23 ISSUE Rae tetra) .-) £6.00 UK SAW TACaiCrs (i leeoliaCONTENTS 2 | 69 Ton Signpost | The Sragon Porsche king Tloer modelled in a new postwar role by David Parar 14 Distant Target Graeme Newman models the ARV Club 10.5em Howitzer in an Eastern front diorama 22 Challenger Albert Tureczek improves the Trumpeter kit 30 Prairie Eagle ‘99 Same vehicle, different scale as David Bilek builds a small scale Challenger 36 Xtreme detail The Israeli M51 Sherman 42 D-Lite We take a look at the new Tristar Panzer IV D kit 50 Keeping Track | More new releases 56 | Matilda ‘The old Tamiya kit is brought up to date by Reider Morten Syversten [AF Modeler is pubhed Bimenthy by USA Subscription Agent eV Moseter wolcmee canteens rom AFV Melos Wise Ow! Wercwide Puttcations trates partes, but carrot wooo any 176 Newbridge Stect 15180 Canciowood St, Sutet reseonabty for unsctees mates! Neweaste upon Tyre Lakewood CA 90712-1900 “The contnts fie pubsteaton cing a artclos, Net 2TE usa ‘renga protooras engnata by ABV Tot 0191 209 1107 “ot: 562-461-7574 Mocater ta become e putters coor nee Fax: 0191 209 2002 Fax: 962-461-7212 2pytant lan Reproduction nny fem requres te femal infogahmedetor.com ‘emal ifo@wiseowmagazines.com wen congont ft piano nat very ars Editor and Designer: Davie Parkar wobaite: wnvawiaeowimagasines.com. taser o meld ita AFV Madr bd carct Deputy Extor: Donald Combet tai nary way fr emoror omens ‘Sales Director: Keth Smith (SSN 1747-4183eM ey CT Ey M lYra aoe cadPhotos 1 tod ‘The initial painting sequence with a dark ‘brown coat applied before the base coat ot ‘sand and finally the camoutage pattem ‘along with some rusty tones on the turret land engine dock, Photos 4 t0 5 Areas of rusted bare motal are picked out In mottiod tones of enamels and the engine deck gets a base coat of dark ‘brown. Photo 6 ‘The remnants of the aimmert paste are picked out on the turet using a fine brush, Photos 7 to 8 lout down a small chisel rush to the \hcth ofthe zimmer pattern and stippled on aiferent toned ribbed patterns to the areas where the zimmertt had been lost Areas of red oxide primer were also applied to areas of more conventional amage. Photos 9 to 10 ‘These close upe show the appication of ‘ust stains and chipped paint around the hhatches. Note that a wash has been ‘applied to the whole vehicle using a mix of oils and enamels, Proto 11 ‘An overall ew of the tank with the chipped zimmer looking very prominent. Photo 12 ‘The same ribbed etfect was also applied to the areas of faked zimmentteT)‘The engine deck is given a top coat of assorted rust tones using enamels Photo 14 Although they are not visible on the period ar and right side of the turret Photo 18 Areas of rust wore oversprayed with tones of red brown gouache to unity the undertving enamels followed by areas of 200 etalning around the burt areas. Photos 16 to 20 ‘Scutfe and chips are appiled to areas of high wear along with rain streaked stains (nthe vertical sufaces. At this point the heavily weathered appearance Is really starting to work Photos 21 to 22 Wold beads are picked out In a Gunzo Colour eiver which can be polished when ny. Photos 23 to 25 ‘The tracks are sprayed with chocolate brown colour before getting & toned pigments are brushed into all the recesses folowed by some dived rust pigments. After fing the tracks they are (ven a ight wash on the ralved surfaces Photo 27 Because the tank has been at the roadside for some time | added areas of dust to the horizontal surfaces, This shot of the engine ‘shows It around the turret ring and aleUE)Photos 26 to 27 with elose reference to the photographs the lettering was applied to the turret using white enamels which was dite with Humbrol No.72. Photo 28 More debris was applies to the decks with ‘email stones and sticks scattered around 10 add tothe feeling that the vehicle has ‘been siting atthe roadside for some time, Photo 29 Siriarty the tracks are sunkon into the base and accumulated debris Is adced to the inside of the tracks and etrande of ‘Grass are growing up through the tracks Photos 30 to 34 ‘The Ancroa ‘Rascals’ Rgures wore idea! land required only minor adjustments. | chose to remove the seated boy's hat an sculpted a now top to his head using Maglosculpt. These were the fret chikren's faces | had painted and it recuired a sighty diferent approach - no 8 O'clock shadows but pink cheeks instead. Photos 36 to 38 Detalis ofthe debris on the upper deck and turet, notice the bid droppings on the aA simple base was made using polystyrene celing tes into which the rainage ditch was cut to replicate the ‘groundwork in the photographs. Whilst the layer of filer wa