Saturday, June 27, 2009

The Leopards are on the prowl

The Leopards are on the prowl - I'm talking about the German-made Leopard 2 MBT (Main Battle Tank), the latest tank of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). The SAF unveiled its newest unit on Friday June 26, 2009 - 48th Battalion, Singapore Armoured regiment (48 SAR), which is just over a year old and has more than 10 Leopards, with more to come to make a total of 102.

It is the fifth unit in the SAF's Armour arsenal, joining the other units with Bionix Infantry Fighting Vehicles and Bronco All Terrain Tracked Carriers. 48 SAR has been put through its paces, undergoing manoeuvre training and live-fire exercises in Singapore, Australia and most recently, Bergen in Germany.

The four-man tank has more firepower than the ageing SM-1 tanks it will replace: A full-stabilised 120mm cannon that combines punch and accuracy, two 7.62mm machine guns and 16 smoke launchers. Powered by a turbo-charged diesel engine which allows it to reach speeds of 70kmh, the multi-layered armour plating also provides better protection against anti-tank weapons.

Brigadier-General Philip Lim, Chief Armour Officer, puts it best when he said, "The core of the vehicle is very much based on the heart of the crew." You can have the best machines in the world but you also need the best fighting men for the job behind it. It's man and his machine, not man vs machine - that's another movie altogether.

Here's an old picture of tank crew men cleaning the turret of their French-made AMX-13 light tank. These tanks, along with the V200 armoured vehicles, made up Singapore's first armoured battalion. The V200s would later be handed over to the RSAF ADA (Air Defence Artillery) batteries.

Earlier post on the Leopard MBT here and another post on the Singapore Bronco which was acquired by the British Army for the treacherous combat zones of Afghanistan.

Friday, June 26, 2009

The King of Pop is dead!

Michael Jackson, 50, has died after suffering a cardiac arrest. One of the most influential figures in pop history whose career included the highest-selling album of all-time, "Thriller," Jackson had been preparing for a concert comeback in London next month he had dubbed "the final curtain."

Jackson collapsed at his rented mansion in the exclusive Los Angeles neighbourhood of Holmby Hills and was rushed to hospital by paramedics before being pronounced dead at 2:26 pm (2126 GMT) on Thursday.

His death had at least two impacts on the world of 1/6 figures:
1. A Hot Toys figure of him - The 12-inch Michael Jackson Billie Jean/History Tour version collectible figure (pictures posted here) is going for US$5,000.00 on ebay.
2. Hot Toys might be announcing a new MJ figure soon. It was due next month but this latest event might have pushed things up a notch. Expect some announcement soon.





Michael Joseph Jackson
August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009

ZC Rosanna on her Honda RC 211V bike - another take

This post is for a friend I met online way back in September 2008. Dennis Korol has since started collecting 1/6 figures and taken some pretty amazing shots. Posted below are his take on the recently released ZC Rosanna Biker Chick and her 1/6 bike, the Honda RC 211V moto gp race bike.






You can check out his site here - www.iwantamilliondollarjob.com. Great name for a site - don't we all want million dollar jobs :)

My earlier posts on ZC Rosanna on her bike here, just the chick and her accessories here and just on the bike alone here. There was just too much to cover fully in one post, so I ended up with a 3-part review.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Soldier Story PMC Instructor Preview

Latest release from Soldier Story will be a PMC Instructor wearing T.A.D. Gear. T.A.D. (Triple Aught Design) is internationally recognized for producing exceptional, rugged wilderness and tactical gear that has proven to be extremely popular with members in the Special Operations, LE and PMC communities. Check out their website here for lots of cool gear.

Soldier Story's 1/6 scale 12-inch PMC Instructor will come with a cool T.A.D. jacket, magazine bandoleer, jeans, pistol belt with pistol and hip holster, and Oakley shoes. Enough with the Oakleys already, we need some new footwear options.






T.A.D. Gear Stealth Hoodie Classic (Exclusive Soldier Story Color M.E. Brown)

Head sculpt resembles Jeff Bridges as Stark Industries executive Obadiah Stan from the "Iron Man" movie. Slap on a suit and I can have him standing beside Hot Toys Tony Stark and Iron Man together with the other Armored figures. The head sculpt also kind of remind me of Demo Dick Marcinko, Rogue Warrior (1/6 pictures of him here) and creator of Red Cell (post here)

Check out the vein that's about to pop on his temple - really intense. That's one good sculpt!


T.A.D. Gear Bandoleer

Type 56 assault rifle (die-cast metal with wooden parts) with folding bayonet and Type 56 magazines (including a spring loaded metal die-cast magazine) - already issued before with Soldier Story Vietnam War US MACV-SOG (see my post here). Would have preferred a Heckler & Koch HK 416, the improved version of the M4 carbine with many changes, most notably a new style gas system borrowed from the HK G36.

