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Topics - Ballardian

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1
General Discussions / UK store Tiger II re-stock
« on: March 15, 2021, 08:17:36 pm »
Having a project in mind, I was wondering when the UK store might get a re-stock of the Tiger II kits, (I’m after one without Zimmerit).

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Wish Lists / How about a Churchill?
« on: March 06, 2021, 12:31:40 am »
 Given the recent excellent Valentine kits, is it perhaps finally time for a Churchill? The existing Warlord/Italeri kit is decent, but precludes making either early (MkI or II 2pdr armed variants) or late (MkVII/VIII) versions.
 The external hull appearance doesn't change dramatically across the marks (downward facing air-intake louvres give way to upward facing, the number of slats on the rear air intake increases, up-armoured sides to the track sponsons on the 'Heavy' MkVII/VIII etc.), with the main differences being the turrets (early small cast for the 2pdr, the welded and cast variants for the 6pdr armed tanks, the NA75 with its re-purposed Sherman 75mm & new cast turrets for the subsequent models).
 It could probably be done with 2 different kits, covering the earlier and later models respectively - and since the Churchill should probably be regarded as the most significant British made tank of the war - in production for most of the conflict, serving in North Africa, the disastrous Dieppe landings,  the ETO and in the East under lend-lease, it would seem that one is due - any chance?

3
Wish Lists / M5A1/t8 interior & crew
« on: January 16, 2021, 12:50:00 am »

 Having just picked up an M5A1/Recce kit, and planning on the latter, I think that an interior kit, along with a couple of standing crew seems to be a reasonable candidate for a resin add-on. I took a look at Pinky's old thread regarding his kit-bash & agree that it's quite hard to find images of the M5 version's interior (does the Hunicutt Stuart book have any useful images?)  - though I realise that the conversions were on  fairly ad-hoc basis.

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Showcase & Gallery / Panzer IV Ausf J
« on: June 06, 2019, 10:29:18 pm »
 Having just recieved the new PzIV J's from a friend who attended UKGE and I couldn't resist assembling one.
 Firstly, it's a marvellous kit, along with the M4 range it's definately set a high bar for models in this scale. I can't not be impressed    with the way the Thoma Schurzen have been done - they don't feel too fragile either.
 It's a reasonably complex kit (5 sprues), but the instuctions are pretty good - there are only a couple of things I'd want to point out as needing to be highlighted (though it could just be me who felt this).

1. When doing the lower hull assembly it's helpful to stick the deck down to the hull tub (parts E15 & A05) before attaching the exhausts (parts A12 & A14) as the exhausts have a small attachment points which overlap/sit on the surface of the deck (E15) as well as their main attachments on the rear hull (J06).

2. During the turret assembly, the thin ring (part F24) has a stepped underside - the deeper section fits into the groove on the turret top (part J20) that surrounds the forward half of the cupola.

I haven't yet assembled the Schurzen, and will most likely put them together as sub-assemblies to facilitate painting, so have not uncovered any dificulties with them yet.

 As with all my tanks, I magnetised the turret - games like What a Tanker require a freely moving turret, and the normal bayonet-type attachments, coupled with layers of paint and varnish, can both be stiff and damage the paintjob. Serendipitously, the hole in the turret base (part A07) provides a snug fit for Renedra 25mm flat bases. Four of these in a stack glued inside the turret base ring ((A07) seats the turret nicely (three protrude below the ring). I also filled the small circular depression in the centre of the deck (E15) with some plasticard - then a magnet will be countersunk in each -  here's a couple of picks:







I'm probably going to wait untill the resin winterketten are available before going much further (they look too nice not to use) - I'm hoping that'll be soon :)

5
General Discussions / New Pz IV schurzen mountings, very cool!
« on: October 03, 2018, 09:28:25 pm »

 Apologies if you've already seen these, but as they haven't appeared on the forum yet (are they on the Rubicon FB page?) I thought I'd put them up.
 I like the approach to the mountings & providing a jig to ensure everything ends up in the right place is an excellent call - I' really looking forward to getting my hands on a few of these !

 










6
Showcase & Gallery / SdKfz 234/1 WIP
« on: October 03, 2018, 09:19:48 pm »
 Here's an early stage of my WG/Rubicon SdKfz 234/1 kitbash - the Rubicon turret fits pretty well & the end result is certainly preferable to a resin/pewter kit.
 As is apparent, the colour modulation I've used came out quite bright & it'll take the weathering stage to tone it down. The paint themselves are a mix of Mig & AK (Mig's Dunklegelb modulation set & AK's German Camoflage modulation set).
 I've done a couple of crewmen for the turret (again from the Rubicon turret kit) - they fit quite well though you can only really see the tops of their heads & shoulders if you use the anti-grenade mesh.

 


 



 

7
Showcase & Gallery / Krupp Steyr Waffentrager
« on: July 27, 2018, 10:33:05 pm »

 Finally got around to finishing the Waffentrager picked up at Salute - pretty much everything's been said about the superlative quality of the kit (best resin thing I've ever worked on). The only improvements I'd like to have seen were a little interior turret detail (you can't see that much - but some nondescript lumps to represent radio, fire extinguisher, stowage etc would have been good, that said, they weren't difficult to add either).
 It is still waiting for me to finish the crew models (a mix of Rubicon & WG/Italeri bits) - but they do fit & appear to be doing something (I'll post a pic when they're safely ensconced).
 I kept to a very simple paintjob, just some DG patterning over a green base, with fairly minimal weathering (finally beginning to get the hang of the 'less is more' thing :P)
 Hope you like it, as ever, all comments & tips welcome.












