BritishTank Refurbishment. Pt. 1

A motley collection of British Armour.

 Recently I acquired (and in few cases reacquired) a number of 1/72 and 1/76 scale British tanks. Since I was also in the process of making up the Airfix Sherman Crab Tank, I decided that I would spray them, take some pictures and put them up on the blog.

Airfix Churchill in background. Foreground is an Airfix Sherman that has been modified to represent a Sherman Tulip of the Coldstream Guards during the Rhine crossings of 1945.

Another view of the same tanks. The Sherman tracks will be replaced by strips of plastic binding, if the spares box can't yield spare tracks.

Background: Matchbox Fireflies, Midground: Airfix Shermans, Foreground: Matchbox Comet.

Once these tanks were spread out, the spraying could begin!

Now all 13 tanks are in a nice uniform primer grey!

Centre: The Airfix Sherman Crab. Notice that all the fails have been removed.

The Airfix Sherman crab comes with the fails cast in a 'spinning' action pose. This is not the look I want for my vehicle as I like the idea of having the chains hanging down and have seen nice versions of this in the past, and at least one modification of the Airfix kit to achieve the same result.

Mobelwagen.

Taking a brief break from painting up stuff for Harad, I thought I would quickly finish off a kit that I had acquired assembled, but unpainted. The kit is an old Eidai Mobelwagen that is missing part of the gun, but I figured that i could quickly paint it up to match the rest of my late war German forces.

Spray painted white, and then roughly block painted the base colour.

Another view, this time giving a closer view of the 37mm gun.

Normally, I spray vehicles a base coat of black or primer grey. Since this one was sprayed white, I would guess that it has been sitting around awaiting painting for at least ten years. Sadly, this doesn't present a record for deferred projects - not even close...

Once the base coat of Vallejo German Camouflage Orange Ochre was tidied up, I then painted the tracks, edges of road wheels, etc black. I use the Ochre instead of a more correct shade of Dunkel Gelb, for two main reasons - I think it looks nice, and secondly, it's what I have used throughout my German repainting process. For those interested in correct paint colours - have a look at the research presented here, as it seems the issue isn't as cut and dried as some would have it.

Is this your Dunkelbraun and Olivegrau? - Yep, sure is - because I like it!

Some carefully torn pieces of special painting sponge.

 In a similar light I use two Humbrol colours used by my friend Andy on his Germans, because they look ok. I use pieces of sponge ripped from packing foam to sponge it on, as I like the effect, and it saves me from having to clean a brush afterwards.

The rear exhausty/mufler thing was replaced from another Eidai kit in the bits box.

The brass shell casings are the result of GW Shining Gold having a wash of Devlan Mud overtop. I like the effect and will probably use it for the helmets of my Republican Romans.

It still needs a crew, but that can wait for now - and for when I repair the missing bits on the gun.

Close up view of the 37mm gun.

Side view with flaps up!

Rear quarter front view.

Mobelwagens were made out of damaged Panzer IVs that were then rebuilt into Flak vehicles. With that in mind I am planning on turning this damaged Eidai tank  into a useful vehicle.

This had been converted into a sub optimal version of a Brummbar, using cardboard and think coats of paint.

I purchased it at a bring and buy with the idea of either rebuilding it, or using it for parts. It was the source of the Muffler thingy on the Mobelwagen.

All in all, I had fun finishing painting the Mobelwagen, and look forward to gaming with it soon.

New Additions to Harad - 155mm SPGs.

As part of my latest purchase from Glenn, I acquired some more Airfix Attack Force ready made vehicles. I increased the tank holdings by one M-48, and by one Centurion. The M-48 will join its brethern in the standard Haradi paint scheme, but I might paint up the Centurion in the other paint scheme of base green, with sponged on redbrown, and mud brown. I still haven't decided, as I am not that impressed with my alternate paint scheme.

The recent purchase includes a few 155SPGs.

Airfix M-48 shown with  1/72 Italeri US Vietnam War Infantryman,

Ah, the Centurion!  Frank's Noddist Horde has yet to face these in battle!

Airfix Attack Force 155m SPG. This one was acquired with a name inscribed. I may make that a feature of the finished vehicle.

The Attack Force SPGs seem to be very basic models of the late WW2 US M-40 155mm SPG. The major flaws are of course no spades, and the gun is a little on the small side. That being said, they are perfect for my purposes.

