’ Collectors Edition Eighteen
Military Vehicle Special From the publishers of
A Schneider C
Gaz Truck
PLUS l Mk.III Churchil
3rd April 2015
.1
100 PAG
ISSUE E
£4.99
Article 432
modelLING group
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Vol.45 No.4 2015
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contents Military Vehicle Special Collectors’ Edition Eighteen 24
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12 WAR CAMEL
52 RUSSIAN CARGO
Steve Zaloga builds the HobbyBoss 1:35 scale kit for this French WW1 Tank and adds many detail improvements.
Mario Eens builds and then applies some ‘weathering magic’ to Tamiya’s 1:48 scale Russian 1.5ton Cargo Truck Model 1941.
24 HORS DE L’ACTION
64 A CHURCHILLIAN TASK!
30 “TO KEEP AND
74 MOROZOV’S
Christopher McGrane recreates a Middle East scene that has sadly become all-too familiar on our TV News screens over the past couple of decades.
Cookie Sewell describes and models the most hated tank in Soviet service that took four years to get a name!
42 SLOW TANK TO CHINA!
Robin Buckland takes advantage of a unique opportunity to photograph a Sturmgeschütz III part way through its restoration at Bastogne Barracks.
SCHNEIDER
József Réti, with help from friends, builds a 1:35 scale diorama of the disabled French Char 2C No.98 Berry.
BEAR ARMS”
Mark Bannerman builds the Vickers Light Amphibious Tank A4E12 from IMA Models in 1:35 scale.
TRUCK – IT’S A GAZ!
Steve Guthrie goes to town on detailing Dragon’s 1:72 scale Churchill Mk.III kit.
“HOT ROD” – ARTICLE 432
86 STUG III AUSF F/8 WALKAROUND
W
elcome to another Collectors’ Edition Military Vehicle Special. This is where we substitute our normal monthly content with some longer in-depth articles about building military vehicles. This 100-page perfect bound issue of MM is always identified by a distinctive metallic cover strap and is printed on heavier weight paper for better reproduction. This is my fifth Military Vehicle Special as MM editor (where does the time go to?), and with its varied selection of model subjects in the most popular modelling scales, and from differing nations and periods in time, I hope that it will contain something to please all tastes. You will certainly find the modelling advice, techniques and historical references offered within, all from respected
52
MM contributors, both inspirational and useful. Along with my designer Richard Dyer, we’ve both really enjoyed putting another one together for you! Kelvin Barber
www.militarymodelling.com
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AFV special
War Camel Schneider ABOVE: A pair of antediluvian Schneider tanks on the prowl through the magic of Adobe Photoshop.
‘‘ ” An essential reference for this project is the Schneider patent drawings for the suspension, since this shows the basic layout.
BELOW: The patent drawings provide the basic shapes for the two essential cross-braces for the undercarriage.
12
Steve Zaloga builds the HobbyBoss 1:35 scale kit for this French WW1 Tank and adds many detail improvements.
W
orld War One is now very much in favour due to the 100th anniversary of its outbreak last year, since when there has been a steady stream of kits with more promised. I was very pleased to see that HobbyBoss were releasing the first French Great War tank, the Schneider CA.1. I had scratchbuilt one of these many years ago in 1:76 scale, and then built a resin 1:35 scale example from Commander Models back in the 1990s. So a contemporary plastic kit was much awaited.
Starting the model Some years ago, I visited Aberdeen Proving Ground and measured the sole-surviving Schneider CA.1 to produce a set of scale plans. One of the trickiest bits is the undercarriage, which like many tractor vehicles, is quite complex. Anyone who has assembled the Takom St. Chamond will know what I mean! I crawled through the mud under the tank to take photos to prepare the scale plan, leaving me with a certain interest in this obscure aspect of the tank.
On examining the HobbyBoss kit, the first thing that I noticed was that there was hardly any undercarriage detail, and most of what is there is wrong. About the only detail under the tank is the transmission, but the kit configuration is entirely bogus and seems to be based on the St. Chamond which used an entirely different electro-mechanical transmission. I therefore decided to replicate the undercarriage although individual modellers may wish to consider whether it is worth the trouble since very little of it is visible when the model is mounted on a base. A compromise might be to add some of the undercarriage detail that is most obvious, such as the forward spring frame and the detail closer to the bogie trucks. An essential reference for this project is the Schneider patent drawings for the suspension, since this shows the basic layout. I have reproduced these drawings here for the brave souls wishing to recreate these details. Be forewarned that the plans are somewhat distorted in the reproduction process, so some dimensions are a bit off.
Military Modelling Vol.45 No.4 2015
AFV special
I began by scratchbuilding the two crossframes, the forward one being used for the spring suspension, and the rear one being a more rigid configuration. The kit depicts the return-roller frame directly attached to the hull sides via the axles of each of the return rollers. This was not the case, however, so I filled in the holes in the side of the hull. In retrospect, this is not necessary since this detail is not visible on the finished model. I made the suspension entirely self-contained as on the full-size vehicle. In actual fact, it would be easier to attach the return roller frame as provided in the kit, since it provides a sturdier method for attaching the suspension to the tank.
I also decided to replace all of the solid kit springs with more realistic ones. I used two approaches for this. The smaller rear spring in front of the drive sprocket was done using wire wrapped around a wood screw. The other springs were made by wrapping some Plastruct .020 thou. plastic rod around a metal rod of suitable diameter, submerging it in boiling water for a minute or two, and then quickly transferring it to cold water to make it retain its shape. I cut the kit’s solid spring from their mounting sockets, and hollowed out the sockets to accept the new springs. This takes very careful work and I used a Dremel Stylus rechargeable battery tool for this.
ABOVE: The Schneider patent drawings showing the undercarriage layout (in 1:35 scale).
BELOW LEFT: I made a simple jig for the carriage by attaching a copy of the patent drawings in 1:35 scale to some foam-core board.
BELOW RIGHT: This is the basic chassis with the frames in place. In retrospect, it would have been easier to attach the return roller frames to the hull sides rather than duplicating the chassis in a more accurate but more fragile fashion.
13
AFV special
The sole-surviving Schneider CA.1 was located at Aberdeen Proving Ground for many years before being returned to France where it currently resides at the Saumur Museum.
The kit transmission covers (Parts A23-34) are completely bogus in shape. I thought about scratchbuilding a new one, but my references are not very complete on its precise shape. While rummaging around my spares box, I found that the caisson frame leftover from a 1:72 scale Revell 88mm gun was roughly the right size and shape for the transmission, especially considering that only some of the rear bits are visible on the finished model. This also requires the addition of a new pair of axles for the drive sprocket, since the kit’s odd ‘swing-arm’ axles (C-27) make no sense whatever. I used a leftover wheel from a Trumpeter 1:35 scale T-64 as the side face of the transmission, and added a new axle to it. Besides the basic frame, there is a considerable amount of other detail under the chassis. One of the more obvious details is an armoured cover over the muffler/silencer on the forward left side of the chassis. Likewise, the linkages between the driver’s controls and the transmission in the rear are exposed along the right side. The kit tracks are very disappointing and seem to be a weak point with the HobbyBoss kits I have assembled. There are no proper mounting features for the two guide rails on each track plate. I tried assembling several tracks by attaching the guide rails to the plate, but I was very disappointed with the results. I found that it was easier to assemble the guide rails (T1, T3) in a long chain to each other, and then attach the track plates (T2) to the completed chain. With the suspension largely completed, I turned my attention to the upper hull.
Updating the model
ABOVE: A rear view of the Schneider at APG showing the external fuel tanks. BELOW & OPPOSITE: Side views of the Schneider CA.1 at APG.
14
The kit is intended to depict an early configuration of the Schneider without the external rear fuel tanks, but it is in fact something of a mish-mash of production features. The early configuration was used in combat during the Nivelle offensive on the Chemin-des-Dames on April 16th 1917. Heavy losses in this battle were attributed to the positioning of the two fuel tanks in the forward part of the hull. After the battle, the tanks were modified by adding two external tanks at the rear of the
Military Modelling Vol.45 No.4 2015
AFV special
A detail view of the left rear chassis showing the drive sprocket and various springs.
A view of the same area on the right-hand side from a different angle to show the configuration of the rear spring and the mud scraper.
A view from under the rear of the hull showing the back of the transmission cover.
Looking under the tank towards the rear showing the middle and rear crossframes.
The left front of the undercarriage showing the linkage rods that ran from the driver’s controls back to the transmission.
A close-up on the left front side of the undercarriage showing the cover over the muffler/silencer.
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15
AFV special
The kit hull pan needs some of the inner panels trimmed back.
I made some new rear springs using wire wrapped around a machine screw.
Most of the springs were made by wrapping plastic rod around metal punches of suitable diameter from a punch-and-die set, taping them in place with Tamiya Masking Tape, and then submerging them in boiling water.
A new rear transmission was made by modifying a 1:72 scale Revell 88mm gun caisson. The unmodified part is on the left, the modified one on the right, and the inaccurate kit part above.
ABOVE: I replaced the Hotchkiss machine gun barrels using telescoping brass tubing.
ABOVE: This shows the finished undercarriage from the front. RIGHT: A view of the finished undercarriage from the rear. Not all of this shows on the finished model.
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LEFT: Here’s the basic model with the chassis attached to the upper hull.
ABOVE: I blocked off the 75mm gun port using bits of black sheet plastic, otherwise you can see into the interior of the hull.
ABOVE: A detail view of the infantry signal panel in raised position with the actuating arm. The panel has to be extended at the bottom, and the kit’s hinge parts need to be aligned vertically.
ABOVE: A rear view showing the added external fuel tanks. The rivets were done using Evergreen black .015 thou. sheet plastic and a Waldron Sub-micro punch & die. The kit comes with a pair of spare fuel caps, which suggests that HobbyBoss may do this version later. LEFT: With the added fuel tanks, the exhaust pipe had to be reconfigured and I made this from some aluminium tubing.
ABOVE: A view of the bow showing some of the added detail. I primed the kit’s photo-etched screen and other brass parts using some grey primer. LEFT: The kit appliqué armour was replaced by thinner panels made from Evergreen black sheet plastic.
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ABOVE: A close-up of a dismounted 75mm BS (Blockhaus) gun showing some of the small details missing from the kit gun. BELOW: Views of the finished model before painting.
hull and adding an additional access door on the left side in front of the machine gun mount. This became the standard configuration after the spring of 1917. I wanted to depict my model as a tank from the AS.5 at the battle of Cantigny in 1918, so this meant scratchbuilding a set of external fuel tanks. I made these from .015 thou. sheet plastic, and built them in place on the rear of the chassis. The kit comes with appliqué armour, but it is quite thick. I decided to replace it using sheets of .015 thou. black Evergreen sheet plastic. As in the case of the real appliqué, I drilled the proper holes in the plate and then attached it using Grandt Line plastic bolts. I cheated a bit, and put plastic spacers behind the appliqué armour to keep them level and to make it easier to attach the plates. There are a few other details worthy of attention. The infantry signal panel (B21) on the roof ventilation channel along with its hinges (C34) are not properly attached so I re-built this with the panel in the raised position to show the colourful red/white markings. The 75mm gun can also use some detail work, but more importantly it needs an internal mantlet to properly cover the internal opening. The kit’s Hotchkiss machine guns are not especially well detailed. I planned to use some of the new Magic Models turned metal barrels but these didn’t arrive in time. I therefore rebuilt the kit barrels using Griffon Brass Hollow Pipe 0.9mm with a small bit of Alliance Model Works TW002 Precision Brass Tubing 0.5mm at the tip. I also replaced the kit stowage racks with thinner examples made from sheet plastic.
Finishing the model My inspiration for this model came from the 1:1 scale replica of a Schneider CA.1 that is part of the World War One exhibit at the First Division Museum at Cantigny in the suburbs of Chicago. I visited the museum last year for a D-Day conference, and I was struck by the colourful markings on the tank. The museum is the legacy of Chicago newspaper magnate Robert McCormick, who donated his mansion and its grounds to a foundation. McCormick had served as an artillery officer in the 1st Infantry Division in WW1, and wanted a museum established to honour the division’s history. The museum is a real treat for modellers, as there are several preserved tanks in the museum and in the outside park. There are also extensive exhibits in the museum of use to modellers including uniforms, photos and other militaria. Andrew Woods from the museum staff was kind enough to provide me with documentation on
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the markings. AS.5 appears to have used animals to distinguish between its batteries with a rhino head identifying the 2e Batterie and a camel the IIIe Batterie. I decided to depict the IIIe Batterie. French WW1 tanks tended to carry a great deal of stowage. Blast Models was preparing a resin stowage upgrade set for the model while I was working on the model, but it was not completed until after I had finished my build. As a result, I produced my own stowage by rummaging around in my spares box. The two largest resin items come from the Resicast stowage set for the British Priest, while many of the tools come from the Blast set for the St. Chamond.
ABOVE: The inspiration for this model came from the 1:1 scale wooden Schneider replica at the First Division Museum at Cantigny near Chicago. This also shows the distinctive AS.5 insignia. (Photo: First Division at Cantigny) BELOW: The finished model before painting.
Painting and markings The precise colouring of French tanks in 1917-18 is still a bit of a mystery though the consensus seems to be that the base colour was French artillery grey. This was probably zinc primer, a light grey shade. On top of this were bands of colourful camouflage colours. The French tank crews were apparently not happy with the vividness of the camouflage. In addition, German troops quickly learned of the vulnerability of the view slits, and so directed machine gun fire against them, blinding the crews. The solution to both problems was to apply an additional layer of black disruptive patterns over the base camouflage. In the case of the Schneider, this included black crosshatched lines and random stripes and blobs over the surface. I started to camouflage paint the tank in the usual fashion, airbrushing the lighter colours first
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LEFT: The model after the basic paint scheme was airbrushed to the model using masking tape between colours.
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This is the paint scheme after the black disruptive camouflage was applied by hand.
ABOVE: The paint scheme after a khaki glaze was airbrushed on to reduce the vividness and contrast of the basic colouring.
BELOW: A detail view of the right hull front shows a few of the additions, including the sighting vanes in front of the driver’s hatch.
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starting with mustard yellow. I mixed this from Tamiya acrylics. I let this dry overnight, and then masked the pattern with Tamiya yellow ‘kabuki’ masking tape. I then applied the next colour, and followed the same process. The light grey shade was last. I used my own mixes on this model as Tamiya colours
tend to be a bit on the dark side, and I prefer to start with lighter shades due to my weathering approach which uses a dark glaze. Once the basic colours were painted on, I then applied the black disruptive pattern by hand. The cross-hatching was done using a Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pen which uses permanent India Ink that won’t dissolve during the weathering process. With this complete, I airbrushed the model with a glaze consisting of Tamiya Khaki XF-49 in a solution of Clear X-22 and thinners. The ratio is roughly 20:40:40. I airbrush the glaze on the model with an aim to reduce the vividness of the colour and to depict the usual dust and weathering common on all vehicles exposed to the battlefield environment. I find that without such a glaze, the camouflage finish looks much too toy-like and unconvincing. I applied the markings after the glaze. I drew the camel’s head in Adobe Photoshop and printed it on white decal paper using an Epson ink-jet printer. At the same time, I also made a decal for the ‘Moteurine’ brand of fuel oil often seen carried on French tanks. Once printed, I coated the decal with some Tamiya Clear X-22, and once that was dry, I coated it again with Testors’ decal sealer. I used the double layer of sealer because I have found in the past that the Testors’ sealer (and some other brands) tends to ‘melt’ the ink. Even after two layers of sealer, the ink still tends to bleed and chip when soaked in water. The other markings consisted of the AS.5 insignia on the hull sides and the battery number below. I did these using Microscale ‘Roman Condensed letters and numbers: White’ (item 90031). Microscale’s railroad decals includes a wide range of numbering and lettering decals in different fonts, styles and colours that are very useful in tank modelling. After the decals were dry, I airbrushed them with a bit of glaze to seal them before applying further weathering.
Getting dirty! While doing some kitchen cabinet repair work last year, I used some Elmer’s Pro Bond Wood Filler. This is an acrylic putty and comes in several colours. I noticed that it had a fine, grainy texture, so I experimented using it for earth texture on this model. It works quite well, and I found that the texture was a better than the Liquitex acrylic texture gels that I had been using. I used this both before painting the lower suspension, and also used it after the weathering was done to add additional dirt effects. It can be thinned in water, so some interesting effects can be obtained. The next step of weathering was to apply a weathering glaze consisting of Holbein Sepia oil paint mixed in a solution with Winsor & Newton Original Liquin as the medium and mineral spirits (white spirits) as the solvent. The Liquin thickens the solution and permits it to be manipulated on the surface such as streaking the colour. This leaves
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LEFT: The various stowage items seen before mounting them on the model. BELOW: Some of the stowage items on the left-hand side of the roof.
LEFT: A view of the left bow. The oil lamp was painted in Humbrol Steel metallic colour. The neighbouring electric lamp was added from a Russian after-market headlight set.
a glossy finish, so once it was dry, I airbrushed the model with Testors’ Dullcote. I then did some dry-brushing both for highlighting and to add a scruffy finish on some surfaces. After painting was complete, I added some more dirt effects using the Elmer’s wood putty. Several colours are available, but I found that the Golden Oak and Cherry colours were the most useful.
