Cold War Revell Challenger 1 Pt2

With the probomatic downloading times continuing for at least one more day I managed to squeak in some pics from my PC at work. Excuse the angle of the shots in a bit of a rush.
Shows construction stages up to part 8. Lovely detail on the wheels.

First part of the hull construction

Next up the dreaded track links, I feel a headache comming on...

Cold War Revell Challenger 1

With the weather here constantly less than rosy at the moment, it seems to be affecting my progress over the last week. In order to get my mojo back I have started on a tank kit as being a tread head, tanks always make me happy!

As Al gets stuck into his British Cold War under strength Company of Chieftain MBT’s I am attempting to add a Challenger I to my two die cast versions to form a full strength Unit.

The Revell kit is well thought of and my initial findings correspond with the good reviews it gets, so that’s bound to speed up the build anyway.

The lack of pics is due to the fact that my boy decided to use all my Internet allocation for the month while I was in Burnham the over week, leaving me with very, very slow connection speeds at the moment, and major problems uploading onto blogger due to time outs. Freakin’kids!

1980's Brit TA Conversions

Of course simple conversions to the Matchbox NATO Paratroops can result in 1970's or early to mid 80's British Army troops. I have decided to create a Territorial Army Rifle Battalion of that period. Once the figures are all decided I can begin painting. The first Company looks like this so far.

All berets are swapped with Revell late war helmets as they look like the Mk IV.

I will use the Sterling figure for the Command stand.

Lovely L4 Bren gunner pose.

As the Brit and NZ Cam was the same during this period I will paint them all up at the same time.

1980's Kiwi Conversions

Pretty lackluster at the moment, but I did spend some time tonight carrying out some conversions for a mid 1980's New Zealand Battalion, based on Matchbox's NATO Paratroops.

Patrol figure with M1 Helmet, nice and simple with no drama's, just how I like it.

Sterling armed figure. Head swap and I removed the arm and replaced it with a arm carrying a ammo container. I think this will look good with a ESCI Brit GPMG gunner from the NATO set.

Another Sterling SMG figure with the weapon replaced with a M16A1, and a normal M1 helmet swap.

Mortar figure, with head swap and M16A1 attached in the slung possie. Very happy with this pose. Mortar crews are the bane of my life.

Kneeling prone with US WW2 Matchbox head swap. More or less a Company of conversions for a few hours in good progress for me. Model on!

Airfix QA Scorpion update

I finished the red desert MERDC last night and added a wash to the final Scorpion from my CD3 NZ Recon Troop. With the sun actually out today I managed to take a few snaps in natural light, hence the particularly image heavy post today.

The brightness is long gone now which is bit of a relief.

The cam is as close as I was going to get at this scale and with my eyes, and I am quite happy with it.

Nice black wash to bring out the details does wonders.

Opps, that road wheel does not look too aligned.

The trio of Queen Alexandra's Scorpions. I am unsure which vehicle to make the Command Stand. To represent this vehicle I will add a few Ariel's.

And I must add some numbering as well and maybe another kiwi.

And at the rear I will add some unit serials '64' being the number. Model on!

Tamiya SdKfz 251/10 Conversion Duce

Some more progress from Dave in his 1/35 scale 251/10, in tonight's post.

It was good to up with Dave at Burnham in the weekend, and we talked man talk in the bar. The only thing that was missing was his spares box, which would have been nice to raid.

Nice muddy look in here.

Cheers Dave, and good luck with your operation this week mate.

Plastics Glue: It Exists!

I finally found some proper plastics glue last week, a little pricey but magic to work with. Sterling SMG swapped with a M16A1 for my Kiwi's.

Right I am now off over to Burnham to do my bit in keeping NZ free from the red's, so no posts for the weekend. Model on!

QA Troop Progress

To go with my 1 (NZ) Scots Troop I have been building up a Troop of Queen Alexandra's (QA) Squadron. So like Al, both of us have been mucking around with Airfix Scorpions.

I completed two a month or so ago...perhaps longer and after work on Monday I started on a third.

As usual I have been bulking it up with all the spares I can find. And last night I started the Red Desert MERDC.

Spare tracks from a ESCI/Italeri M113, Telephone cable line from a Airfix Centurion, and a box from a old Bandai kit. Gauze bandage painted as a cam net.

I also added a box and set of tools to the front and spare road wheel and ammo box to the side of the turret. Shockingly bright colour.

Tamiya SdKfz 251/10 Conversion

An oldie but a goodie, this kit started turning up in the shops in the 1970's.

Still suffering natural disasters, but bearing it my good mate Dave has been working on an old Tamiya 251 Halftrack with a Dragon 37mm Gun conversion.

He has added some detail to the interior with the Dragon brass photo etch. Nice springs behind the seat.

Lovely and grey.

Nice to see some sunlight coming out of Christchurch. Cheers Dave, more to come.

1 NZ Scots In Progress

I have been working on New Zealands contribution to the 1985 Korean Conflict tonight, and production has been focused on a troop from 1 NZ Scots around that period. Excuse the shots, my batteries are recharging.

Airfix/JB Models M113 FSV, converted to a T50 turreted M113A1. A bit of a hash, but its what I had to work with. I placed the swimming vane trim down and stacked with sandbags for RPG protection. Not really a T50 turret, but a spare commanders turret off a M60A1 MBT, close enough.

The Airfix/JB models M113 ACAV I worked on in the weekend. ACAV kits were and are add on's. Unsure how many kits NZ purchased, but I saw some on some NZ M113's in East Timor in the early 2000's.

Another converted JB FSV M113. I cut the turret mount out and replaced the rear with cardboard and a round hatch. Finished photo's will show this. After Aussie replaced their FSV with Scorpion turreted MRV, NZ brought the hulks and rebuilt them as above for use as APC's or ambulances. The foliage on the sides of the hulls reflect Kiwi's habit of covering everything with hessian sacking and stuffing with tussock grass to camouflage.Better photo's to come after I finish off a few more details.

Big thanks to Capt Dave Leonard, cheers mate, and Lt Col Mike Duncan, thanks Sir for some details on the history of NZ Armoured Units and the templates for the disruptive schemes. It was too late for an exact match, but it's close enough for the table.

Dave has made me promise to put the Command Stand in Kilts...I will have to see how that goes.

Airfix M113 ACAV

Okay how many M113's does a bloke need, the answer to that of course is all of them. You may think you have enough, but since they built so many of the buggers you will not. I need a couple for a project for the Korea 1985 game and I have had to grab one out of the hoard. Lucky for me it is the JB/Airfix ACAV version. Lucky meaning it is a nice quick build and is generally hassle free.

Step one, lower hull and running gear, three parts...Simple.

Step two Commanders hatch, five parts...Nice one.

Step three upper hull and rear, three parts...Awesome.

Step four, turret shield, again three parts...Magic.

Step five, ramp door, swimming vane, top hatch and jerricans. The rear top hatch M60's and gunshields are crap, leave them out. I added some extra kit to this one such as the telephone reel at the rear, ESCI/Italeri ACAV gun and shield, couple of packs and some ariels.

At the front, old ESCI/Italeri tracklink and Airfix Scorpion wheel. Total time including drying was thirty minutes. This is so much better than the ESCI/Italeri kit for wargaming.