Various WIP

[ultravanillasmurf]

Looking forward to seeing this built.

[ripley]

Some early test fittings for my 234/3 conversion, using my Puma hull  . The Rubicon gun mount is a little larger width wise than the 234 hull . So its a matter of do I cut it narrower and add the bends on the sides , or do I scratch a whole new mount ?



 I noticed there seem to be a few angle differences  in side shields in various vehicles ( or is it just the angle of the picture ? )



Any one know if the Bovington vehicle is a museum rebuild or is it as built ?

[ripley]

Well got side tracked on the 234 and 251 vehicle conversions . By the time I decided what I wanted to build and headed down to the LHS to get them , both the Puma and 251 D kit had been sold , to one of my buddies  . So , instead I picked up a Meng T-34 egg tank

Its a little too cartoon tank  for my taste , really not loving the dual commander's hatches , so I did a little kit bashing . I was thinking of adding !/35 scale wheels and indi link track , but while I have wheels galore , I only had enough track for about 3/4s of what I needed for both sides . Well maybe the next one




I added some 1/35 parts , the ammo box and tarp are Tamiya , the bow gun and tow cables are from IRC an old Zevda kit . I replaced the flared gun barrel with a plastic barrel from the BA Churchill and the radio antenna is an unused part from the Rubicon SU-85 kit.

[ultravanillasmurf]

Very cute. Well done.

[ripley]

They really are lots of fun to build  . I like to go through the parts box and try to   make them a little more "realistic " looking , but they look great just out of the box . The LHS has the Panzer III N in stock , so that will probably be the next one I play with . Heard that Meng  have a Firefly and Panzer IV ( or was it Panther ? ) coming next in this series . Sorry I got all excited when I heard Firefly and tuned out the rest ....

[ripley]

Picked up my 251 D today ( for my 251/9 kit bash ) , and as I had time to kill while the base coat on its drying .... I thought I might try something like this

Will have to remove the driver and add gun parts to the turret interior , but I should end up with a broken down / knocked out Panzer IV
I picked the left side hatch because the right hatch has the fans mounted to it and I have no bits in the parts box that look like it  and I have  no idea how to scratch it 

[ultravanillasmurf]

That is amazing.

I keep looking at the spare turret parts from the T34/76, but have not started on it.

[ripley]

Upon further research ( I always seem to rush in and start glueing stuff when I get an idea  ), it seems that there is a large radiator over the left side of the engine . In most pictures , its usually removed so the engine can be worked on . So , I don't need the engine in there , just the rad . That's easier
So ,I just cut down an Academy M 113 rad , added a few pipes and its almost done . Just have to carefully sand the resin door I made ( hull pressed into plastersine ) thinner so I can open up the cooling slats
 

[ultravanillasmurf]

Excellent.

All I have managed is to base some Modern PLA and undercoat the Studebaker and a Evil Bear Foxhound.

[ripley]

That sounds like you've made some progress at least . Funny how you go great guns and finish one  kit in mere days and the next one seems to drag on for weeks and sometimes months . I've got some 1/35 Dragon rail cars I started about 10 years ago I still have to complete 

[ripley]

A little more work on my latest Panzer IV . I made the engine hatch by pressing the hull in plastercine and casting it in a thin coat of resin , I made about 6 that turned out . Sanded the hatch flat , cut out the cooling slats and added a set of slats to the rear of the door . Really they should be inset in the door but too much work involved in that , as you sand the resin thinner it softens  and bends  That's why you make multiple copies 

After adding the engine hatch , I worked on the turret doors adding internal features , vision and pistol ports . In reality the pistol port should be recessed in the door , but again way too much work for little gain , a square on the door gives the impression of a port , and most people seeing it won't know the difference .



I also added a number of bolts to the Driver's plate , making it look like a late G  with the bolted on extra 30mm plate . I also added part of  a recoil guard in turret which would be visible through the open hatches . The crewman is one of the guys from the BA plastic Uni Carrier , metal head , headphones round his neck and Panzer tunic style coller from thin plastic sheet

I still have one more BA plastic IV to build ,  , although I don't mind having multiples of a kit ( I have 7 IVs ) , I want them to be all a little different so I'll probably turn it into a J with mesh side screens . Here's the Panzer IVs I completed so far .

[ultravanillasmurf]

That is amazing. That crew conversion is great.

Did DAK crews only have grey coveralls?

[ripley]

Only at the start , then they got the sand colored gear .



1/35 scale boxes for reference . IRC they also used a lot of captured British clothing , lot of pics of Germans bundled up in Brit greatcoats ,etc . For being so effin' hot during the day the desert can get very cold at night

[ultravanillasmurf]

Thanks, that is good to know - my Marder crew are base coated Vallejo German Camouflage mid brown with the intention of lots of faded highlights.

[ripley]

Pretty quiet around here this weekend , did everybody go to Salute ? ( lucky b@stards ! )  Just thought I'ld post a few pictures of various figures I've been working on over the last while while waiting for stuff to arrive for some of my other vehicle builds . First off , I grabbed some Empress ( Duh , Black Tree Design figures    ) metal figures a while back on one of their sales ( Hmm , they seem to have them every week  ) A nice Russian Maxim MG with 2 man crew . The gunners pose needed a little tweaking ( bend with plyers ) and adjust the base to raise the gun a bit to fit his hands , I cast a few extra ammo cans to scatter about the base , 



I also picked up a set of dead Russians and Germans . You get 5 figures in various dead looking poses , some had an arm or leg missing , weather that was on purpose or a miscast I'm not sure . I added the omitted part from the BA parts box as well as a weapon or two . They're not the best figures , but look the part of dead dudes . A couple of the German figures had very heavy flash , so they are on hold till I figure out how to fix them .


                       T he dead horse was an after thought , really don't know what I'm going to use it for             

The Medic and Surrendering figures are pretty good , I added a helmet and canteen to the wounded guy's hand and used green stuff to give the POW long pants , hiding his jack boots , so he could be used as a Panzer crew figure , As he has no personal gear on his belt you can add bits from the BA plastic Germans , he got a pistol holster

The 3rd guy is a BA body with Tamiya 1/48 gas cans , . And for something completely different , I picked up a box of Star Wars Legion Rebels ./ Don't know if I'mg going to go all out and pick up the core box , or even play the game , but the figures were a nice distraction . Not much room for conversions , the arms are attached to the weapons  and have different distances between shoulders and are a plug fit so you can;t really swap them around . But I've added GW ammo pouches and grenades and I've seen a few guys making head swaps . I also picked up a X wing model , because why not , its Star Wars !