Model Military International - Issue 093 (January 2014)

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■ All the information you’ll ever need to create the best military models... ■

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Issue 93 January 2014 www.modelmilitary.com

WHITEWASH MINIART’S 1:35 GAZ-AAA

Detailing Academy’s 1:35 Pz.Kpfw.35(t)

INSIDE:

TO A “T”

Dragon 1:35 Panzer IV Ausf. D DAK ■ Trumpeter 1:35 BRDM-2 ■ ICM 1:35 Leader’s Car Build Preview ■ Bronco 75mm Zrinyi ■ and more...

p 01 Cover MMI 093B.indd 1

January 2014 / £4.20 / Issue 93

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Tankograd 5046 MARDER 1 A5 / 1A5A1

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the official RAF intelligence and interrogation reports, and combines them into a definitive guide to every enemy aircraft that came down over the UK during WWII. With over 200 photos, this volume covers from the 30th August 1940 - 9th September 1940. £25.00

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Contents - Issue 93 January 2014 6

52

44

P STEP BY STE

REGULARS

FEATURES

p 4 NEWS

p 6 THINK TANK

p 56 INCOMING

p 14 PANZER TO A “T” FEATURE p 44 ROLLING RECOVERY PT.1

p 58 1:48 SCALE

p 26 PREVIEW

What’s new in the world of military modelling MMI’s thoughts on the latest kits and accessories Luke Pitt explores 1:48 scale military models, figures and accessories

p 60 FIGURES

Roundup of the latest figure models

p 61 SMALL SCALE

Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) by Bruce Culver

COVER

Academy 1:35 scale Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) by Brett Green Dragon 1:35 Panzer IV

p 28 WINTER TRANSPORT

Jose Brito builds MiniArt 1:35 GAZ-AAA Model 1943 Cargo Truck

p 38 PREVIEW

Bronco 1:35 75mm Zrinyi

New releases in 1:72 scale and smaller

p 66 LAST POST

Late breaking news and ramblings from the Editor

28

p 40 BUILD PREVIEW

Graham Tetley builds ICM’s 1:35 scale Mercedes Typ G4

Jim Wechsler adds a scratch built mine roller and interior to Tasca’s 1:35 M32B1 Recovery Vehicle

p 52 SHOW REPORT

MVPA 2013 by Scott Taylor

p 57 PREVIEW

©ADH Publishing Ltd 2013

Trumpeter 1:35 BRDM-2

Tel: (UK) 01525 222573 Fax: (UK) 01525 222574 Email: [email protected] Address: ADH Publishing, Doolittle Mill, Doolittle Lane, Totternhoe, Bedfordshire, LU6 1QX, UK Model Military International is published monthly by ADH Publishing. Reproduction in part or whole of any text, photograph or illustration without written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited. While due care is taken to ensure the contents of Model Military International is accurate, the publishers and printers cannot accept liability for errors or omissions.

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Newsline - January’14

MMI Newsdesk, ADH Publishing, Doolittle Mill, Doolittle Lane, Totternhoe, Bedfordshire, LU6 1QX, UK Tel:01525 222573 Fax:01525 222574 Email:[email protected]

MENG FORTHCOMING RELEASES

M

eng has been busy with announcements of a number of exciting releases, some of which may be available by the time you are reading this magazine. The first is kit no. TS-007 – a 1:35 scale German Leopard 1 A3/A4 Main Battle Tank. This will be 269.5mm in total length and 97mm in width. The kit comprises 471 plastic parts on 23 sprues and 10 photo-etched parts on two frets. Periscopes and lights are provided as clear parts; all hatches may be modelled open or closed; armour protection for the periscope and the grilles for engine compartment are offered as photo-etched parts; the choice of individual track links or one-piece TPE tracks are included; and three marking options - German Leopard 1 A3/A4 or Greek Leopard 1 A3 - are provided. Also announced is Kit No. SS-003, a 1:35 scale Israeli Heavy Armoured Personnel Carrier Achzarit Early kit. The Achzarit heavy Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) is a unique IDF solution for maintaining soldiers’ fighting capability in an urban environment. The Achzarit is based on captured Soviet-built T-55 tanks. Its turret was removed and the chassis modified for troop carriage by adding a troop compartment. Armour protection was strengthened. A weapons station against light armoured targets and soft targets was installed on the top of the vehicle. A more powerful engine was also installed for better manoeuvrability. Since the 1980s, the Achzarit has always been deployed to the most dangerous zones. Its excellent performance in the battles makes it a reliable warhorse for Israeli soldiers. This 1:35 scale kit will be made up from 242 parts on 10 sprues, one photo-etched fret and two full length flexible tracks. It provides decals and paint schemes for three units. As with MENG’s previous Israeli model kits, this kit is also supported by Desert Eagle Publishing’s reference material. Finally, some great news for WWI modellers with Meng’s announcement of Kit No. TS-009, a 1:35 scale French Super Heavy Tank Char 2C kit. Compared with modern main battle tanks, the Char 2C can still be called a giant. It was equipped with an electrical transmission, engines with 500hp output and a 75mm main gun. Its armour was 45 mm at the front and 22 mm at the sides. This surprising configuration made this tank look more like science fiction in the first two decades of the last century. However, the Char 2C was too late to appear in the last battles of WWI. The only10 tanks were only used in propaganda by French Army. This giant was obsolete by the time of the appearance of new tanks after WWI. MENG Char 2C kit will comprise 544 parts, including parts on 16 sprues and 150 track parts. There are 10 photo-etched parts on one fret. Slide-mould technology has been applied to improve the precision of parts as well as to simplify assembly. Cement-free workable track links will be easy to assemble. This French armor giant will be about 294mm in full length and 86mm in full width. Three paint schemes are provided. We’ll have more news about all three releases in the next issues of MMI. Thanks to Meng Model for the information and images www.meng-model.com

NEW FROM MASTER BOX Also of interest to WWI modellers, Master Box has announced the November release of Kit No. MB 72001, a 1:72 scale "MK I "Male" British Tank, Somme Battle period, 1916" and MB 72002, "MK I "Female" British Tank, Somme Battle period, 1916". The kits represent the cannon armed (Male) and machinegun armed (Female) versions of this landmark British tank. Master Box will be releasing figure set no. 35152, “Soviet Marines and German Infantry, Hand-to-Hand Combat, 19411942. Eastern Front Battle Series, Kit No. 2” too. This kit consists of five figures. Master Box kits are available from Creative Models Limited www.creativemodels.co.uk

BRONCO NOVEMBER RELEASES Bronco’s busy new release schedule continues with a 1:35 scale CV3/33 Tankette Serie II (Early Production), an Italian Staff Car version of their 1:35 scale Fiat Topolino, with crew figures; and 1:35 scale T80E1 and T84E1 workable track links for M26 / M46 / M47 models. Thanks to Bronco Model for the images and information www.bronco-model.com

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Think Tank - Panzerkampfwagen 35(t) Light Tank This introductory view of the LT vz 35/Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) shows the main features of the vehicle. Note the allriveted construction and complex suspension. The cone-like devices on the front idler and rear drive sprocket were mud scrapers to keep the tracks from filling with debris and possibly being thrown in turns.

Bruce Culver describes the development, operational usage and foreign service of the Czech-produced Panzerkampfwagen 35(t) Light Tank.

PANZERKAMPFWAGEN 35(T) LIGHT TANK T

he Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) was one of two indigenous light tanks adopted by the German army when Germany occupied Czechoslovakia in 1938/39, the other being the excellent Pz.Kpfw. 38(t). Both these tanks equipped several German Panzer Divisions during the early months of World War Two, and were an important part of the German invasions of Poland in 1939, France and the Low Countries in 1940, and Russia in 1941.

DEVELOPMENT The Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) began as a project from Skoda to answer a requirement from the Czech Army for a light cavalry tank. Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk (CKD) offered a small light tank, the P-II-a, weighing 8.5 tonnes and having a maximum 16mm of armour. Skoda offered a heavier design based on their earlier SU design. It featured 25mm of armour and weighed 10.5 tonnes, and was of riveted construction.

Possibly seen during test evaluation, this LT vz 35 shows the characteristic low-slung rear drive sprockets and solid rear deck plates. License plates were painted on the front and rear of all Czechoslovak tanks before the German occupation. Later models had a single-piece turret rear plate.

Frontal armour was 25mm on the hull and turret; side armour ranged from 15-16mm and rear armour from 15-19mm. The main gun was a 37mm L/40 Skoda A3 design that featured a “pepperpot” muzzle brake and could penetrate 37mm of armour at 100 meters and 31mm at 500 meters, enough to deal with most of the light and light-medium tanks of the mid-1930s. Secondary armament was two 7.92mm light machine guns, one in the driver’s front plate and the other in the

turret front. The turret-mounted MG could be locked to track with the main gun, or unlocked and aimed independently. The S-II-a was powered by a 120hp Skoda 6-cylinder engine. Maximum speed was 35km/h and the maximum range was 190km. The suspension was influenced by the design of the Vickers 6-ton light tank, and consisted of two complex bogie assemblies on each side, each with four pairs of small road wheels carried in a complex

The most common camouflage scheme for the LT vz 35 was a multi-colour system of light green, dark red-brown, and yellow, applied in large irregular patches to break up the shape of the vehicle. Like many such schemes, it was probably quite effective when the tank was stationary, but less so on the move.

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The low drive sprockets produced a distinctive “tail squat” for the LT vz 35, seen here on manoeuvres. Note the driver’s position on the right side of the tank – Czech vehicles operated on the left side of the road as in the United Kingdom.

Though not as well-liked as the competitive LT vz 38, the LT vz 35 proved to be acceptably reliable when maintained properly. The unique pneumaticallyoperated steering and braking systems functioned well in Europe, but caused problems in the Russian winter.

The LT vz 35 was renamed the Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) when the Germans took over the Czechoslovak military industry and produced their products for German use. For the invasion of Poland in 1939, the Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) was assigned to the 1st Leichte Division. While the Polish army was defeated in a month, they proved to be a tough foe on many occasions and the Germans lost a significant number of tanks during the invasion. Most of these were rebuilt.

pivoting frame. A fixed additional road wheel was placed in front of the leading bogie to stabilize the track and improve climbing ability. The drive sprockets were in the rear and had prominent conical mud wipers to clean the tracks in muddy terrain. The large front idlers also had mud wipers, an identification feature of these vehicles. The Skoda S-II-a also featured a pneumatic boost system using compressed air to operate the brakes, clutch, and steering, reducing driver effort. The S-II-a had a crew of three: the driver who sat on the right side of the hull, the radio operator who sat next to the driver on the left aide, and the tank commander, who was alone in the turret, responsible for commanding the tank, firing the turret MG, and loading and firing the main armament. This was a major disadvantage in using the tank in combat, as the tank commander was overloaded with conflicting tasks. The Skoda entry was chosen as it was capable of further development, and in basic capability was fairly close to the contemporary models of the German Pz.Kpfw. III. In Czech Army service the S-II-a was designated the LT vz. 35 (light tank model 1935). Mass production began in 1936 and the LT vz. 35 entered service in that year. It turned out the desire to upgrade the army’s equipment quickly meant development of the new tank had not been thorough and there were a number of problems. Major difficulties were with the electrical system. The advanced pneumatic boost system was not unreliable, but required a certain amount of maintenance and initial training had not emphasised that. By agreement, CKD and Skoda shared production of the LT vz. 35 and eventually 424 of them were built by the two companies. By 1937, the LT vz. 35 was the main tank in Czech service and equipped all four Czech Army mobile divisions. The various teething troubles were overcome and by 1938/39, the LT vz. 35 was considered a reasonably reliable vehicle as long as the required maintenance was done.

FOREIGN INTEREST A number of Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) tanks were converted to command tanks with additional radios and reduced ammunition stowage. This Panzerbefehlswagen 35(t) mounts the frame antenna for the longrange radios used for higher commands.

There was also a good deal of foreign interest. Czechoslovakia had long been known for the quality of its weapons and several countries expressed an interest in purchasing the LT vz. 35, or manufacturing the design under license. Romania ordered 126 and most of those were delivered after

A

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Think Tank - Panzerkampfwagen 35(t) Light Tank

Pz.Kpfw. 35(t)s support German infantry during the invasion of France in 1940. Most German tanks carried the national flag as an air identification symbol to prevent friendly fire. Some turret cupola hatches are cracked open for observation – this still provided a better view than through the vision ports while protecting the tank commander.

Tank-infantry cooperation was very important, as working together protected both the infantry and the armour. Tanks provided support fire and destroyed tough targets the infantry couldn’t, while the infantry protected the tanks from enemy tank-hunting troops and anti-tank guns, the perfect example of a symbiotic relationship.

The Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) had a decent fording capability thanks to the enclosed hull rear and the high-placed exhaust system. Here is a Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) of 6th Panzer Division in France 1940.

B 1938, and were designated Skoda

R-2. An order of 10 T-11 models for Afghanistan went to Bulgaria instead; they had a different gun. Even Russia inquired about the LT vz. 35, and a prototype and a production tank went to Kubinka for testing. However, Skoda felt the Russians would build the tanks without paying the license fees and the deal fell through. Hungary later received a license to build a modified version called the Turan.

GERMAN OCCUPATION As mentioned, in 1938/39, Germany occupied first the German Sudetenland region of the Czechoslovakia, and then all of Bohemia-Moravia, the Czech portion of the country. Slovakia was not occupied and formed its own military units with some of the LT vz. 35s that had been in the region when the Germans went into the Czech provinces. The Germans seized almost

Early war German tankers wore large padded berets to protect their heads inside the tanks. Traveling cross-country, tanks often bounced and lurched hard enough to throw the crew into the interior walls and fittings.

all of the Czech LT vz. 35s and adapted them for German service. The radios were changed to German types (FuG 2 and FuG 5), and most importantly, the Germans added a fourth crew member in the turret to serve as a loader for the main gun and to fire the turret MG, leaving the tank commander only the tasks of commanding the tank and firing the main gun. In German service, the LT vz. 35 was designated Pz.Kpfw. 35(t). A

number of Pz.Kpfw. 35(t)s were converted to command and radio tanks, adding more radios and a frame antenna over the rear deck. These were designated Panzerbefehlswagen 35(t). It should be noted that the start of WWII was not planned as such. The German General Staff had told Adolf Hitler that German military forces would not be ready to fight a prolonged war until the late 1940s, and the Allied response to

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Early in the war, infantry units usually lacked motor transport, and often rode toward the front lines on their supporting tanks. The solid engine deck allowed a large number of infantry troops to ride without affecting engine cooling.

In this shot of a Panzerbefehlswagen 35(t) and a Pz.Kpfw. 35(t), note the positions of the coaxial MGs in the turrets. These guns could be aimed independent of the main gun or locked in position to track with the gun.

the invasion of Poland did catch the Germans off guard, as future planning was still in progress. The 1939 models of German tanks were nowhere nearly as well armed or protected as later types. In fact, Germany was short of serviceable tanks suitable for a large war. The Pz.Kpfw. I had been designed with limited funds and technology, and had been bypassed by many later developments. Its thin armour, while of excellent quality, and twin MG armament left it vulnerable to most of the Allied tanks already in service. The slightly heavier Pz.Kpfw. II was a scouting tank limited in tank-vstank warfare, although production of this tank had been extended due to delays in production of the favoured Pz.Kpfw. III. Without the hundreds of Czech Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) and Pz.Kpfw. 38(t) light tanks, the German army would have been inadequately equipped to invade Poland, as well as France and Russia. During the 1940 campaign in the west, Czech tanks equipped three full Panzer Divisions, almost a third of the Germans’ total armoured forces.

INTO ACTION

This Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) of 6th Panzer Division was abandoned in France 1940. Here it has a pronounced tail squat, perhaps caused by suspension damage. The small idler below the larger front idler wheel was a fixed wheel to support the track and improve climbing performance.

Crews often rode outside their tanks on road marches, Here, the relatively narrow width of the Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) is contrasted with the larger Pz.Kpfw. IVs in the column. The Pz.Kpfw. 35(t)’s thinner armour placed it at a disadvantage against the heavier German tanks, especially after the rebuilding effort begun at the end of the Polish campaign.

During the invasion of Poland, the Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) served in Panzer Abteilung 65 of the 1st Leichte (Light) Division and the independent Panzer Regiment 11. They were used as substitutes for Pz.Kpfw. III medium tanks as, at this stage of the war, they were roughly comparable in armour and firepower. 77 were lost during the campaign; all but 7 were repaired or rebuilt. Most of the losses had been due to mechanical breakdowns, an omen of things to come. Following the Polish campaign, the Germans strengthened their armoured formations. The Light Divisions were reformed as true Panzer Divisions. The 1st Light Division combined the independent Panzer Regiment 11 with its attached Panzer Abteilung 65, becoming the 6th Panzer Division with three tank battalions. 6th Panzer Division was the only German division to operate the Pz.Kpfw. 35(t). The invasion of France and the Low Countries (Belgium and Holland) came after a winter of waiting that some called the “Phoney War”. 6th Panzer Division was part of von Kleist’s invasion force as part of the XXXXI Korps (mot.). They attacked through the Ardennes forests, which the French had considered unsuitable for tanks. The French had withdrawn their strategic reserves and moved them to Holland to A

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Think Tank - Panzerkampfwagen 35(t) Light Tank B reinforce their main defence line

These Pz.Kpfw. 35(t)s show another common result of long road marches, the complete covering of the dark grey paint scheme with a heavy layer of dust. These tanks are dark grey but appear to be sand coloured. Only worn areas reveal the true colours in photos. Mixed with the normal coating of grease and oil on a well maintained vehicle, dust would stick to most of the exterior until an even coat resulted. In some situations, crews camouflaged their tanks with mud to match the local soil colours.

During the winter of 1939-40, German troops trained for future campaigns. The Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) had been relatively reliable, but was sensitive to cold weather. Training in the European winter did not reveal the extant of the potential problems.

Bearing the unit symbol of 6th Panzer Division, this Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) has the new open Balkenkreuz national marking considered to be less obvious than the old solid white cross used in Poland. Here the coaxial MG has been locked to follow the track of the main gun.

In the Russian campaign of 1941, the Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) proved to be vulnerable to the armament of most Russian tanks, even the light BT-7s. The Russians captured a number of Pz.Kpfw. 35(t)s, including this disabled tank missing its right track. The symbol “XX”, usually painted in yellow, was the 1941 unit symbol for 6th Panzer Division.

along the Dyle river in Belgium. Their reserves committed, the French army had insufficient forces to stop the German breakthrough across the Meuse river at Sedan. This was the result of France’s obsession with defence; the French plan had been to stop a German attack through Belgium, then counterattack. But the German drive south of the Low Countries through the Ardennes exposed the flank of the French lines and they could not hold. In addition, the German drive, advancing toward the French coast, threatened the entire British Expeditionary Force (BEF), and eventually led to the evacuation at Dunkirk. On a technical level, France had some of the better tanks available. Some army analysts considered the Somua S-35 the best medium tank in Europe, and the Char B bis, though built for a WWI style of warfare, was heavily armoured enough that it was impervious to the guns of every German tank in service. The Germans quickly improvised methods of dealing with them but technically, much of the French armour was potentially a problem. Already the Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) was outmoded. Its 37mm A3 gun could not penetrate many of the French tanks, and a number of the French tanks had 37mm or 47mm guns that could penetrate the German tanks at normal fighting ranges. 62 Pz.Kpfw. 35(t)s were total losses or had to be sent back to the factories to be rebuilt. Others were repaired in the field, though repairs were complicated by a severe lack of spare parts.

