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ANDY TAYLOR’S 1:35 IRAQI T69 CONVERSION

Issue 70 cover:Issue 26 cover 11/04/2013 17:44 Page 1

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A I R M O D E L L E R ’ S G U I D E T O

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W W W. A F VMO D E L L E R . COMC O M I N G S O O N

advert_gotha:Layout 1 11/04/2013 13:55 Page 1

2 Iraqi T-69 IIAndy Taylor converts Tamiya’s T55 to a worn-out Iraqi warrior

12 T-69 II Walk Around Close-up reference of the real deal presented by Alex Van Riezen

16 sWS with Flak 3.7A 1:16 scratch-building extraviganza by Bruno Carsuzaa

26 Sandbagged Sherman M4A3 (76) ‘Gypsy Caravan’ by Antonio Martin Tello

34 Morris C9The Editor builds Resicast’s 1:35 British armoured car

44 Keeping TrackMore new releases

54 BRDM 2Chechnya vignette modelled by Łukasz Orczyc - Musiałek

CONTENTS

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1

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T A K E I T F O R A S P I N . . .

( M O R E I N F O O N P A G E 3 7 )

W W W . A F V M O D E L L E R . C O M / D I G I T A L

I N T E R A C T I V EF E A T U R E

AFV-70 May June 2013_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/04/2013 15:38 Page 1

2

The AA MG is the Chinese copy of the Dushka, a

type 54, without cooling fins along the barrel. A

command variant was also employed featuring

stowage tube on turret roof for extending antenna,

2 large stowage boxes attached to the rear plate to

carry communication equipment, cables, and

generator.

I decided to depict a type commonly used in the

Gulf War, lacking the smoke launcher tubes and

boom shields, this particular vehicle is one of the

many that found their way back to collections within

the UK. Some examples have many fixtures and

fittings missing; others have some parts missing

but still retain many features, such as lights, AA MG

cradle, rubber skirt sections and tracks etc.

Many sharp blades have passed since I first started

this project, over 10 years ago. Unknown to me at

the time was the fact that another modeller Charlie

Pritchett had also began the building of a Type 69.

Eventually the few parts Charlie had built found

their way to me, so the project was restarted and

with a visit to Bovington tank museum in Dorset UK,

armed with a camera and a tape measure I had

lots of information to go on. The initial masters were

cast, first by Graham Tetley, who did an amazing

job. However the final stage was to go full circle

and find its way back to Charlie Pritchett at

Verlinden productions for availability on a larger

scale. I would estimate that around maybe 3 to 400

hours went into the building of the original Masters,

but many more deliberating over details, images

and measuring etc.

The Iraq Type 69II is a Chinese built tank constructed by the Norincoindustries. Its a development of the Type 59 [based on the Soviet T-54]. Ithas many detail differences, such as rubber track guards, IR Lights, twinheadlamp arrangement on the fenders and Laser range finder. TheChinese type gunner’s sight, and the distinctive rear fan hump derivedfrom the T-62. Other details included 8 smoke dischargers similar to theGerman Wegman 76mm type [4 either side of turret] plus an array ofspaced boom shields encompassing the turret.

Andy Taylor's T69 article (Q8):Layout 1 11/04/2013 18:13 Page 1

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A N D Y T A Y L O R ’ S 1 : 3 5 I R A Q I A R M Y


4

The first job here was to determine whichresin parts to use, as I had at my disposalthe Verlinden set and the original Airedalecastings parts to hand. As I had some ofthe Airedale parts cleaned up as I decidedto use the engine deck parts, with the fancovers made by Charlie in the Verlindenset. (This part was missing from my originalmaster.) Some modifications were made tothe Tamiya hull such as laminating the frontglacis plate, and rear plate (the Fenderswere removed at this point). This saved lotsof filling but also helped to widen the arearear of the oil cooler and fan hatches whichis too shallow on the Tamiya kit. Another feature fitted at this point was thevarious filler access covers, again anotherpart I missed made by Charlie. Here youneed to remove the 2 moulded onto thehull top at the front adjacent to the drivershatch and fit 2 of the resin covers as on themodel here. New fenders incorporating thestrengthening angle iron welded to theouter edge to carry the rubber side shields

were measured and fitted, along with thefender braces that were made using an oldPart P/E fret as a template to cut out newones from plastic card. Once this is allglued using Liquid poly and left for a fewhours to set it’s quite a strong bond. Thefront fenders were kept from the originalTamiya ones removed earlier, and werethinned out from behind using a dremel onslow setting... be very careful here as toomuch heat will melt the plastic. Thebrackets to hold the rubber track guards tothe fenders were made and fitted referringto references, as these parts were omittedfrom the Verlinden set. Also the many drainholes need to be added to the fendersreferring to references. An etched lightcover was carefully folded to shape using asmall drill bit in a pin vice to create thecurved corners. This was tacked in placeso it could be easily removed to enablefitting of the lights and to help with painting.The Tamiya lights are actually too big andin hindsight I should have included the

correct ones, these can be found in acouple of old Trumpeter kits and the newBronco Chinese APC’s.

Some other details, such as the frontfender hold down bars and zip box mountswere added using plastic strips and rod.The large zip box you see on the model hasa lid that was scratchbuilt, in order todepict it damaged and twisted, but also toshow the correct pressed design which isactually incorrect in the resin sets.. (amistake on my part). The front tow hooks(another part deleted from Verlindens set)were added using some resin copies I did.The Tamiya ones are too shallow. Weldswere added around these using Milliput. Moving onto the engine deck, this is prettystraightforward following the Instructions,however the torsion bars took a couple ofattempts to get right... even though I builtthem in the original master. Etched radiatorscreens were a perfect fit, just addingsome damage was all that was needed.

Hul l Assembly


5

The turret is a solid resin part,unfortunately the texture is a littletoo heavy so was gently sandedback with some 400 wet and dry.Sadly Verlinden did not include theType 54 AA MG as in the Airedaleset, so I decided to use one froma Chinese APC from Bronco. Justusing the cradle parts.

The resin mantlet from MigProductions was used as I wantedto show a torn and frayed mantletcover, after a few failed attempts Iopted for superfine white Milliput,which actually worked very wellafter rolling out very thin. It wasgently cut into small sections andadded bit by bit, manipulating itwith a brush dipped in water tohelp it to stick. Tweezers and aknife were also used to fray theedges etc. I did originally masterthe correct mantlet modifying thekit part to depict the differentarrangement of bolt detail etc onthe type 69, but this part was alsodeleted from the Verlinden set.

As you can see on the pre-paintedmodel the area around the resinmantlet was scratch built. The kitbarrel was used, with some gentlesanding it is a very good renditionjust requiring the bolt head to thelower underside of the fumeextractor. This is a perfect fit intothe resin mantlet.

Another feature I added was todrill out the main IR light, to showit with a missing glass front, but Iwas unable to find a suitablemethod for the chromed inside,Alclad was used and buffed to apolish but I was not happy with thefinish, so a clear lens was cutusing a p-cutter, and Tamiyasmoke was airbrushed onto theback before attaching. Rear tiedown loops were made using thekit parts as a Template. The AAMG stowage mounts on the rearof the turret were also made fromevergreen; the kit parts are a littlechunky.

Turret


Wheels and Tracks

The tracks in the kit are unacceptable inmy opinion, as with all tracked vehiclesfrom Tamiya usually the vinyl ‘rubber band’type. These were replaced with a set fromModelkasten which are excellent and stillstand up in terms of accuracy and detailto other more recent releases from othermanufacturers. Although a little tedious toclean up and build, they certainly addmore realism to the model, generating anatural sag, I know most modellers preferthe easier to build Friulmodellismo trackset, but these in my opinion are a littleover scale and don’t fit snugly around thesprocket.

Idler and sprocket are excellent and needno further work, the wheels too capturethe detail and shape of the ‘Starfish’ typeof the T-55, although on this model I choseto use a set I previously mastered showinga missing centre cap, this I thought givesthe model a more derelict look.

In order to remove any dust and debriswhich have built up over the course of abuild from sanding the resin or plastic, Ialways wash all parts gently under lukewarm water before using a soft brush toremove futher residue. Left to dryovernight, the model is coated usingTamiya grey fine primer. This is left to dryfor a few days to harden although I think afew hours would be sufficient.

6

Paint ing and Weather ing


7

I tried a few different shades of the sand onan old model before deciding to use TamiyaBuff, with Lifecolour dust type 1 over the top,as this model was to show signs of neglect Ifirst used the tried and tested ‘hairspraytechnique’, I don’t think this method needsexplaining here, it’s been covered many timesin other articles and on various internetmodelling forums.

The base colour was Tamiya flat brown andlinoleum; certain areas were gentlydry-brushed using Humbrol Matt 30 to createsome worn areas of the base colour showingthrough. More defined chips of the greenbase colour were made using VallejoReflective green, a Winsor and Newton series7 000 brush is perfect for the chippingprocess. I then set to work using VallejoGerman camo black, brown to create darkerareas of rust and chips, this is a very slowprogress requiring a lot of indecision as towhere and how much chipping to add, manyareas were for the want of a betterdescription ‘mapped’ using a sand colour

mixed using Vallejo Iraqi sand and pale Yellowthinned with tap water, to highlight someareas or to go over some of the previouslyapplied dark rust chips. I would say around 2or 3 weeks was needed to get to where I washappy with the rust/chips. I understand othermethods which would have been muchquicker, could have been employed but feltthe sponge technique for example lackedprecision. A coat of Humbrol matt varnish wasapplied with the airbrush and left for 24 hoursto protect the model for the next stage ofweathering.

A couple of heavily thinned Rust wash mixfrom AK was used on the entire model next,giving the stark base colour a little warmth.Various darker but still very thin oils were usedaround details, and onto the previous chips tocreate some staining. This method involvesjust touching and area with the thinned oil,and using another clean brush in thinners tomove the oils around until you are happy withthe tone. Plenty of drying time is requiredbetween modelling sessions when using oils.


Again the mapping with the base colourcan be used over any areas you are nothappy with or the stain is too much.Applying a rust tone back over this createssome depth. This is better actually andhelps the weathering to be built up inlayers. The markings were airbrushedthrough plastic sheet templates usingphotos for reference, this was done beforeany weathering to allow them to beblended in, and Tamiya acrylics were usedfor this.

Finally rust streaks were again built up invery thin layers, first brushes thin linesemanating from rust and scratches, youneed to keep these lines straight and usesome images to help you understand howthey look on the real vehicle, these areallowed to dry for a few minutes beforeblending them with a brush in cleanthinners.

