71

July / August 2013

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THE VERY BEST IN SCALE ARMOUR MODELLING
ROUTE MARCH
STUNNING GROUP BUILT DIORAMA
BLITZKRIEG
2 Blitzkrieg Route March
Roberto Aguilera directs a team of leading modellers in this
fall of France diorama project.
12 T-62 Mineroller
Andy Gulden teams up a Mig Productions mine roller with the Trumpeter T-62.
20 Singapore Armed Forces Leopard 2A4SG
Chris Meddings tackles an ambitious project to build a Singaporean Leopard
based loosely on a Hobbyboss kit.
32 Drilling SdKfz 251/21 The Last Snows of Winter - Hungary 1945
A superb winter weathered halftrack by Lester Plaskit.
44 Keeping Track
More new releases
56 Stalinets ChTZ-65 Heavy Russian Tractor
Rick Lawler add his own touches to Trumpeters tractor.
CONTENTS
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Editor and Designer: David Parker
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ISSN 1747-4183
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4TH PANZER DIVISION FRANCE 1940
BLITZKRIEG
Roberto Aguilera brings together the
combined talents of Sang Eon Lee,
Michael Rinaldi, Daryl Dancik and
himself to portray this stunning 1:35th
scale scene of the 4th Panzer divisions
rapid advance into France in 1940.
ROUTE MARCH
4
Perhaps everything began with a scene in
my head, a classic scene. After returning
from my first visit to Euromilitaire, I was so
inspired by all that I had seen, that I wanted
to build a landscape somewhere. I had
acquired a beautiful Dragon Panzer I Bison
from my friend Michael Rinaldi, plus another
good friend and great builder, Daryl Dancik
who was finishing a Panzer IB that Michael
would paint for me. These early war tanks
may not be very fashionable right now with
the trends to the paper panzers and late
war kits. I wanted a dirt road to match the
Bisons finish as Michael had painted the
Bison with a dusty and dirty look, so I could
see it in a column of tanks on a road, now I
needed the troops.
I found great range of German infantrymen,
early war period, from the outstanding
Russian figure maker TANK MODEL. Five
sets T-35075 - T -35080, perfect for that I
had in mind, so the shipment went all the
way to Korea for Sang Eon to bring them to
life. He is a fantastic painter, no doubt
among the best in the world, so the rest of
the project had to be top quality. I needed
something in the diorama that would focus
attention besides dust and grass, and I was
looking for a bridge or a building. I had also
acquired a wide selection of grass tufts,
flowers, and summer bushes from
MININATUR from Germany, I wanted
contrast between the military colours and a
beautiful coloured environment surrounded
by flowers. And then I found the piece I was
looking for, a European windmill MDP043
from MONROE PERDU, in my opinion one of
the best if not the best scenic model
manufacturers.
So the scene was set, France 1940, 4th
Panzer Division. I started sketching layout
drawings that I sent to my buddy Torlap
Intarangason in Malaysia, to get some help
with the basic layout in Styrofoam, while I
was finishing another project and started
the windmill construction and painting.
The base was cut into shape from
Styrofoam, although the road was corrected
twice to fit the infantry, the bridge was made
out of balsa wood. The stream was made
mixing Vallejo still water 26230 and Vallejo
acrylic colours interior green and sand
yellow. Pouring several layers, making sure
every layer was fully cured before adding
the next. Torlap did a Great Job on the initial
grass layer, using a Noch Grass-master
60131 and Noch static grass. I got the base
and started by adding depth to the summer
foliage of France, 15 different sets of
Mininatur, summer bushes, turf, turf with
leaves, late summer turf, and yellow and
purple flowers, all scattered on bits and
pieces carefully glued one by one, it took
about 5 weeks, 4 hours a day to do the job,
then hundreds of leaves and branches
where glued on. WOODLAND SCENICS
rock debris, Talus rock debris where added
to the road, all of which was airbrushed with
Tamiya Buff, and the base was heavily
covered with MIG pigments.
SETTING THE SCENE
5
What a beautiful piece this is, cast in fine light grey resin, it
comes with a sheet of laser-cut high impact cardboard, coloured
in wood brown. I started with the top section and the tiles, After
the initial coat of Tamiya primer, a coat of Tamiya flat black was
airbrushed, each tile was painted in a different colour using a
wide range of Polly S acrylics that I had in a drawer for a long
time so I decided to use them, I was very happy with the results
of my old paints, smooth, great colours and nice finish. Then
layers of MIG pigments where applied very subtly on top of each
tile. A thin coat of Humbrol satin varnish was airbrushed to obtain
some fresh mud look. A second round of pigments was applied.
The wheel, blades and wood rail where painted with different
shades of brown using Polly S acrylics, the effect is great on this
amazing cardboard, and the result is a very realistic. MIG
pigments again, on top the acrylic paints, using earth tones,
after a couple of days, Winsor & Newton oils Raw Umber thinned
with Humbrol thinners where applied using a fine brush on the
panel lines, scratches and wood grain.
THE WINDMILL
The base of the windmill was primed using
Tamiya grey primer, then a mix of Tamiya
Buff acrylics and desert yellow was
airbrushed recreating stucco finish. Moisture
spots were heavily accentuated around the
base, then three different hair spray coats
each one airbrushing the Tamiya mix over
again. Chipping on this was different than
tanks, these are damp spots in old paint
over the stucco, using the references that I
had, I tried to match the peeling paint by
rubbing the paint in a very subtle way,
shaping the stains and peeled paint.
The painted advertising graphic on the back
is a huge decal provide in the kit, and
several coats of Solvaset where applied, to
achieve the hand painted look. After the
decal was set, two coats of satin varnish
where airbrushed over it. The door was
painted light wood colour using Vallejo
acrylics, then a coat of hair spray and Vallejo
Park Green, chipped off and then finely
accentuated using Winsor & Newton oils.
The base was finished by adding several
coats of MIG pigments on earth tones and
stains and rain streaks with oils. Overall this
windmill was a very nice piece that I really
enjoyed modelling.
Award winner and Master Painter Sang Eon Lee From Korea did the job, the
figures where primed and the airbrushed flat black. The details are beautifully
painted using Sonjas acrylics. This is one of the finest paint jobs I have ever seen.
THE FIGURES
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7
Michael Rinaldi built the Bison, from the Dragon
kit. He added some PE and Fruil tracks, I
always speak highly of my collaborators but
Mike deserves a special respect and
admiration when appreciating his art, without
doubt Mike did a great job with this one as
usual. After a coat of primer the model was
base coated with a mix of Medium Blue XF 18,
Nato Black XF 69, German grey XF 63, to
create the panzer grey, extensive washes and
pigments were added. The Pz I was delivered
to me half finished, as Mike could not finish it,
so I had to copy his style and add final touches
to this one. Not an easy task when you have to
match Mikes style! The only basic difference
was that the Pz 1 had a red primer base coat
and I leave it to you to judge my success!
PZI AND BISON
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The different components were now all complete and could be brought
together on the base and final adjustments made to the composition. The
Alpine motorcyclist was added to the scene as part of the traffic jam and he
contrasts nicely with the marching infantry.
CONSOLIDATION
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12
Modern Russian vehicles have always been a subject that I have
found very captivating. I always pick up the newest kits and the
new photo-etch and resin conversions find a way into my work
shop. Since painting and weathering a vehicle in combat
conditions is my favorite part of modelling, most modern Russian
subjects get pushed to the back of the work bench as I build and
paint the newest WW II project. A shinny T-72 on parade in
Moscow just wont do it for me.
As I was researching current Russian uniforms for some figures I
was painting, images of the Russian Army in Chechnya keep
showing up. A particular picture of a combat weary T-62 with a
KMT-7 mine roller peaked my interest. After quick check of my
stash, I was confident I had all the necessary parts to re-create
the T-62.
T-62
Modelled by Andy Gulden
mineroller
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Construction
The base for this project is the Trumpeter T-62,
model 1972. I planned on using the many
aftermarket sets I had collected over the last few
years. The following sets where used on this model:
MIG Productions KMT-7 Mine Roller
MIG Productions T-55, T-62 Fuel Tank Fittings
SP Designs Corrected Turret and Fuel Tanks
RB Productions Gun Barrel
Voyager Model Fenders, Photo-Etch Detail and Slat
Armor sets
Miniarm Resin Wheels
Furil Track
The issues with the Trumpeter kit have been
hashed out on the internet and in magazines so I
will not go into them here. I intended to spend my
time enhancing the details instead of correcting
these problems.
Hull and Fenders
I started construction with the lower hull as usual. I
really did not follow the kit directions much; I used
them just as a reference as I went along. I set out
assembling the major hull components first. After
gluing the hull top and bottom together I
progressed to the rear deck and completed the
major parts of the hull construction. Once dry, I
filled all the locating holes I would not need with
plastic stock and super glue. A swipe of Mr
Surfacer 500 and a little sanding finished up the
hull box. Thankfully the fenders are separate parts
so no cutting was necessary. I moved on to the
suspension and built that per the directions. While
the suspension was drying, I concentrated my
attention on the fenders. The Voyager set is very
well detailed and assemble just like the real thing. I
soldered the first and last vertical support to add
some strength once they are placed on the hull.
The strengthening spars on the underside of the
fender were secured with thin super glue applied
with a disposable brush. The Voyager fenders lined
up perfectly with the locating slots on the hull and
where then secured with thin cyano glue. It was
time for some detailing.
Both fenders received there remaining support
braces and various other photoetched parts that
replaced the plastic bits. A rather detailed look at
some references set me on the correct path of
adding all the weld beads to the hull and fender
assembly. Most of them where created using thinly
rolled out Green Stuff and a wet cocktail stick
was used to add the texture. I replaced the kit fuel
tanks with ones from SP Design and detailed them
using various Voyager parts. The MIG Productions
fuel line set supplied the proper plumbing for the
tanks. They were finished off with some plastic rod
and lead wire for the lifting handles. The kit storage
boxes were brought up to standard using details
from Voyager and the ten or so mounting
assemblies were fabricated from plastic rod and
brass bits to finish them off. The rear mud flaps
have been fabricated from lead foil and bent into
shape using the kit parts as a template. My
reference vehicle was missing the front fenders so
only the remaining hinge sections were built.
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15
Rear Deck
The rear deck of the Trumpeter kit is full of
inaccuracies and soft details. I decided to
shave off the small intake screen on the
left side and recreate using plastic strip
and brass rod. A section of Voyager mesh
finished off the rebuild. Reference pictures
show a very complex system of hinges and
locking mechanisms for the large intake
covers. I recreated them using brass rod,
plastic stock and a few etch parts from the
scrap box. Various missing details were
added to the back wall such as bolts,
conduit and wire to the lights finished up
the rear end. The fuel drum mounting arms
were modified so one could remain empty.
Another check of my references led to an
additional round of weld beads.
Front Glacis Plate Mine
Roller
The Glacis plate needed no modifications
but various parts from the Voyager set
helped to add some fine detail. All of the
moulded on conduit and wiring was
removed and replaced with brass rod and
copper wire. Special attention was paid to
adding the missing details around the
drivers hatch.
Before finishing up the front, I assembled
the MIG mine roller. It went together pretty
well but the instructions left a little to be
desired. A good set of reference pictures
will be needed here. Once completed, the
mine roller and hull where secured to a
piece of thick cardboard with Blue Tack to
help line everything up before gluing the
retaining bolts to the top and bottom of the
glacis. A bit of patience is required at this
step but once completed I had quite an
impressive mass of plastic, brass and
resin!
Turret
I decide to use the SP Design turret as it
already had the canvas tarp molded on
around the gun mantlet. Most of the kit
parts were used on the turret and
additional details from the Voyager set
finished things up. The RB Productions
barrel mated up perfectly with the turret
opening. It was now on to the slat armour.
The Voyager Slat armour set provides
turret and hull sections, thankfully my
reference vehicle only sports the turret
sections. Constructing the slat armour
sections proved to be fairly straight
forward. I soldered the outermost vertical
and horizontal rails to create a strong
frame and filled in the rest, securing with
thin cyano glue. Mounting the panels to
the turret was another story. To keep
everything straight and plum, I mounted
the turret to a thin piece of wood with blue
tack and scribed a reference line for the
top mounting points with a drafting
compass. This allowed me to secure the
top arms level and could now install the
slat panels being careful to allow them to
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rotate on the hinge point. I could then set
the panels perpendicular to the wooden
base and glue the bottom arm. More weld
beads were applied around the mounting
points.
Miscellaneous
I finished the assembly by installing the
road wheels from Miniarm, track from Furil
and replacing the kit DSK-M with one from
the Tamiya T-55. One of the kit fuel drums
was built and secured using one strap from
Voyager and replaced the other with a
heavy chain from AK Interactive.
Painting
Painting started with a good coat of primer
from Vallejo. The base coat started with a
deep pre-shading of Tamiya Nato Black in
all the corners and recesses. My green was
made from a mixture of Tamiya Nato
Green, Sky Green and white. I applied a
few thin coats to let the pre-shading show
through. A few drops of white were
progressively added to the base colour and
applied to the center of large areas as a
type of modulation. A splash of Tamiya
Dark Earth was sprayed along the running
gear to begin the weathering process. A
good coat of Tamiya clear sealed the paint
job for decals and weathering. A MIG
Productions set of dry transfers for
Chechnya was used to add unit numbers
and symbols.
