With the growth of gang violence in the Combat Zone my Police needed some backup. My Police motorcyclists have already been chronicled: Today we'll see my Riot Squad and Street Cops Riot Squad I wanted a close combat squad for my troopers, and what better weapons to use than the riot shield and baton? The plastic assault rifle arms are in a perfect position for this weapon combination, with one arm close to the body for the shield and one straightened for the baton. I cut away the assault rifle, cleaned up the arms and hands a bit, and cut the peg connecting the arms down the middle. Each received a baton, and a riot shield from my parts box. You could easily use plasticard, or a rectangle from a CD jewelcase if you want a clear shield. To add some variety I also used metal shouting arms from the command bits as shield arms, and plastic knife arms as baton arms. I attached the front body with closed visor and glued the arms in place. I painted them to match my other police troopers, with a rather simple shield design to make them look more serious (I tried adding stripes but it made them look too cheery). Street Cops These are regular EM4 cops without alterations. The models are very nice, and make an invaluable addition to my police forces. I drybrushed them with dark blue over a black basecoat, and painted the shirt a very light blue. Weapons, boots, belt, insignia, visor and face were left black. Boots and belt highlighted with dark grey. The Cop Hero is eM-4's 0049 Cop Hero with metal command arms.

The main weapons were lightly drybrushed in gun metal, followed by a very dark grey (near black) wash. I painted the skin and hair in different tones, and painted the sunglasses silver. Insignia and buttons were painted light gold, and to tie them in with my theme I painted some markings on the back ("Politie" and a white/blue/orange strip). After a matte varnish I picked out the boots, insignia and visor with gloss varnish, and they were done. Police Robot The robot is a Street Tiger II without the missile pack. I added a flashing light on it's back and repositioned the legs a bit. I also replaced the recoilless rifles with miniguns from my bit box. I painted it white to contrast with the troopers and the cops, but added stripes to fit it in with my theme. Making a baton To make a simple but effective baton you'll need some 1mm thick wire and some 2mm thick plastic rod (available from model shops). First, drill a 1mm wide hole in the plastic rod, a few mm deep should be enough, and cut off enough O shaped slices for all your batons. (1 each) From the other end, cut off a similar number both of solid discs, and longer pieces to be used as the body of the weapon. Round off one end and drill a hole in the other. (Mine are about 11.5 mm long) Now glue a length of 1mm thick wire in the drilled end, and slide the O shaped disc on, gluing it in place with some distance in between. Insert the handle into a hole drilled in the weapon hand and attach the solid disc as a pommel. Your model is now armed with a fearsome weapon to beat down the rebellious masses! Now we need to make some rebellious masses!