Getting all Fancy

So as I confessed in a previous post, getting the correct glue for ABS (Plastic Magic) prompted a whole cycle of American steel. I reckon the cast hull Sherman M4A1 will be going to Steve, but that leaves me with the two remaining Shermans, and as I discovered, possibly a third.

Yesterday was digging the garden, creating a new bed for a rhododendron and some azaleas. (The garden centre was a lot quieter than I had feared, thank goodness.)  Having done that, there were enough Brownie Points acquired to drink beer, eat and join in the Virtual Wargames Club organised by Phil Olley. Great stuff.

This morning, I reviewed what was left of the Rubicon order.. and this was what I decided to go with. The Rubicon resin accessories for wading trunks and a bulldozer blade:

So my Marines are going to be getting support from a wading M4A2 dozer...  I have seen classic pictures of wading Shermans in use as early as 1942, none equipped with a dozer blade, but I'm not going to let that stop me.

As with the M4A3E8 I cleaned up the headlight housings a little, and the grab handle of the gamers version of the .50 cal, drilled (some of) the lifting rings, but otherwise the kit was straightforward and went together beautifully.

Assembling the wading 'funnels' was simple and the parts fitted together pretty well. One thing I found was that the resin is quite soft, and it's tricky to get the pouring gates cut away cleanly. You might just be able to see it on one of the pictures.

In progress

After I looked at this picture I realised I hadn't drilled out the turret front lifting ring..fixed now. You may also be able to see traces of having to sand back the rear 'funnel' at the top. I am sure it will vanish under paint.

The dozer kit goes together very well, and unlike most resin I have worked with, was very clean of flash and showed minimal warping. The build sequence is important, and I made sure that the hydraulic assembly was attached to the transmission casing before attaching the blade. It was one of those operations where an extra pair of hands would be useful.. but it worked.

The pair together. The dozer will now get an undercoat, ready for the airbrush. 

I also picked up some second hand Warlord 'animal casualties', which would appear to be compulsory for games set in France. They needed a bit of filling with Vallejo Plastic Putty, but are now ready for undercoat. I am debating with myself whether to put these on bases. It would protect them from handling, but might look a bit odd.

Oh, and the M4A2 comes with a spare turret, and a spare hull. The M4A3E8 has a spare track set. So if I scratched the hull box I could build an entire extra Sherman...  So that's another project.

Guess what - that other project materialised. Quick knock up of a lower chassis plasticard box.. and Sherman no 3.

So a funny thing happened...

There was I, minding my own business, reading blogs and stuff, when I came across a post about glue. Exciting stuff, I hear you say. No, really..  anyway, I have glued together a couple of Rubicon kits in the past, and the kits are lovely, but for some reason I had real difficulty with them.

It turns out that unlike every other plastic kit I have built, which has been made from styrene plastics, Rubicon uses an ABS plastic, and the styrene glues like Tamiya and Revell, just don't stick them together properly. Eureka.. this explains everything.

Ok, I had better get myself some ABS glue for my next Rubicon kit, and then Rubicon has some special deals for lockdown, and there's three Shermans, wading gear, a dozer blade and tank crew, all for £65. Well, it would be rude not to try out my new ABS glue.

Absolutely lovely model. I ran into one problem, which was that the main gun mounting was tricky to seat accurately on the turret. I also made two minor modifications, drilling out the lifting rings and cutting down the brushguards on  the lights. I think it makes a big difference. The 50 cal is Rubicon's 'wargames' version with the barrel overscale for durability. They include both a model and a wargames version in the kit.

And now of course, I will have to get myself some US Marines to play with at least one of the Shermans. I can feel an order to 1st Corps coming on.

And thus the madness continues...

Cold War Build - WIP

So I thought the USMC deserved a bit of love...   and I had an S&S model M106 Recoilless Rifle, plus the S-Model M151 A2 'Mutt'. Still a Work in Progress, and added S&S crew and camo netting.

The windscreen etc. are just lying in place as I have yet to work out the final assembly sequence, but I reckon it will be a nice little support.

And here's how the Soviet hardware is coming along...

One BMD-1 complete - I tried to get cute with the numbering, as the decal sheet has all the rows of numbers on a single piece of deal sheet, so I thought I could shortcut by using the number 0.. 1.. 2.. but the intervals are too great, and they need to be cut and aligned on the curve of the turret.

The turret on the T64 alone contains about 40 odd parts, some extremely tiny, but I am very happy with progress so far.

A word of warning to those assembling the Modelcollect T64 Model 1975. The instructions are wrong. Step 6 in the instructions would have you assemble the main hull (excluding the glacis), but if you do, you will be unable to attach the lower hull. It needs to be slid under bulges under the main hull, which can't be done once both side sponsons are attached. I would recommend that you attach one sponson only.

