use multiple light (not heavy as opposed to not dark) layers give the best effect. The multiple layer helps build a depth and can give a really nice texture.
- The model is gloss coated; decals applied; Ordnance Shade (or other black wash) is applied and then model then hit with a Flat Matte or Anti Shine to wrap it all up.
Soviet air...Beware!
Jeff Flint "SonBae" has been a long time contributor to WWPD and admin on the forums. A long time gamer and painter and recently a new studio painter at Mastermind, Model and Miniatures in Huntsville, Alabama. Just trying to keep the cats herded in WWPD-South.
