badger

A 1/35 Verlinden US vietnam figure off ebay for £4. I know there's better and more accurate sculpts out there but I always wanted these in my youth. Sadly could never afford them on my paper round money!

I recently assembled a set of heavy hobbys (voyager) 3d printed T54E1 tracks. A bit fragile but looked the part. I picked them up from aliexpress for about £16 + £3ish postage.

Its most certainly better!! Outstanding I'd say. Just need a cockpit to the same standard now . All the best

Oooh that looks like another lot of very useful parts. I've got the fuselage correction amd undercarriage set from your good self and they are superb. Really enjoying watching this come together. Ben

That's a beautiful build 👍

Stunning work John and an enjoyable read with my morning coffee! Looking forward to seeing the paint go on. All the best Ben

Hi John Amazing build as usual. I can recommend these if you need more periscope guards: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115513223357?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=nwb_F-BPQNi&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=gKCxPngSRVK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY Looking forward to the next update Ben

A set of 1/35 Echelon decals for a Vietnam M113 and an unboxed Dragon 1/72 Sd.kfz 261 (which turns out to be a bit of a dog of a kit and will need a fair bit of work to correct / add missing details).

Looking great - have the S-400 in the stash myself and its a fair size even in 1/72!

Stunning build!! I have a part started, mostly painted one in the stash but stalled because the decals are rather yellowed and cracked. Will investigate decalpool as even if they are not great at least I can then finish off the kit.

Having recently looked at this kit then put it back into the stash I can testify as to how much work you have put into this! Simply stunning!! Well done indeed.

Ooh - they would be very useful if possible. I might have some but they'll only be from a phone. Many thanks Ben

Thanks for the input @Kingsmanand @SleeperService. My centaur is a mkii with the improved turret. I have a photo of this with the sloping fenders which I'll add to the model. I'll go with SCC.15 for this. The crusader is the AA mkiii with 20mm oerlikons. Still tempted with SCC.2. Kind regards Ben

More confusion - @Kingsman posted on here a year or two ago that the Centaur AAs were all new builds (and very helpfully mentioned they were all flat engine decks 👍). Try as I might I can't find any dates of production to try and pin down a colour.

Another source lists them as converted from existing tanks in 1944 which makes more sense to me. Either way, in researching Ive noticed the front plate of the hull has a repositioned left headlight and an access hatch and exhaust for a generator, none of which is on my kit. Time to get my tools out!!

Interestingly Dennis Oliver states the AA versions were the last off the Centaur production line in early 1945. If, so then they would be SCC.15. More research needed

Fantastic - thank you. That matches my initial thoughts. Would be good if SCC.15 could be confirmed as then I can have a Crusader in every major colour scheme but I feel SCC.2 is the more likely candidate. Now for a minor diversion - any ideas on the Centaur AA? Again I feel SCC.2 would be most likely. Kind regards Ben

Hi All I'm working through the IBG Crusader family at present and have some colour queries. Hopefully someone will be able to confirm or deny my theories. If @Mike Starmer or @Kingsman are about I'd really appreciate your thoughts 🤞 Crusader AA MkI (bofors 40mm). The kit decals are for a vehicle photographed at Lulworth Cove in 1943 during a demonstration. I assume therefore this would be SCC.2 as it is prior to the introduction of SCC.15 and long after G3 had been replaced. Crusader AA MkIII (20mm Oerlikon). I have replacement decals for a vehicle in Normandy 1944. Most builds tend to go with SCC.15 but would this also more likely be SCC.2? Any thoughts welcome Kind regards Ben

A Dragon 1/35 Sdkfz.234/2 for a bit of a bargain price from ebay. Been after one for a fair while so chuffed with that!

Great build!! If it helps the interior is mostly wrong anyway being for an M3A1, not the M3 the kit depicts.

Hi @AdrianMF and thanks for dropping by. As far as I understand the photo with rockets shows the "a" model doors which had a large single door. The "b" model is the earlier photo with just a small section open on the ground, as the doors were in two sections and the larger piece closed once the gear was down. Think thats it, but this is all new to me as I'm a treadhead. All the best Ben

Current plan is to build "Little Audrey" based in Belgium in 1945. This should solve any turret issues and I believe I would also be ok to use the drop tanks. Any advice greatly appreciated as way out of my depth here!

@klr Thanks for the heads up - will investigate next time I'm at the bench. I vaguely recollect reading somewhere the turret may also be the wrong shape for a Pacific aircraft as it was redesigned to reduce buffeting (I think) and the kit only has the earlier version. Luckily the Kits World decals give at least one option based in France so again will look into this.

Thanks @modelling minion - I'm not really an aircraft builder but built the old airfix kit as a kid and picked this up several years ago with the intention of having another go

Happy New Year All Despite a truly horrible track record of gb completions I'll be entering with this: It's the venerable Dragon P61b in 1/72. I've been collecting aftermarket bits for this for a few years and have a decent selection: Not shown is an Eduard set for the exterior (actually for the Hobbyboss kit but I'm hoping most of it will fit). I'll be going for one of the schemes from the Kits World decals (haven't decided yet). The Eaglecal sheet is providing the stencils as the kit decals are shot, being old, yellowed and cracked! Not sure how much time I'll have as I'm also starting a masters degree next week but will try and plod on with it over the next few months. More soon Ben