positioned on the base projected by a layer of eng fim. This allowed me to sit wet the tank was: the tank into the filer for that realistic ‘sunken appearance. The ‘footornt’ of the tank tracks were then cleaned out of any romaining ler botere it sot Finishing touches (Once dry, the tank was repositioned and ‘the grass matting was torn into regular ‘sections and glued into place around the Vehicle, checking al the time that the postioning looked natural | kept the longer ‘9rass close to the hull as people walking ‘round the vehicle would tend to wear down the foliage. When the grass has. ‘led the tank was again removed and the ‘base was sprayed using gouache. The Vehicle was then glued into position an the running gear and the figures were (Les into postion. The final touch was the fitting of the muzzle brako which | had to leave separate in oxcer to side the boy down the barrel. This was fitted ata sight ‘angle as seen in the photographs.AFV Club’s leFH 18 Howitzerhe release of AFV Club's 10.Sem theld howitzer and ‘ammunition caught my Imagination (the pressed model and some of the parts are very fragile. ‘The ubiquitous 10.5 em fleld howitzer ‘was seen on all fronts during the war. 1 wanted to depict the gun in action in the summer of 1942 during the push towards Stalingrad and chose Sra (mot) Artillery regiment of the Sra motorised infantry division. These nits were reinforced intantry divisions, which as the name suggests had at least partial motorisation. They ‘also hed an organic Panzer battalion ‘and most that were involved in Operation Blue were equipped withmany of the potent new Panzer IV F2s. (One of the foatur of this campaign the searing heat at time ‘of 406 and the reaching in exoo: shortage of water. Most of the w the region had been poisoned by the retreating Soviets who sacrificed tersitory rather than let the Germans fencirole large numbers of troops. ‘The most challenging part of the dio there were no commercially available figures that met my criteria, Most photos of artillery crow i ‘show them in fatigues or partially dressed, this Is obviously due to the labour intensive nature of the firing regime-eepecially in high temperatures. | started by casting torsos and boots from my rather large collection of stock figures, standard was used along with a very el rubber to create the moulds. This type of rubber allows you extricate a figureby simply stretching the mould to tem without tearing the mould. All hands are Hornet items whilst the arms and. logs are created using wire armatures and Duro two-part putty. ‘To create the typical Ukrainian farmhouse ‘800n in this part of Southern Russia | used balsa for the walls that were simply covered In polytila crack filer to give an uneven ‘texture. This allows various layers to be applied as well as being simple to seribe.‘To cut through a bullding with the root sloping away at various angles creating an interesting angle is tricky but net too aificult. A cardboard base ‘washes of enamels and oils; this ‘works better than solld coats of paint ‘and allows the natural materiale to ‘come to lite. Most of these dwollings wore simple affairs due to the medieval practice of ‘sharing the building with livestock in “winter. Simply built of mud and straw brick the walle were rendered with‘solld coat, timber being reserved for ‘essential fittings as wood Is fairly scarce in large areas of the Ukraine. ‘The groundwork Is polyfiia covered in Various grades of scatter then painted, ‘static grass and sisal make up the Grass with some small dried flowers to break up the uniformity. AFV Club ammunition sets complete the scene with @ zeltbahn and Soviet camoutlage cape (duro). 1 ook forward to more artillory kits from AFV Club, finding them an ‘enjoyable change of subject as woll ae highly Informative due to all theCHALLENGER IIUeSmal Scale CHALLENGER II Modelled by David Bilek Intialy | a not tke the Dragon kt as | ic thin tho coxale wore as sharp as Revels Chally 1, combined with some ‘minor mistakes in turet shape and the Inclusion of one piece soft track. | had no docont roforencos either but @ Canadian {tend who is a fan of British tanks and Uniforms lent me some magazines, along. ‘with a. Concord book on the Chalenge Air studying the photos and reacing the history of the tank became mors Interested inthe vehicle, although | preferred the Operation TELIC ‘configuration with huge side skirts and painted in the desert sand color. | wanted to use this project to test some pew techniques. This 6 result of my. ‘experiments, unfortunately without any ‘step-by step photos, because | cid not ‘want to lose time by taking of photos of a “test pleco” when the results wore. uncertain. Construction ‘The hull goos together easly and without any toubles, the fit ie 60 good that Idd ‘not use any flr, but had to carefully ‘lean every part to remove mould tines ‘wth a sharp knife and then sandpaper. The ‘racks gave me a shock - once I had glued ‘both ends together with superglue I tried 10 At them en the wheels only to discover that tho tracks are about 10-15mm too short ‘The tension was go high once fitted, that the ilers and sprockets started to bend To resolve this | cut Both tracks again and | Used superalue to bond them to each Wheel-the gap was hidden by the side skins. | added all she small parts tothe ful, replacing the towing cables with Karaya ones and | reworked the poor ‘adational fuel tanie,Base “This was fret time I had used Woodland Scenics materials and 60 tried to use all the diferent products, Firstly | applied Axson two companent epoxy paste in thin layers on my wooden plinth. Then I eculpted groundwork and mado trackeprints using, the Challenger as the stamp, After tho paste had cured, | Started to work on the mud and grass. For the muddy areas | used MIG ploments with turpentine in order to maintain the ‘same mud shades as on the tank with wet mud darker and cry ‘mud lighter. Then | added tur in several colors yolow grass, ‘burnt grass and blended grass) and cut down hairs (again in ‘several colors) to reproduce tall grass. Bushes were mac from {eloxis (cea foam) and finally | added several small stones and ‘mail pieces of wood. The scenery was done and | was sight disappointed, that there wasn't enough space for a smal treo, [because | had really enjoyed vorking with the Woodland Scenics products. Conclusion It ie interesting that this model looks eo good to me, even thouoh | 6d not mako any special efforts to create a great ‘model. My Chally 2 looks far better than other kits I have bult ‘where | wasted time eerrecting ofall he mistakes, adding ‘super dtals or opening engine covers. Maybe wo all waste, to0 mich time with these things and wo should got back to basics and concentrate on getting things finshed!* 1 eee ein al Ag bo a Veter ia las eee oa model ta Param late ROT aMUMeeROn Cama Ne al) Going Gustav photography as AFV Modeller Cree eet WD iy COPE R mend } = PNT eel} ——— www.airmodeller.com Ta aoe eV ORO NWN) 20th -23rd July Subscription to AIR Modeller Your details + year subscription (6 leaves) Tie 1 yea subseption 2 £48.00 | enclose a cheque for € 8 Dota or Bitsn Pound Only Pea eeae el ‘Acdress. coro] euccar[—] via ost oman. 1) FIL I Loo County ewvawel I] LIL] Please return your completed coupon to: AFV Modeller, 176 New Bridge Steel, Newcustle upon Tyne, England NE1 2TEht tings and front trseme! SG The casting numbers on the turret aro clearly visible inthis shot “when also shows the smoke dischargers and track stowage to {00d eect. (Proton. Witem de Boer) turet you can ust make out casting ‘A view looking across the engine deck under the turret bustle. (Proto damsvitem ce Boer) ‘Notice here that the Jerry can racks are spaced away trom the hl moto Jan Wem de Boor This view shows the mourting pons fr he gpereroacvneels.2 of one of the hull hatches. the front euspension complete with mus. “The rear suspension. (Peto san-witern de Boer) A deta to return roe ich ao hows th how eat on Te ler whee showing the mouting Seemon he te @D Tre roadwnee! bogie assembly. (Proto Jan-Wisern de Boer) “The mounting bracket for the idler wheel. (Photo Jan-witem de Boer)ym into the evers compartment through the hatch. The co-crvers position {A view looking towards the rear of he turet rere Ove ae ‘A close up vow ofthe gunners periscope and siging “The gun travel lock sits so far bock on the hull that it is mounted ‘on these logs to compensate for the curve of the ul (Proto dante de Boer)MeN Cee dates it's been a while EOE Smee RU RUC RCT e EN el Cla“The lower hul is comprised of a foor pan with separate s1d08 and rear. Two substantial cross braces ensure positive alignment and a ‘900d fit a the corners. Note the blanking panels for the sponson undersides. tes complete with the land the suspension bot leveryy designed to allow realist “Teter have included @ partial turret Interor with (un breech and turret basket the gun Ise ie wot! handled although the ‘muzzle has eome very otined grooves for which | ‘can ting ro reference, ‘Although | lft these during ‘construction | returned ard floc them i curing he painting stage. | also riled out te gunners sight aperture. The Turret comes with a separately mouided root panel land open hatch and wsor moulings. Delicate mouldings are supplied on small ‘stub