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Universal Carrier MkII (Forced Reconnaissance) Tamiya 1/35th


Badder

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Don't hold your breaths. I will be completing this SLOWLY. Mostly I shall be building it during breaks from working on my current diorama (Lost in France)

Sadly, I hadn't anticipated getting this Universal Carrier, otherwise it would eventually feature with the Churchill alluded to above.

It will, however appear with a Sherman at some point.

Incidentally, The Universal Carrier (in its various forms) was the most numerous of all AFVs ever built

So, here's the box.

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Question. What on earth is 'Forced Reconnaissance'

'You get your butts up over that ridge and see what's there! That's an order!' ??

I've had a look in the box. The mouldings look nice and clean and sharp.

The figures....

Well, there are 5 advertised on the box, but in truth there are 2 for the African theatre, and 3 for NW Europe, AND, the NW Europe ones aren't good.

I think they must be the SMALLEST 1/35th persons EVER.

I understand that space in a Universal Carrier was limited,

but....

Tamiya appear to have got something wrong. I suspect it's just awful modelling of human figures. One is SO hunched up that his ribcage must be restricting his bowel movements. And another has a huge recess in HIS rear end and the backs of his thighs just so he can sit on and fit AROUND the seat!

The crew for the North African theatre, are MUCH better.

Shame I'll be setting this one in Europe!

Pics to follow when my Missus is in a better mood!

Edited by Badder
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Hi ,often wondered what forced reconnaissance meant ,didn't know about it being the most numerous ,i thought the T34 was ,saw a photo of about 20 or so carriers that the Germans were using ,free of charge . :evil_laugh:

After the fall of France, the Germans got their hands on hundreds of abandoned/wrecked Universal Carriers, used them, converted them and even set up their own vehicle designation markers. There were around 113,000 carriers made, not just in Britain. The Canadians and Australians also made them. T34's were the most numerous TANK, at 80,000 +

I've not searched for the full facts on numbers, only going on something I read. I bow to anyone with greater knowledge/search-skills. :banghead:

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You have the numbers about right on the carriers mate.

You have done your research and looking forward to some pictures of the progress.

Have built these in the past and now using resin to upgrade them from resin-cast.

With only limited parts from the Tamiya kit.

Good luck matey.

foxy :coolio:

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After the fall of France, the Germans got their hands on hundreds of abandoned/wrecked Universal Carriers, used them, converted them and even set up their own vehicle designation markers. There were around 113,000 carriers made, not just in Britain. The Canadians and Australians also made them. T34's were the most numerous TANK, at 80,000 +

I've not searched for the full facts on numbers, only going on something I read. I bow to anyone with greater knowledge/search-skills. :banghead:

I bow to your greater knowledge ,greater than my greater knowledge :banghead:,joking aside ,didn't know the Germans had got their hands on hundreds of them in 1940 ,only seen the one photo i mentioned ,plus some film showing one in German hands driving past a knocked out Sherman ,i am sorry if i sounded big headed to you .

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I bow to your greater knowledge ,greater than my greater knowledge :banghead:,joking aside ,didn't know the Germans had got their hands on hundreds of them in 1940 ,only seen the one photo i mentioned ,plus some film showing one in German hands driving past a knocked out Sherman ,i am sorry if i sounded big headed to you .

Don't be silly. lol

I may have exaggerated on the Germans capturing 100's of them. They certainly had dozens and dozens, mostly captured during the Blitzkrieg through Belgium/France, and those which were abandoned around Dunkirk.

Sprue shots... awful pics. Sorry.

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Hunched up crewmen, with recessed bum and legs.

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A mini-art tank rider for size comparison.

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I remember buying one of these Tamiya Universal Carriers back in '79 or '80. I remember starting it but not finishing it. I can't remember why I didn't finish it, but I do know that I gave up before the painting stage. I guess I must have lost or damaged a major piece, or I completely messed something up.

I have so far constructed the basic 'box' of the hull and added some of the internal details. The fits weren't brilliant. There's a bit of leeway in the positioning of the hull sides with the floor for example... not much, but enough to cause wonkiness and misalignment of cross members. I discovered this while dry-fitting, so I've avoided that one.

But it hasn't all been plain sailing.

