"They have the faces of boys, but they fight like lions": Trooper, 1st Bn, The Rhodesian Light Infantry, 1979
The Commandos of the 1st Bn, The Rhodesian Light Infantry (1 RLI) were at the forefront of the fight against the Communist-backed insurgencies in Rhodesia during the 1960s and 1970s.
A mix of regulars, national servicemen, and foreign volunteers, the unit was particularly effective in fireforce, a vertical envelopment tactic in which airborne elements (using Alouette III helicopters and later Dakotas), prepositioned in forward airfields located at strategic points in the country, would be sent to intercept terrorist groups immediately after they had been sighted. Fireforces had a high rate of success. The Commandos were also deployed on external operations against ZANLA and ZIPRA guerrilla training bases in Mozambique and Zambia. The regiment was disbanded in October 1980, shortly after the country became Zimbabwe.
Our RLI trooper is typical of the last years of the Rhodesian Bush War; he is a young Rhodesian who has completed the Commando Course to join the battalion. He wears a cap and overalls in the distinctive locally-developed camouflage; Fireforces were short-term ops (normally no more than a few hours), and the Commandos went into combat lightly equipped, carrying mainly ammo and water. Popular equipment to supplement the traditional (and of dubious quality) webbing were private-purchase chest-webbings and combat vests - our trooper has chosen the light version of the latter. The main armament of the four-man stick (carrying capacity of an Alouette III) consisted in FN FALs (actually the South-African made R1 variant) and one FN MAG, camouflaged with two-tone paints.
My 1/6 projects are often tied to the availability of those parts that I don't have the ability to create, notably armament, and I've had to wait (a long time!) for some company to produce an accurate FN FAL, which - at last - ThreeZero did last year for one of their Walking Dead figures. I managed to procure one, and made the needed modifications to fit the model used by the Rhodesian Security Forces : sanding the Springfield Armory markings, filling the bipod grooves on the handguard, removal of the carrying handle and addition of the rifle-grenade sight above the handguard.
Beside the FAL by ThreeZero, the commercial parts used on this figure are the headsculpt (DML, repainted and "haired"), the body (kind of cheap HT knock-off from ebay), the waterbottles (DamToys) and a pair of hand grenades (DML).
Using photographs and measurements provided by collectors, I made the clothing and combat vest. For the "vellies" (veldskoen), I used my own pair of trusted Clark's desert boots as a template.
My main sources, beside the above-mentioned help from collectors, were : the regimental history, "The Saints" by Alexandre Binda (2007), "Africa's Commandos" by Mark Adams & Chris Cocks (RLIRA, 2013), the books and articles by, and the always enriching correspondence with, RLI veterans, to whom I dedicate this humble tribute.
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The Commandos of the 1st Bn, The Rhodesian Light Infantry (1 RLI) were at the forefront of the fight against the Communist-backed insurgencies in Rhodesia during the 1960s and 1970s.
A mix of regulars, national servicemen, and foreign volunteers, the unit was particularly effective in fireforce, a vertical envelopment tactic in which airborne elements (using Alouette III helicopters and later Dakotas), prepositioned in forward airfields located at strategic points in the country, would be sent to intercept terrorist groups immediately after they had been sighted. Fireforces had a high rate of success. The Commandos were also deployed on external operations against ZANLA and ZIPRA guerrilla training bases in Mozambique and Zambia. The regiment was disbanded in October 1980, shortly after the country became Zimbabwe.
Our RLI trooper is typical of the last years of the Rhodesian Bush War; he is a young Rhodesian who has completed the Commando Course to join the battalion. He wears a cap and overalls in the distinctive locally-developed camouflage; Fireforces were short-term ops (normally no more than a few hours), and the Commandos went into combat lightly equipped, carrying mainly ammo and water. Popular equipment to supplement the traditional (and of dubious quality) webbing were private-purchase chest-webbings and combat vests - our trooper has chosen the light version of the latter. The main armament of the four-man stick (carrying capacity of an Alouette III) consisted in FN FALs (actually the South-African made R1 variant) and one FN MAG, camouflaged with two-tone paints.
My 1/6 projects are often tied to the availability of those parts that I don't have the ability to create, notably armament, and I've had to wait (a long time!) for some company to produce an accurate FN FAL, which - at last - ThreeZero did last year for one of their Walking Dead figures. I managed to procure one, and made the needed modifications to fit the model used by the Rhodesian Security Forces : sanding the Springfield Armory markings, filling the bipod grooves on the handguard, removal of the carrying handle and addition of the rifle-grenade sight above the handguard.
Beside the FAL by ThreeZero, the commercial parts used on this figure are the headsculpt (DML, repainted and "haired"), the body (kind of cheap HT knock-off from ebay), the waterbottles (DamToys) and a pair of hand grenades (DML).
Using photographs and measurements provided by collectors, I made the clothing and combat vest. For the "vellies" (veldskoen), I used my own pair of trusted Clark's desert boots as a template.
My main sources, beside the above-mentioned help from collectors, were : the regimental history, "The Saints" by Alexandre Binda (2007), "Africa's Commandos" by Mark Adams & Chris Cocks (RLIRA, 2013), the books and articles by, and the always enriching correspondence with, RLI veterans, to whom I dedicate this humble tribute.