Human interest I decided to have the tank accompanied by a 1st Division soldier of the American Expeditionary Force, armed with the distinctive Chauchat machine gun. There are few WW1 figures available, so I did my
ABOVE: This was the first model where I used Elmer’s Pro Bond wood filler for dirt effects. LEFT: A close-up of the right-hand side roof showing the added stowage items.
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Views of the author’s finished model after painting.
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own conversion. The torso comes from the Fine Molds Imperial Japanese Army Infantry Set (item FM37) that I chose mainly due to the puttees and the similarity of the uniform. This requires some small changes such as a stand-up collar. The head comes from the Hornet WW1 British set. The pack is from one of the Tamiya
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WWII US infantry sprues. The Chauchat comes from the new ICM WW1 French Infantry Weapon and Equipment set (item 35681). To better adapt the figure to the weapon, I made armatures for the arms from soft aluminium wire, and adapted them to the proper position using Hornet resin hands. I then sculpted the arm over the armature using Aves Apoxie epoxy putty.
ABOVE: The finished model and figure on the base. BELOW: The figure conversion depicting a 1st Division infantryman armed with a Chauchat machine gun. The basic figure is a Fine Molds Japanese infantryman, with a Hornet British WW1 head and an ICM Chauchat.
Conclusion It’s probably heresy, but I’m not a big fan of out-ofthe-box projects. I found that this kit, in spite of all its problems, was an enjoyable and challenging build. Modellers should not be put off by all the changes I incorporated into my model. An excellent model can be made with just a few small changes, and modellers can choose the level of extra detail work MM to suit their own tastes and interest.
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ABOVE: A composite image of the figure after painting.
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AFV special Tank No.98 Berry recovered by the Germans along with some other Char 2Cs of the 51st Battalion.
Hors de l’action József Réti, with help from friends, builds a 1:35 scale diorama of the disabled French Char 2C No.98 Berry.
O ABOVE: The internal demolition charges blew out the hull floor and sides on Berry also causing catastrophic internal damage denying its use to the Germans.
n 15th June 1940 during Operation Fall Rot, the German invasion of France, the heavy Char 2C tanks of the 51ème Bataillon de Chars de Combat were being transported south by rail, each carried on special rail bogies attached to either ends of the tanks. The German offensive was successful on all fronts and the 51st’s tanks moving away from the front were stopped by German air raids when a burning fuel train blocked the line ahead and following trains on the line behind.
It soon became obvious to some of the French tank crews that they had to destroy their stranded tanks by detonating charges inside them to deny their use, propaganda or otherwise, to the Germans.
BELOW: German soldiers view the wreckage of a French Char 2C tank named Berry in the author’s completed 1:35 scale diorama.
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This was the fate of some of the ‘super heavies’ and one of them is the subject of this 1:35 scale diorama – the FCM Char 2C No.98 named Berry of 51ème Bataillon de Chars de Combat. The 51st was a specially formed unit for these FCM-built Char 2C tanks, now obsolete First World War designs of
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which many were planned, but only 10 were built in 1921 three years after the war had ended. I started to build the model in the summer of 2010 with only poor-quality photos as reference. I made the tank and its rail bogies from polystyrene sheet and used polyurethane resin castings for some parts. It would have been difficult for me to scratchbuild every little repetitive part of the model, so my friend Károly May helped me. When I’d finished each scratchbuilt master he moulded copies of it in resin for me, and he also gave me a lot of help to make the rail bogie trailers and the riveted detail on them. The gun barrel was turned from copper rod.
‘‘” I started to build the model in the summer of 2010 with only poor-quality photos as reference.
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AFV special Polystyrene sheet and resin castings from master patterns were used to construct the tank.
The Char 2C could be moved by rail with one of these bogies fitted front and rear.
Parts for the running gear were cast in polyurethane resin.
The rear machine gun turret had a stroboscopic cupola.
A view inside the driver’s compartment.
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AFV special Tank No.99 Champagne gives some idea of the camouflage pattern applied to the Char 2C.
Sections of rail are Trumpeter parts and the 1:35 scale German infantry figures are by Dragon. When I had finished building the model I asked my friend Imre Kovács, to paint it, and he takes up the story…
Painting the Char 2C I like to make models of blown-up and burned-out vehicles and usually build AFVs from World War Two up to modern times. When I first saw József’s scratchbuilt tank on its rail transport bogies, I realised he’d invited me to paint a very exciting model AFV. Only 10 tanks were made, so I had problems trying to find out the correct painting scheme for them. The archive photos of these tanks weren’t very good, which didn’t help matters*. Our particular heavy tank’s original number was No.8, and it was called Berry, but later they changed its number to 98, but left a single number 8 on the turret. The vehicle was supposedly painted with a yellow and green camouflage pattern. (*Some low-resolution photographs of the 2C can be found on the Internet.)
ABOVE: Tank No.91 Provence reveals similar destruction to Berry. Photographs of the 51ème Char 2Cs show the commander’s stroboscopic cupola resting on the hull top behind the turret. These cupolas were either removed or blown out when the explosives inside were detonated.
Construction of the hull is well advanced and designed to include the breeches in the hull from the explosion. The commander’s stroboscopic cupola rests on the hull top behind the turret.
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The model was given a primer coat of Vallejo Grey Primer and when this had dried I painted the camouflage colours with Humbrol 74 Linen and Humbrol 78 Cockpit Green. The colours were faded with Van Dyke artists’ oil colours - white, ochre, light blue and light brown. The camouflage was then shaded and highlighted for greater depth and I used khaki and beige colours to ‘filter’ the camouflage pattern colours. The paint that had blistered on both sides of the vehicle from the internal explosion was represented with cyanoacrylate gel type glue. When the
cyanoacrylate glue had dried I repainted the blistered parts and then ‘washed’ them with wellthinned Van Dyke Terra Ombra artistic oil colour to achieve a little more contrast on the model. Paint chipping was done with a sponge, and pin washes were made with a fine brush and the model then weathered with Humbrol enamels and artists’ oils. The mud was Vallejo Sandy paste, which was dry-brushed with light and dark earth colours when it had dried. One side of the damaged turret was made to appear burnt from the explosion and resulting fire, whereas the other side was given a grimy appearance. The burnt surfaces were made with various rust colours and the grimy areas blended with dark grey and black. The burnt out interior colours were blended from white, grey, black and several shades of rust. I tried to show Berry’s disablement as realistically as possible. Vehicle numbers were made from a homemade mask and the other signs from Letraset rubdown dry print. The base colour for the rail transport bogies was dark grey, which I filtered with light grey, light blue and light green. The rust-streaked effect on the bogies was done with various enamels running from top to bottom. The wheels were painted with Humbrol Polished Steel 27003 and the tyres
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buffed to a sheen with a piece of cotton. Sections of rails made up by József were painted with dark brown then with various rust colours, before being washed with dark earth and dry-brushed with Humbrol Gunmetal 27004. The 10 Char 2Cs of 51ème Bataillon de Chars de Combat were named after the ancient regions of France: 90 Poitou 95 Touraine 91 Provence 96 Anjou 92 Picardie 97 Normandie later Lorraine 93 Alsace 98 Berry 94 Bretagne 99 Champagne
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Editor’s note: József Réti built The Char 2C No.98 Berry in the diorama with assistance from Károly May and the model was finished in early March 2014. Imre Kovács painted the AFV and the figures were painted by Cserjés Balázs. Photographs of the diorama were taken by L. Zoltán Lesti. Since József began scratchbuilding the Char 2C for his diorama in 2010 Meng has released an injection-moulded plastic kit of the tank – item TS-009. Simon Hammerton reviewed the Meng MM kit in Military Modelling Vol.44 No.2.
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“To Keep and Bear Arms” Christopher McGrane recreates a Middle East scene that has sadly become all-too familiar on our TV News screens over the past couple of decades.
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merica’s Constitution has been amended several dozen times over the years. The first 10 amendments, popularly known as the Bill of Rights, were enacted simultaneously and mostly address fundamental questions of individual liberties. It was Article 2, or the Second Amendment, that inspired the name of this vignette. It reads:
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“Amendment II. A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”. (italics are mine) Most Americans are only too familiar with the furore this unfortunately worded provision has created over the years, and here in the United States, the arguments as to the legislative purpose of our “Founding Fathers” in enacting this amendment never seem to abate. A plain reading would seem to authorize states and localities (as distinct from the federal government) to maintain police forces equipped with firearms. Those in favour of controlling handguns, like myself, embrace this argument. Others read the Article more broadly, maintaining that the “people”, for purposes of the provision, literally refers to private individuals, anyone of whom may own a firearm, upon proof of upstanding citizenship and sound mind. Whatever the point of view, though, only the most reckless and short-sighted citizen would insist that “Arms”, as defined by the Second Amendment, encompasses automatic rifles, anti-tank rocket launchers, land mines, plastique explosives or, as here, dual-barrelled auto-cannons capable of firing projectiles almost 1” thick at a practical rate of 400 rounds per minute! Indeed, the father of the family depicted in this scene – the bravo at right – is exercising a perceived right to keep and bear his arms with a vengeance!
Pick-up and figures assessed If all of Meng’s new offerings build as well as these kits did, then they’ve come out of the gate at an impressive pace indeed! Three pick-up truck kits are currently offered. Each is broadly representative of the kinds of consumer trucks sold by Ford, Nissan, or Toyota, but Meng has carefully avoided reproducing any one real vehicle. All were priced the same when I purchased mine, and each has a distinguishing emphasis. To my eye, the styling of every truck is reminiscent of models from the 1980’s, or types from later years produced locally in smaller, technologically disadvantaged countries. Item VS-002 has no Russian anti-aircraft cannons, but furnishes a figure and a comprehensive set of clever small arms, fuel cans, and modern creature comforts like beverage coolers and bottles. (In my scene, I took the man provided in that kit as a substitute for the one that comes in the Middle Easterners set, item HS-001). Item VS-001 gives us a single-barrel ZPU-1 AA cannon and gunner. My kit (item VS-004) deletes the figures and accessories, but includes a full-blown double barrel ZU-23-2 AA cannon that can be built separately erected on the ground, on wheels to be towed, or on an I-beam frame over the pickup’s bed. The kit comes in colour-coordinated polystyrene frets – black for the chassis, tan for the truck body, and olive for the gun. This facilitated assembly to a remarkable degree. Meng gives excellent instructions for all of the assembly options, and in the main the kit goes together beautifully, particularly the auto-cannon. I found only two errors. First, a fuel tank in the chassis is wrongly numbered in Step One as C-18. The correct part is A-20. Second, the cab roof and windscreen frame piece,
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which appears at Step Ten, has a poor fit, being a little too short to bridge the passenger area and properly connect with the hood rim. I tackled this by laying on slow-curing liquid cement at the contact points, stretching the part to sit in all four of its peg holes, then heating it with a hand-held hairdryer in place until the roof had cooled and settled into its elongated new shape. If you encounter the same problem and use my method to correct it, use a low heat setting and do be mindful that such hairdryers can easily burn you or warp polystyrene plastic. A good rule of thumb holds that the point when it is too hot for your hand is also when you risk melting the plastic or crazing freshly applied paint. I learned this the hard way years ago! I should add that a valid question exists relating to the truck-mounted gun option in the instructions. The box art depicts the ZU mounted on the truck’s bed, as I built it. When I began this project, I took it for granted that this combination must have been observed in various countries where local militias and insurgents might create ad hoc motorized gun carriers. But research now has me sceptical; on-line photos mostly show the ZU set up on the ground, and when it is on a truck bed, the vehicle is a much heavier type, a true truck. The dual cannons weigh in at .95 tonnes, and I would think that sustained firing would quickly ruin the relatively delicate suspensions of consumer pick-up trucks. Even so, the ZU 23-2 Wikipedia (on-line encyclopaedia) entry shows a pair of white pickups in a small photo taken in Libya, and one of them appears to have the gun mounted on its tail. So therein resides my justification! (Frankly, the impact of showing such a big gun on a modestly
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sized vehicle was irresistible, given my theme of excessive firepower, and I’d have built it this way on blind faith even without documentation.) The Middle Easterners set (HS-001) offers a family of four in authentic garb and imaginative poses, and apart from swapping the father from VS-002, I built them almost entirely stock. Assembly is easy and the figures are well balanced and animated, but again, I offer two criticisms. First, the face and hand detail is shallow, and make for more difficult painting for modellers like myself who are accustomed to the sharp relief of Alpine or Hornet faces. If Meng stay in the figure game, as I suspect they will, surely they’ll correct this. My second criticism I’ve been making for years, and I would level it upon every 1:35 figure manufacturer I’ve encountered: the two children simply look like scaled-down adults, such as we see in pre-Renaissance paintings, not actual kids, who as a rule tend to look like shorter adults with proportionately larger heads and hands. (People, consult your sculpting canon for the well-known “measure by heads” rule!) I elected to leave the young female alone, for her head is largely concealed by the sack she carries. But the boy, under the auto-cannon, is pivotal to the theme, and I felt I had to make him look more like a child. My solution was an expedient, I simply filled out his hair into a larger, curly mass with Squadron Green Putty. I hope that this effort serves as an inspiration, at least. In parting, let me encourage you to think about what you may want to model in the “Low-Intensity Conflict” category, if you haven’t already done so. In addition to 21st century subjects, we now have a plethora of kits eminently suited to the Arab-Israeli conflicts, French Indochina, Soviet-Afghan War, Operation Desert Storm, the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1991, Kosovo, Chechnya – the end is listless, so to speak. Enjoy!
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Photo 1. “To Keep and Bear Arms” is a compact vignette measuring about 8 x 10”. Initially, I intended simply to depict the truck and family on a flat stretch of desert highway, but before long had determined to include the sharp slope below the road- with its sandstone rubble and detritus, a kind of symbolic acknowledgment of the toppling of the Iraqi regime.
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Photo 2. The scene utilizes a basswood on decoupage plaque base constructed years ago for a similar idea. Nowadays, I much prefer building on railroad Styrofoam sprayed with speckle stone, to produce a lightweight piece that can be transported to shows far more safely and easily.
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Photo 3. Mother and daughter appear to be returning from shopping for supplies. They’re greeted by the son, who walks toward them, while the father seems to keep a vigilant, menacing distance, high-powered sniping rifle in hand, exSoviet RPG-7 and cooler for beers nearby. Photo 4. The assembled pick-up truck. Here it is only pieced together, for the cabin, exterior, cargo bed and auto-cannon were all finished separately. Photo 5. Meng provide only a small photo-etched fret for this pick-up incarnation, but its details, such as mudguards, are intelligently chosen. Photo 6. The tyres are supple rubber, or vinyl, and feature some lovely tread detail. Photo 7. Minor denting has been simulated by X-Acto blade cutting, sanding, and softening with steel wool on the left door and elsewhere, and small arms holes have been placed sparingly by creating holes with a pin vice and carving them into irregular punctures with a hobby knife. Photo 8. Here, cabin detailing is underway. I’ve glued strips of masking tape to a seat edge to simulate a duct tape fabric repair, and now finish the painting with a BIC fine silver Mark-It pen. These are very useful for quick touch-ups, but be aware that they produce a very bright silver effect. Photo 9. For this project I employed Tamiya enamels for spraying the large features, and Vallejo acrylic paints, glazes and washes for detail work. I wanted to
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10 make the truck look like a real consumer vehicle run into the ground, so I avoided the simple white, red or black opaque colours that pick-ups regularly appear in. For convenience, and to contrast with the dark olive green of the auto-cannon, I patterned my pick-up after my old Dodge Neon, which is painted ‘Cinnamon Glaze’, according to the dealership where I bought it. Mixing Tamiya Bronze and Titan Gold in equal parts yielded a pretty good approximation. Photo 10. Meng furnish some very nice decals for the dashboard. I laid these in over an under-painting of black. I departed from Meng’s suggestions for cabin feature colours, as they call for far too much flat black. Nothing in any consumer vehicle comes in that colour; it doesn’t wear well and is hardly decorative! I would encourage anyone tackling any of these pick-ups to go by his own instincts and observations with the entire vehicle, as the Meng colour suggestions are altogether timid.
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‘‘ ” I’ve found that ropes, chains and the like, when draped convincingly in a scene help to bring it to life.
Photo 11. The finished front end. Before painting, the underside was given a light frisking of Vallejo 26.218 Dark Earth paste, which imparts a muddy texture. I rolled this up onto the edges of the front and rear wings and side panels. During painting, once the basic colours had been laid in, this ‘dirt’ was subjected to dark glazing with Tamiya Smoke and highlighted with Beige Brown progressively lightened with pure Beige. The plastic behind the clear headlight parts was painted in a Silver/Gunmetal mixture, and the lights themselves were given a coat of satin varnish to dull them down for the desert clime. Note the black trim on the vehicle generally, which covers the wings, parking lights, running boards under the doors, etc. Once again, Meng suggested flat black for these. I ‘commercialized’ mine by opting for a 1:1 gloss/satin varnish mixture.
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Photo 12. A front left quarter view of the whole truck. Note the mauve-tinted ‘sunburn’ on the bonnet and cab roof. This is an important feature for simulating weathering of many consumer vehicles, and is described in close-ups of both features. Photo 13. I set both doors ajar, reasoning that the truck is set in a stationary role and that the weather is hot. This gave a pretext for making the interior detail all the more visible! Photo 14. I’ve found that ropes, chains and the like, when draped convincingly in a scene help to bring it to life. Hence the rusty set of links tumbling out of the cargo bed. This white-metal accessory was painted deep brown, highlighted with Vallejo Oily Steel, and treated to Dark Rust and Rust washes. The final touch was to restore some lustre with spare touches of Gunmetal. Note how the elements have dulled down the ‘Cinnamon Glaze’ metallic finish of the side, and the dusty tyre, treated with Tamiya Smoke, Sand and Graydon Enterprises’ yellow finishing powders, respectively. Photo 15. The front right-hand corner of the truck. I ‘lowered’ the windows by carefully scoring the parts with a steel rule and plastic scriber, then breaking away the lower portions to simulate that they’ve been wound down. The right side door has had a good beating, and as can be seen on the front wheel hub, some of the original factory gloss finish peeks out from under all the dust.