THE END OF FRONT LINE SERVICE By the invasion of Russia in June 1941, the maintenance situation with the Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) had become worse. Production of the tank had ended and there were no spare parts available to 6th Panzer Division, so that by September 1941, the original 160 Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) s usable had been reduced to 102. By October only 34 were available, and by the end of November, none of the Skoda tanks were operational. The repair crews had tried to keep as many going as possible by cannibalizing damaged tanks, but eventually the lack of spares forced them to return most of the repairable tanks back to the factories for complete rebuilding. In addition to the maintenance difficulties, the Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) proved to be completely outclassed by the Russian tanks it encountered. Worse, the harsh climate as winter approached

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exposed a number of serious mechanical failures, especially of the pneumatic boost system for the clutch, brakes, and steering. The 37mm gun was ineffective, and the 25mm maximum front armour could be penetrated at long range by majority of Soviet medium tanks, including the lightly armoured BT-7. The thin side armour was even more vulnerable and losses mounted. The Germans decided the end of 1941 would be the last of the Pz.Kpfw. 35(t)’s frontline service, and in the spring of the 1942, all of the serviceable tanks in 6th Panzer Division were taken and sent back to CKD and Skoda for remanufacture. 26 were sold to Romania and a number of others had the turrets removed as they were converted to munitions carriers (Moerserzugmittel 35(t)) or artillery tractors (Artillerie Schlepper).

FOREIGN AND POST-WAR SERVICE In spite of its less than successful combat record, the Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) served in a number of countries in Europe, and some lasted until well after the end of the war. The

Romanians also built 21 examples of a self-propelled anti-tank gun on the Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) chassis by removing the turret, opening the hull roof, and mounting a captured Soviet ZIS-3 or F22 76.2mm antitank gun, protected by an opentopped casement constructed from armour salvaged from damaged armoured vehicles. This conversion was named TACAM R2. These had not been completed before Soviet troops invaded Romania, and so ended up being used against the Germans in several other battles until the end of the war. Hungary had obtained a license from Skoda to build a modified version of the Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) the Hungarians called the Turan I. It had a redesigned turret mounting a 40mm L/51 gun. The Turan II followed with a 75mm L/25 gun. The last model, produced in prototype form only, was the Turan III , mounting a 75mm L/43 antitank gun. The Hungarians also built the Zrinyi assault gun, featuring a low superstructure mounting a 105mm L/20.5 howitzer. It bore a resemblance to the Italian Semovente assault guns.

Because of serious deficiencies fighting Russian armour, the Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) was withdrawn from combat service. Many of them were refurbished in Czechoslovakia and sold off as training tanks to other countries. Others were converted to support roles as towing vehicles or munition carriers. This Moerserzugmittel 35(t) was used to tow artillery pieces and carry ammunition. The tarpaulin covered the opening left from removing the turret.

CONCLUSION Perhaps the lesson to be drawn from the development and use of the Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) is that technology sometimes moves so quickly that a weapons system that was competitive one year is found obsolete the next. At the beginning of its service, the Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) was comparable to the very early models of the Pz.Kpfw. III, mounting a 37mm main gun and having 16-25mm of armour and reasonable automotive performance. Two years later, it was technically obsolete, with a complex suspension, riveted armour construction, a small main gun,

Romania had received a large number of LTvz35s before the war. They converted about 20 into a self-propelled anti-tank gun called the TACAM R-2, shown here. They removed the turrets and built open casements surrounding captured Soviet 76.2 mm ZIS-3 or F22 guns. While lightly protected, they did have considerably improved long-range anti-tank performance. Most of the vehicle remained unaltered.

Hungary purchased a license to produce the Skoda S-II-a (LT vz 35) for its own troops, and developed an improved version with a different turret and 40mm main gun. This tank is a Turan I with a 40mm L/51 main gun. The Turan II carried a 75mm L/25 weapon.

and serious potential (and later very real) mechanical problems. Yet it served reasonably well in the western campaigns in Poland and France, and if it was outmatched in Russia, that was a trait it shared with the other tanks in the German army. It survived as a training vehicle into the 1950s, when most of its German contemporaries had already become new bridge girders or Volkswagens. Its far more wellknown and successful companion, the Pz.Kpfw. 38(t), actually lasted only a year longer in front line combat before it too fell to obsolescence, another victim of the rapid advance of technology. ■

Another view of the TACAM R-2 shows the high narrow silhouette. As with most such SP guns, crew protection was marginal, and the high profile made it easy to identify. The Russian guns used, however, were very effective, though they ended up being used against the Germans after Romania was defeated by Russian troops in 1944.

Hungary also produced a Sturmgeschuetz type vehicle on the Turan chassis, called the Zrinyi. It mounted a 105mm L/20.5 howitzer. A further model, the Zrinyi II, was to have had a 75mm L/43 anti-tank gun, but was not produced.

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FEATURE ARTICLE

Academy 1:35 German Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) • Kit No. 13280

PANZER TO A “T” The Editor upgrades Academy’s new 1:35 scale Panzer 35(t) using DEF Models’ resin and photo-etch set.

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W

hen Bruce Culver submitted his very informative Think Tank reference article on the Panzer 35(t), I thought that I would build Tamiya’s rebox of CMK’s kit. I then heard that Bronco was planning on a newly tooled kit, so I decided to wait for that instead. However, while browsing the Internet recently, I was intrigued to find that Academy had snuck in their own newly-tooled 1:35 scale Panzer 35(t). It seemed that not much had been written about this kit, so I decided to buy one and find out for myself. Academy’s 1:35 scale Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) is indeed an all-new kit, and not a rebox of anybody else’s earlier release. The kit comprises 319 parts in dark grey plastic, of which 66 are for link and length tracks. A length of string is also supplied for the tow cable. Surface texture includes crisp, raised dome rivets and bolt heads, plus subtly recessed screws (complete with slots). All of these are really well done. Moulding quality is generally very good, but there are some ejector pin parks on the inside of the hatches. The lower hull is broken down into separate floor, sides, front and back, presumably to allow the moulding of clean raised rivets on all the parts. The main upper hull is a single part. The running gear is very well detailed, as are the link and length tracks. However, some of the parts on the upper hull are not quite to the same high standard as the rest of the kit. In particular, the exhaust and jack and both quite basic and blocky. Twelve spare jerry cans plus racks are included for the Eastern Front option. A Commander and driver figure are also offered. Alternative heads are supplied with the early war beret or the more familiar Panzer crew side cap. The facial expressions are lively but I found the poses to be wooden, and the crude moulding of the headsets more closely resemble heavy earmuffs.

CZECH UP DEF Model has recently released a resin and photo-etch update set for Academy’s 1:35 scale Pz.Kpfw. 35(t). This offers extra detail and useful additional stowage where it counts. It completely replaces the weakest areas of Academy’s kit – the exhaust and jack – and adds bonus detail elsewhere including resin cast canvas covers for the two machine guns, and realistically textured head cushions for the A

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FEATURE ARTICLE

Academy 1:35 German Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) • Kit No. 13280

Locating pins are small and imprecise when attached. Road wheels, return rollers, idler and drive sprocket await further assembly.

The main elements of one suspension unit. There are four of these in total. Once again, note the very small attachment points.

All the running gear elements may be seen here.

B driver’s and Commander’s hatches. A little fiddling is required to get the suspension units together, but they look great when assembled. Note that the leaf springs are the kit part. DEF Model offers an improved set of leaf springs in their update set.

IKEA would be proud – the flat-pack lower hull.

The suspension units were clamped to their hull mounts while the glue set.

New racks are also offered for the spare jerry cans. A number of generic stowage items plus two really nice German helmets with interior lining are included too. In my haste to get the project started, I finished building the running gear before I realised that DEF Model had also supplied replacement leaf springs in resin. These feature detail cast to the underside as well as superior detail on the upper surfaces. I’ll save them for my next 35(t) project! But I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s start at the very beginning…

A VERY GOOD PLACE TO START

Fit is perfect.

Academy’s kit is moulded in quite a soft plastic that is easy to work with. The downside is that it is also very easy to accidentally gouge the plastic. The risk is further increased by a number of parts having sprue attachments on the exposed side, so take care when wielding the sprue cutter and hobby knife. The running gear is very nicely detailed but I found it a bit fiddly to assemble. Part of the problem is that the locating pins for the wheels are very small and there is quite a lot of wiggle room. You’ll want to check the alignment of each pair of wheels as the glue sets. Also note when assembling the pairs of return rollers that the locating peg (on Parts F20) should NOT push all the way through the locating hole in the other half (Parts F19). The locating hole is barely flashed over and any firm pressure will pop the peg right through, especially after it has been softened by liquid glue. There are four sets of suspension units. These are well

detailed and quite authentic, but they are tricky to clean up due to the six sprue connectors attached to the three main parts of each unit. A little plastic gymnastics is also required to get all four wheels, the three suspension unit frames, and the leaf springs together. Once again, locating pins are very small. Oh, and I found the mud scrapers for the idler sprockets to be quite puzzling. I spent a good 10-15 minutes dry-fitting and re-fitting and repositioning before I eventually came up with something that seemed to make sense. I have included a few photos of where I glued mine in place. Once the suspension units are together, however, it is plain sailing. The multi-part lower hull fits together perfectly, and the link and length tracks are a joy to work with. They assemble perfectly and quickly, looking great when the job is finished. The only peril is that just one link is left over, so you really don’t want to sacrifice any track parts to the carpet monster! My sole deviation from the instructions was the fitting of the DEF Model resin and photo-etched parts. Folding the photo-etched parts for the exhaust, jack and tool mounts was a bit scary at times, but the result is well worth the effort. The photo-etched wing nuts for the jerry can racks demand care when folding and handling. I sent several of these zinging off into the wild blue yonder, but fortunately DEF Model supplies a number of spares. The survivors looked very authentic when they were finished. A few of the remaining kit parts were also refined. The openings for the horn and the main gun were hollowed out further. A

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The exact location of the mud scraper (Parts E29 and E30) was a bit of a puzzle, but this is where I wound up fitting mine.

The assembled running gear and lower hull.

The link and length tracks – really well done.

I started by gluing the top run to the return rollers. Note that the idler sprockets have not been glued in place yet.

Eight links were also glued to the drive sprocket, and attached to the forward most link on the top run.

Eight individual links were glued to the idler sprocket before it was glued to the axle.

The instructions were followed here, gluing a combination of short runs and individual links to the lower forward track area.

The full track run. Both runs were assembled in a total of around 90 minutes.

Fenders in place. I neglected to fit the fender supports (Parts E48, E49, E50 and E51) to the lower hull side before I glued the fenders in place. When will I learn to actually read the instructions! The upper hull is a perfect fit too.

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FEATURE ARTICLE

Academy 1:35 German Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) • Kit No. 13280

DEF Model’s Pz.Kpfw.35(t) Detail Up set is designed specifically for the Academy kit.

The DEF Model resin leaf springs look great. Shame I didn’t use them!

Resin parts include crash pads for the hatches, canvas covers for the machine guns, a replacement exhaust muffler, jack and various items of stowage. Some of the pieces from the eight-part cupola are yet to be installed.

The turret, sans hatch, assembled and ready for paint.

The generous photo-etched fret adds a myriad of detail. DEF Model even gives us a bucket!

The shrouded hull machine gun and headlight in place.

The photo-etched, metal rod and resin replacement racks for the spare jerry cans.

The resin muffler with its folded photo-etch mount. Note that the locating holes in the upper hull side have been filled with Milliput.

The Optivisor was an essential aid for finishing the complex but small folds of the jack mount.

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More tricky folding for the photo-etched front mudguards.

Stowage is offered for the front driver’s side of the fender.

Low and mean – a hint of things to come.

DEF Model’s photo-etched parts and the resin crash pads in place on the three hatch lids.

The model complete and ready for paint.

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FEATURE ARTICLE

Academy 1:35 German Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) • Kit No. 13280

The draped flag on the rear deck was formed from Kneadatite two-part epoxy putty. The greaseproof palette, the jar (used as a roller) and the straight edge were all dusted generously with Johnson’s Baby Powder to reduce the chances of sticking to the putty.

The flag was first sprayed with two coats of Tamiya Fine White Primer straight from the can.

The mask was applied to the middle of the white rectangle.

B FLYING THE FLAG I was inspired by a photo appearing in Bruce Culver’s Think Tank reference article showing a Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) festooned with a large German flag on the rear deck. I thought this would be an ideal feature to help break up the potentially dull monotone of this overall Panzer Grey vehicle. The flag was formed using Kneadatite Blue Yellow Epoxy Putty. Equal portions of blue and yellow were cut from the ribbon then mixed together thoroughly by briskly rubbing the putty between my palms, rolling it into a ball, then repeating until the colour was a smooth, streak-free green. I sprinkled a disposable greaseproof palette and the outside of a glass jar with Johnson’s Baby Powder, then used the jar to roll the mixed putty into a thin, flat sheet. A straight blade and a ruler

A rectangle was cut from the thinly rolled out putty and placed on the rear deck, where it eventually settled into a natural drape over the stowage.

An Olfa circle cutter was used to cut a circle from 3cm Tamiya tape.

The masked flag was now sprayed with Tamiya TS-49 Bright Red, decanted into my airbrush and with a spot of TS-17 Black to take the edge of this very intense shade.

were then used to cut a flag-sized rectangular section from the sheet. While still very pliable, the putty rectangle was carefully placed over the stowage features of the rear hull and allowed to drape naturally. It settled down quite nicely after 30 seconds or so. The flag was left to set for a couple of days. When I returned to it, I could lift the flag from the upper hull and it totally retained its relaxed contours. This was ideal – allowing it to be painted separately from the rest of the tank. In fact, I thought that the flag was so crucial to the final look of the vehicle that it was painted before anything else. First, the entire Kneadatite flag was prepared with two coats of Tamiya’s Fine White Primer straight from the can. Next, a circle was cut from 3cm wide Tamiya tape using my Olfa circle cutter.

After two days (although it was probably fully cured in less than one day) the hardened flag was lifted off the model so that it could be painted separately.

Voila! Instant circle mask – but don’t forget to cover the small hole in the centre.

Once the mask was removed, the red and white rectangle was sprayed with two glossy coats of Future Floor Polish.

The masked flag was now sprayed with Tamiya TS-49 Bright Red, decanted into my airbrush and with a spot of TS-17 Black to take the edge of this very intense shade. The mask was removed to reveal a nice crisp white circle in the field

of red. The painted flag was now treated to two coats of Future Floor Polish as a gloss base for a Swastika decal, sourced from Kopro’s “Luftwaffe WWII Swastikas (Pt.2), Item No. 98304. A coat of Alclad II Clear Flat sealed the job.

A swastika decal was sourced from a 1:48 scale Kopro sheet.

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With the flag almost finished, the model was prepared for paint with Tamiya’s Grey Primer. The glossy flag was checked for fit on the rear deck of the model.

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY

I used Lifecolor Easy 3 Contrast and Desaturation Set – German AFV Panzergrau. The base shade and the lighter colour have been applied here.

The lighter colour, or “Flashed Shade” as Lifecolor calls it, has been applied in large patches to horizontal surfaces and in spots and streaks elsewhere.

When I resumed modelling 20 years ago or so, I believed that the most difficult painting task was German three-colour mottled camouflage. I have since changed my mind. As far as I am concerned these days, one-colour camouflage is the most difficult, as the single shade can look uniform and boring on the one hand; or cartoonish if contrast and weathering is overdone. Of the common one-colour camouflage finishes, Panzer Grey presents some of the greatest challenges as it can be difficult to realistically depict wear and tear over the very dark base colour. In my opinion, the key to an interesting yet realistic finish is to use different shades of grey – but subtly! For this project I used Lifecolor Easy 3 Contrast and Desaturation Set – German AFV Panzergrau for the base colour, which provides three plastic pots of paint - UA252 Flashed Shade; UA 253 Ground Colour and UA 254 Deep Shade. I really like the colours, but I have previously found the paint can be a bit temperamental in its application. The first thing to keep in mind is that a good primer coat will help the somewhat slippery acrylic paint to “bite” into the surface. My choice was Tamiya’s Grey primer applied straight from the spray can. I followed this with Lifecolor’s Ground Colour (base shade) thinned with no more than 30% of Lifecolor’s own thinners. Next it was the turn of the Flashed Shade. This is a very pale highlight colour. Rather than spray this uniformly in the centre of panels, it was applied in patches, streaks and spots. I did not use the Deep Shade this time, instead highlighting selected shadow areas with a thin mix of Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black and XF-64 Red Brown. A thin coat of AK Interactive’s AK 071 Blue Filter for Panzer Grey followed. While still damp, AK 070 Brown Blue Wash for Panzer Grey thinned with Mineral Turpentine was applied selectively

A

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FEATURE ARTICLE

Academy 1:35 German Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) • Kit No. 13280

Painting of detail parts has commenced here with Vallejo acrylics applied by brush.

Base colours for the detail parts on the driver’s side may be seen here.

Extra time was spent weathering the “timber” planks. I was trying to achieve an aged and worn appearance.

B to recessed features and shadow

areas. I wasn’t really very pleased with the result this time, as the filter and wash tended to reduce the effect of the previously applied multiple shades of grey. In an attempt to restore some variation, I dry-brushed the surface of the model with a medium grey shade using a medium soft chisel tipped brush. The key to drybrushing is restraint – you don’t want to see brush marks under any circumstances, and the overall

effect should be very discreet. Build up slowly, and keep checking that you’re not going overboard. The edges of the hull and turret were treated to chipping using a 50/50 mix of Vallejo Panzer Aces acrylic 333 Germ. Tkcr. (Black) and pure black, applied with a small, almost dry piece of sponge. The sponge was also lightly dabbed onto the hull sides, the front and rear decks and the turret roof. The effect is hard to see against the dark grey

background, but it adds to the variety. Finally, a 2B pencil was run along some of the sharp edges to suggest heavier wear and tear. The packs, tools, track block, canvas covers, and hatch crash pads were all picked out with Vallejo acrylics and a fine brush. Special attention was given to the timber planks holding the jerry cans in place. I attempted to give these a greying aged timber finish using a variety of Vallejo acrylic colours as the base colour, dry

The model received an overall coat of Future floor polish before the kit decals were applied. Note that the XX markings are very insipid – almost invisible against the Panzer Grey.

Weathering has been applied to the stowage, covers and racks using enamel washes and detail painting with acrylic paints carefully applied with a fine brush.

brush and washes. Dust was sprayed onto the body of the vehicle using a very thin mix of Tamiya XF-57 Buff. This effect was built up gradually, starting with the wheels, then moving onto the lower hull and just very lightly on the sides of the superstructure. The dust was emphasised on the front and rear of the hull. The very last weathering step was a stippled application of Easy Mud Item No. 21105 European Earth to the running gear and the tracks.

Contrast and variation has been restored after the application of Alclad II Klear Kote Matte. The XX markings have also been overpainted with Vallejo Yellow, applied with a fine brush.

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M Workshop Non-Fuzzy String was tied to the corners of the flag.

Final weathering has been applied in the form of dust and mud.

The rust effect on the muffler was achieved with four shades of MIG Productions’ pigments. The canvas machine gun covers and hatch crash pads were dry-brushed with a paler shade of brown.

FIGURES Crew figures can really bring a model to life, but I was not really happy with the clunky figures supplied in Academy’s kit. My substitute crew comprised two full-sized resin figures from Evolution Miniatures' "Big Set3", German Panzer Crew WW2. The Evolution Miniatures set includes five figures, which are all beautifully sculpted and cast. The bare chested standing tanker is particularly impressive, being presented as a single resin part. The driver's torso is from an old Warriors set, and his head is from Alpine. The specific colours I used were 333 Germ. Tkcr. (Black), 334 Germ. Tkcr. I (Feldgrau), 335 Germ. Tkcr. II (Feldgrau), 337 Highlight Ger. (Black), 338 Highlight Ge. I (Feldgrau) and 339 Highlight Ge. II (Feldgrau). The figures’ bodies and heads were drilled and mounted on separate toothpicks to avoid damage and fingerprints during the

painting process. The first step was an overall coat of Tamiya Fine White Primer straight from the spray can. The Fine White Primer is the best choice to give a lighter base for the coming flesh tones. All the following paints were applied to the figures by brush. First, the base colour for the heads and other flesh areas were painted with a 50/50 mix of Vallejo Model Colour acrylics 70815 Basic Skin Tone and 845 Sunny Skin Tone. A wash of heavily thinned Burnt Sienna oil paint was then applied by brush. The ruddy mixture flows into the low-lying areas and crevices, resulting in some easy shading and a nice fleshy tint. A

One of the German helmets was painted Field Grey and glued to the rear deck.