This morning I realised that I'd actually fitted a part the wrong way round... the bit the gearstick is supposed to locate beside.Rather than trying to correct this - CA glued and not easy to pry off - I am going to cut out a piece of the offending article so that the gearstick can still be fitted in its proper position relative to the driving seat. With the figures fitted, I doubt my mistake will be seen easily anyway.

This model will most likely appear in a diorama with a Sherman, and it's going to be muddy. The carrier will be painted accordingly.

Pics to follow.

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DSC00031_zps4awne6vh.jpg

Not a brilliant photograph. You can see where the gearstick fits... the semi-circular recess in the centre of the driver's compartment. But I've glued the adjacent part the wrong way around and it interferes with the gearstick's fixing. Ho hum. Oh, you will also notice an area which has been 'scraped' with a scalpel. This was done to remove an accidental spill CA. It won't show after painting.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Okay, sorry for the lack of progress, but I got stuck into finishing my 'Lost in France' diorama, and those of you who followed it will know that I did ACTUALLY get stuck!

Me and CA have a very close bond!

But now the diorama is finished and I'm free to carry on with this carrier.

I've added most of the internal structure and applied a base coat of buff acrylic with the old Aztec airbrush as I am going to attempt pre-shading, for the first time ever. ( ''Start off small and work your way up'' as Chris Bonnington's climbing instructor once said ) And of course the carrier will eventually get coats of green .

I've not added all the small details as yet, preferring instead to paint some separately (for slight colour variation and individual weathering) and add them prior to a coat of varnish.

I will add that the kit DOESN'T go together crisply and now that I recall my teenage years, I remember that it never did!

As has already mentioned, the sides and floor 'slip' slightly along their lengths, meaning that one side can be fixed slightly forwards or backwards when compared to the other: not something one would wish, so careful positioning and gluing is required. And the central 'spine' in the rear compartment is a very tight fit between the two cross-members (which also don't fit precisely) causing bowing of the cross-members. I had to do a bit of sanding and filing of the central spine to get it to fit better Also the rearmost 'decking' that sits between the two rear mudguards is slightly too short. I tried to fix it centrally so that the 'joins' were of equal size, but failed. Hence the wider gap on the offside. It's nothing a bit of filler won't fix, but I may just leave it as it is and cover it with mud or something. I've dry-fitted the upright front armour plate that sits in front of the driver and gunner,, and that doesn't fit neatly either. A bit of sanding and bending will be required there as well. Still, these little problems are part of the enjoyment.

One thing I am definitely NOT happy with is the 'tarpaulin'. I will dump that and make my own. It's possible that I will add an extra figure to the 'passenger' compartment.

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Edited by Badder
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Only a tiny bit of work done today because I got GREATELY distracted by what turned up in the post today! Tamiya's 1/35th M4A3 Sherman and the 1/35th 25 pounder field gun with Quad Tractor.

But they will be another story.....

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Only a tiny bit of work done today because I got GREATELY distracted by what turned up in the post today! Tamiya's 1/35th M4A3 Sherman and the 1/35th 25 pounder field gun with Quad Tractor.

But they will be another story.....

nice... is the Quad & Tractor the Tamiya kit? I got that ready for the MTO GB later in the year

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nice... is the Quad & Tractor the Tamiya kit? I got that ready for the MTO GB later in the year

Yes, it is. I've had a good long look at it and the parts are really clean and sharp. I had the Quad on its own in my teens, but this kit was available back then (circa 1979) so I assume it's been re-tooled? I am seriously spoiled for choice of builds at the moment. I have a choice of 3 nice models to do, but will try to ignore the temptation to rush the carrier!

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A bit of progress this afternoon. I decided to add some of the smaller parts; fire extinguishers, the headlight.....

.....and that tiny tiny light beside it. What a pain that was!

Unfortunately I now suffer from a very rare condition which damages the nerves in my limbs, mostly from the knees down, but also from the elbows down and so my fingers don't always work properly. e.g, I might mean to move my index finger, but it might 'jerk' rather than move steadily, or worse still, a random finger might move as well... (a good excuse for when I squirt CA all over the place) So just handling the tiny light was difficult, forget the gluing and fixing it to the bracket! I did use tweezers, but still I had to search for the silly part at least a dozen times after it pinged across the table. I did get it done eventually though. It doesn't bode well for my first attempt at PE in an upcoming build!

