FIA UPDATE

Currently at FIA 2010 as a guest of BAE Systems, lager and food good...belly expanding!

Endex

Well, I am a few hours out from the start of a short Officer Exchange to the UK, this means of course my activities on this site will be coming to an end. I have a few posts that I could have posted by now, but frankly I have run out of time (and energy).

At this time I would like to thank all you hoarders who take the time to post comments and views on my site. It's always good to receive feedback and ideas on the plastic forces concerned.

All the best to you fellow blogger's and I look forward to following all your excellent posts and work.

Plastic Warrior resumes mid to late August...pending RNZAF Transport assets.

Ake Ake Kia Kaha !

QF 2 Pounder Pt 2

I finished painting the 2 Pdr last night, and mounted it on a stand, probably too big for Command Decision, but there we go.
I was unsure if the 2 Pdr's issued to the BEF in 1940 were camouflaged so went for just a plain drab green. Figures from Airfix spares I had lying around.

Parts used were;

• Wheels ex Airfix Bofors Gun.
• Axle ex Bofors Gun.
• Support legs ex Airfix 88mm Gun.
• Shield ex Takeaway container lid plastic.
• Gun ex Airfix 6 Pdr cut down.
• Gun Mount Bracket ex Airfix Recon set from Sd.Kfz 222.
• Tin on inside of Gun Shield ex Matchbox M3 Honey/Stuart.

Probably a little big, but it will do the job I would suspect...hope.

Wednesday's Website

Today's site is a double banger, first up is "Little Soldiers" http://www.littlesoldiers.net/index.html . This is a nice little site that I came across last week while doing some research on 25mm AT Guns.

It as a bit of everything in it so most of you will find at least something of interest.

The second site is another one I stumbled across while looking for info on where to get a model Cruiser Tank for my BEF 1940 army. Paper Tigers http://www.papertigerarmaments.com/index.html has one and many other vehicle, and building you may wish to try. The Cruiser is on my list for sure. Enjoy!

QF 2 Pounder

To help my 1940 BEF troops I have been working on building a Ordnance QF 2 pdr gun. This is it in it's 3rd incarnation...hopefully the last incarnation by the way.

Tamiya Sd.Kfz 131 Marder II

Continuing on Dave's Panzer II theme, he also sent a few pictures of some Marder II's he has been working on.Tamiya released this kit back in 1971, so its getting on in age a bit, still its good to see a great job still can be made from this old kit.
During the very first days of Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet USSR, the Germans were shocked to encounter Soviet T-34 medium tanks and KV heavy tanks. Although the Wehrmacht succeeded in most operations due to superior tactics, morale, and supply, it had few anti-tank weapons capable of successfully engaging these vehicles at normal ranges. An urgent need arose for a more mobile and powerful anti-tank weapon than the existing towed anti-tank guns or tank destroyers like the Panzerjäger I.

Among a series of solutions, it was decided to use light tanks like the Panzer II and captured vehicles like the Lorraine Schlepper as the basis for makeshift tank destroyers. The result was the Marder series, which were armed with either the new 7.5 cm Pak 40 anti-tank guns or captured Soviet 7.62 cm F-22 Model 1936 field guns, large numbers of which had been acquired early in the war.

The Marder II came in two major versions. The first version Marder II (Sd.Kfz. 132) was based on the light Panzer II Ausf. D/E and Flammpanzer II chassis with Christie suspension. It was armed with captured Soviet 7.62 cm guns, re-chambered to accept German 7.5 cm Pak 40 ammunition, which improved its penetrative capabilities. These early Marder IIs had a very high silhouette (2.60 m high), thin armor of only 30 mm (front) and 10 to 15 mm (sides). There was no armour on the top or rear, leaving the crew with very little protection. Alkett and Wegmann produced 201 Marder II (Sd. Kfz. 132) from early 1942 to early 1943.

The second version Marder II (Sd.Kfz. 131) was based on Panzer II Ausf. A to C removed from active service but later also newly produced Ausf. F chassis were used. This Marder II had a redesigned (widened) fighting compartment and used the German 75 mm Pak 40 anti-tank gun. The silhouette was lowered by about 40 cm to 2.20 m, but the armor was thin and the compartment was open to the top and rear, as in Sd. Kfz. 132.

The Marder II carried a crew of three, commander, driver and loader. The commander had to grasp the situation in battle and also fire the gun. The driver had to serve also as radio/signal man. The loader was also kept busy during fighting. He had to bring and load, all by himself, firstly – 7 shells, kept on the back over the engine cover, secondly – 24 shells on the left-hand rack and thirdly – 6 shells on the right-hand rack.

The production of the Marder II self-propelled anti-tank gun was started in 1942, but stopped in February 1943 by order of Adolf Hitler, who intended to concentrate efforts on the manufacture of the “Wespe” self-propelled howitzer. In those months, 531 were manufactured. A further 75 were converted later on from the last of the Panzer II's after they were taken out of service.

The Marder II was one of the valuable vehicles that served as makeshifts for about 2 years, from the beginning of the German – Soviet war to the appearance of typical tank-destroyers on the eastern front. The Marder II self-propelled anti-tank gun delivered to poorly equipped anti-tank gun companies in infantry divisions rendered distinguished service as an important weapon to protect infantrymen from Russian heavy tanks.