17
T-62
Weathering
I started the weathering at the mine roller and worked my way around the whole
tank by adding chips and scratches using Vallejo SS Camo Black Brown. I applied
them randomly with a sponge on all the exposed edges and areas of high crew
traffic. Although this achieves good results I always go over the areas with a 000
brush and add some refinements. I purposely went heavy on the rollers themselves
to create a good base for the metallic effects to come. With that step complete I
applied a few green and brown filters from MIG Productions with a wide flat brush
making sure they dried completely between coats. To create some depth on a
boring green base I added many little dabs of blue, green and yellow oil paint and
blended them in using a wide brush dampened with mineral spirits. Once
everything was dry a round of pin washes was applied using MIG Productions Dark
wash. I used it right out of the bottle for the running gear the lower part of the hull
but thinned it quite a bit for the top surfaces. Some random rust washes on the bar
armour finished up process. With my air bush filled with heavily thinned Tamiya
Buff, I began adding dusty areas and rain streaks around the entire tank, especially
the running gear and lower hull. Before moving to mud splatter and general
dirtiness, I covered the face of the mine rollers with Humbrol Metal Cote and
polished it to a nice shine.
Mud and more mud I had a pretty good looking model at this
point and I could have easily assembled all the components
and called this one finished but not yet. I had recently
purchased the AK Interactive Heavy Mud set and was eager
to use it. Combining the ingredients with water and adding
some gloss from the Vallejo range, I mixed up a thick mud
paste. I laid down a think foundation of wet mud by splattering
the mix from the tip of an old brush with blasts of air from my
airbrush. Two or three more applications of mud were applied
but adding some lighter colors to the mix to get a good
contrast between wet and dried material. The mixture was
scrubbed from areas of ware such as the face of the rollers and
road wheels with a short stiff brush.
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Final weathering was completed with a few
applications of Streaking Grime and
Light Rust from AK. A quick pass of
graphite power applied with a cotton bud
added some metallic sheen. The track got
the same mud treatment as the tank after
a quick dip in Blacken it and the contact
points were scrubbed off with 800 grit sand
paper.
Once everything dried up, the road wheels,
tracks, spare fuel drum, MV lenses and
machine gun was mounted to the hull. One
final application of scratches was applied
using a light green colour to create some
depth. The ever-present skull on the DSK-
M was added as the finishing touch to the
project.
Conclusion
This was a very enjoyable project that
allowed me to try some new techniques
and became a good platform for the many
aftermarket bits I had collected. I think a
war wary veteran T-72 may be in the frame
soon!
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20
The Leopard 2 MBT, in its various
forms, is one of the most widely
sold and successful modern MBT
series currently in service around
the world. It is in service with a
large number of countries in the
world including; Greece, Spain,
Canada, the Netherlands and
Singapore and of course;
Germany, and if reports are correct
then soon apparently; Indonesia.
In many cases these tanks have been upgraded and
changed with local systems and additions, usually in
co-operation between the German manufacturers
Kraus Maffei and local defence engineering companies.
The Leopard 2A4SG is no different. At heart it is an
upgraded and standardised 2A4, much like the original
2A4s bought be Singapore a few years ago.
H O B B Y B O S S
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REFERENCE
As far as I am aware, the latest incarnation
of the 2A4SG is so new it does not feature
in any publications. Information on it is very
limited from other sources such as the
internet and if I hadnt been lucky enough
to see one it is doubtful I could have got
enough photos to complete this project.
Luck was on my side though as I was in
Singapore in May 2012 when the Singapore
Armed Forces held their biennial Army
Open House in the City event where they
take over the Formula 1 site in the heart of
the city and bring out their equipment for
the public to see with various
demonstrations on attractions for families.
At this years show they had two 2A4SGs
on display, one on its own and one which
they had brought steps up to, allowing the
public to get on top to take a look.
Needless to say my camera and I made full
use of the opportunity.
KITS AND ACCESSORIES USED:
In preparing for the build, I got what I could already
made from kits and aftermarket. These were:
1. The Hobbyboss Leopard 2A4SG. This is a very
cheap kit when I bought it in Singapore and
given the amount of it that would not end up on
the finished model, its basic soundness for the
price was the best choice.
2. Leopard 2 tracks by Armour Track Models. I
wanted the Bronco track but they were not
available at the time.
3. RB Models Barrel. I got this direct from RB
Models. Its a beautiful item, service was
excellent, but it did need a little bit of correction
as we will see later.
4. Karaya tow cable
5. Legends IDF Machine gun set for the MAG MG
and parts of the pintle mount.
6. Various resin nuts from Miniarm. I would also
need an awful lot of white styrene, brass rod,
fillers of various types, metal sheets and foil and
to design a large fret of photoetch.
CHRIS MEDDINGS TACKLES AN AMBITIOUS
PROJECT TO CREATE THE LATEST LEOPARD
USED BY THE SINGAPORE ARMED FORCES. 1:35
SCALE
The latest upgraded version has a number
of key differences that make it unique
among 2A4s in service around the world.
The differences are partly German
designed, and partly Singaporean in origin
and the work of ST Kinetics, the indigenous
defence engineering firm and designers of
the Bionix IFV and Terrex LAVs. Changes to
the 2A4 to make the latest 2A4SG include
an auxiliary power unit, comprehensive
AMAP armour block upgrades to the hull
and turret front and sides and the addition
of slat armour to the rear sides and rear
itself.
It also has the new integrated Battlefield
Management System in use on all
Singaporean armoured vehicles and I
believe integrated to all air and other land
units to allow complete tactical information
sharing in real time across all units, and a
number of other more prosaic additions in
terms of preferred machine guns (the
GPMG/ L2A1/MAG), unique light clusters
etc.
Due to the sheer number of changes to the
tank from a standard Leopard 2A4, the
number of unique features it possesses,
and the number of corrections to kit parts
required; an out of the box build, or even a
kit-bash, was always going to be out of the
question. The only thing for it would be a
significant scratch-build.
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THE HULL
I started with preparing the upper hull for
the conversions. This meant measuring
out the APU and cutting a section from
the right rear and scoring new panel
lines around it where access panels had
change. As I would be putting so much
new anti-slip on the model I removed the
anti-slip also to avoid issues with
matching mine with the moulded version
on the kit. on the kit.
I started work on the front upper armour,
working from my reference the armour is
made from 1mm styrene sheet and
0.5mm styrene sheet. The armour
panels have a number of circular locking
nuts in them. To duplicate these I used a
hole punch and punched out 4mm
diameter discs and some more 3.5mm
discs. In these I drilled a 0.3mm central
hole and added two more holes either
side of the centre with a pin. Next I
added the top sheets to the base layer
1mm sheet creating an overhang on the
areas where the thicker sheet was short
to duplicate the overhang seen on the
real thing. Lastly I added the 3.5mm
discs in the 4mm holes for the locking
nuts.
This armour then had to be further
detailed with anti-slip and small nuts that
stand proud of the armour. I used the
punch again to punch out 2.5mm discs
of masking tape to protect the detail and
I cut thin strips of Tamiya masking tape
and laid these along the edges of the
panels and masked any other areas that
would not require anti-slip. Working one
panel at a time I added a thin coat of Mr
Surfacer 1000 and left it a couple of
minutes to start to set. Then when it was
still tacky I rolled a cotton bud over it to
get it to pull up in the desired fashion.
One application was not fully effective, so
I sanded it back a little with a fine
sanding stick and applied a second coat
over the first. When that was set I
sanded it minimally to take off any
remaining high spots.
THE TURRET
All this while I was also working on the
turret. The turret on the 2A4SG is
significantly different in detail to the
standard 2A4 with upgraded additional
armour to the front and forward sides of
the turret, and slat armour for the rear
sides and back. There is a new
ammunition locker on the rear left and
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an air conditioning unit on the rear right
side plus stowage boxes attached to the
outside of each of these. The smoke
dischargers are also different to the
German 2A4 and in fact are laid out more
like the Austrian 2A6 with 6 dischargers
above and 2 below rather than two rows of
4. Externally the sights appear to be the
same as the original 2A4 but a forward
facing camera has been added between
the two turret hatches.
The flag holder bracket on the right side of
the turret by the commanders cupola was
relocated to the right edge of the turret to
allow the AMAP armour to be fitted. The
lifting eye on the mantlet was poorly
moulded so I replaced it with 1mm brass
wire. The wet weather mantlet flap was
also replaced with textured foil from a
coffee tin.
The kit turret is missing many welds. I
replaced them, and added the missing
welds, with stretched sprue that was
softened with cement and shaped into a
bead with wax sculpting tools. I next
tackled the gunners sight by adding the
missing plates and bolts on the shelf in
front of the sight. I then scratchbuilt some
basic optics for the sights and armoured
doors. The Rheinmetall/Zeiss PERI-R 17 A2
panoramic commanders sight supplied in
the kit is poorly detailed and with a terrible
joint to try to rectify so it was easier just to
make my own.
The kit cupolas are not great. The
commanders cupola has poorly detailed
supports on the ring and the ring itself is a
bit thick. I decided to design a set of PE to
correct these, and other issues so I took
some time out at this point to work on the
PE drawings. I continued the turret by
scratching the AMAP Armour packs for the
front and sides. These were constructed as
boxes, each part of the armour pack being
individual as they are on the real thing.
The actual AMAP packs do not look
completely solid. The top seems to have an
undercut on the inside face and this
needed to be duplicated so I drilled some
suitable holes to a shallow depth and then
used the tip of a new scalpel blade to carve
out the recesses for the attaching bolts. I
then masked off the anti-slip panels on the
tops, including masking the areas for the
bolts and other uncoated details, and
added the anti-slip with Mr Surfacer as
before. The seven completed AMAP blocks
were then assembled onto the turret and I
started on the finer details such as the
hinges on the front corners and brackets on
the left side. No two blocks of the armour
feature the same shape or details, so the
pictures I managed to get at the Open
House event were essential here.
The final part of the AMAP blocks on the
turret to finish was the block that covers the
mantlet. I cant say I figured out the best
way of doing this because my way certainly
seemed to be a lot of work and not easy at
all. In my case I more or less made a box
then carved the right shape out of the block
drilling the holes for the MG, 120mm L44
etc. Needless to say a lot of sanding sweat
and filler were involved!
I started with the air conditioning box. I
began by building the basic shape, leaving
off the lid. Towards the rear of the unit on
the top there is an air intake with mesh and
internal louvres. I filled the box leaving a
void for the louvres which were added from
styrene sheet. I added the top to the box
after cutting out a section over the louvres
making the mesh and screen surrounds in
photoetch. The unit has an armoured lid,
the basic shape of which was easy, but the
hinges took a little more work. To make the
upright triangles uniform I tacked several
pieces of styrene
sheet together with CA and
cut them all in one go. Once they
were cut a gentle slice with a new blade
separated them.
The rear of the 2A4SG turret is very
different from the standard 2A4. Instead of
the tapered rear stowage it has four new
units; two large in the form of an
ammunition stowage box and an essential
air conditioning unit along with two small
stowage boxes (with attached baskets).
The boxes feature a
number of brackets and
other fittings on the outside.
Many of these are complex and
as I was making PE anyway I decided to
draw them for etching as they would be
thinner, stronger and would look a lot more
precise in brass. The exceptions to this on
the ammunition box were the locking
latches. I attached these to the turret and
scratched the mounting blocks for the
aerial mounts. I was hoping just to cut the
24
I decided to correct a couple of
the kits outer wheels and get
them cast. I started by drilling a
hole in the centre of the hub.
There should be a square hole
here, but on the Hobbyboss kit it
is represented with a raised ring!
After this the main issue is the
tire. On the real one there is a
raised rim on the inside edge.
Also there are a number of discs
on the face of the tyre which look
like the stubs of the feed rods
where the rubber was injected
into the mould. I replicated these
with Tamiya masking tape.
After dealing with the road
wheels I looked at the idlers
where the following issues had to
be corrected. Missing bolts on
the hub, incorrect shaping on the
ribs on the hub, missing holes on
the rim and incorrectly shaped
teeth.
I fixed the ribs first, this was just a
case of shaving a little material
off. After that I reshaped the
teeth with a sanding stick then
drilled the two holes; on at
0.6mm and one at 0.4mm. Finally
I used Masterclub hex bolts to
add the missing bolts. This was
pretty easy as Hobbyboss had
left the shaped spaces for them,
just somehow forgotten the bolts
themselves!
THE RUNNING GEAR
25
kit ones out of the parts for the 2A4
stowage bustle, but they were a different
shape. However, making new ones was
no real chore as they are quite simple.
The bases themselves are standard
wound spring mounts. I took a piece of
1mm styrene rod and formed a small ball
of putty around it. When this was nearly
set I wound some 0.4mm wire around it
tightly, with a little CA on each end to hold
it. Once all that was in place I could make
final measurements for the two outside
stowage boxes. These fit around the aerial
mounts and larger boxes with the outside
edges following the tapering lines of the
turret. Other than that they are pretty
straightforward and didnt take a lot of
construction. The only things that were a
little more complex were the hinges, so I
added these to my PE fret.
Once all the boxes were in place, I had a
look at the rear and sides of the boxes
themselves. The aircon box has a frame
of downward pointing louvres for
exhausting the hot gasses which was
made from strip plastic.