The tracks were first airbrushed with amixture of Black and flat brown fromTamiya, when dry I applied a mix of Europedust and beach sand with Tamiya thinnersand brushed this over the whole track runs,making sure the mixture was quite thin.When dry you are left with a very realisticcrusty sand effect in the recesses. Finally adry brush with Humbrol enamels of varyingcolours from Dark brown to black are usedto further enhance the dark rust tonesfound on these tracks when exposed to theharsh elements of the desert.

Finally some 3.5 mm lenses were added tothe lights on the fenders before attachingto the model, these were then weatheredslightly with thinned burnt umber oils.

Kits used;

Tamiya T-55

Verlinden type 69 conversion

Airedale casting type 69 conversion

Modelkasten T-55 workable track set

Celticwerk T-55 wheels

Grief clear lenses

I would like to thank the Editor David Parker,

Charlie Pritchett & Tim Roberts8


9

This was a highly rewarding project,

although sometimes it was a test of

my modelling skills especially the

bar armour, the main IR search

lamp, and commanders light. I am

happy with how this model turned

out, maybe we will see this in plastic

kit form one day. Now Tamiya seem

to be releasing other variants on

their successful T-55 kit.


10

Above The T-62 stylebulge is very clear inthis picture. Under thesmall square plate isprobably the entrypoint of the round thatknocked out this tank.

Far-Right The shapeof the whole hull isdifferent whencompared with T-54,T-55 and Type 59tanks.

TYPE

The Chinese Type 59 tank, which enteredproduction in 1957, is basically a licensedproduced version of the RussianT-54/T-54A tank. At the end of the 70s theType 59 was succeeded by the Type 69.The first version of the Type 69 was theType 69-I and is armed with a 100 mmsmoothbore gun instead of a rifled 100mm gun as found on the T-54, T-55 andType 59. It wasn’t until 1982 that the Type69-I was seen by the West. Severalsources mention that only 150 vehicles ofthis type were produced. The mostcommon version of the Type 69 family byfar is the Type 69-II which first appearedin 1984. The Type 69-II is armed with arifled 100 mm gun, almost identical to themain gun used by the Russian T-55 tank.The Type 69 is more or less on the samestandard as the Russian T-54B but thereare some visual differences.

Right Detail shots ofthe lower sides of thehull.

T69 walkaround article (q8):Layout 1 11/04/2013 18:33 Page 1

PHOTOS & TEXT ALEX VAN RIEZEN

The easiest ones are the two headlights units which are placed on bothfenders instead of a single unit on theglacis, saw tooth side skirts, a laserrange finder on top of the main gunand the round bulge on the rear backplate. The bulge was necessary dueto the larger cooling fan for the newmore powerful 580 HP engine. Thisfeature was copied from a RussianT-62 which was captured during theSino-Russian border conflict in 1969.The straight welding line across onthe frontal side of the hull is typical forboth Type 59 and Type 69 tanks,these plates are interlocked onRussian T-54 tanks. Also the shape ofthe whole hull of the Type 69 isdifferent if compared with other T-54,T-55 and Type 59 tanks. This is mostevident from the frontal side. Thelower hull plate is rectangular insteadof the usual lower right and leftclipped corners. Some Type 69-IItanks are equipped with boom shieldsand smoke dischargers on the turret.

The Type69-IIB and C are thecommand versions, these areequipped with extra radios and havetwo antennas in total. Between thetwo turret hatches is a cylindricalstorage box for antenna parts. On therear plate of the hull are two boxescontaining a field phone and cables.Iraq received the Type 69-II during theIran-Iran War (1980-1988) and usedthem ever since. Even today someunits of the New Iraqi Army still usesthem. A lot of Iraqi Type 69-II tankswere captured during Desert Stormand many can be seen in museumsor as gate guardians. Other versionsin the Type 69 family include theT-69-IIP and T-69-IIMP used byPakistan and are armed with a copiedversion of the British L7 gun. TheT-69-IIMP is the locally producedversion. Strangely enough thePakistanis call these tanks ‘T’ insteadof ‘Type’. Other users includeBangladesh, Iran, Myanmar, SriLanka, Thailand and Zimbabwe. Asingle Type 69-II was also observed inAfghanistan, possibly of Pakistaniorigin.

Below-Left The sawtooth side skirts arefound on a lot of IraqiType 69-II tanks, theIraqis also mountedthem on some of theirT-62 tanks but theseside skirts are quiteflimsy.

11


Right Notice what theelements have donewith the tank afterbeing on displayoutside for over 20years.

Right This Iraqi Type69-II is equipped witha KMT-6 mine plough.

Below Detail shot ofthe teeth of the KMT-6mine plough.

Above Detail photosof how the KMT-6mine plough isattached to the KMTmounts on the lowerside of the hull.

12


13

Left The horn, if thesound of the tankengine is not enough.

Far Left One of therecognition features ofthe Type 69-II are thehead lights units onboth fenders. It seemsthis one is missing theprotective plate withtreadplate.

Below The Type 69-IIis armed with the Type54 Heavy Machinegun. This is theChinese version of theRussian DShKM. TheChinese version doesnot have the distinctiveribs on the barrel.

Left The fuel plumbingsystem has beenremoved over theyears. Also note theway the fuel cells haverusted.


14

Right At the rear ofthe turret is a singlepositional light fornight time operations.

Far-Right IR serachlight for thecommander. Alsonote the Western styleantenna and antennabase.

Left & Below Thebig ventilator on theroof is a recognitionfeature also presenton the Russian T-54series and theChinese Type 59.

The IR serach light ofthe Type 69 has verydistinctive ribs.


Below Some interiorshots of the Type 69-II.Also note the originalgreen paint on thebreech block.

Above The Type 69-IIis also equipped with aTLR1A laser rangefinder.

Left Front view of theIR search light,actually just a searchlight with an IR filerplaced in front.

15

Note Ammo racksfor the 100mm

grenades. All theinstruction panelshad English textwritten on them.


16

WITH 3.7CM FLAK 43

SCHWERERWEHRMACHTSCHLEPPER

sws flak article (Q8):Layout 1 11/04/2013 16:44 Page 1

17

RESEARCHING A RARE BEAST

Hours of searches on the Web, allowed me to find

archive photos, plans and articles. However photos of

the inside of the cab of the armoured version are rare.

Those I did find gave only very limited help with partial

views. Pictures taken in museums were a precious

source of information. I took advantage of these

sources and would like to thank the enthusiasts who

through their walkarounds allowed me to bring this

project to a successful conclusion. In spite of some

gaps, the design phase could begin.

I estimate it at 90% because I did not realize tracks or

front wheels, taken on a cluster Tamiya of the Panzer IV

RC in the 1:16. The used materials are essentially of

the plastic card of diverse thicknesses and plastic

profiles.

One of my projects was to realize a

half-tracked vehicle in 1:16 scale.

Surfing on the Web, a magnificent sWS

with armoured cab, equipped with a

FLAK43 in 1:35 caught my attention.

Besides the fact that this vehicle does not

exist in 1:16 scale a double challenge

appealed to me... To scratchbuild both

the Flak and the vehicle.

BRUNO CARSUZAA’SScratchbuilt sWS / Flak 43


At first sight, the Flak 43 gun seems

impossibly complex to model, Its

construction was approached by breaking

it down into simple sub-assemblies and

think also about the required access for

painting later. A Trumpeter kit in 1:35

served as a basis for me to work from and

the measurements were scaled up from

this into 1:16. Luckily I found a good

walkaround of a complete Flak 43 on the

web and along with some period photos

and those I had taken of the mobelwagen

at Saumur Tank Museum, I had enough

information to build a detailed replica of the

gun.

The conical muzzle flash guard was made

from metal foil shaped over the tip of a

ball-point pen and then the holes were

drilled out. The armour shields were made

from 0.5mm thick plastic card and the

camouflage loops were made from very

thin copper wire that I salvaged from an old

electric transformer. The shell case basket

to catch the spent cartridges is made from

a suitably sized tulle cloth with wide holes,

which was glued to a plastic rod frame with

CA glue. The period photos showed that

there are at least 2 types of these baskets.

I opted for the simplest version! As in the

real basket the netting is held in position by

a wire wound around the framework.

The figures are originally from Trumpeter.

I personalized them by sculpturing tankers

helmets. It is the only modification to the

relaxed figure (701). For the second figure

(702), I was inspired by an illustration found

in an Osprey book about the Red Army.

I modified the position of the right hand,

replaced the hands (Verlinden), added a

bottle and a flag made from aluminium

sheet in his right hand. They were both

painted with Prince August acrylics.

18

3.7cm FLAK 43


19

Photo Reference


Revell’s 1:35 scale kit served as reference, and

I decided to follow its design for my build.

However 1:16th forces constraints which we

do not find in the smaller scales. The size of a

part, its thickness which has to be the closest

possible to reality, and whether its function,

means that it has to withstand certain weight

or not, limits the choice of materials while

remaining as close to reality as possible. The

chassis frame is made in 3mm plastic card for

reasons of strength.

The metal tracks, I bought from a German

shop but the sprockets and idlers must be

made from scratch. Given that my equipment

amounts to different cutters, some files, a

compass equipped with a blade, and drills I

had to work out my own techniques to build

these.

As I do not have casting expertise two sets of

the sprockets and idlers wheels all had to be

constructed. The threaded track tensioning

control for the idler wheels is imitated by

wrapping thin copper wire around a plastic

rod. Road wheels come from a 1:16th resin kit,

the only kit in resin of the sWS existing in this

scale to my knowledge but the open cab

cargo version.

20

THE sWS CHASSIS


Regrettably the quality of casting of

this kit being so deplorable that these

parts are the only ones which

deserved to have a second chance.

The remainder having ended their brief

existence in my rubbish bin. Even so it

was necessary for me to rework again

them so that they matched the actual

wheels.

After several abortive attempts, I

concluded that I am not really able to

scratchbuild tires. I hope to be capable

of it one day. That is the reason that

the front wheels were made for me by

the French company ‘Aurore Arka’ of

Toulouse using a 3D printer, they are

made from acrylic resin with an

excellent delicacy and fine detail - a

magnificent job!

On the basis of photos from museums,

I designed a completely functional

steering system. As I still had no idea

about the diorama, this option allowed

me to have more possibilities for any

diorama. Because of its simple

shapes, the frame is the least complex

element to be constructed. Particular

attention was paid to getting it square.