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Photo 16. The heart of the scene. I opted to set the gun at a 45 degree elevation. It was sprayed Tamiya Olive Green, followed by successively lighter highlights mixing in Buff. In the ‘brush’ phase, Khaki Olive wash was run over all the olive features, then a highlight was yet again restored with Vallejo Yellow Green. Dark Rust and Rust washes over Oily Steel and Natural Steel ‘chips’ and bare edges give the gun a worn, aged look. Photo 17. I set the auto-cannon at this angle because of its dramatic, ready-to-be-used aspect, and to make it tower over the rest of the scene conspicuously. The instructions also permit you to set it at zero degrees (level) and 90 degrees (straight up.) Note that this truck/weapon combination hasn’t been brought together for serious anti-aircraft use. Notwithstanding the gun’s high rate of fire, it remains obsolete on a modern battlefield, where even the slowest enemy aircraft would be here and gone before the ZU could even be brought to bear upon it! Rather, being cheap, portable and devastating against light ground targets, it now serves as an intimidating over-watch piece of choice among onetime client states of the ex-Soviet Union. Photo 18. The twin barrels were painted Gunmetal, glazed with Black, then washed again with a Gunmetal Blue/Oily Steel/Smoke glaze combination. Spare Oily Steel highlights were placed at the tips of the flash suppressors and other hard edges of the actual bare metal gun assemblies.
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Photo 19. The scene as viewed from the left rear corner of the vignette. Here, the size, colouring, and weathering of the ZU are shown to good effect. Photo 20. The cab roof with its blotches of sunburnt paint. To get some ideas for how to convincingly weather a consumer vehicle lost to the harsh desert environment of Iraq, I had a useful chat with a collision specialist, Tim. I’d observed that car finishes seemed
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my diorama plan. He laughed and affirmed, “Yeah, I would think that two-thirds of all the trucks with modern finishes over there have had much of it burnt off”. Incidentally, to start off with a ‘random’ patch of bared primer, I pencilled a rough outline of a map of Iraq on the left-hand side of the hood (as seen from our perspective). I intended no clever subliminal message here; I was only fishing for a likely-looking shape to start the laying in of sun burns, and felt my own freehand outline might look contrived. The metallic mauve colour is a mixture of Vallejo Red Leather, Light Sea Grey, and Metal Medium, in a ratio of 1 part, 3 parts, 1.5 parts, respectively. Photo 24. Where are the seatbelts Meng? I spotted this omission late in the game, and so fashioned some belts with folded-over masking tape, angling them appropriately, and tipping them with sheet styrene cut into shield-shaped metal clasps.
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to wear off strangely, especially nowadays, when most cars and pick-ups come in a metallic finish of one hue or another. He replied, “Bingo!” and explained that the involved chemical processes of modern automotive painting account for occasional unwelcome effects. I cannot pretend that I could follow every detail, but Tim explained that around 1985 or so, manufacturers had hit upon formulas for painting which gave an attractive, shiny finish, were physically durable and resistant to scratching, but also compromised by being made easier to restore nicely after collisions by people like himself. I’d asked, “Why the light purplish splotches we sometimes see?” This is in fact a second coating of a proprietary primer somewhere in the involved finishing process, designed to enhance the new car’s metallic lustre. (See the photo of the bonnet for a continuation of Tim’s chemistry lesson!) Photo 21. The warm taupe grey upholstery of the cab has not been scrupulously maintained. Note the tissue dropped on the passenger seat, and the dirty staining on the seat back, effected with overlapping Vallejo glazes. I gave the edge of the lowered window a careful highlight with the BIC Mark-It silver pen. Somehow, this helps to enhance the glass, and emphasizes that the window has been lowered. Photo 22. Here’s a bit of poetic license! It seems unlikely that a single militiaman would be caparisoned in ballistic vest, carry a precision sniper rifle, and tote a Soviet rocket-propelled grenade, but the Meng case for the weapon (from their Modern U.S Load-Bearing Equipment set, item SPS-015) and VLS RPG-7 were so handsome, I couldn’t resist including them. At any rate, I’d like to think that it all underscores that this is now a culture which sports weapons as routinely as western democracies’ citizens tote laptop PCs.
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Photo 23. The bonnet. To continue Tim’s discourse on automotive painting, I asked how it was that some car finishes held up better than others. When Tim shrugged and said, “Anything can do it – even a grain of sand or pebble kicked up off the road”. I smiled and he asked me why I had done so. I then told him about
Photo 25. The cab interior received final highlights of artists’ oils, in appropriate tones. For realism’s sake, I ‘colour-coordinated’ the seats, centre console, and dash vinyl by throwing off the basic tones with a little red brown or medium blue. Perhaps because they’re in the business of producing fighting vehicles, Meng offer no real imaginative advice about painting the interior. I would suggest looking at the inside of your own car, SUV or truck to get a sense for how the car manufacturers decorate their cabins. I looked over a couple, and found that they keep colours bright yet neutral, using tertiary decorator tones like warm taupe grey or gingerbread to help conceal stains. Of course, leather seats are a story unto themselves, but these don’t really turn up in modestly priced autos and pick-ups. Photo 26. This father figure is so preposterous; I just had to substitute him for the Middle Easterner kit figure, taking him from the ‘red pickup’ (item VS-002). In designing him, Meng has shrewdly given us a man who could be placed almost anywhere – Kosovo, Chechnya, Korea, or as here, Iraq. His baseball hat – so emblematic of American consumer culture – is reason alone to include him in a vignette that doggedly maintains a ‘crass consumerism’ theme side-by-side with the notion of ‘guns run rampant!’
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Photo 27. Our social desperado seen from behind. In colouring the hat, I gave him a variation on my hometown baseball team, the Philadelphia Phillies – an aggressively red cap. Note the red cooler and beer bottles (also from VS-002), and the yellow soles of his modern designer boots. Photo 28. The son, by chance, appears dead centre in the composition, and by design, he walks directly under the barrels of the auto-cannon. He wears a Western satin blue windbreaker. His is the ‘focal moment’ of the vignette – the tragedy of a child literally growing up under the barrel of a gun.
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Photo 29. Here, the women return from market. At the mother’s feet lays a carpet with an MRE rations box, Coca-Cola carton, basket of pomegranates and reading materials. Note the patches of sand on the asphalt road surface, simulated with railroad ballast in a white glue reduction. For the mother’s long shawl, I felt that I should maintain the sheer black, so instead of highlighting with grey tones, I mixed Vallejo Metal Medium with black to create highlights, increasing the amount of medium for the ‘lightest’ sun-struck areas such as her crown, shoulders, elbows, and pronounced folds.
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Photo 30. A pair of road cones taken from the J’s Work Roadblock Equipment set, enlivens the scene with even more colour. I really must commend Vallejo, for I know of no other military paint line that offers a convincing Bright Orange suitable for such features. The dual white stripes on them are typical here in America, and I supposed that similar striping could be found around the world. As with much of the vignette, I weathered the cones with Smoke glazing and dustings of brown/beige mixes.
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Photo 34. This concrete roadblock came in a set of six from Pegasus Models and cost me just US $3!
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Photo 35. The left-hand door is also ajar. Again, we see the effect of lining the top of the ‘lowered’ window with a BIC Mark-It silver pen, giving a clear visual cue as to where the window stops and open air begins. Meng suggest flat black for the steering wheel in the instructions!
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Photo 31. The rough shrub stalks act as additional vertical elements in the scene. The building corner is a fine resin offering from Armand Bayardi, a company that used to specialize in small base accessories for figure painters. Photo 32. The inside of the Bayardi wall. I take every opportunity to exploit nicely sculpted features like this, with its plaster wearing off the bricks. It simply cries out for colour variety. Photo 33. The twisted I-beam is a Plastruct length heated and bent to shape, and the bricks are papier-mâché accessories from Dutton Enterprises. Since the remnant of the building features a brick structure, I was given license to distribute bricks judiciously around the scene, adding a warm grey tone to a landscape heavy on yellow sand tones.
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Photo 36. I think the gun is an absolutely beautiful model, well worth the cost of the whole kit by itself. Photo 37. Note the mid stone tone of the gunsight. I’ve been told by personnel at Aberdeen Proving Grounds that the former Soviet military often painted precision parts of various vehicles and weapons in distinct colours, to warn the troops handling them that these are not easily replaced, so better take care! For modellers, the policy furnishes a basis for more colour. Photo 38. Additional Dutton Enterprises bricks form a working pile on the far right side. Photo 39. The front of the scene rolls down to a trickling little stream, where we see more flotsam and jetsam from the war. The water is Woodland Scenics Water Effects, tinted greenish-brown. The rubble was a stroke of luck: VLS plaster building ruins that just happen to have an Oriental feel to them.
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Photo 40. I like to view this frontal portion of the vignette allegorically. Set lower than the main event, it perhaps evokes a sense of strata of excavations, and with its ancient rubble recalls that at one time, the troubled country of Iraq was the birthplace of civilization, the ‘fertile crescent’ somewhere between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
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Photo 41. I couldn’t resist this nod to rampant consumerism. After all, “Things go better with Coke!” Photo 42. A small touch: a road map hanging from the right door’s storage bin. Photo 43. I enlivened the stark desert landscape with a few fronds of vegetation, cut from the foil used to seal water ice treats. In a scene like this, it’s important not to take features like these too far, for Iraq is, in the main, hardly a verdant place. MM
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Slow Tank To China!
Mark Bannerman builds the Vickers Light Amphibious Tank A4E12 from IMA Models in 1:35 scale. ABOVE: The author’s completed model set in a Chinese field with the aid of Photoshop.
BELOW: An early prototype of the Vickers Light Amphibious Tank. (Photo source unknown)
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ickers was a famous name in British engineering from 1828 until 1999. Vickers originated in Sheffield as a steel manufacturer founded by Edward Vickers and through various acquisitions, Vickers became a leading name in industry with interests as diverse as the railway, manufacturing of church bells, mass production of artillery pieces, and naval construction. By 1890, Vickers had acquired
Maxim Nordenfelt Guns to become Vickers, Sons & Maxim (VSM). Hence, most ordnance during the First World War was stamped V.S.M. Other Vickers acquisitions included the Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company and patent rights of the Siddeley car. In 1911, Vickers acquired Whitehead and Company, a manufacturer of torpedoes. By the outbreak of World War One, Vickers Ltd expanded its operations to the manufacture of aircraft. The eventual merger of Vickers with Armstrong Whitworth prompted the company to expand more substantially into the military sector. One of the sectors that Vickers further probed was the manufacturing of military vehicles. Throughout the 1920’s and 1930’s, Vickers had invested heavily in the development of light and heavy tanks. Some of the more notable inter-war year developments include the Vickers Medium, various Light Tanks and the Vickers 6-Ton Tank. Many of the tanks developed and produced by Vickers were not purchased by the British Army, but were instead sent to foreign armed forces. An example of a Vickers development that was not retained by the British Army were amphibious light tanks designated the A4E11 and A4E12. These were tankettes which were waterproofed hulls that floated with the aid of balsa wood (later with steelsheathed floats) attached to the side of the hull and a ship propeller attached to rear hull. The concept of an amphibious tank had been previously conceived with very little success during the First World War. The Vickers Amphibious Light Tank was manned by a crew of two, had a weight of approximately 2 3⁄4-tons and armour between 5mm and 9mm thick. Armament was typically a 0.303” Vickers machine gun in a rotating turret and the engine was a 100hp Meadows 6-cylinder. Vickers received orders for these from Russia, the Dutch East Indies, Siam and China. The Russians bought eight in 1932 and used the design as the basis of their own amphibious T-37. Two were built for Siam in 1933-34 and two more for the Royal Netherlands Indies Army or Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger (KNIL) which were delivered in late 1937. But the largest order came from China.
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ABOVE: A Vickers serving with the 2nd Platoon 12th Army Group in Canton Province in 1938. (Photo source unknown)
ABOVE: The turret comes as a one-piece part and the Vickers machine gun will need to be drilled out for the barrel.
China had been embroiled in a civil war. The ruling Kuomintang and the rebel Communist Party opted to join forces to fend off the threat of a Japanese invasion. China had, by this time, pushed into service a diverse array of armoured vehicles sourced from different countries such as French FT17 Renaults, German Panzer I (A), SdKfz 221, Italian CV 33 tankettes and several tanks from Vickers including twelve 6-Ton and twelve Light Amphibious Tanks which were delivered in 1934. The Amphibious Light Tanks saw action in the summer of 1937 in the defence of Shanghai. Most of them were either destroyed or captured by the Japanese. There is at least one photo of a captured Chinese Amphibious Light Tank in Japanese service.
In kit form The IMA model is a relatively simple affair with about 30 parts and further detailing would be required. The model is a resin offering with crisp detail and is superbly rendered. There were no pits, only a few air bubbles and few casting lines were apparent which can easily be removed with a sharp hobby knife. I spent one evening removing parts, carefully sanding any surface blemishes and adding any rivets or bolts that were lightly damaged or missing. I used a punch and die set to make the rivets with .015 sheet styrene. The hull comes as one large part and it is hollow which allows for the modeller to detail the interior. Much to my dismay, I was unable to find any photo references of the interior so I would leave the interior unfinished.
to add details where necessary. The first item to be addressed was the tracks. When Riich released the Universal Carrier Mk.I, I ordered three of these so I used the track set from one of the Riich models to do the tracks on the Light Amphibious. The tracks included in the IMA kit are quite nice but are made of resin and are quite rigid so thus very prone to breaking. It is therefore far easier to use the Riich offerings. The construction of the tracks took the better part of an evening – not difficult but tedious and time-consuming. The rear prop and support was initially a difficult one as I had no clear photos on the set up. Nicolas in Russia came to my rescue as he sent me some close-up photos of a superb example of a Vickers Amphibious in the Kubinka Tank Museum just outside of Moscow. With the photos on hand I was able to construct the rear
ABOVE: A clear view of the rear of the Vickers (note the propeller) with the turret turned 180 degrees. The ‘sun’ marking could denote a 2nd or 3rd Tank Battalion Vickers. (Photo source unknown) BELOW: The main construction of the IMA offering was quite simple and was made up of 30 or so parts. However, the suspension was a little tricky to put together because the parts are quite fragile. Super glue was used to assemble the wheels and bogies.
Construction For the detailing, I decided to use leftover parts from the Riich Universal Gun Carrier and Vulcan’s Vickers Mk.VI. There were enough parts
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AFV special LEFT: This appears to be one of the Vickers serving with the 2nd Platoon 12th Army Group in Canton Province in 1938. The 1st Platoon Vickers were numbered 101-106 and 2nd Platoon were numbered 201-206. (Photo source unknown)
propeller shaft, supporting brackets and steering and the guiding cylinder. Although the prop and guiding cylinder were included in the IMA offering, the rest was scratchbuilt and took less than an hour to do. I drilled a hole into the hull, affixed the cylinder using a brass rod and used sheet styrene for the supporting brackets. I also used a punch and die set to make some rivets to add on the rear brackets. All of the parts were glued in place with super glue to ensure really good adhesion. Next I attached the side bin and added a latch from spare etched-metal. I then glued into place the exhaust pipe, though I shortened the two supporting brackets to mirror photographic references. There were two types of front light fixtures: an enclosed casing with hinged cover (which is included in the IMA kit) typically seen on the Dutch export version and two stakes supporting a pot light similar to the Universal Gun Carrier and as seen on Chinese variants. I opted for the latter. The turret also took on a few small modifications including adding rivets that were missing and drilling out a hole in the main gun. Based on photographic references, the cupola varied from a large half circle hatch that opened forward to a sliding hatch. It is possible that both were used for waterproofing purposes. Based on the photos of the Vickers Amphibious in Chinese service, the half circle hatch was prominent and I would use the resin offering in the IMA model for this purpose.
ABOVE: I used an extra set of tracks from the Riich Universal Gun carrier for this project.
RIGHT: Tamiya Extra Thin Cement was used to affix the tracks which is an excellent medium for this purpose.
BELOW: I placed the handle from an old paintbrush on top of the upper tracks to push them down onto the tops of the wheels while the glue was drying.
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ABOVE: A close-up view of the tracks attached to the model. RIGHT: Chinese tank crews belonging to the 1st Tank Battalion. The Vickers was equipped with a 100hp Meadows 6-cylinder engine. (Photo source unknown)
It took a few evenings to build this model and it is truly a simple affair. Before committing the model to paint, I reinforced the tracks with Testors’ liquid glue, added super glue in some areas to ensure parts were solid and the model was subjected to a good washing in lukewarm water and washing-up liquid. I cannot over emphasize the importance of cleaning a model as the primer and paint will adhere so much better when the model’s surface is free of grit, dust, oily finger marks and tiny specs of resin.
