Tinkering with 234/3

Love the 8-Rad, have been working on a /2 and /3, pictures of the /3 here. Warlord kit with rubicon short 7.5cm, really like this little chap!

Will also be building/converting the /4 with pak 40 and  the /3 but with the schwebelafette turret, which should be the bees knees! Anyway, the “standard”/3 for now...

Tinkering with... Mobelwagen

 Struggling getting stuff out at the moment, lots of external pressures, very close are the following:

A) Churchill AVRE with SBG

B) LVT waterlined for Indochina

C) Kangaroos and crew

D) LVT4’s and crew 

This one has been sitting around for over a year, so having no painting mo-jo put some hours in to finish up. Both base kits are Rubicon, with the extra detail track set. 

Tinkering with.... T34 ARV

Something for the weekend....

This is another Frankenstein build. I had a spare warlord T34 hull, without tracks ( will explain why  in a later post!) and as I’m not a fan, was going to spare box it!

Anyways, have always hankered to do  an improvised recovery version, an expediency deployed when the tide starting turning for the Russians.  Various configurations, with no standard build  these were old hulls with the turret ring enclosed and either makeshift or repurposed access hatches added. I had a Rubicon kit sitting ready for the build when it occurred to me I could actually make use of the Warlord hull.

The Warlord hull, for me, is generally poor, cast on towing cables, incorrect rear hatch and engine cover and poor handle representations, adding up to more trouble than its worth, just buy the Rubicon   Kits!  However the arv version would enable me to obscure some of these shortcomings...

The hull, as usual, was relieved of most of the poor details.  The track set is Rubicon, with wheel sets swapped out to represent an ad hoc salvage vehicle. Various bits and bobs from the spares were added, and woodwork etched out. The drivers hatch detailing was removed and a new recess cut out and spare box hatch added. The hull, as now standard for me, is weighted with polyfilla to add some “heft”. The grey surfacing is modelling putty used to simulate the rough rolled plate. Some panel lines have been scribes but a few to add, along with fuel points etc. This is about 50% complete, will add tarps, tie downs, handles, crew, armour welds and obviously towing points and cables.....

Am on a bit of a Russian theme at the moment; with loads of new ( and expensive) reference material I now have no excuse for incorrect detailing, in fact just off to remove some late ‘42 wheels from an early ‘42 T-34 (earmarked for tyre tread camo scheme)

Thought I’d post up now, as no more modelling/painting this weekend

Tinkering with Franken- Wirbelwind

Some quick "almost there" workbench shots... this is a bit of a Frankenstein and has been delayed way too long, in fact so long that two alternatives are available... anyway. JTFM panzer IV hull, Company B Wirbelwind turret, kit bashed company b/ rubicon flak 38 and dremelled bolt action crew! 

Thankfully there is no need to take this route anymore, I’d recommend the Rubicon or Warlord models as a much easier option. The Company B turret is a bit "old school", but had the advantage of being first to market but needs a lot of work to get to acceptable ( for me at least) 

Tinkering with... Panther F

I’ve had a bit of a hiatus with this blog, but am now getting back on track. 

After reading the new Panzers in Berlin book, I was inspired to create a Panther F. 

Originally with only speculation on their operational use the book confirms with several photographs. 

On to the build.... I had a old JTFM Panther in the spares box which was ideal, sort of. The JTFM Panther seems to be modelled on the Panther II prototype hull, which makes it awkward to use normally. The difference (in 1/56) between the II and F hulls is minor, primarily some redefining of hull plates ( hence the green stuff lines) so it’s a good donor. 

 The supplied steel wheel set was replaced with a spare track set from a Warlord Panther G which worked fine with some filler pieces. Other alterations were substitutions with rubicon panther spares to upgrade the resin versions 

Still some work to do on this one, but it needs to sit a while whilst I get some other Panthers moving.