I did not construct the winch on my as

I don’t believe it was fitted to the Flak

vehicles. 21


Because of its angled panels, the

armoured cab is a tricky shape to

construct. To save plastic card, I first used

cardboard to make templates until I

obtained the correct shapes. The internal

partitions took the longest to achieve. For

the internal details, I based my build on

the standard model with open cabin.

Regrettably lack of references did not

allow me to make a fully accurate

reproduction of the inside of the armoured

version. The lack of visibility into the

interior will compensate for these

shortcomings. The system for opening the

vision ports is detailed using the same

mechanisms as used on the SdKfz 251as

inspiration. For the side openings, it is

likely that they opened by revolving on an

axis upward. The ventilator louvers on the

cabin hood were duplicated with magic

sculp from a piece of sculptured plastic

profile. I made the radio set copying the

type typically fitted to armoured vehicles. I

hope not to have gone too far away from

reality.

22

THE sWS CAB & BODY

1:16TH SCALE1:35TH SCALE


By examining reference photos

I noticed that the back of the

loadbed is not a standardised

pattern, I opted one more time

for the type that is the simplest

to model. Several tries were

necessary to position correctly

the mounting points for the Flak

onto the loadbed.

The loadbed is constructed easily

given its simple geometrical form.

Side rails are functional as well as

their system of locking. The wire

netting is cut from thick plastic

anti-mosquito meterial. The anti-skid

floor is Slater’s plastic card. The

locks on the ammunitions bins and

the tool clasps are Aber’s

photoetched offerings.

23


For the halftrack, I wanted a camouflage of

three very pale tones and a little more

contrasted for the Flak 43. A pre-shade

was applied of Tamiya XF10 Flat Brown.

The base colour is a mixture of colours

Deserted Tamiya XF2, Flat White, XF59

Dessert Yellow and XF3 Flat Yellow.

Stripes of XF5 Flat Green and XF XF10 Flat

Brown diluted in the thinner Tamiya X-20A

was then applied. Several layers of the

tinted and diluted base are applied overall

with an airbrush on low pressure until I had

the desired effect for the sWS. The vehicle

is completely drybrushed in oil light yellow

ochre on the sides and light yellow ochre +

white with Titanium on the flat surfaces.

The sWS will be presented abandoned in

Kolberg on the edge of a quay, having

travelled through a city under continual

bombarded. Streaked washes of grey,

green, ochre are applied. Pigment powders

are then added in small quantities to

replicate the dust. The floor of the platform

is drybrushed with some Metal Cote then

polished with a soft brush. It then receives

several passes with earth toned pigments

and pigment fixer, followed by several

layers of diluted Tamiya XF57 Buff to imitate

the accumulated dust.

The lower chassis and the inside of the

mudguards are covered with a mixture of

pure silica, with plaster, wood glue and with

different earth tones. Once dry, they

received a diluted wash with Burnt Umber

oil paint. 24 hours later, they were

drybrushed with various of ochre coloured

oils. The metal tracks underwent the same

processing having beforehand been

painted with Humbrol ‘Matt 100‘, ‘Matt 82’

and ‘Matt 70’. The excess ‘earth mix’ is

removed with an wire brush and the

metallic parts are drybrushed with some

‘Metal Cote’ then slightly polished.

The insides of ammunition lockers is

painted in red oxide primer. The

camouflage of the Flak 43 is realized in the

same way as for the sWS but with less

faded colours. On the Flak, chipped paint

effects were added on the shield and the

base. Stains of lubricating oils are imitated

with black ‘Matt 85’ Humbrol diluted in the

white spirit. The wear of the paint on seats

is reproduced with a drybrushing of ‘Metal

Cote’ then polished with a brush. The barrel

is airbrushed with Prince August AIR's

mixture: 50% ‘Black 057’ + 50% ‘Metal 73’.

and the whole thing is treated with some

pigment powders for a dusty look.

24

PAINTING & FINISHING


The walls for the base are textured with a

mixture of wood glue, fine sand and plaster. The

whole thing is painted in black. The advantage of

using black is to save time because it avoids

putting down washes darkened to simulate the

wet joints between the stones. Before engraving,

the stone walls are rubbed with a wire brush to

vary the finish. They were then painted in oils in

different ochre, grey, green and brown tones.

The top of the quay is made with a mixture of

wood glue, pure silica, plaster and resin. It is also

coloured in black. Having engraved the joint lines

a brushing in Payne grey, Titanium white and

ochre oils gives a concrete look.

To make the water, I consulted modern photos of

Kolberg which allowed me to define the colour of

the water. The basis was then painted in dark

greens and blue tones. Next I poured several

layers of clear resin slightly tinted with green to

give a deep effect.

The application of a gloss acrylic gel allowed me

to create the ripples on the surface. The empty

200 litre fuel drums are from Schumo Kits. The

wooden boxes with the eagle are from Xion.

The street lamp, the jerry cans and the different

boxes are from Verlinden. The chair is a personal

creation.

Thanks to David Parker, Andres Montiel Marin

and Antoine Puzo for the help which they

brought me through their objective, constructive

and pertinent criticisms. Thank you also to

Sylvain Deschamps of "L'ARCHER LORMONTAIS"

club of Bordeaux for his invaluable advice during

the conversion and the painting of the figures.

Web references:

http://www.pietvanhees.nl/sws/index.htm

http://www.primeportal.net/artillery/yuri_pasholok/

3.7_cm_flak_43/

Books references:

Panzer tracks n°12, Waffen-Arsenal Sonderband

78, Osprey Men-at-armes 216

THIS PROJECT IS FINISHED.

It’s certainly not perfect but I took

great pleasure in the construction.

1:16 is certainly my favourite scale

and not often explored by the major

manufacturers making completion of

a model such as this all the more

satisfying.

25


26

....However, some expedient solutions were

implemented at local or unit levels, such as

welding of spare track links or sections,

application of concrete layers, welding of

additional armour plates scavenged from

disabled tanks, and the addition of

sandbags… The usefulness of some of

these methods as an effective protection

against the antitank weapons of the period

is debateable.

Some sources state that these DIY

methods were mere psychological

measures to raise the crews’ morale, but

without any effectiveness. On the other

hand, other people argue that they did

increase the protection of the tanks,

especially against the new portable

Panzerfaust and Panzerschrek German

anti-tank weapons, which, in fact, were the

most feared due to their mass production

and widespread availability. Some units

actively embraced some of these methods,

whilst others discouraged or forbad their

use. Thus, for example, the Seventh Army

almost systematically tackled the

installation of racks with sandbags on the

hulls and sometimes the turrets their two

Armoured Divisions, the 12th and 14th, a

task performed by the maintenance units of

the Armoured Battalions of the divisions.

On the contrary, the Commander of the

Third Army, General George S. Patton, was

against the use of sandbags on his tanks,

arguing that this only made them heavier,

slower, more prone to breakdowns and

increased the fuel consumption.

Curiously, the 14th Armoured Division was

transferred from the 7th to the 3rd Army on

April 23 1945, and when General Patton

saw the columns of sandbagged Shermans

of the unit (now under his command) he did

not hide his feelings. There is a well known

a photograph of the frowning General

walking away after rebuking a poor tank

crew in their sandbagged M4A3E8. This is

the photo that inspired my work.

s the war in Europeprogressed, theperception amongAmerican tankers ofthe need for better

armour protection for their tanksincreased. Nevertheless, thisconcern was not shared by theauthorities, more involved in thedevelopment of the new T26Pershing than in the improvement ofthe existing M4 medium tanks, andwith the exception of the productionof about 250 M4A3E2 assault tanks,nowadays known as ‘ShermanJumbo’, nothing was done aboutthis...

Gypsy Caravan:Layout 1 11/04/2013 17:30 Page 1

27

M4A3(76), 14th Armoured Division, Germany 1945By Antonio Martin Tello

A motley model

A sandbagged Sherman had been on my

‘to-do-list’ for a long time. Several years

ago I got the Legend ‘Sherman accessory

set #1’ (ref LF015), which in fact is a

conversion for sandbagging the venerable

Tamiya M4A3, including a complete resin

T23 turret. When the Spanish modelling

web page Panzernet.com proposed a

Sherman group build some months ago, I

had the perfect excuse to start yet another

Sherman, a classic ‘Frankensherman’ as

we will see later. Besides, this time I also

wanted to replicate the ‘gypsy caravan’

look of some M4s, loaded with assorted

stowage, a look that, I think, would fit well in

a little scene I had in mind.

The Legend set is OK, with a reasonable fit

to the base kit and nice detail in the turret,

especially the commander’s hatch.

However, the Tamiya kit itself was released

in the early 80’s and it shows. Simply not

up to current standards and thus some

work was needed to improve what could be

seen of the Tamiya model, which, happily,

would not be a lot. Fortunately, as a

self-confessed Shermanaholic, my spare

parts box was well stocked with many bits

that found their way to this project. The

bogies came from Dragon, with the

upswept return rollers, detailed with Lion

Marc brass bolts (ref. LM60005). Two types

of wheels were used for variety. The solid

spoked ones came from Academy, while

the resin, dished wheels, are from Trakz (ref

TKZ0045) and they show the rubber

distressed. In my opinion, this effect is

overdone so I fill most of the crevices with

putty. The sprockets were also from

Dragon, while the idlers came from Tasca.

The T54E1 tracks are from Model Kasten

(ref. SK45), and a real pain to build. Each

links is composed of eight parts, some of

them really tiny. The final result is great,

agreed, but I think that the time and effort

involved on the task of building is not worth

it, and several times I was tempted to

throw the half-built tracks out of the

window! I also added the duckbills from

some AFV Club Sherman track sets that I

had as leftovers, leaving some links with no

duckbills as seen in wartime photos.


28

As I said before, I wanted a particular look

to my Sherman, I put special care into a lot

of stuff carried on the engine deck. Again,

rummaging around my spares box, I found

some rolls and packs from Legend, Blast

and Black Dog that fitted rather

conveniently with minor modifications. To

integrate them more convincingly, I added

more rolls and tarpaulins made of epoxy

putty (green in the photos). More stowage

was added like some bags from Tamiya, a

bottle crate and a bucket from Plus Models

and finally, as a personal touch, a baseball

bat that I carved out of a toothpick.

The turret is a solid chunk of resin, with the

mantlet, Commander’s cupola, hatches

and side racks for the sandbags as

separate pieces. Again the fit of these is

satisfactory after several careful sanding

and dry fit tests. I chose to show the

hatches closed, but small hollows are

provided, so I suppose you could

accommodate torso figures for the

commander and gunner. The gun barrel is

provided in resin too, but my sample was

warped. I decided it was not worth the

effort to fix it, since there are gorgeous

metal alternatives, such as the Lion Marc

M1A1C barrel (ref. 10039) which I used. The

Browning .50 heavy machine gun is in itself

a mix of several makers. The main body

and some of the PE is from Hauler (ref.

