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Airfix 1/32 17 Pounder - gun and crew done.


AdrianMF

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Hi

 

I succumbed to the recent Airfix 17 Pounder for a fiver offer. I scratch built one of these in 1/72 in the 1970s and have a soft spot for it. The latest issue box:

IMG_6301.jpg%5B

 

The crew is I believe the Airfix multipose Airfix infantry set:

IMG_6327.jpg

 

the gun is on three sprues:

IMG_6328.jpg

 

It's not a great moulding - loads of sink marks, distortion and flash.

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IMG_6332.jpg

 

I spent this afternoon making up sub assemblies. The parts needed a fair bit of preparation before assembly, and I see a fair bit of filling and sanding in my future too.

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It's quite frustrating - all the rectangular parts are slightly trapezoidal to aid mould release. The multipose figures are well modelled, and someone at Airfix took some trouble to suggest how to assemble them to look more like a gun crew. They will need more work to look convincing.

 

But it's a 200+ part kit fof a subject I like for a fiver!

 

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

 

 

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I'll be keen to see what you can do with this Adrian, I bought one of these in the sale too but its waiting to come home with a mate. I've long had a fascination for these. maybe its the ability to take out Tigers that does it for me. :)

Steve.

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Well, several hours of scraping, filling and sanding followed by painting...

IMG_6337.jpg

 

After I finished the sanding I started to add the smaller parts and I have to confess I'm warming to the kit.

 

Under a coat of green (Airfix suggest Humbrol 253 which is an RLM colour but it looks good to me) (not that I would know) it is starting to look the business. Painting would have been a lot faster with a spray gun, but the second coat was faster and easier than the first coat straight to plastic.

 

Although I will have a sneaky test fit I will keep it in sub assemblies for weathering. I have picked up a bunch of tips from @PlaStixs epic build in the Russia GB and I will give them a try!

 

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

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There are a lot of parts there Adrian. It's the sort of kit I would have really liked when I was a young boy; lots of potential with the figures and nice and big.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing the figure painting. It's an area of modelling I find particularly challenging.

 

Great stuff

TonyT

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Hi Adrian. Great idea for a project and I look forward to seeing more progress. You certainly got value for money with this kit too. :thumbsup:

Kind regards,

Stix

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Hello,

 

A bit of a diversion while working from home today. The gun is done. Brush painted in acrylic Hu253 and washed with mixes of dark grey, black and rust. Dry brushed with original colour plus light grey, and some chipping, mainly on the spades, in Citadel gunmetal:

IMG_6377.jpg

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It turned out all right despite my initial fears over moulding quality. I'm even using the kit-supplied plastic pins for the trail. And the breech works too:

 

IMG_6385.jpg

IMG_6387.jpg

 

I will post a couple of pics to the gallery and make a start on the crew.

 

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

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1 hour ago, AdrianMF said:

Erm, if "small" is "about 8 inches square or larger" then small it is! Its size has crept up on me but then I don't normally do 1/32...

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

Err... so I should assume that there would be some difficulty trying to hide it from Mrs N then. :winkgrin:

 

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And we're off on the figures. First one is the standing guy with a left arm repositioned to hold binoculars. The set is a mix of poses, ranging from this guy, standing upright and still, to some pretty active poses - it will be a challenge to pull them all together into a coherent crew.

IMG_6389.jpg%5B

 

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

 

 

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neat work Adrian

 

I was curious about the Brit Infantry as gun crew,    I found this (posed?) image

 

British_Army_17pdr.jpg

 

as my  idea of a gun crew is more this

b189b256239e19963af07a46a7ee82e7.jpg

 

Turns out Bronco do a gun crew set

 

8feb2b098876cf5e7abc5c34e5c1b213.image.9

 

So perhaps the gunners would unclip the ammo pouches?

more searching,  

The_British_Army_in_the_Normandy_Campaig

17-pounder gun, three loaders standing by with AP ammunition during Operation Epsom, 27 June 1944.

 

I  was image  searching as I was curious  myself (I  never  got the 17pdr kit 'back then' ) 

 

 

I don't know what the current plastic is like,  when these were first available in the late 70's, they were made of this lovely white plastic,  which was both crisp  but soft and carved/cut really well,  so along with the mutipose format it was a very flexible  for figure modelling.

 

One final point,  the 1/32 Airfix toy soldier range used to be in polythene,  but is now in some  kind of slightly flexible styrene,  so you can mix and match these with multipose, as well as  clean  them up  and paint them easily. 

 

HTH

Cheers

T

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thanks Troy. While googling I too have noticed a range of dress, possibly partly influenced by temperature and location.

