Panzer I Ausf B with Breda 20mm auto cannon finished... part 5

So, the Panzer I Ausf B is now more or less finished.

Okay, there is still some work to do on the wheels.

The crew has evidently stolen a fire bucket (a Rubicon Models bucket from one of the stowage).

William Killian faces down the Panzer.

Panzer I Ausf B with Breda 20mm auto cannon continued... part 4

I have found the remaining white metal parts, though only the headlight was needed. I have added the two posts on the glacis for the first of the soft stowage.

A tarpaulin has been added to the glacis. A Rubicon Allied Stowage set crate has been placed behind the fire extinguisher.

The fixing of the bucket has been bulked up to indicate the loop. Not sure what is in the bucket. Note the bubble on the mudguard.

Another view of the new tarpaulin. An additional peg has been added to the front track guard.

A greenstuff tarpaulin has now been added to the right track guard. The tarpaulin is additionally secured to the front right tow hook.

One short and one long Rubicon Allied Stowage crate have been added to the engine deck.

A tarpaulin has been draped over part of the two crate. A small amount of greenstuff was used to fill the gap between the crates. The gap between the aerial and the hull mount has been bridged with greenstuff.

A view of the tarpaulin.

Next stop, spray painting.

Panzer I Ausf B with Breda 20mm auto cannon continued...

So, it has been a while.

Well, I have managed to mislay the exhaust. So I have made one from some brass rod and some plastic tube. I have added it below, and the rack of jerry cans.

The other missing feature is the aerial trough. I added it from Evergreen 2.5mm H section. The aerial itself is a piece of bent brass rod. Unfortunately it has come up short, so will need to be fixed with some greenstuff.  The Jerry cans have had an additional rack base added from 2.5mm Evergreen strip.

A tow cable was added from brass wire. A hole was drilled in glacis and the wire was added, then additional fixing points were added by drilling groups of two holes and then pushing a loop through. A Rubicon tow cable loop was glued over the end.

A squad of Warlord Blitzkrieg Germans support the Panzer IB.

Panzer I Ausf B with Breda 20mm auto cannon continued...

The unfortunate gaps have been filled with Greenstuff. The jerry cans are just resting on the mudguards.

Some additional filling is required using Milliput.

Panzer I Ausf B with BREDA 20mm auto cannon

The origins of the Panzer I lie in the Treaty of Versailles, and the prohibition against German tank development. The original design work was hidden as agricultural tractor development.

The new Panzer I was supplied to Franco's Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War. The new tank was not particularly effective, armed with twin machine guns and thin armour, it easily fell victim to its rival the T26. A small number were modified by raising the turret roof and fitting a BREDA 20mm auto cannon as the main armament. The mass conversion of these tanks did not take place as the Nationalists had captured sufficient T26 tanks to meet their needs.

So much for history. Now earlier I had built an FT and a Carden Loyd carrier for Operation Sealion games. For the opposition I wanted a light tank but something better than the German light tanks. So I decided that a Panzer I ausf B with auto cannon would be suitable.

Though the armour would not be able to deal with even the two pounder gun typical of British forces at the time, its light weight and availability would make it invaluable to the invading forces. the auto canon would deal with armoured cars and lighter tanks.

So, to the kit. The kit is cast in the metal filled resin typical of Empress with a bag of white metal pieces (most of which are for other Panzer I variants)

One feature of the vehicle that has required some research is the pipe that goes from the glacis to somewhere near the aerial trough (the trough will need to be scratch built. Its function has still to be determined.

The resin used by Empress likes superglue, it likes it a lot. Unfortunately I managed to get the track units in the wrong place (for subsequent builds I would glue the superstructure in first, then the tracks, hindsight is a wonderful thing).

Here is the basic model.

As you can see above, and in these detail shots, the track misalignment has lead to gaps between the body and the superstructure (and between the track units and the body on the right side).

 The gap above should be hidden by the aerial trough.

 The front and left side will require careful filling with greenstuff and milliput.

"This side towards insurance claimant".

In the dark days of the invasion scare of 1940 and 1941, British ingenuity was released to provide weapons to halt any invasion. Britain had amassed massive stores of petrol, in expectation of having to supply the BEF in France. These stores were made available to the Petroleum Warfare Department to develop uses of petrol as a weapon.

One of the weapons was the Flame Fougasse.

The name comes from the late medieval weapon using a barrel of gunpowder to make a one shot giant shotgun.

These are to be markers for Operation Seal Lion games (so are not accurate representations).

A Rubicon Allied Fuel drum was assembled and then cut in half. Each half was then glued to a Render 30mm base. After undercoating with Citadel Chaos Black spray the drums were painted with Citadel Castellan Green and dry brushed with Citadel Death World Forest. A set of numbers from the Warlord Games British vehicle numbers sheet was applied to the "top" of the drum and an identifying number taken from the Warlord M4 transfer sheet was applied to the middle.