UVS models: Salute 2021 11/12/2020

[ripley]

Yea , I'm waiting for Rubicon' Shermans . The BA M4 was ok , but not feeling the love for the M4A4  , just something about it " feels " wrong . And we do need lots of extra Sherman / Churchill track for Commonwealth tanks , I really mean lots   

[ultravanillasmurf]

I know what you mean.


But they are the only show in town at the moment.

Definitely need more track in the second Allied stowage set.

[ripley]

Company B make short lengths ( 1 3/4 inches  X 4pcs ) of pewter Sherman track . Might be worth looking into , I have their Sherman Bulldozer  Blade kit and it's pretty good

[ultravanillasmurf]

So, after a bit of an absence, and only just over a month after buying it, I have started work on a Commonwealth Jeep.

This is going to go with the Perry Miniatures 8th Army figures, so LRDG Keffiyehs and guns, lots of guns.

Having looked at the Bolt Action Armies of Great Britain list, the (SAS) gun jeep has a forward facing HMG, either a LMG or MMG also firing forward, and twin rear firing LMG or MMG. The kit has the HMG, one forward firing BREN LMG (or a Vickers K MMG) and twin rear firing Vickers K MMG. So the twin rear mount was added to the back of the body.

As mentioned on the Studebaker build, I had difficulty getting the Rubicon ABS to notice the Humbrol liquid poly (and it is a newly opened bottle). This was an issue in assembling the wings, grille, chassis and upper body as there were no location tabs/pins.

There was also a fill issue on the upper body (just visible on the rear shot). Not a problem with the stowage festooned LRDG vehicle I was building.

I needed another crew member to operate the rear guns, so there is a kneeling Perry figure just placed for testing.

So, here is the state of play of the build (one shot is a bit earlier in the build).




I have used the rucksacks from the Allied Stowage set, fixed and filled with Greenstuff.

Thread was wrapped around the bumper to simulate a tow rope.




Besides needing some arms, the Perry figure will have his Keffiyeh extended further with Greenstuff.

Once that figure is completed I can pack the rest of the vehicle with stowage.

[Pinky]

Good to see someone tackling the SAS version.  How are the crew?  They look very similar to Perry plastic 8th Army.

I like the soft stowage, as always.  The row of ammo boxes on the mudguard looks wrong though.  They're too wide and would probably get lost too easily.  And the extra fuel tanks were a post-North Africa feature.  There'd be a second spare on the rear rather than a single jerrycan.

I use Tamiya liquid cement for these kits.  And superglue to add any non-Rubicon stuff.

[ultravanillasmurf]

Thanks.

I saw a reference to double jerry cans after I had added that one. Other photographs show racks of jerry cans where the tanks have been added. Again after I started.

Ho hum, maybe next one.

I do need to add some straps to the ammo boxes. I did see one photograph with a box on the mudguard, the Rubicon ammo crate was too large. Now I can only find a reenactor one.

Still lots to add.

I will see if Hobby R Uz have the Tamiya liquid poly.

[ripley]

Cool looking jeep . I think the ammo for the ,50 would be in the vehicle , not on the fenders . They're just going to buzz through the German position and probably fire off 50 - 60 rounds before they bugger off , they wouldn't stick around for a fire fight , their tactics were hit and run . Here's a couple of pictures of the same jeep  ( notice Thompson strapped across hood / bonnet )



 Lots of Jerry cans of fuel / water , extra spare tire on rear and packs / bags of personal kit

Same jeep again in color ! As with all colorized WW2 photos ( some are real bad  ) , check your own trusted sources

[ultravanillasmurf]

Thanks Ripley.

Interesting the location of the twin Vickers K, centre of the load bed giving the possibility of all round fire.

The ammo boxes are .303 (or .30) so are "afterwards" reloads for the BREN or the K.

I will add two more jerry cans to the bonnet (marked with the white cross as water) and some more soft stowage. Perry tin hats will need to be added to the stowage. Not sure what to do about small arms. There are three options for Thompsons: Perry ones; Warlord ones and Hasslefree metal ones. There is a noticeable size difference, but I am not sure if there is a loose Perry one on the Eighth Army sprue.

[ripley]

If you look real close at the pictures , the Thompson seems  to have the   front grip like in the Gangster movies , so you might need to make a drum magazine . IRC the UK got  police type Thompsons early in the war , not the Military pattern   And the .50 has the shorter air cooled barrel used in air craft not the longer heavy ground mount barrel , you could probably use the barrel off a BA mg 34 with a little surgery might not be perfect but would look the part

[ultravanillasmurf]

I see what you mean about the M2 barrel and the full length shroud. Possibly for the next Allied Stowage set?

Just identified the Thompson on the bonnet.

I am also thinking of stowing the Vickers K guns, they are rather vulnerable.

Off to look at the CMP instructions to see about an LRDG version and the PAK36 for a portee.

[Pinky]

If you look real close at the pictures , the Thompson seems  to have the   front grip like in the Gangster movies , so you might need to make a drum magazine . IRC the UK got  police type Thompsons early in the war , not the Military pattern   And the .50 has the shorter air cooled barrel used in air craft not the longer heavy ground mount barrel , you could probably use the barrel off a BA mg 34 with a little surgery might not be perfect but would look the part

Right.  The British were initially issued with the M1928 Thompson, which came in a wooden chest.

I told Rubicon the .50 cal in this kit should be the AN/M2 version with a perforated jacket on the barrel.  These were taken from aircraft, and had a shorter barrel and higher rate of fire.

[ultravanillasmurf]

Just had a look at the list for"Behind the lines" in the Bolt Action British army book.

Basically you need transport for all infantry, so basically you need one officer and two infantry squads and their transports.

So the officer and his assistant get a jeep, the troops get a 15cwt CMP each.

The LRDG gun truck can use the weapons from the Jeep. I know the PAK36 might not be accurate, but I might use one for the Light Anti-tank gun.

Of course we might have a 30cwt Chevy by the time I get round to that.

[ripley]

I think a little bit of work on the pak 36 from Rubicon's 251 , would give you a fair representation of a 2 pounder AT gun .  Probably change the guard for the gunner , add a few bibs & bobs , maybe a longer barrel ( really haven't measured it out  ) , put it on a pedestal mount  , and your good to go . Most of the pictures of these type of truck mounted guns by both the Brits and Germans  look very Mad Max anyway

[ultravanillasmurf]

Thanks.

I was going to use the "spare" from the AT gun set.

Good point on the pedestal, a set of spare wheels from the stowage set might work as stowed wheels from the original towed version.

[ripley]

If the wheels were removed and the gun carriage not cut up but bolted down to the truck bed , I could see them keeping the wheels to put back on when the gun was removed from the truck . If it became a 1-1 scale kit bash to add a gun to the truck , I would think the wheels and most of the gun carriage would be cut up and scrapped . The Germans cut short the trail legs to add the gun to  Dinah , as well the 105 Howitzer on the Pzr I had the trail cut up  . IRC the 2  pounder AT gun was left on its carriage as was the 6 pounder Portee .                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Maybe something like these Italian guns on captured trucks . IRC some vehicles were captured 2 or 3 times eventually coming back to the original owner , sometimes with enemy added goodies





2 pounder portee