Russian 1K17 Szhatie

I cant pronounce it either, but it doesn't matter since it was a 1980s failure.  Yeah that's how long this blunder has been kept hidden.  It was intended to disrupt battlefield electronics, targeting, communications etc. Probably backfired but we may never know.  Now it sits rusting and parted out like an old model kit.

 It looks like they used a howitzer turret, gutted it and inserted a mass of laser electronics and optics.

The whole array of lenses can elevate at a very slight angle.

By the way, this was a Trumpeter kit.  Pretty typical parts and fit. The kit includes most of the parts of the original howitzer, so I have spares.  I built it as if it were operational, but it would be fun to do the current version rotting out in the boneyard.

And of course I lit it up. But now that I have taken the photos, I see some touch up is needed. 1% more to go before it gets into the museum.

Vince B Apr 30. 2017

Proposed 5.5cm Flakpanzer Panther

(I love Paper Panzers!!!)

The 5.5cm FlaKpanzer Panther was a proposal based on new, more advanced 5.5cm guns. The new turret, with new sights and guns, was to be mounted on older hulls returned for refit and/or repair. 

This 1/35th scale model turret was mastered by John Bottomley for Accurate Armor, kit # C033.

(https://accurate-armour.com/our-products/135th-conversions/page/5)

Accurate Armor kit#C033

For this very simple conversion used the Accurate Armor turret and the Tamiya Late Panther G (kit #35176). I used Tamiya Acrylic German Grey XF63 mixed with XF08 Flat Blue to make the base coat. I wanted the tank to look like it was just rolled from the train yard. The little bit of weathering used was pigments.

Just after paint

Simple and Fun Conversion!!

Mtl. SPW. Sd.Kfz. 251/9 ausf. D 

Kanonenwagen mit 7.5cm KwK 37 L/24

   The Sd.Kfz. (Sonderkraftfahrzeug) 251 Hanomag was used from 1939 until 1945 by Nazi Germany. Several manufactures built 10,602 Ausf D's from April 1943 until the end of the war.

   The Mtl. SPW. Ausf D half track had been changed slightly, for easier fabrication, from the previous models. As the war progressed these vehicles were required to take on tasks they were never designed to accomplish initially. The Sd. Kfz. 251/9 nick named the "Stummel" a SPG variant (AKA the "Kanonenwagen") using a short barrel 7.5cm (2.95") howitzer with the same mounting as the StuG III, was one of these vehicles.

"7.5cm Stummel" in the Munster Tank Museum

Brutal broken down winter repair

 The first Stummels were used with the SS-Panzerregiment 4 "Der Furhrer" and the 2nd SS Armored Division. Later the Paratrooper division "Herman Goring" used them as armored reconnaissance.

I built the Tamiya model # 35147 of the Kanonenwagen in the late 90's. The results are below.

Ratte & Maus

This is the Takom kit, one of their first, which introduced a new era in semi Sci Fi Modeling.  As we have read on the websites, this was an actual deign by Krupp in 1942, but scrapped before it could begin production as it was deemed ineffective and a waste of resources. I cant believe it was expected to do 24 MPH. Enough history.  Now to the fun stuff.

 This is 1/144 scale, so I needed to use some 'N' scale railroad figures to help visualize how big this really was, or would have been.  The kit also comes with 2 MAUS tanks to help with the scale enormity.

 Since this was for fun, I took some liberties and added some weaponry, and details. I imposed the assumption, being Sci-Fi, that the numerous heat vents on the rear deck were actually giant batteries so I engineered a spare replacement system by adding a battery trolley and crane.

 I used the Therapy Putty for the camo patterns on the Ratte and Maus. Yes, therapy, that is what I need.

 Since the anti aircraft guns that came in the kit were too fragile and lame, I upped the caliber by replacing with evergreen rod.

 This was too cool to leave out of the box and had enough room inside for me to wire up some LEDs and run fiber optics along with a battery pack accessible through the turret. So it has working spotlights, headlights and battery lights.

 I did replace the photo etch railings and ladders with plastic.  Anybody need any 1/144 scale ship railing? I also had to provide more decals which I got from my spares.

Vince B.  April 15.

"IT's A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057193/?ref_=nv_sr_1

This photo is not armor  (be careful) but I thought I'd share it non the less.

The world of model building extends to many areas. Like for example, Hollywood.

The photo shows Hollywood model maker Jim Danforth adding figures to the fire ladder for Stanley Kramer's famous scene in  "IT's A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD". One of my favorite scenes in the entire movie as the ladder is shown catapulting people (figures) in all directions.