Painting Once dry, the model was primed using Tamiya white primers in two light coats. The next step was the basecoat. References are sketchy but there are several plates that show various finishes on the Vickers. In Chinese service, a common scheme was the ‘giraffe’ pattern with a dark green, ochre yellow, and brown combination. I am presuming the dark green would have been the base and was possibly the original delivery green colour base from
ABOVE: To construct the rear propeller shaft, supporting brackets and steering, I used parts included in the IMA offering plus some sheet styrene.
LEFT: The model before applying punch and die rivets and some extra detailing.
BELOW: All complete and ready for priming – it only took a few evenings to build this model which is a simple affair.
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ABOVE: The only existing A4E12 which is housed in the Kubinka Museum in Russia. (Photo source unknown)
England. All patterns are demarked with a black outline – similar to French armour camouflage. The second camouflage configuration is the same but with a fourth colour (medium grey) added to the pattern. I studied wartime photos very carefully and it is virtually impossible to determine from black and white photos whether the camouflage on a particular tank was three or four colours. I did find a good reference book entitled The Armor of Nationalist Army 1929-1945 which covers the Sino-Japanese war. Most armour was imported and many retained the original export colour (exSdKfz 221s and CV 33s) but British export vehicles destined for China appear to have received a camouflage paint job. Another vehicle which carried similar camouflage as the Vickers Amphibious was the Vickers 6-Ton light tank. I found many colour plates of the Vickers 6-Ton in Chinese service and these all show the tank sporting a distinctive 4-colour camouflage scheme. To start the painting process, I airbrushed the model in a Tamiya Dark Yellow XF-60 which was further mixed with 20% Tamiya Flat White XF-2 and 30% Tamiya Clear X-22. The mix was very well stirred and mixed with 30% Tamiya Thinners. The model was entirely airbrushed in two light coats, including the tracks and underside, and I allowed this to dry overnight. The next day, I was uncertain whether I would mask the vehicle and airbrush with Tamiya paints or attempt to hand brush the patterns with Vallejo acrylics. I had ordered a J’s Work Airbrush Camo-Mask set for a Czech LT Vz 35 and never used it so I thought I would put this to work. With the model completely basecoated in dark yellow, I started applying masks to 20% of
ABOVE: Front view of the completed model before priming.
RIGHT: I used Tamiya acrylic paints for the basecoat. I tend to prefer Tamiya paints for their consistency and ease of use through an airbrush.
BELOW: I applied pre-cut airbrush masks for the Czech LT Vz 35 from J’s Work on this particular model. The process calls for applying paint then masking until the model is entirely covered. Here I am peeling away the mask pieces using tweezers.
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The masks did a very good job, but one has to be extra careful in securing them around corners and over rivets otherwise they can leave feathered or weak lines.
ABOVE: Most well-stocked hobby art stores will carry various felt pens. I used a pen from Faber-Castell. The ink is permanent, dries immediately and is resistant to thinners.
the tank. I did it in a half-hearted manner without a plan, but ensured that the masks were well affixed – particularly over corners – and that they were not adjacent to each other. I then applied one application of Tamiya Sky Grey XF-19 and this dried for about an hour. Next I applied more masks by peeling these off the sheet with tweezers and laid about 10 or 12 masks down onto the surface. I did very few because grey is not a prominent colour on Chinese tanks so I applied these sparingly. I then airbrushed the whole tank in Tamiya Flat Brown XF-10 in two light coats and applied masks to about 40% of the tank and applied the fourth colour – a mix of Tamiya Olive Green XF-58 and Dark Green XF-81. Admittedly, the tank looked a complete disaster until I started peeling back the masks to reveal the paint underneath. Luckily it turned out better than I had expected but some of the borders between the colours were a bit hazy and not very well detailed. Fortunately, the demarcation line between the camouflage patterns would eliminate some of the feathered or overlapping borders between the colours. Also, the grey colour I used was far too light so I refilled these in with Vallejo Sea Grey 158 to darken the patches up. For the demarcation line, I used a FaberCastell black felt pen by which can be purchased at most well-stocked art stores. The ink is permanent and
ABOVE: The model with all of the masks removed – not a pretty sight! RIGHT: I did not apply filters to this model as it’s not a practical method when a vehicle is multi-coloured. Instead, I went straight in with a series of carefully placed washes using oils – Sepia, Vandyke Brown, and Raw Umber for the running gear and Olive Green for the hull and superstructure.
LEFT: The model after the first wash treatment. I tend to keep the washes quite restrained. The thinners help create a gritty surface so that subsequent pastels will remain affixed.
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RIGHT: The application of the ink takes around an hour. The camouflage pattern is now beginning to take shape.
impervious to all thinners and does a really nice job of maintaining a steady stream of ink. Before moving onto the weathering and finishing, I brush painted the tracks using a combination of Vallejo German Camo Black Brown 822 and Black Grey 862 and this was followed by brush painting the roadwheel’s rubber tyres using Tamiya NATO Black XF-65. There were some areas where I overshot by paint brushing on the rubber of the tyres with track colour and rubber colour onto the tracks. However, the colours were so similar that I figure any subsequent weathering would eliminate
ABOVE: A superb photo of a Vickers with the 1st Chinese Tank Battalion. (Photo source unknown)
RIGHT: I repeated the step of adding pastels onto the model and then followed by adding Testors’ Thinners.
BELOW: For this project, I used pastel sticks which have been shaved and ground down to a powder. While ready-made pastels are great, I do find them a bit strong. I prefer the dry stick type and mix my own recipes using variations of yellows and browns.
RIGHT: All of my ingredients for the weathering and finishing process.
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ABOVE LEFT: The thinners spread by capillary action and provide some neat streaking effects. I always stroke the brush in a downward or outward motion. ABOVE RIGHT: A convoy of Chinese Vickers belonging to the 1st Tank Battalion ‘Dagon’ circa 1938. (Photo source unknown)
ABOVE LEFT: The tracks receive the same treatment. I again apply thinners (this time Tamiya’s brand) and allow them to do the work. ABOVE RIGHT: I repeat the application of pastels but this time working with a lighter toned pastel mix. I tend to work from dark to light. BELOW LEFT: I run a stiff brush over the tracks to clean off any accumulation of pastels on the actual surfaces where it meets the ground or road. BELOW RIGHT: I repeat the pastel application on the tracks until I get the precise consistency that I am looking for.
the glitches. Once dry, the whole model took a light airbrushing of heavily diluted Tamiya Buff XF-57 (ratio paint to thinner was approximately 1:4). I added a few markings on the turret from the Bison Decals series specifically for Chinese armour (item 35097) to depict a Vickers belonging to the 1st Tank Battalion in Shanghai, circa 1938.
Weathering I made a few chips using Vallejo Black Grey but decided to keep these to a minimum. I then added copious amounts of powdered pastels of various earth tones onto the whole model (very heavily on the suspension system and tracks) then fixed these in place by airbrushing the entire model with pure Tamiya Thinners. The pastels that I prefer to use are dry stick types that can be purchased cheaply at any art store which I shave down to a powder with a hobby knife and store in small super
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Side view of a 1st Battalion Vickers. The turret mounts a Vickers .303 machine gun and the armour was 11mm thick. (Photo source unknown)
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Several layers of different earth coloured pastels followed by repeated applications of thinners to make the pastels stick provides some really neat weathering and grungy effects.
glue containers or glass jars. I repeated the step of adding more mixes of earth and dark yellow pastels onto the model but this time I used a large brush and allowed Tamiya Thinners to drip from the brush onto the model. The thinner capillaries and provides some really neat effects. Just ensure that the thinners do not accumulate in any one place otherwise it will eat right into the base paint. A few oil stains were added by flicking diluted Sepia mixed with Raw Umber oil paints from a dried brush onto the rear part of the model by running a toothpick across the top of the brush hairs. The track links were then picked out with a regular pencil to show bare metal where the cleats would meet the road. The interior of the hatch and inner wall were painted with white Humbrol enamels, followed by a few washes of Sepia oil paint and regular pencil to show metal wear. Some finishing touches include painting the inside of the light pots in Tamiya Silver and filling the pots with 5-minute epoxy. The muffler was brushed with various red and earth coloured pastels. The machine gun barrel was painted in Vallejo Gloss Black and brushed down with some earth-coloured pastels to tone down the glossy appearance. ABOVE: Vickers on parade; the tank had a weight of approximately 2-tons and was manned by a crew of two. (Photo source unknown) BELOW: The model in its almost completed form. More reddish brown pastels were applied to the tracks and running gear to emulate the light reddish dirt and earth typical of the Far East.
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Conclusion This was a particularly interesting model to research as there is not too much information available on the full-size vehicle, although several photos do exist. I enjoy working with resin so this was a really easy model to build due to the small parts count and is fairly straightforward. Anyone not keen on resin will find this offering to be a perfect introduction to resin. I have always enjoyed IMA models as these do provide some very unique
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ABOVE: A stealthy-looking vehicle – the Vickers doing what it was designed for! (Photo courtesy of Photoshop)
‘‘” Anyone not keen on resin will find this offering to be a perfect introduction to resin.
LEFT: A black and white period quality photo created with Photoshop.
Vickers as used by 8th Route Army – the 8th were formed from the Cantonese Iron Army Corps. (Photo source unknown)
offerings for a very good price. Since I completed this model, new manufacturer CAMs (Combat Armour Models) has released an injection-moulded 1:35 scale kit for the VCL Light Amphibious Tank A4E12 early production variant used by the Chinese (item CV35-001) and also announced the release of
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an A4E12 KNIL (item CV35-003), the version used by the Royal Netherlands Indies Army (Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger). And for anyone interested in modelling a cousin vehicle produced by the Russians and heavily based on the Vickers Amphibious, there is the venerable T37A tank. MM
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Russian Cargo Truck – it’s a Gaz! Mario Eens builds and then applies some ‘weathering magic’ to Tamiya’s 1:48 scale Russian 1.5ton Cargo Truck Model 1941.
Construction
TOP: The author’s completed model placed in a scenic setting courtesy of Photoshop. ABOVE: The box art for Tamiya’s 1:48 scale Russian 1.5ton Cargo Truck kit.
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eing a fan of softskins I was charmed by the box art of Tamiya’s recent 1:48 scale Soviet truck kit and I guess what attracted me, apart from the usual beautiful artwork, was the colour of the truck. It looked a little different to the dark green colour we often see being used on models and in illustrations, and also as the model was in quarter scale it wouldn’t take too long to get to the painting stage. Russian trucks appeared in many sizes and variants and this one is known as the ‘Model 1941’ and was a stripped-down version of the trucks that had been produced before World War Two. The most obvious features are the angular front mudguards, canvas curtains on the cab instead of doors and the removal of the front bumper and right-hand headlight.
As we expect from Tamiya the kit looks sharp in detail, with a logical breakdown of parts that make assembly very straightforward and fast. Of course, as with any kit, there are always a few details that look a little heavy in scale and can do with some refinement. And even if you are not into superdetailing there are a few basic things you can do to any model to give it just that little extra and make it look the part. Firstly, the mudguards are a little too thick and using a scalpel and/or files sorts that out in no time. By bevelling the edge you can make it look as thin as a photo-etched replacement. Secondly, the bar that supports the headlight and horn can be replaced by thinner brass or copper wire. The base of the headlight/horn combo was drilled through and the wire inserted and a small ring of wire was made to represent the base of the omitted right headlight. The remainder of this area basically needs some missing bolts. Depending on the amount of detailing you have in mind you will need reference material and as mentioned, not only is Tamiya’s box art always an eye-catcher, it’s also a good place to begin looking for reference material. In this case the box art shows off the front very well, which will get you started. The drawing does reveal that missing from the kit are two towing hooks, one on either side of the radiator on top of the chassis members and because I couldn’t get my hands on any from the spares box I just left them off, but added the bolts that would secure them in place. Since they were bolted and not welded the hooks could, in theory, have been left off or removed. As well as the horn, the small triangle in front of the radiator was drilled out and thinned. The hole is lined up with the hole in the radiator and
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AFV special LEFT: The kit is lacking some small details on the front and it can do with some refining.
The difference between the original and reworked mudguard. BELOW: Right-hand side of the engine compartment. The hole would normally take the conduit from the right headlight. Twist
ABOVE: The towing hook on the rear is moulded as a solid block. BELOW: It was opened up using files of various sizes.
Cut and re-glue
Twist ABOVE: Turn the wheels by simply twisting the ends of the front axle to impart a little interest to the front end. Make sure to cut the small steering bars before the twisting and re-glue them later on. BELOW: Using a compass and the windscreen wiper as a guide, a mask was cut for the driver’s windscreen.
is meant to take the starting handle. A simple twist of the hubs on the outer ends of the front axle is enough to turn the front wheels and give the model a more dynamic appearance. Moving to the cab detailing is kept to a minimum. Most obvious omissions in the kit are the pedals and a few controls, which are easily added from plastic rod, strip and the use of a punch and die set. Also, the gearshift lever is a little heavy so the top and base were saved and added to a thinner piece of brass wire. On the exterior the canvas doors were refined by opening up the top, thus making the solid part look like a rolled up piece of material. The rest of the detailing involved adding more small bolts and rivets. For ease of handling and painting I decided to glue the canvas roof/rear wall section to the floor and leave the engine compartment
ABOVE: Inside the driver’s cab the most obvious omission are the pedals. They were fashioned using plastic strip, rod and a punch & die set.
separate. A new windscreen wiper was made from thin copper wire. Using a compass and masking tape a mask was made to cover the clean ‘wiped’ area on the windscreen. The towing pintle on the rear of the chassis was refined by opening up its solid mass of plastic with different size files and then adding a locking pin from plastic rod. After some further refining a piece of stretched sprue was added to the taillight provided to serve as the electrical supply conduit. Wooden structure on the planking of the cargo area looks very nice and most ejector pin marks LEFT: Tiny punches and dies were used to simulate bolts and rivets. Note that on the rear the canvas and the cab wall are moulded as a single item.
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ABOVE: Starting out with a small triangular file to get a first incision, the rest was subsequently opened up with a smaller and then larger rectangular file. BELOW: The canvas doors were refined by opening up the top, thus simulating rolled up material.
LEFT: Frontal view showing modifications.
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ABOVE: A plastic rod and thin piece of copper wire shaped the towing pintle. Stretched sprue was used to simulate the conduit for the rear light.
are very shallow, making it easy to remove them by careful scribing with a scalpel. Location pins on the side panels were cut off and location holes on the rear panel were filled with plastic strip. The only detailing here is the refinement of the handles to lock the rear. The moulded handles were cut off and substituted with homemade brass replacements. If you want to super-detail your model, then here you will find plenty of reference for a preserved Soviet GAZ 1½-ton truck at: http:// www.primeportal.net/trucks/yuri_pasholok/ gaz_mm-v/index.php?Page=1 The model was now left in sub-assemblies, ready for painting.
Painting To give the paint a good base to adhere to I primed the model using Vallejo’s coloured primers. The chassis, seat and wheels were airbrushed Black 70.602, while I used UK Bronze Green 70.607
for the rest. It was the colour that first got me interested in doing this model, so I wanted to be completely happy with the base colour before moving on to the next stage. It took me a few trials to get the tint I was looking for, but I finally settled on a 50/50 mixture of Vallejo Model Air Green Zinc Chromate 094 and Camouflage Light Green 006. Adding some of the new formula Airbrush Thinner 71.061 at a ratio of 1 to 3 (1 drop of thinner for every three drops of paint) makes sure the airbrush work goes smoothly. I wanted the different textures of the model to show their own characteristics, so I decided to use different varnishes for the various parts and I airbrushed the chassis with Model Air Satin Varnish 060. All metal parts, like the engine compartment, mudguards and such were airbrushed with Gloss Varnish 058, giving them a natural metal sheen.
ABOVE: The rear panel shown closed.
RIGHT: Overall view of the truck ready for painting.
BELOW: The model was left in subassemblies to aid handling during painting.
BELOW: A mask was made with cardboard and a compass and was then used to airbrush the wheel rims.
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AFV special RIGHT: The model was basecoated with Vallejo Surface Primers. Black 70.602 was used for the chassis, wheels and seat, and UK Bronze Green 70.607 for all the rest. BELOW: A 50/50 mixture of Vallejo Model Air Green Zinc Chromate 094 and Camouflage Light Green 006 was then sprayed on as the final coat. Adding one drop of the new formula Airbrush Thinner 71.061 to every three drops of paint guarantees a smooth paint job.
ABOVE & BELOW: The cab floor, sides, rear wall and roof were assembled as a unit. To paint the canvas everything else was masked. Make sure you always mask in straight lines.
ABOVE: All wooden parts were airbrushed with Matt Varnish 059. LEFT: The different parts and textures of the truck received different varnishes to bring out their typical characteristics. The chassis was coated with Model Air Satin Varnish 060, while all metal parts like engine compartment, mudguards, etc., were airbrushed with Gloss Varnish 058, giving them an authentic metal sheen. BELOW: This included the wooden running boards of the cab.
The wooden parts of the cargo area and the running boards of the cab were finally airbrushed with Matt Varnish 059. This procedure provided a first natural contrast between the different textures. I masked off the interior and exterior rear wall of the cab saving the canvas part. There is no hard edge demarcation between the rear wall and the canvas so make sure your masking is straight.
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As the rest of the model the wheels received the AK Interactive dust mix treatment.
The colour for the canvas was mixed from Model Air White 001 and Dark Yellow 025 in a ratio of 2 to 1 respectively.