Pz.Kpfw.35(t) in profile.

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FEATURE ARTICLE

Academy 1:35 German Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) • Kit No. 13280

The figures were drilled and attached to toothpick handles before receiving a white primer coat.

Faces and uniforms were painted exclusively with Vallejo acrylics. Painting is still underway here. The figures await final assembly, a flat coat and painting of metallic objects.

The two full figures were sourced from an Evolution Miniatures five-figure Panzer crew set.

B The black Panzer uniform items

were painted using Vallejo’s 333 Germ. Tkcr. (Black) as the base colour. Two coats were enough to ensure solid even coverage. The dark base coat was then drybrushed 337 Highlight Ger. (Black) for the high points. The Field Grey elements were finished using the same technique, but using 334 Germ. Tkcr. I (Feldgrau) and 338 Highlight Ge. I (Feldgrau). The edges and most prominent points of the uniforms were emphasised with the unmixed highlight colour. Details such as epaulets, piping and insignia were then picked out with a fine brush. The figures’ mouths and eyes were carefully brush painted with fine lines of watered-down Vallejo 337 Highlight Ger. (Black), which is actually a dark brown shade. High areas of the face such as the chin, brow, nose, cheeks and ears were painted with paler shades of flesh. I usually leave the eyes as dark slits, but this time I attempted the whites of the eyes. I first painted the top and bottom eyelids in the same dark brown shade as the other facial features, then added dots of white on either side of the pupils. After a sprayed coat of Testor’s Clear Flat Lacquer, the toothpicks were extracted and the figures were finished.

The driver’s torso is from an old Warriors set, and his head is from Alpine.

Here, the driver and the Commander have been glued to their bases in the turret and the hull.

The cool dude is resting against the drive sprocket.

CONCLUSION Academy’s 1:35 scale Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) is a nice little kit. The detailed suspension, lovely link and length tracks and crisp surface detail are all very impressive. The fiddly suspension means that this kit is not for the absolute beginner, but if you have built a few models you should be able to handle this one. DEF Model’s resin and photoetched update set is the perfect complement to Academy’s kit. It addresses some of the kit’s weak areas and adds meaningful and impressive detail elsewhere. The supplementary stowage is a nice bonus too. ■

Dust was sprayed onto the body of the vehicle using a very thin mix of Tamiya XF-57 Buff. This effect was built up gradually.

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Modelspec Academy 1:35 German Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) Kit No. 13280 The very last weathering step was a stippled application of Easy Mud Item No. 21105 European Earth to the running gear and the tracks.

Accessories Used: DEF Model Item No.DM35026 - 1:35 Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) Detail Up Set With Stowage. Evolution Miniatures Item No. BIG SET-3 - German Panzer Crew WW2 (two figures from the five in the set). Warriors Item No. WA35592 – German Tank Crew (one torso). Alpine Miniatures Item No. H003 Panzer Crew Heads & Hands (one head used). Modelling Products Used: Kneadatite Blue Yellow Epoxy Putty Tape. Milliput Two-Part Epoxy Putty. M Workshop Non-Fuzzy String. Tools and Materials Used: Tamiya Extra Thin Liquid Cement Revell Contacta Professional Cement Selley’s Supa Glue Tamiya Masking Tape (various widths) Tamiya Liquid Surface Primer Iwata HP-CH Airbrush Iwata HP-TR Airbrush

The figures lend a sense of character and scale to the model.

DEF Model’s resin and photo-etched update set is the perfect complement to Academy’s nice little kit.

Paints & Finishing Products: Lifecolor Easy 3 Contrast and Desaturation Set – German AFV Panzergrau (UA252 Flashed Shade; UA 253 Ground Colour). Tamiya Acrylics – X-23 Clear Blue; XF-1 Flat Black; XF-57 Buff; XF-61; XF-64 Red Brown. Tamiya Spray Can - Grey Primer; White Primer; TS-49 Bright Red; TS-17 Black. Vallejo Panzer Aces Acrylics – 310 Old Wood; 311 New Wood; 312 Leather Belt; 314 Canvas; 333 Germ. Tkcr. (Black); 334 Germ. Tkcr. I (Feldgrau); 335 Germ. Tkcr. II (Feldgrau); 336 Afrika Korps Tankcrew; 338 Highlight Germ. Tkcr. I (Feldgrau); 341 Flesh Base; 342 Highlight Flesh. Vallejo Model Colour Acrylics - 70826 German Cam. Medium Brown; 847 Dark Sand; 70865 Oily Steel; 919 Foundation White; 70953 Flat Yellow. Future Floor Polish. Winsor & Newton – Raw Umber; Lamp Black. Alclad II Klear Kote Matte. AK Interactive – AK 072 Weathering Set for Early Panzers. MIG Pigments – P025 Standard Rust; P035 Panzer Grey Fading; P039 Industrial City Dirt; P042 Ochre Rust; P414 Track Brown; P416 Fresh Rust. MIG Productions – P225 Wood Ageing Solution. 2B Pencil. Easy Mud Item No. 21105 European Earth. Figure Paints: Uniforms (all Vallejo Panzer Aces acrylics) – 333 Germ. Tkcr. (Black); 334 Germ. Tkcr. I (Feldgrau); 337 Highlight Ger. (Black); 338 Highlight Ger. I (Feldgrau). Flesh - Base Coat: 50:50 mix Vallejo Model Colour acrylics 70815 Basic Skin Tone; 845 Sunny Skin Tone. Wash: Rowney Georgian Oil Paint 221 Burnt Sienna. General Detailing (all Vallejo Model Colour acrylics) – 70826 German Cam Medium Brown; 847 Dark Sand; 70865 Oily Steel; 70891 Intermediate Green; 919 Foundation White; 70950 Black; 70957 Flat Red (mixed for pink piping). ✓ Good fit; excellent surface textures; generally high level of detail; link and length tracks; crew figures included. ✗ Fiddly assembly of some running gear elements; clunky detail on some fittings (exhaust, jack etc). Available from Thanks to DEF Model for the samples www.defmodel.com

Rating

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KIT PREVIEW

Dragon 1:35 Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf D. DAK Tropical Version • Kit No. 6779

Andy King is impressed with Dragon’s latest 1:35 scale Panzer IV, but he’d prefer to see individual link tracks!

TROPICAL PANZER IV

T

he Panzer IV was used on all fronts by the German army from the start of WWII right up to the end. It proved to be a real workhorse, enduring the extreme minus temperatures of Soviet Russia during the winter to the heat of the Western Desert during the North African Campaign. Dragon’s revised Panzer IV Ausf.D DAK features superb Ron Volstad artwork on the front. You will find a mass of sprues in grey styrene (seventeen in total), two clear sprues for the vision blocks, a small decal sheet, an even smaller sheet of etch and onepiece DS Vinyl tracks. Although there are a lot of parts, many of them are marked as not for use and at this rate I’m going to have enough for a complete Panzer IV in the spares box. For example, there is a complete set of road wheels (without tyres though), drive sprockets and rear idlers included. All parts are very nicely moulded and the detail is excellent. I particularly like the tread pattern replicated underneath the fenders. It’s also good to see some interior detail for the turret included as well which features a turret floor, full gun breech and vision blocks for the turret side. It may not be enough for the super-detailers but for what you can see through open hatches it’s more than adequate. The gun barrel is in two parts split laterally. This may leave a tricky join line to clean up however it’s compensated by the rifling moulded on the inside of

the barrel and this looks superb, the only thing here would be to lightly run a dentists burr around the lip as on my example some of the rifling was sticking out of the muzzle. The Commander’s cupola is a multi-part assembly that includes detail inside and out and the option of open or closed periscopes. Moving to the hull, there is no interior detail here except for the co-axial machine gun and periscope sight on the inside of the front plate plus the brake and transmission hatches can be modelled open but you will have to source the interior bits elsewhere. Likewise with the rear engine hatches, as the cooling fans are provided but the engine itself will have to come from the aftermarket, which is not a problem as the Panzer IV has been well catered for in this respect. The transmission covers behind the drive sprockets include the gear wheels and bearings and will be very useful for anybody contemplating a diorama of a tank under maintenance. One of the tweaks in this area is the simplification of the running gear, specifically the axles as originally they were multipart assemblies that were a nightmare to put together. Thankfully Dragon has now reduced the part count but kept the detail. For me, however, the inclusion of DS vinyl tracks is a bit of a let down as I personally would much prefer individual track links, especially for WWII German armour with its characteristic

track sag. I know there have been complaints about how tedious tracks are to put together with separate links but I would have liked to have seen both types included in the kit, especially with the current retail prices, that way both camps are catered for. The tracks themselves are okay with hollow guide horns, but some slight flash is present on each link which is quite noticeable and will prove almost as tedious to remove as sticking individual links together. Sorry Dragon, they just don’t cut it for me, so stick the Magic Tracks back in - please? There are six marking schemes illustrated for three different units and this is a Green-Brown over the original base colour of German Grey in various stages of wear and tear, although I’d check references first as Panzer colours in the desert campaign can be a real can of worms. Overall, I am impressed with the kit (apart from the tracks of course) as it is very nicely detailed and will build into a cracking model straight out of the box. There are many Panzer IV bits available from the aftermarket department, but to be honest you won’t need that much to improve it. Highly recommended and many thanks to The Hobby Company for this inclusion to the growing Panzer IV family in my stash. ■

Gorgeous tread plate and rivet detail abounds.

The lovely road wheels. You More tread plate on the turcan easily carve off the final ret floor, but not much more vertical stroke of the raised interior detail is offered. “Continentau” if you like.

The 7.5cm barrel features rifling detail inside.

Check out the screw head and delicate weld bead detail.

Engine fans will be visible beneath the grilles.

Dragon kits are distributed in the UK by The Hobby Company Limited www.hobbyco.net Turret sprocket detail.

Photo-etched parts are included.

Markings for three schemes are offered. The excellent turret shell.

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FEATURE ARTICLE

MiniArt 1:35 GAZ-AAA Model 1943 Cargo Truck • Kit No. 35133

MiniArt’s 1:35 scale GAZZZ-AAA Model 1943 is packed into a compact box. The Hauler photoetched update set was used for this project too.

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T

he GAZ-AAA truck is a three-axle version of the GAZ-AA. The American truck Ford-Timken was in turn the prototype for the GAZ-AA. 37,373 GAZ-AAA trucks were produced during its production life, from 1934 to 1943. GAZ-AAA trucks were used for transporting goods, staff and for towing artillery pieces. During the pre-war period, the GAZ-AAA was used as the base vehicle for a self-propelled Maxim (4M) machine gun. During WWII, anti aircraft emplacement vehicles were used with the DShK heavy machine gun and 25mm and 37mm automatic air defence guns. Other special trucks were based on the GAZ-AAA chassis such as radio station RSB-F; movable repair shops PARM and PM type A; fuel tankers BZ-38 and BZ-38U; water-oil bowsers BMZ-38; ground starters AS-2 and more. The BA-6 and BA-10 armoured cars were also based on the GAZAAA chassis. Because of military norms, and due to the shortage of metal and components, a number of simplified versions of the GAZAAA were produced during the war. Some of the variations included welded wings, a simplified cab and bumper bar; the right headlight was omitted and brakes were only fitted to the rear wheels. Because of the bitter Russian winter, a canvas top and wooden doors were added in 1943.

THE GAZ-AAA MODEL 1943 FROM MINIART MiniArt is already a well established company in the scale modelling scene. Besides the top quality of their models, they are also known for offering very original items. MiniArt produces top quality figures and diorama items like buildings and urban stuff too. MiniArt’s 1:35 scale GAZ-AAA model 1943 is a top class kit. Presented in a medium size box with a lovely box art, we find a kit moulded in high quality grey plastic. The detail is lovely and there are a large number of parts on the sprues. Besides the plastic parts, MiniArt also offers a small photoetched fret, clear parts and concise instructions. As a bonus, MiniArt also provides five plastic Russian figures from their catalogue. So all we need to make a great model or diorama is inside the box.

CONSTRUCTION AND DETAILING

José Brito places MiniArt’s 1:35 scale GAZ-AAA truck in a winter scene.

Construction is very straightforward, but even so there is always room for some small scratch built improvements. In this case I decided to use fine metal A

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FEATURE ARTICLE

MiniArt 1:35 GAZ-AAA Model 1943 Cargo Truck • Kit No. 35133

Although kit detail is good, the chassis was supplemented with some copper wire.

The wire was bent into shape using The Small Shop Hold and Fold tool.

The advantage of this tool is that is makes handling and bending easier, and each of the bends will be identical. The wire was glued to the chassis with super glue.

B wire to add some extra detail to

the lower parts. To get the best shapes and results I usually use Small Shop Tools. We can make hundreds of these small parts and always with the same shape and size. Once done, all we have to do is glue them in place. Small metallic parts were glued in place with the help of Deluxe Materials Rocket Hot. Being an ultra thin glue solution, it is ideal to work in the capillarity method. A small metal wire spring was also added and looks much better and accurate when compared with the provided plastic part. Small details like this can make all the difference once the model finished. Small sink holes were filled in with the new Perfect Plastic Putty from Deluxe Materials. This new putty is water-soluble, dries fast and once dry is rock hard. It may be easily sanded and the final texture is very smooth. Usually I apply the paste with the help of a small arts and crafts spatula. Once the putty is set it can be sanded and the results are just great. The sink marks will be totally invisible once painted. I also decided to use a photoetched fret from Hauler. This can be a good complement to an already top class kit. The Hauler sheet covers the entire vehicle and also provides some cool photoetched tracks for the rear wheels. As usual, we must cut the small metallic parts with some care and by using a brand new scalpel. Once again and in order to get the best results from the photoetch parts, I used tools from the Small Shop Tools range. They make the task much easier and really are great time savers. Bending all those small and delicate parts can be tricky, but with tools like Small Shop Tools, this is an easy and enjoyable job. Some of the MiniArt parts are really small and delicate, so an extra dose of care is necessary to remove them from the sprues.

The front wheels ride high if the instructions are followed.

In Steps 9 through 12, the suspension has to be modified to raise the height of the rear wheels.

The result of the modifications – all six wheels on the ground!

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Small modelling saws are helpful in order to remove them and at the same time they do not destroy the lovely details. The photo-etched tracks provided in the Hauler set are just lovely and will add an extra touch of interest to our model. Small Shop Tools were, once again, used to bend all those small parts. Without these specialist tools, this task would be a real nightmare and a test to our patience. The model was now fully assembled and ready for painting. Note how all the extra work and details really improve the final look. The Hauler set combined with the MiniArt photo-etch set really improves the model and the photoetched metal tracks really add an extra touch of interest. Some damage was made to the front mudguards in order to add some more unique elements and a touch of realism to our model.

A few ejector pin circles were filled with a new product, Perfect Plastic Putty from Deluxe Materials, and allowed to set. After sanding, the recessed circles will disappear. The model is now assembled.

Painting This was a great opportunity to use the new Vallejo acrylic paint set dedicated to Russian 4BO Green. The new Vallejo AFV Painting Systems are a group of sets developed to replicate the highlights and shadows seen on real vehicles. Inside every set we find a primer, the base colour as also colours for the shadows and highlights. This is a completely different and much more accurate technique when compared with the modulation style. In the modulation style, the model can look like a 3D CAD job. With the Zenith Technique approach, the light effects are A

The headlight lens was formed from metal foil.

Some details were added from Hauler’s modest but useful photo-etched fret. There is some folding involved, and the Hold and Fold tool made these jobs much easier and more precise. Photo-etched fenders are in place here.

The foil was pushed into a hemispherical recess in another of The Small Shop’s tools.

The formed foil shape was then cut out from its surrounding sheet…

The on-vehicle tools were also improved using parts Hauler also offers photo-etched tracks for the two The Hold and Fold tool makes this a fast job. Here, from the Hauler photo-etched set and scratch built pairs of rear wheels. These would be a real chore to the ends of one section have been quickly and handles. assemble without the appropriate tools. precisely folded.

…then glued into the headlight housing.

Tracks are looking good.

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FEATURE ARTICLE

MiniArt 1:35 GAZ-AAA Model 1943 Cargo Truck • Kit No. 35133

The tracks fitted to the unpainted model. They really make an impact on the appearance of the vehicle.

This was a great opportunity to use the new Vallejo acrylic paint set dedicated to Russian 4BO Green.

First, the entire model was primed.

A view from below showing the great kit detail and some of the improvements made.

Next, a dark base coat was applied over the primer.

A paler shade is next, accurately representing the effects of light on the vehicle.

Even with this much lighter shade, we do not see aggressive colour contrasts and panels painted in several different colours.

All the colours of the Vallejo 4BO Painting System may be seen here.

MIG Production Absolute Chipping was airbrushed and allowed to dry for about half an hour.

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Vallejo Model Air 71 001 White was then airbrushed randomly over the entire model.

The painted model awaits stowage and further weathering. Once the Vallejo Model Air 71 001 White is thoroughly dry, we can start peeling the white layer.

For this task and in order to get varied results we can use several tools like a flat brush, a scalpel, a tooth pick, a needle, fingers…

The final effect is very distinctive.

B more accurately represented in

the model. In these pictures we can clearly see how the Zenith Technique looks very realistic. With the Zenith Technique we do not see aggressive colour contrasts and panels painted in several different colours. With this technique, the model is exposed to the light and the paint is applied in the same fashion as if the model was exposed under a spot light. The colour transitions are ultra smooth and the model should finish up with a higher visual interest. MIG Production Absolute Chipping was airbrushed covering the entire model and allowed to dry for about half an hour. Once completely dry, Vallejo Model Air 71 001 White was airbrushed randomly over the entire model. For better and more accurate results the white layer must cover some spots more thinly than others. The white layer was left to dry for around a half and hour. Once the Vallejo Model Air 71

001 White is thoroughly dry, we can start peeling the white layer. For this task and in order to get varied results we can use several tools like a flat brush, a scalpel, a tooth pick, a needle, fingers… Before we start peeling the paint, however, another coat of MIG Production Absolute Chipping must be applied in order to soften the white paint layer.

Weathering and Finishing The weathering started with a coat of MIG Productions Filter P423 Dark Green Grey. This was applied to the entire model in order to blend all the scratch work previously done. MIG Productions’ oil colours Abt035 Buff and Abt050 Olive Green were applied in the cargo area and on the engine hood. These increase the colour variation, make the model look more authentic and improves the sense of scale to the weathering work. MIG Productions Moss Green Wash was applied to the back of cargo door. MIG Productions A

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FEATURE ARTICLE

MiniArt 1:35 GAZ-AAA Model 1943 Cargo Truck • Kit No. 35133

Value Gear stowage was airbrushed in Vallejo Surface Primer 70601 Grey Primer.

