On the workbench

Some pictures of things currently on the workbench at present, all US Ardennes campaign related stuff.

A few old Shermans for repair + various Esci / Italeri / Revell sprues that have been sitting in a box for years waiting to be assembled. Even an old set of resin sandbag protections that have been added to an Armourfast Sherman.

Final flocking on the bases of some new US troops. Vintage Matchox, old Revell and some new Italeri.

An armoured Jeep. This is an S-Models kit. I don't really like photo-etch, I thought this kit came with the shield made out of plastic so I was disappointed that it came in flimsy brass. My mate Carlos offered to make it for me however, (good stuff Carlos)

The Stuart is another S-Models kit and the Greyhound next to it is a die-cast that needs weathering.

Finally, a last photo showing the size differences between an old Matchbox 1/76 figure compared to Revel and Italeri G.I.s 

The Italeri fellas are heculean in comparison.

Battle of the Bulge - Keep Moving

Since the last post, things have kept on moving - not as fast as I would have liked, but at a fair pace.

The HaT / Armourfast M4A3 76mm tanks after having been base-painted, washed/highlighted, and mud-weathered, were given a couple of white stars on the turrets courtesy of the decals spares box - the Armourfast tanks unfortunately come with no decals.

They are also very sparse, no tools or any other kind of stowage, and the hatches are moulded shut, but in spite of looking very bare they are fine for gaming and are now ready for table 

The old Hasegawa M5 High Speed Tractor and 155mm Long Tom that were dug out of the old stash have now been repainted and are also ready for action.

As with the Shermans, after repainting the M5 also received a good dose of mud on the tracks.

Below the finished tractor and Long Tom, the Armourfast Shermans and a GPA Amphibious 1/4 Ton 4x4 Truck that was also on the painting table. 

I stuck a figure in there wearing a thick overcoat - he's from the Revell US Ardennes Infantry set.

While I was at it, I took a shot of that now finished 1/4 ton amphibious "Seep". It's from the Academy "WW II Ground Vehicle Set -6". I trimmed down and added a few figures to fit in there.

So a fair amount of progress, and more to come.

And to finish off, a taster of what's on the table at the moment.

We've got die-cast Altaya / Amercon self-propelled artillery, a Fujimi M30 Cargo Carrier, and trucks of various makes and from various sources - all of which will be repainted and might be finished shortly.

So come back soon, as time permitting there should be another update with work in progress.

Repaints - grey early war 1/72 & 1/76

These are for an early war campaign that our wargame group has been planning for some time.

All are repaints....

There's a good mix of manufacturers here, vehicles spanning over a decade. 

The Panzer 38(t) at the front is a recent model, a repainted and weathered Altaya 1/72, as is the Panzer II on the left just behind it (Altaya), both donated to the cause by my mate Carlos

The Pz 38(t) on the right is an old 1/72 UM model and the one at the back is a heavy 1/76 scale lead SHQ model, that were given to me by a friend, Iván about 12 years ago and have been lying in "storage" ever since. 

The Pz II on the left at the back is a Matchbox 1/76 kit, given to me by Iván back about the same time, which I gave to Carlos about 5 years ago.... and he gave it back to me a few months ago. And I should also add it's been repainted about 4 times now  

All very interesting stuff, right ? :-)

Happy modelling.

John

Armourfast StuG III

We got together on Wednesday evening with our wargame group "El Brazo de Nelson" for a quick game and we got to use for the first time these two Armourfast 1/72 scale quick-build StuG IIIs that were built and painted by Carlos de la Concha.

Lovely models, unfortunately they were under my command and with my notoriously bad dice throwing skills they couldn't hit a barn door during the whole of the game.

S-Models Italian L3/33 Tanquette

A few shots of the 1:72 scale S-Models Italian L3/33 tanquette by Carlos de la Concha from the Brazo de Nelson Wargames Club.



These are for a small Italian / Commonwealth campaign in North Africa that our gamemaster Iván Cáceres has put together for our wargaming group.

