looking for..............

Hi,Steelrudi,

Hello from across the pond.Been reading some of your posts,thought you would like some more info. A few years ago I did some research on the very subject you are looking for infomation on as I picked up a 80mm Mil-Art figure at one of our local modelling shows of a Rhodesian S.A.S. Trooper of 1979. I only had minimal references from some old RAIDS magazines which is a French Combat magazine and at that time was printed in English in the U.K. 

If you are still looking for for some references for your SADF forces and other special forces I would recommend Pamwe Chete  The Legend of the Selous Scouts by Lieutenant-Colonel R.f. Reid-Daly CLM,DMM,MBE.It gives you a good insite into what it was like to fight a counter-insurgency war in the then Rhodesian State involving all the surronding countries including South Africa.

    I found this book in my local library along with another book by Chris Cocks about life in the RLI in the same time period which was all thro' the 1970's.Also came across Ospery book Modern African Wars(1)Rhodesia 1965-1980 which has a few colour plates for some uniform info.

              Moxey

Great! What figure did you use?

(I've gone back out on a pipeline job - 4 hrs commute/round trip daily plus 10 hrs work - 6 days a week - SO!  I'll be able to BUY the kits, but it'll be months before I can BUILD them!) 

Oh, also some people like to insert a piece of fine wire into long thin parts. I've never tried this but a piece of really thin piano wire dropped into the mold with the resin might help make the molded rifle a bit more durable, or just really screw up your casting but it would only ruin one so it might be worth a try.

Which casting kit did you get anyway? 

Long skinny parts are a real pain to cast, but it can be done. I'd do each rifle in its own seperate mold. I use Lego's for a mold box. I think I'd probably start off by pouring about 1/4" of silicone into the mold box, then floating the rifle on its side on top of the silicone, push it down just a little so about 1/2 or less of the rifle is covered, try to make sure that all projections (pistol grip, magazine etc) is settled into the silicone but not covered on top.

Once the silicone cures (I'd let it sit at least over night) smear a thin coat of vaseline (just enough to make it greasy but not clumped) on the cured silicone but leave about 1/4" free of vaseline on one of the long sides, probably the side closest to the top of the rifle (less detail to have to worry about getting free of the mold). Then pour another 1/4" deep layer of silicone over the first. Let it cure (again at least over night). When its done you should have a mold that opens like a book, it will be connected on one side. To use it pour resin the length of the rifle mold, close the mold and knead it to help force resin into the cavity and air bubbles out. Let it fully cure (15 minutes should be good) then see how it worked.

You can heat the mold in an oven at low heat (low or 200 degrees) which will make the resin cure faster, do this before pouring the resin to make the mold warm, don't do it with the resin in the mold. This will also stink up the house so you have been warned. Chilling the mold in the refrigerator or freezer should give you a slower curing time but I have heard it can cause some weird problems with the resin.

Good luck, you may find you like casting parts or double your efforts to find the kits with FN-FALs in them.  

steelrudi wrote:

I understand the day after recovery gig.  And yes Bushmills is a creeper.  I only drink Bushmills, but in moderation.  I cant drink like I used to when I was younger.  Every once in awhile though it seems like I need to prove something to myself, and the village idiot takes over.  God I hate those days.

well now I know there is more than of us!!

    When people ask what we are talking about all we need to say is that "we are taking our final exam in chemestry. Or maybe it's a tough love for extended pain.

gary

stikpusher wrote:

squeakie wrote:  stikpusher wrote: Isnt the 7.62mmx51mm chambered MG-42 the MG-3? I know they look practicaly identical. And it shoots oh so nicely... And I always root for the hunters in "Bambi" You may well be right about that, I'm not sure. I did get the chance to shoot one labled MG42 that some guys from Thailand were using back in the summer of 68. I remember well that it weighed a lot less than the hog I was humping at the time. They were using a bag to hold the belted ammo. I managed to blast about 500 rounds thru it at the low rpm setting as well as the high rpm setting. It shot very well off hand (try that with an M60), but the best thing about it was the barrel change out. Takes about twenty seconds!!! And you don't have to remove the belt! I liked it even better than our extremely customized RPD's. gary Well if it was back then and stamped MG-42, I'll bet it was a rechambered one that somehow found it's way across half the globe. I got to fire an MG-3 in 1984 while on an exchange program with the Bundeswehr. I was most impressed by its' rate of fire and also the quick change barrel you mentioned. After having gotten used to a 60 there was some serious difference between the two. But yes, it shot great. So did the G-3 rifle. Qualified expert first time shooting it, in the rain to top it off. I really liked the West German weapons over our own, but their personal gear and uniforms left much to be desired in comparison. Those long nights of drinking I find are best moderated as I get older as compare dto once upon a time.... I find myself unable to party all night then get up and run like I used to... Now it s a day of recovery and paying the fiddler after overindulging.... But at least I did realize that " I will never close down that place again/drink that much again...etc." is best left unsaid.... it just isn't true.