35023), the barrel, handles and some PE is

from RB models (ref. 35B13), some plastic

bits of the cradle and ammo came from

Tasca spares, and the changing barrel

handle was made with electric wire. An RB

barrel was also used for the glacis .30

machine gun (ref. 35B82).

There are three main resin parts in the

Legend set to wrap the hull with the

sandbags, two sides and the front, plus

some small rails to connect the main

parts. The addition of the main parts to the

hull needed careful checking and sanding

until a more or less acceptable fit was

achieved. The resin casting blocks were

somewhat heavy and difficult to remove

sometimes, so some plastic strip was

used to replace some damaged bits.

Some putty was necessary to hide the

joins of the rails of the sandbag rack. In

the frontal part, the upper row of bags sits

too high and would make it impossible for

the driver and radio-operator to see

anything through the periscopes. I only

realized this once the resin parts were

already glued to the plastic hull, so I

removed these bags with a mini drill at

this point.

The elimination of the sandbags, was less

painful than I had expected, but I could not

avoid some damage to the gun barrel

support which was underneath, so I put a

fragment of a camo net (Verlinden) there,

to hide the mess.

I added the weld seams on the upper hull

where they are not hidden by the

sandbags. I did this with a strip of

stretched sprue glued and softened with

liquid glue, and then textured with the

knife. I also added the engine hatches

stoppers with a couple of plastic strips,

and some handles in the engine deck. The

photo etched bits are from the Aber set for

the M4A3 (ref. 35032). The tools are from

Dragon and the jerrycans from Italeri. The

rear exhaust deflector walls were thinned

with a knife to give the correct look of thin

metal sheet.


The next step consisted of the application

of some filters of ‘green for light green’ (ref.

P244) and ‘brown for dark green’ (ref.

P245), both from Sin/Mig Productions. I

applied three or four of each, with the aim

to integrate the markings, the different

shades of the base coat and also to add

depth to the model.

Then I painted the sandbags. For this task I

used two Vallejo acrylic colours: English

Uniform (921) from their Model Colour

Range and Canvas (314) form their Panzer

Aces series. My idea was to achieve tonal

variations in the bags to avoid monotony,

so random mixtures of the two above

colour were used for individual bags. A

small amount of Tamiya’s XF21 flat base

was added to the Vallejo mix to ensure a

dead flat finish like that of hessian or other

rough fabric. For the black camouflage

broad stripes I used Tamiya XF69 NATO

Black, which is not a pure black but has a

greenish tint that I thought would blend

better with the green base. As in the real

tanks, the camouflage colour was

oversprayed on the bags.29

Painting the Sherman

Looking at the unpainted model it is

apparent that not much of the bodywork of

the tank remains visible with all the

sandbags and stuff on the deck. Thus, in

my opinion the painting posed the

additional challenge to differentiate

between the metal and fabric textures. The

model was divided into typical

subassemblies (hull, bogies, tracks,

turret…) and the equipment was painted

separately, so this was not a problem. I

started by priming the model with an

overall coat of Mr. Surfacer 1000 diluted in

Gaianotes lacquer thinner. This is quite

convenient in order to unify the different

materials present in the kit and to obtaining

a good surface in which the paint settles,

especially for the metal parts.

Then, I started painting with a base coat of

Tamiya acrylic XF62 olive drab, followed by

some highlights using this shade lightened

with XF21 sky, and a second phase with an

even lighter mixture mainly on the

horizontal surfaces and the upper portions.

On the real 14th AD sandbagged

Shermans, most of the markings were

hidden by the bags and the tactical codes

were painted on the gun barrel. These are

the only markings on my model, and for

these I used a generic decal sheet provided

by Dragon in its recent Sherman kits. I

marked my Sherman as the sixth tank of

the C Company of the 47th Tank Battalion,

one of the three armoured battalions of the

14th AD. The decals are of excellent quality

and were fixed with the help of the Microset

and Microsol decal setting solutions.


30

The weathering continued with the

use of multicolour oil washes in the

‘steely areas’. I chose several tones

from the 502 Abteilung/MING

Productions range, green, grey and

white, plus an ochre tone from the

local brand Titan. I added them

randomly in the form of spots on the

model surfaces previously wetted

with clean thinner, and blending

them with the brush moistened in

more clean thinner. In this way you

get some subtle tonal variations and

a nice fading effect in the base paint.

Several kinds of chipped and

scratched paint were simulated in

this model. Firstly, I made green

chips in the black camouflaged

zones, trying to simulate the

damage of this upper coat.

Secondly, I used a lighter green than

the base colour to represent

superficial scratches in the original

olive drab, and finally darker ones

with a mixture of black and dark

brown to simulate deeper chips.

I used a small, sharp brush, and as a

rule of thumb, I always keep the

chipping small and placed in

sensible areas. I prefer to paint the

chips after the oils washes, because

sometimes these can soften or even

hide all the previous effects. For the

weathering of the sandbags I chose

to use acrylic paints, mainly because

I wanted to keep them as matt as

possible. With this in mind, I used

several earth and ochre tones form

the Vallejo Model Colour range, and

diluted them heavily with water. Also,

I added a touch of Tamiya flat base

X21 to each colour to ensure a flat

finish. With these dilute colours, I

drew irregular, random spots on the

bags. Since the paint was heavily

diluted, the effect is not immediately

apparent, but by repetition, the bags

acquired a random worn off look with

plenty of nuances. This acrylic

mapping was also done in the ‘steely

areas’, adding some orange and

green to the colour palette.

In order to enhance the volumes of the

model and emphasise the details, it is

usual to darken any recesses and crevices.

The usual way to do this consists of the

application of dark washes with enamel

thinner based diluted paint. Due to the

properties of this thinner, the diluted dark

paint flows around the details and along the

crevices and recesses simulating shadows

and making these details stand out. I used

this well proven technique in the ‘steely

parts’ of the model, using the ‘ready to use’

Dark Wash from MIG Productions (ref

P220). It is advisable to wet the surfaces

with clean thinner before the application of

the dark wash and to wipe out the excess

with more clean thinner in order not to

darken the flat surfaces of the model. This

procedure works very well, but in my

opinion the use of enamel or oil washes

could give a satin look to the surfaces

which is excellent for metallic parts. In my

obsession to replicate the flat finish of the

hessian fabric of the sandbags, I chose a

different approach in this area. Figure

painters, who deal with fabric painting,

sometimes make a profiling with diluted

black acrylic paint and a very sharp brush.

The use of acrylics, with again a flat base,

ensures the matt finish required for

clothing. Thus, I performed something

similar on the sandbags, profiling the

separation between them and with the

metal rails.


31

The dirtying job was done mainly with

Dark Mud (P033) and Europe Dust

(P028) pigments from MIG

Productions, mixed with fixer or Dark

Mud (AK023) or Fresh Mud (AK016)

from AK Interactive. The idea is to

obtain a variety of effects, from wet to

dryer mud and packed earth, in an

effort to achieve a more or less

random look. For this reason, all the

mixtures were done in variable

proportion, and applied randomly too.

For the lower portion of the tank I tried

to replicate a greater feeling of

wetness and thus I used darkish

tones. Once dry, the area was given

small touches of dry pigment applied

with a small brush. Some rain streak

stains were done with the MIG

Productions or AK Interactive’s

specific products for this purpose,

allowing them to soak the pigments.

Different degrees of intensity can be

achieved by varying the amount of the

products or by the repetition of their

application in one specific area.

The tracks were also put in place at

this point. The track assembly was

really tedious and the final result quite

fragile, so in the process of painting

them some breakages happened,

testing again my mental stability!

The tracks were firstly painted in Tamiya black XF1 and

then were soaked with a suspension of Dark Mud

pigment in water. Touches of more Dark Mud and

Europe Dust pigment were applied when dry, and the

tracks were drybrushed with a mix of black and silver

(Vallejo Model Colour). Then they were treated with

more pigments, in a similar way to the bogies and

running gear. The cleaner patch caused by the contact

of the rubber on the wheels was simulated with black

pigment. Once in place, the tracks were further treated

with pigments, made wet stains and finally rubbed with

a soft lead pencil to recreate the metallic shine.

Before I continued with the dirtying, I put all the clutter

on the tank. Most of this stuff is made of fabric so I

painting this using the same approach as used for the

figure uniforms. I used Vallejo acrylics with highlights

and shadows applied as heavy diluted glazes, following

the ‘light from above’ philosophy nowadays used by

figure painters, rounded off with a profiling with diluted

black paint similar to the one described above for the

sandbags. Finally, I added some narrow plastic tape

(cut form insulating tape), to simulate the straps that

should keep the whole lot together.


To finish the dirtying job in the upper portions of the

hull and turret I used mostly dry pigments. With a

small brush, the pigments were accumulated in

corners and horizontal surfaces, and a general layer

in sensitive areas. Some grease and oil stains were

simulated on the engine deck and around the fuel

intakes, in different degrees of intensity/dilution, with

a mixture of thinner, wet effects and oil and grease

liquids from MING Productions or AK Interactive.

The final touch was the addition of small footprints

made with the Calibre35 rubber stamps soaked in

‘mud’ or ‘grease’. The model was ready to be

placed on its scenic base, where some minor final

touches were performed and described later.

32


33

Scenic Setting

The ground is very simple and is only

intended to provide a convincing base for the

tank and figures. I wanted to give a hint of a

somewhat wooded area by littering the soil

with leaves. The base itself is a rectangular

piece of insulating foam which I cut into the

suitable size and edged with wooden strips. I

glued a mixture of sand, smashed chalk and

small pebbles onto the surface. Once dry I

painted the ground with earthy colours and,

specifically the stones, with a lighter greyish

colour. After a diluted wash of a dark brown

colour, the ground was ready to receive the

vegetation. This was done with elements

taken from several sources: suitable natural

herbs and twigs, commercial foliage (railway

model) and mainly leaves. The bulk of these

are birch tree seed pods which I collected.

Scattered with them are several gorgeous

Plus Models laser cut paper leaves. All the

leaves were carefully glued, covering most of

the ground. Some of them were randomly

touched with some diluted shades of green,

ochre, orange or even red in an attempt to

avoid monotony.