Airfix Bofors Gun & Morris Tractor 5

Finished work on the Bofors this morning as the sun was out and I deemed it warm enough to paint.
Once painted they look a little more dangerous, AP shot was amongst the ammo types available to the BEF in 1940.

I suppose I had better get on to the trucks now.

Tamiya Panzerkampfwagen II

More from Dave's collection, this time Panzer II's from Tamiya.
From the looks of them a 1939 Poland invasion scheme and a DAK version.

Dave has used a great weathering technique here.

I still think that these were the most sporty looking panzer's produced.

Cheers Dave.

25mm Hotchkiss Mk 1

I have been working on a 25mm AT Gun for my BEF Troops, apparently these were quite effective in 1940.During the battle for France they were used by the French to good effect against the Panzers. The flash hiders made them hard to spot in concealment. One account says a hidden gun killed 7 panzers (3 Pz II and 4 Pz III) before running out of ammo and being discovered!

When it landed in France in 1939 the British Expeditionary Force had insufficient numbers of anti-tank weapons such as the Ordnance QF 2 pounder. They were issued canons de 25 which became known as Anti-Tank Gun, 25 mm. Hotchkiss, Mark I on 25 mm. Carriage, Mark I in British service.

Hopefully this will see good service against the Jerries.

Airfix Bofors Gun & Morris Tractor 4

Onto the 40mm L60 Bofors. I am building two guns at once because about six years ago I constructed one and found it quite a chore, so I intend to get this over with quickly. Start off with the mount legs or struts. Simple and hassle free.
Actual gun construction, lots of small parts for the carpet monster to hide. Read the instructions carefully at this point. I rushed ahead and had to tear it apart while the glue was still drying once I discovered I had cemented the recoil tubes incorrectly.

The gun 3/4 finished. Flash free I might add. Still more fiddly parts to go.

Crew, seating and crank handles. Place the figures in first prior to the handles for a easier assembly.

After a quick cuppa back to the build, the chassis and mount, again care must be observed with the instructions. I like the wheel hubs which have a nice 30's and 40's feel about them. I decided to construct it with the wheels up and the base down in the firing position. You have three options at this stage.

Both kits finished. I left off the gun shields as most views I have seen they have been removed for ease of visibility. These go into the paint pile, waiting for warmer weather.

Wednesday's Website

Today's site of interest is something I stumbled across in the weekend while looking for information on the BEF in 1940, then my Aussie friend Eastern Funker over at http://easternfunker.wordpress.com/ mentioned it on his blog on Sunday.

http://www.britishpathe.com/ contains archive footage shot from 1896-1976. It has a simple search engine and you can get some quite good clips. Of course it has a very stiff upper lip British approach, but this site has helped me quite a bit on the research side of things lately. Well worth a crack.

Airfix Bofors Gun & Morris Tractor 3

I decided to mate the rear of the crew cab to the back of the cabin wall, just to add some detail. As this will be a simple light truck the crew cab is not needed.
Rear deck added along with the side panels. The kit comes with masses of 40mm ammunition lockers for the top of the rear deck, again these will not be needed as I plan to fill the gaps and leave just a basic seating deck.

Wheels added, these are a wee bit tricky to fix at a true angle, and care must be taken not to destroy the fragile chassis mounting.

The truck mostly complete. Number plate mount missing, but I can add a piece of card or plastic as a replacement. I have another one of these to build, so will wait until that is at the same stage so I can finish the deck details together. Not the most easy of Airfix kits to build in my mind, perhaps the most complicated truck until the Heller/Airfix GMC came along, but still a worthwhile construction. Next the 40mm Bofors.

Airfix Bofors Gun & Morris Tractor 2

Next up the Morris cab, one of the nice items included in this kit is a driver, so first dry fit the steering wheel, seat and driver to ensure a good fit.
Following on the cab, the roof is attached, along with the engine hood and grill. A little work is needed here to mate the engine hood correctly onto the chassis, but the roof is a nice easy fit.

The start of the rear deck. I have chosen just to construct this truck as a light vehicle, in doing so I will forgo the ammo tins and crew-cab directly behind the drivers seat.

Airfix Bofors Gun & Morris Tractor

With a quite rare free weekend ahead, I am looking forward to a bit of modeling release. To equip my 1940 BEF army I need to supply some anti aircraft guns and some light transport, what better way than to kill two birds with one stone and than to drag something out from the hoard. One of Airfixs rare early war releases suits the bill quite nicely, of course we are talking about the Bofors Gun and Tractor set. Released in 1977 it was one of Airfix's finest construction kits. Unlike some early and indeed some later kits this one is a little complicated (which isn't a bad thing once an a while).

In my mind this kit has quite a few things going for it...

• Well moulded parts and I have yet to find any flash worth talking about in three decades worth of releases. Sink marks are few and they are not visible, especially on my pet hate area, the wheels!
• The Bofors and Truck both have crew! One of my other pet hates is manufacturers providing kits without crew or drivers. How hard is really to do this...

• The period and subject. Early war has never really been a big seller and Anti Aircraft weapons cannot be the most popular of subjects unless you count the German 88. The 40mm Bofors was everywhere and used by practically everybody on all sides during the war.

So on with the build!

Step one: Axles and chassis, pretty detailed and fiddly little items, cut carefully.

Step two: Chassis and bottom deck mating, Exhaust added, it was at this point I noticed one of the underneath storage lockers missing. This was a second hand buy so it happens. Already the detail of the kit is starting to become apparent.