When I was new a guy walked up to me and put a beautifull 60 in my hands along with two barrels and 1 1/2 cleaning kits, half a case of LSA, a tabacco pouch full of firing pins and springs, and a virgin box of Homemade cigars. He patted me on the but and said "your new!" Well I weighed in at a grand 147 lb. and carried that 28lb. hog till I had callusses on my shoulders. I soon learned that I had become the center of attention once a round went off. Anyway I didn't get rid of that thing till sometime in April 1968. The only change I made with it in that time was the orange juice can mod. But after I finally got rid of it I still found myself intangled with three belts of 7.62 ball, and often got to carry one of the extra barrels or a radio battery. So looking back I think it all came out about the same minus being the center of attention. Ten weeks later we were attached to an "A" team about as far west as you could get. These guys were using all kinds of Russian stuff, and some generic items (atually a lot of generic items). That's when I learned just how bad the 81mm mortar was we were using, and how much better the 82 was. Those guys were taking East European made (never Chinese) RPD's, and cutting the stock for about a 12" pull. Cutting the barrel back to about 15" long (maybe even shorter) and attaching what looked to be an M14 flash suppressor. Was their "Sunday Goto Meeting Gun!!" We had a couple that we traded for with very modded Win. Mod. 12 shotguns. During that time period I came into the very rarest of all AK47's. Which was promptly confiscated by the CIA after I got to put about 2000 rounds thru it. It was a plastic stocked, alloy framed gun built by BRNO in east europe.

gary

squeakie wrote:

stikpusher wrote: Isnt the 7.62mmx51mm chambered MG-42 the MG-3? I know they look practicaly identical. And it shoots oh so nicely... And I always root for the hunters in "Bambi" You may well be right about that, I'm not sure. I did get the chance to shoot one labled MG42 that some guys from Thailand were using back in the summer of 68. I remember well that it weighed a lot less than the hog I was humping at the time. They were using a bag to hold the belted ammo. I managed to blast about 500 rounds thru it at the low rpm setting as well as the high rpm setting. It shot very well off hand (try that with an M60), but the best thing about it was the barrel change out. Takes about twenty seconds!!! And you don't have to remove the belt! I liked it even better than our extremely customized RPD's. gary

Well if it was back then and stamped MG-42, I'll bet it was a rechambered one that somehow found it's way across half the globe. I got to fire an MG-3 in 1984 while on an exchange program with the Bundeswehr. I was most impressed by its' rate of fire and also the quick change barrel you mentioned. After having gotten used to a 60 there was some serious difference between the two. But yes, it shot great. So did the G-3 rifle. Qualified expert first time shooting it, in the rain to top it off. I really liked the West German weapons over our own, but their personal gear and uniforms left much to be desired in comparison.

Those long nights of drinking I find are best moderated as I get older as compare dto once upon a time.... I find myself unable to party all night then get up and run like I used to... Now it s a day of recovery and paying the fiddler after overindulging....

But at least I did realize that " I will never close down that place again/drink that much again...etc." is best left unsaid.... it just isn't true.

steelrudi wrote:

Had the samething happen to me last night.  Stupid Aliens any way.  Don't even want to look  at a drink for a week.

That's why I quit Irish whiskey out in public. I love it, but it's like a nine pound hammer. The older you get, the fun it is getting drunk. Bushmills just kinda creeps up on you, and then rips you apart when you least expect it.

     I was out last night for an open stage event, but came out alive and well. There were no leggy redheads to probe my brain (what little is left), but did meet an interesting brunette.

gary

steelrudi wrote:

Hey Squeakie, you weren't probed were you? (Aliens)  It's a bad thing if you were.

well after some after thought I'm kinda now thinking that the "SCLRH that OALS" might have well been an Alien Agent! I was left with a horrible headache after being interrogated for at least a complete night. They kept handing me these drinks to try and try. Also noticed that they had a really good cigar selection, but wouldn't share.

gary

stikpusher wrote:

Isnt the 7.62mmx51mm chambered MG-42 the MG-3? I know they look practicaly identical. And it shoots oh so nicely... And I always root for the hunters in "Bambi"

You may well be right about that, I'm not sure. I did get the chance to shoot one labled MG42 that some guys from Thailand were using back in the summer of 68. I remember well that it weighed a lot less than the hog I was humping at the time. They were using a bag to hold the belted ammo. I managed to blast about 500 rounds thru it at the low rpm setting as well as the high rpm setting. It shot very well off hand (try that with an M60), but the best thing about it was the barrel change out. Takes about twenty seconds!!! And you don't have to remove the belt! I liked it even better than our extremely customized RPD's.

gary

I just realized that my answer to the question never was posted (maybe I was temporarly insane or even kidnaped by aliens). Seriously the kit number is 3806 from Dragon, and much to my dismay it didn't have the FN that I swore it did. But it has about everything else in full tilt weapons that a guy might be looking for.

     One last thing with the full auto machineguns and third worls countrys. The most popular machine gun and the most sought after is still the MG 42, but in 7.62 x 51. That gun is still in production, in more than one country. So all of you probably got a couple in your stash.

gary

Outlands wrote:

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand??? Perhaps he met a fabulously beautiful and rich woman looking for a modeler and ran away with her, totally forgetting us poor slobs?

That would be classified as a SCLRH that OALS. Not sure there was a nomenclature number affixed to the item yet, BUT I was there first.

gary