The Sherman and figures were then added.

and to get a convincing and realistic sit of the

tracks on the ground, more leaves were

glued around them trying to hide any visible

gap. This was also done around the figure’s

feet. At the last moment I decided to add a

new element that enhances the idea of the

‘hoarder’ crew trying to add even more stuff

to their tank. This element was a wooden

wheelbarrow from Historex and its load, for

this I had experimented with a new AK

interactive ‘heavy chipping fluid’ which works

as a sort of ‘hair spray technique’ for small

items or surfaces. The wheelbarrow received

some oil washes in order make it to look

more aged, and received a load of a couple

of card boxes, an engine oil tin and a stove,

all of them from the Plus Models range.

Conclusion

I have built several Shermans in the last few

years and all of them are different. For those

who think that the M4 family is boring, just

have a look at the variety of marks, variants

and different ‘front made amendments you

can see in wartime photographs and you will

find inspirational stuff to be busy for a long

time. As I said before, a sandbagged

Sherman is one of these variants I had in

mind for some time, and Patton’s chewing

out was just the perfect excuse to create a

little scene to put the model in its context.

Figures

There are several alternatives on

the market for a figure

representing General Patton in

1:35, and all of them are hard to

find nowadays. I chose the one

from the defunct (I believe)

Legends and Lore (ref 071)

because the clothes fitted the

idea I had in mind. This figure

shows Patton clad in his famous

sheepskin jacket and sporting his

two ivory handled pistols. These

garments are actually preserved

in the ‘General Patton Museum of

Leadership’, in Fort Knox (USA),

and photographs of them can be

seen on the webpage

(www.generalpatton.org). The

figure is ok, but my figure’s face

suffers from some sort of

distortion and lacks some of the

fine detail.

This figure makes it look like

Patton is directing the traffic and I

found that by replacing the hands

with some suitable Hornet

alternatives, our General acquired

a much more menacing look that

perfectly fitted the scene I was

after.

The officer with General Patton is

from the Hungarian brand ‘The

Bodi’ (ref 35020) and was used

straight from the box with the

change of his right hand. Finally,

the unhappy tank crewmen are

from Alpine Miniatures (ref

35116), a gorgeous couple of

figures.

All the figures were painted with

acrylic Vallejo paints, from their

Model Colour and Panzer Aces

range, with the ‘light from above’

concept in mind.


34

MorrisARMOURED CARC9DAVID PARKER BUILDS THE RESICAST KIT

Quirky!The Morris C9 is one of those quintessentially quirky

British vehicles which looks like it was designed by

committee and has all the aggressive

purposefulness of London taxi. The vehicle was

designed around a Morris Commercial C9 4x2 15-

cwt truck chassis and entered service in 1938.

Lightly armed with a Boys anti-tank rifle and Bren

gun or Vickers machine gun, the C9 saw action with

the 12th Royal Lancers as part of the BEF in France

where all the vehicles were lost. It was also

employed in the North African campaign with the

11th Hussars and fitted with Sand tires. However

the thin armour of the C9 proved increasingly

inadequate and the C9 was phased out before the

end of the North African campaign.


35

Quirky subjects are exactly what Resicast does

superbly and they have provided the only 1:35 kit of

the Morris C9. This multimedia resin kit provides you

with a choice of two patterns of wheels to model

either a BEF or North African vehicle along with a

decal sheet and photoetched details. With those big

fat desert tires the C9 does have a certain look

about it so I chose to model a North African vehicle.


36

C9CONSTRUCTIONConstructionThe assembly of the chassis and the interior

is extremely straight forward with no

problems. The photographic instruction

sheet is there to guide you and also to

highlight any areas where special care is

required. The interior with its comfortable-

looking chairs is well detailed and doesn’t

really need any additional detail except

perhaps for some stowage in the storage

bins. It only requires painting and I went for

a pale green interior over the silver finish

normally applied to British tanks although

the exact colours used on the Morris are

open to debate.

With the interior painted the body shell

could be fitted and glued. One modification

I made was to cut away the lip around the

rear piece of chassis that extends outside

the body. I did this is make fitting and

aligning the rear stowage lockers easier.

The remainder of the assembly was straight forward

and my only addition was some power cables for

the headlamps!

I used Archer Fine Transfers instrument dials for theAustin Tilly to furnish the instrument panel and a largedose of guesswork to paint the radio sets.


37

To make painting easier I did not fit the

wheels at this stage or the doors, weapons

and tools. The Caunter scheme is always a

contentious issue for modellers but I found

some good period colour photos of British

trucks captured by the Germans which

showed the grey tones clearly and I was

able to adjust my colour mixes to replicate

these. The other markings on my model are

an amalgamation of markings from several

vehicles. I really liked the red/white/red

flashes on the doors and nose so I

borrowed these along with the ‘S’ marking

from a photo in David Fletcher’s book

‘Tanks in Camera’.

PAINTING

Selected articles now give youaccess to a full 360º interactiveview of the model simply visitwww.afvmodeller.com/digital toaccess the ‘360° Portal’, select theappropriate article and enter theUsername and Pass Code shownon the right...

You can use your PC/Mac to viewthe featured model from all round,just keep an eye out for the 360°symbol in future issues!

Username: AFV

Pass Code: 58642


1 2

5 6

7 8

3 4I had a plan to use the hairspray technique to create a worn desert scheme soI began by spraying a base coat of dark green. Note that the wheels, tools andother delicate details have not yet been fitted. As it turned out the hairspraytechnique did not work as planned.

More dust colours were airbrushed into areas where dust would collect usingpaper masks for hard edges where required.

Here is the model after the dust has been sprayed.

The other side of the Morris at the same stage with everything looking goodand dusty. Note the build up of dust on the flat surfaces like the hull roof.

Time now to add areas where the top paint has been worn and exposed thebase green colour. Drybrushing is perfect for this and works well with smallchips. Doors and the edges of panels were treated like this.

The Caunter scheme was a really demanding one to mask and I used theLifecolor Middle East British vehicle camouflage set for this. Comparing thesewith some archive colour pictures of the real scheme I decided that the twogreys needed adjusting.

I mixed two new tones for the greys using Lifecolor paints and brush paintedthe new colours - so much easier than masking everything again. I was muchhappier with these and I applied the red and white flashes using a slightlyterracotta shade of red.

Oil and acrylic washes were applied to give the ingrained dust build up aroundthe raised details. The colours are also dragged down the hull to give a rainstreaked effect.

38


39

9 10

12

11

13

Here the edges of the panels on the bonnet are drybrushed along with some ofthe rivet detail.

Working again from the picture in David Fletcher’s book I added somestowage with Resicast ammunition boxes and various bags and tarps madefrom Magic Sculp.

On the rear deck I used temporary aluminium straps to secure the rolledtarpaulin on top of the ammunition box.

Wheels are painted in a similar style with a suitably dusty look to the tires andtouches of green paint showing through the rims. With the wheels mounted at

last it was time to look at some stowage.

The same effects can be seen here on the back of the vehicle.


40

14

The tools were painted and fitted into the roof racks.

A dusting of pigments was applied to the stowage to blendit in with the rest of the vehicle and to give that ingraineddust look.

16The stowage was painted with a selection of different acryliccolours and was then shaded for a more natural looking finish.

15

C9


41

I made a simple desert base from expanded polystyrene sheets

edged with black card with a few contours in the sand to set off the

dusty Morris. The pair of figures are also produced by Resicast and

are based on archive pictures of the crew of a C9 standing next to

their vehicle. The relaxed style of dress is typical and they really do

compliment the vehicle. I painted them using Lifecolor acrylics and I

deliberately used different tones for the individual items of uniform to

enhance the more relaxed dress code. I added a cigarette from wire

to the leaning figure and I used wire pins glued into the feet of the

figures to help glue them in position. The final touches were to add

lenses to the mudguard lamps using lenses from the Resicast range

and the antenna. I made the pennants from paper which is easily

crumpled to give a feeling of movement.

Another cracking subject choice and kit from Resicast

who continue to supply the requirements of the Allied

armour fan expertly. No problems here just build and

enjoy which is exactly as it should be. Our thanks to

Graham from Resicast for supplying the kit and full

details of this and the rest of the Resicast range can be

found at: www.resicast.com


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equipment options (visually the covered helmet of 35001 is themain difference) both would work equally as well with LRM-35003as a pairing with the poses ready for action. The figures can becomplemented further with the other items in the range, www.live-resin.com is a must-visit website if modern U.S. subjectsare your thing. Without doubt THE most detailed 1:35 figures wehave seen and as you can see in our pictures the quality speaksfor itself - highly recommended.

Live Resin 1:35 Modern U.S. Army figures


True Earth are an Italian manufacturer who produce a wide varietyof finishing products to achieve weathering and specific effects.The ones I've used in the past perform well and unlike most otherweathering products are acrylic / water based and odourless. Inthis new set we're provided with five 17ml bottles and one 26ml toachieve the effects of burning or discolouration through heat. Anexcellent step-by-step pictorial guide is supplied with the veryimpressive results displayed. I gave the process a very quick (15minutes) try myself, first a 'Burnt Primer' colour is applied followedby the two rust shades then 'Burnt Metal' which is an excellent fine

metallic glaze, and 'Burnt Smoke'. A final touch is to add 'BurntAsh'. All of the colours are best described as glazes giving greatcontrol of the colour build-up but does require multiple layers anddon't be afraid to flood the colour on and a hair dryer or emptyairbrush will help speed the drying. Working from some referenceand spending more time will, I'm sure, give excellent realisticresults. These colours can appear a little 'slimy' when you first trythem but it doesn't take long to get used to the way they act.More details of these and the rest of the True-Earth range can befound at www. true-earth.com

True-Earth 'Burnt Out Pack' paint effects set

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Revell 1:72 Strv 122A/122B (Swedish Leopard 2)Utilising their very nice previous A6 kit Revell have included newparts to produce the super slick-looking Swedish Leopard 2.Revell's recently tooled small scale releases have gained areputation for quality at a reasonable price, great for a new starterto the hobby but also the detail and finesse to keep the moreexperienced and demanding modellers happy. With a parts countclose to a comparable 1:35 kit the detail is excellent, although alighter coloured plastic would be my preference to show this offprior to painting. In the dark green styrene is a large new spruecontaining the turret, extra armour and even a full rear panel (withit's subtle differences to the German version). The shorter barrel as

per the A5, is supplied on a smaller sprue along with the grenadelaunchers. I think I'm correct in saying that the Spanish and GreekLeopards are based on this version albeit with the longer L55 gun;maybe Revell will release these versions, if not an easy conversionwhich won't break the bank. The Swedish splinter pattern camowill be a challenge in this small scale but looks superb, two sets ofmarkings are included. A lovely little kit of arguably the bestlooking Leopard. We would love a 1:35 version too please Revell!Revell model kits are available from all good toy and modelretailers. For further information visit www.revell.eu or [email protected]


Yes another Dragon Panzer III, but personally the early G is myfavourite with it's narrow tracks and stylish sprockets and idlers.Added to this is the (slightly!) more purposeful 5cm cannon withthe 3.7 also still present from the 'F' kit released last year alongwith many other parts. Every time we take a look at these DMLPanzer IIIs it's hard to know where to start describing how goodthey are, the detail is staggering throughout from the delicatelydetailed individual (and de-sprued) magic track to the multi-partcupola (both early and later in this kit with call-outs for whichchoice of markings suit which) with full internal detail. Moreinternal detail is included with the turret, vision blocks and gunbreech will be clearly seen through the open hatches. Dragon's

moulding is amongst the best in the business, always helped bythe matt grey styrene which shows the superb finesse at it's best.Marking and colour options are the only disappointment if you finddunkelgrau a little bland, five variations are offered on the decalsheet. DML instructions are renowned for their flaws and it's hardto comment without actually completing a build, let's presumecareful study and familiarisation are still the order of the day!These Panzer IIIs must rate as some of their best ever releases,keeping even the fussiest modeller very satisfied with what'ssupplied in the box- you just can't help finding things that impress.Fantastic.

