Team Yankee US Decals and Stowage

by Dennis ‘Matt Varnish’ Campbell

Hey everyone, hope you guys are doing well. This is my final hobby article on my Team Yankee USA because these are the finishing touches. Stowage and decals on my M1s, aerials, and then I delve into the magical world of Objectives.

First of all, I way over-ordered on the stowage. The reason for this was I need more M1 spare roadwheels, and the image on the website led me to believe each pack came with one of the sprues on the left, and three of the ones on the right (see below image).  They actually include three of each, which makes the price a bit easier to swallow

Battlefront, you would probably sell more of these if your customers didn’t think they were only getting four sprues instead of six.

 

Let the clipping begin!

 

The first platoon of stock M1s with the stowage.  I’ve been told that you want to keep the blow-off panels on the top of the turret fairly clear, which I did.

 

Rear bustle rack view of the 1st stock platoon

 

 

M1A1 platoon

 

M1A1 platoon rear turret view, with Kent Ing style ammo boxes welded to the bustle racks and lots of rucksacks and the like with the extra space in the racks on the M1A1.

 

2nd stock M1 platoon, with Dark Tone over bare metal

 

HQ platoon M1s with aluminum foil tarps and Black Seas extra rigging string for the tie-downs

 

These first tanks are where I had stowage on the blow-off panels. I wasn’t going to remove them so they will look good if not historical.

 

The whole M1 company with stowage Dark Toned and ready for paint.

 

All painted.  Now I need decals, weathering then aerials.

 

I had also ordered the new TY US Decals, initially for A-10s since I needed some black stars-n-bars.   The new ones are not black, they are dark grey.  However, the decal set came with the above sheet and another one but in white for all the NATO green ones. This sheet has 3-digit numbers I’ll use on my M113s and in the lower right corner, has serials and hull numbers.

 

Hull #’s below the headlights of each tank.

 

The aerials are simply nylon from a cheap push broom. They don’t slouch over, don’t break like metal ones, and bend back, and were cheap.   The wife still hasn’t noticed the broom is missing one bundle of fibers  🙂

 

Rear shot of the M1A1s.   Note the aerials come off for transport, I just drilled in and they fit snugly

 

HQ tanks, with the British big chevron decals on the turret armour.

 

Finally, the M1 company is finished and I am happy with the results.  Maybe not their on-table performance so much…!

 

Next up, bonus coverage:  I was able to snag 2x M577 objectives from Rob K and his Aarhus connections (Thanks Morten Peter Schmidt). My plan is to make one into an M577 command and the other into a field ambulance.   Used the extra stowage and made fashioned some tent poles out of wire/ paperclips.

 

 

I have some of the old wounded figures for the ambulance, and I put up a table with ghetto blaster radio on the command one.

 

Drilled out the M577 hull to make the Ground Plane antenna (again removable for transport)

Camo netting and tarping of course is still green for Desert Storm.

 

The 3-digit decals come in handy here.

Well, there you have it, the army is finished!  Hope it inspires or gives some ideas to you guys.   See you out on the tabletop….

 

Matt Varnish, AKA Dennis Campbell, plays Team Yankee, Flames of War, and Black Powder and now Ancients, in the frozen wastes of Canadia. Check out my youtube channel for hundreds of :