Like everything else on this kit, the hull rear
wall needs work! All the welds are missing
and there are quite a number of them. Next
I added the brackets to the engine
inspection ports. The biggest and
well-known issue though is the number of
slats on the air/exhaust outlet. There should
be eleven slats, but on the Hobbyboss kit
there are only 10. This is not an easy thing
to fix and although a new resin outlet is
available as part of an upgrade set by
Perfect Scale Modellbau, but I made my
own with strips of spare brass cut from
used PE frets.
The towing hooks
have a plate latch
to retain the cable and I made these from
thick foil. Once the rear hull was in place I
took off the rear light clusters and mud
flaps. The light clusters are different on the
2A4SG from the 2A4 and the mud flaps are
rather over-scale. I made new boxes for the
light clusters from copper sheet which is
more malleable and more easily cut than
brass sheet. I left the bottom slightly longer
than necessary and bent the end over to
give something to attach the mud flaps to.
The mudflaps themselves were drawn for
PE etching later. I finished the clusters by
removing the lights from the Hobbyboss
parts and putting them into their new
boxes.
Now all that had been tackled I added the
rear facing camera, built by KMW the
camera is a standard item on the 2A5 and
2A6 but has been fitted to the 2A4SG as
part of the kit used to enable the
Singaporean Battlefield Management
System. This was scratch built from plastic
working from my photos from the Army
Open House event.
THE HULL REAR
26
The first thing we notice is the air intakes
for the engine cooling fans. On the Tamiya
and Revell Leopard 2 kits these are
moulded solid with relief mesh detail.
Hobbyboss score points for supplying the
mesh separately, but unfortunately they
lose them again for the poor and incorrect
mesh pattern! Consequently I drew new
ones to have them etched later. I decided
to re-scribe the major panel lines on the
rear deck for better definition. In addition I
had three new hatches to scribe on, for the
addition of the APU, and various other
details on the APU itself. I cut a template
from brass sheet, drilling out the corners to
get the required curves then cutting the
straight lines to join them up. I then placed
the template on the model and used the
wax tools again to engrave my lines. I then
(carefully!) used a steel rule to get the other
lines need on the APU and to deepen and
sharpen the lines of the engine access
decks.
I returned then to one of the larger jobs, the
six modules of AMAP armour that make up
the two armoured skirts on the hull sides.
These are quite large and I decided to
strengthen the form with a frame which
would also give me something to attach
the other facets to. I used 3mm x 2.5mm
styrene section from Plastruct. Before
adding the outside sections I thickened
them with some extra 1.5mm styrene sheet
to make them sturdier and also to give me
something to drill through to in order to site
the large countersunk bolts visible on the
real blocks.
Once the two blocks were built I marked
out the locations for the countersunk bolts
carefully and drilled shallow holes piloted
with a fine drill then completed with a large
diameter drill and cut thin slices from 3mm
hex rod and placed them in the holes. I
then added the anti-slip and bolt details to
the tops in the same way I did on the turret
armour. I moved on then to the front two
pieces on each side. Given the angled joint
between the two parts I decided to make
them in one piece and score the joint after
the basic shape was made. There was
quite a bit of work required to work out the
optimum shapes for the slopes on the
sides, especially the way they meet at the
front end. After a little trial and error, and
far too much maths for my liking, I got one
side done then used it as a pattern for the
other side.
Next I had to add various small details to
the top. The first were to drivers side
mirrors. The mirrors themselves arent that
bad, but the rest (clips, arms, mounts) were
awful so I scratched replacements from
brass wire, styrene and foil. I decided to do
the clips that hold the two foremost units of
the side armour together in PE, as were the
lifting handles as both parts needed to be
very exact and were very small. Its much
easier to draw it accurately than make it
accurately in plastic for objects like this.
THE REAR DECK & AMAP ARMOUR
27
After scratchbuilding indicator lights I
had a look at the headlamps - one of the
many challenges that made this build
attractive in the first place was its unique
parts. I started with the plates they sit
on. These were formed from stock brass
sheet, with suitable bolt details added.
The hinges were made by folding foil
around a piece of 0.3mm styrene rod
then pressing the lines into it to
represent the flat hinge part joints. I
unsuccessfully tried to scratchbuild the
light guards from styrene, copper and
then brass sheet. So again I drew them
up for etching In the end each one had 8
parts!
The drivers hatch was next and required
conversion. Like everything on the front
half of the 2A4SG it has received an
armour upgrade. This was pretty easy to
do with a smaller blank of sheet styrene
underneath (one of 0.5mm and one of
1mm) and a thin sheet on top and
slightly larger to create a lip. To finish the
drivers hatch I added a windscreen
wiper for his periscope. I took the time
while I was there to re-work the slightly
simplified and inaccurate splash guards
around the hatch too.
Surprisingly the tool clamps have been
replaced on the 2A4SG. I say
surprisingly because surely a tool clamp
is a tool clamp? New ones were
therefore designed in etch. They are
quite a complex design so I broke each
clamp down into four parts.
I was now ready to start the slat armour when
my friend Lawrence Goh of Echelon Fine
Details sent me a picture he had taken of the
nose of the 2A4SG from a different angle and
we realised I had the nose angles wrong. I
wasnt pleased and part of me did think just
leave it and carry on. After thinking about it
briefly I knew I had to fix it properly or I would
have wasted all the other work done on the
kit. I took the drastic and most direct route of
adding a little more styrene to the front of the
nose (where it was deficient) then marking out
the correct, more aggressive angles and lines
on the work already done and attacking it with
a large razor saw and Dremel. It was messy
but a bit like ripping off a plaster; painful but
best done quickly! It was tidied up re-detailed
and I was very happy with the result, even
with the extra few hours spent correcting it.
28
THE SLAT ARMOUR
Due to the slat armours complexity I
needed to work out the measurements and
dimensions as I had done with the AMAP
packs. I created a blank template from thin
sheet styrene which was then test fitted
and adjusted multiple times until correct. I
could then use this as a template for the
precise measurements I needed to make
the slat itself. I worked out the sizes for the
supporting arms. On the turret these are
made from steel box section welded
together with simple plate mounted bolts to
take the slat panels which were easy to
make from square section Plastruct. I used
Evergreen strip, 0.4mm x 2mm to make
the frames for the slat and the slats
themselves.
I built the external frame then measured
and cut the required slats. To make sure
they were all exactly the same length I cut
them slightly longer then tacked them
stacked together with a dot of CA and
trimmed them and drilled the holes for the
vertical rods. I then marked one end of the
strips to make sure I knew which end was
which before separating them again.
All of the turret slat is placed the same
distance apart: 2.2mm, and I used Tamiya
Extra Thin cement to get a good bond
before setting that frame aside and working
on the next. I then inserted 0.3mm brass
rods for secured them with just a touch of
very thin CA. Finally I added a small section
of brass on the inside faces of the slat
panels where they are mounted to the
arms. When they were all finished I
mounted them onto the arms and added
bolt detail and short lengths of 1mm rod
were then used to attach them to the
AMAP packs.
The hulls slat panels were constructed in
the same way as the turret. They were a bit
trickier in that they have more sloping tops
and bottoms which meant a few more
measurements were required.
My photoetch was ready so I could
construct the cupolas and scratchbuild the
loaders MG mount on his cupola ring from
white styrene. This is basically the same as
the standard German fit on the locking
rotating mechanism on the ring itself, but
the mounting arm is different. Singapore
does not use the modern German MG3,
they use the FN MAG. This means a new
mount complete with ammo can holder.
After seeking advice from modellers more
used to modelling modern subjects I
ordered the Legend IDF MG set and used
the MG, and very nice PE can holder and
MG cradle from the set and scratched the
rest. Finally on the build I added Karayas
tow cable (I think about 1.5mm diameter)
tow cables filling the slots in the ends of the
cable eyes once the cable had been
secured in them.
29
Approximately five months after starting, the
build phase was now finished. But I wanted
to enter the model in the Singapore Model
Show M Con, run by Bernard Cher at M
Workshop. I was lucky to be there in 2012 as
the competition is only held once every four
years and I didnt want to miss the
opportunity to enter Singapores most
competitive and prestigious show. The race
was on to get it painted in only two weeks!
Singapores Leopards dont get out much.
Large tracts of land away from the city state
on other parts of the island are reserved for
military use, but hardly any live firing takes
place on the island itself. Instead they travel
for joint exercises in countries such as
Australia. A combination of lack of
operational use and a strict maintenance
regime to combat the effects of the humidity
and ocean air in Singapore means that the
countries big cats are very well looked after
and kept in great shape.
So chipping, streaking, dents and dings and
all the other methods of adding visual
interest are out. I would have to rely on
dynamic light effects, and drawing attention
to the many details visible on the tank to add
the interest to the finished model.
Over white primer I applied a basecoat of
Lifecolour dark green mixed with Vallejo US
Olive Drab. When this was dry I painted all
the details such as the tires (with Vallejo
Black Grey), the periscopes and so on.
The colour was very light and not quite green
enough, so I added a filter of dark green oils.
I did this by diluting some Emerald Green,
Burnt Umber and Black oil in thinners. I use
Windsor and Newton thinners for Oils as I
feel its better than turpentine. I diluted it
until it was about 1 part oil to 20 parts
thinner. When its that thin is prevents the oil
from streaking and dries very quickly, but
most importantly it builds up very slowly over
many applications allowing me to control the
level of tint perfectly.
Once I had got the colour closer to where I
wanted it I added the decals. Of course,
there is no kit and so no decal set for the
2A4SG available. Luckily though the tank
doesnt have many markings. Two license
plates (front and rear) and a bridging plate is
more or less it.
Allowing a coat of matt varnish to fully cure
then started on the modulation bit. I mixed
a little white oil straight from the tube with
some emerald green and touched it to
edges and parts I wanted to highlight.
Generally speaking this meant panel edges.
Here I added a little oil at a time with a small
brush, then took a larger soft , short-bristled,
clean and dry brush and gently swept the oil
away from the edge.
Over time I was making the oils used lighter
and lighter in tone and applying less and
applying it more selectively to build up the
tonal graduation and make it more dramatic.
I spent about one week just doing this stage.
Finally I gave it another 24 hours to dry and
then started on the pin washes.
THE PAINTING
30
I would like to thank Lawrence
Goh, Olaf Kievit, Rob Harvey
and Adam Mook Chee Leong,
and also Bernard Cher for their
help and encouragement on
this project and I very much
look forward to producing the
tank as a kit in 2013.
For pin washes I use a mix of Black and
Raw Umber oils heavily diluted again, but
not so diluted as the filters. I usually
dampen the surface first with clean thinners,
working one panel at a time, and touch the
details with a 0000 brush loaded with the
wash and allow the capilliary effect to draw
the wash along panel lines and around
raised details etc. I finally added a few small
chips on bolt edges and so on where parts
had been removed for cleaning and
maintenance prior to the Army Open House
event. I went around the model and added
a few tiny chips here and there using silver
acrylic mixed with a little black to dull it and
reduce the toy like metallic look.
With that the project, and 9 months work
and fun was done!
CONCLUSIONS AND LESSONS
Like most modellers I do my best to research fully and get things
right, but I did make a few mistakes on this model. The turret bins
underside shape is not quite correct, and this throws out the slat
armour. The nose, although now very close, is not quite right.
Since making this model I have decided to kit the subject in 1/35
and 1/72 through my company. To do this I have been drawing
scale plans. If I had this project to do over again I would have
drawn the plans before beginning as its a lot easier to change
plans until its right than it is to correct a model. I am also not
entirely happy with the colour. This was partly the result of the
time scale and an unfamiliar colour palette used for lightening
which had a dramatic effect in altering the colours, something I
will test more thoroughly next time.
31
32
LESTER PLASKITS 1:35
TH
SCALE
the second snows of winter
SdKfz 251/21
Over the last few years I have found myself more and more finding my inspiration
for modelling projects coming from photographs of wartime vehicles which have
something about them which sparks my interest, this can be a particular
camouflage pattern or something unusual about the vehicle, such was the case
when I started researching this particular model.
Having always liked the look of the 251D halftracks I had started out with the
intention of building a 251/22 pak wagon but as with all good intentions things can
easily become side tracked, this started when I was talking to Swedish modeller
Mirko Bayerl about my ideas and he sent me a picture which showed a Drilling in
Hungary 1945 with the crew warming a jerry can of water in the engine bay and a
very worn winter white wash, almost as if the crew had tried to remove as much as
the white wash as possible after the snow had thawed.. This picture fired my
imagination and I decided to build a Drilling based on this picture to try and
recreate the partially removed white wash finish.
33
There are two kits of the Drilling available
on the market today the Dragon models
offering which can be built up into an
early 1.5cm gun mount version or the AFV
club model which can be built into either
an 1.5 cm or a latter 2cm gun mount
version. Both kits are not without their
problems as have been well documented
on the internet and as I had chosen to
build the 2cm gun mount I decided to
base my model on the AFV club kit, whilst
using some better detailed parts from the
Dragon kit. The main source of reference
for this build came from the Panzer Tracts
No 15-3 publication and further armed
with the Aber 251/D etch brass detail set I
began. Much of the construction centred
around replacing moulded kit details with
etch brass replacements such as the rear
door locking mechanism, the dash board
and other various items of interior
equipment. One of the major exclusions
from the AFV kit is a number of recessed
screws missing from around the engine
bay hatches, these were subsequently
added using a beading tool and a blade
to form the screw head slots. As I was
going to show the vehicle with the engine
hatch open (so I could later add the jerry
can ) I scratchbuilt the engine bay area
and added details to the rear of the dash
area using plastic card and copper wire
to reproduce the details required, for the
engine I used the excellent Great Wall
Hobbies engine which only required a
little trimming to get a good fit.