For the canvas I added two drops of Model Air White 001 to every drop of Dark Yellow 025. A coat of Matt Varnish 059 sealed the paintwork. Final base painting involved hand painting the radiator with Vallejo Black 950 and airbrushing the wheels and tyres that were first primed black and after which were given a mist with Panzer Aces Dark Rubber 306, which gave the tyres an authentic greyish look. With a compass and some card I made a template, which I used as a mask to airbrush the wheels. All went very quick and smooth with no need to do any hand painting.
Weathering ABOVE: With the masking removed the canvas and cab rear are ready for the next stage.
Although not strictly part of the ‘weathering’, the next step in the painting process was to add some depth to the model. To create the illusion of shadow effects I used Vandyke Brown oil paint, which I diluted with odourless white spirit, and ran this
around all details and into all crevices, nooks and crannies. During this stage I always try to work tidily and immediately clean up any unwanted effects with a moist clean brush. The black chassis was outlined with Humbrol Matt Brown Bess 170 as this gave a better contrast. At this point I painted the exhaust making use of the Lifecolor Dust and Rust set CS 10. Working from dark to light I used the rust colours in the opposite sequence as indicated on the box instructions. Mostly it’s a matter of going back and forth between the different colours and layers to get to the point where you are happy with the result. After initial outlining I always give a model a quick dry-brushing with the base colour to revive the smaller details and make them stand out. Adding some White 001 to the base mixture of Green Zinc Chromate 094 and Camouflage Light Green 006 creates a highlight effect, which then contrasts nicely with the outlined shadow effect. Because I’m working with Model Air colours, they are not that easy to dry brush, since their consistency is designed for airbrushing. Therefore, I put them on a plastic pallet because putting them on card would make them dry too fast. After the colours have sat for a few moments I pick up the paint on a brush and thoroughly wipe it on a paper towel. If need be, I repeat this process before taking the brush to
ABOVE: The radiator was hand-painted Black 950. RIGHT: Overall views of the model with and without the cargo body ready for weathering.
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the model. With the same highlight mixture I then picked out and hand-painted certain details to add more variation in the overall base colour. Vallejo German Camouflage Black Brown 822 was used on metal parts that were then selectively chipped to show age and wear. It’s better to work in a controlled manner and gradually build up the effect, rather than going for it boldly as making corrections later is more difficult. Having said that, using the new formula Airbrush Thinner 71.061 and a brush you can remove any undesirable chipped effects, even after they are dry. Needless to say, you should use only a little of the thinner and proceed carefully. After using the thinner you may need to clean the worked area with a little water as the thinner can sometimes leave a glossy effect, depending on how much of the product was used. The next step in the chipping process was to add a few highlight chips to some of the dark metal chips.
ABOVE: Lifecolor’s Dust and Rust set CS 10 was extensively used to give the exhaust a rusty finish.
The black areas of the chassis were outlined with Humbrol Brown Bess 170.
ABOVE: After the outlining stage all details are refreshed with a little dry-brushing using the base mixture of Green Zinc Chromate 094 and Camouflage Light Green 006 lightened with some White 001. Highlight chips, chips placed mostly under the dark chips to create a 3D effect, were mixed from Sap Green and Titanium White oil paint and added sparingly. Using oil paint means they are very easy to correct.
Metal parts are then selectively chipped with Model Color German Camouflage Black Brown 822. Try not to go overboard and keep the chipping in scale.
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ABOVE LEFT: The wooden running boards were chipped with a mixture of Lifecolor Sandgrau UA 202 and Vallejo Model Air Camouflage Light Green 006 to simulate scuffmarks revealing the wood underneath.
For successful highlight chipping the chips must be thin and they should not be wider than the dark chips, and they should be less in number. My preferred medium for highlight chipping is oil paint as this can easily be worked and corrected. Here I mixed a bright green colour from Sap Green and Titanium White. The mixture was also used to add a few local filters to further break up the green base colour.
ABOVE LEFT & RIGHT: A mixture of Burnt Sienna and Cadmium Yellow oil paint was used for local filters imitating rust. RIGHT: The engine compartment so far. BELOW: The seat was primed with Vallejo Surface Primer Black 70.602.
ABOVE: The seat and the rest of the inside of the cab was dusted using a mixture of four AK Interactive colours: Winter Streaking Grime 014, Fresh Mud 016, Dust Effects 015 and Rain Marks for NATO Tanks 074. After dry-brushing with German Camouflage Black Brown 822 and Black 950 to give the seat some depth a worn leather look was achieved by highlighting with a mixture of German Camouflage Black Brown 822 and Orange Brown 981.
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RIGHT: The driver’s cab and engine compartment so far. By adding the dust the model receives a new dimension.
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ABOVE: Overall view of the chassis, cab and cargo body so far. BELOW LEFT & RIGHT: After dusting small metal details are picked out with Model Color German Camouflage Black Brown 822 to make them stand out more.
To show wear on the wooden running boards I used a mixture of Lifecolor Sandgrau UA 202 and Model Air Camouflage Light Green 006 and carefully chipped the surface imitating bare wood showing up from under the paint. Also at this stage I painted the inside of the headlight with Model Air Chrome 064. With a mixture of Burnt Sienna and Cadmium Yellow oil paint I added a few local filters simulating rust. The same combination, as well as Burnt Umber oil paint, was used to add some rust streaks. Adding rust immediately enriches the colour palette of the model and adds more character. However, don’t go overboard and take to add it only in the logical places. Moving inside the cab I now painted the leather seat. After the basecoat with Black Primer 602 I drybrushed it with a mixture of Model Color German Camouflage Black Brown 822 and Black 950. This
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adds a little depth and colour to the otherwise monotonous looking seat. Final wear is added with a mixture of German Camouflage Black Brown 822 and Orange Brown 981 giving it a worn, leather look.
ABOVE LEFT: Vandyke Brown oil paint was used to add streaks and filters to the canvas roof. It was also used to create a shadow effect under the canvas where it meets the rear of the cab giving it a 3D effect.
The dusty look
ABOVE RIGHT: Rivets were picked out with Model Color German Camouflage Black Brown 822.
The box art shows the truck covered in ochre and almost orange-like dust colours and although I wanted to imitate the dusty look, I preferred to use a different, lighter colour. I ended up mixing four different AK Interactive colours to get the desired tint. Using a mixture of different colours rather than one single colour from the bottle has the advantage that each time you mix the colours the result might be slightly different, which only helps to create more variation. The colours I used were Winter Streaking Grime 014, Fresh Mud 016,
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ABOVE: Two small rectangles were cut from cigarette paper to serve as patches on the roof.
ABOVE: Raw Umber oil paint was used for final shading and effects.
ABOVE: The patches were moved around until their final position was decided upon. Matt Varnish 059 sealed them to the spot.
ABOVE: The leather straps to hold the canvas doors were painted with Panzer Aces Track Primer 304.
ABOVE: To give the patches a slightly different tone they were painted with Lifecolor Tropical Tan 1 UA 401 and Dunkelgelb UA 204.
ABOVE: A few quick passes with the airbrush loaded with Vallejo Model Color Green Grey 886 is enough to simulate dirt and dust on the windscreen.
ABOVE: Conduits for the headlight and horn need to be added after final assembly. Here the conduit for the headlight is on.
ABOVE LEFT: Inside view of the cab looking forward. ABOVE RIGHT: Inside view of the cab looking backwards.
Rear view of the cab. Note the shadow line painted under the canvas lifting it from the rear wall by creating a 3D effect. The rivets also add interest.
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Dust Effects 015 and Rain Marks for NATO Tanks 074. The effect was built up gradually using paint in different consistencies. As for the initial outlining, when I dry-brushed the smaller details again in the base colour to revive them, I now brought out the smaller metal details by carefully picking them out with Model Color German Camouflage Black Brown 822.
ABOVE: Rear view of the chassis showing the towing pintle.
Streaks and filters were added to the canvas roof with Vandyke Brown oil paint, as well as a shadow under the canvas where it meets the rear of the cab giving it a 3D effect. Since I felt it still lacked character I decided on adding some small repair work in the shape of a couple of patches. To determine where the patches should go I opted to use thin cigarette paper out of which I cut two small rectangles, which were moved around the roof until their final position was decided on. Some Matt
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Varnish 059 sealed them on the spot. Once dry they were painted with Lifecolor Tropical Tan 1 UA 401 and Dunkelgelb UA 204 making them slightly different in tone. Another layer of Matt Varnish 059 sealed the paintwork. Raw Umber oil paint was used for final shading and effects. The canvas doors received the same treatment as the roof and the leather straps painted with Panzer Aces Track Primer 304. Looking for a colour similar to the AK dust mix I decided upon Vallejo Model Color Green Grey 886 to airbrush the windshield and imitate the dirt and dust that collects there. A few quick passes with the airbrush was more than enough.
Cargo area
in German Camouflage Black Brown 822 to revive them and make them stand out more. On the Internet I found a few profiles showing trucks carrying a number on the sides and rear of the cargo body. I thought this would be a nice feature to break up the overall green colour of the truck and add a little more interest. A search for usable dry transfers gave no positive result. Finally, I decided to give hand painting a go. The plan was to first use a white pencil to put the numbers on the model and then over paint them. Initial tests on the bottom of the body were not
ABOVE: Overall view of the chassis. BELOW: Same as the rest of the model the cargo body was first outlined with Vandyke Brown oil paint to create depth.
This received the same initial steps as the rest of the model with outlining and dry-brushing. To add variation in colour I then began filtering individual planks with Vallejo Model Air Green Zinc Chromate 094 or Camouflage Light Green 006. First chipping was done by adding some White 001 to the previous colours and picking out selected areas. After that I had a second round of outlining with Vandyke Brown oil paint to reclaim the depth that had been lost during the filtering stage. As before all metal parts were chipped with German Camouflage Black Brown 822. A mixture of Lifecolor Sandgrau UA 202 and Model Air Camouflage Light Green 006 was used for the second, more intense run of woodwork chipping. Local filters of Raw Umber oil paint were then added to simulate dirt and greasy stains. Same as with the rest of the model, the cargo space was dusted with the AK mixture. Also as before small metal details were then picked out
To create more variation individual planks were filtered with Vallejo Model Air Green Zinc Chromate 094 or Camouflage Light Green 006.
ABOVE: Also as with the rest of the model the body was then dry-brushed with the base mixture of Green Zinc Chromate 094 and Camouflage Light Green 006 lightened with some White 001.
Metal parts were then chipped with Model Color German Camouflage Black Brown 822.
RIGHT: The AK Interactive dust mix is put to use on the cargo bed as well.
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LEFT: The cargo body ready for mounting on the chassis. Note the extra weathering inside with oil spills and dusting around the accessories. This all helps to tie the different elements together.
Although I couldn’t use the masks for airbrushing they were still a great help to determine the basic layout of the ciphers.
First a white pencil was run through them.
After which they were hand-painted with Panzer Aces Stencil 313.
ABOVE: The number ready for final weathering. BELOW: The finished number. After a little toning down with local Vandyke Brown filters, final weathering was done by chipping with the base colour.
that encouraging. Then my friend Harry at MXpression came to my aid and suggested attempting to cut some masks so I could spray them on. However, the cutting machine could not fully cut some of the curves of the small-scale ciphers. Although this meant I couldn’t spray the numbers on, I could still use the masks as such to decide where the numbers should go by roughly running a pencil through them. This was a great aid and made it rather easy to then hand paint the numbers with Panzer Aces Stencil 313. Although the profiles showed the number on both sides as well as the rear, I opted to only put it on the sides as I felt that was plenty. The profiles also suggested a tactical sign on the rear in the shape of a circle but instead I went for a square that to me looked more pleasing.
ABOVE: The small size of the links of the chain requires them to be airbrushed rather than hand-painted. Basecoating was done with Vallejo Black Primer 70.602. Lifecolor Rust Dark Shadow UA 701 was airbrushed on next to give it a rusty appearance.
Accessories Although the kit comes with a set of four fully equipped soldiers to sit in the back, a Maxim M1910 machine gun and a driver figure, I wanted to add a little cargo instead. One of the profiles showed a cargo of oil or petrol drums, which is what I went for. Tamiya’s Military Miniature Series Jerry Can Set (item 32510) was sourced for three 200-litre (40-gallon) barrels. Primed with Vallejo UK Bronze Green 70.607 the barrels then all received slightly different shades to avoid monotony. Colours used and mixed were Model Air Camouflage Light Green 006 and Field Green 093. When adding accessories to a model it is always wise to check with the base colour of the model and see if they all work well together. The success of an attractive model lies in the combination of all factors. As with the rest of the model, the barrels were first given pin washes with Vandyke Brown oil paint to add depth. Then followed a round of chipping with Model Color German Camouflage Black Brown 822. Rusty areas and stains were simulated with a mixture of Lifecolor Rust Dark Shadow UA 701 and Rust Base Color UA 702, after which they were dusted with the AK dust mixture. I decided that two of the barrels would contain oil, while the third would hold water. The two barrels containing oil where stained with Lifecolor Tensocrom Smoke TSC 208, which I find a very apt colour for this purpose. Edges were then buffed up with the side of a propelling pencil lead to add a metallic sheen imitating wear and tear.
ABOVE: It’s always better to have variation and avoid monotony, so after priming with Vallejo UK Bronze Green 70.607 all drums received slightly different shades using Model Air Camouflage Light Green 006 and Field Green 093 in different mixtures.
ABOVE: Although the name of the colour suggests a different purpose, Lifecolor Tensocrom Smoke TSC 208 is very appropriate to imitate oil stains. INSET: To add authenticity a white pencil was used to apply handwritten text. Here the text is supposed to translate as ‘oil’. LEFT: The finished barrels.
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Views of the author’s completed model. RIGHT: Front view of the cab. The airbrushed dust on the windshield combines well with the AK dust mixture that was used on the rest of the model.
Adding a little handwritten text to objects can create interest and contribute to the overall feel of authenticity. So I thought it would be nice to add the words ‘oil’ and ‘water’ to the barrels explaining their respective contents. A quick search on the Internet provided the Russian equivalent and the words were then handwritten on using a white pencil. When using a white pencil it helps if you wet the tip a bit, which makes the colour stick a little better as well as making it a little more opaque. Also corrections are easy to make as a clean brush moist with water easily removes mistakes and unwanted effects. After placing the barrels in their respective places in the cargo body, more dust was added to blend them in with the surroundings. To roll the barrels on and off the truck it seemed appropriate to add a pair of sturdy wooden beams. They were fashioned from two lengths of plastic strip that were given texture by moving a brass brush in a motor tool lengthwise over them. At the same time this rounded off the corners adding authenticity. After using the motor tool a little further extra texture was added here and there with the tip of a scalpel. Lifecolor HBT Light Shade UA 430, from the WWII US Army Uniforms Set 2, was used for basecoating. To simulate wear and tear edges were then chipped with a mixture of Tropical Tan UA 401 and Dust Type 2 UA 706. Adding a few local filters with Vandyke Brown oil paint creates depth as the paint lifts out the wood grain. I didn’t want to add too much clutter, but there was still something missing that would add a little more character. So a small length of chain was selected. As the size of the links is rather small it’s no use trying to paint the chain with a brush, because then the paint will only clog up the links making the whole thing look unnatural. Therefore careful airbrushing is a much better option. After priming with Vallejo Black Primer 602 it was given a rusty tint
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with Lifecolor Rust Dark Shadow UA 701. Local filters with the AK dust mixture made it blend in with the rest.
Conclusion As Tamiya kits go this was a joy of a kit to build. It only takes a few basic refinements that are within every modeller’s grasp to lift this, or any kit for that matter, from a straight out of the box build to a higher level, which will make the end result much more appealing and satisfactory. If you’ve never tried it, you should certainly give one a go next time… MM
References Tamiya box art. An Internet search provided the following interesting links: Prime Portal: GAZ MM-V Walk Around http://www.primeportal.net/trucks/yuri_pasholok/gaz_mm-v/index.php?Page=1 Engines of the Red Army in WW2: Russian Truck profiles http://www.o5m6.de/gaz_mm.html The white number on the side and tactical marking on the rear add a bit of interest and colour to the monotone camouflage of the vehicle.
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A Churchillian task!
Steve Guthrie goes to town on detailing Dragon’s 1:72 scale Churchill Mk.III kit.
LEFT & BELOW: The author’s completed model.
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he 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade were the primary users of the Churchill Infantry tank in the Canadian Army during the Second World War. The brigade was composed of the 11th Canadian Army Tank Battalion (The Ontario Regiment), the 12th Canadian Army Tank Battalion (The Three Rivers Regiment) and the 14th Army Tank Battalion (The Calgary Regiment). They arrived in the UK, sans tanks, on 30th June 1941. They were originally supposed to be equipped with Canadian-built Valentine Infantry tanks but because of production problems these were not available. Instead, the Ontario Regiment was issued with brand new Churchill tanks right off the production lines at Vauxhall while the Three Rivers and Calgary Regiments received Matilda II tanks.
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Because the Churchill was ordered into production literally ‘off the drawing board’, issues with various mechanical and structural components were expected and a representative from Vauxhall was seconded to HQ 1st CATB to deal with problems and to get feedback from users. He got quite a bit of this from Ontario Regiment tank crews and mechanics. But authorities had great hopes for the Churchill and by November 1941, the Three
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Rivers Regiment and the Calgary Regiment began to receive their first Mk.II Churchills. Much to their dismay, the Ontario Regiment was designated a training regiment and had to train the other two regiments on their original batch of Churchills which were rapidly wearing out. As more and more problems emerged with engines, gearboxes, suspensions and tracks, Vauxhall started up a massive rework programme which was applied to all existing Churchills. Eventually, 74 different problems were recognized and addressed. For each tank 1st CATB sent in for reworking, a new or reworked one was issued, including some of the newest 6pdr equipped Churchill Mk.III.
