British Heavy Tank Mk V Male.

 A full year in the making. The moment that you have all been waiting for... well many of you... OK, a few of you have been waiting for. This is the MENG Mk. V Male with completely detailed full interior. 

It was just too cool to close up, so I had to be creative.  I set it up as if it was a Museum exhibit with the sections cut away. I even included the display boards, runway ropes and simulated steel frame supports for the sections of the tank. I even used the spare track links for a display stand.

This was really fun to work on... OK, it was a tedious pain in the....tank.  Most of the linkages and tiny detail parts were tweezered. It was very difficult to hold onto anything without breaking something off. 

The coolest part was engine. I purposely left the covers off.  Can you imagine, they wanted you to close this up after all the work involved? Keep in mind that this is out of the box, despite it being left open.

I also added some interior back lighting, like they would do in a museum. I was also tempted to do overhead spot lights, but that was a bit much. 

This will compliment the similar arrangement I did on the German A7V. That didn't come with a detailed engine.

Vince B. 4-26-21

E-75 Pathmaker

 Another of the 1/72 scale Modelcollect Fist of War series, which of course I needed to enhance. I have a lot of scraps and leftovers from these kits, enough to collage.  I had a leftover King Tigerish turret which was perfect for this.  The kit came with a 120mm AA gun. 

The barrel is scratch built using styrene and brass rod. I used Evergreen sheets with tile pattern for the add on armor. There are some unseen hydraulic cables added to the leg mechanisms. 

The stowage is is a combination of Black Dog and Priser components.

The camouflage coloring was based on what I had planned for a fall forest scene 1945. I used Modelmaster and Humbrol enamels with the use of theraputty masks. 

The trees and groundwork were made from garden debris and chopped hemp rope with some bought clump foliage and grass scatter. 

Vince B. 4-13-21

Somewhere in Saigon

 Since I had sold all of my Vietnam dioramas, I needed a new one for the display case. As I was formulating the layout with the soldiers working on the detailed engine in the front, Master Box released a new figure set. "Somewhere in Saigon"  which gave me the opportunity to expand the setting for the diorama. Then the dilemma... what to call it. I had two names narrowed down and as Don suggested, why not use both.

 

The build started with the old Tamiya M113 ACAV kit. This provided the basic details and interior I needed.  The engine compartment was sparse and I wanted the hood open. I studied what seemed to be a chaotic stream of pics, where there weren't two engines alike. I selected the details which I could fabricate by adding hoses and wiring, This was enough to allow opening of the compartment. I used two figures from the kit and some hand tools from an Italeri kit.

Then, there was the interior. I needed to add such details as the grab straps on the ceiling, radio, ammo cans and other stowage. This was a combo of misc resin and plastic items from my collection. I also assembled several of the paper carton prints. The drivers compartment was lacking in cable conduits and wiring. 

Doing this helped develop the rest of the story of trading goods for services. Food, cigarettes and cash for.... well, you get the picture. 

Now for the details on the roof of the vehicle. Needed a lot of stowage, misc. gear and weapons. I added wire antennae, straps etc along with making ammo belts for the 30 cal guns.

 

Overall, this was a fun build. The wall segment was a plaster piece from an old Verlinden building. Not sure where I got the resin side walk brick. The street was just plaster over a styrofoam sheet. The couch was a 1/24 scale scrap car back seat covered with tissue. 

Vince B.  4-11-21