B washes may easily be thinned

with MIG Productions Thinner for Washes. MIG Productions Deep Green Wash and Dark Wash were applied into the various recesses. MIG Productions Wood Ageing Solution Wash was applied to the wood parts. Some of the vertical surfaces also received a heavily thinned layer of MIG Productions Filter P425 Green for Allied Tanks. This layer must be applied extremely thinly and only in order to add some colour variation. At this stage of the weathering, our model is already starting to look like a well-battered vehicle. Even so, and in order to accentuate the “winter look” I decide to apply some work using MIG Productions Oil Abt001 Snow White, Abt165 Faded U.N. White, Winter Camouflage Wash and Cold Grey Wash. All these products combined and applied in the right spots can really bring a model to life and introduce an extra dose of realism and accuracy. MIG Productions’ Dirty Glass Wash was applied to the side windows and windshield. This product must be applied in several layers but the results look good. MIG Productions Filter P404 Grey for Bright White was also applied over the front mudguards. Small rust spots were applied using MIG Productions’ Standard Rust Effects Wash and Oil Abt060 Light Rust Brown. At this stage, the previously painted driver figure was glued into the driving compartment. For the wet look and in order to preserve the weathering work, the entire model was airbrushed in Vallejo Model Air Gloss Varnish and Model Air Satin Varnish. The gloss was used mainly in the lower parts and the satin in the top parts. In this task we must be careful with the clear parts and not to airbrush them. Otherwise they will turn opaque. Several pigments colours were

They must be airbrushed in several layers in order to keep the surface detail.

mixed in MIG Productions’ Wet Effects and Damp Earth Mixture then randomly applied in the lower parts. Several colours must be used in order to get a more realistic look. In the meantime we must take some care to ensure that colours are accurate and in the right spots. Also, we must not overdo this process, otherwise our model will look inaccurate and unrealistic. For the splashes, MIG’s Mud Splash Wash was applied with the help of a finger and a brush or an airbrush. The finish looks very natural and can add spots of interest to the model. MIG Productions Oil and Grease Stain Mixture were also applied around recessed and usually lubricated parts. For a better finish these wash solutions can be thinned with Thinner for Washes.

The wooden boxes were subject to the same chipping technique as the body of the truck.

The packs, also from Value Gear, have been carefully painted.

Stowage and Cargo Value Gear is a new company that specialises in military accessories, especially tents, tarps and boxes. The detail is amazing and the resin casting totally flawless so I decided to try them. All the Value Gear items were airbrushed in Vallejo Surface Primer 70601 Grey Primer. Vallejo primers dry very fast and turn the surface very smooth, ideal for airbrushing. They must be airbrushed in several layers in order to keep the surface detail.

MIG Productions Oil and Grease Stain Mixture were also applied around recessed and usually lubricated parts of the truck.

Base and Diorama I am a diorama builder and I like bases with volume. As usual, I started with a wooden base and made the sidewalls from balsa wood. This formed a box and the volume will add an extra touch of interest to the base and piece. The elements must be placed in a dynamic way and according invisible diagonal lines. We must avoid placing elements parallel to the sides of the base at all costs. The interior of the box was filled in heat isolation foam. This foam is cheap, easy to find and easy to

Details, details – here the straps for the sub-machine gun is being made.

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The figures are from Tank’s excellent range.

work with. It is also lightweight and ideal for filling big volumes. Several layers of Deluxe Materials Styro Koat were applied in order to give an extra strength to the foam. Once it has completely dried, it is really hard and will protect the underlying foam. MIG Productions MUD P502 Europe Wet Mud Fine Texture was applied in several layers for the soi. Once dry, it will look really nice and with a very convincing wet look. The final texture is really fine and scale spot on. While fresh, we can add some texture to the ground by passing a model tyre or vinyl tracks. All we have to do is press the parts into the fresh surface and we will obtain a very realistic texture. A spring green root was used to represent the tree. To add volume to the tree, small holes were drilled with the help of a pine wise and then small grass roots were glued into the holes. This is a very time consuming process, but necessary if we want to make a realistic tree. Several layers of Deluxe Materials Scenic Spray Glue were sprayed onto the tree and while fresh, leaves from Joefix Studios were applied. Once the glue was dry, all we have to do is gently shake the tree and remove the excess leaves. If necessary, in order to get more foliage volume, we can repeat the process. Some dry roots were glued into the terrain using MIG Productions MUD P502 Europe Wet Mud Fine Texture. While the terrain was still wet, some dry leaves were pressed into the surface and glued in place. This

The figures have been painted and detail parts added. These will lend context and scale to our scene.

I used a wooden base and made the sidewalls from balsa wood.

The interior was filled in heat isolation foam. This foam is cheap, easy to find and easy to work with.

Several layers of Deluxe Materials Styro Koat were applied to the surface of the base in order to give an extra strength to the foam.

A spring green root was used to represent the tree. To add volume to the tree, small holes were drilled with a pine wise and then small grass roots were glued into the holes.

A

This is a very time consuming process, but necessary if we want to make a realistic tree.

The completed tree, ready to be glued in place.

For the soil, MIG Productions MUD P502 Europe Wet Mud Fine Texture Tyre and track marks were made in the mud before it has set. was applied in several layers.

Once dry, it will look really nice and with a very convincing wet look.

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FEATURE ARTICLE

MiniArt 1:35 GAZ-AAA Model 1943 Cargo Truck • Kit No. 35133

B will be the first layer of dry or dead

foliage. In order to get a realistic finish and before start making the base, we must think about the real scene. We must observe how the vegetation grows and where it grows. This is very important; otherwise our scene will look like a big salad! Vegetation tufts from MiniNatur and Model Scene were glued in several places. Several lengths of MiniNatur lombardy poplar foliage were also applied in the tree trunk. Pre-painted Eduard Leaf Ferns are absolutely stunning. I have already used them in several projects. This time once again they look really nice and realistic. For the top layer of ground foliage cover I made a mix of dry leaves from several companies including TreeMendus, Model Scene and Joefix Studios. Once again, combining stuff from different companies is the best approach. Because they are all different and once combined and applied they will look very realistic and accurate. A well thinned layer of white glue mixed in water was applied all over the entire base. Then the foliage mix was applied over it. Once well dry, the white glue is look completely transparent. If necessary we can repeat the process. Once the white glue had completely dried, MIG Productions Wet Effects and Damp Earth Mixture was brushed all over the surface. This emphasised the wet look of MIG Productions Wet Mud. It also helps bond all the vegetation into surface.

Figures

Some dry roots were glued into the terrain.

While the terrain was still fresh, some dry leaves were pressed into the surface and glued in place.

This is just the first layer of dry or dead foliage.

Vegetation tufts from MiniNatur and Model Scene were glued in several places. Several lengths of MiniNatur lombardy poplar foliage were also applied to the tree trunk.

Pre-painted Eduard Leaf Ferns are absolutely stunning.

I always add figures to my dioramas. Besides the human factor and scale, they can also help to tell a story. All the figures in this project (except the driver) are from TANK. As usual with this company, the figures are just great and present a flawless resin casting. The poses and fit are very nice. Small details were made in scratch and in order to add that extra touch of realism and accuracy. The figures were primed in Vallejo Acrylic White Primer 73600. Once dry, they were airbrushed in Vallejo Model Air 71076 Skin Tone.

They look really nice and realistic when in place. The top layer of ground foliage cover is a mix of dry leaves from several companies including TreeMendus, Model Scene and Joefix Studios.

Conclusion The GAZ-AAA from MiniArt is a lovely kit and it can be transformed into a stunning model even if it is built straight from the box. This was a very enjoyable project and a great opportunity to add another diorama to my collection. Hope you like it! n

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Modelspec MiniArt 1:35 GAZ-AAA Model 1943 Cargo Truck Kit No. 35133 Accessories Used 1:35 MiniArt, GAZ-AAA Model 1943 Cargo truck (35133) TANK resin figures (several items) MiniNatur (several items) Model Scene (several items) Value Gear Details (several items)

The diorama elements were placed carefully to ensure a dynamic story.

Materials and Paints Used Hood glue, Deluxe Materials glue solutions, Heat isolation foam, Wood base, Injected plastic, Resin parts, Plastic card, Metal parts, Vallejo primers, acrylics and thinners, MIG Productions oils, washes, pigments, filters and thinners, Graphite soft pencil Plus Model Lead Wire. ✓ Great model from MiniArt. Lovely detail and accurate. ✗ Nothing worth mentioning. Available from MiniArt Kits are available from Creative Models Limited www.creativemodels.co.uk

Rating

The GAZ-AAA from MiniArt is a “ lovely kit that can be transformed into a stunning model even if it is built straight from the box...

”

The GAZ-AAA from MiniArt is a lovely kit even if it is built straight from the box.

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KIT PREVIEW

Bronco 1:35 Hungarian 75mm Assault Gun 44.M, Zyrini I • Kit No. CB-35121

Bill Wiseman examines the newest version of Bronco’s Hungarian armoured vehicle family, a 1:35 scale 75mm version of the Zrinyi Assault Gun.

LONG BARREL ZRINYI

B

uilt as a tank destroyer, wheel bogies to ensure they line the Zyrini I prototype up correctly and sit level. There was unveiled and tested are a lot of parts in this stage, so during 1943 but only one take your time and you’ll have no vehicle was produced, the rest problems. going to the production of the 10.5 The front plate is next, and variant. As Germany was supplying this contains the gun internal Hungary with much better vehicles element of the gun mount, which than they themselves could is nicely detailed as well. It is produce, this negated further best to leave the spare tracks development of the 75mm Zyrini I off till later on for the purpose and production ceased. of handling the kit during the When the kit arrived on the rest of construction. After doorstep I wasn’t sure what I adding the drive housings, the was in for, but Bronco has done sprockets may be added, which it again. Containing 13 sprues of are designed to rotate. The parts, 2 etched frets, string, a tracks can be added now or small decal sheet with Hungarian later if you wish. These simply national markings, and a bag of clip together when cleaned up tracks which simply clip together and work very well, articulating after clean up. Also provided is freely. The pins are small, so the a poster of the box art, which tracks won’t take a great deal of is nicely done. No flash or other rough handling, but fit perfectly blemishes were found on this around the running gear. There model, which has some very nice are also foundry marks present features on the kit parts. on the tracks, which is a nice Construction begins with the touch. I used 101 links per side as driver’s area, which is supplied per the kit instructions and this as a seat, steering linkages, foot worked fine. pedals and some boxes, but with The main hull is next on the references could be detailed agenda (stages 12 to 18), and is further with the usual wiring a rivet-encrusted dream. All the and such. hatches are separate, allowing the Moving on to the running gear, aftermarket people to weave their you need to take care here as the assembled wheel mounts are designed to articulate. The detail here is really very nice with manufacturer’s markings on the road wheels included. Make sure you check the alignment of the assembled Two generous photo-etched frets are included.

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magic and provide an engine and other internal components. There are some rivets to add to certain areas of the rear deck, and these need to be shaved from sprues A and B. Use a new blade to ensure clean removal of the rivets, but take care to avoid cutting yourself. It’s worth noting that the exhaust pipes have hollowed ends, which can be deepened if desired. All the add-on parts such as the tools are rendered very nicely, and a bonus touch is the inclusion of an MG 34 with snail drums and their mounts, as well as a belt of ammo. The feed cover is a separate part, and the MG features an open muzzle. The main gun is pretty much the last stage of construction, and is reasonably well detailed. The main barrel is a one piece moulding, and has a multi-part muzzle brake added to it, which looks very good. Viewed from the open hatches, it fills the area very well, and the included detail is more than adequate. The final stage of the kit is the addition of the headlights and other fittings, and all these components add considerably to the look of the finished model. The recommended colour for this vehicle is olive green, but there may be more options. Check your references prior to getting out the airbrush. Bronco has done a superb job with this kit, and has once again supplied the modeller with an unusual subject choice. It is refreshing to see manufacturers take a punt with vehicle kits like this, and I hope that there will be even more esoteric subjects from this company in the future. Highly Recommended. ■

An all-new sprue provides a new mantlet.

The new ball mount for the narrower 75mm gun.

The 75mm gun barrel.

The rivet-encrusted one-piece upper hull – nice!

The lower hull is also provided as one piece.

Suspension components.

Thanks to Bronco for the review kit www.bronco-model.com

Individual track links.

13/11/2013 14:06

NEW in the ‘HOW TO BUILD...’ series OUT NOW ‘How To Build… Tamiya’s Aircraft’, is the latest addition to this popular series of modelling titles and as such, offers the enthusiast plenty of inspirational builds, hints, tips and techniques to enjoy.

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12/11/2013 09:38

BUILD PREVIEW

ICM 1:35 Typ 770K (W150) Tourenwagen • Kit No. 35533

ERRATA In the last issue of MMI, we repeated the second page of Graham's "Leader's Car" and did not provide the third concluding page. Here is the three page Build Preview in its entirety.

Graham Tetley builds ICM’s 1:35 scale ‘WWII German Leader’s Car’.

THE FUHRER’S FLIVVER N

ewly arrived from ICM is this 1:35 scale model which is marked as ‘WWII German Leader’s Car – you know, the guy with the strange moustache and haircut whose surname began with ‘H’. This version is very plush as you would expect for Adolf’s car and, as far as I am aware, it is the only one currently available in plastic. We are presented with approximately 235 parts moulded in tan coloured plastic. These

Top: Front wheels drilled & pinned. Above: Front suspension & engine.

Here’s the engine fixed to the chassis.

are spread over five sprues with one being clear plastic. Moulding quality is good with no imperfections on my sample. In style and level of detail, it reminds of an Italeri kit from the 1970s, but what we have here is quite nice. A set of decals is provided that includes various pennants but, you have guessed it, we have no swastikas. Just as you cannot use ‘H’s name on the box top, nor can you now include swastikas for historical accuracy. You will

have to raid your spare decals unfortunately. Not so long ago I had in my kit collection a Tokyo Marui kit from the 1970s of ‘Hitler’s Staff Car’ that came with a saluting Hitler figure and swastikas. How times have changed. The instructions are very clearly drawn with construction is split over 27 steps. For painting, we have Testor’s Model Master numbers quoted, but there is nothing unusual that cannot be replicated from anyone else’s range.

Completed chassis.

Just add plumbing.

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A Thousand Year Kit? So, let’s see how it goes together. We kick off with the engine, which is adequately detailed, but it would benefit from some plumbing. This fixes to the one-piece chassis that thankfully keeps everything straight and level. Moving on to the suspension, this is moulded in one position only but seeing as what the kit is representing this isn’t too much of a problem. The front suspension is added in Step 5 and here is the main problem. The sprue attachment points are really heavy and it is almost impossible to remove parts like the steering rod from the sprue without having them shatter. The front steering however will require a lot of surgery if you want the wheels turned. The main reason for this is that the all the tie-rods are moulded in one position and the all the holes for the parts to position in are square, not round. Also, the method of attaching the front wheels to parts C32 and C33 is poor and, as you can see from the photos, I had to drill and pin the parts. We finish the lower chassis by assembling the exhaust, rear axle and fuel tank. The way that the rear axle joins to the chassis is not too brilliant so make sure that Part C19 is firmly glued in place to give it some rigidity.

Wheels and Windows The tyres are nicely done, apart from the sprue attachment points filling in some of the tread detail. Each one is made of five separate parts that replicate the tyre tread. Bear in mind that this is not the type of car that would have worn tyres so go easy when you are carving away the attachment scars. Moving onto the body and chassis pan, we have some very basic and clunky clutch and accelerator pedals. Thankfully you can’t see much when assembled. The dashboard comes with decals for the various dials that brighten

it up somewhat. I encountered some fit issues when building the bodywork so here are a few construction tips: 1) When building the windscreen & body parts in Step 12, be mindful that the small tabs on parts B7 & B8 are designed to fit into the holes on the chassis. I found it best to remove them. 2) Fit the body panels assembled in Step 13 to the chassis pan before you do anything else. Their fit and locating points are very good and act as a great key for everything else. 3) You can also see from the photos that the fit of the front wheel arch part B18 to the running board parts B12 & B13 is not good. To be fair to ICM it is probably better if you don’t intend to leave the upper & lower body separate as I did. 4) There is also, I believe, a little design flaw in the way that the windscreen wipers have been tooled. You get location holes, but the wipers themselves have no corresponding pin. As you can see from the photos, I had to fill the holes with some plastic rod and the wipers will be fixed to these. The outer side doors are not separate pieces, but the inner ones are, so you will have to undertake surgery if you want them open. The inner doors have some rather basic detail so you may want to improve on these areas. Fit generally is very good and I managed to build my kit in sub-assemblies that can be easily broken down. A nice touch is that you can depict the windows wound up or down in any position you choose. On the underside you have to add the rest of the rear suspension. There are two springs, Parts C3 and C14 that affix to small holes in the chassis pan. Unfortunately, the fit is poor and also the location to part A21 is very vague. I clipped the chassis & body together then fixed the springs in place by gluing them to Part A21 as best as possible. A

Completed chassis underside.

Here you can make out the scars from sprue removal.

Rear axle and fuel tank.

Starting to take shape.

A dashboard fit for a Fuhrer.

Bonnet parts left seperate for painting.

Front seat sub-assembly. The wiper holes had to be filled with plastic rod. January 2014 - Model Military International 41

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BUILD PREVIEW

ICM 1:35 Typ 770K (W150) Tourenwagen • Kit No. 35533

B Chrome. But Not By Google.

of the bumper, bodywork and the Because a large part of this kit taillights will have to be masked. needs to be in chrome (if you want If you don’t want that, a painting the 1940 option), I have left the option for the vehicle in 1941 has it upper body separate from the all in gloss black. chassis. Full marks to ICM here The only option for the cover as the fit is perfect. If you want is to have it folded and the to do this for painting, you can representation of this isn’t very leave the front bumper separate convincing in my opinion. Judge from the body but attach all of for yourself by the photos, but I the chromed light assembly to it. will probably fashion a replacement ICM provide the option to fit either now that the photos are taken. a Notek light or a headlight – I Goering, Goering, Gone went for the headlight. The fit is As you can see from the overall not bad. My only criticism is that photographs, this builds up into the attachment points for the a tidy little vehicle. The only bits headlights to the mounts are a missing from the photographs are simple ‘indentation to pin’ method. the connections You could drill and from the engine to pin, but if you like the exhaust as they your clear headlights cannot be added as provided you will until the chassis see the pin inside. and upper body My headlights are joined. Whilst are only lightly there are some fit tacked in place, challenges, overall but I recommend a it goes together blob of superglue well. I liked the fact underneath to keep An example of the heavy sprue attachments. that the fit is good them fixed. enough to leave a There are two lot of it separate for painting and, smaller lights attached to the sides as such, there is room for super of the windscreen but the mounts detailing if you wish. There are (parts A32 & A33) I found too big some assembly niggles but nothing to fit into the corresponding holes. that ruins the overall build. They had to be filed down quite a For its asking price you do get bit to be fixed to the windscreen. your money’s worth. Now all we For all of these headlights we get need is a Leader figure to go with clear plastic lenses and, as you can it. Recommended. n see, I have left mine off pending painting. A lot of the parts to be chromed Thanks to ICM for the sample are separate, but areas such as www.icm.com.ua the windscreen, windows, parts

Front bumper and headlights ready for chrome.

These side parts are the key for the other body panels.

This is what makes a wheel.

Close up of the body panel.

Inner Door detail.

Any Beastie Boys in the house?

Make sure you fit the exhaust before the rear axle.

Nice decals. Shame about the missing swastikas.

42 Model Military International - January 2014

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12/11/2013 09:49

Tech Guide

- Tasca 1:35 M4A1 Sherman Kitbash (Kit No. 35-012)

ROLLING RECOVERY PART ONE – GETTING STARTED AND INTERIOR

Jim Wechsler kitbashes a 1:35 scale M32B1 Recovery Vehicle with a scratch built T1E1 Mine Roller and adds the vehicle to a scene. In this first instalment, Jim commences construction and adds an interior to his M32.