ABOVE: A Churchill Mk.II of the Calgary Regiment (14th CATB) leads a Mk.IV and a second Mk.II during an exercise “Somewhere in the UK”. The Mk.II still has the original air intakes and lacks the track covers while the brand new Mk.IV has full track covers but seems to be missing the counterweight on the muzzle of the 6pdr. Photo: Library and Archives Canada PA-166732. BELOW: A Churchill Mk.I forms the backdrop as 1st CATB is visited by General Alan Brooke, Home Forces Commander. Brooke is joined by Canadian Generals Andrew McNaughton, Hamilton Roberts and Harry Crerar. Salisbury Plain, September 1941. Photo: Library and Archives Canada PA-140557.
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ABOVE: A Churchill Mk.II of the 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade. There is no Arm of Service sign but it’s likely to be from the 3 Rivers Regiment (12th Canadian Army Tank Battalion) given the cap badge of the trooper in the commander’s hatch. Photo: Library and Archives Canada PA-176426.
BELOW: Churchill III Betty of ‘B’ squadron, The Calgary Regiment abandoned after the Dieppe raid (Operation Jubilee) 19th August 1942. Betty got off the beach, then roamed around the promenade, shooting at targets of opportunity before falling into the entrance to an underground shelter. Note light colour of the barrage balloon fabric that had been pasted around the turret ring, driver’s vision port and Besa mounting. Photo: Library and Archives Canada C029878.
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Prior to the Dieppe Raid in August 1942, the Calgary Regiment received 58 new or reworked Mk.I, II and III Churchills. Thirty of these were left behind on the stony beach after the disastrous attack on the channel port. In November 1942, the first Churchill Mk.IV tanks began to be issued to the battalions of the brigade, replacing the elderly Mk.I’s and II’s. This continued until March of 1943, when it was announced that 1st CATB was to be equipped with the Canadian-made Ram Mk.II. The changeover occurred quite quickly, with the last Canadian Churchill being struck off strength to the British 148th Battalion RAC in May.
In model form There have been several small scale injectionmoulded kits of the Churchill Infantry Tank released over the years. The first was the Airfix 1:76 scale Mk.VII (Pattern A4V) introduced way back in 1961 and recently re-released with parts to convert it into a Crocodile flamethrower (item 02321). The next new kit wasn’t on the hobby shop shelves until 1988 when ESCI produced a Mk.III in 1:72 scale (item 8332). It
was also available as an ESCI-Revell Germany kit (item 2343). This kit has been upgraded with styrene link and length tracks and also offered with parts to make the AMRCR mine roller version (item 8049). The basic Mk.III is currently available under the Italeri label. Hasegawa got into the small scale Churchill arena in 1991 when they released a 1:72 scale Churchill Mk.I/II (item 31127 MT 27). A year later, Matchbox released a 1:76 scale Churchill AVRE with SBG Bridge, based on the Mk.IV gun tank. There was now a long drought of new small scale Churchills until 2011, when Dragon released a 1:72 scale kit of the Mk.IV (item 7224) followed by a Mk.III (item 7396) in 2012. Kits of the NA75 (item 7507) and a Mk.III Dieppe version (item 7510) followed in 2013. Dragon’s Churchills are typical of their current design philosophy. They assemble easily and show a wealth of finely moulded detail, though herein lies a problem. A number of parts that should have been moulded separately for the sake of accuracy are moulded in place for ease of assembly. For example, the tools and towing cable look okay, but will be tricky to try and paint. The worst examples are the exhaust pipes, mufflers and their armoured covers on the rear deck. As moulded, they are far too shallow and the covers have a weird bend where they connect with the mufflers that simply does not exist on the real vehicle. Come on Dragon, Airfix included a separate piece for the exhaust system in their kit back in 1961 so why can’t you?
Construction Before starting on the Dragon Mk.III kit, I decided since I was going to have to rework a lot of the parts anyway, I might as well go the whole hog and fit a complete interior. To view the interior, I chose to open all the hatches, leave the turret roof separate and make the turret itself removable for viewing. The Churchill series is fairly well documented inside and out in books, magazines and online, so there is little excuse for skirting much. I also dug out the old Eduard photo-etched set for the ESCI Churchill, which provided a number of useful bits.
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Churchill hull tops in 1:72 scale, from left to right; Hasegawa, Dragon and ESCI.
‘‘ ” ...I decided since I was going to have to rework a lot of the parts anyway, I might as well go the whole hog and fit a complete interior.
Left hull sides, top to bottom; Hasegawa, ESCI and Dragon.
I began by cutting out the driver’s and co-driver’s hatches, the driver’s visor and the hull sponson doors. I didn’t cut open the engine hatches as I was going to replace the entire forward portion of the rear deck with a scratchbuilt part. I then opened up the interior of the sponsons by cutting away the inside of the lower hull (part Y). I removed all the surface detail from the hull sides (parts B5/6) including the tow cable, bolt heads, sponson doors and frames and the forward mud chutes, which are far too shallow. I made up the doors and frames, and mud chutes from sheet styrene, while the bolt heads are Grandt Line parts and the rivets from Archer resin decals. Finally, the tow cable is made from lead wire, with the cable ends carefully shaved off the hull sides, cleaned up, drilled out and attached. The interiors of the fighting compartment and turret are based on the Churchill Mk.III stowage sketches and drawings in the Tamiya book. I reduced the drawings of the main guns in the Tamiya book to 1:72 scale to help with scratchbuilding the gun and mounting. I replaced the kit 6pdr barrel with a turned aluminium item from RB Models. Most everything is made up of scraps of styrene strip, sheet and rod, copper and lead wire, and bits from the spares box (weapons,
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kit bags and the wireless set). The ammunition bins in the sponsons and on the turret floor are reworked parts from the Matchbox M7 Priest kit. The engine was made from strip and sheet styrene, lead, brass and copper wire and various bits from the spares box. I only detailed the top of the engine as that’s all you can see through the hatches. I made up a new rear deck from sheet styrene and cut out the openings for the engine
Tracks, top to bottom, Dragon, ESCI hard styrene, ESCI and Hasegawa.
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TOP: A 1st CATB Amphibious training post-Dieppe 12th January 1943 Poole, England. Cascade, a reworked Churchill Mk.III, backs onto a LCT. Notice it has the new style air intakes but lacks the full track covers. Also of note is that the canvas tube for signal flags is missing and the brass carbon tet fire extinguisher has been moved from the engine deck to the side of the turret. Photo: Library and Archives Canada. ABOVE: A Churchill Mk.III on display at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland USA in 2009. It is now thought to be at Fort Benning in Georgia. ABOVE: Front view showing counterweight on muzzle and fairly good condition of front trackguards.
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hatches, which were made from .10 thou. styrene with hinge, handle and rivet details added from styrene, metal foil and Archer resin rivet decals. For that part of the deck over the transmission I simply engraved the outline of the hatches and added detail as for the engine hatches. I couldn’t salvage
the upper air outlet grille at the end of the hull as the kit part had the pioneer tools moulded to it so I carefully cut away the lower grille and used that. You could try and make up a lower grille but as it can’t be seen I didn’t bother. The exhaust system is made from 40 thou. styrene rod with flange details from .05 thou. styrene. I took the mufflers from the Hasegawa Churchill Mk.I kit, but they could be made from thick styrene sheet just as well. The armoured covers are made from .10 thou. styrene with Archer resin rivets. Somehow, I lost the front plate from my kit that sits below the glacis and joins it to the nose, so I had to make a new one out of 20 thou. sheet styrene with details added from 10 thou. strip, resin rivets and the kit headlights. While we’re at the front of the tank, the front portion of the trackguards are made to flip up for maintenance and are often missing. I cut them off, and then thinned the edges to scale thickness
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Rear three-quarter view showing extensive rusting of trackguards. Turret bin is of later pattern than supplied in the Dragon kit.
with a file. Once you do this, you expose the four idler tensioning devices on the front horns. The kit does not include them but I made them from bits of styrene rod, strip and a big bolt head from the spares box. (This detail is included in the old Hasegawa kit and the latest Dragon Dieppe Churchill Mk.III kit). After all this cutting and hacking, I found it easer to replace the strengthening plate between the horns and the trackguard with a piece of 10 thou. styrene cut to fit rather than use the kit part. The jacking blocks are made up of scraps of styrene with some Archer rivets. Rather than try to place all the interior parts of the hull and sponsons individually after the hull was assembled, I made up modules for the hull floor and
ABOVE: Close-up of the glacis plate showing the variety of fasteners used and the fairly good condition of the armour plating. LEFT: Side of hull showing surface texture, especially on the turret. Also notice the tow cable support clips and air intake lifting lugs. BELOW: View of trackguards, mud chute and glimpse of idler tensioning device. Also of note is that you can see the track supports just above the chute, something I forgot to install.
BELOW: Rear deck showing pioneer tool clamps.
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RIGHT: Dragon hull sides showing moulded-on detail removed.
ABOVE: Dragon hull top with front hatches and engine deck removed.
ABOVE & BELOW: Construction of scratchbuilt turret interior underway.
ABOVE: Modified hull side, driver’s plate, and turret roof.
ABOVE: Lower hull showing sponsons opened up. LEFT: The completed scratchbuilt engine. BELOW: Scratchbuilt engine deck and exhaust system.
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each sponson interior that were inserted just before closing up the hull. The sponson modules also cover up the attachment points for the suspension (parts B3/4) that would show up on the bottom of the sponsons. On the turret roof, the commander’s hatch seems to have been added to the kit as an afterthought. It was broken in two in the box, the actual opening is smaller than the one in the turret roof, and the periscope and hatch hold-open clip detail is almost non-existent and what is shown is wrong. I reamed out the hole in the roof, and made new flaps for the commander’s and loader’s hatches from .10 thou. styrene, with inner pads and scratchbuilt periscopes. On the underside of the roof, I added periscopes for the gunner and loader and the 2” smoke mortar. The kit provides a very nice mount and guard for the wireless antennae to which I added from thin music wire. The Eduard photo-etched set, originally made for the ESCI Churchill Mk.III, provided the POL can racks on the rear trackguards and the cable guide over the sponson doors.
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LEFT: Hull interior started showing scratchbuilt nose plate and rivet strips. BELOW: Hull interior work under way with completed engine in place. Work has also started on the interior of the glacis plate.
ABOVE: Completed turret interior including the inside of the turret roof showing periscopes and 2” smoke mortar. Also shown is the communication flag holder, which is made from styrene tube to better simulate the canvas original.
Painting I painted the interior with Model Master flat white acrylic, and then dropped in a pin wash of brown/ black oil paint to bring out the detail. I then flowed in a thin wash of dark brown on the flat surfaces to cut the starkness of the white and to blend the interior together. As part of my continuing search for a source of acrylic Standard Camouflage Colour No.2 (Brown) I painted the exterior with Tamiya Linoleum Deck XF-79 cut with a drop of NATO Green XF-67 to tone down the red a bit then
Left and right interior modules completed. The ammunition racks are modified Matchbox M7 Priest parts, the instrument panel is scratchbuilt and stowage is from the spares box.
Hull interior completed showing how the sponson modules cover the suspension attachment points. Also visible is one of the scratchbuilt idler tensioners on the inside of the right-hand horn.
The interior before the installation of the driver’s and co-driver’s seats.
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ABOVE & INSET: A glimpse inside the turret showing scratchbuilt interior detail.
ABOVE: The completed, but as yet unpainted model, showing scratchbuilt sponson doors and frames, mud chutes, and turret and hull hatches. BELOW: The completed model. Red/yellow antennae pennant means ‘Damaged/Broken down, coming out of action’.
ABOVE: Completed unpainted model showing replaced engine air outlet at rear of scratchbuilt deck and photo-etched fuel can racks on trackguards.
ABOVE RIGHT: Completed model showing evidence of oil leaking from engine and hand tools spread along the trackguard beside open engine doors.
RIGHT & BELOW: The author’s completed model.
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added some Khaki XF-49 to lighten the whole mixture for scale effect. When this had dried, I tried to modulate the colours a bit by applying tiny dabs of various enamels, then using a damp brush to draw most of the colour away. This is a very popular technique with larger scale models but I don’t know if it makes a difference in small scale. It really needs a large flat area to show the effect and most 1:72 scale kits don’t have enough surface area. The tracks were painted Tamiya XF-9 Brown, with a black oil paint wash, bit of dry-brushing with a Humbrol 29 Dark Earth/white oil paint mixture and a final rubbing of graphite on the track cleats.
Finishing The decals are a combination of kit items, Starmer’s Armour AFV flashes and the smallest formation signs and AOS markings from the 1:35 scale series produced by Archers Fine Transfers. These are a bit big for 1:72 scale but are the best I could find at the time. Pioneer tools from the spares box were attached to the rear deck, the jacking blocks were cemented to the inner-upper front horns and the tow cable cemented to the hull sides. The kit’s methyl bromide fire extinguishers mounted on the turret stowage box are awful so I replaced one with a spare Dragon Sherman item and scratchbuilt an empty rack on the other side. I do most of my weathering with acrylic craft paint as it thins with water and can be mixed into any number of tones. I applied a number of thin layers of dirt with a final layer of darker mud on the suspension and lower hull. This mud was made to look wet with a thin wash of Future Floor Finish. I decided there had to be a reason why the engine hatches were opened up so I simulated a breakdown, something that happened to early Churchills on a regular basis! I arranged a number of tools along the opened engine hatches, simulated a stream of oil left on the concrete behind the tank and placed a red/yellow ‘Damaged: out of action’ MM pennant on the radio antennae.
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References The Churchill Tank and the Canadian Armoured Corps by Mark W. Tonner. CD Service Publications, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. British Tank Markings and Names by B. T. White. Arms & Armour Press, London, UK and Squadron-Signal Publications, Warren, Michigan, USA. Tamiya Photographic Album No.3, The British Churchill Tank. Tamiya, Shizuoka City, Japan. Stowage Sketches, Churchill III, TD 5593 (March 24th, 1942). Churchill Tank Vehicle History and Specifications, The Tank Museum, Bovington, UK. The Churchill Tank, Tanks Illustrated No.25 by Chris Ellis. Arms & Armour Press, Poole, UK. The Churchill Tank, Osprey Vanguard No.13 by Bryan Perrett. Osprey Publishing, Oxford, UK. (Also available slightly revised as Osprey New Vanguard No.4) Dieppe – Through the Lens of the German War Photographer by Hugh G. Henry and J. P. Pallud. Battle of Britain Prints, London.
Products used Dragon Models, Kong Nam Industrial Building, 10/F, B1, 603-609 Castle Peak Road, Tsuen Wan, New Territories, Hong Kong. Humbrol Paint, Hornby Hobbies Ltd., Westwood, Margate, Kent CT9 4JX. Grandt Line, 1040 B Shary Court, Concord, CA 94518, USA. Evergreen Scale Models, 18620-F 141st Ave. NE, Woodinville, WA 98072, USA. AFT decals/Resin Surface Details. Archer’s Fine Transfers, PO Box 1277, Youngsville, NC 27596, USA.
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Morozov’s “Hot Rod”–
Article 432
Cookie Sewell describes and models the most hated tank in Soviet service that took four years to get a name! ABOVE: Article 430, the predecessor to the T-64 family of tanks. BELOW: The bane of the T-64 tank family – the 5TDF opposed piston twocycle diesel engine, which took more than 15-years to get all of the bugs out of it. By that time the Russian Army no longer wanted the tanks.
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here is an Old Russian saying – “Better is the enemy of good enough”. Occasionally they forget that and overdo something, resulting in a true problem nobody wanted or needed. When the time came in the early 1950s to create ‘NST’ – the New Medium Tank for the Soviet Red Army – one group of designers went beyond what was expected and changed the concept of tanks forever. But not quite in the way they had planned… The designers created a tank so over-engineered and incorporating so many new and innovative ideas that it was nearly impossible to service, had an engine which did not work well and could not be used for any other applications, and in its first iteration was found to be frustrating and even dangerous to its crew. While it had been in production for four years, it was not until 30th December 1966 the tank got a name – the T-64 Medium Tank. But it was so disliked by the crews and units operating it that it was usually only called by its design number – “Ob”yekt 432”.