 

I did a whole load of non-reversible trimming to get that figure's pouches to fit nicely but I think I'm going to leave them off the more active figures (they would be a pain to fit on a bent figure anyhow). The big challenge is to get the seated gun layer in a good pose, and then the rest should be OK. I'm doing this figure first to check out colours and do a bit of large figure painting revision!

 

The plastic for both gun and figures is the softish modern Airfix styrene.

 

Regards,

Adrian

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14 minutes ago, AdrianMF said:

will need a bit of gunmetal for buckles at some point.

Hi Adrian

 

AFAIK, the belt clip and uniform studs were brass.

1937%20Officers%20web%20set%2001.JPG

 

this looks to be natural colour webbing,  but it was often green  tinted with (green) blanco

my quick google is turning up this!

http://www.antheads.co.uk/catguide/webbing

 

which has answered some  questions I'd not even known to ask,  like different blancos...

 

HTH

T

 

 

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Thanks again Troy! I have a dim memory of using an army surplus rucksack for cubs/scouts, and brass furniture rings a faint bell. I prefer the look I get when I add a touch of Hu78, so I will assume they blancoed!

 

I have been playing with the running figure that Airfix tell you to put in the gun layer's seat. After a fair amount of major surgery and component swapping, I've now got him to fit in the seat and look like he's in conversation with the first figure. I've managed to reproduce the pose myself without pulling anything! Lots of filling and reworking of the clothing, but I think it will work. I may well tighten up the vignette I had planned to just have these two and a loader or two, rather than a full crew.

IMG_6395.jpg

 

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

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I do like the gun layer,  great pose !   .... ah, the 'holding the sten magazine' arm...   

 

I did a load of  these in my youth,   me and a friend did military for a  while,  I had the allies, he did axis....  and there really was  not a much  allied,  especially British. 'back then'  

A set of 8th Army figures crossed with the Infantry set would be  good  for an "in action"  crew as   they have shirt sleeves.

 

One oddity  about the British Infantry  set was they are late war in uniform and equipment,  but the battledress is the 1937 pattern with pocket pleats and concealed buttons,  as opposed to the 1940 economy pattern, no pleats and exposed buttons.

I used to have a great Marine battledress jacket when I was ta school,   but a 'a friend' borrowed it  for a while and knackered a bit. 

I do still have the cloth badges somewhere though.

 

I digress,   very neat bit of  figure painting as well :goodjob: 

 

cheers

T

 

PS 

from the thread on the  new Tamiya Archer kit

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235024947-archer/&do=findComment&comment=2789346

On 07/08/2017 at 17:45, SleeperService said:

Further to earlier comments.

In the Kew Archives there is a report compiled by the Royal Artillery of user comments on equipment. The towed 17pdr gets a hammering as it's 'a bloody coastal defence gun not a field piece'. The Valentine 17pdr is universally praised for the speed it could get into and out of action and also for the fact that the vehicle wasn't 'tank-like' and so crews weren't always being asked to do tank work as was the case with the M10. 

 

 

PPS here's a 'more than you ever suspected' on an aspect of webbing ;)

http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/equipment-field-gear/brace-yourselves-comparison-pattern-1937-webbing-braces-across-empire-603321/

 

 

 

 

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Hello All,

 

I finally got to the bench after weeks away, and I've finished the crew:

 

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Sadly postimage is down for maintenance so I've started a new Flikr account. Hope these all work for people...

 

It's surprisingly hard to make "multipose" figures look as if they are doing anything except exactly what the designer originally posed them as doing without much more work than I had time or inclination or skill to put in. So purpose-built gun crew sets are worth the money!

 

You wouldn't believe it to look at them, but the netted helmets have masses of lighter dry brushing and dark washes to try to bring out he net effect. No dice! Also, my painting standards dropped a bit for the two loaders, and plummeted for the poor guy on the left. However, it's hard to see his face...

 

This cries out for a diorama (or at least a background that isn't aircraft-background-blue!) - I was hoping for another vignette GB but this thing is huu-uuge by my standards and wouldn't fit a 6x6 base. It would need at least a 6 by 8 inch base, and even then the barrel would be hanging off into space.

 

Thanks for looking, and thanks for an interesting and varied GB!

 

Regards,

Adrian

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Very Nice Adrian, excellent work on the figures they look great, even though you feel that it isn't your best work.

5 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

... and even then the barrel would be hanging off into space.

Under the rules of the last Vignette GB that would have been acceptable, but I guess that it is the trails that give the 8 inch requirement.

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