Messages

1381

Work In Progress / Re: Digital Sculpts - Various 151023

« on: October 24, 2015, 09:45:31 am »

The top of his cap shouldn't have that bulge in it - it was a flat curve.  Removing that will also help make his head look a bit more proportional.  The gas goggles are also a bit off.  See the photo below.  Otherwise he's great, and would be a terrific addition to the SdKfz 250 (which he's presumably intended for).

1382

Work In Progress / Re: Digital Sculpts - Various 151023

« on: October 23, 2015, 09:05:36 am »

The Romnel figure is very nice.  Only the top of his cap looks odd - should it be flatter?

1383

Work In Progress / Re: Allied Stowage Kit 1

« on: October 21, 2015, 07:03:33 pm »

Hey, Rubicon - when is the anticipated release date for this set?

1384

Work In Progress / Re: Soviet SU Series Self-Propelled Gun

« on: October 21, 2015, 12:00:29 pm »

Ripley is right about the SU-85's spare tracks and fenders.  I'm really happy to see these vehicles in the pipeline - especially the SU-122. 

Here's my suggested re-write of the introductory blurb - this makes them both sound a bit more exciting.  The SU-122 should come first.

The SU-122 ('Samokhodnaya Ustanovka 122' - the number represents the calibre of the main armament) was a Soviet self-propelled assault gun that entered service in late 1942.  Inspired by the German Sturmgeschutz III assault gun, it was built on the proven T-34 chassis.  It was intended to provide fire support for the infantry, but the introduction of a new shaped charge anti-tank round in 1943 enabled it to deal effectively with German armour at short ranges.     

The SU-85 ('Samokhodnaya Ustanovka 85') was a Soviet self-propelled gun, also based on the T-34 chassis.  It was the result of a crash program in 1943 to develop a tank destroyer that could deal with heavy German tanks like the Tiger I, which was largely invulnerable to the standard 76.2mm Soviet tank gun.  The SU-85's main armament was a modified 85mm anti-aircraft gun.  As it was intended to provide long-range anti-tank support, no machine-gun was fitted.  It first saw action in 1943, and proved to be a popular weapon.     

1385

Work In Progress / Re: Jagdpanzer 38 Hetzer - 3D Prototypes 151003

« on: October 18, 2015, 12:09:09 am »

So this one's basically done.  Nice work.

Q4 will see the M10/M36, the M8, the Hetzer and what else?

1386

Work In Progress / Re: GMC CCKW 2.5t 6x6 Cargo Truck

« on: October 18, 2015, 12:06:55 am »

Everything is looking good.  Just the jerrycans to fix.  Will this make it for Q4?

1387

Work In Progress / Re: GMC CCKW 2.5t 6x6 Cargo Truck

« on: October 15, 2015, 04:52:36 pm »

I think further research is needed.  It seems unlikely that the gunner was unable to aim the .50 cal at ground targets.  That said, the first of your test designs looks better to me.

1388

Work In Progress / Re: GMC CCKW 2.5t 6x6 Cargo Truck

« on: October 14, 2015, 10:29:10 pm »

A lot of British/ Canadian  tankers removed the 50 from the Sherman as it was not needed for aircraft and it clogged the hatch if you had to bail out . That's where all the Canadian  Universal carriers got their 50s from 

Actually, the Canadians seem to have liked their .50 cals.  British doctrine was to remove them because AA defence was supposed to be handed by specialised vehicles, but you still see some on British Shermans in Normandy.  3rd RTR (part of 11th Armoured) traded their .50 cals with 8th Armoured Brigade, who fitted them to their Carriers and Scout Cars.

1389

Work In Progress / Re: GMC CCKW 2.5t 6x6 Cargo Truck

« on: October 14, 2015, 10:05:03 pm »

I'm not sure the relative dimensions are correct.  I think the .50 cal gunner stood higher than that.  Here's a sequence showing a relatively petite woman firing the .50 cal on a GMC - even allowing for the ring out being lower than it should be, it still looks as though an average man could fire the weapon while standing on the seat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N6pOB-CGBA

There are also photos of the .50 cal gunner sitting on the roof, but obviously that's not possible if the roof is down.

1390

Work In Progress / Re: Allied Stowage Kit 1

« on: October 09, 2015, 03:27:16 pm »

Here's a 1/6 scale replica of a British backpack (note the distinctive bedroll under the flap).

I'm not worried about the handles on the jerrycans; I think the single handle is an acceptable simplification.  Tamiya's 1/48 scale jerrycans are very nice, but look far too big on 1/56 scale vehicles (even allowing for the upsizing that goes on in this scale).   

1391

Showcase & Gallery / Re: Opel Blitz

« on: October 08, 2015, 04:02:18 pm »

Good stuff - I like the naturalistic weathering.

I see you had a bit of trouble with the front panel of the cargo bed.  I found you have to do a bit of trimming and pushing to get it to sit properly, otherwise won't be level with the side panels, and you get a gap when you place the canvas tilt on the cargo bed.

1392

Work In Progress / Re: Allied Stowage Kit 1

« on: October 08, 2015, 03:59:30 pm »

I don't see the preponderance of US types as an issue in regard of the packs. Both the UK and Russia received huge quantities of US kit through Lend Lease, so non US packs are not exactly going to be rare on US built vehicles.

Sure, but the British had their own distinctive types of pack, and you can see the differences in photos.  British tanks were stowed differently to US tanks - for instance, the Brits liked to weld empty ammo boxes (German as well as British types) onto their tanks, and also had a number of different 'standard' stowage boxes.  They were also big on adding brackets to hold stowage.  I think it's fair to say that US tankers tended to be sloppier with their stowage (leading to disapproving remarks about 'gypsy caravans'). 

1393

General Discussions / Re: Spiel 15 with New Prototype Preview - 151007

« on: October 08, 2015, 03:41:25 pm »

Very slick...and that's a big range of kits for such a new company.

The GMC prototype looks great.  The jerrycans don't look right though - they should be the same as the jerrycans in the M3 kit.  Same with the jerrycans in the stowage set - they look too much like the German version (and the filler cap should be centred, not offset to one side).  Like this:

1394

Work In Progress / Re: Allied Stowage Kit 1

« on: October 08, 2015, 01:00:28 pm »

Given how many US vehicles they do, maybe Rubicon could just do a US stowage set, and deal with the Brits later.  It's basically that already.  It should still have some bedrolls though.

I've also noticed that the jerrycans aren't quite right.  See my comments in the 'Spiel' thread.

1395

Work In Progress / Re: SdKfz 250 Light Armoured Halftrack

« on: October 07, 2015, 07:56:46 pm »

I haven't checked the details, but my initial impression is that this looks very accurate.  Some lovely detail there too - especially the interior.  So does this mean the initial kit is likely to be an SdKfz 250 + SdKfz 253?

One small point - are the engine hatches raised?  If so, they should be flush with the engine deck.