34
More specific to the Drilling the
pedestal for the gun mount was too
high for a late pattern 2cm Drilling,
this was lowered to the correct
height by removing material from
the base of the mount using the
Panzer Tracts book as reference,
also both the etch brass and plastic
gun shields provided in the AFV
club kit are incorrect, being too
small and with the incorrect
number of holes. To solve this I
scratchbuilt a new shield from
plastic card again using the Panzer
Tracts as reference, further
additions to the gun mount came
with replacing the barrels with
metal rods and using the ammo
links from the Dragon kit as they
could be more naturally positioned
coming from the ammo cans to
gun breaches.
The forward bulk head with extra detail added from the Aber
etch brass set.
The missing screw heads added to the upper hull using a
beading tool.
The scratchbuilt additions to the engine bay. Details added to the underside of the upper hull.
35
Interior Paint
Painting any open-topped vehicle presents
a challenge as both the interior and exterior
must be painted in sympathetic tones to
one another but be weathered in different
ways with the interior showing more traces
of wear from the activities of the crew such
as paint chipping and dirt from the crews
boots. With this in mind I began the
painting process, I prefer to paint as much
of the model in sub-assemblies. In this
case the gun mount was painted as a
sub-assembly minus the gun shield and the
only items left out of the interior were the
crew seats and the spare ammo cans, the
engine had been previously assembled and
painted to be fitted once the engine bay
had been painted and weathered. I had
also decided that on this project I would try
and achieve the base colours using Vallejo
acrylic colours instead of using enamels (as
I have done previously), to give the acrylic
colours a good base coat to bond to. I
under coated the interior components with
a 50/50 mix of Humbrol 110 and 93
enamel, which also had the effect of giving
a pre-shading effect. Once this had dried
fully (24 hours) I mixed up the acrylic base
coat for the dark yellow, I always like to
keep my base colours very light as
subsequent weathering will have the effect
of toning the colours down considerably
and it is far easier to tone down a light
colour than it is to lighten a dark colour. The
colour I chose for the yellow base coat was
Vallejo air radome tan which was further
lightened with a small amount of off white,
this gave an excellent tan yellow base
colour seen on late war German vehicles,
once the mix had been applied in 3 light
airbrushed coats it was then sealed with an
airbrushed coat of Vallejo satin varnish to
protect it from the following weathering
steps.
The first stage was to add a little depth to
the colour by adding a slight yellow tone to
the paintwork. To achieve this without
losing too much of the Tan base coat I
decided to add a glaze of Tamiya X24 clear
yellow which was heavily thinned with water
and applied using a large brush over the
tan base colour taking care not to let the
clear yellow pool (any excess yellow was
carefully blended away using a damp
brush). This glaze gave the base coat a
slightly darker and more richer tone without
darkening the paintwork too much, once
dry, I added a filter of Humbrol Matt 62 and
again left to dry before a further filter of
Humbrol Matt 98. The combination of the
two enamel filters again added more tonal
depth to the dark yellow colour giving it a
better scale appearance. A more localised
Matt 98 filter was also applied to the floor
area and along the lower edge of the
interior walls to create a shadow effect to
make a colour separation between the floor
and the walls.
To define details and panel lines, controlled
pin washes of Burnt Umber and Sepia oil
paints thinned with white spirit were applied
around details with any excess paint being
blended away using a brush moistened
with white spirit. Through the process of
filters and pin washes some of the base
colour dark yellow was inevitably lost, areas
of highlights were reinstated by lining in
highlights on the top of panels and any
edges using a heavily thinned mix of Vallejo
Beige, Off White and Pale Sand making
sure any highlights are very subtle and not
too prominent.
The dark yellow base mix made up from Vallejo
Radom Tan and Off White applied via airbrush.
Tamiya clear yellow X24 is then glazed over the base
colour to add some depth of tone to the yellow.
Any highlights lost in the glazing process are now
reinstated using Vallejo paints and a fine brush.
Chips and scratches are
added to the interior using
Vallejo Burnt Umber paint
applied with a sponge
and a fine brush.
The interior
under coated
using a Humbrol
enamel mix.
36
The weathering stage begins with the
addition of various paint chips and
scratches (as stated above this weathering
will not be as harsh as would be seen on
the outside of the vehicle as any damage
would be caused by general wear and tear
from the crew members). I find using a torn
piece of dense sponge to add the bulk of
the chips/paint scuffs before further refining
with a thin paint brush the most effective
method. Vallejo Burnt Umber was used for
this technique on all of the interior fittings
including the gun mount and the spare
ammo cans being careful only to add
damage where it would be appropriate and
logical such as the wall sections behind the
seats where the actions of the crew would
wear the paint away and on the edges of
the internal stowage bins. The floor plates
received more extensive weathering as
they would be subject to more abuse and
to further enhance this I added some
Vallejo Dark Blue Grey and Hull Red to the
pallette which gave the impression of the
floor panels being worn down to the Red
primer and bare metal in the areas that
would see the most traffic. To further
enhance the floor and give the impression
of an accumulation of dirt and wet mud in
keeping with the Hungarian winter theme
areas of the floor were treated to a mix of
Vallejo satin and gloss varnish with the mud
deposits being made up from MIG
pigments mixed into the varnish. To fill the
rear stowage bins and add some colour
variation to offset the amount of yellow in
the interior I took various items from my
scrap box, painting them in green and grey
tones which were then weathered down to
match in with the rest of the model. At this
stage I felt it was time to mate the upper
and lower hulls together but then a thought
occurred to me as to the colour of the
engine bay, after checking, my modelling
friends confirmed that the bay would have
been left in its Red primer state, so out
came the airbrush and once I had masked
the hull I repainted the engine bay in Vallejo
Cavalry Brown which is a good match for
German red primer and once the bay had
been weathered accordingly the Great Wall
Hobbies engine was installed. Finally I
added a slight metallic sheen to any
exposed metal edges using a 6B pencil
which was also used to add a metallic
finish to the gun barrels and breaches on
the gun mount once they had been painted
in using various shades of blacks and
blues.
Further effects such as wet mud areas are
added to the floor plates.
The completed lower hull and engine bay
before the upper hull is added.
37
Using a reference picture the
first part of the camouflage
pattern is masked off using
White Tac putty.
Once the green has dried the model was re masked and the red
brown colour added which again was mixed from Vallejo paints.
To tone down the colours controlled washes of Humbrol 98 were
applied over 2-3 days to allow time for the enamel to completely
dry. Highlights and damaged paint are added as per the interior.
I started by masking off the engine bay hatch
opening and the vision slots on the upper deck.
Next the upper and lower deck were mated
together using super glue to attach a section at
a time to make sure no gaps occurred, this
procedure went surprisingly well with only a
slight miss match on the upper hulls rear panels
which required the addition of some plastic
card extensions to ensure a good fit. As
opposed to replacing the kits front mudguards I
decided to thin down the parts supplied in the
kit and detail them using parts from the Aber
etch brass set. Since the beginning of the
project I had wondered what the crew would do
if after removing the majority of the white wash
as the snow had thawed it then snowed again
how would they try to supplement the winter
camouflage and it was whilst reading through
the Endkampf book by Axel Urbanke I came
upon a picture of some 251/Ds in a winter
setting with what looked like white sheets tied to
the hull sides being used as improvised snow
camouflage. This I thought was the answer I
was looking for and would fit in very well with
the overall look and feel I wanted for the model,
I therefore decided to add some sheets to the
model using magic sculpt epoxy putty which
was rolled out as thin as possible then
transferred to the hull sides of the model with
final shaping of the putty being carried out with
the putty sheets on the model. Once the putty
had cured the process of masking off the
interior was completed. The putty sheets were
left on the hull and would be painted in place as
(due to thinness) trying to remove and refit them
later could cause problems.
The camouflage pattern would be a factory
applied three tone hard edge scheme which I
replicated using masks. The base coat of dark
yellow was applied as the interior using Vallejo
radome tan lightened with some white, this
again gave me a good light base colour which
would darken down as the weathering
progresses and it would match the interior
colour scheme. To add a yellow tone to this
colour it was glazed with Tamiya X24 in the
same manner as the interior and once
completely dry I could begin masking the
camouflage pattern. To achieve a very tight
factory sprayed finish I chose to use the
reusable roll out adhesive putty method of
masking and as to the light nature of the base
yellow I opted to use a white coloured putty as
the blue version can sometimes mark or stain
the underlying paint work.
The putty was applied in thin rolled sections
following the prescribed factory pattern using a
wax shaping tool to ensure the putty had good
contact with the side of the model to prevent
any paint leaking underneath. This can be a
long and frustrating operation but being
methodical will pay dividends latter on. With the
dark yellow areas masked off I started by
airbrushing on my green tone, this was kept a
deliberately light tone, using Vallejo German
Cam Green heavily lightened with basic skin
tone until a slightly minty green tone was
achieved (once weathered this would tone
down to a more realistic colour). The green had
been applied in 3-4 light airbrush coats so I
removed the putty masking to check for any
paint bleed. I re-masked the model in
preparation for the red brown phase of the
camouflage pattern. The red brown shade is a
very difficult shade to get correct at this stage
as it has to work in harmony with the other
colours on the model but not be too light or
dark as it will not tone down to the required
shade during the weathering to follow, with this
in mind I mixed the red brown from a number of
colours using a combination of Vallejo Hull Red,
Medium Brown, Flat Red and Medium Flesh
Tone. These colours were mixed by eye to a
shade I felt would look correct after they had
been weathered down and with the Red Brown
airbrushed on the mask was removed and after
the new paintwork was sealed with an
airbrushed coat of satin varnish.
Exterior Paint
At this stage the model looks very stark and toy like,
so the next step is to tone down the colours in
sympathy with each other to produce a more lifelike
and in scale appearance, to start this process each
of the camouflage colours were carefully dry
brushes with progressive lighter shades of their
base tones (done by adding small amounts of
Vallejo Flesh to their base mixes) I chose to use the
original Vallejo mixes that had been lightened for
this dry brushing as opposed to the more traditional
method of using enamel paints for dry brushing as I
could not get a good enough match with Humbrol
colours, the Vallejo acrylic paint is suitable to be dry
brush as long as you proceed in small areas and do
not let the paint dry out on the brush.
With the camouflage colours significantly toned
down the next step is to harmonise the colours
together to portray a look of aged and worn
paintwork, a filter of Humbrol matt 98 well thinned
with white spirit and applied with a flat brush in a
downward motion is a very effective method of
bringing the colours together and recreating a worn
paint effect. To start to define the detail on the
model a Burnt umber oil paint pin wash was now
added, this had the effect of further reducing the
tone of the colours and adding depth to the model
(any excess paint from the pin wash was carefully
blended away in a downward motion using a brush
moistened with white spirit which also added to
ageing process of the base colours).
38
Using the same method as was used on the interior
various chips and scratches were added to the exterior.
With this wash applied I next turned my
attention to the white sheets, to add some
depth to the sheets I had first under coated
them in Vallejo dark sea grey which I
proceeded to over paint with thin layers of
Vallejo off white which had been slightly
toned down with small amounts of dark
sea grey and Hemp, as the colour started
to build up on the sheets I gradually
reduced the grey and hemp in the mix until
finally the highlights were painted in with
pure off white which gave a nice depth and
contrast between the sheets shadows and
highlights making the sheets look as if they
had acquired layer of ground in dirt and
grime as would be the case whilst attached
to the vehicle in the winter conditions. As all
of the elements of the gun mount and the
upper hull coming together focus now
turned to the lower hull and running gear,
the rubber tyres n the road wheels were
painted in using a dark grey tone (which
looks a lot more natural than black) then
the lower hull was given a generous wash
of AK interactive Matt dark earth enamel
wash which nicely stated to darken in this
area of the vehicle without loosing a lot of
the previously painted in detail and giving a
good base tone for the following
weathering.
Once the filters and washes were fully
dry, chips and scratches were added
to the exterior paintwork using the
same method employed to the interior
but this time as well as burnt umber
Vallejo Cam black brown and Radome
Tan were also used to re-create
scratches and chips in the
camouflage colours where the base
dark yellow had began to show
through also any detail painting
required was finished off such as the
exhaust and the number plate decals
from Archer fine prints were added. At
this stage I believed the paintwork
looked sufficiently worn and with the
correct tonal values that I could
proceed to add the winter white wash,
the method for applying the white
wash was the hairspray technique
which I will not go into detail about as
it has been very well explained in a
number of modelling articles but one
note of advice would be to use Tamiya
acrylic white thinned with water as this
paint seams to leave a more
convincing flaked pattern when
removed than the more water based
Vallejo paint, as shown in the pictures
the model was only given a light coat
of white which was subsequently
nearly all removed only leaving traces
of the white wash in small areas such
as around nooks and crannies and
hard to reach areas which would be
consistent with the white wash being
removed quickly by the crew and the
ravages of the winter weather. In an
effort to protect the fragile nature of
the Tamiya white paint an airbrushed
coat of satin varnish was once again
applied over the model, with the
varnish dry a second pin wash of burnt
umber oil was carefully applied to help
redefine some areas of detail that had
been covered by the white.
The start of the winter white wash was Tamiya white thinned
with water sprayed over a coat of hair spray which had been
previously applied to the model.