1/72 German Winter Figures and Vehicles

Some painted Caesar German infantry in Winter gear and whitewashed German tanks.

Two King Tigers. The one on the right is an old Hasegawa model and on the left a repainted Altaya die-cast model.

A Revell Panzer IV with sideskirts and a Revell Tiger both in Winter cammo.

Matchbox 1/76 Scale 37mm PaK 35/36

Fujimi Normandy Tiger I

I "inherited" this tank, along with quite a few other 20mm gems, from a member of our wargame club, Alberto Beneitez, when he moved away a couple of years back.


It's a Fujimi 1/76 kit and has made a few appearances in various games, and in its day it valiently played the part of Michael Wittman, merrily blasting holes in the British 7th Armoured Division's tanks.

Altaya Die-Cast Elephant Tank

Thought I'd post a photo of one of the new Altaya ready-made-n-painted 1/72 German tanks in action on the wargame table.



This model above, the "Elefant" tank, was in newsagents at a special introductory offer of Eur 2.95.

And of course I bought three......... well, for that price who wouldn't ? Then, once the mist had cleared from my brain, I thought what on earth do I want three Elephants for.

Still, I suppose will use the three together in a game one day.

Sherman ARV - Trumpeter 1/72 Conversion

From Pablo Alvarez in Tenerife, another 1/72 scale conversion, a heavily modified Trumpeter kit built into a Sherman ARV

Airfix / Hasegawa Churchill Conversions in 20mm Scale - Teide Hobby

If you ever get to visit the island of Tenerife, don't miss out on a trip to the old town of La Laguna in the north. Apart from old style colonial buildings and a quiet and quite different type of day out far from the more typical tourist centres, it's an excuse for us modelling enthusiasts to get to visit a model shop, Teide Hobby.

It's actually probably one of the few remaining traditional old-style privately owned model shops that still exist today, most others in developed countries are now steadily dwindling away, many having gone over to to supermarket / franchise style outlets which often employ staff with little or even no knowledge of the products they're selling.

The owner of Teide Hobby, Pablo, is an avid modeller and knows the hobby well. He's also got a workroom in his shop where you'll always find him on the go on various projects. You can talk to him about any aspect of modelling and you'll get a reply from someone like yourself who knows the hobby well.

Last time I was there, he showed me some conversions he's working on, some kitbashes using parts from the Haswegawa and Airfix Churchills, pictures of which I'm pleased to post here.

Italeri 251 and Dragon prebuilt Tiger by Doug Iovinelli

This is a repainted Italeri 251 and Dragon prebuilt Tiger serving in the Tunisian campaign, early on.

The figures are MIlicast and Revell. The markings still need to be weathered a bit.


Doug Iovinelli

Flakpanzer V Coelian by Bram Corts

By Bram Corts (original article formerly on the miniaturezone.co.uk website)

The green Panther-conversion is a so-called flakpanzer V coelian






It's a what-if project because the Germans only made a mock-up of the vehicle. The turret is scratch-build and I used the Hasegawa Panther G with steelwheels as base.

Copyright Bram Corts, Netherla

Grant Armoured Recovery Vehicle

Grant ARV - By Jorit Wintjes -  (original article formerly on the miniaturezone.co.uk website)

The result of a rebuilding project of an old, battered Airfix kit - and the accidental destruction of the scratchbuilt turret (the Airfix Grant turret is totally out of shape, as is the Hasegawa one) I put sooo much work into :((.

Faced with the prospect of doing all the laminating and reshaping again, I decided to go for a recovery vehicle instead.





Stowage boxes and pioneer tools are scratchbuilt, as are the headlamp guards. I loaded the vehicle with stuff from the spares box and tried to give it a well-worn look; it's not as glossy as it looks in the pictures.

The trailer is a stock Airfix one that comes with the Halftrack.

© Jorit Wintjes (June-2004) (original article formerly on the miniaturezone.co.uk website)