GZG Free Cal-Tex

 Some more oldies from Ground Zero Games... the Free Cal-Tex.  As usual, click for larger versions of the images.

SG15-T01 is the standard pack, comprising squad leader, support gunner, RPG style missile launcher and 4 riflemen.  The final figure is kneeling with a long-barrelled variant of their standard assault rife.  You could use this as either a sniper rifle or another SAW, though you'll see that it's slightly different from the standing gunner's weapon.

  I've already reviewed this pack back in January 2011, so I won't go into too much detail here.

 This time I've gone for a blue/grey colour scheme as suggested by Jon at GZG.  The blues are Humbrol 104 Oxford Blue base with 24 Blue highlighting and a final light drybrush of GW enchanted blue.  The grey is Vallejo 72.050 Cold Grey, black ink wash, drybrush of base colour then highlight of Vallejo 72.049 Stonewall Grey. Visors are Vallejo 72.051 black (not sure if it's supposed to be gloss, but my bottle is so it's just right!).  Weapons are Humbrol 33 matt black with a Humbrol 32 dark grey drybrush.

I also have a pack of kneeling/prone troopers.  These are actually slightly smaller than the first pack, more similar to GZG's New Israelis in size.  I realised that I haven't taken a comparison shot with the kneeling figure from the original group, I shall have to remedy that and add it to this post.  They're still in scale within the pack, so the weapons, armour etc. are also proportionally smaller.  This means that they look fine on their own, but the two sets might look slightly odd mixed on a base!

Free Cal-Tex troops review

And now for some slightly older GZG figures - a squad of Free Cal-Tex (SG15-T1).


These are very satisfying little figures. The amount of detail is good and you get a varied range of poses in the pack. I've only pictured 5 of the team here, I have 3 still being cleaned up. There was little or no flash on most of the figures, though as usual they all needed a quick file on the bottom of the base to get rid of the casting marks and make them stand flat. There were a few mould lines, but they cleaned up quickly with some scraping with a craft knife and sanding with fine grade wet & dry.



Here is the first rifleman. Most of the figures use the same torso & legs, but the range of poses through different arms, head positions and weapons means that it isn't too noticeable. All have heavy boots, knee pads, body armour with 1980s style shoulder pads, webbing and an enclosed helmet.


The next rifleman. You can see some of the detail here - all the figures have a knife on their belt and nice ribbed body armour which drybrushes very neatly. The ribbing is repeated on the boots.


The squad leader. You can see his webbing well, with little chest pouches which are slightly hidden on the other figures, plus more of the detail on the helmet.


I think this chap kneeling down is probably a sniper, as one of the figures that I haven't yet painted is holding what is obviously a squad automatic weapon, larger than this one.


Heavy weapon trooper with what is more of an RPG style launcher than many of the other LAW-style rocket tubes.


A final view from the rear (click to see a larger image). This shows more of the webbing detail and the quilted pattern on the back of the body armour. Painting was GW blood red uniforms with a watered down wash of Vallejo sepia ink. Body armour, helmets, boots & gloves are Humbrol 104 dark oxford blue base coat/shading with a Humbrol 25 blue drybrush and GW enchanted blue highlights. Vallejo black ink was used where deep shadow was needed, for instance around the edge of their fingers. Helmet visor is black, weapons are black with a Humbrol dark grey drybrush to show up the detailing. It was good fun to produce a brighter "sci-fi" scheme rather than my usual murky camouflage!

Overall grade for these figures: B+

A good range of poses, though repetition would become obvious with a larger force. Not much cleaning up required, good detail on webbing and equipment. Could do with an additional pack or two of rifleman being available. With their fully enclosed helmets, they'll make a good team of faceless enemy cannon-fodder during small-scale role-playing adventures!