I've also constructed the rear axle with wheels, the 'front cover', the radio set, and the driver's panel, (barring the steering wheel and the Bren gun)

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More problems with the fit. The central spine, or more accurately the 'engine cover' doesn't actually sit properly on the floor. The front edge does, but the back doesn't. And the little 'ledges' which are supposed to support the radio set on one side and the passenger seat on the other are actually too high and make both slope. I will have to level them off.

I've just conferred with another member who has posted a carrier in RFI 'The forgotten relic' and he also had problems with bad fits. So it isn't just me. He got around it by 'knocking' his carrier out, depicting it as a wreck rusting away. His rust is excellent. Like I said before, I remember giving up on one of these as a teen and it WAS because of all the problems. This time I shall persevere.

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Unpainted parts are mostly dry fitted. I advise a lot of dry fitting with this kit as there are lots of 'ambiguous' and/or 'loose' fits, the rear panel with the tools on being yet another example.

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I've decided that pre-shading, whilst possible on a model of this size, is not really necessary. Instead I will build up layers of thinned down dark green. I have applied one coat, leaving the buff to show through in some areas such as the upper sides, the front cover, and the upper sides of the engine cover.

At the moment therefore, the dark green looks much lighter, but this will change incrementally. The colour variation doesn't really show up much in these photos.

Front plate and cover still dry-fitted only... notice the misalignment of the front plate furthest away from camera. This part also doesn't fit the front cover, unless the part is bent outwards a bit.

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Edited by Badder
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Airbrush away for the evening. At this point I've decided to construct the suspension and wheels prior to painting. Ordinarily, I would give everything a spray while still on the sprue, then detach, remove mold lines, paint wheel rims, then weather, but as this carrier is going to be racing through mud, I don't think it's necessary to be that fussy.

Edited by Badder
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Hi ,often wondered what forced reconnaissance meant ,didn't know about it being the most numerous ,i thought the T34 was ,saw a photo of about 20 or so carriers that the Germans were using ,free of charge . :evil_laugh:

I was watching 'Battleplan' the other day, and the American narrator twice referred to 'Reconnaissance in Force'. One example given was the raid on the port of Dieppe during WWII. So I guess 'forced reconnaissance' is the British terminology and means a raid/attack with an emphasis on information gathering. It could be to test enemy defences and work out where and in what numbers they exist, or it could be to find and capture a piece of new enemy equipment, or maps etc.

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At least the wheels and suspension are fitting together nicely. As has already mentioned, I am constructing all these parts BEFORE painting. To make things easier, I am NOT gluing ALL of the contact parts between each of the two halves of the suspension units. By only gluing the CENTRAL 'spar' together (the part that the whole suspension and set of wheels swivel on) this leaves the wheels free to turn, so I can paint the rims without difficulty. I may or may not fix the wheels in place afterwards. Whatever, the building of the wheel units has been swift.

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Gunner's seat added... not exactly easy. The support strut on the gunner's left doesn't really have a floor mounting point due to the bad fit of the underlying 'box'.

Suspension units given a spray of dark green. Wheel rims, tools on rear plate, gunner's and driver's seat and exhausts yet to be painted Once this is done I will give everything a coat of satin varnish (I still don't have semi-gloss or gloss varnish... tut-tut me)

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Some cleaning up needed below:

]DSC00221_zpsvqqqppd6.jpg

Edited by Badder
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Waiting for varnish to dry............ watches 'The Longest Day - Director's cut with interviews.'

Pics to follow soonish.

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Decals added. First stage of rust added to exhausts, although these will be completely invisible after model completion.

I was going to pair this British carrier up with a Sherman in a diorama, but I believe the Sherman I have (M4A3 with 105mm Howitzer) was not used by the British, so I've had to scrap that idea. Instead, I may purchase another Churchill (possibly a Crocodile) and pair it up with that.

Photos show carrier with front plate and front cover dry-fitted:

Hmmmm ... They also show ejector marks which I hadn't noticed before. grrrrr

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Edited by Badder
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