Hope you enjoy this non-armor item!!

2cm FlaK on SdKfz 7 chassis Halftrack

Here's my German halftrack with a quad 20mm mounted on the bed. I enjoyed building this kit and adding the many chips and scratches. I went a little overboard but it was satisfying even so. My paint chips are of two colors...a lighter shade of the yellow followed by a smaller dot of dark brown If you look closely, you can see both colors in the chips.

As usual, I think I could have done a better job weathering this model, but I am very happy with the results I came up with.

Here is the Great Wall Hobby L3525 German sWS with 2cm Flakvierling.

Tom

BUILD - Panther ausf. G Steel Wheel Version using Tamiya kit # 35174

CONCEPT and RESEARCH  

    The Panther is my favorite flavor of all the German WWII armor. It was a tank loved by it's crews and feared by allied tank commanders whenever it appeared on battlefields from the western front to the Russian steps.
     I was looking for unusual paint schemes on the internet one night and found what I was looking for. It was an unusual winter scheme from a picture taken of a column of Panther G's advancing through the Haguenauer Forest north of Strasbourg in January 1945. They were from the 1.Armee in either the 21 Panzer-Division or Pz-Abt-5 from 25.Panzer-Grenadier-Division. All of the tanks in the column seem to have a "dazzle" style of winter camo. They seemed to be painted white (not white wash) over the usual late war hard edged 3 color scheme with geometric strips and designs revealing the 3 color scheme under the white.

CONSTRUCTION AND PAINTING

    After building the model out of the box I wanted to add some texturing the turret and front glacis plates. So I used a small chisel and rotary tool to mark up the areas. I then added a diluted Tamiya putty to the areas, pushing it around in different directions to make a very rough surface. I augmented the plate flame cuts with files and the small chisel. As the putty dried I stippled it with a very stiff brush to add more depth. I started using this technique recently and I like the results. The cast hatch ring was also addressed by coating it with Tamiya Super Thin and then stippling it with the stiff brush to give a more sand cast look. As were all the cast parts in the entire project. I let this dry over night before moving to the base coat.
    All the paints I used for the base coat and 3 color scheme are from the Tamiya Acrylic line. The base coat is XF-69 NATO Black and was applied to all the parts and sub-assemblies. I then sealed them all with Tamiya clear. I used Tamiya Lacquer for the thinner of choice throughout the entire project.  
    When the base coat was dried I started adding XF60 Dark Yellow with a few drops of XF3 Yellow and a few drops of  XF57 Buff. After the entire tank was painted I added about 10% XF2 Flat White to the mix to add some tonal changes on the upper surfaces. I decided not to chip the white paint so no hairspray was used at this point but I did seal it with clear. It was left to dry overnight.

Trumpeter 1/35 Russian PL-37

So far, this is the best of the Trumpeter armored train series. The assembly just falls together. It can easily be done in one day, adding the fidley bits on just before painting. Plastic is well detailed and there is no additional drilling reaming or sanding needed.

 I left the rail wheel assemblies as separate components as I did each turret. Made the final painting sequence easier.  Its hard to see the wheels anyway but I wanted to paint and weather them in the iron rust color.

 I free hand airbrushed the general pattern of the tan green and black to better coincide with the real process. There wouldn't be any masking or hard edges. I then hand painted the details of the linking hardware, and machine gun barrels. After several coats of gloss I began the oil wash process in layers of Burt Umber and Black.  This softened the camo pattern and allowed all the bolt hardware patterns to stand out.

After several rounds of DullCoating, I began to pin wash the rust and wear around hatches, doors and hinges. More dullcoating then drybrushing to make the details pop and soften some of the over rusted edges.

Vince B 3-25-17

Meng Merkava III D

Yes, this is a great kit from Meng.  I am sure I don have to tell you why, but I will.  No Photoetch, and as we discussed in my presentation last year, Its got Great Balls. They were injection molded plastic, so I didn't have to thread tiny beads or use photo etch.  They are correctly proportioned as balls should be.

The details are great including the Tow Cables which were provided.  A few tips though, be sure to measure the cable lengths before cutting, taking into account the eylets on the ends if you want to correctly secure with chain or wire.

There was some minor warping of the large upper hull, so you will need to add bracing inside, around the turret ring to allow the turret to fit properly and not scrape the balls. Always bad to scrape your balls.

I did find some great in action photos on line that I used for ideas on weathering and base debris.  A few details added were the stowage canvas bags from clean paper towels and the antenna which is wire and wire wrap.

Vince B. 3-22-17