UVS models: Salute 2021 11/12/2020

[Pinky]

Nice job removing the louvre and filling the space.  I would probably have cheated and just covered the space with a tarpaulin...

I like your stowage - it looks very natural.  You are very good at sculpting the soft stowage too.  There's an art to making stowage look as though it's been put there by the crew and not just randomly stuck to the model. 

[ultravanillasmurf]

Thanks.

My concern is trying to work out where crew would place kit, so it does foul hatches or the turret and does not sit on ventilators, exhausts, crank handle sockets....

The Steve Zaloga Osprey modelling book on the Sherman 76mm has some useful pointers.

[ultravanillasmurf]

So I have finished the Panzer III M (for the moment).

Pinky and I have both looking for evidence of Panzer III M's in North Africa. Pinky found an example in a Concorde book, and I found one in the Osprey book. There may be another picture in the Osprey book - there is a posed picture shot from the right rear showing a number of British soldiers with BREN guns, it has the same single number on the turret bin.

On page five of the Osprey New Vanguard book on the Panzer III there is a picture of an M knocked out in Tunisia. This is my attempt at a similar picture. The angle is not quite right.

The number on the turret side is not quite the right size, and lacks the outlining described in the text (the one on the turret bin does have white outlining - unfortunately I did not realise when I was putting the transfers on the model).

Soft stowage is green stuff, hard stowage is a mixture of Rubicon stowage (jerry cans, crate, bucket) and scratch built items (some using HO scale boxes as a core).

[chrismanu87]

@ultravanillasmurf
This panzer is very good, which colour have you used?
 

[Pinky]

Great to see this painted, UVS.  The stowage is really good - it looks very authentic (the helmets hanging from the smoke dischargers etc).  I wish I could get my hands on more of those railway crates - I had a pile of them but they've been frittered away over the years.  I'd suggest just a bit more shading around the hatches, to enhance the detail.

Here are a couple of photos of Ausf Ms in Tunisia, including the Osprey photo that UVS mentioned.  I think they were with 10th Panzer Division, which used single-digit turret numbers.  They seem to have been painted in Dunkelgelb (i.e. not the usual Gelbraun), but it's hard to be sure.

[ultravanillasmurf]

Thanks for the nice comments.

The base colour (as spotted by Pinky) is PSC DunkelGelb,  plate B3 (an N) in the Osprey book is described as being in the mustard colour (together with olive green!) that was popular for tanks in Tunisia.

The PSC spray is a slightly different shade to the Vallejo one so needs careful shading in. The highlights are Army Painter Skeleton Bone.

Following Pinky's suggestion I will run some Citadel Earthshade round the hatches, but first back to dressing up the Crusader. I have found a nice picture of the rear deck in the Osprey Operation Crusader book.

[ultravanillasmurf]

I wish I could get my hands on more of those railway crates - I had a pile of them but they've been frittered away over the years.

Knightwing International supply them in the UK: PM101 Crates, Barrels and Sacks. Not sure who actually makes them,

[ultravanillasmurf]

Okay, a couple of work in progress pictures.

First the Crusader (yes I am still working on it).

Thanks to Pinky I have a picture showing the stowage rail (and Osprey have a rear view picture in Campaign 220: Operation Crusader).

I do worry that Crusader MkIIIs do not have the stowage rail, but it is now a bit late.


I should have checked the position of the end of the long six pounder with the turret rotated to the rear, luckily it just fits but I will need to be careful with the stowage when I sculpt it.

From the Osprey picture, I am building a jerry can rack to go above the radiator grill (yes I used the grill that does not take the spare fuel tank). This is a work in progress shot.

Four cans from the German Stowage set with the rack made from 0.030" square section Slaters micro strip and straps made from 0.030" by 0.010" micro strip. The end pieces of the rack need to be added and a lot of trimming is required.

It is being built on a glass plate to make it easy to remove.

[Pinky]

Crusader IIIs definitely had the 'stowage rails', but they were actually part of the 'sunshade' device, which was intended to disguise the tank as a truck.  The rails (which were flat, not rounded) were attached to brackets that were welded to the sand shields.  A Crusader III with the sunshade device fittings would often (but not always) be painted in a wavy sand/black camo with the middle 3 roadwheels painted black.  The rails were a convenient place for hanging stowage.  I'd put up some photos for you, but I still can't upload them.

[ultravanillasmurf]

Thanks.

I did wonder about their intended use, the tanks had rather a lot of tarpaulins so I wondered if they were used to break up their profile when at rest. I thought I had seen a picture of one with lots of 'lean-to' shelter (not the Tunisia photograph in the Osprey Crusader book - page 23).I did not realise it was part of the lorry disguise.

Now that would be an interesting option.

You are right that the rail on the skirts is rectangular in section, but I am going to need to add a lot of rod to the tarpaulins.

I will have a look in Churchill's Wizards and see if they have more details.

Thanks.

[Pinky]

That sunshade device wasn't carried on the tank when not in use.  The tarpaulins you've seen hanging from Crusaders (and Grants and Shermans) were indeed shelters etc. for the crew.

[ultravanillasmurf]

Thank for letting me know, less bits to add to the tank.

Edit: rats, two mistakes (possibly three): Poor choice of stowage to work on, now I have to wait for the green stuff to set; I have hung a tarpaulin from the rail rather than from the rail's hangers - it is too low. Last issue is the tarpaulin hanging over the left side - it first fouled the turret (fixed) but while fixing it I ran out of time to sculpt the rest of it (see first problem). It will need reworking.

[Pinky]

I'm sure you'll fix these issues, given your skill at sculpting stowage.

[ultravanillasmurf]

Thanks.

Current state of the tank:


You can see how the tarpaulin is low on the right hand side.

[ripley]

Looking really good . I can never get my Green Stuff to do what I want , what's your secret ?