Sunday 12 February 2012

Foundry SWAT Troopers 03

For my third and final look at the Foundry 28mm scale SWAT Teams I'll be reviewing set SV056 SWAT Team Shadow and the bonus figure, Sergeant Hall, whom I received for ordering the "Into the Streets Collection" when they were first launched in the 1990's.
You'll immediately see that I've done something different with this set - they are all wearing black uniforms and black armour. These are not police SWAT troopers but FBI Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) officers. Their function is broadly similar to that of SWAT but they often get involved in higher-profile operations across a much wider geographic area. HRT are headquartered in Quantico, Virginia, and maintains nine tactical teams spread across the United States.
 At the far left of my two photos above is Bomber (names supplied by the Foundry team) who is firing a .45 Springfield M1911-A1 Bureau Pistol (standard issue for HRT and LAPD SWAT). He has a 5.56mm Steyr AUG Assault Carbine slung over his right shoulder (this is not standard issue).
To the left of him is Tweedy, a female operative, who is armed with the 9mm Heckler and Koch MP5KA5 Machine Pistol. She also has a .45 Springfield Bureau Pistol in a holster on her right hip.
The big guy in the centre of the group is Bone (stupid name!), who is armed with the 5.56mm M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, which, as I have commented on before, would never be issued to any SWAT Team or police force. This is a weapon for military operations and would only be issued to military personnel.
Next in line is Del'Orto, who is supposed to be female but who could be mistaken for a short male. She is armed with a 10mm Heckler and Koch MP5/10A3 Sub-Machine Gun, which is standard issue amongst FBI SWAT teams and is a slightly larger calibre than normal SWAT Teams' 9mm MP5A SMGs. His back-up weapon is the .45 Springfield Bureau Pistol.
The final figure in this group is Roddy, and he too, is armed with the MP5/10A3 SMG and .45 Springfield Bureau Pistol. He is posed in a firing position.
The final figure that I want to show you from the Foundry Street Violence SWAT Teams range is Sergeant Kevin Hall. This figure came as a freebie if you ordered the first eight sets from this range, but sadly he is no longer available. Still, I show him just for completeness, plus, some of you may be lucky enough to own him. His primary weapon is the 12 Gauge Ithaca Model 37 Pump-Action Shotgun, to which he has fitted an underslung tactical torch. If he is from NYPD SWAT, his back-up pistol will be a 9mm Glock 19, but if he is from LAPD, it will be a .45 Kimber Custom II Pistol (similar to the .45 Colt Government Pistol). I can't remember why I painted the word "POLICE" on his back, as I didn't on any of my other Foundry SWAT Teams.
If you like the previous Foundry SWAT Teams that I've reviewed recently, you'll surely like these. Of course, there's no reason why you couldn't paint them all in the same uniform colours to make a very large force of 25 figures (26 if you include Sergeant Hall). I just wanted to do something different with set SV056 SWAT Team Shadow, which is why I decided to paint them up as FBI HRT operatives. This set retails for £10.00 for all five figures. 
I was asked recently how many police figures I own and I wasn't too sure but I knew it was more than 100. So I counted them all and the total came to 160. Here is the breakdown -
U.K. and U.S. Detectives = 48
U.K. Street Cops = 15
U.S. Street Cops = 32
SWAT Troopers = 48
HRT Troopers = 17
That's more than enough for my needs but I wouldn't bet against me adding to those numbers!

18 comments:

  1. Hey, I was searching for the wiki page where I saw listed weapons in use by slovenian "SWAT", but still couldn't find it. It looks like that part was erased.
    However, here is a picture of heavy weapons the unit uses:
    http://img.rtvslo.si/upload/Slovenija/tezka_show.jpg
    You can see, in the foreground, Singapurean Ultimax 100 (http://world.guns.ru/machine/sing/stk-ultimax-100-e.html), which is a SAW. But belts of munitions are still a bit off, hehe. Next to it is either MG36 or G36 with attached bipod. Can't really tell the difference, but it is still meant to be a support weapon.

    As an interesting fact, while checking the book, I figured short AUG is called "AUG Police" and can be converted between 5.56mm and 9mm in ten minutes. Which really makes it a good choice for police special forces, being an SMG and an AR in same package.

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    1. That's fascinating, Mathyoo! It goes totally against everything that I've read about American SWAT Teams. There's a lot of heavy firepower in that pic you provided the link for. Also, fair comment about the Steyr AUG Assault Carbine.

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  2. Nice setof figure,typicalexcellent paintjob.
    The Sgt. Hall figure can occassionally be found on ebay and a not too unreasonable price.
    How do you distinguish your detectives from generic guys in suits ?

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    1. Thanks, Joe. Ah, it's good to know that Sergeant Hall can still be found.

      Regarding my detectives, a lot of them are armed, mostly with pistols. Some have shotguns and some have assault carbines. Of the ones who don't appear to be armed, you can usually tell from their pose that they are a detective. A very small minority can double as detectives or civilians. As long as I know who they are that's all that counts!

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  3. Nicely done Bryan. Thats a lot of LAW enforcement! Will it be enough though?

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    1. Thanks, Simon. In most circumstances I probably do have enough cops. But against a massive horde of zombies, no, it most certainly isn't enough!

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  4. Excellent work again my friend......

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    1. Many thanks, Fran. Once again. well done on winning your latest award for best blogsite. I certainly voted for you!

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  5. Great work, an easier paintjob could never be had!!

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    1. Too true, Ray. Still, it did need highlighting!

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  6. I somehow like these more than the others.... The face and gogles are great and act as a focus.

    Well done mate!

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    1. That's a good point, Johnny. That small amount of colour does draw your eyes in.

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  7. Great job on these. I like that you did them as a HRT Team. That's a nice addition to the regular SWAT. Do you have regular FBI agents as well?

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    1. Thanks, Joe. Yes, I do have quite a few regular FBI agents as well. They are part of my collection of U.S. detectives.

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  8. When looking at all the available SWAT squads available at Foundry this was my favourite, and the only I ordered and painted as SWAT. They really look the role, and you've done them nicely as a HRT.

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    1. Thanks for the kind words, Adam. I won't say that I thought this set was better than the other Foundry SWAT Teams, but I did think it was different.

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  9. I really like the grey on these figures. Good Job, You'd think Mayhem would be fine in an outbreak with all those well trained troops? :)

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    1. Ha, ha! Mayhem City is just like any other big city. It wasn't prepared for a xombie outbreak and by the time it had worked out what was happening, it was too late.

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