I

really hadn’t planned on buying the Tasca M4A1 kit since I had built that variant a few times over. You see, I have built 52 Shermans spanning the entire history of the tank. After thinking about it for a while, I realised that simply building this kit as a gun tank really didn’t get me excited. Then it dawned on me, it would make the perfect conversion base for an M32 Armoured Recovery Vehicle. I mean the old Italeri kit was just staring at me and screaming ‘I need a new hull, suspension, and transmission

SO WHAT’S IT GOING TO TAKE? cover!’ So there it was, my mega project. But then I got to thinking a little more. Why not go further? Let’s scratch build the T1E1 ‘Earthworm’ mine roller. But wait, there’s more. The M32 has two huge hatches on the turret structure that just scream ‘interior’. At last, my project has reached planning fruition, an M32 ARV w/T1E1 Mine Roller and a full interior.

Well I guess you can imagine that I’ll be needing a few things for this build. This photo gives you a good idea of what’s involved. Here’s the list: • Tasca M4A1 • Italeri M32 ARV • CMK M4A1 Interior • Verlinden M4 Radial Engine (hopefully) • Formations Tasca Suspension lock out set • Tiger Models .30 cal bow MG set • Armourscale .30 MG metal barrel (why not?) • RHPS ‘duckbills’ for the tracks (just to be different)

• Aber photo-etch anti-skid plates (for interior conversion work) • Two set of Verlinden Figures • Evergreen sheet, rod, and tube plastic • Many, many items that I’ll be pulling from my spares bin Yeah, this one’s gonna take a while.

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PREPARING THE HULL

CASTING THE HULL

The Tasca kit is a wonderful model but it is not really set up for an interior. There are a lot of ejector pin marks and some large recesses where the suspension mounts to the side of the hull. All these had to be filled and sanded smooth. One item I really needed to think through was the firewall between the fighting compartment and the engine bay. Tasca provides this part but without detail. CMK provides a very well detailed part but it is intended for use in the old Dragon M4A1 kit. The problem is that the Tasca part is a key piece of the hull assembly and acts like a jig to keep all of the other parts correctly aligned. So I didn’t want to simply leave it off because I was concerned that the lower hull would end up misaligned and then I’d have a hard time fitting it to the upper hull at a later stage. I ended up removing the locating channel on the hull bottom but not on the hull sides. My logic was that I could still use the Tasca part to make sure the location of the other pieces was correct. I could remove it later and replace it with the CMK part by not gluing it in place. But removing the location channel on the lower hull would have been very hard. The channels on the hull sides are easier to remove since there is direct access to them. Hope this works. Finally I removed the rivets from the outside of the hull. The Tasca kit represents a riveted lower hull but most Shermans had a welded hull. Normally I wouldn’t care too much and might have blown off this step. But I just bought Mission Models’ Microchisel and I was dying to try it out. It worked great and I popped off the rivets cleanly with only a light sanding required afterward.

Technically, the cast texturing on the Tasca kit is pretty close to scale. The problem is that once painted it really doesn’t look textured. So I decided to add a heavier cast texture. I’ll take the hit for technical accuracy since I believe that some allowances must be made for the scaling effects of replicating something in 1/35 of its original size. I did the texturing using a liquid cement, in this case Tenax. The method is pretty simple. Just brush the Tenax on a section and then, while it’s still wet, stipple the area with a stiff brush. You can control the amount of texturing by varying how hard and long you stipple the wet Tenax. I’ve been using this method since I read about it and have never had a problem. What’s great is that it’s very easy to control and if something goes a little wrong, you can sand it down and redo it. Once dry (usually overnight) I gave the model a light sanding to smooth off the high points and the result is a nice, soft textured look.

LOWER HULL ASSEMBLY WITH A TRICK

REAR HULL FIXING

MOUNTING THE TRANSMISSION

My idea was to use the Tasca firewall as a jig to make sure the hull was correctly aligned and then remove it and replace it with the CMK one. It worked! I’m not that surprised really but I figured that’s when bad stuff can happen. But not this time. After I assembled the hull and before the glue was completely dry I pulled the Tasca firewall out. Once everything was dry I used my Microchisel to shave off the locating guides and the CMK firewall fit right in. Making sure the firewall fits the upper hull is a crucial task. Doing it at this stage is the easiest way. Both the CMK and Tasca parts are too short with about a 0.04 inch (1 mm) gap. You can’t miss it, especially from the engine compartment so it has to be fixed. I just added a 0.04 X 0.04 inch styrene bar and sanded it smooth. It’s a simple fix at this stage but a near impossibility later on. Planning, planning, planning.

When I decided to shave off the rivets to convert the lower hull to a more common welded one, I also had to fix the rear hull. The riveted hull had an angle plate that connected the rear hull to the lower hull. The welded one had a rounded fairing. I just glued a plastic rod of about the right diameter, added a couple strips of plastic, puttied the whole thing smooth and considered it close enough.

So finally it was time to mount the transmission to the lower hull. The Tasca parts fit great but there was a small gap between the hull side wall and the transmission walls. Even though the parts are separate in real life, I filled the gap on the model since it looked too large for 1/35 scale. I then mounted the transmission housing wall from CMK to the inside. I was a little worried about this since the CMK set is designed for the old Dragon M4A1 but surprisingly the fit was perfect. Wow, it sure seemed to take forever to get the basic parts of the lower hull completed. But hopefully the extra work at this stage will payoff with easier assembly of the interior parts.

THE SCRATCH BUILDING BEGINS This may seem like a strange time to start scratch building the mine rollers. But my logic is that I really don’t want to be manipulating the hull too much once I’ve got the interior in it. Sure I’ll mount everything securely, but it’ll still be a little fragile and getting the mine roller attachment mated up to the transmission cover is a complex task that involves a lot of rotating the hull. So now seemed like the time to do it. Well my biggest problem is that I don’t have a set of drawings for the mine roller so I’ve got to make a best estimate from the photos. The basic mounting system is a large hexagonal beam that is mounted to the transmission cover with two large supports. The hexagonal beam represented a serious challenge. It needs to be about 1/4 inch across the faces (which I learned is the way hexagons are measured). None of the typical styrene manufacturers (Evergreen, Plastruct, etc) make a hex beam or tube in anything like that size. In fact, I surfed the internet and found no plastic beams available other than in Nylon and Teflon, two materials that are extremely hard to glue. I did find an Aluminum beam that I bought in a 12 inch segment. Aluminum is a tough material to use since it’s pretty strong and you can only use Krazy Glue. After getting it, I decided that it would be too tough to use. So I thought about making a hexagon from strips of sheet plastic. Possible but seriously complex to keep the hex shape. And then, just by chance I noticed that I had an old disposable pen that was moulded in a clear hex tube. So I went to the stationary store to look for them. I couldn’t find any pens but I did find the mechanical pencils shown in the picture. I invested a whopping 4 USD for the package. I’ll end up using 2 or 3 of them and my kids will get a pencil bonanza. Whatever type of plastic is used, I believe acrylic, seems to work great with all of the typical plastic glues I have so this turned out to be a great solution. The rest of the support brackets were made out of 0.060 inch plastic sheet. This is a thick plastic which is tough to cut so I had to use a Dremel motor tool to cut and shape these parts. Once mounted I ran weld lines in the joints since I’m pretty sure the real one wasn’t glued together! Finally, I used 0.020 inch sheet plastic for the thinner parts and thankfully they were simple to make and shape. January 2014 - Model Military International 45

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Tech Guide

- Tasca 1:35 M4A1 Sherman Kitbash (Kit No. 35-012)

More Scratch Building

Engine

Well after the last step I thought I’d be ready to start installing the interior parts. But when I looked at the Verlinden engine parts I was stuck on the main engine support bracket. It’s a super thin part mounted on a very thick backing. Try as I might, I couldn’t think of a way to remove the backing without destroying the part. The part is about 0.010 inches thick and the flanges around the outside are so thin that you can see though them. I finally decided it would be better to scratch build a replacement part. I used the dimensions from the Verlinden part and adjusted the width to match the hull of the Tasca kit. Cutting out the ring took forever. The final results are okay but not perfect. I just don’t have the right tools to cut a circle that big so I had to do it by hand. Fortunately, most of it will be buried under wiring and other components. What a time consuming job this turned out to be.

So it is finally time to assemble the engine. The Verlinden engine set is very nice. It has excellent details and a reasonable parts count. About the only real hassle was removing the two semi-circular exhausts from their large pour blocks. I needed a motor tool to accomplish that. Once I’d put the engine together, I had to do some careful aligning of the upper shroud. First off, there no clear mounting location on the engine so I used my references as best as I could to see where to mount it. Second, I had to make sure that I could position the engine in the engine bay such that the edge of the shroud would align with the forward section of the engine cover plate on the hull. I only plan to have the rear access plate swung forward and the forward one still mounted to the hull which is the more common ‘in service’ position for engine access. So the forward cover plate is actually bolted to the shroud where the bolt holes are located. In addition, I had to make sure that the height of the shroud was such that it just mated to the cover plate. Too low and it would look odd to see a gap. Too high and the cover plate wouldn’t fit to the hull. I took a number of measurements and determined that I need to add a 0.040 inch (1 mm) shim to the bottom of the lower engine mounting wall. I also added a 0.020 inch (0.5mm) shim to the engine output shaft to set the engine the right distance for and aft. Finally I added two shims to both the shroud and the engine mount to get them to fit left and right. The Verlinden set is designed for the Tamiya kit and there’s a notable width difference internally. The left shim was 0.030 inch (0.75mm) thick and the right one was 0.040 inch (1mm) thick. Although a bit of work, all this adjusting has left me with an engine module that fits snuggly to the engine bay and is really easy to align which will make future work quite a bit more simple.

Engine Wiring Wiring the engine turned out to be less of a job than I’d thought. I used three sizes of wire. The biggest is 0.020 inch lead solder wire. The middle size is 0.010 inch lead solder wire and the smallest is very thin wire I unwound from the wire you can buy for home stereo speakers. This is really great for fine wire since it’s very flexible yet strong. I used a number of photos, mainly from the Squadron ‘Walk Around’ series to run the wiring a best as I could match it.

Engine Bay

Drive Shaft and Firewall

I moved on to the engine bay simply to finish up the Verlinden set. Yes I’ve still got to do the wiring but a little procrastinating never hurt anyone. About the only challenge in the engine bay was to cut away the fuel tanks from the Verlinden firewall since I’d used the CMK part. Not hard but time consuming. After that it was just a matter of adding the fire extinguishers, junction box, and some wiring. Truth be told, very little is visible with the engine installed and the forward engine deck cover in place. One thing I did add was a small 1/8 inch plug to the air filters to get them to mate to the ducts I’d added to the engine.

With the engine complete, I turned to the rest of the hull. The M32 is built off an M4A1 Sherman hull so the drive shaft, transmission and related items are all the same. So it made sense to start the interior using these items from the excellent CMK interior set. At this time, I’ve only added the items in the set. Later I’ll add some additional detail and fit the M32 specific parts.

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Transmission Most of this is also from the CMK set. I’ve seen several variations of the fittings on the transmission, both in Shermans and in the M32. One variant I’ve seen is for the centre periscope holder to be removed and a large compass mounted on the upper hull in its place. But I like this version so I decided to stick with the CMK pieces. I did add a few additional items. First, I mounted the two Tommy guns into their brackets. These are included in the CMK set but not indicated for use. The guns’ ammo clips were removed since the photos I have don’t show them mounted. I did add the tie down strap to each one using left over parts from an Eduard photo-etch set. Also, I decided to add two periscopes to the holder box. The box can actually hold 4 but I’m going to show the other two in the hull hatches. The periscopes were left over from a Tiger Models hatch set. There’s also the drivers bad weather hood that mounts on top of the periscope holder box but that will be added later since it has clear items that I don’t want to accidentally paint. Finally I added a short belt of ammo coming out of the 0.30 cal MG ammo box. This would be fed into the bow MG but I chose to leave it hanging since the vehicle will be under going maintenance. I didn’t have a 0.30 cal ammo belt so I made this one using the 0.50 cal ammo in the Tasca MG set and trimming it to the right width. It may not be perfect but it’ll do the trick, especially since it’ll be buried deep in the guts of the vehicle.

Driver’s Station The CMK parts are really nice and need little work. I did add the cable and junction box to the right track lever and the seat lifting handle. I made the ball on the end of the handle by dipping the plastic rod in epoxy and letting it dry while held vertically.

Driver’s Sponson The equipment mounted on the sponsons is a little different than that on an M4A1 Sherman since the M32 doesn’t need to carry any of the ammo racks. The driver’s sponson is probably the least different since the dashboard is still in the same place. So the CMK item was easy enough to use. The actual dash is a photo-etch item that I’ll add after painting. But I did add the wiring behind the dash even though most of it isn’t visible once the upper hull is in place. There’s also a small post that runs from the lower hull up to the upper hull. Just aft is now a fire extinguisher that I lifted from an Academy Achilles kit. Aft of that is a small stowage box that is mounted on the right co-driver’s sponson in the M4A1. I’m not sure if this is accurate because I don’t have a good photo of that area but it seemed close based on the photos I do have. I also added some additional details on the inside of the lower hull. First I added the nuts that hold the front bogie in place. These were made using a punch and die so it was pretty easy. Then I ran a cable along the lower hull based on the reference photos I have. Finally, I added a small, square piece of sheet plastic which is where the placard is located. That will be a decal I’ll add after painting.

Co-Driver’s Sponson Since the M32 turret doesn’t have a place for the radio, it iwas now moved to the co-driver’s sponson, replacing the ammo box on the M4A1. I lifted the radio from the Academy Achilles kit (yes it’s a British tank but the radio in it is the US radio). The area in front of the radio is open but I’m going to add a 0.30 cal ammo box that a co-driver might stash there. As in the last chapter, I added the bogie nuts and a small cable based on reference photos. The small, white holder mounted on the lower hull I believe is for holding a periscope so it might not be correct since I’ve also used the periscope holders that are mounted over the transmission.

Fighting Compartment – Right Sponson The sponsons in the fighting compartment are dominated by large tool drawers on each side. The Italeri kit’s part on the right side is reasonably accurate except for being about 5mm too long. So I cut off the front 5mm and added sheet plastic to fill in the side and the area in the lower left. I didn’t do much work on the lower left area because it will be blocked by the machine gunners platform. I did replace the grab handle on the large upper box with one I made from a photo-etch ‘sprue’. I also remade the holder for the 0.50 cal ammo box that’s on the front of the tool drawers. Aft of the tool drawers are two small boxes that appear to be welded to the sponson. I made these out of sheet plastic and left over photo-etch clasps. Behind them is an open area that was probably used for personal stowage. So I’m going to add a wood box with some wine bottles and an oil tin for some additional colour inside the vehicle.

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Tech Guide

- Tasca 1:35 M4A1 Sherman Kitbash (Kit No. 35-012)

Fighting Compartment – Left Sponson The Italeri tool drawers on the left side are a mirror image of the right ones and unfortunately are not accurate. So I had to scratch build new ones. The tool drawers on the left sponson consist of 16 drawers and a large centre section that folds down and forward. I built the whole thing out of sheet plastic and some left over photo-etch grab handles. The grab handles aren’t perfect but I figured they’d look better than if I attempted to make 16 mini-handles of the same size. Just behind the tool drawers is the holder for two Jerry cans from the CMK set. And just behind that is the figure extinguisher. I made that by cutting the CMK twin extinguishers in half. In case you’re wondering why it’s already painted and weathered, it’s because I had it left over from a previous Sherman build. This is a beautiful part that is completely blocked by the turret basket in the Sherman so I didn’t install and instead saved it for another use. Turned out to be a good idea.

Fighting Compartment – Floors I decided to build the floors for the fighting compartment before the winch so I could be sure of the dimensions I’d be able to use for the winch. Had I done it in reverse, there would have been a real possibility of the winch not fitting correctly and that could have cost me a lot of time. There are two floors in the fighting compartment. The lower one is called the crew floor and raised one is called the machine gunner’s platform. Italeri moulds these as a single part with a step. The Italeri part actually looks OK and if you’re not going nuts, it’s workable. But I wanted to represent the floors as two pieces so I had to scratch build them. The lower floor is just a sheet of 0.020 inch plastic with some Aber tread pattern laid on it. In looking at the photos I have of real M32s, I’ve noticed that the anti-slip pattern on the two floors is often different. My guess is that it was done to give the crew a visual reference where the step is located. Fortunately, Aber makes a close representation of the ‘dot’ type tread plate that is commonly seen on the crew floor. So I cut out two sheets of the photo-etch and glued them to the sheet plastic. I also added a grab handle to each section based on the photos I have. These are retractable and thus lay flat when not being used. I didn’t bother to build the support structure since it can’t be seen. Instead I simply glued 4 small pieces of angle plastic to the hull sides so the floor can rest on it. Then I added the support bars at the front of the fighting compartment and the small angle bar with the bolt holes that’s on the bracket by the rest of the crew floor. The machine gunner’s platform is a three part hinged item that can be folded up when removed. So I’ll probably just have it lying on the crew compartment floor. I also scratch built the two small bins that go on each side of the winch. The one on the right (top of the photo) holds spare 0.030 cal ammo boxes for the bow gun. I’m not sure what the other holds.

Winch So my plan for the winch was to just build what could be seen under the machine gunner’s floor. But once I got started, I just couldn’t stop. There are a bunch of excellent photos in the Technical Manual and I’ve also got some good shots of the real thing. Well I ended up scratch building the whole thing and even though it took forever, I really enjoyed it. It’s all just tubes and sheet plastic plus a few rivets and bolts using my punch and die. Well that wraps up the lower interior work. Phew, what a long job it turned out to be.

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Upper Hull Interior In the real M32 there are actually quite a few items attached to the interior of the upper hull. But I did a careful check with the upper hull set on top of the lower hull and determined that nearly all of them cannot be seen so there didn’t seem much reason to model them. In fact, the only items that are really visible are the fixed periscope mounts in front of each hatch and the bow machine gun. I used some left over periscope mounts from a Tiger Models set since they are quite nicely cast and about the only one’s I know of in resin (there are several photo-etch sets too). The bow machine gun is from the Tiger Models set of the same name. The Tiger Models set is really more for the M3 Stuart so in the end I only used the spare .30 cal MG. I did replace the barrel with a metal one from Armour Scale and I salvaged the ball mount from the 0.30 cal MG that comes in the Tasca kit.

Painting the Engine For a change of pace I decided to paint the engine. It took me a while to think through how to do this. There are so many colours in such a small space that I really wanted to get the order right or else I’d be going back to touch up constantly. To start with, I painted the whole engine in Model Master Metalizer Gun Metal. Once dry, I then painted the mounting shroud flat black and then panel faded in the grey. This was probably a waste of time since it’s almost entirely covered by the engine deck. Then I touched up the gun metal by hand and dry brushed the gun metal areas first with Model Master Metalizer Dark Anodonic Grey and then Model Master Metalizer Aluminum. With the basics done, I decided to work from the shroud outward. I painted the engine cylinder exhaust outlets (the large circular tubing) in Model Master Metalizer Burnt Metal which is a good representation of the colour I can see in the photos that are in the Squadron Walk Around book on the M4 Sherman. I dry brushed these parts in Aluminum. Then I painted the support brace. First I painted it in a neutral grey and once dry in flat white. I needed two coats of flat white to get decent coverage since hand painting white is a very tough job and getting coverage is nearly impossible. I then dry brushed both the white brace and the grey shroud with flat black. This gives a worn look and I think it best matches the photos I have of a real engine installed in the bay. Moving outward, I painted the various cabling in flat black, Model Master Metalizer Burnt Iron (a deep copper colour), and red based on the photos. At the same time I picked out a couple of areas in the centre of the engine in Dark Anodonic Grey and again dry brushed in Aluminum. Moving down a bit, I painted the battery in black as well as the baffles that connect the air filter exhausts to the engine. These were dry brushed in Dark Grey. The piping from the air filters was painted in Aluminum based on photos. Then, I painted the engine exhaust piping on the top of the engine in dark grey and dry brushed in first in a lighter grey and then in Model Master Dunkelgrau which is a tan/grey colour. I can’t tell for sure but I believe that this part of the exhaust has a shroud of some type wrapped around it which gives it this colour. Finally, I painted the actual exhausts with a product called ‘Instant Rust’. It’s a paint with powdered Iron in it. Once dry, you treat it with an acid (that comes with) and it actually rusts. I gave it a couple rounds of acid until I got the colour I liked. Then I added a very tiny amount of Mig Pigments Standard Rust to enrich the colour a little more. With the painting done, I gave the whole engine a wash of Raw Umber oil paint to blend it all together and give it a grimy, dirty look.