Dragon Pz.Kpfw. III (5cm) G Early Production

new releases

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What a superb little kit! As soon as you pop the lid on this and seethe excellent upper and lower hull mouldings you can see that thisis a real cracker! Packed with raised rivet detail and sharp panellines, this will be a delight to paint. For such a small vehicle thereis plenty in the box and the kit comes with a photoetched fret andsuperb DS Styrene tracks with hollow guide horns. Roadwheelshave a clever spacer to join them and photoetched rings for thehubs. All the hull and turret hatches are moulded separately andthe open louvres on the engine covers are excellent. Alsonoteworthy are the superb machine gun mouldings and thechoice of open or closed driver’s vision port. separately moulded

track guards are another superbly moulded feature and allow themodeller greater flexibility. The turret is provided with a welldetailed gun mount and breech along with gun sight and shellcase catcher. Its more than enough to allow you to leave the turrethatch open should you wish. A clear sprue is included for visionblocks and lamp lenses and photoetched mesh for the exhausts isprovided. There is a choice of markings for four different vehicleson the small decal sheet. Great to see some other WWII subjectsbeing tackled and with such skill and finesse too - high quality allthe way from Dragon.

Dragon 1:35 Type 95 Light Tank “Ha Go” Early Production


As with their Panzer IIIs you think Dragon have all bases coveredwith Shermans, but here's another variant available, the Britishearly 'direct vision' M4. I'm working on a Sherman project at themoment using mostly Dragon parts and much of the contents ofthe box have been seen before, a mix of new and older partsprues along with some brand new components combine toproduce this variant. The moulding is clean and crisp, shown at it'sbest with the new upper hull, pleasing interlocks with accurateangles and weld beads is a nice base to build on. An early lowbustle turret gets a two piece British stowage bin and an option ofMG mounts, slide moulding technology offering features such assingle piece main gun and intricate detail and textures. Anothernew feature is the three piece transmission cover which is much

better than previous offerings and an option of a well detailedsingle piece cover is still included. I'm a fan of Dragon's DSSherman track as it captures the 'live' track look, just the job forthe T-41 tracks and less tedious than assembling individual links.A comprehensive etched brass sheet includes unique details suchas full sand skirts and a petrol can rack. To finish we've the usualclear sprue of lamps and vision blocks and five decal markingoptions of Italy, Sicily and Tunisia including the handsome turrettop and engine deck British roundels, ding-dong! Another niceDragon Sherman. Thanks to The UK importers The HobbyCompany for our Dragon (and Tamiya) samples.

Dragon 1:35 Sherman III DV Early

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Very much the most attractive looking of the BT series in my view,the 1937 model with its sloped uparmoured turret was perhaps aninevitable release from Tamiya but you never can be certain!Happily Tamiya have added the 1937 to their previous releasesand as soon as I popped open the bag with the new turret sprue Ifound myself exclaiming at the quality of the parts with thedelicate lip around the edge of the turret roof and the breech forthe 45mm gun. On the same sprue are a new pair of figures asdepicted on the box art and I have to say that these look a cutabove the regular Tamiya figures too. The new turret comes with adetailed co-ax MG, gun sight, breech and crew seats and ofcourse separate hatches and periscope covers. The hull is largely

unchanged from the previous versions and features the same highquality link and length tracks and late style drive wheels. For thoseunfamiliar with the earlier kits the hull is assembled from flatplates but Tamiya precision engineering makes this a painless anderror-free procedure. The kit retains the excellent photoetched fretwith the grilles and screens for the engine decks and the excellenttow chain is provided. A small clear sprue includes headlamplenses and vision blocks. Markings for three vehicles are supplied,two Russian and one captured example in German markings.Another great Tamiya release and one that really can be builtstraight from the box with great results. Top marks!

Tamiya 1:35 BT-7 Model 1937


new releases

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Mirror Models are a relatively new name in the kit business andwith the interesting subjects being covered we were keen to seehow they shape up in todays competitive market. The first box totick is as always the subject matter; the best kit in the World of anuninteresting or way-out subject just won't cut it with the choiceavailable these days, Mirror Models are certainly tapping into aniche market with a range of Commonwealth (and a couple ofSoviet) vehicles with terrific appeal to the modeller. Myunderstanding is that the recently released kits are more build-friendly, while still being multi-media the majority of parts areinjection moulded on sprues as per mainstream kits. I have toadmit (with my grown-up designer's head on) the box art didn'timpress me, but on reflection (sorry, couldn't resist it) it is a verygood indication of the type of kits these are falling somewhere inbetween a cottage-industry resin production and a styrene kitfrom one of the larger manufacturers. On opening the stout cartonwe're greeted with a busy collection of grey sprues, resin wheels(and some smaller complex details) photoetched frets, a suitableselection of wire and rod (should you wish to add pipes, steeringarms etc) and decals. The first scan of the sprues is promising,sharp detail, no flash and a reasonable lack of ejector pin marks.The resin parts are also very nice as is the photoetch- I certainlythink you'd feel you'd got very good value for money as these kits

are reasonably priced. Instructions are rather 'home made' inappearance but as you work through them have a nice feel withhelpful notes spoken ‘modeller to modeller’ with clearphotographs. To get a true feel for these kits we felt it only fair toassemble some of the bigger chunks and I'm happy to say the fitis very good- the multi-panelled body far better than expected (MrCement 'Thin' is the fella for the job here) but I found it easier toremove the locating pips and use the points as visual reference.The complex chassis assembles nice and true without mucheffort. If you use all of the resin and photoetch provided you'llproduce a highly detailed chassis and engine from the box whichalso extends to the interior and tiny details such as windowlatches. These kits are for the modeller with some experience andare obviously aimed at the serious end of the market, they won'tfall together like a Tamiya kit over a couple of evenings but withsome time and effort you'll have some very satisfying results andeverything is there in the box. I think a better visual appeal of thebox and instructions would help these kits get noticed by a widermarket Great to see a new manufacturer offering new subjectswhich may only in the past been available as more expensiveresin kits. Thanks to Mirror Models for the samples, www.mirror-models.com and their Facebook page will keep you up to datewith their exciting releases planned. Highly recommended.

Mirror Models 1:35 CMP C15TA Armoured Ambulance


Always reliable for an easy touch of finesse, Archer have somenew releases to add to their extensive catalogue. Starting withwhat they’re known for best, dry rub-down ransfers AR35376provides four instument panels for the dashboard of Tamiya’sCitroën in 1:35 and staying with Tamiya AR35377 providesdashboard instuments for the new Simca and also fits AFV Club’sBussing Nag. Three sets are included.Weld beads of a very finenature are hard to reproduce, this set AR88090 is Archer’s fineresin relief detail on clear water-slide backing which are applied

as regular decals but before painting. More water-slide sheetswhich will be welcomed by German armour fans are AR77022 andAR77023 under the ‘AFT’ brand, The beautifuly fine stencils are for88mm and 75mm ammo respectively. Comprehensive colourinstuctions are included to apply the correct markings to theprojectiles, cartridges and rims. Top quality as always from Archerwho have detailed application instuctions on their website alongwith the vast range of markings and detail accessories.www.archertransfers.com

Archer Fine Transfers

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Mirror Models 1:35 CMP MkI Otter Recce CarBased on the same CMP chassis as the armoured ambulance,the Otter armoured car is a quirky design so typical of the era andbuilt by General Motors Canada was used by both British andCanadian forces throughout WWII. The body obviously differs fromthe ambulance and follows the same multi-plate principle withhopefully the same satisfying fit. The armour plate has apleasingly thin look to it which should give a nice scale look to it ifyou’re leaving doors and vision flaps open. A large number ofphotoetched parts will add a nice delicate look, the largest ofthese being the bonnet and Bren Gun turret shield which willrequire annealing and careful rolling. Lots of interior detail is there

should you wish to complete it with a separate available etchedset available from Mirror Model’s parent companywww.Lzmodels.com to really go to town on the internal detailalong with full etched brass mudguards and other details.High resolution image pdf files of assembly instructions areavailable at www.mirror-models.com/otter_assembly.pdf whichwould give a very good indication of how the kits go togethershould you be tempted. We’re keen to see more from MirrorModels in future, Creative Models are a UK distributor and mosthobby retailers should be able to get hold of the range.


new releases

AK Interactive are expanding their range ofacrylic colours at a pace, available bothindividually and in sets. The latest boxed set isdedicated to vehicles operating in Iraq andAfghanistan. The set contains a three toneGerman camo, along with U.S., British andIraqi sand tones. These acrylics can bebrushed or airbrushed straight from the bottleand colours have ‘scale effect’ meaning theyare mixed to a lighter tone than the real paintchip to give an effect more suited to scalemodels. Another new range introduced areeight coloured primers in larger 60ml bottles.The paint is thin enough to spray but has ahigh concentration of pigment providing goodcoverage to key your top-coats to. The rangeof colours will allow you to get close to yourfinal colour or provide a primer colour to revealwhen weathering. The colours are grey, darkyellow, white, black, Russian Green, primerred, desert sand and olive drab. AKI produce a60ml thinner should you wish to thin theiracrylics further for very fine work, this appearsalcohol based and should help flow throughthe airbrush better than thinning with water. www.ak-interactive.com has full details ofthese and the rest of the range.

