Messages

136

Work In Progress / Re: German AT Guns - PaK 38 TS1 Painted 17023

« on: February 15, 2017, 02:58:22 am »

So these are not the final gun crew figures?

The guns themselves look absolutely brilliant.

Sorry to be boring, because I know I made the same point before, but the crew I'm afraid, still look like they are wearing baggy overalls or pyjamas, rather than WW2 German uniforms. Too 'full' and too much overdone creasing.

137

Work In Progress / Re: Willys MB - The Jeep - TS1 Plastic Crew Painted 170214

« on: February 15, 2017, 02:54:24 am »

The berets certainly look more beret-like when viewed from the front 

138

Work In Progress / Re: SdKfz 222/223/260/261 - 3D Prototype Painted 170211

« on: February 12, 2017, 10:18:06 pm »

Definitely want a number of those.

Me too 

139

Work In Progress / Re: Willys MB - The Jeep - TS1 Plastic Crew 170131

« on: February 02, 2017, 05:16:01 am »

The jeeps look great, so do the US crew - unlike the truck crew, the peaks on their helmets look spot on.

The British berets look completely wrong though. Maybe it's the mould line above the ear, or maybe it's the angle of the picture, but they look almost like beanie hats rather than berets. Still, they are work in progress, so I'm sure they can be fixed. Or a different angle will show that they do indeed have the characteristics of a beret 

140

General Discussions / Re: Happy New Year

« on: January 30, 2017, 02:48:55 am »

Great. Thank you for the information. Good to know 

141

General Discussions / Re: Happy New Year

« on: January 29, 2017, 08:57:17 pm »

I must admit, as a new convert to Rubicon, I am curious to know a little more about Rubicon Models.

Do these New Year wishes mean that Rubicon is a Chinese company? Or that you manufacture in China?

Somebody told me that Rubicon was run by Europeans (Germans?) but the design studio is in Hong Kong? Is that true? Just interested to know a bit more about the company's set-up... 

Apologies if this has been explained elsewhere - I did look, but couldn't find anything about it...

Perhaps it's a secret 

142

General Discussions / Re: Colour photos of WW2 armour

« on: January 29, 2017, 08:52:18 pm »

These are great. Thanks for sharing.
Very revealing, as your comments intimate... Shiny metal where wheels meet tracks - something virtually never shown by modellers; hastily and roughly daubed on camo schemes - not the pinpoint accurate décor schemes beloved of AFV modellers; and a lot less chipping than you see on most models (mine included!)
Really interesting.

143

Work In Progress / Re: Digital Sculpts - US Truck Crew 170118

« on: January 20, 2017, 04:21:20 am »

  I love the guy with the stogie too.
I applaud the thought that's gone into some natural human poses of troops at rest or in transit. Shows a lot of character and confidence I think. Would have been pretty easy to just have a load of soldiers sitting their clutching their rifles. Possibly more useful for wargames, I must admit. But I find this more interesting. Well done to the design team. Well, from me anyway 

144

Work In Progress / Re: Digital Sculpts - US Truck Crew 170118

« on: January 19, 2017, 04:17:56 am »

What a wonderful set of figures 

Do agree, there's something not quite right about the helmets though. I think it's the fact that the 'peaks' on the helmets appear to be stunted or missing. The US M1 helmet actually has a really pronounced peak. The driver's helmet appears to have it. The seated troops do not.

Apart from that, really good. Great casual poses. Love the guy tying his laces.

145

Showcase & Gallery / Re: M5A1 "(Stuart VI) Reece / Kangaroo"

« on: January 08, 2017, 12:21:23 am »

Great job. I like that very much. 

146

Showcase & Gallery / Re: DAK Tiger I

« on: January 05, 2017, 02:00:26 am »

Thanks gents (and our Rubicon hosts )  Wasn't meaning to be precious or defensive - just pointing out that I come at this from a slightly less than stringent perspective when it comes to pinpoint historical accuracy. But please be assured I greatly admire and respect you guys who know your AFVs inside out. It's just that I prioritise figures and models that look good over absolute historical truth.

@Marcin: No offense taken, not at all
I'm a historian too, by the way (well, I've got a history degree and an awful lot of history books, which is sort of being a historian... ) I get very cross about glaring historical inaccuracy in the movies and on TV. Interestingly, I've never felt quite so bad about taking a few modest liberties when it comes to putting things on the wargames table. Horses for courses I guess...

But thanks for your forbearance / understanding of my occasional heretic ways I look forward to building some more Rubicon models and sharing them here.

Meanwhile, being new to this whole 1/56 AFV modelling world, I did complete another model in between my Rubicon Crusader and my Rubicon Tiger. And that was this resin Blitzkrieg Models Sdkfz231 - this one's FULL of historical inaccuracies (no headlamps, grab rails, width indicators, etc) but you can blame Blitzkrieg for that, not me... I've done my best with it. Hope it's okay to share a couple of pics here, even though it's not a Rubicon product

I'm sure there'll be a Rubicon kit of this in due course, so it will be interesting to compare and contrast...

147

Showcase & Gallery / Re: DAK Tiger I

« on: January 04, 2017, 08:28:30 pm »

Thanks for the positive feedback 

I agree I have overdone the stowage - and you certainly wouldn't park kit on top of the engine vents where it would cook... But it's just creating an impression...

To explain - I sense enormous passion and expertise about accurate detail amongst the serious AFV modellers on this forum. So please don't be too horrified when I say that I'm not personally fussed about fine details. I just want to produce nice-looking wargames models that broadly look the part. It's a Tiger tank for use in North Africa. None of the people I play wargames with will be able to tell the exact difference in insignia or hatch type. So please do provide constructive criticism on the painting / modelling, which is very much appreciated and very useful to me as an AFV newbie. But please - if you can bear to - try to turn a blind eye to any minor idiosyncracies, which will usually be conscious choices on my part, not errors

148

Showcase & Gallery / Re: “17pdr SP Achilles”

« on: January 04, 2017, 05:10:43 am »

Very nicely done 

149

Showcase & Gallery / DAK Tiger I

« on: January 04, 2017, 05:05:32 am »

Rubicon Tiger I for my burgeoning Western Desert wargaming collection.
I've built it as early production model, although I've cheated slightly by using the mid-production turret top - mainly because I wanted the MG34 and 'swing aside' commander's hatch.
I'll add a Perry panzer commander in due course.
I tried to get the colour to the kind of 'green sand' I saw from photographs of some of the early DAK Tigers.

Only one tiny criticism of an otherwise brilliant kit - the surface moulded-on details of cables, tools etc was indeed extremely fiddly to paint accurately... If Rubicon ever redo this kit, those surface moulded items could really do with a whisker more relief / definition.

I'm hosting these pics on Lead Adventure Forum, a German based forum, so for the pictures I've smudged out the tiny swastikas within the DAK insignia - showing Nazi symbols is still against the law in Germany, and even a miniscule infringement could land the forum owner in legal trouble...












A few close-ups...

150

Work In Progress / Re: German AT Guns - PaK 36 Painted Crew 161231

« on: January 03, 2017, 02:22:54 am »

The gun looks superb.

The figures, being honest, do not look quite right. The arms look too long, and the uniforms look too baggy - I think the creases are too over-exaggerated, making these figures look like they are wearing great big, loose sack type clothing. Sorry to be critical. I admire your ambition, but I think making good looking miniatures using digital sculpting is a lot more difficult than making good looking hardware, equipment and vehicles... I'm sure the quality of figure sculpting will improve with future releases. My advice would be - cut back on the amount of creasing in the sleeves in particular. By quite a lot.