Preparing the Turret Before I could start to build the interior of the turret, I had to do a lot of preparation to get it ready. First, I had to shave off all of the tooling marks and other moulding items that litter the inside of the turret. Basically, the turret shell is just a series of steel plates welded together so both the inside and outside are pretty smooth. Getting the inside smooth was a pretty tedious job that involved multiple rounds of shaving, puttying, and sanding but I think I got it. On the outside, there are two important jobs. First was to open up the holes for the winch cable. There’s a simple, rectangular one at the base of the rear turret plate. The other is in the front top of the turret as seen in the picture. One point here, the Italeri kit gives you a housing for the winch front cable door that is much small than the opening I created. As far as I can tell, the Italeri parts are more representative of the very early model M32s and most have the wider housing that I’ll now need to scratch build. With the holes opened, I then proceeded to add the turret welding using 0.010 inch styrene rod. I softened it using Tenax and then used a putty knife to press in the weld pattern. Fortunately I have number of good photos showing where the welds go so it was just a matter of patience. Lastly I added the hex bolts that hold the turret to the hull. I wasn’t sure of the exact pattern because the photos I have only show the 4 in the front and the 2 just past. So I assumed the pattern would be followed all the way around the turret.

Front Winch Housing I have no idea if this is the correct terminology for this assembly. But basically this chapter deals with the large, welded parts on the front of the turret that allow for a door to be opened so the main winch cable can be passed through. The Italeri kit gives you a small piece for this which represents the original design that can be seen in the Technical Manual and prototypes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to have been used on many of the production vehicles. That would have made this build too easy. So instead I had to scratch build the housing. Thankfully I have a number of detailed photos so I could see how it is laid out. It took me a while to make the two side parts (the big triangular pieces) because it’s quite tough to determine the right angles to get the top flat. Once I’d done that I made the door and used it as a template for positioning the triangular parts on the turret. Doing this insured that the width was just right so the door would fit tightly. But the ends of these pieces have a step so the door can rest on them while opened (its easier to see in the picture). I made this by gluing on a piece of 0.020 inch strip plastic and then sanding it flush to the outside walls. With that done, I added two top triangular parts and used some putty to get all of the parts to be faired to each other and the turret. Once complete, I added the welding. There is a large weld along the outside of each housing as well as a small weld along the top where the top part is attached to the side part. With the housing complete, I glued the door in place and made the hinges. They are a strip of 0.015 inch plastic added to the door, a 0.040 X 0.040 bar for the triangular piece attached to the turret below the door and a 0.030 rod for the hinge itself. Then I added the small flanges and pins on the inside of the door. I was shocked when I realised that this little assembly ended up being 17 parts and 6 welds! Oh, and there is another door on the back side of the turret. Fortunately, that one is just a rectangular plate so I didn’t have to make the housing, just the door, the hinges, and the flanges.

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Tech Guide

- Tasca 1:35 M4A1 Sherman Kitbash (Kit No. 35-012) AMMO AND RACKS Inside the turret are four ammo racks. Three are for the 81mm mortar ammo and the fourth (back, left side) is for the 0.50 cal MG ammo. The racks that come with the Italeri kit are not accurate and they don’t come with ammo, just the racks, so I had to scratch build them. First I made the ammo tubes for the mortar ammo out of 1/8” plastic rod. I scribed a ring about one third of the distance from the top to simulate the cap on the tube. The front two ammo racks are on the curving portion of the turret and contain 3 rounds each. I was able to get the right curvature by simply tracing the turret onto a post-it note to make a template. Simple but effective. The rack is just 0.020 inch sheet plastic with a 0.010 inch piece of strip plastic on the edges to simulate the lip. In looking at the detailed photos I have of the M32, it seems that the ammo is held in place by a set of ‘fins’ that are welded to the turret and act to keep the ammo upright. The rounds are then secured by a large strap that goes all the way around them and is attached to the turret. The same layout is also used for the five round mortar ammo rack that is mounted on the flat part of the right side of the turret. Instead of trying to mount the rack and the fins to the turret and then add the ammo and straps later, I decided to make them into assemblies which I’ll paint separately and attach afterwards. This will be much easier since the ammo tubes I believe were painted black so it would have been tough to paint them if they were already mounted inside the turret. The fins are just some 0.010 inch strip of plastic and the straps are lead foil. I built the racks for the 0.50 cal MG ammo in the same way. The only difference is that the strap for the 0.50 cal MG ammo is looped through little tie downs mounted on the turret between each ammo box. To simulate this I simply put the lead foil straps around each ammo box. You can’t see far enough to the back of the ammo rack to know that the tie downs aren’t there. So this was a pretty straight forward but time consuming job. But these are very prominent items inside the turret so I wanted to get them right.

PULLEYS AND MOUNTS

SEATING FOR FIVE

Inside the front and back winch access doors is a pulley wheel on a mount. This is so the winch cable can pass over it and out through the access door. The pulley sits on a rod and can slide left to right should the load be slightly off centre. The rod is attached to two flanges welded to the turret. Scratch building this was tough. First off, I didn’t have a punch and die of big enough diameter for the pulley wheel. So I had to use a circle template and score through the sheet plastic until it came loose. I needed two of these pieces for each of the two pulleys. Clean up took forever. Fortunately, I did have a big enough punch and die for the inner part and the two side plates. So I glued all of these parts together and then sanded the inside of the larger disks to get the angle shape of a pulley. It’s not perfect but it’ll be OK I think. Then I ran a 0.0625 inch rod through the pulley and glued the pulley in the middle. I made the flanges out of 0.030 strip plastic cut to shape. Finally, I added the disk on the outside of the flange. On the other side is a slightly larger disk and four small hex bolts. So both assemblies consist of 14 parts. Yeeesh, 28 parts for these two little items. But they are clearly in view through the turret openings so I had to get them right.

There are five seats in the fighting compartment of the M32. Four are mounted to the turret rings and the last one (shown unmounted in the middle) is located just above the rear pulley/winch access door. The Italeri kit comes with two seats and they are not accurate. Fortunately, the CMK interior set I’ve been using has the folding seat that goes above the pulley/winch access door. I’ll have to paint it loose since there would be no way to paint the cushion if I installed it. The two rear seats came from an old Verlinden Sherman interior set and I mounted them on a piece of 0.030 inch strip plastic. These seats are mounted so that they can fold down to get them out of the way when not in use. The front two seats are scratch built. I very slowly cut out the circles to make both the seat frame and cushion. Then I added the support brackets to the seat. These seats are mounted on a post and can be rotated to get them out of the way. All said and done, another time sucker but again, these are super visible items so I wanted to get them right.

TURRET INTERIOR DETAILS The last bits of work on the interior are the small details through out the turret. The three cream coloured boxes are for grenades. I found three boxes of about the right size and with the right latching and decided to use them. No sense scratch building something when my spares boxes is full! The other parts are part of the intercom system. There are actually two more junction boxes on the front, inside of the turret to the left and right of the winch pulley. I found these parts in the Verlinden Sherman interior set that I’ve been stealing from. I connected them with solder wire and used small strips of lead foil to represent the attachment brackets for the wires. In addition, there are a number of parts that I’ll paint separately. The big one is a fire extinguisher from the CMK interior set. Also to be added are a first aid box, canteens, flashlights, and a binoculars case all of which come from various Verlinden sets except the flashlights which I bought from Tiger Models. So that’s it for the interior construction. Now on to painting.

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INTERIOR PAINTING – THE BASICS Wow, hard to believe that after all of this time I’ve made it to the painting stage. I was surprised when I looked back and saw that I’d started this build nearly 9 months ago! I knew this was going to be a long build but I had no idea it would be this long. But I’m committed to completing it so I’m pressing forward. I painted the interior first in neutral grey. This served two purposes. First, it’s a great colour to highlight problems. Second, it’s a good colour to act as a base for panel fading in the white which I did next. Once that was done, I painted the rear hull and the back of the inside of the upper hull in Olive Drab over a flat black base. I painted these areas now so I could avoid painting them later when other parts are installed (like the engine and exhausts) and hard to protect from overspray. I’ll end up fully finishing and weathering the rear hull prior to installing the engine since this will be a lot less work than masking later.

INTERIOR PAINT CHIPPING

INTERIOR WASH

I’m not a big fan of heavy paint chipping on armour interiors unless the vehicle is pretty old. I’ve climbed in a Sherman and a Stuart that still have their original paint and even now, 65 years later, they don’t have the massive amount of chipping that you can see on a lot of models. The M32 I am modeling would have been 1 or 2 years old in later 1944 so I’m keeping the paint chipping to a modest level. What I have seen on vehicles is that the bulk of the wear and tear seems to occur on the edges and raised areas where boots and boxes, etc. are dragged and rubbed over them. Fortunately, there is an easy way to represent this type of wear. Just dry brush with flat black. This might sound too simple but it works really well. Make sure the brush is really dry and repeat until you get the amount of wear that you want. I like to go heavier in some areas than others to get a random look to the final result.

One of the problems with a white interior is that adding a general wash tends to result in a light grey interior. Instead I’ve found that it’s better to use a small brush and run a tiny bit of wash in the various cracks and corners. The only draw back is that it takes forever. But the result is better. I made up the wash using thinned Raw Umber oil paint (about 20% paint to 80% thinner). Then I got a little on my brush and just touched the model in the corners and/or cracks and let it run along. Occasionally I had to use a tissue to wipe off excess but for the most part it was a pretty clean process.

INTERIOR COMPLETE

NEXT TIME

About all I had left to do on the interior was to glue all of the pieces in place. I did wrap the main winch cable around the drum and I’ll leave the rest coiled on the floor until I finish painting the exterior. My last step was to use a pencil to add a little ‘metalizing’ to key places, most notably the fighting compartment floor. ■

Next time Jim scratch builds the big mine roller, paints and weathers the vehicle and adds it to a scene.

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MVPA 2013 SHOW REPORT

MVPA 2013

Scott Taylor visits the 38th annual Military Vehicle Preservation Association Show, held in Portland Oregon during July 2013.

T

he Military Vehicle Preservation Association returned to Portland, Oregon, for its 38th annual Military Vehicle Preservation Association Annual Convention, which was held on July 25-27, 2013. This was the fourth time the Military Vehicle Collectors Club of Oregon has hosted the convention in Portland. If this show was any indication, the Pacific Northwest is a rich area for vintage military vehicles, because there was a fascinating variety of vehicles on display. The vehicles ran the gamut from military bicycles and hand carts all the way up to huge trucks and armoured vehicles. One of my favourites was the original prototype of the Gama Goat 6x6 amphibious truck, dating back to 1960. William Janowski, a member of the Chance Vought Gama Goat development team, restored this vehicle and brought it all the way from Nevada to the show. I don’t know how much of the new Tamiya kit you’d be able to use if you wanted to model the Gama Goat prototype, but it’s tempting! Another rarity was Robert Shoen’s Willys 1943 MT-TUG, one of only 17 6x6 jeeps

produced. Other standouts included Steve Preston’s pristine M18 Hellcat tank destroyer, Steve Greenberg’s M3A1 Stuart light tank, and Steven Fisher’s BMW R75 motorcycle with sidecar and trailers from the Second World War era. The Oregon Military Museum brought along a very rare sight, a First World Warvintage Liberty Truck from its collection. Among the postwar vehicles, Dave Chaney’s pair of Cadillac-Gage wheeled armoured vehicles – a V100 Commando and a 1979 Commando Scout – garnered a lot of attention, as did his Chenoweth FAV. I also appreciated seeing a beautifully restored M75 armoured personnel carrier. In all, there were some 150 vehicles on display. There were a surprising number of foreignmade vehicles at this year’s convention. This was likely partially due to the show’s location close the Canadian border, which allowed Canadian HMV owners to bring their vehicles down to the convention. Many of those vehicles formerly served with the British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS), and the big Bedfords, Leyland-DAFs, and Reynolds-Boughtons provide an interesting comparison with their

Greg Buechler was one of the modellers manning the AMPS table. He brought along a number of his projects, including his Chilean M51 Sherman conversion and his IDF Mack tank transporter.

American counterparts. Other foreign-built vehicles on display included a number of SteyrDaimler-Putsch Haflingers and Pinzgauers and Mercedes Unimogs, as well as a nicely presented Soviet 1958 GAZ-69M radio vehicle.

Attendees at the barbeque at Camp White were treated to great food and a marvellous collection of historic military vehicles, including some 20 jeeps, in a picturesque setting.

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There’s a good chance that you will come across something at an MVPA convention that you either had no idea existed, or had never seen in the flesh before, like these auxiliary tracks for Steve Preston’s CCKW.

The V100’s interior offered lots of details for anybody planning to detail the Hobby Boss kit.

Dave Chaney also brought along one of the most exotic vehicles on display, this 1979 Cadillac-Gage Commando Scout. It is the only example known to be in the United States, and won a Gold in Motor Pool Ready Class.

Dave Chaney’s V100 Commando was meticulously restored to the original markings it wore in Vietnam, and won a Gold in Master Class.

The Portland Expo Center was jammed with historic military vehicles and vendors; this shows some of the vehicles in the hall.

An interesting aspect of this year’s convention was a pair of themed displays in the hall, one of which was centred around a Vietnam field command post while the other recreated Operation Caravan, the September 1942 Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) raid on the Italian airfield at Barce. The Vietnam field command post featured several vehicles, including a combat veteran Hughes OH-6A Cayuse scout helicopter that flew in to the Expo Center parking lot. The LRDG display’s centrepiece was a 1942 Chevrolet heavily modified and equipped to represent an LRDG radio vehicle, along with trio of suitably kitted out jeeps. The owners of these vehicles are always happy to talk about them and show them off to interested parties, so the MVPA convention is a

Not all of the vehicles at the show were restored. This Daimler Dingo had all of the parts there, but was obviously in need of some TLC.

great place for armour modellers to get in close and take figure out some of those intricacies of a vehicle that even the best books might not convey. I know I wasn’t the only modeller there shooting walkarounds of my favourite vehicles. Like the previous MVPA conventions I’ve attended, there were a number of side trips organised to attractions in the area. The Evergreen Air and Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, about an hour away from Portland, is most famous as the home of the colossal Hughes “Spruce Goose” flying boat, but also has a number of military vehicles in its collection, including half a dozen ex-Warsaw Pact tanks and wheeled vehicles. It’s definitely worth visiting if you are in the Portland area. Some convention attendees took a trip out to

Camp White, Lloyd White’s homestead in the shadow of Mount Hood, for a barbeque and a chance to look at Lloyd’s extensive collection of Second World War and postwar softskins, including some 20 jeeps. It’s not every day one gets to see a CCKW compressor truck in action, powering a radial saw that is cutting up logs. Although, unlike the Huntsville MVPA show in 2012, there was no AMPS regional show held in conjunction this year, AMPS did have a presence at the show. Mark Aldrich organised a display table, with models by himself, Gary Hoyt, and Greg Buechler on display. The models certainly attracted interest from conference attendees, and the vehicles in the room provided plenty for the modellers to look at – what one might call a ‘target-rich environment’

A

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SHOW REPORT

MVPA 2013

William Janowski brought along his unique 1960 Gama Goat prototype and displayed it to highlight the vehicle’s highly articulated suspension. It won a Silver in the Restored Class.

The DUKWs attracted a lot of attention (and some envy from boat owners waiting to launch their boats) as they used a boat ramp to drive into the Columbia River.

B for potential reference photos. Additionally,

there was lots in the vending area for modellers to shop for, from books and technical manuals to a variety of collectibles, all mixed in with original and reproduction military vehicle parts and equipment. There were even a few model kits for sale! Almost certainly the most memorable event at this convention was the ‘swimming of the DUKWs,’ a tradition of the MVPA conventions in Portland. A total of eight World War II-configured DUKWs loaded with lucky passengers took to the streets of Portland in convoy on their way to a nearby boat ramp to drive into the Columbia River (much to the envy of boat owners who were waiting to back their boat trailers in!). The DUKWs frolicked in the water and then drove up onto a beach, startling

some sunbathers, before heading back to the Expo Centre. It was a memorable experience for all involved, including a great many passers-by both on land and water who stopped to record this unusual sight. Next year’s MVPA convention will be held from June 6th to 28th at the Kentucky Expo Centre in Louisville, Kentucky. Hopefully there will be an AMPS regional contest at that show, to build upon the fruitful cooperation between AMPS and MVPA and encourage modellers and historic military vehicle restorers in North America to continue to share their interests, for there is an awful lot at these shows to interest armour modellers. ■

For more information on upcoming MVPA events, visit www.mvpa.org.

The vehicles on display are usually fully and authentically kitted out. Steve Preston’s immaculate M18 Hellcat was complete with driver’s hoods.

Like model shows, the MVPA convention included a competition. Unlike model shows, the judges sometimes need to use stepladders while examining the entries!

Mount Hood provided a striking backdrop for the DUKW swim in the Columbia River.

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The Oregon Military Museum brought along this great example of a First World War Liberty Truck.

Jack Valenti’s impressive conversion of a 1942 Chevrolet to an LRDG radio truck was the centrepiece of a diorama depicting the Barce Raid.

Lloyd White brought one of his three M2 halftracks to the show.

Fuel Tank: Steve Greenberg’s M3A1 Stuart had one of its external fuel tanks fitted, providing a wealth of details for modellers.

One of the side trips organized for convention attendees was to the Evergreen Air & Space Museum, home of the enormous Hughes H-4 Hercules, better known as the ‘Spruce Goose.’ The M75 armored personnel carrier is a very rare vehicle to see in private hands, let alone in fully restored running condition.

The Vietnam Field Command Post display included a Hughes OH-6A Cayuse helicopter that was a genuine combat veteran, having been shot down twice in Vietnam.

