gamevender

This is an M4A1 of the 4th Armoured Bgd. in Normandy in '44. By the time British units received the Cullin Hedgrow cutter it was hardly needed, but I liked the look so I used it The kit is OOTB with a few exceptions. The stowage is from HLBS Co. (Honorable Lead Boiler Suit Company), the tow cable is picture wire and I drilled out the lifting eyes. All the rest is Rubicon. Very nice kits and a real relief from microscopic PE parts and other complications of larger scaled kits. Fun to build.

A true classic and well done. I've built that model several times over the years, including the motorized version that met it's fate in my buddy's swimming pool. Love those old Revell ship kits.

This is the Polar Lights re-release of the Adams Thor IRBM with launch pad. From what I was able to find, there was another, much simpler, launch pad where the missiles were deployed, but I went with what was in the box with the exception of substituting a British roundel. Now, If I could get a 1/87 Thunderbird or Bloodhound rocket as they were used to defend the Thor sites. I did modify the nose cone by blunting it as the one in the kit is from the experimental ones. Adams also did a Vanguard rocket on the same launch pad, modified to accept the much thinner body, but there's no sign of that from Polar Lights.

Excellent work. I have read that there is some debate as to whether it was really called the "Achilles" during the war. Some say that nickname only appeared after the war. Po-Tay-to, Po-Tah-to, it's still an excellent model.

I know that these two vehicles had different engines, but were there any differences in the rear engine deck because of that and if so, what?

They also released it as the HMS England. Revell was good at releasing kits under different names.

Marcello, This is just one of the later re-boxings of the old Revell kit. It was one of their later ship kits and is better than some of the other older kits. Beefy66, This was done in what they called "box scale". It was easier to market kits to shops if the kits were easily stacked on the shelves and that required that the boxes be standardized in dimensions and the kits were then scaled to fit in these boxes.

This is one of Revell's last ship kits and one of it's better offerings. Fit and engineering is good and the kit detail is good. I can't comment as to accuracy, but from photos of the real ship, it looks pretty good. The kit was re-released many times, once even as the HMS England. This one is done OOTB with the exception of the railings, but even then they tell you to rig the provided stanchions with thread. It makes a right nice dispay model.

Neilspen, no the mesh didn't come with the kit. It's the one thing I really did to the kit. The frames needed to be hollowed out and the mesh I had left over from other kits. As to the amber beacon, it's just paint. White primer, then orange, then gloss coat.

Very nice job on a venerable very old kit. I've built many and am know well the challenges that kit brings and you handled them well. Nice finish too.

This is the Wespe 1/72 resin kit of a WW I British 15" howitzer. You get everything in the photos with the exception of the crew in their "Teddy Bear" coats which are from Retrokit, the chain and I used a replacement Retrokit metal gun barrel. The kit is a little rough with lots of flash and rough edges as well as warpage. Some of the thin rods in the recoil mechanism were either unusable or not worth the effort to clean up so I substituted styrene rod stock. I built it slowly over a few months and with all it's flaws, which you will see in the photos, it turned out pretty well.

I don't recall seeing many pictures of this vehicle on this site, or any other for that matter, so here's one a did a few years ago but never posted photos. It's OOTB and was a very nice kit.

HMS Daring a la Airfix in the 60's.

Done OOTB. Decals were cobbled together from various sources.

I noticed that Weatherman has posted a Finnish T-26 in Braille scale. Great minds think alike! On this one with the exception of the black stripes on the turret hatches, everything is OOTB. You can build nine (yep, I said 9) versions of this tank from what's in the box. Only one model, but you can do it nine different ways and there's a very nice decal sheet to accompany it. If you've lost your modeling mojo or are tired of super detailing and fussing with PE parts, give one of these kits a try. They are very nicely done and a real pleasure to build.

This is an M4A2, Sherman III to the British, marked as a tank in the Royal Scots Greys in the 23rd Armoured Brigade in Italy, 1943. It is camouflaged in the same way as the famous "Sheik", but this one is named "Repulse". With the exception of the two stowage items, the antennae and the pennants, it's all Rubicon. I did swap a three piece differential cover from another kit for the one piece one in the this kit. These kits really put the fun back in modeling. And of course, as soon as I photoed it, I noticed the injection pin mark on the turret hatch! Fortunately, an easy fix.

I believe Armourfast models are aimed at the wargamer market and such kits just need to be good enough to generally look like the prototype to get the job done. Here's my run at the Revell Cromwell as an OP tank with added PE, including the tracks.

Don't know about that, but it looks enough like the photo to work for me.

I did it a few years ago in 1/72 using the Matchbox LRDG truck and a Zvezda 2 Pdr. Used all the photo evidence I could find and a little guess and by golly engineering.

As far as I can tell, there is only one photo of the M4 "Sheik". I have learned that the unit it was in operated M4A2s and the one in the photo shows it had a low bustle turret with a pistol port and the "small hatch" glacis. However, I cannot determine which transmission cover it had, the three piece or cast one piece. Anyone have a guess?

Here's the final result. It's a little rough in spots, but I'm pretty sure it's one of very few 1/72 models of this failed prototype. To summarize, basic kit was the Roden Rolls Royce a/c. Used the chassis, modified the front radiator, built new cabin, hollowed out wheels and inserted Eduard WW I aircraft wire wheel discs, cobbled together the engine, prop from scrap box, other details from scrap or various metal wires and plastic rod stock.

I have always wanted to do this vehicle but could never work up the courage to make a start. Then along comes the 1/72 Roden Rolls Royce a/c kit and I decided to take the plunge. I could only find a total of two photos of the vehicle and no drawings and both photos, while from opposite sides, were from the front, so it was not possible to see what was going on behind the cab or see any real detail in the engine area. I posted a question to the automotive forum here and asked what would be the automotive guys' best guess as to what all those lines were that ran to the back of the cab and what would be back there. They had some good guesses and it did help, but there's still some "imagineering" used in this model. I started with the kit chassis and hood, but reshaped the radiator to look more like the Sizaire vehicle. The back fenders had their bottom rear part cut off and reversed so that it flared back and not down. An engine was cobbled together from various spare parts and the hoses and lines are aluminum and copper wire as is the prop guard. The cab is scratch from sheet plastic and the radiator grill is from the spares box. I have no idea what the prop is from, it was just in my spares box of leftover/salvaged props, but it had the right clipped off tips look. The Roden kit has solid wheels but the Wind Wagon had spoked ones, so I hollowed out the kit wheels and inserted some WW I aircraft wire wheel hubs from Eduard. There's a long way to go yet, but I think this is a good beginning.

Just two old matchbox M4 Firefly bases made to look like one damaged bridge. Done more for fun than anything.

Great help, many thanks. As there are no photos and/or drawings that I can find, anyone's guess is as good as any other. The Wind Wagon was a prototype for a vehicle that supposedly could operate over 'soft going', be that marshy ground, sand or other surface that would not provide purchase for a vehicle powered through it's wheels. It has close relatives in the Aerosan vehicles used by the Russians in WW II that were prop driven but were on skis to go over the snow. Where the Aerosans worked, the Wind Wagon didn't and was never series produced, but it is heck of a curiosity, isn't it?

I'm working on scratch building a rather unique vehicle, the Sizaire-Berwick Wind Wagon, but I need some help with an automotive aspect of the build so I thought I'd try here. In the photo below, which is one of the very few that I've been able to find, you can see various pipes and lines from the engine that disappear into the area behind the cab. That cab has to house two people, so there's not a lot of room in there for other equipment. What would be your best guess as to where those lines/pipes are going and what is their function? I'll appreciate any and all ideas/guesses.