Now we see the effects of the worn white wash after the
Tamiya paint has been scrubbed away using a stiff brush
and warm water.
A dark earth enamel wash from AK interactive began the
weathering of the wheels and lower hull area.
39
AK interactive enamel earth washes were added to the
sheets to unify them with the weathering on the lower hull
and to give the appearance of dirt and mud that would
have been thrown up from the vehicles tracks.
The white sheets are now painted in with Vallejo colours
trying to keep the tone muted.
40
Finally AK interactive fuel stains
mixture was selectively applied neat
from the jar to areas when wet mud
would be prominent. The fuel stain
was used over a gloss varnish as the
dark brown colour of the fuel stain
helps to darken the areas of wet mud
and give a nice satin/semi gloss finish
where varnish would only give a gloss
finish and not darken the areas of wet
mud down sufficiently. The front
wheels and the Friul tracks after being
painted and weathered were treated
to the same mud and dirt mixtures to
ensure everything remained constant
on the model and once the tracks had
been fitted all that was left was to
recreate some of the worn metallic
edges on the vehicle and the tracks
using a 6B pencil as had been done to
the interior of the model.
The areas of built up wet mud were blocked in (as
were some mud clots that had been added from
epoxy putty to the lower hull and wheels during the
construction stage) using a mix of Vallejo burnt umber
and hemp randomly mixed in varying degrees as to
give some variation to the mud colours, this looks a
little stark and unrealistic at this stage but further
washes of AK interactive mud will bring all of this
together to reproduce the look of mud and moisture.
After 3-4 washes to the lower hull and running gear
mud splatters (that would have been kicked up off the
wheels) were added by flicking some Vallejo Cam
German Black Brown paint off a short brush with my
thumb onto the areas under the mudguards and at
the front and rear of the lower hull allowing some of
this to drift up the hull sides onto the white sheets.
Further mud effects are
added in the form of mud
splatters to the wheel
arches and lower hull.
Once the completed gun mount
had been glued into the mount in
the lower hull and the aerial
attached the model was
completed apart that is for a crew
which I intend to add at latter date.
My thanks must go to my friend
Mark Beaumont for his advice at
all stages of the model and the
numerous reference books he lent
me greatly assisting in the models
construction and finishing.
41
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OUT NOW
A I R MO D E L L E R S G U I D E T O W I N G N U T W I N G S V O L U M E I
W W W. A F VMO D E L L E R . C OM
OLD STABLES, EAST MOOR, STANNINGTON,
MORPETH, NORTHUMBERLAND, NE61 6ES
This publication is the first in a series of books
showcasing a number of different kit builds that
detail the methods and materials used to achieve
these stunning models. Some of the aircraft in the
first volume include a Roland D.IVA, RAF SE5,
Hansa Brandenberg and a RE8 Reconnaissance.
The book also contains technique features on
rigging and painting woodwork finishes.
ONLY
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7 ALL NEW UNPUBLISHED BUILD
PROJECTS
RIGGING AND WOOD EFECTS GUIDE
PHONE 01670 823 648
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KEEPING TRACK
new releases
44
Tamiya 1:35 Israeli Tiran 5
The seventy fourth (hard to believe!) release in Tamiya's quarter-
scale range is the early-war German 8-rad, a completely new kit.
Two large dark grey sprues and two smaller duplicate ones
containing wheels and suspension parts. Tamiya always try and
balance ease of build with levels of detail especially with these
smaller scale offerings, this vehicle must be a real challenge to kit
designers due to the complex shape and design. The chassis is
simplified but with decent levels of detail for what will be visible
and the wheels are good though some of you may wait for the
inevitable resin upgrades. The hull is a simple affair with a one
piece upper and separate side plates, all hatches and vision flaps
will have to remain closed unless you want to resort to some
plastic surgery. The body features indicate a later production
vehicle with the front spaced armour, splash guards etc. The turret
allows an open top hatch and a commander figure is included to
sit under the large characteristic frame antenna which is handled
in quality Tamiya style. These early war vehicles could really
benefit from a few photoetched parts, this more so than others. I
think Tamiya could have included at least the muffler guards (as
on Tamiya's 1:48 Panzer II) as what's provided is moulded smooth
and looks poor. If dunkelgrau doesn't excite you the decals offer a
dark yellow with cammo version from Kursk. A nice, typically
Tamiya kit which looks like a quick and easy build but simplified
detail would benefit from some photoetched finesse.
Tamiya 1:48 Sd.Kfz.232
Hot on the heels of their Enigma release, Tamiya draw on the long
term success of their T-55 kit (the original over ten years old now!)
with the Israeli Tiran 5. Around four hundred T-54 (Tiran 4) and T-
55s were captured, modified and pressed into service with the IDF
right up into the early '80s. Once you get past studying the
beautiful box-art it's immediately apparent that much of this kit is
new tooling including the full upper hull and turret which exhibits
superb cast textures and weld beads. The Israeli 105mm gun
comes with optional covered mantlet and well detailed .30 and
.50 Cal MGs and the pair of half-figures are really rather good,
sure to fill the open hatches very nicely. So Tamiya's legendary
easy build, great detail and a great subject- what's not to
like?..well the soft vinyl / plastic 'band' style tracks won't cut it with
some modellers, especially with that exposed upper run, and
many of us are still excited by a turned metal gun barrel and
photoetch which isn't the case here unfortunately. Tamiya remain
true to their brand and customers by producing kits their own way
without following trends with a very wise move expanding on the
T-55 variants- could there be more to come? we hope so. Thanks
to The Hobby Company, Tamiya distributors in the UK.
45
This is our first look at Bronco's 'Jeep', this latest release comes
complete with the diminutive little 37mm A/T gun. As a youngster
my first 1:35 kit was Tamiya's Willys 4X4 (the first release with the
trailer and figures) I remember it fondly and with a first look inside
the lid of this box it's apparent how much kits have changed over
the years! This is one hugely impressive and detailed kit, ok- so
you won't be able to assemble it in a couple of hours like the old
Tamiya release but the trouble Bronco have gone to represent
every feature is really commendable. Along with the super-fine
detail we're offered plenty of options with superb .50 and .30 Cals
included and a covered/ lowered windscreen along with field
modifications such as bumper mounted wire cutter and rear
mounted jerry can which was seen later in production. This is a
Ford produced vehicle and the logo is included on the rear panel
to depict a 1942 or earlier model. A fully detailed engine bay and
chassis can be revealed with the open bonnet option although
there are a few ejector pin marks to treat with a dab of Mr
Surfacer or careful sanding. Photoetched parts are included along
with a very detailed decal sheet with five marking options
including insignia for the driver figure. The 37mm gun is of equal
quality with an excellent set of optional cross-ply tyres. A highlight
of the kit is one of the best injection moulded canvass hoods
we've seen, moulded so thin it's almost transparent in places with
superbly rendered creases. With a choice of Jeep kits available
we'll recommend this as the best we've seen - superb! Thanks to
UK distributors and retailers Hannants for the sample
www.hannants.co.uk
A subject that has long been on modellers wanted list and
Bronco have utilised their excellent Panzer II Ausf.D kit to produce
what is a stunning recreation of the Marder II D. Hull and running
gear are carried over as you would expect and there are no
complaints here with excellent detail as well as individual link
tracks. Even the tires are moulded separately from the wheels.
The hull is assembled from flat panels and although it all aligns
exactly I experienced some twisting of the hull tub which is where
a solid tub would be better. Bronco have provided a detailed
interior with torsion bars, gearbox, driveshaft, instrument panel,
final drives and seats. The sloped armoured sides are well
handled with recessed screw head details and there is a large
photoetched fret providing a host of details including the large
rear basket and its frame. The 7.62cm Russian gun is another
little gem with wonderful detail and comes with a selection of
ammunition and boxes to compliment it. This is very typically
Bronco in terms of the high number of parts which obviously
contribute to the enhanced levels of detail seen, but can make for
a frustratingly slow build with so many small parts to clean up. The
plus side is that its all in the box and you wont need anything
extra apart from your choice of crew. As it says in the instructions
It will require a little more care during assembly, but you feel the
end result is well worth the effort. The instructions deserve a
special mention too as Bronco have helpfully included CAD
images along with the normal line drawings to assist in any
especially complex areas which is excellent. The kit comes with a
generous choice of seven different camouflage schemes on the
decal sheet.
Our thanks to UK distributors and retailers Hannants for the
sample www.hannants.co.uk
Bronco 1:35 GPW 1/4Ton Utility Vehicle (Mod.1942)
with 37mm Anti Tank Gun M3A1
Bronco 1:35 Panzerjaeger II fuer 7.62cm Pak 36, Marder II D
new releases
46
Meng continue to fill the gaps in the market with style, think of the
endless options with this 23mm Russian AA gun which has been
around since the '60s, and the 1990s (I think?) Toyota Land Cruiser
pick-up, you could realistically find this combination anywhere in
Africa or the Middle East over the last twenty years. Meng present
their kits beautifully with high quality packaging and compact
instruction booklets, this one even harks back to the days of
Matchbox's tri-colour plastic! Let's look at the gun first which will
surely be released as a stand-alone kit being used throughout the
World for so long it has huge vehicle conversion potential. Two
dark green sprues carry the crisply moulded parts showing super-
fine detail, multi-part ammo cans and belts, tube and pressed
steel seats and finely rendered muzzles with the option to have
the gun in a towed configuration, on the ground in firing mode
(with folded wheels) or mounted to the pick-up bed on H-beam
sections. The barrels, although not moveable, can be set in three
different positions to suit your scenario. A black sprue carries the
running gear and chassis parts with the steel rims nicely done
being shod in soft vinyl tyres with decent tread pattern (although
void of any side-wall lettering) Tan sprues hold the body parts and
interior, the doors can be positioned open and the roof complete
with A and B posts is supplied separate so it can be left off as
often seen with these vehicles. A clear sprue provides glass and
lenses which will look good and a small etched fret adds some
fine detail. The only thing missing from this kit is the Toyota
branding which I'm sure the aftermarket guys won't mind taking
the risk to produce from a legal/copyright point of view and while
they're at it a gun crew in civilian attire would be welcome.
Another very nice looking production from Meng, top marks.
Meng 1:35 Pick-Up w/ZU-23-2
This 'Special Edition' set from Inside the Armour really is rather
special! Try 430 photoetched parts, 18 resin parts and a full set of
Bronco's workable individual link track not to mention turned brass
barrel parts and a CD of instructionsthrow this lot at the Revell,
Hobbyboss or Tamiya 2A5 or 2A6 and you'll have one serious
project with some serious detail. Photoetch and resin parts cover
tool clamps,suspension upgrade, primary sights, cuppola rings,
Peri sight, turret baskets, hinges and fittings, engine fans housings
and grills, mud flaps, chains for the smoke dischargers, engine
deck lifting gear (can be built stowed or deployed) and much
more. The barrel assembly includes three different muzzles (very
early L44, later L44 and L55 muzzles), collimator, improved bore
excavator and resin recoil gusset. Add to all of this Bronco's
excellent track set and we have a very comprehensive, quality
upgrade bundle offering good value. Many of the elements are
also available as separate sets, www.insidethearmour.com is the
place to go and find out more and also view the full extensive
range of upgrades and kits.
Inside the Armour Leopard 2A5/A6 Special Edition
47
Following their previous 'Early' 25 Pdr. Dragon are now offering the
later War ( and I think post-war?) version of the famous artillery
piece with new sprues in the box and still extensive use of slide-
moulding technology providing some very delicate and impressive
detail. The double-baffle muzzle brake is the main visual
difference to my (untrained!) eye but artillery aficionados will no
doubt relish the many detail changes with this later version. Some
of the main features are superbly handled, the main shield free of
ejector marks and beautifully thin and the trail legs showing
delicate rivet detail on all sides. Tyres are moulded in DS styrene
with good tread detail with no troublesome joints to clean up and
a small fret of photoetch which includes an open ammo tray if you
wish to display the doors of the limber open. The problem is
there's no ammo at all provided in the kit (no matter what the box
illustrates!) the previous release at least included a few rounds for
the crew to handle, a crew also are a big miss with this release
being such a prominent 'must build' feature previously. Shortfalls
aside, this is a nice kit which will provide an easier build than the
Bronco version of this gun (from what I remember seeing of their
kit) but does lack some finer detail in comparison.
Dragon 1:35 25 Pdr. Field gun Mk.II
Another very specific Panzer IV release from DML boxed as a HJ
Div. in Normandy, and Dragon have spent time getting the look of
the zimmerit coating correct. Many hard-core German armour
modellers enjoy applying their own paste as no two vehicles are
exactly the same, but if you're happy spending your modelling
time on other features of a project rather than counting rows and
ridges, these ready-zimmed kits are certainly for you, it's quite
something how fine and delicate the finish is. The Dragon Panzer
IVs have become a benchmark for detail and accuracy but don't
expect a quick build (especially with the 'skirted' versions) lift the
lid and there's close to thirty grey sprues, metal schurtzen, etched
brass partsbut fear not, as with many other kits in the series
sprues are shared and many of the parts are unused. The
moulding quality of these kits is superb with every feature
beautifully replicated with every port, hatch and door openable
(except the turret skirt doors for some reason which is a shame) a
fully detailed cupola is a kit in itself. Schurtzen rails and brackets
rival etched brass for their finesse and will be good and sturdy
joined with liquid cement to the hull. Another time-saver along
with the zimmerit are the single piece Magic Track, not welcome
by some for replicating the typical sag of the upper run but largely
hidden behind the armour skirts anyway. The decal options
include the roughly applied HJ turret numbers of three different
tanks and five other options if they don't take your fancy. So
another superb Dragon Panzer IV, it's hard to think of a version
they haven't covered but there's sure to be more subtle variations.