AK Interactive

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A steady flow of quality ad-ons from Hauler starting with theirfavourite 1:48 scale. HLX48330 is a set of stand-off mesh armourfor Tamiya's JS-2 and for the same kit is HLX48331, some veryfine mesh for the rear deck intakes. Ace Model's 2cm Flak 38 getsa full set of gun shields and extra detail with HLX48332 and anexciting set of resin replacement wheels HLX48334 will certainlyboost the finesse of Italeri's Puma. HLX48333 is to fit Tamiya'srecent Mobelwagen with fine tool fittings, mudguards and fittings

for the shields. A mesh spent shell catcher is the only partprovided for the 3.7cm gun. Finally HLX48335 provide's the AirfixLand Rover 'Snatch' a full set of protective mesh guards. In 1:35Tamiya's bigger brother JS-2 gets the same two sets HLU35060the engine deck mesh and HLU35061 the stand-off armour, andstaying with Tamiya the diminutive Simca 5 gets a usable set ofdetail enhancements. www.hauler.cz will give you all the rangeand more details.

Hauler Accessories


Another volume in the Panzer Vor! series brings together a verydiverse collection of German Armour photographs spanning thewhole of WWII. Starting with armoured car variants and lightpanzers which are briefly covered, there’s an excellent selection ofPanzer IIIs and IVs to follow which make up a large portion of thebook. A good selection of S.P. guns are presented and eightpages of full colour profiles show a mix of the vehicles featured inthe black and white images. Another large portion is devoted tosemi-tracks, both artillery tractors and mounted with flak guns

with some great reference and inspiration to start yet another newproject! There are some images we’re familiar with but many arenew providing something for the avid photo collector and alsoexcellent inexpensive general reference for the more casual bookbuyer. All of the photographs are accompanied with detailed andwell researched captions. Recommended reading, www.concord-publications.com has details of other titles and news, thanks toCasemate the UK distributer for our copywww.casematepublishing.co.uk

Panzer Vor! 7Frank V.De SistoPublished by Concordl PublicationsSoftback, portrait format, 72 pagesISBN 9789623611794

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Sovereign 2000 figures and updates

A little like meeting up with some old 1:35 friends now with thesevery familiar looking figures. S2K are now producing figures fromthe old 'Wolf' range of popular subjects all nicely cast in palecream resin. S2KW019 is a pair of figures nicely moulded as asingle piece depicting a medic and German panzer crewman,SKW is a mid-late WWII German tanker in winter gear completewith cap-flaps down and pipe in hand, S2KW021 is an early-warpanzer officer and S2KW022 is the old favourite late WWII tankerhand in pocket holding his jacket with the other. Still on the

German theme is S2KA015 to update SdKfz 223s (presumablywith the Hobby Boss kit in mind due to the interior parts included)Along with the wealth of interior detail upgrades are some majorsuspension parts including a nice set of wheels complete withcovered spare. Assembly instructions are decent and the set willprovide some worthwhile enhancements.www.sovereign2000.uk.com has more details and on-lineshopping.


new releases

Diamond T 4-Ton TruckDavid DoylePublished by Squadron Signal PublicationsSoftback, landscape format, 80 pagesISBN 978-0-89747-710-9More of the same highly useable information for modellers withthe Walk Around format on the big Diamond T. A very timelyrelease as we're soon to be offered an injection moulded kit fromMirror Models of the excellent wrecker version in 1:35 (and otheravailable resin kits on the market). Other versions of the 4-tonnerare covered featuring fantastically preserved and restored trucksin both the hard and open-cabbed guises with overall views andclose-up details presented as clear, large format colour

photographs with extensive captions. Chassis componentsreceive good coverage as do items such as winches and thecrane fitted to wrecker vehicles getting particularly goodcoverage. Nice additions to any project would be additional cabinterior detail and instruction / information plates which are allshown in close-up. Another great concise reference as we'vecome to expect from Squadron Signal over the years,recommended reading.

Polish Tracks and Wheels No.3, Polish Vickers Pt.2Adam JońcaPublished by Mushroom Model PublicationsSoftback, portrait format, 88 pageswww.mmpbooks.bizISBN 978-83-61421-50-4

This is the third part of Mushroom Model's focus on the Polishtanks of British origin, the Vickers-Armstrong designs, many ofwhich were still in service when the Germans invaded in 1939.The vehicles showcased are the Medium Mk.D six ton, theVickers-Carden-Lloyd VI artillery tractor, 4 ton light tank 7TP andthe Vickers-7TP reinforced 7TP. As we'd want from a modellingreference the pages are filled with photographs ranging from'official' type archive shots to troops' private pictures taken in thefield, many of which are from German sources of knocked out and

abandoned vehicles which would make great vignettes. Thephotos are backed-up with just enough text to ensure anenjoyable and informative read without getting bogged-down withtoo much detail. We're also presented with colour profiles of someexcellent looking camouflage finishes and colour illustrations ofbattalion formations and insignia. The usual concise referenceoffered by MMP offering great value for money for any fan ofearly-war armour.

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M18 Hellcat Tank DestroyerDavid DoylePublished by Squadron Signal PublicationsSoftback, landscape format, 80 pagesISBN 978-0-89747-698-0

Tank Art 1 WWII German ArmorMike RinaldiPublished by Rinaldi Studio PressSoftback format, 206 pagesISBN 978 0-9883363-1-5

Renowned American modeller Mike Rinaldi takes his first foray intoa self-published work with the first in his 'Tank Art' series. As thetitle suggests, and as Mike introduces his drive behind the book,there is a major emphasis on the finishing techniques the authorhas mastered to produce beautiful armour models in a verycontemporary style. German armour being the subject of thisvolume there's guidance to a wide variety of finishes fromdunkelgrau through to disc-patterned camo, DAK worn desertcolours and white-wash with a huge variety of weatheringtechniques. Mike utilises the latest finishing products on the

market so most modellers should be able to get their hands themto achieve the finishes demonstrated. There is a good balancebetween text and photography, all of which is of a very highstandard and very explanatory in a step-by-step fashion. A finalchapter dedicated to figure painting strays somewhat from theGerman WWII theme but being written and presented by thesuperb modeller Marijn Van Gils this can be excused. Analtogether top-quality production which bodes well for the rest ofthe series. www.rinaldistudiopress.com will help you get yourhands on a copy.

Like an old friend with always the right reference on hand for thatlatest project, Squadron Signal continue their 'Walk Around' formatof affordable visual modelling compendiums. The agile and sleekM18 gets the treatment here with museum and privately ownedvehicles obviously chosen for their comprehensive restorationsand authenticity providing the photographs. The Walk Aroundformat is as usual very visual, the text being primarily detailedphoto captions with the majority of photographs in large formatcolour, ideal modelling reference with production changes and

details flagged-up throughout. The M18 being an open-turretedvehicle lends itself to some extra detailing internally and thankfullywe're well covered here with very thorough photographs of allelements. Only the engine compartment is limited to several shotsthrough the access hatches, most visible external elements arecovered in great detail. An ideal helping hand if you want to getthe best from either AFV Club's or Academy's 1:35 kits, neither arewithout their flaws.

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Braonir

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BRDM article (Q8):Layout 1 11/04/2013 10:48 Page 1

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BRDM2Łukasz Orczyc - Musiałek’s 1:35 vignette

All modern military fans know the BRDM-2 - I am sure! For me she is one ofthe most frequently seen army vehicles I saw when I was a child. Because Iwas living next to a military base, I had the chance to watch them passingjust meters from my backyard. I was excited looking at the dark greenmonsters slowly moving past. After 25 years I had the possibility to refreshmy memories and build the replica of this armoured car.

The BraonirowannajaRazwiedywatielno-Dozornaja Maszyna(literally ‘Combat Reconnaissance -Patrol Vehicle’) is a Soviet vehicledesigned as a replacement for earlierBRDM-1 with improved amphibiouscapabilities and better armament. Shewas first seen in public in 1966. The BRDM-2 has a crew of four, a driver,a co-driver, a commander, and agunner. The GAZ-41 gasoline V-8 engineproduces 140 hp which allows 100 km/hon the road and 10 km/h in water. Thearmament consists a 14.5 mm KPVTheavy machine gun with a coaxial 7.62mm PKT machine gun as a secondaryweapon, both mounted in a small turret. Like many other Soviet designs, thisvehicle has been exported extensivelyand is in use in at least 45 countries.The BRDM-2 was modified very often tobring it to new standards of the modernbattlefield, for example Polish ‘Żbik’,‘Szakal’ or Serbian ‘Kurjak’.

SOME HISTORY


TRUMPETER’S KITTrumpeter’s kit 05511 kit gives uspossibility to build an early version of thisvehicle. In the box we find 7 sprues (253parts) moulded in light grey plastic thesame as the upper and lower hulls, theclear sprue for the periscopes, a PE sheet,four small and four large tyres, wire, rope,poly-caps and a decals sheet.

I hate interiors! I spent several hours just tosay ‘I did it!’ And only to take two pictures… Ibuilt it totally from the box, adding pin up girlposters and playing cards as typical crewstuff. Unfortunately the front windscreens aretoo small to look inside and the onlypossibility to see my work is by removing theturret, but this is completely forbidden! Thefingerprints are an unwelcome proof of theviewers crime!

When the interior was ready I started to workwith exterior elements. I built it following theinstruction guide building main elements.Here and there I decided to add someelements I found in the pictures. So the mostvisible are railings on the turret and bothsides of the hull. Most likely they were fittedon the original vehicle to make the covering offoliage over the structure easier. With thesame material I built the ladder on the backplate.

The kit is of a good standard, with goodmoulding of the parts and the building iseasy even for a novice. The instructions(with 14 stages) and painting guide are alsoincluded. When the kit arrived on myworkbench, my first thought was not topaint it overall green. I wanted to makesomething more interesting so Googlebecame my friend again.

During the research for a nice and uniquecamo I found a lot of pictures from differentparts of the world, where BRDM wasshown. I decided to focus on Sovietvariants as well as in painting and building.But the question was – Afghanistan orChechnya? The diversity of camo schemesand the figures I planned to add led to mychoice. My plan was not to build a specific

vehicle but use the elements from differentBRDM’s in my model.

I love kits with some ‘jewellery’ so to thisend I bought a 14.5mm KPVT gun barrel(35B21) and antennas mount (35A14) fromRB Model and new resin wheels from TigerModel (355001) - and the game began!

ON WITH THE BUILD...

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The main addition to the kit were themore accurate and detailedreplacement wheels from TigerModel. Paint also adheres better toresin than the soft vinyl kit parts.