Decals or insignia bearing the T.A.D. (Triple Aught Design) logo

Other PMCs - Brothers Production PMC "Tom" with a certain resemblance to a famous celebrity of Top Gun fame (link here). And here's another PMC with a superb Hot Toys head sculpt (check out my post here)

Hot Toys Secret Service Agent

The United States Secret Service Uniformed Division is similar to the United States Capitol Police and is in charge of protecting the physical White House grounds and foreign diplomatic missions in the Washington, DC area. The Uniformed Division has three branches: the White House Branch, Foreign Missions and the Naval Observatory Branch. Together they provide protection for the following: The President and Vice President of the United States and their immediate families, presidential candidates, the White House Complex, the Vice President’s Residence, the Main Treasury Department building and its annex facility, and foreign diplomatic missions in the Washington DC metropolitan area. [source: wiki]

This ia a kitbash 1/6 12-inch Secret Service agent with Hot Toys Secret Service (ERT - Emergency Response Team) White House Division parts, namely figure, assault vest and Heckler & Koch G36C (It has a folding stock and removable magazine. The top section with optical sights and front handguard can all be stripped. Even the safety catch works)










Close-up of the Hot Toys Secret Service (ERT) assault vest and G36C


Nice details on the G36C



There has been much speculation as to who the head sculpt is supposed to represent - your guess is as good as mine.

Previous post: Hot Toys Secret Service (ERT) agent demonstrating different types of multiple grenade launchers.

Most recent post of a police officer with a G36 was BBI Elite Force Los Angeles County Sheriff Department (LASD) SWAT officer "Chuck Morris" (link here)

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Hot Toys 1/6 Wolverine - First Cut

Hot Toys has released the first cut of their 1/6 Hugh Jackman Wolverine and although the head sculpt is still far from perfect, the jacket and adamantium claws look GREAT, as you can expect from Hot Toys. Hot Toys will continually improve on their head sculpt like they always do and you can expect a near perfect likeness by the time the product is released.

For other Wolverine figures in my collection, follow this link. Click here to see pictures of Medicom's 1/6 scale 12-inch Marvel Comics Wolverine. Medicom has already released a Hugh Jackman Wolverine from the X-Men movies (see post here)

1/6 Multiple Grenade Launchers

Saw this picture in The Straits Times about two weeks back when Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng visited the Home Team Convention held at the Suntec Convention Hall and he got to try out a tear gas launcher. That is one nice mean-looking launcher and I started searching the internet for it but to no avail.

The closest I got was this picture but still no clue as to what type of gun it was

But I did find this picture of some mean-looking Peruvian Riot police in full gear participating in a military parade to celebrate Peru’s Independence Day in Lima. - must be DAMN HOT in there - phew!

Anyway I decided to take a look at the multiple grenade launchers I do have, not counting M203s or M79 blooper guns of course. This one I picked up when I got the T-800 figure produced to coincide with "T2 3-D: Battle Across Time (1996)" - an attraction at Universal Orlando, Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Japan (see my post here).

Looks nice from far but actually quite far from nice. The launcher doesn't even have an opening on the barrel, how are the rounds supposed to come out - LOL!

In "Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)", the T-800 played by Arnold Schwarzenegger used an MM1 Grenade Launcher to fire CS grenades around the police blockade. The weapon that came with the T-800 figure looked nothing like the MM1 Grenade Launcher at all!

BBI Elite Force produced a 1/6 die-cast ARWEN 37 Launcher some time back but me thinks it's a bit small scale-wise. The ARWEN 37 fires 37 mm less-lethal rounds (foam or wooden or tear gas payload) designed for riot control. It has a 5-round rotary drum magazine. "ARWEN" is an acronym for "Anti Riot Weapon ENfield". The Arwen 37 launcher is a multi-shot riot gun used by the famous SAS.

The Arwen 37 was originally developed in the mid/late 80's as a riot control projectile launcher.

Last but not least, we come to the M32 MGL grenade launcher, last seen in "Transformers (2007)" (NOTE: Go catch "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)" now showing - you won't regret it if you are the type who like LOTS of ACTION & EXPLOSION and a full battle between Autobots and humans against Decepticons and the Fallen!!).

The MGL (Multiple Grenade Launcher) is a lightweight 40 mm semi-automatic, 6-shot grenade launcher developed and manufactured in South Africa by Milkor (Pty) Ltd.

The MGL is multiple-shot weapon, intended to significantly increase a small squad's firepower when compared to traditional single-shot grenade launchers like the M203.

The MGL is designed to be simple, rugged and reliable. It uses the well-proven revolver principle to achieve a high rate of accurate fire which can be rapidly brought to bear on a target.

A variety of rounds such as HE, HEAT, anti-riot baton, irritant or pyrotechnic can be loaded and fired as fast as the trigger can be pulled; the cylinder can be loaded or unloaded rapidly to maintain a high rate of fire. Although intended primarily for offensive/defensive use with high-explosive rounds, with appropriate ammunition the launcher is suitable for anti-riot and other security operations.

The MGL is equipped with the Armson Occluded Eye Gunsight (OEG); a collimating reflex sight which provides a single aiming dot. The shooter aims with both eyes open and the effect is to see the aiming spot superimposed on the target, both target and aiming dot being in sharp focus.

All launchers demonstrated by Hot Toys Secret Service Agent (reviewed in the next post)

UPDATED July 9, 2009: A BIG THANK YOU to Bracken for letting me know that the launcher in the first picture is the FN Herstal FN303 Less Lethal Launcher



Developed to incapacitate individuals up to 50m, the FN303 is a compressed air launcher which fires a variety of 8.5g, 18mm projectiles with a high hit probability. The major advantages of the system are efficiency, extreme accuracy, range 1 to 100m (very short safety distance), easiness of use (no recoil, no flash, little sound) and flexibility. The 15-round magazine allows multiple engagements and the variety of projectiles - impact, marking, OC - allows a large range of missions. The system can be used in a stand alone shoulder fired mode or fitted to an assault rifle such as M16.