Tinkering with... Flakpanzer 38(t) (1/56)

 

 

Far to frequently I start projects, primarily just for fun, unfortunately not all progress to a finish. This lucky one was resurrected so it can slip in with an interesting part interest/part commission Normandy "Becker" themed collection currently being assembled, but more on that over Christmas. So if anyone takes a fancy to it, it can be theirs in Feb!

 

Earlier pictures of the build are somewhere on the hard drive and phone, so we'll just have to go from here.

 

So this is the progress so far....flakpanzer 38(t) based on the warlord resin Marder with Pak 40. Its not finished, clearly, next stage will be rivets, hinges, exhaust and final detailing, but the grunt work is done.

 



 

Particularly impressed with the empty shell mesh assembly, third or fourth I've done and its getting easier. The flak is the Company B white metal model, certainly the best on the market, although I've replaced the barrel and some odds and sods.  Crew are from the spares box, all heavily modified to both fit in the compartment, and also, which is often overlooked, to try and portray that they are serving the piece.

View from RHS, you can see how tricky the angle on the plates were and the fettling of figures to fit.

 

Good view of the rear compartment before I started to add the top level plates, you'll note barrel removed to be replaced with a metal rod. The green stuff legs and modification is clearer here.

 

 RHS view again, the ammo boxes clearly aren't fixed as I had to fashion legs for the crew around them. Close up, showing all the flaws! all crew in final positions bar the loader who has slipped!

 

Slightly out of focus but you can see the crew positioning, flak mount with magnet for the flak 38 and the ammunition and spare barrel boxes. The crew will be pinned, and removed for painting. Pictures below, are more of the same, for anyone that's got this far.

 

Tinkering with... M7 Priest “kangaroo” conversion

Following on from the Company B Priests recently finished (see my flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/troop-of-shewe/albums) , I decided to have a go at some Priest Kangaroos, this time using the Warlord M7.  Whilst the kit is fine, maybe a bit too chunky for me and I hate the fixed tarpaulin, it was apparent a conversion was going to be fairly major surgery (ironically the company B M7 would have been easier).

 Anyway, Warlord M7 as above, one major issue that I didn't foresee was the earlier model wheel sets with central earlier return rollers.....

First up was the major surgery, on inspection the best thing would be to remove the superstructure sides with the cast on ammo bins and reconstitute out of plastic card. Painful, brutal, and not for the fainthearted......

Regards the track sets, I shortened a set of M4 tracks to match the M3 chassis, worked fine in the end, and now reasonably accurate. The unbotched Priest is in the background for comparison.

With the sides I had to make suitable recesses to accommodate the plasticard side plates at a later point. The new sides will additional details on anyway so probably for the best. So several scalpel blades and a few cuts later, I had the basic hull cleared out, although that tarp casting was annoying me.....

View from above, looking drastic...

As I'm a glutton for punishment, I had decided on a pair, so the same process was repeated, and this time the offended tarp cast was removed.

So that's it for a bit, need to concentrate on getting some commissions out the door. 

I'm pleased I went to the trouble of redoing the track sets and a total clear-out of the hull, it will produce a much better result in the end. 

I plan to fully crew these with infantry as "sabots", similar to earlier M3 halftrack crews I did a while back.  By using sabots the crew/passengers can be removed or added as required. 

I'm gradually getting the hang of facebook, although not being able to separate hobbies and real life is confounding me, and I'm sure my children don't appreciate the toy tank updates...any pointers welcome.

n.

Tinkering....D-Day wading Sherman MK 1 ARV WIP #2

Some more fettling, added the two wading stacks and started the basic stowage load out.



Am happy enough with the angle son these, my reference sources vary so with blueprints these are a good compromise.



Re-used a few of the S&S parts, note the temporary stowage for the rear stowage box.



Now its looking like how I envisioned it, a few more hours with fine details but the bulk of the build is done.

The eagle eyed may notice the spruce colour change for the running gear. I decided to use the sapre set in the Rubicon M4E8, why? two reasons:

a) detail is better, wheels now have an undercut.
b) means I can use the warlord tracks for the hull!


Strange bird!