Highly recommended.
Dragon 1:35 Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.H with zimmerit
Continuing the steady pace of new
releases, Stalingrad never cease to amaze
us with their quality. These two sets are
among their latest offerings S-3006 is a
German officer in a superbly sculpted
great-coat with map board under-arm
giving a very deliberate salute and S-30007
is a pair of relaxed German figures, one
wounded and his comrade with the option
of a camera or bunch of flowers in-hand. If
you take a look over at
www.stalingrad.diorama.ru you'll see how
these sets will work very well with other
new releases. These really are among the
very best figures on the market,
impeccable sculpting and casting which
always captures the cut of the uniforms
beautifully. Superb!
Stalingrad 1:35 figures
new releases
48
It is fantastic to see plastic kit companies getting to grips with
some large scale armour that is not RC orientated and as such
the 38t is a really great choice of subject. The compact size of the
vehicle means that its not that much bigger than the average
super heavy 1:35 tank kit. First impressions are excellent and this
looks just like an enlarged state of the art 1:35 kit with individual
link tracks with separate pins, turned aluminium barrel and
photoetched fret. The hull is a flat panel assembly and its
interesting to see all the internal bracing and rivet/bolt detail which
perhaps hints at a future interior detail set? I found slight issues
with the length of the floor panel which meant grinding away the
rear lip to get the back plate to sit correctly. The running gear
offers the possibility of articulating the suspension although the fit
of some of the components are very snug meaning that they bind
on each other. The tracks are great and well detailed so no need
to worry about aftermarket replacements. Internal detail is
confined to the bow MG mount, visors and in the turret there is a
well detailed breech and co-ax along with crew seats. Hatches,
visors and engine covers are all moulded separately and there are
clear moulded vision blocks. One error we have spotted are the
missing rivets on the curved left hand turret side. The vehicle tools
are also good and some are provided with photoetched straps but
the clasps are a little heavy and are best replaced with
aftermarket photoetched versions. I found several errors in the
instructions with part numbers and two stages duplicated and
consequently other sequences missing so watch how you go. The
kit comes with choice of four different sets of markings. This builds
into a great looking model straight from the box and Panda
deserve to be applauded for doing such a good job and for
deciding to move up to 1:16. Lets hope we might see other
injection moulded plastic kits in this scale.
Panda Models 1:16 Panzer 38t Ausf. E/F
Tommys War 1:32 Resin Figures
Tommys War are a fairly new name to the resin figure
market but already making a big impression with their
WW1 themed releases. The two latest additions to the
range are really superb and would work as stand alone
figures or as a pair and there is a simple trenchwork base
available to complement them and this comes with some
assorted helmets and bits to dress it. Both figures are
superbly sculpted and feature crisp folds and the levels of
detail that you would expect from the very best resin
figures. The casting is also excellent with only very
minimal clean up required and hardly any assembly. My
only gripe here would be to ask for a little more length in
the neck of the two individually moulded heads. The faces
both sport huge period tashes meaning they have bags
of character. The beautifully presented colour boxes offer
front and rear views of painted figures as a guide to
colours and the officer figure comes complete with a
photoetched fret with weapons slings. Extremely high
quality figures that are just begging for a your paintbrush
and its great to see the First World War getting some
long-overdue attention. wwwtommyswar.com
49
Lioness and Lion of the Line-
Volume 10, M51s of the Six-Day War
By Dr. Robert Manasherob
A4 softback format, 80 pages
Published by SabIngaMartin Publications
ISBN 978-0-9841437-7-1
www.sabingamartin.com
www.aviationbookcentre.com
The ultimate incarnation of the Sherman is the subject here in
perhaps the IDF's ultimate victory, the Six-Day War. This release
deals with the 'Dagem Beth' and 'Gimel' M51s and thankfully the
familiar format of pure modelling reference is presented again,
175 photographs, 28 scale drawings and 13 top-quality colour
profiles will give you a wealth of information to produce a super-
accurate Super-Sherman of the period with some great
inspirational combat shots (although the eight pages of
photographs of the variation of 'mazzle' brakes is a little
exhaustive!) An extensive walk-around section provides close-ups
of areas modellers will want as reference although the
photography isn't the prettiest being taken with a flash indoors, the
colour profile illustrations are absolutely first rate with
SabIngaMartin also producing a complementary range of decals
to accompany their books with new and exclusive information
shared. At the moment I'm working on an M50 using one of the
previous volumes as a reference which is very comprehensive and
modeller-friendly, these IDF Shermans present a challenging build
with their numerous on-going upgrades and modification, another
recommendation in this series if you've a project planned. Thanks
to the Aviation and Military Book Centre for our sample copy.
Hot on the heels of Volume 1 we looked at in the last issue is the
next release featuring Allied vehicles and how to achieve the
finishes of the much admired Mr Rinaldi. The introduction is
provided by Lester Plaskit (creator of the Drilling featured in this
issue) and then were straight into the materials and techniques
including hairspray white wash, oil paint rendering, pigments and
specific to this volume, Painting Olive Drab. The text and
photography are very user friendly with plenty of explanation and
jargon-busting along the way. Michael manages to mix old-school
methods along with contemporary finishing products to achieve
specific effects. A good mix of project vehicles is presented with a
lend-lease Chuchill, Pershing, Char B bis, Firefly and KV-1 all with
their own particular look and feel. The tallented Radek Pituch
(remember the cover star of issue 65?) takes the final chapter
with a look into his figures and the methods used to create them.
If youre looking to improve your painting and weathering or just
like nicely presented high quality modelling books, this series is
very much worth a look with more to follow soon.
Tank Art 2
By Michael Rinaldi
softback format, 208 pages
Published by Rinaldi Studio Press
US ISBN 978-0-9883363-2-2
www.rinaldistudiopress.com
new releases
More good stuff from the chaps at Panzerwrecks who continue to
dredge up those reference gems from the archives and the latest
addition to the series continues to impress. This volume begins
with a look at the German armour abandoned or knocked out in
the liberation of Paris and alongside some great zimmerited
Panthers there are also photos of assorted French vehicles
operated by the German forces, Renault R35s Somua S35 and
Char Bs. Fascinatingly there are four views of the rare Sd.Kfz.11/1
Selbstfahrlafette mit panzerung. Some short barrelled zimmerited
Jagdpanzer IVs and a completely demolished Stug III complete
the mix in this section. Two nice shots of the same tiger striped
Jagdpanther are next followed by some late production King
Tigers with ribbed mudflaps and one vehicle using transport
tracks. The Fort Knox Panther G is shown next being transported
for shipping and these shots provide excellent reference for the
late war M.A.N. camouflage pattern. A veteran Panzer III D1
command tank first seen in Panzerwrecks X makes another
appearance along with a knocked out sPz.jg.Abt.653 Jagdtiger.
More revisted subjects from volume X are Panthers, Panzer III, a
38t grille/marder hybrid and the unusual 234/3 with improvised
2cm schwebelafette turret. The gaudily camouflage Marder II that
now resides in the Patton Museum is covered as well as late war
Stug IIIs and a IV along with nice portaits of a Hummel and late
Panzer IV J. The book concludes with a fascinating sequence
showing and abandoned 54cm Karl Morser on its rail transporter
with many useful close up details including a view of the drivers
compartment. As always there is plenty to inspire your next
project and Panzerwrecks have done an excellent job with the
quality of their images here. High recommended.
Its not often that you find a few unpublished archive images in a
new book but to find that virtually the entire book contains fresh
material is really quite unusual. After a brief text introduction to
the history of the Stug its straight into the pictures with one large
image per page, running chronologically with the development of
the production run. Pictures cover vehicles in combat and behind
the lines and one or two that have been knocked out. There are
certainly several images that had my creative juices going with
possible project ideas. Picture quality is generally good although
they lack the crisp sparkle of the images in Panzerwrecks for
example. If you are looking for an archive reference that gives you
good coverage across the whole range of Sturmgeschutz then
this will fit the bill. Our thanks to Panzerwrecks for the sample.
Panzerwrecks 15
By Lee Archer and William Auerbach
Published by Panzerwrecks
96 pages Softback Landscape format
ISBN: 978-1-908032-05-8 www.panzerwrecks.com
Sturmgeschutz III on the battlefield
World War Two Photobook series Volume 2
By Matyas Panczel
Published by PeKo Publishing
112 pages hardback landscape format
ISBN: 978-693-89623-1-7
available in the UK from Panzerwrecks www.panzerwrecks.com
50
ET Model are not slowing their release schedule and have a new
large batch of detail sets tailored to a wide selection of new kit
releases. We will start with two of their Value Packages S35-014
and S35-015 for the Russian PT-76 and PT-76B amphibious tank
with complete new trackguards, bow plane, replacement engine
grilles, headlamp cages and all the tool clasps along with a resin
antenna mount and brass MG barrel. For Dragons M1A1 AIM set
E35-174 is a monster set with detail parts for the .50 Cal and
associated ammo boxes, turret basket mesh, complete
replacement smoke grenades with turned brass tubes, engine
deck mesh, exhaust grilles, sprocket rings and a host of tiny
details. Also for the Abrams is set EA35-042 which is a turret
bustle extension rack with resin jerrycans. Set E35-168 is for
Dragons Maultier half-track and this set provides new louvred
bonnet panels, replacement hinges for the drop sides, bonnet
logo, windscreen wipers, tool boxes and all the usual tool clamps.
For Trumpeters recent BTR-70 APC (early version) set E35-160
contains a replacement resin gun barrel, brass MG barrel and
resin antenna mount as well as photoetched parts for new front
window hatches, mesh screens, rifle ports, hatch hinges and new
panel for the front of the turret. Also for the new Trumpeter BMP-
1IFV kit there is set E35-170 which includes replacement
trackguards, exhaust mesh screen, missile launch rail, turret
stowage straps, bow plane, periscopes and replacement hatches
or hatch liners. The set also includes a lovely set of resin tow rope
eyes and a braided cable as well as an antenna mount and
turned brass MG barrel.
EA35-042
EA35-174
S35-014 / S35-015
EA35-168
EA35-170
EA35-160
ET Model Detail Sets
51
Continuing on and set E35-169 is for the Panda Models 2S6M
Tunguska with parts to detail the radar dish, turret stowage bins,
engine deck intake grilles with mesh along with all the expected
replacement tool stowage and clamps. For the Hobbyboss T-26
Light tank Mod.1931 set E35-167 provides new stowage box,
engine grilles, new trackguards, and new Drivers hatches. The
next set E35-178 is for the Hobbyboss WMIK Landrover with Milan
Missile and this set has new radiator grilles, headlamp guards,
instrument panel, excellent textured seatbelts, tiedown straps,
sand channels and antenna mount boxes. Next we have no less
than five different sets of resin wheels for BTR-60 and BTR-70 and
set ER35-051 for the BRDM-2. Tire tread pattern is the same and
it is the hubs which differ. Separate hubs are prone to fit issues
and this is the case here with gaps between the tire and hub that
will have to be filled. Set EA35-041 provides the CIP panels for
your chosen M1A1/A2. We conclude with two boxed sets and the
first EA35-162 is for the Dragon T28 Super Heavy Tank. The set
provides a new resin mantlet and replacement .50 Cal. There are
replacements for the on board cranes, new .50 Cal mount and
ammo box, new stowage bins and the usual tool clamps and
headlamp guards. The second set E35-165 is an M1A2 Tusk 1
upgrade set with seventeen frets! There is new belly armour, and
a full incredibly detailed set of side skirts on which to mount the
individually assembled boxes. The armoured screens for the turret
roof come with clear perspex inserts. A stunning set but not for
the faint-hearted! www.etmodeller.com
ET Model Detail Sets
EA35-169
EA35-167
ER35-047
ER35-047-51
EA35-167
EA35-162
EA35-165
EA35-178
52
ER35-052
Renowned IDF armour expert Michael Mass and expert modeller
(who weve featured in the past), Adam OBrien bring you the
latest in the series from Desert Eagle which is sure to please IDF
modellers. The book (as others in their IDF Armor series) is big on
visual reference, the majority of the book being large format
colour shots with detailed captions. The book opens with
descriptions of the Mk3 derivatives and then a chapter each on
the Baz and Ramaqh in action followed by a section featuring the
crews living and working with the vehicles. The large In Detail
section will be most useful to anyone modelling the Mk 3
providing good walk-around type photographs of all of the
features youd want. A couple of pages of reference are
dedicated to the Nochri Dalet (mine roller) which is great timing
with the release of Meng Models kit. To finish theres a page
describing the tactical symbols used rounding off another
excellent modelling reference from Desert Eagle. Thanks to
www.aviationbookcentre.com for our copy
Merkava Siman 3- Baz and Ramaqh
By Michael Mass and Adam OBrien
A4 softback format, 80 pages
Published by Desert Eagle Publishing
ISBN 978-965-91635-2-6
www.deserteagle-publishing.com
Panzer Wedge Volume 2
By Lt. Fritz Lucke, Robert J. Edwards
and Mike Olive
B5 softback format, 208 pages
(black and white)
Published by Stackpole Books
ISBN 978-0-811710-82-4
www.casematepublishing.co.uk
This second volume tells the story of the 3rd
Panzer Division's advance to Moscow where
the aura of invincibility surrounding the German
forces starts to wain. This is very much a
history 'reading' book with very little visual
content as modelling reference, if Barbarossa is
an area of interest to you this will prove
absorbing and informative reading. Most of the
text is written by corespondents at the time of
the fighting and is very factual and tactical
detailing individual battles and movements of
the kampfgruppes. The twenty-or-so
photographs throughout the book are poor
quality so from a modelling perspective pretty
much void of any reference but packed with
facts for the historical and tactical buffs of the
period.