Using the copper wire and some old PEparts I prepared the light guards andshrouds. The tools (the pick and the axe)come from my spares but I’m sure theyare the left overs from different Dragonsets. From Eureka XXL comes the towingcable despite the fact that the kit providesthis part – in my opinion the aftermarketpart is much better. I prepared littleholders for this but in the end they wereleft empty and the cable went on theother side of the vehicle. However, it wasa good decision to make them becausethe ones from the kit were too big. New

holders appeared near the fuel capcovers too. Using Milliput I sculpted newweld lines around the side periscopes andrailings mentioned above. I would alsolike to mention the thin wire I fastened onthe right and left sides. It was added afterthe painting was done but there we havethe building section so a couple of wordsabout it. Assuming that the branchesshould cover more than only upper hull Iused the 0.1 mm as good enough tosimulate the home made upgradeprepared by the crew. There was one thing left. As I said the

tires were replaced by a resin set fromTiger Model. I did it because the rubbertires in the kit box were deformed a littleand I wanted to avoid the situation whenafter a couple of years they would crack.Moreover, I was surprised when thecomparison was done – the size and thetire tread were different (resin tread wasmore subtle and differed a little but it wasclearly visible when looking at both tires).The size difference especially made meworried as to how the resin would lookinside the mudguards. Luckily everythingwas OK.

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I usually prime my models with Vallejo’s Black Primer as a goodbase for all next paint stages. I heard my friends complainingabout this paint but in my opinion it is very nice for airbrushing orto apply with brush. To find suitable colours for camo scheme Iprinted the resized picture of BRDM-2 from Chechnya War andprepared the various green shade specimens. It was easier tochoose the best tone and my decision was to paint my kit withVallejo Model Colour 890 Reflective Green. I sprayed the wholekit while the black and grey areas I covered using paintbrush –Black 950 and Black Grey 862 paints were used. The maincolours were drying and I started to paint the rest of theelements:

•tools – Buff 976, Dark Flesh 927 (base colours) and GermanCamo Black brown 822 (wash);•wheels - Grey Green 866 for tires (better than simply black);•railings - Natural Steel 864;•red star, shark mouth and slogan – Flat Red 957, Black 950 andWhite 951 ;•periscope glass – Flat Blue 962 (base colour) and Dark PrussianBlue 899;•front and rear lights – Natural Steel 864 and Flat Red 957;•machine guns – Black 950 (as a base for Gun Metal pigment).

I would like to explain the “colourful” additions. Firstly, the redstar on top of the hatch – I decided to paint it to break thedullness of the dark camo. It could be said that the crew paintedit as a kind of air recognition. In the first stages it was very lightand I was wondering how would it look after weathering.Fortunately it unified with the background enough. Secondly, theshark’s mouth – I love it! I saw similar painting on the WW2vehicles, moreover looking at original pictures of BRDM’s Inoticed that a lot of them were decorated with different strangepaintings and slogans so my shark’s teeth are quite good in thiscontext. Third is the slogan which translated from Russianmeans “Peace for your home”. I found it on the Russian missilelauncher painted with white paint with the ® sign. I thought it wasironical and interesting enough to paint it on the front of thevehicle. To add more interest on the surfaces of the kit I decided toprepare some “light” colour modulation. It was especially visibleon the small elements where I used lighter shade of paint. Allpaint work was done so it was time to cover whole kit with glossyvarnish. After that I could applied the decals with car numbers – Ileft the original decals in the box and used Dragon’s numeralsfrom my spares. They were only outlined so I needed to fill themwith white paint. They were almost similar as the example in thepicture I used as a reference so I was glad my hand did notshake too much while I was painting them!

ON WITH THE PAINT...

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THE WEATHERINGI began this stage from Dark Wash applied with Thinner forWashes from MIG Productions. The excess was lifted withturpentine and cotton buds. Then the kit was ready for the nextstep. The oil paints (Burnt Umber, Ceruleum and Yellow Ochre)were wiped with wide brush moistened with turpentine. This gavenice streaks and roughened all areas of the kit so the glossy finishwas not so conspicuous. Here and there, especially on thehorizontal surfaces, the filters were used to disrupt the surfaces(Tan and Green).

Then the chipping – for the first time I used 6 coloursto prepare the chips, Military Green 850, Black Grey862, and Intermediate Blue 903.

All of them were enriched by and German CamoBlack brown 822, Natural Steel 864 and MahoganyBrown 846 as a rust simulation. As a main tool Iworked with a sponge, some little bits were paintedwith 5/0 brush and in the end a sharp pencil helpedto polish steel edges. It was a time-consumingwork but I was glad looking at the result. My kitneeded to be more rusted so I decided to use BurntSienna to create more rusty scratches. I knew thatthe sides of the hull would be covered by dust so Idid not worry about overdoing it.

During the work with chips I decided to add morelight to the vertical panels so again oil paints wereused. This time I used only yellows – Yellow Ochre,Gold Ochre and Raw Sienna. I spread them tryingnot to destroy my previous work with rusty chips.The kit had to dry completely before the next steps.

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So after that I used USA TanEarth 874 to create a pre-dustingcoat for pigment application.

Before the dust was airbrushed, Idecided to add some rain marks.With fine brush I painted verticallines simulating drops of water.This came nicely with earlierprepared oil streaks.

Let’s make some mud! The mixture of brown MIG pigments wasstrengthened by acrylic resin, plaster and a couple drops of glossvarnish. This paste was applied with old brush to all the bottomchassis surfaces, with particular emphasis on mudguards. It was leftto dry and at the same time the wheels got their share of mud anddust. I applied Dry Mud to wheels and the Pigment Fixer helped tohold the dust. To highlight the treads I rubbed them with my fingersusing Volcanic Sand. The effect was good enough. The same resultcan be achieved by drybrushing them with some enamel or even oilpaints. Dry Mud pigment was also used to create the proper look ofthe chain tied on the front of the vehicle. So to sum up – 7 pigmentswere used: Dry Mud, Volcanic Sand, Europe Dust, Dark Mud,Industrial City Dirt, and Russian Earth. Near the shock absorbersand different holes in the hull I applied Oil and Grease Stain Mixture.It is almost invisible but … You know what I mean…

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THE GROUNDWORKTo prepare the base I used an oldWaterman fountain pen box. It was hardand had proper dimensions, 19cm lengthand 17cm width. I enclosed it with balsawood and prepared a glossy mahoganyfinish. When the varnish dried I covered itwith old paper with masking tape andstarted to create the terrain. I like plasticineto prepare it because I have a lot of timefor ‘sculpting’.

FINISHING & DETAILSSo it was the time to fix the wheels and putall elements together. The wheels wereglued but first I drilled little holes for pins.They were needed to keep the kit in itsplace on the diorama. I added the antennarod, the chain was tied up, spare wheelswent on the turret and rear deck - the ropekept them in correct place. The tools wereput on both sides of the kit, the same withthe towing cable and the rest of the wireused for the foliage. The nicest additionwere wooden pallets - I don’t know theproducer but they are nicely designed anddetailed. The were fastened with straps(paper with metal hooks). In the end Iprepared the rolled carpet. This is anexcellent product from Modern Armies inMiniatures (Germany) and I canrecommend it for everyone who needs suchelement on their diorama. The kit wasready!

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When it is dry it becomes hard enough forpainting and working with and not so softto loose the shape. I diluted white gluewith water to prepare the first layer of soil.For this purpose I used plaster and lightsand mixed with acrylic resin. During the drying I prepared the traces ofvarious tires and little stones were added.In the end diluted resin was applied withsyringe here and there to fix places Ithought were not glued enough. Theterrain was ready. So now was the time ofpainting. As always I airbrushed the base

with the same Black Primer and thencame the layer of USA Tan Earth 874. I didnot want to cover the whole area andfocused on main colour of soil. The rightcolour was created with pigments – ofcourse the same as with the kit. It gavethe desired image. The stones wereslightly drybrushed and the traces werewashed a bit. Now the details – theconcrete wall was waiting for its turn forseveral years. I forgot about it till the time Ineeded something to close this scene. It isa resin product (I do not remember the

producer) the same as Verlinden’s brokenfuel drum and the marker post. The staticgrass was attached with white glue (thistime I did not dilute it) and finally painted indifferent green shades. The branchescame from real plants’ roots. Behind thewall I prepared some wooden trunks(balsa) and the sawn tree. The telegraph pole with insulators comefrom RB Model. After adding all of thoseelements I could say that the base wasready!


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THE FIGURESFrom the beginning I knew what figures I wantedto use. The Master Club series of Russian troopsis very popular and often used by modellersworldwide to create scenes describing modernconflicts in the Russians participated. I boughtmore figures than I showed on the diorama - thereason was very simple - I wanted to have biggerchoice with figures to fit them into my idea. Thesoldier sitting on the spare wheel has a new headwith more Asian features and the wounded handwas bandaged. The guy next to him has a newhead. The driver has a new head too with typicalRussian tanker headphones cap (in WW2 style).The last figure was not modified. All were paintedusing Vallejo acrylics and internet sourcedreference photos for the uniforms. The finaltouches required some pigments to unify themwith the ground and the kit.


Another good kit from Trumpeter’srange gave me the chance to builda nice looking replica. I hope to seemore versions of this vehicle. Maybethe designers will prepare somePolish BRDMs operating in Iraq orAfghanistan? It would be great! Fornow I can recommend it to allSoviet/Russian modern vehicleenthusiasts. Now I’m waiting for thenext modern subject! Come onTrumpeter!

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TANKART Vol. 1 WWII German Armor

There are many "how-to" books in today's world of scale modeling, but none has covered the "why", as well as, the "how-to" processes… the modeler's artistic approach, until now. In TANKART, a painting and weathering guide book series, the focus is on taking real-life observations of paint and weathering effects and incorporating the best techniques to replicate them. Within this first volume, WWII German Armor, I will go deeper into my thoughts about the why of certain steps as it relates to German camo schemes. Combined with my education in design, my passion for learning & teaching, and some clear informative photography, we have strived to produced a book which focuses on the importance of telling the story of each vehicle. To bring these ideas to life requires a spectrum of processes and techniques which are covered in great detail; including the Hairspray Technique andmy new Oil Paint Rendering -- techniques that can be combined in an layered array to tell the story of each model. The book is 8.5w" x 9.5l" format, 208 pages. There are 5 models featured inside, 2 dedicated technique chapters, plus a specialbonus figure modeling chapter by world renowned modelerMarijn van Gils

TANKART Vol. 2 WWII Allied Armour

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