Quantity has a quality all of its own.

My plan is to convert a number into munitions carriers, and crew transports, for the F3 155mm SPGs, that I have already painted. This will be achieved by removing the gun and giving the vehicle a canvas top. I am planning on replacing the armament on a few more, and have already started experimenting.

The brown gun is from an artillery piece found in a packet of 54mm toy soldiers.

And the view from the rear.

While still looking quite basic, the new gun is somewhat more solid in appearance and to my mind somewhat more pleasing to the eye. Other suggestions I have been given include converting the vehicles into ambulances, command centers, troop transporters, and recovery vehicles. These vehicles present quite a nice opportunity foer making a number of basic conversions.

Something for Gowan.

A very quick post tonight inspired by Gowan's comment on my last post. Caesar's set of Modern Urban Resisters contains a figure that some feel has a passing resemblance to the recently deceased Osama bin Laden, and of course Micro Machines has produced lots of different Darth Vader figures in various dramatic poses. So I was able to combine two figures as a size comparison for Gowan.

Micro Machines Darth Vader and Caesar Miniatures Urban Resister.

A Stormtrooper added to give a better size comparison.

Gowan, I hope this gives you a better idea about how compatible figures from the two manufacturers could be. Regular service will resume shortly.

Y-Wings.

Recently I acquired some more more bits and pieces from Glenn. This included some Airfix Attack Force 155mm SPGs, and some NATO Infantry, but it also included three Micro Machines Action Fleet Y-Wings. The Y-Wings are a very useful addition to my Star Wars forces, and like much of the Action Fleet range is actually better scaled to the 20mm Micro Machines figures, than the 25mm Action Fleet figures. Wookieepedia gives further information on Y-Wings in the Star Wars universe here, and over on  RPG.net is an interesting discussion on deploying Y-Wings in  dispersed forward operating bases, akin to the way Harriers can be deployed.

Y-wings atop the Chest freezer. Each crew consists of a Pilot, Gunner, and an Astro-Mech Droid. figures are all Micro Machines.

On each Y-Wing model, the left engine can be pulled out and exposed.

The view from above. I suspect that in true 1/72 scale the Y-Wing should be much bigger.

The Astro-Mech Droid in its natural environment.

The empty Droid slot.

The cockpit was designed to take one Action Fleet figure. Given that the Y-Wing is a two seater, it shows how small it is for use with the 25mm Action Fleet figures. However, it was designed as a toy, so it's quite understandable.

The landing skids are retractable.

Rear view of Y-Wing, and rare view of a fallen Droid

All in all, these Y-Wing are  very nice, and are quite useable with my Rebel Pilot figures. Many thanks to Glenn for being the source of some nice pieces of kit!

Both Bits Together.

So I took these photos to see how both pieces would look next to each other. Naturally the Monastery needed to be placed at a higher elevation.

The most logical placement.

A view further back.

 After taking these photos, I think I need to make up some hills, paint both massive terrain items up, and seriously start thinking about running a Cassino game. Of course, even if I just paint up both pieces, I will count that as a plus.

Closer in to the ruins.

Both of these pieces are now back in production. Scenic Effects was bought by Monday Knight Productions in 2006, and they list both items here. They also have some other very nice pieces, which i won't even think about until I give these two their long overdue paint job..

Ruined Mediterranean Village - A Large Terrain Piece.

At the same time I purchased the ruined monastery terrain piece, I also purchased another large Scenic Effects item. This also was purchased sight unseen, but like the monastery I was (and remain) very impressed with it. In CD terms the ruins are much closer in size to being a town than a village, so I have always thought of it as having a certain Cassino quality to it.

A view from above. Spot the 20mm figure near the centre of the terrain.

Another view from above. This is a large ruin template.

View from the side.

Another view.

Could this be part of Route 6?

lots of detail in the built up elevations.

A nice little feature.

One of the corners.

A closer look.

Moving down the main street.

A ruined statue in the plaza.

Like the monastery, the ruined town is made of resin covered expanded foam. I think that this year I should paint both pieces up and game with them. It will give me the motivation to finish redoing my WW2 Germans, and to build up a useful force of British, Indians and Kiwis - and Poles, I won't forget about the Poles.