Outside The Wire
By Jim Ross
B5 hardback format, 352 pages
Published by Stackpole Books
ISBN 978-0-811712-22-4
www.casematepublishing.co.uk
Although this is another 'readers' book from Stackpole it's very
much more engaging as it's a first hand account of a combat tour
of Vietnam in 1970 with the 'Tropic Lightning' U.S. Infantry Division
where the author served as a rifleman, machine gunner, tunnel rat
and demolitions man, so as you'd imagine his memoirs are
action-packed! The extracts I've read are easy-going, not a book
you need to read intensely, very easy to pick-up and put-down in
short bursts should you wish. This is an excellent first-hand insight
into the day-to-day horror experienced by these young men
surviving the conditions and the North Vietnamese forces. There's
over fifty colour photographs which would have been better (for
modellers) in a larger format with all vehicles featured being
M113s. Recommended, and at times very moving, reading if you
have an interest in Vietnam War combat. Thanks to Casemate for
our Stackpole Publishing samples.
53
Although we're massive fans of Tamiya their figures sometimes
lack the edge of the kits in today's modelling marketplace. Tamiya
themselves maybe realise this and have released a few of their
classic toolings coupled with figures from MB of the Ukraine, who
along with Master Box produce some of the best styrene figure
sets around in our opinion. I don't remember seeing either of
these two groups of figures before (I could be wrong?) so maybe
this is a fresh approach altogether where Tamiya are packaging
commissioned tooling and moulding from Master Box? Whatever
the reason this is a very nice looking set of figures which will
please the modern diorama builder, four U.S. Marines and four
U.S. Army figures come with a wealth of weapons and gear.
Moulding and detail is really sharp with body armour nicely done,
good sculpting of the heads and hands and excellent weapons
with nice touches like extra ammo clips duct-taped on. The Army
quartet are little more static in their pose than the Marines who
look better with crouched action stances which would work well
behind a wall or vehicle. Tamiya provide good colour references
and a bonus sheet of rations boxes to assemble.
I thought this an unusual choice of subject in 1:35 by DML but
they made a really nice job of that kit, not so much here I'm afraid;
a bit of a disappointment for small scale fans as most of the kit
relies on the older Dragon Panther which is moulded with the
'ready made and painted' market in mind with simplified detail for
ease of production-line assembly. The new parts also fall short of
the superb standards set by Dragon with not a great deal of
finesse to report unfortunately. No doubt this will be a very simple
build and an easy way to add this odd-ball Panther to your
collection but disappointing by Dragon's standards
Tamiya U.S. Modern Infantry (Iraq War)
Dragon 1:72 Ersatz M10
Archer Fine Transfers
Excellent news for Allied modellers, namely
Commonwealth and British subjects, with five new sets of
Archers excellent waterslide decals under their AFT brand.
All of the decals are in 1:35 and being printed by
Cartograf are first rate quality. There's a large selection of
choice and size on each sheet which should allow you to
mix and match most scenarios from Summer 1943 -
Spring 1945. AR77026 are British Armoured Division Unit
Symbols, AR77028 are British Infantry, AR77031 covers
British and Commonwealth AOS symbols (black and white
style) and AR77037 are the coloured style. Finally
AR77030 are British Royal Artillery Tactical markings. Each
set has well researched and detailed marking descriptions
and application guides.
54
With a change to their regular Commonwealth vehicles, Mirror
models have released this early-war tractor, the 'Special Edition'
set containing a bonus Russian fuel trailer. Such a tiny vehicle
means this is more like assembling a 1:72 piece of armour, the
delicate diminutive feel of the tractor has been captured really well
with some superb fine detail. As with the other Mirror kits we've
looked at the vehicle builds from flat plates which will mean some
care with alignment but ultimately better detail. The kit designers
have done well to avoid any knockout pin marks on any outer or
inner faces. A full engine and interior (!) allows a fully opened up
display and an optional folded seating arrangement offers
diorama potential. Individual track links will be a little tedious at
such a small size but surely worth the effort to keep the high
standard of detail throughout. The fuel trailer provides a nice
touch and is of an equal high standard with the wheels provided
as 'sliced' sections to give good tread definition. Along with
Russian markings, Finnish and German are also provided on a
small decal sheet. Building instructions are an improved diagram
type with clear enlarged line drawings and explanatory text.
Another high quality release of a quirky subject and more details
can be found at: www.mirror-models.com
Rocket launchers anyone? The Nuts and Bolts team delve into the
world of WWII German Werfer with all their usual flair and
thoroughness in this substantial 208 page study. The book follows
the usual format with an in depth look at the development of the
different weapons systems, their deployment with abbreviated
individual unit histories and notes on colour schemes and
modelling. Then its on to the archive images, beginning with the
wheeled Nebelwerfer and images of it in service and being towed.
Some superb shots of other experimental designs are included.
The frame mounted Wurfkorper is also covered as well as the
Nebelwerfer 41 with great images of the weapon in service. Next
is the Panzerwerfer which gets extensive coverage in a superb
collection of archive images providing a wealth of modelling
inspiration. The ammunition carrier version is also covered along
with the rare Vielfachwerfer based on the Katjuscha rocket
system. 1:35 scale plans are the next section with coverage of all
the different weapons and in some cases the prototype vehicles
too. This is followed by the 9 page colour profile section with
profiles tied to the archive images that they are based on. The
book concludes with a comprehensive walkaround section looking
at preserved examples of the weapons and vehicles and the usual
modelling section. Without doubt the best modelling reference on
this subject.
Mirror Models 1:35 Russian Artillery Tractor T-20 Komsomoletz (early)
55
Nuts & Bolts Volume 30
Nebel-, Panzer-und Vielfachwefer
By J Baschin, M.Block, J.Nelson & H.Tippmann
Softback format, 208 pages English/German text
Published by Nuts & Bolts
www.nuts-bolts.de Available in the UK from
Historex Agents www.historexagents.com
56
adds his own touches to
Trumpeters 1:35 kit.
During the Second World War the Soviets relied heavily on the use of
tractors for their heavy artillery and mortars to make their way across the
battlefield. The most ominous of these was the ChTZ S-65 Stalinez
tractor which was built in the Chelyabinskiy Traktornyy Zavod (ChTZ ) in the
city of Chelyabinsk. Founded in 1933, the ChTZ factory began producing
agricultural tractors first with the S-60, which was a copy of the American
built Caterpillar 60 which was followed by an improved diesel powered
version of the tractor, the S-65. With the outbreak of war in 1941 the
majority of the 37,626 Sons of Stalin (Stalinez) were pressed into military
service where they were used to pull the larger Soviet artillery guns such
as the 152 mm M1937 ML-20 and the B4 M1931 203mm Howitzers.
The S-65 tractor, although strong and
durable was incredible slow with a
maximum speed of only 7 miles per hour.
After the invasion of Russia in 1941 the
German army captured thousands of
these hefty vehicles which were then
quickly pressed into use recovering
vehicles stuck in the heavy Russian mud
as a result of the autumn rainy period
known as Rasputitsa. More often,
however, the Germans used the S-65 in
their original role as an artillery tractor
pulling German guns such as the sFH 18.
Trumpeter really hit a chord with modellers
when it released the S-65 tractor. Finally,
all of those wonderful artillery pieces would
have something to lug them around with.
Furthermore, modellers with interests in
either Soviet or German themes would find
plenty of examples of these tractors in
service. For me, however, the affection is
simply the fact it was a big, hulking tractor.
Something about these utilitarian
workhorse vehicles that really catches my
fancy, and apparently Im not the only
person who has more than a passing
interest in these utilitarian beasts. Shortly
after the kits release the folks on the MIG
Productions forum began organizing a
Stalinez Smack Down group build. As
the number of participants increased, the
forum thread became full of reference
photos and "Smack Down talk. My
resistance, which was already low, gave
way and it wasnt long before I decided
joined into the fun as well. A few mouse
clicks later I had the Trumpeter kit along
with the LZ Models engine and radiator
upgrades on the way and within a couple
of weeks my workbench was full of plastic
and resin. During the course of sharing
photos, one photo in particular caught my
attention. It was of an S-65 pressed into
German service and it appeared as
though they had mounted a field
constructed boom to the front of the
vehicle which then held a bar onto which a
number (14) T34 road wheels. The boom
and wheels are supported by an unlikely
configuration of cables that run through a
tall post and then somehow attached to
the rear of the tractor. It was an interesting
field modification that I'm still not really
sure what it was for, but my guess is for
some type of road work. This was my
Smack Down vehicle!
57
The Trumpeter kit is moulded in light
grey plastic with the parts appearing
with very little flash. The fit of the parts
is generally very good and combined
with the clear instructions and relatively
few parts this is the type of project that
can easily be constructed over the
course of a rainy weekend. The kit,
however, does have a few issues that
you should be aware of. First, the front
radiator contains a couple of spelling
errors. The first error being the name
CTAHE (Russian for STALINETZ)
shows the English style N rather than
the reversed looking , with the
same issue replicated on the lower
radiator letters for the word Diesel.
In addition to these errors the
Trumpeter kit does have one basic
short coming; it lacks an engine. This
leaves the modelers only option to
construct the tractor with the large side
engine panels in place. The oversight is
unfortunate as even a quick glance at
period photos show that many of these
service tractors where in use with the
large side panels removed for
increased engine ventilation. Luckily,
Trumpeters omission has been
remedied by Libor of LZ Models who
quickly brought an excellent resin
engine to the market. The LZ Models
engine is nothing short of brilliant. If
that wasnt enough, LZ Models also
offers a replacement front radiator with
the correct spelling and photo etched
parts for the front mesh and tractor
logo.
58
I began my work with the LZ Models
engine. I am familiar with the LZ Models
brand and once again Libor has produced
an excellent product. Once I unpacked the
engine I was surprised by the size of this
thing...it was huge! Getting into the
relaxed nature of the group build I
decided to have a little fun by first building
a quick bench on which to hold my engine
during construction and placed a worker
in some of the early photos just to add a
sense of scale. As with all of the LZ range
of products the The LZ parts are poured in
light coloured resin with the instructions
presented on a small CD disc. The step
by step instructions are easy to follow and
a link to a walk around reference site is
also included. I found the references
particularly helpful as I decided to detail
the engine a bit by adding some wiring
and extra plumbing just to make things
looks a little busier. As the engine
progressed there becomes a time where
certain fittings and brackets of the engine
needed to be fit onto the Trumpeter kit. So
I cracked open the Trumpeter box to
begin construction of the kit chassis. A
few test fits confirmed that the LZ Models
engine would fit perfectly onto the
Trumpeter chassis. The LZ Models
radiator and engine were glued to the
chassis without incident and it was time to
move onto the next steps.
The tracks are offered as individual pads
along with two separate inner brackets to
form each link; 34 per side. These parts
have quite a few attachment points and
as such require a little extra time for
clean-up. Once completed, however, you
are rewarded with a pair of extremely
nice, workable tracks. On the boogie
sponsons I chose to use only one side of
the photo etched mud deflectors as
provided by the LZ update set if only for
the sake of personalizing my model.
Building of the tractors upper areas is a
fairly straight forward affair and moves
along quickly thanks for larger parts and
clear instructions.
For a little fun, a bench was
constructed to stand the
engine on during assembly.
This figure gives an idea of
the enormous size of the
LZ engine.
59
The primary focus of this beast,
however, is the extended boom to the
front of the vehicle. After a bit of
head-scratching trying to figure out
the exact arrangement of the boom
and rigging I finally decided to just
"wing it" using my best guesses based
from the photo (and a little common
sense?). From the reference it
appears that the boom was made
from found materials, perhaps even
bridging joists. I decided to follow this
notion and cut two shapes from
plastic sheet, punched 4 lightening
holes into each (improvised - not
found on the photo) and then capped
each edge with thin strip.
A friend happened to have a set of
T34 wheels from the Tamiya kit which
I borrowed a pair and made multiple
castings as seen in the reference
photo. I debated on whether or not to
construct the roof/cab as seen on the
photo and in the end I decided to
make a simplified version of the roof in
keeping with the field modified nature
of the project. I also debated whether
or not to show the engine totally
exposed, or to install the top of the
hood.
Ive been told by some who have
viewed my work that they can tell it's
my piece even before they see my
name attached. Perhaps they are just
blowing smoke, but if its true then it a
huge compliment. It got me to
wondering. If we start with the premise
the most modelers are using basically
the same materials and know the same
techniques and tricks then what might
set my work apart? The accompanying
photos will show the basic steps that I
take when painting and weathering. My
guess is that most modelers will
recognize the techniques as most are
fairly common practice these days.