sprues which can be easily snapped fff the main sorue. Here bolt detal forthe final arve housings is seen on the stu sprue botore it 8 aiced ott and ft The completed working suspension - because of time restrictions we chose to ft an aresdy FRIULODEL. the nciviu! InkThe aperar in te bracts tor he Joy roo top parecope canrackwere ton Tewde tb ded fen theo To oe reneriv © Kt “The Kt tools are supplied with moulded clasps and etched brass clasp hanes. | chose to replace these with ABER clasps. Inaividual brackets for the larger tools work wall Because the vertical hull armour le ‘supplied as individual panels the wold ‘dotall must bo added - this was done Using the ‘Lloyd weld” technique, {A basecoat of GUNZE COLOR “The topcoat of HUMBROL sand panzer groy was applied ‘was applied to alow areas of the grey to show through,‘The kt does not supply the turet bin go | Individual vieor sections can be positioned | Recessed screw head deta abounds on In the open or closed posivons. the upper surfaces of the kt. ‘The smoke grenade rack was detailed sing ABER etched brass chain, muctiap springs wore replaced ‘made trom brass wire. ‘whieh have more tnesse,‘The original sand colour enamel is then airbrushed ‘over the areas of wear to knock them back and unity them before re-appiying pure panzor grey to ‘Turret numbers wore hand painted in the original panzer grey with white cutines, ‘Aroas of wear are added using tones of the panzer grey ‘colour drybrushed on. Areas of heavy wear are emphasised with chipped and scutted eectsABER Part 2 of Aber's atest releases covers a ‘Selection of vhiclo update sats beginning ‘wth volume 1 for the KV 25 149. This eat Includes a set of four resin replacement hatch covers and a tumed aluminium ‘stowage container as wel as 2 etched tet. ‘These Include parts to make periscopes and locking mechanisms for the hatches as well ‘88 a new turet machine gun mount. Tere ‘are replacement engine deck grils ond ‘mesh covers and dotals forthe stowage bins and tool stowage making this a good ‘basic set to update the old Tamiya kts Volume 2 of the KY sot 35 144 a a sot of replacement fenders for tho KVir tl ane Volume 8.95 145 are replacement stowage bins with hinged ss [Next we have 2 sets to update the Tasca |Luchs Volume 1 35 155 is very comprehensive with functional visors, replacement too! stowage, new stowaae bin li, tured brass wath incestors, new rear ‘mud aps, replacement engine intake ibe land sereens, jorycan racks, turret hatch tals and crew insignia and headphones. The only thing missing is new trackquards land these are covered in Volume 2 35 186, 35 154 lean update sot for the AFV Club LeFH118 10.5em Howitzer. Tis 6a Includes replacement basoplates for the reco spades, new tool stowage brackets, replacement gun shields, dota for te ‘wheel hubs and braking mechanism, This set contains some really small assembles ‘even by Abers standards ‘Two sets now for the Sete 25018 with Volume 1 95 19 containina detals for the corver's compartment. roplacoment tacias for the rac racks with graphics fim, replacement too! stowage clamps, replacement dashboard, jeryean racks,ite racks, visors and war door as well as the MG shield and mesh for te engine deck intakes. The second sat 35 160 is a set of generle replacement mudgurads forthe 250 At far. Finaly set 35 A97 ie aot of the ‘equare’ sh pattern tuo tanks for the T34 compote with ‘mounting brackets and ideal for achieving that battered look. toh mechaniam forthe Sele Monroe Perdu Studios ‘Something for the Diorama builders now with come exciting new releases from Munroe Purdu. Beginning with the biggest in the shape of an italian church frontage with roadway, This is an impressive piece of resin and vory nicely fiiehed, it comes with & reprinted fresco inser for those of us not up te doing their own Michaolangolo Impression and a printed window insert. The roadway 6 plaza in front of the bulcing has an Interesting change of levels and is big ‘enough to take quite a substantial vehicle. ‘The kt comes with photos ofthe actu buileing fo asset you In geting a realetic = |B weetynerms = ey) CVEE Cinema gi Uoosuoe paint tnion. Monroe Perdu have speciaised In the design of Laser Cut its mace trom card and board. MPO-022 is a complete French Newspaper Kiosk complote with pre printed signage, stock and table and chal. (MPD -017 ie a table and chair set complete dorama potential. Also in laser cut card is a soll set of shutters and window frames Which wil save an awl lt of tne ands finally MPD-033 a get of French Wall sign locals with instructions on applying them land how to achieve a realistic worn appearance. Recommended.