Various WIP

[ultravanillasmurf]

Nice work.

[ripley]

Thanks .

[neffer38]

Very nice! Just started on some 20mm cromwells for a commission job myself, Armour fast kits, went together quickly and not to much detailing to worry about at 20mm.

[ripley]

Thanks .

[ripley]

Did a little work on some seated troops for my M3 AC . I used the W plastic seated Germans , cutting their upper bodies apart and using the legs with the jack boots . I added Russian heads and weapons . As these will be in a vehicle I decided not to add personal gear

I had to take a 2mm slice out of the boots so their rears would sit on the wheel well and feet would touch the floor . As molded they don't fit well in the W halftracks .
And since I was in the kit bash mode , I converted another half dozen Russian troops into tank riders .

Lots of leg swaps and arms from various W plastic sprues , and  if you look close you'll see one guy who ended up with a tall boot leg  and a leg with puttees painted black . And of course with building new figures , some of the older ones had to be removed and / or redesigned to fit , but I really like how they turned out .

[ultravanillasmurf]

Nice work.

[ripley]

Thank you . This kind of kit bashing is lots of fun . And I still have 3 more W T-34/85s that might get tank riders . Maybe a set of winter Russians  ? Hmm

[neffer38]

Maybe a set of winter Russians  ? Hmm

You know it makes sense!

[ripley]

The M3 AC still sits awaiting a finished crew . Instead I built a Warlord  M-10 tank destroyer which I picked up on the last trip to the big city  . I was going make it an early version ( no turret counter weight )  in Soviet service but had a hard time making the groucers .                          So instead I decided to make it in Free French service with a full 5 man crew . Unfortunately the driver hatches don't look / fit right in the open position IMO ,so I closed them ( should have got the Rubicon tank destroyer crew blister , next time ) Any way , I managed to figure out a 3 man turret crew using the BA seated plastic German's lower bodies ( short boots ) and various upper torsos from the parts box .





I  based the decal placement on various photos from Google and a couple of French WW2 sites , although I have no idea which unit this combination represents . I liked the idea of the smaller stars with one off set on the turret top and 2 on the turret weight undersides . Decals were sourced from various sets , both Warlord and Rubicon . I also based the stowage placement on the same photos , I used stuff from Warlord , Rubicon , Tamiya 1/48 and the spare wheels I cast in resin . I added the D to the fuel cans as this vehicle used diesel fuel, the letters came from a 1/35 decal set . It still needs a few more bits on the engine deck and some weapons / ammo cans for the crew once they're finished ( 50 cal , Thompson , M1 carbine )

[ultravanillasmurf]

Very nice work.

[ripley]

Thanks . Really disappointed my 1st idea didn't work out , I'll have to revisit that at another time . And now I find I'm getting low on arms that are suitable for crew figures . I seem to have used up all the non weapon holding arms from my BA sprues . Guess its time to order a few more

[ripley]

Wow , its been a long time since I've posted any builds . Over the last year and a half  I've just repainted and decaled the kits  already had built , plus a few odd spues of troops .I did find out that the Howitzer barrel from the plastic Churchill just drops in to the Cromwell

Its only this past month I've really found my mojo and got back to building .













Some of these still need stowage , the JP needs more foliage and the 3rd Cromwell will be finished as a knocked out vehicle . WIP on the bench , Bad Squido mortar team and Rubicon GAZ truck with Maxim machine gun mount

[ripley]

This is the Rubicon GAZ truck with  the Quad Maxim from the blister pack . I used the "tracks " from my BA 10 armored car kit .

So I can use the truck as regular transport , I built the guns on a removable base



The MG kit was the best pewter kit I've ever built , really great detail .

[ripley]

I decided I wanted to have tank riders on a Panther or Tiger  , but really don't want to glue them on so the tank can be used without them in a game . Going through my parts bin I realized I still have the second upper hull from my JPanther kit . Since I never glued the upper and lower hull of my JP together , I could swap them out , one having tank riders and one as a knocked out vehicle . The question then arises , do I have enough bits in my parts box to replicate the parts missing as you only get enough to complete one version of the JP ( unlike the SU 122 / 85 kit ,both upper hulls can be built) . Anyway I managed to kit bash a few pieces from evergreen styrene , decided to add the holders for the missing jack block and wire cutters as I had non . Here's my KO d version

This side has added side skirt rails and jack block holder

This view shows wire cutter holder . hatch cover for commander's periscopes , shell ejection port , and cleaning rod tube

 On another matter , does anybody know of any store that has Army Painter Battlefields Poison Ivy in stock ? I like to use it as tree branch type camo on my tanks and local hobby shops have been out for over a year . Thks

[ripley]

 Although I finished my 2nd JPanther upper hull and tank riders a while ago  , I'm finally getting around to posting pictures of them .