History After the bugs in the post-war T-54 tank were ironed out and it entered full series production in 1951, per Soviet planning the tenders went out to work on designing ‘NST’ or a tank that would replace it several years down the road. In 1955, the Kharkov Design Bureau under Aleksandr A. Morozov presented their design, a new tank mounting the highpowered 100mm D-54TS gun and using a number of innovations to try and give it the firepower and armour protection of a heavy tank, but the weight and mobility of a medium. Shortly afterwards, the team at the Ural Railway Wagon Construction Factory in Nizhniy Tagil (the UVZ) under Leonid N. Kartsev presented their design to the same specifications. Both teams were given the go ahead to finish designing the tanks and present prototypes for testing. Both tanks were presented for testing at the end of the 1950s. The Kharkov tank, Article 430, was a very small tank with a steeply sloped glacis and lightweight running gear. It was powered by a novel, opposed-piston 5-cylinder 2-stroke diesel engine, the 5TD, which was estimated to produce 580hp. The Nizhniy Tagil Article 140 tank prototype, similar in many respects, had a traditional V-2 type diesel engine and was more conventional. But as testing progressed, Kartsev told the state commission that with the changes in foreign military design and philosophy, such as the use of HEAT ammunition and ATGM missiles for anti-tank weapons, the new designs were little advanced over the T-54 and withdrew the Article 140. Later, the Article 430 was summarily rejected for the fact it was likewise noted as not sufficiently advanced, and its engine was dreadful as well. Undaunted, Morozov now offered to build a new design, Article 432, based on Article 430’s good points, which would also add some new ideas such as composite armour protection and an autoloader, permitting the human loader to be deleted from the crew. This immediately allowed him to make the tank even smaller and lighter. This was authorized on 17th February 1961. There were other changes. The D-54TS was considered not advanced enough as a gun and while some Soviet commanders wanted to keep a rifled gun, others argued for smoothbore weapons with a new type of projectile, an ‘arrow’ shell. Formally referred to in the West as the Armour-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot projectile or APFSDS, the new
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ABOVE LEFT: An early production Article 432 Model 1963 without any of the later features such as the additional armour on the glacis, OPVT equipment, or NBC suit boxes.
ABOVE RIGHT: Head-on view of an Article 432 Model 1963 showing its very smooth and empty glacis.
LEFT: An Article 432 tank during testing with its tarpaulin in place at the rear of the turret. The early tanks had a flap in front of the exhaust outlet that could be raised when needed for extra cooling. The tanks used ‘ejection cooling’ in which the exhaust created a venturi effect and drew cooling air through the radiator without using a power-draining fan system.
rounds were more than 700 metres per second faster in flight than conventional ammunition and packed a much greater wallop for armour penetration. Also, after a sharp conflict with Ground Forces Commander Marshal V. I. Chuykov over gun calibres, the D-54TS was redesigned and bored out to 115mm for use as a smoothbore weapon. Now called the ‘Molot’ or Hammer, the new gun was to be mounted in all new tank designs. Kharkov put forth Article 432, with a better engine and an autoloader as well as the composite armour. This consisted of two layers of steel armour with a layer of fibreglass on the glacis and two layers of steel with an aluminium alloy filler for the turret. Nizhniy Tagil offered its design, Article 167, as a follow on to the stopgap T-62 tank that became the first one to mount the new ‘Molot’ gun. A refined version of the T-62 design, it used a new six-wheel suspension with large diameter cast aluminium roadwheels, new tracks, and a new engine along with other innovations; it used the composite glacis, but a monolithic steel turret. Article 432 and Article 167 both appeared in 1962. In appearance, the former was a radical design, threeman crew, ‘cabin’ type autoloader carrying 28 rounds of 115mm ammunition, lightweight running gear, composite armour, and a new engine – a stronger boosted variation on the 5TD, the 5TDF. This engine was calculated to produce 700hp and used a split transmission design as it had power takeoffs on either side of the engine block. This eliminated 750kg of heavy items from the T-54/55/62 design such as the ‘guitara’ transfer case and extra final drives, and also permitted the hull to be shortened. Both tanks mounted the 115mm ‘Molot’ – the Article 167 used the 2A20 version using unitary ammunition, and the Article 432 used the 2A21 variant
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with separate loading ammunition. The latter came with partially combustible propellant casings. The Article 432 also was the first Soviet medium tank to offer a rangefinder – a cross-turret stereoscopic affair. The Article 167 used the old sloped ‘vee’ estimation reticule for “by-guess-and-by-golly” ranging. Testing showed that the Article 432 had a lot of problems, whereas the Article 167 was relatively well designed and in good shape. But it came down to the fact that one was revolutionary, and the other was evolutionary. The deciding factor was one Dmitriy Fedorovich Ustinov, who was the Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU for Technical Affairs. Dmitriy loved new items and wanted to be ahead of the rest of the world. Given the two concepts – revolutionary versus evolutionary – he chose the Article 432, and nothing that Nizhniy Tagil could do ever got anyone of import to give the Article 167 an honest look. Even when the UVZ even fitted a better and safer autoloader, and added a gas turbine power plant, Kartsev was still viewed as a “defeatist” and his designs were rejected. Even before testing was fully completed, Ustinov and Sergey A. Zverev, the Minister of Defence Production, placed the Article 432 into production, which did not sit well with the Minister of Defence, Marshal of the Soviet Union A.A. Grechko. The result was a running battle over the next 14-years over the fate of the Kharkov tank, and not a pleasant one for the Soviet Army. As noted, the tank went into low rate production in 1963 and remained there until replaced in production by the Article 434 tank in 1968, also before it was accepted for service. Over its production life the tank was changed from year
‘‘ ” Testing showed that the Article 432 had a lot of problems, whereas the Article 167 was relatively well designed and in good shape.
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ABOVE: Rear view of an Article 432 Model 1964 with the OPVT system in place as well as all tarpaulins. This tank has also been fitted out with the ‘flipper’ armour screens on the side. These were held at a 35º angle to the perpendicular of the sides when deployed.
Another view of the same tank. Even though heavily retouched by the censors careful attention to the photo will show the missing bin lid on the right side. (Small section in the middle).
‘‘ ” Finally, after four years in production, the Article 432 was formally designated the T-64 tank...
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to year as parts were shown to be inferior and component designs failed, but the engine continued to be the tank’s Achilles Heel. The first tanks had a smooth glacis, with two ‘cheek’ plates at the top to reduce overall weight. As a result, the first Article 432 tanks weighed about 35 metric tons (38.6 short tons), but had over 400mm of armour protection on the glacis and the front of the turret. The Soviets required live fire testing of hulls and turrets for final approval, it was quickly found that this design caused projectiles hitting the glacis to ricochet into the turret race, frequently having enough momentum to shear the entire turret off. As a result, the next production lots in 1964 added two ‘coffer dams’ to the cheek plates and a V-shaped deflector to the glacis to prevent ricochets. Also added in 1964 was the OPVT underwater driving system. As there were no bins on the turret at the time, the fitting plates were stowed in the side bins and the twin nested tubes (one intake fitted to the gunner’s hatch and one exhaust pipe fitted to a plate on the exhaust outlet) were mounted at the end of the engine deck. In 1966 it appears that the turret did start to receive some fittings such as the three bins for the crew’s NBC suits and eventually a stowage bin at the rear of the turret. Finally, after four years in production, the Article 432 was formally designated the T-64 tank at the end of the year by a Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union dated 30th December 1966.
In 1967, the glacis and hull roof were changed, and the tank now had a simple rectangular glacis with the roof of the hull abutting it. A new set of wave deflectors was added to the glacis plate. Those tanks remaining in service were upgraded as they came in for capital rebuilding, and between 1977 and 1981, Model 1967-1968 tanks were upgraded to receive the same fittings as the incoming T-64A tanks. These were fully upgraded with 125mm guns and afterwards dubbed T-64R. The T-64A itself was accepted for service in May 1968 and replaced the T-64 in production later that year. Overall the Russians now claim that 1,297 Article 432/T-64 tanks were built before changing over to the T-64A. I am not sure of how many of each was built per year as the numbers change like a politician’s promises in an election year, but this is what I can estimate: Year
Number Produced
1962
6
1963
90
1964
250
1965
294
1966
330
1967
318
1968
109
Total
1,397
The sources do note that while ‘X’ number of tanks may have been built in a given year, only ‘Y’ number of tanks was accepted for service due to the many flaws and lack of effective quality control. For example, while 90 tanks were built in 1963 only 54 appear to have been accepted by the state as of the end of November 1963.
Summary The tank was adjudged as a nightmare by the army. The favourite anecdote of the many “un-friends” of the T-64 series tanks was the day a MiG-23 Flogger regimental commander was shown the tank and remarked it had more controls than his aircraft did. He asked how could conscripts with less than five months’ training get the most out of the tank, when he had between two and four years training on his simpler aircraft? No response! Many of the early T-64s had sudden and unexpected engine failures, and even when they did not fail they did not want to start below 10ºC (50ºF) without a lot of coaxing. Life expectancy of the engines went from around 75-hours to about 275-hours over the course of the tank’s production life, and it was not until much later almost all of the bugs were worked out. (It was later discovered that all the engine really needed were refined machining and synthetic high-performance oil; with these items the life expectancy rose to more than 500-hours of reliable operation. However, synthetic oil was 38 roubles a litre as opposed to a few kopeks for the poor quality oil used in all other Soviet tanks, so the government refused to buy it! The running gear on the tank was another failing. Designed to save weight, the track was noted as flexing badly due to the skinny roadwheels and
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if the tracks went off the edge of an object like a railway flat car, they tended to flex and snap or at least throw the pins out of the hinges. It was also quite narrow and, while the tank was light and did not have a problem on paper with ground pressure, it was not suitable for soft and marshy ground – like the North German Plain, one of the primary theatres where it was expected to operate. When both the T-72 and the T-80 were designed (both based on the T-64A), the first things both the Nizhniy Tagil and Leningrad designers did was use wider wheels, add rubber tyres, and make stiffer track links, which eliminated those problems. Another problem was the ‘cabin’ autoloader. The 28 rounds were carried with the projectiles under the floor and the propellant charges with primers facing up ‘stockade-style’ around the turret floor. In the early models, the autoloader used a fork to align the projectiles in the breech, and if the gunner or commander was unwary it could catch the sleeve of his coveralls and ram it into the breech along with the round. Later models added guards and changed the design a bit to prevent this. But the open storage of the ammunition turned out to be its biggest weakness. While the only place the T-64 series tanks were ever used in combat was the Transdnester/Moldova, the same design was used in the T-80 series tanks that suffered early and disastrous losses in Chechnya. Once the area under the turret had been penetrated by a weapon like an RPG or HEAT warhead from a missile, it set off the propellant and initiated a catastrophic explosion inside the tank, usually blowing the turret off. All of this together was one of the main reasons the Army wanted the T-72 – an evolutionary tank that used the shape and the best ideas of the T-64, but kept what the Army liked, and also used a much safer if smaller capacity autoloader. As for the T-64, after a period of time most of the Model 1963, Model 1964, and early Model 1965 series Article 432 tanks – some 250 of them – were quietly scrapped before their 10th birthday as they could not economically be upgraded to ‘R’ status. After the breakup of the USSR, T-64s of all sorts were used as training tanks, parked in Siberia, scrapped, used as range targets, or sent back to Ukraine. All of them were ordered removed from service in Russia in 1997.
The first release, item 01578, purported itself to be a “T-64 Model 1972” which it was not. But what it really represented was a T-64A Model 1969 without AA machine gun or Model 1972 with the weapon. As such, it was correct in nearly all areas for those tanks. It was a far better model to use as a basis for any T-64 kit than the old SKIF items, so I thought about doing the first model of the tank from this kit. The big problem? References! For as noted the very early T-64 tanks were scrapped before they reached their “Capital Rebuilding” threshold of 10-years in service. They were classified for their early lives, and that meant few photos. While I had the classic Sayenko and Chobitok book on the T-64, its coverage of early models was likewise slim. Happily, Peter Brown pointed out to me that a nice article on the very early T-64/Article 432 tanks appeared in the April 1997 issue of the Russian magazine M-Khobbi. This article, written by the prolific Aleksandr Koshchavtsev and with beautifully drawn plans by the author, depicted an Article 432 Model 1964 with the hastily added armour deflectors on the glacis. Armed with that and some other information, I set out to build one from the Trumpeter T-64A kit (item 01578).
Changes The first step was removing the self-entrenching blade under the bow. Trumpeter provides a separate mounting plate and the brace mounts on the belly pan. A new mounting plate was made from .040” styrene and the mounts on the belly were removed with a chisel knife blade and Dremel Mini-Mite tool. I also used Perfect Plastic Putty for the first time with this model, and found it excellent. It’s an acrylic putty that adheres well, dries in about 20-minutes, and works with water so it can be made extremely smooth. (Photo 1) The other major hull changes for the Article 432 are larger bulges over the transmissions at the rear of the hull and filling in nearly all of the holes and engraved locating items there as they are not used. I used a wrap of .020” styrene cut to width, a section of .020”
Side view of the Article 432 Model 1963.
‘‘ ” ...the very early T-64 tanks were scrapped before they reached their “Capital Rebuilding” threshold...
The blank new lower glacis plate installed in the bow. The overlap strip where the glacis plates join is in place and the filled and removed blade mounts on the belly plate are obvious.
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The model I have always had a fascination for the T-64 and have built three others – an upgraded T-64A from SKIF with a lot of extra work, a T-64B based on a SKIF kit with tracks and a turret from Miniarm, and a totally scratchbuilt T-64BV. But while I wanted to do a T-64/Article 432 tank, I didn’t feel like fighting a third round with the SKIF kit. Finally, in 2012, Trumpeter answered the desires of many Soviet fans with the first of a series of T-64 kits.
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ABOVE LEFT: The enlarged transmission bulges at the rear of the hull pan. I eventually had to fill the holes for the spare track as the Article 432 mounted them vertically.
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ABOVE RIGHT: The new cheek panels in place as well as the milled pad mounts for the three periscopes. I used ‘soup’ (liquified styrene) to fill in the gaps between the panels and the driver’s hatch area. RIGHT: The suspension in place on the model. Paint application between the wheels does not need to be neat as it will be covered over when the basecoat is applied, but the grey bits in the centre that will be unreachable later must be covered.
BELOW: The new idler wheel in place. Photographs of survivors show it to be a nondescript part and this looks fully like a match. A centre plate from the kit wheels was used and was also used on the actual vehicle.
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styrene strip to bulge it out, and then faired it into place with more Perfect putty. (Photo 2) The glacis took a lot more work than I would have thought because all detail on it had to be removed and sanded smooth. Once done, using the plans, I measured the angles and start and finish points for the ‘cheek’ pieces, and cut away the hull. Note that these pieces are flat and fit into the sides and glacis as well as the roof. They also are heavily welded up to the cast/machined mount for the drivermechanic’s hatch and, as such, bulges must be made and fitted to the cheek pieces. Since this tank did not have the KMT plough mounts, the upper holes on the glacis for the bolt mountings must also be filled in. The ones for the marker lights will be
used later. Also, the electrical cable mounting holes must be filled in as the lights on the Article 432 used a different cable arrangement. The Article 432 driver-mechanic also had three small viewers instead of one large one and these needed to be milled into the glacis with the Dremel. Once cut and level with the top of the hull, pads were made from .010” styrene strip for mounting the new viewers. Lastly, the armour crosscuts at the top of the glacis were added from .005” sheet styrene; these will be ‘roughed up’ with Mr. Surfacer 500 before painting. (Photo 3) The suspension is nearly the same as the kit version so the parts were installed per the instructions. However, for reasons best known to the Kharkov designers, a pressed steel idler wheel was used instead of the same wheels as the roadwheels, which were used on all other T-64s after 1968 (Photo 4). While assembling the wheels I also painted the interior sections and the driver interior sections with Floquil Brunswick Green, which would be the basecoat later on. I found an old Airfix SdKfz 250 wheel, which was about the right size; trimming it down, I filled in the holes in the wheel with ‘soup’ – sprue soaked in liquid cement until it forms a paste and then ‘painted’ onto the model. The ‘soup’ filled them in and created depressions which matched the ones in the photos in Koshchavtsev’s article (Photo 5). As the wheels had only a very shallow slot in them, when it came time to mount the tracks I simply clipped off the guide teeth and cemented the track links in place. One problem I ran into was how to fit the ‘coffer dams’ to the cheek pieces of the hull. The backs of the dams were vertical curves and the front parts
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LEFT: How to lay an arc on a sloped surface in space. The most difficult part is establishing a point from where the arcs can be swung. The arcs have already been drilled out and filed to shape prior to fitting the rear part of the ‘coffer dams’ and this photo shows how it was done. BELOW: The supplemental armour and tracks in place. The weld bead on the supplemental armour was rather generous as they had to remain fixed in place after taking a serious hit from a sabot round. The glacis supplement seems to have been formed as seen here from five different sections, but with neater welding than the ‘coffer dams’. At least once painted the two different types of tracks are not obvious.
were sloped, so as long as I got them in perfectly vertical the front section could be made of putty. But to get them located in the right spot was the hard part. After thinking about it a while, I decided to cut a disk the same size as the turret opening and then use strips of plastic to hold it level with the top of the hull. Since there was already a centre hole from the operation of cutting out the disk, I simply mounted an Olfa mat cutting compass and swung a light arc on either side of the driver’s hatch (Photo 6). After measuring in to get the right length of the ‘dams’ I then drilled .040” holes down the centre of the arc until I could clean out the webs between them and file the opening smooth. I then cut lengths of .040” styrene, bent them to the curve, and cemented them to the bottom of the hull pan at a 90 degrees angle. Once dry, I fleshed them out with Perfect putty. (Photo 7) Meanwhile, I decided to make a start on modifying the turret to match the Article 432. This had a shorter cross-turret rangefinder with identical sized windows and some other modifications, such as a second ‘trench’ on the commander’s side of the turret. I cut that out and simply boxed it in with styrene. I built up the tunnel between the master head on the left and the satellite head on the right, and then also added a small notch and new bolton panel on the right side. Some fittings needed relocating like the turret lifting hooks so I filled in their locating marks and sanded them smooth. I also gouged out the weld line around the turret roof and added more ‘soup’ to represent the thicker weld bead on the early tanks. After removing some fittings by either cutting or sanding them off, a ventilator mount was added to the top of the roof. Since the turret did not need any major drilling of holes for any mountings, after this was cleaned up I added the base and also the ‘B’ mantlet in the slightly elevated position. (Photo 8) When I went to attach the tracks, I got the right one on with no problems using the kit tracks. But then as fate has it, before I could install the left one a full bottle of Tenax spilled over the laid-out tracks and melted them! However, not all was lost; I did have a set of ‘working’ links from Trumpeter and used them for the left side. They are fragile and if
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The upper turret shell with the basics of the modified cross turret rangefinder installation in place. The shell also has the base for the ventilator in place.