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Incoming

DEF MODEL

1:35 SCALE REPLACEMENT WHEELS VARIOUS

PLUS MODEL

1:35 SCALE US ARMY STAFF CAR KIT NO. 300

A great number of standard passenger vehicles were pressed into military service at the outbreak of World War II. Plus Model’s new release is labeled an US Staff car but the full title should really be “1938 Plymouth P5 US Staff Car”. I guess this simpler labeling has occurred because of licensing issues with the Chrysler Corporation. This Plymouth was a huge car and was well liked by the buying public not only in the US where over 75,000 were made in their various forms, and it was also exported widely. This new 1:35 scale model from Plus Model consists of 63 resin and 20 photo-etched parts together with an acetate sheet for the windows and a small decal sheet with three marking choices. All of the resin is well cast and devoid of pin holes or any other surface imperfections. The main body casting is a fine hollow unit with the front doors cast separately. The allimportant shape of the coachwork is captured very well. The bottom chassis is cast as a one-piece affair and fits snugly into the main coachwork with few or no gaps in evidence. The interior is well catered for, with all of the major components like the dashboard, seats and interior fitting presented to a high standard. The suspension is also handled very well with the leaf springs and steering hardware showing very fine detail. The wheels on this kit are cast and presented to a very high standard with and outstanding tread pattern in evidence. The hubcaps even have the Plymouth name embossed on them! Some may be put off by the price of this kit but in reality it is the only game in town. Sure, it not a more commonly seen Ford US Staff Car but it is done to such a high standard. This really sums up Plus Models really, always different always interesting. Highly Recommended. Thanks to Plus Models for the review sample www.plusmodel.cz Luke Pitt

We live in a modelling world that has changed. Traditionally, wheels have been a great source of frustration for many modellers, as most lacked detail and variation in tread pattern. Worse still, the inclusion of vinyl or rubber in some kits made removing mould lines an almost impossible task. In extreme cases, the tyre itself had a tendency to split over time as the source material would dry out. Great strides have been made over recent years with the likes of Dragon and Bronco including multi piece plastic wheels to accurately portray tread detail. Wheels and tyres however, come in lots of different sizes and shapes and this is where aftermarket wheel options come into play. DEF Model has become a premier replacement wheel manufacture. Not only do they offer a great product, but they also include a set of wheel masks for each replacement wheel set they sell. Three 1:35 scale wheel sets have been sent to us to review this time. They are: • L4500R Maultier “Continental” replacement wheels for the Zvezda kit. Item No. DW30021 • L4500R Maultier “Dunlop” replacement wheels for the Zvezda kit. Item No. DW30020 • Bussing Nag L4500S “Continental” replacement wheels for the AFV Club. Item No. DW30019 All of these sets have some very fine flash and a medium sized casting plug on each wheel. Unlike many others, these are not merely resin copies of the wheels they replace but rather and entirely new wheel. The detail on all the wheels is outstanding with finely rendered sidewall and tread detail in evidence on all examples. The wheels themselves are sagged for want of a better term. What this basically means is that each wheel has a flat spot on it where the wheel surface meets the ground. The effect is both subtle and very well done with an ever so slight bulge on each contact point. The inclusion of a wheel mask set in each set is welcome and really set these sets apart from the rest. All sets come highly recommended. Thanks to DEF Model for the samples www.defmodel.com Luke Pitt

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KIT PREVIEW

Trumpeter 1:35 Russian BRDM-2 Late • Kit No. 05512

Saul Garcia examines Trumpeter’s latest member of the 1:35 scale BRDM family – a -2 Late Version.

The lower hull part.

THIRD GENERATION BRDM-2

T

he BRDM-2 was an evolution of the BRDM-1, improving its mobility with a better engine, firepower with a turret, and capabilities such as infrared and operating in an NBC environment. In production from 1963 to 1989, replacing the BRDM-1 and offered for export. Widely exported, to over 38 countries, it has seen many variants during its production. Three production batches were produced. The first had trapezoidal engine hatches as on the previous Trumpeter kit. To improve ventilation, the second batch replaced these with rectangular openings covered with pivoting louvers. The third has baleen type mushroom shaped covers to prevent water from entering the engine compartment. Of course, there were several small changes to the hull such as stowage and the addition of doors on the rear hull to access stowage lockers. This is the sixth 1:35 scale polystyrene plastic kit of the BRDM-2 and the second of the late type with the third engine hatch design. Trumpeter has released an early model and the UM command model Dragon released a BRDM-2 (late model), BRDM-3 (9P137), SA-9 AA variants. There have been resin kits of the subject by Verlinden (under the Trophy Models label) and MB Models. Attractive box art covers a compartmentalised box with the sprues individually wrapped in heavy cellophane and the hull in its own partitioned section. This

area also houses the string, cable, polyester caps, and photo-etched brass fret. The instructions are easy to follow although their use of words takes some getting accustomed to. File/Sand is obvious but Repair is meant to Fill/Sand details. The plastic is the now familiar gray colored polystyrene, which is a touch flexible and easy to cut, sand, file. A fairly complete interior is included from the engine bulkhead forward, including the turret interior, although very little will be seen through the available hatches. The fighting compartment hatches can be positioned open although this is not offered in the instructions. The first step of construction covers the opening of holes, filling, filing off, and sanding of details to prepare the upper hull for the late features. While the filler hardens, we go to the lower hull tub in step two to add the wheel arches, sides, and some belly plate details. The belly wheels are built during the third step and the option to have them down (deployed) or up (stowed) is offered. The fourth step adds drive train details. The belly is completed in the fifth step and the hull tub flipped over as a floor pan is added along with the water jet. The next two steps cover the interior which is fairly complete but lacks color call outs on any of the items. Also, one adds the fighting compartment roof to the upper hull at step seven. Steps eight and nine continues the external detailing of the upper hull and mating of the upper and lower hull. From steps ten through

twelve, the external detailing is completed along with the road wheels. These are nicely done but they are polyvinyl and I plan to replace mine with the E.T. Models set. Step twelve also begins the construction of the turret interior. The thirteenth and final step covers the exterior of the turret and mating it to the hull. As mentioned, the last step are overall views of the completed model. Two sets of markings are provided. One is for a Bulgarian BRDM-2 in SFOR service and the second is in camouflage. No markings are shown but the decal sheet does include some Guards emblems and several sets of white numbers. Sadly, the Bulgarian serial should be in red instead of the supplied black. I really like this kit. It is far ahead of the Dragon model plus easier to build than the MB Models and Trophy Models resin kits. I am sure they are planning at least three more variants. I will venture to state I expect the second (middle production) engine hatch model, a Polish model (belly wheels removed and plated over with side egress doors), and the BRDM-3. ■

References Used

The one-piece upper hull.

The small turret.

Nice detail moulded onto hull parts.

Radio detail.

1. Russian Technical Manuals for the BRDM-2 2. BRDM-2, TBiU #24 by Janusz Magnuski (English pseudonym was James Grandsen) WMON (now Bellona Publishing) Warsaw 1975. 3. Russian Armored Cars; 1930-2000 by James Kinnear published by Greenhill Books, 2000. ISBN 1892848058

Interior floor, nicely moulded.

Trumpeter kits are distributed in the UK by Pocketbond Photo-etch and vinyl tyres.

The kit decal sheet.

The wheel hubs feature crisp detail. January 2014 - Model Military International 57

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1:48 Scale – A round-up of the latest news and releases

2013: A YEAR IN RETROSPECT W

hile I am quietly optimistic about the sales future and general acceptance of 1:48 scale, I believe it is up all who love this scale to promote it. The problem is, manufacturers are telling me that there is not the widespread acceptance (which translates into sales) that our larger brothers in 1:35 scale enjoy. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again - I firmly believe that if a range of high quality multi-pose plastic figures were available, then we may well see a change in that perspective. Some manufacturers have stalled while others have emerged. Plastic kits releases have been quite good with Tamiya again leading the way. Some of their releases have left me a little cold but one of the best in my opinion was the Sd.Kkz.232. Another plastic manufacturer that surprised was ACE. Their renditions of the GAZ family of sedans and BA armoured cars have been generally handled quite well and are a credit to them. While not in the same class moulding-wise as Tamiya, they offer plenty of scope for super detailing. The aftermarket producers have again raised the bar in terms of what they produce. A few new names have graced our review section and one of the best last year has been Balaton Model. Their sublime Ural-4320/ATZ-5 Fuel Tanker is truly is a work of art, it, really has it all: easy to build, low part count and great instructions. To my way of thinking this is the very thing a resin model should be. Complect Zip is another newcomer and their product is very good. Their wheel sets (reviewed last month) and track sets (reviewed this month ) are quite simply amazing. They make outstanding improvements to the kits they are designed for,. I dearly hope these enjoy good sales of their product, as it will only encourage them to produce more. DEF Models out of Korea continues to release 1:48 scale wheel updates and are nothing short of amazing. The attention to detail on these is breathtaking. Tank Workshop saw fit to release a number of conversions and full kits this year and by and large are very well done. The thing I like about their sets is that they are sensibly priced and offer outstanding value for money. Hauler continues to release photo-etched

updates for every new kit and are pretty much bullet proof in terms of what you really do need with a etch set. We have also seen some quite stunning full kits from this manufacturer this year, all of which are worthwhile purchases. Gasoline from France has always been a staple in 1:48 scale and this year brought out a number of outstanding full kits as well as updates to their ever expanding range. I know I will be purchasing their Dragon Wagon when it is released All of you who read this column will no doubt be aware of my love of high quality figures in this scale and in my mind one of the best figures releases this year has come from Corsar Rex. Their Soviet assault troops are fabulous. All other figures in this scale can only be judged against them. ICM added another 1:48 scale figure set (reviewed last month) and in my opinion are the best injection moulded plastic 1:48 scale figures available today. Toro Models continues to impress. Their figures have shown a remarkable improvement in recent years; Their complete nature, including such things as detailed instructions (with colour photographs) instil a feeling of quality about their products. Their complete AFV kits are also worth mentioning as they offer the 1:48 modeller something a little different and are always very well done. Royal Models from Italy realised a quite simply stunning resin “Ardennes” house ruin last year and it is my hope that this manufacturer will continue with this line.

I have been following a few projects this year and one that has caught my attention was the work of one individual. Mr Phil Young has commissioned figure sculptors from around the globe to make figures in 1:48 scale that he would like to see. His first release this year was a set of shouting heads and for my money they were every bit as good as anything in 1:35. Another trend was the rise of the 3D printing sector. Mr Dennis Loep has produced a very nice set of CAD images for the different tyre tread patterns used for the German Puma Armoured car. These may be ordered from a company by the name of “SHAPEWAYS” on the following link: www.shapeways.com/search?q=1:48+puma+wheels The wheels may be the future of modelling as we know it? Who knows? From a personal standpoint my 1:48 build rate has been extremely slow with only one piece completed last year in this scale. I have slipped from one project to the next without really finishing anything! At this point, I would like to offer thanks to our 1:48 reviewers and indeed the manufacturers that send us samples. Without them, this column would not be possible. I’d also like to offer all our readers a safe and happy time during the course of 2014. Let’s hope we all build a little more than we did in 2013!

Unit next time Luke Pitt

MAQETTES & DECORS PATRICE GREGOIRE 1:48 SCALE PAPER BUILDING AND ACCESSORIES

Now before you go and say “paper buildings”, there is a lot to be said for these. Firstly, if you don’t like the paper concept you could always transpose the plans of the building onto plastic card and scratch build it. The building consists of seven pages of colour plans that you simply cut out and assemble. Other sheets in the range include French road signs from 1939 to 1945 (set 48-001), an overhead photograph of a roadway (48-025), a sheet of drainage grills and manhole covers (set 43-021), a set of sidewalks (sets 48-019 and 020), and lastly a set of movie posters from the 1942 to 1943 time frame. All in all, there is some interesting stuff here and well worth a look. Recommended. Thanks to P Gregoire for the samples [email protected] Luke Pitt

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Luke Pitt hosts MMI’s examination of the growing world of 1:48 scale military models, figures and accessories.

ACE

1:48 SCALE BA-20 LIGHT ARMOURED CAR • KIT NO. 48109

TORO MODELS

1:48 SCALE POLISH CAVALRYMAN WITH MACHINE GUN • ITEM NO. 48F30

Most WWII modellers have heard of the famous Polish cavalry charge against German Tanks in 1939 but many would not be aware that Polish cavalrymen were only ever intended to use their horses for transport. All the fighting was supposed to be done on foot. The cavalry charge overshadowed some of the more spectacular success of Polish cavalry units. For example on the 1st On September 1939 the Wolynska Calvary Brigade stopped the 4th Panzer Division dead in their tracks with the destruction of more than 100 German tanks and armoured cars by anti tank fire. This new addition to from Toro Models is an impressive piece. The figure consists of just 4 very well cast pieces consisting of a main torso with the stirrups attached to the rider’s boots, two arms and one very well detailed head. The horse consists of a tail and head with the main body split in two. What sets this figure apart is the inclusion of reference material. Included is a small colour leaflet with 4 photos of the uniform depicted and worn by re-enactors. On the reverse side is a history and colour guide. An outline of the shoulder bars used to differentiate enlisted men from officers is also included. On top of this, a small waterslide decal sheet and photo etch fret bridle hardware is included. The horse figure does not disappoint with the sculpting and pose rendered is to a very high standard. The casting on all the pieces is flawless and the all important fit of rider to horse is outstanding. Honestly, this is an outstanding piece and well worth the asking price. Our thanks go out to Toro Models for providing the review sample. Highly Recommended. Thanks to Toro Model for the sample www.toro-model.com.pl Luke Pitt

The BA-20 Light Armoured Car was based on the GAZ-M1 car, which in turn was based on a Ford chassis. Some 4,500 were built from 1936 to 1941. This new kit from Ace is a most welcome addition to their small but expanding range of 1:48 scale vehicles. Like the real thing, this kit is based on their previously released GAZ kit and two of the sprues from that kit are included in this kit. The two new sprues include the armoured body and turret. A total of 75 plastic parts and four vinyl tyres are included. The moulding is only average but the parts go together well. The tyres and plastic hubs are very well done, with the tyres in particular showing an outstanding tread pattern. Three marking choices are provided for two German in camouflage and one Russian in standard Soviet green. I must say, I’m impressed with this kit. Sure, it is not a techno marvel of engineering nor does it break any new ground, but it is an honest and more importantly accurate 1:48 plastic kit of an important Russian armoured car. With a little care this kit and in the right hands this little model could be a show stopper Highly Recommended. Thanks to Ace Model for the review sample www.acemodel.com.ua Luke Pitt

COMPLECT ZIP

1:48 SCALE REPLACEMENT TRACK SETS FOR THE T-34 AND KV SERIES OF TANKS ITEM NOS. 48004/48022

With the demise of World War 2 Production tracks in the early part of this year, the 1:48 community has had few options for obtaining individual resin track links for our kits. It is pleasing to report that the Russian Firm of Complect Zip has taken up the challenge and if these two sets are anything to go by we are in safe hands. The T-34 links are of the mid to late war waffle pattern and are cast in dark grey resin. 160 links are included and the casting separation line is on the hinge end if each link. Little or no clean up will be necessary on these as the casting plugs have been removed. The detail on the links themselves is outstanding and a credit to the designer involved. The KV tracks are pretty much the same consisting of 190 links they are too cast very well and almost click together. Both of these sets are designed to be glued together and are un workable when complete. Given the low purchase cost with these tracks you really can’t go wrong with either of these. Highly Recommended. Thanks to Complect zip for the samples [email protected] Luke Pitt

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Figures

- A round-up of the latest figure sets on release...

FOLDIT

1:35 SCALE EOD OPERATOR • ITEM NO. F002 FoldiT Models is an Internet-based retailer recently launched by Andrew Judson and Jason Woollett. Both Andrew and Jason are contributors to ADH magazines, with Andrew’s work appearing regularly in Model Military International. FoldiT has a new range of 1:35 scale resin figures focusing initially on modern Australian military subjects. Their latest offering is Item No. F002, “EOD Operator”. This set depicts an Australian soldier in Afghanistan with his dog. The kneeling soldier comprises five parts in light grey coloured resin. The torso and legs are cast as a single piece. Packs and the vest are also cast in place. The arms, head and F88 Austeyr are separate pieces Facial detail is excellent. The helmet and goggles are cast with the head. The dog is a German Shepherd with legs posed to suggest that he is walking. He wears a harness and goggles. The dog is impressively cast in one piece with realistic fur texture and a very alert look about him. Detail throughout is crisp and casting quality excellent. Casting strips should not take long to clean up either. The pose looks great for a soldier interacting with his dog. Packaging is a simple plastic ziplock nag with a small photo of the two completed but unpainted figures. You should check Internet sources for painting the Australian desert camouflage uniform used in Afghanistan. Highly Recommended. Thanks to FoldiT Models for the sample www.folditmodels.com Brett Green

DRAGON

1:35 SCALE GERMAN FELDGENDARMERIE • KIT NO. 6061 German Feldgendarmerie or Field Police were mainly responsible for population and traffic control and general policing of areas behind the front lines, but some units were also involved in counter-insurgency operations against partisans and were known to have committed war crimes. In addition, the Feldgendarmerie were tasked with rounding up deserters and the fierceness in which they carried out this duty earned them the nickname of ‘Kettenhunde’ or ‘Chained Dogs’ after the metal gorget or plate hung around the neck that was secured by a chain. At the war’s end, however, they were the only units allowed to keep their weapons as they helped the Allied forces to maintain discipline over the many thousands of German POWs (Prisoners of War), eventually surrendering the weapons in June 1946. This set by Dragon is not a new one and first appeared in the late 1990s. At the time they were some of the best figures around as this period heralded a renewed era of interest in German WWII armour and figures, however moulding technology has moved on somewhat since then and Dragon is doing much better things these days. Anyway, in the box you have three sprues moulded in grey styrene and a very useful printed sheet of road signs for various units. Moulding detail is as you would expect from 16 years ago but it is not that bad and you can sharpen up uniform insignia with the aftermarket accessories that are available. All four figures suffer from the appearance of mould lines to some degree but this seems to be common even on recent sets so nothing new there. Personal equipment is limited to what is on the sprue and a smaller one has two Kar98 rifles, an MP40 and oddly enough an FG42, something more often associated with German Paratroopers. The third sprue has a two poles and twelve signs textured with a wood grain effect on one side. Uniform-wise, two figures are wearing the rubberised greatcoat, one features the waterproof one-piece overall and the final figure has the M1936 pattern tunic and trousers. Painting instructions are printed on the back of the box although the superb artwork on the front by one of my favourite artist (Ron Volstad) makes superb reference. Colours quoted are from Mr Hobby and Model Master. To be honest it’s not a bad set of figures and they would make a good base to work on but I think it’s time for a retool or better still complete new ones as current Dragon figures are really good. Recommended. Thanks to The Hobby Company for the review sample www.hobbyco.net Andy King

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A round-up of the latest news and releases in 1:72 and 1:76

Dragon

1:72 scale Long Range Desert Group Patrol Car with 2cm Cannon Kit No. 7504

Released under the 1:72 scale Armor Pro range, this kit comes in the standard Dragon lid and tray box, and consists of one large sprue, and two small sprues of mid-grey styrene, a small decal sheet and Dragon’s usual well drawn instruction sheet. The large sprue contains the parts for the chassis, wheels and forward section of the body, with the rear cargo body and stowage on one of the smaller sprues, and the 2cm cannon on the other. The quality of the moulding is up to Dragon’s usual high standard, with no flash or sink marks in evidence. The captured Italian 2cm cannon is particularly well reproduced and should build into a fine model. The chassis and drive train are reasonably well represented with detailed drive shaft, differential, exhaust pipe, leaf springs, etc., but this is all let down by the inner sides of the wheels being moulded very obviously hollow, which will be readily visible, particularly at the front. This defect will need to be addressed if a top-class display model is required. The instruction sheet shows two painting and marking schemes, both for Libya 1943, and the small decal sheet provides a set of dedicated markings for T Patrol ‘Te Aroha’, and a ‘number jungle’ to make up other registration marks. With some work and the wheel problem solved, this kit could produce a very acceptable display model, and with suitable figures the diorama possibilities have great potential. Recommended. Thanks to The Hobby Company Limited for the sample www.hobbyco.net Steve Shrimpton

Dragon

1:72 scale Panzerfahre Gepanzerte Landwasserschlepper Prototype Nr II Kit No. 7489

Although an interesting and unusual vehicle for a mainstream manufacturer to produce, the contents of the slightly larger Dragon box are somewhat disappointing. They consist of an upper and lower hull, a sprue of external fittings, a small sprue of air intake pipes, flotation cells and drivers compartment, and a set of standard panzer IV suspension and running gear. The quality of the moulding is good, the rivets on the hull are particularly fine, but the effect is spoiled by the hatches all moulded shut and vision slits etc. missing. The hull details are a mixed bag with some items, such as the towing chains well produced, but the winch and the crane crude and simplistic. It is hard to see how this can be marketed as an Armor Pro kit, especially as no photo-etch fret is included. The instruction sheet is clear and simple and provides one painting and marking guide for a vehicle of an unidentified unit, Germany 1942-3. The decal sheet is consequently very simple, consisting of three white balkencruz and two numbers. The painting guide is slightly unusual in that it shows a panzergrau hull and gull grey deck (presumably a Kreigsmarine scheme). Properly detailed, this kit could produce a very interesting display model and some very good diorama possibilities. Recommended with reservations. Thanks to The Hobby Company Limited for the sample www.hobbyco.net Steve Shrimpton