8
Showcase & Gallery / Sherman III & Firefly IC
« on: July 02, 2018, 10:48:33 pm »
 Having picked up a copy of TFL's 'What a Tanker' at Salute this year (lots of fun) I had to go about producing some suitable tanks - my collection to date has been tilted towards weird war, so Comets & Centurions for the Brits & assorted weirdness for the Germans.
 I picked up the usual suspects, WG's Cromwell (a decent kit, unlike their plastic Panther, which I had the considerable displeasure of assembling & painting three of for a friend recently), Rubicon's M4A2 & M4A1 (assembled as a Firefly Ic). I'm a little late to the Rubicon Shermans, but what fantastic kits! Genuinely a pleasure to put together - the parts fit is truly excellent. It's still awaiting its TC - in this case a WG pewter figure & is made up in the markings for the Irish Guards.
 

 


Given the large number of spare parts that these kits come with, I couldn't resist seeing if I could knock up a spare 75mm turret (for when the Firefly isn't required) - the gun mount was adapted from the F18 mounting (the ends were trimmed off & the beading added with some plastic rod). The cupola required a simple GS press mold & came out reasonably well & the aerial is a nylon bristle from a brush - here it is primed, next to the Firefly turret.





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General Discussions / Looking for a couple of spare Sherman parts
« on: May 30, 2018, 08:25:52 pm »

 Has anyone got the parts from the F sprue of the M4A2/Composite/Firefly IC kits, F17 & F09 (the M34A1 mantlet & gun mount) going spare & be prepared to part with them - I would be grateful - happy to pay postage or perhaps I've got something in the bits box that you're after? PM me if you do.
 Cheers,
                  Matt

10
Showcase & Gallery / Steel wheel Panther F conversion WIP
« on: May 24, 2017, 01:47:53 am »
The Company B E-50 I'm expecting soon comes with a spare schmalturm, so I thought I'd have another bash at a Panther F, this time giving it the steel wheels the first one lacked. Thanks to being able to acquire the tracks/wheels from the Rubicon Tiger (many thanks Captain Blood) & with a Panther G in hand I thought I'd have a stab at swapping the wheels.
 The first issue is that Panther & tiger roadwheels were different sizes (the Panther's were slightly bigger), which required that the newly liberated tiger wheels needed to have a band of (in this case very thin plasticard)added to increase their diameter/circumference. I then had to extend the axles of the innermost set of wheels in order to securely fit the outermost.
 The Panther wheels that were attached to the tracks had to be removed & replaced with the Tiger ones  - & thats about it for the tracks (aside from a bit of tidying).
 It'll probably get additional armour plates on the rear deck/intakes & turret roof & some Thoma skirts (I've found some fine woven steel mesh which'll look the part) Hopefully this project can be fitted around the others currently on the go - will post pics as it comes along.






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General Discussions / An approach to optional Zimmerit
« on: May 13, 2017, 01:29:57 am »
 The Modelling News posted pictures fron the Shizouka Hobby Show, a couple of which demonstrated Tamiya's new  1/35 Brummbar kit - this contained extremely effective Zimmerit, in the form of a textured decal. While not the first example of this approach, it does clearly demonstrate how good it can look.
 Given the number of vehicles that could be depicted with Zim (Pz III, IV, StuGs, PJg IV's Panthers & Tigers - I & II with their tank hunter variants) it seems a viable approach, likely to be better & more user friendly at 1/56 than PE or resin add-ons. I don't know what it costs to produce the textured decals compared to the other approaches, but the potential quality of the results must make it worth investigating.









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Showcase & Gallery / Panther Ausf F with Sperber IR gear
« on: September 11, 2016, 08:12:36 pm »
Finally got round to finishing the Panther F, it was a fun project with both elements (the Rubicon Panther G & the Heer 46 Ausf F turret & IR gear) being excellent.










13
Wish Lists / Armoured cars/recon vehicles
« on: August 01, 2016, 11:34:10 pm »
 Though I'm sure it's been brought up in the past, I'd like to put a vote in for some armoured cars/recon vehicles. There are a number of subjects very popular with modellers & gamers, which would be the obvious place to start - the German 8 rads (232, 234 & variants. I'd imagine it would be possible to do the 234/1 & 234/2 as a single kit, with the 234/3 & 234/4 as an add-on sprue) being one such. A Staghound (currently only available in resin) or Daimler Mk1 would be popular British choices (though Humbers, AEC & even the Marmon Herrington would have their fans too).
 The US are reasonably well catered for in ACs/recon in plastic, (with both your & WGs M8/M20/T8 options) though a White Scout Car could see multiple use. Which leaves the Soviets & the BA series which also have numerous fans.
(Personally, if you've got a PzKpfw 38t in the pipe, a SdKfz140/1 would be very welcome.)


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Wish Lists / Applique/extra armour kits for late model Shermans
« on: July 14, 2016, 11:32:07 pm »
As you're currently updating your Sherman, I was wondering if I could put a vote in for some upgraded armour, as by the end of '44 increasing numbers of late model M4's were having various types of extra protection added. what I had in mind was mainly the extra plate welded to the vehicle glacis (rather than  the sandbag or concrete type reinforcement that was also common).
 I'd imagine that it would be an easy addition to any planned upgrade sprue, being simple flat plates - I know that this would be a fairly easy plasticard conversion, but its simplicity would surely also make it easy to add to any planned sprue.


Here's a 1/35 example from Verlinden



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Showcase & Gallery / 251D & Blitz
« on: July 08, 2016, 02:33:32 am »
Really enjoyed painting a bunch of Heer transports recently, both WG & Rubicon versions of 251Ds & Blitzs, along with a WG Horch & a 234/2. Given the shared camo schemes, the soft skins with one type, the 251s & 234/2 another, it was possible to get a nice batch painting production line going which made surprisingly light work of it.




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