Military Vehicle Auction - Let's Start our Own Army!

The Jacques Littlefield Collection of military vehicles is going on the auction block in California. Everyone in the club should buy one vehicle. There are at least two Shermans available, for those of you who are into them. Even a SCUD missile launcher complete with missile. I have dibs on the Saracen APC. See article at AutoWeek magazine.

EMHAR 1/35 scale kit, out of the box

This is the EMHAR 1/35 scale kit, out of the box. The plastic is thick and the molds are crude, but the surface detail is good. The instructions are poor and the tracks are crude and take some work to fit properly.  I was surprised to find that the rubber track sections were gluable. You will need to gloss coat the decals as they tended to crack up. If you were to make a real effort by sanding out the alignment imperfections and straightening out some of the parts, you could make a good model out of this kit.

In my case, this wasn't intended to be a contest model. I threw this together quickly for the Houston Downtown Library Display case. We are putting together a WWI exhibit to be featured in one of the cases while the other cases will be general modeling of all kinds.

Vince Barrale

Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf. K

Here are a couple of photos of an oldie, but a goodie.  Yes, it's another shelf-queen from Dragon that's been sitting around collecting dust for quite some time now. It was built at least six years ago and it's the original DML K kit built pretty much out of the box with a few Evergreen styrene refinements here and there, but the detail is nowhere near Dragon's newer Panzer III kits.  It has some Magic Sculp tarps added to the front and a boot for the rear antenna.  It will eventually (maybe someday) be finished in a winter scheme.  There's still some work to do to mount the storage boxes on the rear deck before any painting can begin. 

Russia's First IMAX 3D Film 'Stalingrad' Gets US Release in February

February 28th! and in IMAX 3D

http://www.firstshowing.net/2014/russias-first-imax-3d-film-stalingrad-gets-us-release-in-february/

Gone Fishing

The Itaeri Armored Car kit was so small, I needed to come up with something to do with it. I recently purchased a wrecked bridge kit so decided to combine the two. A story was needed.

What do you do when your mission is scrubbed? Grab a stick of wood, tie a wire onto it and go fishing.

I added some torn steel framework and rock rubble to the scene. The water was diluted Woodland Scenics paste. I added some resin stowage to the vehicle and scratchbuilt the extra gas can rack.

The figure was an old Preiser officer. Not much to work with but I was able to re-shape his arms to hold the fishing pole.

Vince B  1-5-2014

Marder III

This is an old Italeri kit. It actually went together pretty well. In doing some research online, I found so many variants and field modifications, that I selected a few options that I scratch built some details or added components from spares.

 

The interior of the gun compartment was sparse so I added in a radio and some other personal equipment.

 

 

I found that the Marder was used in a variety of campaigns, so I selected the markings and color scheme used in France. I airbrushed with enamels, weathered with oils in several layers and mounted on some basic ground work.

 

 

Vince B  Jan 5-2014

Amazing visual effects for the new Russian movie "Stalingrad"

I recommend you watch it "full screen"

http://sploid.gizmodo.com/nothing-is-real-in-movies-but-who-cares-when-it-looks-t-1486106817/@caseychan

And there is more about the movie itself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXpLfi7B-t0

King Tiger

This was a Tamiya 1/35 scale kit. Whenever I want to do a straight out of the box kit, I go to my Tamiya stack. Since I had never built a King Tiger before, this was a great choice.

After the basic painting, I did a lot of oil washes and dry brushing to get the worn look. Since this is intended as OOB, I didn't add any stowage or modifications.

 

VB 12-17-13

Hummel

This is the Dragon 1/72 scale kit. These are really getting tough for me to see. I did manage find some good photos, mostly of museum pieces. I gathered enough info to get this done.

 

 

As always, painted with enamels and weathered with oils. I was pleased with the outcome of the added stowage as I had seen in many battle action photos.

 

 

VB 12-17-13

 



SAS Jeep

This is the Italeri SAS Commando Car, which is really just a jury rigged Willis Jeep. The kit was basic and an easy build. Based on the actual photos I found on line, it was not a great representation of actual vehicles used by the SAS, so I did some modification. I cut the front grill and mounted the spare water / gas cans on a scratch built rack.

 

I also added some personal weapons and stowage. 

 

The model was painted with enamels and weathered with oils. After more dull coats, I performed the oil dot matrix technique to vary the shades of green. I added more dullcoat then dry brushed.

 

 

Finally I used some MIG pigments with the turpenoid to create the splashed mud effect. on the tires and wheel wells.

 

VB 12-17-13

 

German gun... :-)

Cool picture! Had to post it :-)

For the article, see Gizmodo:

http://gizmodo.com/this-gigantic-german-gun-can-ruin-your-week-from-30-mil-1481330459

Cheers,
Fred

This make me think, could we have a Howitzer as subject for the next club contest?

In Time for the Christmas Feast

Opel Blitz Field Kitchen

This truck uses the wood gas engine burner fuel system

.

JSU-152

SdKfz. 251/17 20 mm

Scratch built and Lead Models Conversion on Tamiya 251 Ausf D

DIORAMAS by Greg Chilar

Latest Models

Here are my latest "complete" models.
Tom

This is Trumpeters German 8.8cm Flak 18 Selbstfahrlafette (Self Propelled carriage)

This is Tamiya's 20mm Flak 38 with trailer.

This is Dragon's Pz IV Ausf H with Zimmerit and Schuzen

From an advertising ad - Singapour

http://www.wpp.com/wppedcream/2009/advertising/print_021.html

I thought that was pretty funny

I stumble on this web site by accident and saw this :-)

Here's the link:
http://www.gatorsmask.com/

Sectional Views of Many Tanks

If your looking for interior colors and arrangements on many tanks, check out this Russian web page.

http://biskvitka.net/kartinki/19050-razrez-na-tankove-sectional-drawing-of-tanks.html

Panzer IV F2-G in 1/72

I Finally finished something. This was a Dragon kit with more tiny detail parts and photo etch than I normally want to deal with. Overall it is a good kit if you have 300 power lenses and micro tweezers.

 I used a variety of stowage add ons from Preiser figures and other resin accessories. I used wire for the tie down rope.

 I scratch built a rack on the turret for spare water or fuel cans.

 

I also wrapped my own tow cable from #14 ga SIS control wiring.