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BUYERS GUIDE>>>>>>>>> AVID READER

Tel: 01299 823 330 Fax:01299 829 970

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1/48 website: www.parabellum.co.uk

HALIFAX MODELLERS WORLD

Tel: 01422 349157

Halifax Modellers World , 29 Union Street, Halifax, HX1 1PR

email: sales@ parabellum.co.uk

MASTERCARD/VISA

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1/2 MILE FROM RAF MUSEUM

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Contact Details - for companies featured in MMI... ACCURATE ARMOUR/ ARMOUR DISTRIBUTION

Units 15-16 Kingston Industrial Estate, Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, PA14 5DG Scotland. Tel; 01475 743 955 Fax; 01475 743746 www.accurate-armour.com

ADALBERTUS

Iberyjska 7/49, 02-764 , Warsaw,Poland [email protected] www.adalbertus.com.pl

THE AIRBRUSH COMPANY Ltd

Unit 7 Marlborough Road, Lancing Business Park, Lancing, West Sussex, BN15 8UF. Tel; 08700 660 445 www.airbrushes.com

ALCLAD II LACQUER

5 St Georges Close, Bacton, Norfolk. NR12 0LL Tel; 01962 65216 Fax; 01692 652334

ALPINE, ROYAL MODEL, ARTISAN MORI, YOSCI; SMARTMODELLING No.7 Gordons Way, Oxted, Surrey RH8 0LN. UK Tel; 01883 734746 [email protected]

AMPERSAND PUBLISHING (via Historex Agents in UK)

235 NE 6th Avenue #4 Delray Beach, Florida 33483-5543, USA Tel; 561-266 9686 Fax; 561-266-9786

ARCHER

(Historex in UK)

PO Box 1277 Youngsville, NC 27596-1277, USA www.archertransfers.co

BADGER AIR-BRUSH COMPANY 9128W Belmont Ave, Franklin Park, IL 60131 Tel; 847/678-3104 www.badgerairbrush.com email [email protected] (In the UK from www.shesto.co.uk)

BISON DECALS

Available from www.hannants.co.uk and www.pdi-model-supplies.com

DELUXE MATERIALS www.deluxematerials.co.uk [email protected] Tel; 01529 455 0340

DRAGON MODELS

(The Hobby Company in UK)

Dragon Models Ltd, Kong Nam Ind. Building B1-10F, 603-609 Castle Peak Road, Tsuen Wan NT, Hong Kong Fax; (HK) 4110587 www.dragonmodelsltd.com (For 1:6 Action Figures, please contact Amerang in UK)

ECHELON FINE DETAILS

Available from; wwwaccurate-armour.com & http://pachome1.pacific.net.sg/~kriegsketten/

FRIENDSHIP MODELS

12 Delta Drive, Musselburgh, East Lothian, EH21 8HR Tel; 0131 665 0866 Mobile; 07877166225 www.friendshipmodels.com

GREAT NORTH ROADS

9a Marcombe Road, Torquay, South Devon, TQ2 6LL Tel; 01803 400436 www.greatnorthroads.co.uk email [email protected]

HANNANTS

Harbour Road, Oulton Broad, Lowestoft, Suffolk, NR32 2LZ, Tel; 01502 517444 Fax; 01502 500521 www.hannants.co.uk [email protected]

HISTOREX AGENTS

Wellington House, 157 Snargate Street, Dover, Kent, CT17 9BZ, UK Tel; 01304 206720 Fax; 01304 204528. www.historex-agents.co.uk [email protected]

HOBBYLINK JAPAN

CAMMETT

(Lifecolour, Scale Caliber)

Unit 5 Greenfield Industrial Estate, Forest Road, Hay on Wye, Powys, HR3 5FA Tel; 01497 822757 Email; [email protected] www.cammett.co.uk

CLASSIC PUBLICATIONS

Midland Counties Publications, 4 Watling Drive, Sketchley Lane Industrial Estate, Hinckley, Leics UK. LE10 1YF Tel; 01455 233 747, Fax; 01455 233 737 [email protected] www.classic-publications.com

CREATIVE MODELS LTD

(Mig Productions, Vallejo, Accurate Miniatures)

Unit 6-10, Honeysome Industrial Estate, Honeysome Road, Chatteris, Cambridgeshire. PE16 6TG Tel; 01354 760022 www.creativemodels.co.uk [email protected]

DARTMOOR MILITARY MODELS Haylis cottage, Budlake, Broadclyst Exeter, EX5 3LJ, England Tel; 01392 881271 www.dartmoormilitarymodels.com

C/ Santiago Rusinol 7, Pral 2a, 08750 Molins de Rei, Barcelona, Spain www.migproductions.com

MILICAST MODEL CO.,

9 Rannoch St., Battlefield, Glasgow G44 4DF, Scotland Tel/Fax; 0141 633 1400 [email protected] www.milicast.com

MISSION MODELS

(ETCHMATE, GRABHANDLER, MICRO CHISEL)

www.etchmate.com www.missionmodels.com Tel; 818 842 1885 Fax; 818 842 1886 [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

THE ARMORY; M&MODELS

9329 S. Cicero Ave, Oak Lawn, IL 60453, USA http://home.earthlink.net/~mmodels/

www.airconnection.on.ca

www.ianallanpublishing.com Mail Order Dept 01455 254450 Kiev 02099, Ukraine, Borispolskaya 9 building 64. Tel/fax; (+38044) 369-54-12 [email protected] www.icm.com.ua

ITALERI

(The Hobby Company in UK)

Via Pradazzo, 6, I-40012 Calderara Di Reno, Bologna, Italy, Tel; 051 726037 www.italeri.com

JUST BASES

21 Graham Road, Paignton TQ3 1BB Tel; 01803 558520 www.just-bases.co.uk

JUST KITS

Schiffer Publishing, 4880 Lower Valley Rd, Atglen, PA, 19310 USA www.schifferbooks.com

SCHIFFER BOOKS in UK

Bushwood Books, No.6 Marksbury Avenue, Kew Gardens, Surrey TW9 4JF, UK. Tel; 020 8392 8585, 020 8392 9876, email; [email protected]

SCHUMO KITS

www.schumo-kits.com

SDV MODEL www.sdvmodel.cz

SIMPLE 2 TRADE

No 2 Hollywood Lane, Hollywood, Birmingham, B47 5PP Tel; 0121 474 3030 www.simple2trade.com

SMARTMODELLING

No.7 Gordons Way, Oxted, Surrey RH8 0LN UK Tel; 01883 734746 [email protected]

MONROE PERDU

SQUADRON

Monroe Perdu Designs, 3168 Renee Court, Simi Valley, CA 93065, USA. www.monroeperdu.com

ORDNANCE MODELS Via; www.steelmodels.com

PACIFIC COAST MODELS Tel; 001 707 538 4850 [email protected] www.pacmodels.com

PO Box 164, Heathfield, Sussex TN21 8WA, UK www.panzerwrecks.com (Creative Models in UK)

Jizni 56, 370 10 C. Budejovice, Czech Republic. [email protected] www.plusmodel.cz

POCKETBOND LTD

(Trumpeter & AFV Club in UK)

PO Box 80, Welwyn, Hertfordshire, England, AL6 0ND Tel; 01707 391509 Fax; 01707 327 466 [email protected]

PSP MODELS LTD (Mission Models in USA)

Unit 19B, Applin’s Farm, Farrington, Dorset DT11 8RA, UK Tel/Fax; 01747 811 817 www.psp-models.com

QUICKBOOST

www.quickboost.net

REVELL GmbH & Co. KG

LSA MODELS

SB MODELS

Model Design Construction, Victoria Place, Victoria Road, Ripley, Derbyshire DE5 3FW Fax; 01773 513344 [email protected] www.modeldesignconstruction.com

SCHIFFER BOOKS

(Swash, Tasca, Gap, Yosci, Royal Model)

4 High Street, Botley, Southampton, SO30 2EA Tel; 01489 781177 www.justkitsandmodels.co.uk

MDC

Industriestrasse 6, 94347 Ascha, Germany Fax; 09961 910 7826

Tel; 01892 533036 www.modelwholesaleuk.com

Orchard Mews, 18C High Street, Tring, Herts, HP23 5AH Tel; +44 (0) 1442 890285 www.revell.eu

(TASCA, MASTER BOX) Retail; 151 Sackville Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 3HD, England. Tel/Fax; 01273 705420 [email protected] www.lsamodels.co.uk

SCHATTON BARRELS

MODEL WHOLESALE UK LTD

PLUS MODEL

ICM

Via Hannants in UK

(Creative Models in UK)

HUSSAR PRODUCTIONS, CANADA

BOOKWORLD WHOLESALE

CALIBRE 35

MIG PRODUCTIONS

PANZERWRECKS

IAN ALLAN

Unit 10 Hodfar Road, Sandy Lane Ind Est Stourport, Worcs, DY13 9QB Tel; 01299 823330 Fax; 01299 829970 [email protected]

http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~m.a.mori/index_eng.html

Sano-shi, Kurohakama-cho 162-1, Tochigi 327-0813, Japan www.hlj.com

BLAST MODELS

Via AFV Modeller or www.blast-models.com

MODELING ARTISAN MORI

UK distributor for Model Victoria and Royal Model

P.O. Box 114, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, LA13 0WY. Tel/Fax; 01229 430 749 [email protected] www.sbmodels.net

1115 Crowley Drive, Carrollton, TX 75006-1312 U.S.A

SWANN-MORTON

Owlerton Green, Sheffield, S6 2BJ Tel; +44 (0)114 234 4231 Fax; +44 (0)114 231 4966 General: [email protected] www.craftknives.com

TAMIYA JAPAN

Tamiya, Inc., 3-7 Ondawara Suruga-ku, Shizuoka 422-8610 JAPAN www.tamiya.com

TAMIYA UK;

THE HOBBY COMPANY LIMITED Garforth Place, Knowlhill, Milton Keynes, MK5 8PG, UK Tel; 01908 605686 Fax; 01908 605666 [email protected] www.hobbyco.net

TRUMPETER

www.trumpeter-china.com Pocketbond in the UK

VERLINDEN PRODUCTIONS (Historex in UK)

811 Lone Star Drive, O’Fallon, Missouri 63366, USA www.verlinden-productions.com

VALLEJO

(Creative Models in UK)

Acrylicos Vallejo, SL Apartado 337 - 08800 Vilanova i la Geltrú, Barcelona, Spain Tel; (34) 93 893 60 12 Fax; (34) 93 893 11 54 www.acrylicosvallejo.com

VLS CORPORATION (LSA in UK)

(TRAKZ, WINGZ, CUSTOM DIORAMICS, WARRIORS); Lincoln County Industrial Park, 1011 Industrial Court, Moscow Mills, Missouri 63362, USA www.modelmecca.com

WHITE ENSIGN

Unit 5, Cobnash Industrial Estate, HR6 9RW Tel; 0844 415 0914 [email protected] www.whiteensignmodels.com

WWII PRODUCTIONS, AUSTRALIA

PO Box 794, Cheltenham GL52 3ZW, UK [email protected]

12 Prince Street, Waratah, 2298, NSW, Australia Tel; +61 (0)2 4967 3205 Fax; +61 (0)2 4967 3207 [email protected]

SBX MODEL SHOP

ZVEZDA

SBLC

Norwich Road, Ipswich. IP1 5DN Tel; 01473 464311 www.sbxmodelshop.co.uk

(The Hobby Company in UK)

Promishlennaia Str.,2, Lobnya, Moscow Region, 141730 Russia [email protected] www.zvezda.org.ru

■ Please mention ‘Model Military International’ if you make contact with any of the companies listed above - thanks! 64 Model Military International - January 2014

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SE

Drag 25 p by J

Next Issue On sale 2nd January 2014

WWI SHOWCASE

Leo Stevenson’s 1:35 scale British Mk.IV Male and German A7V tanks.

ISSUE No.93 January 2014, Published December 5th 2013 Editor;

Brett Green

Group Editor;

Marcus Nicholls

Publisher;

Alan Harman

Graphic Design;

Alex Hall

Advertising Manager;

Colin Spinner

Advertising Sales;

Claire Alley Mark Peacock

Advertising Assistant;

Joe Brown

Office Manager;

Paula Gray

Administration Manager; Hannah McLaurie MMI Website;

ADH Web Team

Printed by; Symbian Print Intelligence, Hertfordshire, UK Distributed by; Seymour Distribution 2 East Poultry Avenue, London, EC1A 9PT Tel; 020 7429 4000 Newstrade; Select Publisher Services 3 East Avenue, Bournemouth, BH3 7BW Tel; 01202 586848 Email; [email protected] Model Military International is published on the first Thursday of each month by; ADH Publishing, Doolittle Mill, Doolittle Lane, Totternhoe, Bedfordshire, LU6 1QX UK www.modelmilitary.com Tel; +44 (0)1525 222573 Fax; +44 (0)1525 222574 Editorial enquiries; Email; [email protected] Advertising enquiries; Tel; +44 (0)1525 222573 Email; [email protected] [email protected]

OVER THE TOP FOR YOUR SAFETY

“A SUNLIT PICTURE OF HELL” Young Miniatures’ 1:10 scale British Infantryman Somme 1916 bust by Matt Wellhouser.

Don’t forget, when using solvents such as glues, paints, thinners and cleaning agents, always ventilate your work area thoroughly and wear a face mask. When using power tools, side cutters or any tool that can suddenly break or create high-speed airborne particles, wear approved eye protectors with hard, clear lenses. Please always model in safety!

Reproduction in part of any text, photograph, or illustration without written consent from the publisher is strictly prohibited. While due care is taken to ensure the contents of Model Military International is accurate, the publishers and printers can not accept responsibility for errors and omissions. Advertisements are accepted for publication in Model Military International only on ADH Publishing’s standard terms of acceptance of advertising, copies of which are available from the advertising department. Please write to the address above. All advertising, circulation and subscription enquiries should also be directed to the UK address above. Subscription rates are; 1 year (12 issues); £44 UK £56 Europe £69 Worldwide (Airmail)

SEXTON

Binders; £8.50 plus postage (UK £2.45, Euro £4.45, World £6.45) For all orders, please call; (UK) +44(0)1525 222573 or visit www.modelmilitary.com

Dragon’s 1:35 scale 25 pdr SPG Sexton by José Brito.

Back Issues; Back Issues are available at the current cover price. See the latest back issues advert or visit www.modelmilitary.com

...and much more! Due to many influencing factors, we cannot guarantee the appearance of the above projects, but we’ll try our best!

The paper used in this magazine is manufactured at the Leipa Georg Mill and is 100% recycled using de-inked pulp. The mill conforms fully with the requirements of both FSC and PEFC and carries the full accreditations for their environmental policies.

© ADH Publishing 2013

The paper used on this title is from sustainable forestry

Order online now at; www.modelmilitary.com

Subscription enquiries; Tel; +44 (0)1525 222573 Fax; +44 (0)1525 222574 Email; [email protected]

Brett Green builds Tamiya’s brand new 1:35 scale Gama Goat, while Bruce Culver provides accompanying reference in a Think Tank piece on this unique vehicle.

January 2014 - Model Military International 65

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The Last Post..

SCALE MATTERS I

received an intriguing letter from a reader a few weeks ago about the mix of content in Issue 91 of Model Military International magazine. In summary, the correspondent was concerned at the relative lack of 1:35 scale content in Issue 91, as there were feature articles on 1:72, 1:48 and 1:10 scale subjects. It was suggested that this may have been a result of pressure from advertisers or other outside forces. I was surprised to hear these comments, as there has never been any pressure from advertisers or even a conscious Editorial decision on my own part to move away from 1:35 scale, although I do like to ensure there is variety and balance in both subject matter and scale. In the next issue, there were two Feature Articles on 1:35 scale subjects, one on a 1:48 scale Steyr, one on a 1:72 scale T-72 and a Build Review on ICM’s 1:35 scale Leader’s Car. Regardless of the scale, I would hope that there are construction, painting and weathering techniques and tips that you might pick up in all the articles. I have also always liked the idea that we may draw modellers’ attention to a less familiar scale or subject or era that they have spotted between MMI’s covers. Even so, despite the appearance of other scales in the previous two issues, 1:35 has been and will continue to be the dominant scale covered in MMI. You will note that all the Feature Articles in Issue 93 are 1:35 scale, and three out of four articles in Issue 94 will be too. We hope that you will continue to enjoy the blend of scales and subjects presented in future issues. ■

TO THE LAST BULLET: GERMANY'S WAR ON 3 FRONTS PART TWO

T

Thanks to Dennis Oliver and ADH Books for the images and information www.adhbooks.com

he tireless Monsieur Claude Gillono is back with the second part in Oliver Publishing’s “To The Last Bullet: Germany's War On 3 Fronts” trilogy. The first part covered the German armoured force on the eastern Front during the last year of WWII and this second volume deals with the campaign in Italy - for which Claude was a natural choice as author. This book is based on the usual format of 13 full colour pages highlighting over 40 different vehicles including Panthers, Tigers, Panzer III and IV tanks, half-tracks, the Nashorn self-propelled guns and of course the ubiquitous StuG. The illustrations are complemented by black and white archive photographs - many from Claude's extensive private collection that have never been published before - as well as an authoritative text. This book should be available now from ADH Books, or in the United Kingdom: Aviation and Military Book Centre, Bookworld Wholesale, Hannants Mail Order, Motor Books Co., Barbarossa Books and Paul Meekins Military and History Books. In the United States: Dragon USA, Squadron Mail Order, J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing, Sprue Brothers, Boomer's Books, Michigan Toy Soldier Company, Aberdeen Bookstore, M & Models, On Military Matters, Toy Soldier Brigade, Run for Cover, 1001 Modelkits, Last Cavalry Historical Toys and Hobbies, Cajun Model Company, Roll Models. In Germany: Berliner Zinnfiguren, Christain Schmidt Fachbuchhandlung and Der Sockelshop. In Italy: Milistoria, 1001 Modellini and La Libreria Militare. In Spain: Jordi Robio. In Poland: Jadar Hobby and Model Plastikowe. In France: Blast Models and 1001 Maquettes. In the Czech Republic: Obchod Valka.cz In Switzerland: GD Kits. In Japan: MS Models In Hong Kong: Universal Models Ltd. in Canada: Wheels and Wings Hobbies and through Borgfeldt (Canada) Ltd In Australia: Viceroy Books, Platypus Publications, Ronnel’s Hobbies and Sandle Hobbies, Australia. In Mexico: Hobbymex. Digital versions may be obtained through pocketmags.com

66 Model Military International - January 2014

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13/11/2013 14:43

Back and Better than Ever Before! #32407 - 1:35 British LRDG Command Car - North Africa (with 7 Figures)

The LRDG (Long Range Desert Group) was a British unit which served in North Africa during WWII, performing reconnaissance and raiding duties. Their command cars were trucks which had been modified with weaponry, and proved to be a thorn in the side of German units in the area. Now, this comprehensive set, done in collaboration between Tamiya and Master Box Ltd., lets you create your own diorama with 7 figures in realistic poses, a vehicle and accessories all thrown in one box! #32407 - 1:35 British LRDG Command Car - North Africa (with 7 Figures) Find us on facebook search Plastic Kits UK

p 67 HobbyCo 093.indd 8

1:35

Tamiya Kits are distributed in the UK by The Hobby Company Limited, Knowlhill, Milton Keynes, MK5 8PG See the full Tamiya range at www.hobbyco.net Tamiya models are available from all good model shops

www.hobbyco.net

13/11/2013 14:34