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The new engine deck. The oil cooler grille worked out perfectly and is an identical match to the kit’s spacing and blade width. While hard to see here, the entire lower edge of the frame of the engine deck was cut off and retained for use here because the lifting arms for the engine deck attach to the rear section of the hull and fit to the middle of the frame. The new ‘Siamesed’ exhaust grille is also in place.
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More progress at the rear. The trackguards are now on and the pegs to fill the mounts on the left rear tank are visible. The kit came with very nice triangular lift rings – I wish I had seen them first!
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Front of the trackguards showing the blocks sealing off the ‘flipper’ mounts on the trackguard mudguards. When dry they will be sanded, shaped and smoothed in with putty.
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not cut off the sprue very carefully the tiny pockets for snapping the pips on the track links together are sheared off with the result that the tracks fall apart. I managed to get one complete run from the box, but luckily that was all I needed. I then moved to the engine deck (Photo 9). While the T-64A and T-64B tanks have nearly identical engine decks, not so for the Article 432. It has an identical pattern single set of grilles from the radiator intake over the oil cooler, but separate from the main radiator intake grilles. It also has a cut-down section behind the grilles and some different fittings at the rear, plus a completely different set of exhaust grilles at the rear. First, the left side of the engine deck was removed, but its base was cut off and saved; the lifting arms for opening the deck have to attach to it so I wanted to keep as much as possible. Some .010” strip was then added to visually divide the main radiator grille into four sections, and then the previously noted strip and Duplicutter method I prefer was used to create the new section. This comes from cementing a thick strip of styrene to a thin one with the thin one being taller. These are then cut to size and laminated together on a correctly sized styrene base plate to create the grille. Once done, sides are added from the tall thin strip and the assembly cleaned up. The new grille was then mounted to the engine deck. Sheet and strip were then used to add the new ‘turtleback’ parts to the left side of the engine deck. Once all of the parts were smoothed off and filled with putty, I attached the engine deck to the hull. After that, the next thing was the new exhaust. The kit comes with two variations of the exhaust grille, but I found the long sections of each one were equal and if combined equalled the size of the Article 432 exhaust. I carefully cut them up with a razor saw, sanded the edges smooth, and cemented them together. Once dry I fitted the new exhaust to the hull. I installed the trackguards pretty much as per the kit, but the Article 432 did not have a central bin on the right side and this had to be removed. Once removed, I very carefully gouged out two reinforcing ribs to match those on the right side panniers. The left one was fine as it is, other than the mounts for a tow cable that had to be filled and removed. I used sections of rod to fill the holes, a touch of putty and it was done. (Some Article 432 tanks had a tow cable on the glacis but I left it off.) The engine deck was detailed to finish, which included two triangular lift rings from an old Tamiya M48 kit (says he, not realizing at the time that there were better ones in the T-64 kit!) A small grille was added to the right side of the engine deck, made from a section of Evergreen plastic clapboard siding, which has the right pitch and look to it. Also, a round vent was added from styrene tubing with the grille from an old Bandai 1:48 scale Jadgpanther shrouded exhaust to give it a mesh interior. (Photo 10) Returning to the front of the hull, a 005” styrene strip needs adding under the bow to simulate the armour overlap. The viewers were made from styrene strip sanded down to a prism shape with a section of .005” styrene wrapped over the back of it as the rain shield. The kit came with the fittings for the ‘flipper’ armour used on early T-64A tanks so I had to remove it and fill in the gaps. I used styrene to block out the mudguard notches for the mounts. (Photo 11) Returning to the turret, I began to add the details and among the first ones added were gouged
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FAR LEFT: More progress on the turret with all turret parts less the barrel installed. The rangefinder has been cleaned up and finished off, with the new head protective glass windows in place. LEFT: Rear of the turret showing the fittings and the filled-in mounts for ZIP bins on the rear of the turret. The small triangular gussets appear to be for mounting guy cables for the fording snorkels. I have no clue what the gadget on the left is for! BELOW: Rear view of the finished model with all parts in place, including the unditching log. The modified bin on the right pannier (third one up) can be seen here.
out depressions around the front of the turret. Doing some research, I found that this tank was the first one in Soviet practice to use composite armour protection where hollow sections were left in the turret casting and filled with aluminium alloy. The sections, referred to by the Russians as skupi (scoops), changed the density and heat transmission profile of the turret and thus assisted in defeating HEAT rounds. This amounted to 50mm of cast steel, 350mm of aluminium, and 200mm of steel armour. (In the T-64A they poured it in from the bottom, not the top!) A Dremel was used to grind out the skupi. The protective covers for the rangefinder heads and also the searchlights, marker lights, and sight details were added. The new ventilator was added (moved on the Model 1965 and later tanks to the rear of the turret), as were the lifting hooks and railings on the sides of the turret. I had to drill holes to mount the latter as Trumpeter only provides indentations where they must go. (Photo 12) At the rear of the turret, I added the footman loops from the kit for the tarpaulin and other stowage and some odd tie-down loops from profile strip and the guy wire mounts for use with the various deep wading stacks on the tank. An odd mount on the left (I have no idea what it performs) was scratchbuilt and added as well. As can be seen one hook was sacrificed to the floor monster and was replaced with one from a Tamiya T-72M1 kit. (Photo 13) To finish the hull Trumpeter provides a cementable vinyl unditching log, which is both too short and cannot be distressed to accurately represent the log carried, so the same Tamiya T-72M1 kit donated its unditching log. I filled in the holes and gap in the log, distressed it with a razor saw dragged lengthwise when it was dry, added fastening straps and simple mounts and cemented it to the rear of the hull. I also modified the OPVT tube assembly and attached it to the engine deck at this time. (Photo 14) At the bow end, I found that one of the few retrofits the Article 432 Model 1964 was given were rack fittings on the left side of the turret for three NBC suit storage bins carried on Soviet tanks after 1965. I used those from the kit unmodified. The modified mudguards received reinforcing ribs from half-round strip styrene, the headlights added, as was a small wave deflector panel with stiffener attached to the rear of the headlight mounts. Finally, I added the shielded wiring for the headlights and marker lights from .020” rod as per the plans in the Koshchavtsev article. (Photo 15) The kit comes with three variations on the 125mm gun fitted to the T-64A – two styrene and one turned aluminium – but the 115mm gun is
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fitted to this tank. I had an Aber 115mm T-62 turned aluminium and brass barrel that I had obtained via Chesapeake Model Designs, and so I used it for the 115mm gun. The gun was a perfect fit into the Trumpeter mantlet, but as it was turned aluminium it caused problems. The Trumpeter turret does not lock into the ring, so the heavy barrel pulled it out of the race. While I notched the ring in case I had to make a locking strip for it, I eventually found that by simply cementing a disk of styrene to the bottom of
ABOVE: Front view of the finished model with all parts in place, including the wave protector plate between the headlights, the power cabling to the lights, and the trackguard stiffeners from half-round strip.
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Finished model from the left front.
17
Finished model from the right rear.
Painting
The entire model basecoated in Floquil Brunswick Green. All of the pre-finishing can be seen here, such as the replaced parts and the ‘roughed up’ sections using Mr. Surfacer 500.
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the turret and giving the turret race a coat of Mr. Surfacer 500 the resulting friction held the turret in place. (Photos 16 & 17) Finally, some Mr. Surfacer 500 was used to ‘rough up’ the vee-shaped deflector on the glacis as well as the cut-off parts of the front of the glacis and where it intersected the cheek panels before painting began. It was also used on the new rangefinder body assembly whereas the rest of the new parts got a coating of Mr. Surface 1200 to seal the Perfect Plastic Putty.
I am not a big fan of the so-called ‘Modulation’ and ‘Filter’ techniques, but over the last 30-years have always used a system of gradation. With this model, it started with a basecoat of Floquil Brunswick Green, a black green colour that makes a very good dark base for further shading and also when using a faded black section of the finish. (Photo 18) I tend to leave about two days between full coats now for better results. After this time elapsed, I used Floquil Pullman Green to paint the base ‘protective green’ colour of the tank. While not as good as the long discontinued Hunter Green shade, it is more than sufficient when laid over the black green base. I also used a very fine low-pressure
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The topcoat of Floquil Pullman Green in place. The model is starting to get a smoother finish as the paint builds up. Tracks are now also painted.
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BELOW: Detail painting and an overshot of Floquil Depot Olive to lighten the paint. The unditching log has also been painted grey and prepared for weathering.
21 spray of Floquil Boxcar Red to basecoat the tracks at this time. (Photos 19 & 20) After this coat had set, the model was dusted with Floquil Depot Olive (a light green) and then detail painting of the mantlet, unditching log and snorkel assembly carried out. (Photos 21 & 22) I then added Rub n’ Buff Silver Leaf wax to the tracks and polished them slightly. After a coat of Future (now renamed Pledge Premium Floor Finish) I applied the decals. Once dry, I used several different colour washes on the tank and black washes on the tracks and louvres at the rear. When dry, the tank was dry-brushed with a lightened version of Floquil Pullman Green and also an oil colour from Abteilung 502. When all that had dried, the model was given a coating of Testors’ Dullcote to level the finish. After that it was given a dusting of several shades of ModelMakerZ pigments. Finally,
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The model as completed. The finishing includes a coat of Future, washes, dry-brushing, Testors’ Dullcote lacquer, pigments and then Floquil Dust. Note that I forgot to add the trackguard fillets at the front that brace the mudguards to the glacis. I had to go back, strip off the paint, add the etched-brass fillets, and then repaint! BELOW: In this view the unditching log can clearly be seen. A wash of black, dry-brushing with Testors’ Wood and ModelMakerZ black pigment was used to represent the exhaust blowback and gives the ‘distressed’ log a bit of character.
‘‘ ” The resulting model represents one of the tanks kept close to home in the 41st Guards Tank Division near Kharkov during the late 1960s.
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BELOW: Head-on view of the completed model. The reason they added the additional armour components to protect the turret race can be seen here. The rangefinder is quite visible as well.
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ABOVE: My modified SKIF T-64A model compared to the finished Article 432/T-64 tank. They fixed a lot of the design problems with the ‘A’ model. Of course, Murphy’s Law of Model Photography took effect here in that just as you go to hit the shutter one of the parts falls off. BELOW: View of the engine decks of the T-64A and Article 432/T-64. The differences in the decks are quite visible as are the turrets and fittings. From the looks of things the ‘pop-up’ extra vent for the ejection cooling system was dropped when the tank began to mount the twin auxiliary fuel tanks at the rear of the hull.
the model received a topcoat of Floquil Dust. Final touches were an MV Products lens for the clear headlight and strips of 35mm film header for the various viewers on the tank. (Photos 23-25)
Conclusion The resulting model represents one of the tanks kept close to home in the 41st Guards Tank Division near Kharkov during the late 1960s. As they had so much trouble running, other than the test subjects, few of them received major wear or use. When something like 60% of the engines failed or need repairs tanks don’t get much in the way of operation! The nice thing is that it fills in my gap and presents the seminal main battle tank of the
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1960s. The T-64 family, T-72, T-80 and T-90 are all based directly on the design of this tank, and all of the Western designs of the 1980s and beyond were MM designed to defeat it.
Bibliography Koshchavtsev, A.; “Ob”yekt 432”, M-Khobbi Magazine April 1997 pp. 34-40. Ust’yanstev, Sergey V., and Kolmakov, Dmitriy G.; T-72/T-90: Experience in Creating National Main Battle Tanks, Media Print Publishing House, Nizhniy Tagil 2013 (translated by Stephen L. Sewell). Sayenko, Maksim, and Chobitok, Vasiliy; Osnovnoy Boyevoy Tank T-64; “Exprint” Publishing, Moscow 2002.
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StuG III Ausf F/8 Walkaround Robin Buckland takes advantage of a unique opportunity to photograph a Sturmgeschütz III part way through its restoration at Bastogne Barracks. TOP: The StuG as seen in September 2014; the restored hull is gradually going back together and is wearing the Panzer Grey scheme for 1942 which the museum have chosen for this restoration. BELOW LEFT: Looking at the scruffy state of the hull side, stripped down to basics in September 2013. BELOW RIGHT: The position for one of the return rollers after it had been removed.
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s part of her university course, one of our daughters spent a little over a year working and living in Grenoble in the South of France. In September 2013 we drove down to visit her and then took some extra time on the way back to be able to stop off and visit a couple of historical sites. One of these was the Belgian town of Bastogne, famous to most of us due to the siege of the US 101st Airborne Division during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. It was the first time I had visited since cycling through it while on a tour in 1970. At that time I can remember passing a military barracks then in use by the Belgian
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With the drive sprocket removed the drive gear housing is clearly visible. ABOVE: Inside the hull, with the torsion bar suspension plain to see. BELOW: The hull with everything being taken off and stripped out.
Drive sprockets removed and awaiting restoration.
Army, just a few minutes walk from the town centre. Since 2010 it has been home to an offshoot of the Belgian Army Museum and now carries the simple name of ‘Bastogne Barracks’. Entry is free, but you can only visit by attending the guided tours which are at set times in the morning and afternoon. It includes the basement rooms used as the headquarters for the 101st Airborne by General McAuliffe which have been reconstructed to look as it would have at the time. You can find more details about the museum and what there is to see there in a feature in our ‘Museums’ section that we carry on our www.militarymodelling.com website. Part of the tour includes a short time to see the large workshop area where a variety of equipment may be being worked on. There is a sizeable vehicle collection, most of which are Allied armoured vehicles and soft-skins. There are a few German items though, and it is one of those that is the
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subject of this feature. At the time of my visit, the end bay in the workshop was occupied by an empty hull of a StuG III. Everything had been stripped back, and the hull was an empty tub with just four roadwheels left in place so it could be moved as necessary. On the floor surrounding it were all the parts that had been removed. In early September 2014 we had to drive back to Grenoble in order to bring our daughter home. Adding an extra day to the trip, we detoured to go back to Bastogne Barracks for a second visit. One of the things to be found there this time was the result of 12-months work on the StuG. It is the F/8 variant, made back in 1942 and the museum have chosen to finish it in an overall Panzer Grey finish, as worn by them in service on the Eastern Front in the later part of 1942 (and as featured in a kit of this variant by Dragon). It looked very different from when we had seen it a year earlier, as the hull has been resprayed and much
Return rollers removed and placed in a box ready for restoration.
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ABOVE: A freshly repainted transmission.
ABOVE: Left-hand side roadwheels stored on the floor for now. RIGHT: The engine still in the process of being rebuilt.
ABOVE LEFT: Engine parts waiting to be re-fitted. ABOVE RIGHT: The left-hand side of the hull was still without return rollers and roadwheels when I last saw it. BELOW LEFT: A close-up of one of the shock absorbers. BELOW RIGHT: The suspension arms waiting for the roadwheels to go back on.
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Visible underneath the hull are some of the roadwheels waiting to be re-installed on the left-hand side.
INSET ABOVE: The repainted engine deck ready to be put back in place once the engine has gone in.
ABOVE: The replaced radiators
Rear of the fighting compartment with half a hatch and the engine compartment still open behind it.
ABOVE: The engine compartment gradually coming back together.
ABOVE & RIGHT: Cooling fans and hoses back in place.
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ABOVE LEFT: Frontal aspect of the StuG as it all goes back together. ABOVE RIGHT: A repainted cover ready to be put back in place.
ABOVE LEFT: Right-hand drive sprocket, roadwheels and return rollers now back in place. ABOVE RIGHT: A good view of the locking mechanisms on the front access plate.
ABOVE LEFT: Shock absorber and drive sprocket back on the left-hand side. ABOVE RIGHT: Rear idler wheel back in place on the right-hand side.
of the interior restored, repainted and put back in place. Though still not completed, it offered an opportunity to take photos of it at a stage that I think will be of interest to modellers looking to add detail to a model, and some views that will not be possible once the
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restoration has been fully completed. While the final drive has been restored and put back in place, as has the 75mm main gun, the roof has not yet been put back on, allowing an excellent view into the interior. In the same way, the engine compartment has been
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LEFT: A good view of the restored gun breech and mounting, soon to be hidden once the roof plate goes back on. BELOW LEFT: The rear wall of the fighting compartment. BELOW RIGHT: Recoil guard back in place.
ABOVE: Driver’s side vision port. BELOW: Notek Light back on the hull front.
ABOVE: Exhaust in place and basic shield ready for the planned unit marking.
restored and partially completed with the radiators and cooling system already back in place, but the engine has yet to be replaced so the rear decking is also still off, allowing an excellent view of the partially completed compartment. Again, once complete and
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the decking replaced, such as good view will not be available again for many years to come I suspect. So, I’ll let the photos do the rest of the talking while thanking our Belgian Army guide Jean-Claude Clement MM for our visit, who was so helpful.
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Military Modelling Vol.45 No. 4 2015