Here are a few of my thoughts:
First, I work very quickly. When I paint
and weather I move from one step to
the next in rapid succession. Honestly,
except for the drying times of the oil
paints I could often finish the painting
and weathering of my pieces in a
matter of hours. I don't labour over the
small details. I liken my technique to
sketching, rather than drawing. I am
more concerned about capturing the
mood and atmosphere rather than
capturing each and every small bolt
and buckle. Maybe it's simple laziness
on my part, but I feel that the quickness
can translate to a certain vibrancy or
energy in the finished presentation.
Finally, I decided to install the hood as I
felt that the totally exposed engine would
draw to much focus from the viewer and
I preferred to have the focus drawn to
the front boom.
Mr Surfacer
gives a good
key for the top
coats of colour.
Model Master Metalizer
Laquers provide the
raw-steel base colour to
the individual track links.
Oil paint and pigment
washes provide the look
of the ground-in dirt.
60
First, I realize that Colour Modulation is all
the rage these days. I have used it and I
can see the validity of the technique for
producing eye catching results. However,
with so many modelers following suit
these days I feel that the technique and
results have become somewhat
predictable. I see that the same surfaces
are highlighted, the same fittings are
exaggerated and the same look is found
on many models. Please dont get me
wrong, I am not trying to be critical of
Colour Modulation or the models
presented using the technique. What I
am trying to say is that perhaps there is a
way to take the certain aspects of Colour
Modulation and incorporate them in a
new ways. So what do I do differently? I
believe that the majority of my finished
appearance begins with my early base
colors. You will notice from the
accompanying photos that my base
colours are varied - or random in
application. I do use shadows and
highlights (similar to modulation) but my
patterns are not necessarily tied to the
rules of modulation. For instance, my
highlight tones are not always found on
the upper, leading edge surfaces. There
are times that I will apply the lighter tones
on lower or recessed surfaces just for the
sake of breaking the rules. From the
accompanying photos you might also
notice that the green vehicle base colour
is actually a comprised of varying shades
of green. Its all about the multiple layers
and subtle shifts of colour over the entire
model with the point of view not always
consistent with the rules of Modulation or
a Zenithal light source. The instances can
be subtle, but I feel that the overall
accumulation of these small rule
breakers can bring an added level of
visual interest to the finished piece.
The primer colours are
mixed from Tamiya colours
and applied randomly.
A random coverage of the
green is built slowly, the
tonal differences add depth
and highlights in key areas.
A protective coat of
Future is airbrushed
to protect the primer
followed by a coat of
hairspray.
Warm water and a stiff brush
remove the green on its base
coat of hairspray in a random
fashion. This is enhanced further
with acrylics and fine brushwork.
As with the tracks, the metalizer
gives a polished look to the contact
surfaces of the sprocket teeth.
The second point is that I am not overly concerned that the
green colour(s) completely covering the oxidized reddish colours
underneath, especially on the lower sections. The incomplete
nature of this layer is somewhat contributed by the speed at
which I work, but the end result is intentional. It's really about
the "happy accidents" at the early stages. I have learned from
experience that the more interesting that I can make my early
base layers then the more interesting (and pleasing?) the final
results will be. So, with this in mind at this stage I am really not
overly concerned about complete and even coverage. Taking
this a step further you can see how the hairspray technique fits
perfectly into my style of work as I am able to further manipulate
the base layers through the random removal of paint.
Finally, it's all about the oils baby! Once I have
achieved a random base surface - some
might call it a mess! - I need to bring it all
together. The Magic really happens during the
finish work done with the oils. The subtle
colour shifts and blending that the oils can
give you is what ties it all together. Keeping in
mind that I use the variations of the base
finish to key off of - these are my points of
interest;. What I mean is this; if I have
produced some random little patch of
oxidized surface either though an uneven
application of paint or chipped off via the
hairspray technique, I will use this as an
opportunity to enhance, refine and create a
visual interest point. With this in mind, you
can see how this ties in perfectly with my
earlier steps (quick, random base application)
as now I have a lot of small points of interest
which to play with.
Filters can help harmonise
the previous colour work and
give subtle shifts of tone.
61
62
What I hope is that in the end my result is a
piece that is interesting to look at but doesn't
seem exaggerated. I strive to keep the viewers
eye moving from one interest point to the next,
one highlight area to the next, one chip to the
next scratch. All the while I am trying to balance
the result between artistic expression and
realistic finish.
I'm not sure why I got onto this topic; I guess
that it was just on my mind this morning. I am
simply sharing some of my random thoughts
about the hobby that I enjoy so much. Generally
I don't think about this type of thing too much, I
just do it. Maybe from time to time it's a good
idea to take stock of ones self as a modeller -
and dare say even an artist. Happy modelling.
63
SaIes@HistorexAgents.com
6.75
SMS001 Photo Etch Bending Tool 2" Mini Hold and Fold 20.00
SMS002 Photo Etch Bending Tool The "BUG" RTH 26.65
SMS003 Photo Etch Bending Tool 4" Mk V RTH 33.30
SMS004 Photo Etch Bending Tool 5.5" (5 Speed) 46.65
SMS005 Photo Etch Bending Tool 8" Mk R Multi-head 49.99
SMS006 Photo Etch Rolling Deluxe Brass Assist 43.30
SMS007 Extended Roller Set Use with Brass Assist 9.35
SMS008 The Wrangler Wire Forming Tool 33.30
SMS009 The Nutter Set - Scale Model Nuts & Rivets 76.65
SMS010 Tri-Foil for use with Nutter and/or Scratchbuilding 6.65
SMS011 Square Tip Set 13.30
SMS012 Hex Tip Set 13.30
SMS013 Wire Assist 13.30
SMS014 Photo Etch Standard Rolling Set 18.30
SMS015 Photo Etch Cut-Off Set - Standard 6.30
SMS016 Photo Etch Cut-Off Set - Large 9.99
1he Small Shu 1uuls
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MSF534 1/35th Steppe - late summer with stones 16.05
MSF541 1/35th Embankment - Spring 14.20
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MSF712 1/35th Early Summer Stony Steppe few stones 17.00
MSF713 1/35th Late Summer Stony Steppe few stones 17.00
MSF722 1/35th Early Summer Stony Steppe more stones 17.00
MSF723 1/35th Late Summer Stony Steppe more stones 17.00
MSF732 1/35th Early Summer Stony Steppe many stones 17.00
MSF733 1/35th Late Summer Stony Steppe many stones 17.00
AFV65 MAGAZNE AFV Modeller Magazine ssue 65 6.50
AFV66 MAGAZNE AFV Modeller Magazine ssue 66 6.50
AFV67 MAGAZNE AFV Modeller Magazine ssue 67 6.50
AFV68 MAGAZNE AFV Modeller Magazine ssue 68 6.50
AFV69 MAGAZNE AFV Modeller Magazine ssue 69 6.50
AFV70 MAGAZNE AFV Modeller Magazine ssue 70 6.50
AFVHOLLAND BOOK Made in Holland - A portfolio 24.95
AFVM4 BOOK M4 Modelling the Sherman Tank 27.95
AFVMERKAVA3D BOOK Merkava D 15.00
The 1st book from Scale Model Handbook series on
figures gathers representative samples of many
historical periods, as well as different forms of
techniques. Here you will find the painting of
commercial pieces using acrylics, oils or enamels,
sculpting, conversions, work on ground presentation
and scenery, historical texts. ndeed, many different
aspects of figure modelling have been covered.
Contributors: Pietro Balloni, Alexandre Cortina
ScaIe ModeI Handbook -
FIGURE MODELLING 1
13.95
The 2nd book of the SMH series, which is publiced
every 3 months, is dedicated once again to miniature
figures. As in the first book, you will find articles on
painting with acrylics, oils or enamels, plus various
mixed techniques and instructions on how to make
groundwork and scenery for presentation. n this
volume a Masteclass Figure Gallery is introduced
with many important pieces by Louis D'Orio.
Contributors: Alexandre Cortina Bonastre, Louis
D'Orio, Grigoris Marmatakis, Massimo Pasquali,
Ernesto Reyes Stalhuth.
ScaIe ModeI Handbook -
FIGURE MODELLING 2
13.95
ScaIe ModeI Handbook -
FIGURE MODELLING 3
The 3rd edition in the SMH series is also dedicated to
miniature figures. Well-known artists from around the
world have worked on the articles to give you all their
knowledge on miniature modelling and inspire you on
your next projects. Award-winning models,
step-by-step, techniques and history all gathered in a
52-page book with binding and matt laminated cover
of superior quality. Contributors: Grigoris Marmatakis,
Manolis Mitsotakis, Christos Panagiotopoulos,
Ernesto Reyes Stalhuth, Christos Stamatopoulos,
Kazufumi Tomori.
The 4th edition in the SMH series is dedicated to
miniature figures. Here you can find information and
instructions on how to paint female complexion using
acrylics and oils, the construction of a 2-figure
vignette and insights on making japanese patterns.
Two WW German themes on field grey and
camouflage together with a very interesting article
about a discontinued fantasy bust are completing this
exquisite edition. Contributors: Grigoris Marmatakis,
Aleksander Michelotti, Ernesto Reyes Stalhuth,
Christos Stamatopoulos, Kazufumi Tomori.
ScaIe ModeI Handbook -
FIGURE MODELLING 4
13.95
ScaIe ModeI Handbook -
FIGURE MODELLING 5
The 5th book from SMH series is coming with many
articles about box art painted figures. Learn
techniques and tips from the masters on how to paint
your models using either brushes or airbrush and
make your own scratch-built figure, following the
instructions of a master sculptor. This edition is
completed with an article on how to paint metallic
surfaces without using metallic colours! Contributors:
Mike Butler, Fernando Ruiz Ceano, Javier Gonzlez
(Arsies), Grigoris Marmatakis, Aleksander Michelotti,
Ernesto Reyes Stalhuth, Aleksandr Zelenkov.
ScaIe ModeI Handbook -
FIGURE MODELLING 6
13.95
This is the Sixth Edition in the Scale Model Handbook
Series, a series of modelling books dedicated to
miniature figures. Again, we've varied the themes and
historical periods of the subjects and presented more
sculpting and painting techniques.
CONTRIBUTORS
ANTONO FDEZ (PQU), JAVER GONZLEZ
(ARSES), GOR KORDYUKOV, RADEK PTUCH,
ERNESTO REYES STALHUTH, KAZUFUM
TOMOR, ALEX VARELA (GUAZZU).
Rinaldi 8tudio Press
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 and
my 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 special
bonus figure modeling chapter by world renowned modeler
Marijn van Gils
model scene
Grass mats
Mario Eens started modelling at an
early age and has been passionate
about modelling ever since. This
passion has led him to taking part in
modelling competitions and resulted in
winning gold medals at major
international shows (Euro Militaire,
AMT, The Red Devils Awards, World
Expo). Mario has been writing in depth
articles on his models for years and
now he has dedicated his first DVD
production to the aspect of airbrushing
a model. n multiple chapters he shows
all of the necessary abilities required to
do complex camouflage patterns on
your own. Topics range from the choice
and maintenance of your airbrush and
tools, to paint thinning, colour changes,
masking a model, airbrushing a base
coat and troubleshooting.
As if that wasn't enough, it also shows
you 10 different camo patterns.
Adam WiIder - Authentic MetaI
Well known AFV modeller Adam
Wilder has teamed up with
MXpression to share some of his
trademark techniques. He shows
all the secrets needed to give
plastic the unique look of metal.
Starting with surface texturing
and weld seams he then moves
on to raw steel, polished
stainless steel and a primed
Ferdinand upper hull. After
finishing a heavily rusted exhaust
Adam finally creates the super
realistic sidewall of a burnt M113.
This DVD will surely be a great
inspiration for beginners and
advanced modellers alike!
APML1 BOOK Model Laboratory 1 SdKfz 171 Panther G 5.75
APML2 BOOK Model Laboratory 2 Junkers 88 A-4 6.70
EMP3 BOOK Euro Modelismo Tanks in Russia 1941/42 16.55
EMP4 BOOK Euro Modelismo Rarities Modelling Armoured 14.90
EMP8 BOOK Euro Modelismo German Army Uniforms 34.70
EMP13 BOOK Euro Modelismo STUG 3 20.65
EMP14 BOOK Sculpting Figures - Body Language 14.05
EMP15 BOOK Euro Modelismo Vignettes & Sceneries - 30.15
EMP16 BOOK Euro Modelismo Tanks in Russia Part 3 16.55
EMP21 BOOK Tanks in Russia V. 18.25
EMPDAK BOOK D.A.K. Deutsches Afrila Korps 15.75
PANZ38 BOOK Panzer Aces ssue 38 8.95
PANZ39 BOOK Panzer Aces ssue 39 8.95
PANZ40 BOOK Panzer Aces ssue 40 8.95
PANZ41 BOOK Panzer Aces ssue 41 8.95
PAP1 BOOK Panzer Aces Profiles 1 - Guide to camouflage 16.25
TANKART Vol. 2
WWII German Armor
19.95
19.95
www.afvmodeller.com
AVAILABLE FROM
AIR Modeller is the
leading visual bi-
monthly magazine
for aircraft
modellers.
Showcasing the work of the
very best modellers from
around the world, providing
techniques on how to
achieve the best results and
offers unique references.
SHOWCASING THE VERY
BEST IN SCALE AIRCRAFT
MODELLING
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TAM35328 1/35 Israeli Tank Tiran 5 by Tamiya
TAM32575 1/48 German Tiger I Late Production by Tamiya
TAM78030 1/350 IJN Yamato by Tamiya




































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