This also means that you cant apply paint separately to the running gear and the hull.

The second error is the numbering of the axles. D8 and D4 are (I think) reversed, and won't align properly. Plus D14 and D10, if inserted into the predrilled holes are out of alignment.

No big deal, but it seems a shame, as otherwise it is a very very nice kit.

I blame John...

Also resold by Italeri

So when John came over to play some Signal Close Action last night, I showed him some of the USMC stuff I have been doing, and he posed the question: "Do you have an OpFor?"  errrr...  well... no.

This led to looking up websites, checking plastic figure availability (amazingly limited for Cold War period Warsaw Pact)..  and identifying that the ESCI Russian Special Forces (Spetsnaz) were really the only decent option.

Unless you went for the Orion 'Chechnya' period figures - which you would need a couple of boxes of, and look to have some very weird poses. (Including a man urinating? what the?)

Some bizarre figure choices ruin otherwise a good set.

So this morning, I idly looked up the online pricing for a suitable Spetsnaz force..   

S-Model do the airborne BMD fighting vehicle…  2 models for $16 + postage.. same seller has the ESCI figures for $11.95..   plus a T64 from Modelcollect.. 

Pricier at $23, but shipped free.. 

and you can’t do without the iconic Mi24 Hind attack helicopter…    $18 inc postage on ebay for the excellent Zvezda kit from a seller in Lithuania..  

Aaarrrrgggghhhhh… too shiny. I have no willpower. Thanks John.

My pocket is lighter, but I will have a matched opponent…  now all I have to do is postulate an American Marine landing somewhere desert’y in 1980 opposed by airborne Spetsnaz forces..   the T64 will have to be a blow in…    

 

Maybe the Spetsnaz have been sent to support the Socialist Yemen regime, with the T64 offloaded at port..   the Saudis ask for help, and a Marine MAU is sent to help..  ok.. there’s a scenario.

And this morning the postie brought me another LVTP7 (the dragon model from Hobbyco in Oz, a special at  $6.95) plus a diecast CH46 transport helicopter all the way from Poland. USMC Transport won’t be an issue…

Progress, sort of...

Sometimes I think that life would be easier if I just stuck to one thing at a time. But then I guess I wouldn't be a wargamer? As occasional readers of this blog may have noticed, a lot of stuff gets started, WIP ...  sort of progresses, and then I get distracted by something else. Of course work gets in the way, completing magazine articles for a Defence magazine, consulting work on service governance.. all the humdrum stuff, but usually it's a great inspiration, a chance sighting and the current project(s) get sidelined or slowed.

I'm determined to get a few things finished though. The Italian Condotta for DBMM, the US Marines of 1980, and the Medieval Germans c 1260 for DBMM.

Maybe it's typical of the way I work, lots of things on the go, a little bit here, a little bit there. So in the interests of keeping going, here's a couple of things on the table...

1/72 Diecast M48 getting an initial re-spray. I have given up finding any of the MARS/Galaxy 1/72 kits, so these will be stray Bundeswehr tanks rounded up to give additional armour support to the USMC. I suspect they will be easy prey for any half-modern Warsaw Pact armour, but I have a plan for that.

Of course, having Marines, I need Marine decals, and there aren't any in the spares box, so I printed some up on decal paper; and while I was at it, printed off decals for my Condotta flags & banners. Very pleased with how these came out. Inkjet on best photo setting, paper by Renascent, and a couple of sprays with Dullcote to fix the colours. Very much looking forward to getting these applied.

I did mention I had a plan for dealing with Warsaw Pact armour?  Here it is. The might AH-1J Seacobra attack helicopter, complete with unguided rockets, TOW, and a 30mm Vulcan cannon. The screen image in the background is the colour scheme I am aiming for, so a fair bit of airbrushing and weathering to do..  and of course, the decals... The canopy is white with PVA so I can airbrush - as the trick worked beautifully last time.

On the right the venerable A4 Skyhawk, US Navy support - a smaller scale diecast, but I may use the Father Ted argument...   "this one is far away".  Ideally it should also be in USMC livery, but they were pretty boring, so this one will do as is.

I am still expecting another couple of LVTP-7, and a CH46 Seaknight diecast, so my Marines can ride to battle in style, but that's it, no really, that's it...   a complete platoon, armour, air and transport.

And finally, did I mention I am easily distracted?  

So the Curtiss seaplane was incredibly cheap from a hobby shop seconds sale, and if you have one 'Porco Rosso' plane, well, you have to have the man himself. A quick trip to Hobbylink Japan and a few bucks and a couple of days later...  Maybe I will have to get some Pulp figures?..  hmmmm.

"Oh look...   shiny things...."