Churchill
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Posts posted by Churchill
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Now I'm happy with the pre-'42 colours, but less so with the '42 RAL 7027 on RAL 8020. The RAL 8020 (by Mig Ammo) when painted on white paper gives a good colour - I'd call it a lightish yellow ochre. On the photo above it doesn't look too bad. But in the flesh, under daylight or LED lights, - yeesh. It's an insipid colour, distinctly unmilitary. I'd say something like vanilla icecream. I sprayed it over a pale grey primer, Tamiya fine surface primer. Could be it'd have been better over a medium grey.
So I've given both tanks a wash with Vallejo sepia wash, diluted 50:50 with acrylic thinners. But while with the pre-'42 I've made a fairly targeted wash and cleaned the wash away from surfaces before it dried, with the '42 colour scheme I've left the wash on as a kind of colour filter. I'm not 100% happy with the result, but it's an improvement:
Washed by Rob Churchill, on Flickr
And it actually camouflages quite well against the desert baseboard I made:
2021-05-04_03-45-08 by Rob Churchill, on Flickr
The shading/highlighting on both tanks will be fairly strong. This is for two reasons: 1) the smaller the model, the more shading/highlighting it needs to look 'right'. If you think about it, a 1:1 model would need none. 2) the models need to look their best when viewed as playing pieces from a distance of three to five feet away, not when closely inspected. So please be understanding if the effects seem a little overdone on the finished models.
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35 minutes ago, Ned said:
Back in the very early 80s I spent what was to me back then a fortune on tiny white metal tanks. I bought the British ones, and my mate Ian bought German ones. I was always jealous, especially when his Tiger regiment came onto the battlefield and rolled over everything I had. They were 6mm scale, 1/285. Tiny little things, but my Crusader tanks looked great en masse, until the 'knocked out' cotton wool balls started to take over my forces.
I bought the Squad Leader hex-based boardgame as well. Again Ian would get to be the Germans, decimating my Russian troops in Stalingrad with his MG42s. Ian was also always the German guards when we played Colditz.
I remember finding Colditz exciting but a bit bewildering - I was probably about ten when I played it. But my cousin had a army of diecast tanks and artillery with the spring loaded firing mechanisms. We would deploy these along with plastic infantry at either end of the kitchen table and take turns shooting matchsticks until a victor emerged.
And now I'm starting to sound like Ron Manager from the Fast Show; "boys in the park, jumpers for goalposts, shirts and skins, those were the days..."
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1 hour ago, Ned said:
I'm impressed with the detail. Can't quite get how small these are. How many are you planning on building?
@Ned When these two are done, I'll have three Pz Iii's, one with the long barrel. I have a Tiger and a Pz IV to do, which will be plenty for a game of 'Tanks!' - it's a small, manageable wargame that's intended to last only half an hour or so. On the allied side, I have a Churchill, a Grant, a Matilda, a Valentine, a Crusader, a Honey, and a Sherman to choose from, none of them finished. I have built the desert baseboard though, and several bits of terrain.
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Decided to go with the Afrika korps pre-'42 colours of RAL 7008 on RAL 8000 for the short-barrelled Zvezda and the '42 colours of RAL 7027 on RAL 8020 for the long-barrelled BF:
As ever, thanks for looking.
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I'm having difficulty sourcing 15mm scale 1/100 Afrika Korps turret number decals in red or red with white outline. I could always freehand the numbers as I did with the last model, but I do have some red turret numbers with black outline.
Does anyone know where and when the Germans used those colours?
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Primer on. I do like this stage. The model always looks clean and you can see where there are any mold lines to clean up or joins to fill.
The drive, idler, and running wheels and the return rollers on the Zvezda are separated from the hull:
...but are blocked to the hull on the BF:
Perhaps it's an unfair comparison. After all, the Zvezda is intended as a display model that can also be used with their game system, while the BF is intended purely for wargaming.
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2 hours ago, bigfoot said:
There seems to be quite a size difference between the two kits. The Zveda one definitely looks more refined.
There is. The BF is taller and longer, and there is a shape difference in that the engine compartment of the BF extends beyond the track covers:
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These are going to be pretty OOB as they'll be handled and played with, but I couldn't live with that marrow...
2021-04-30_09-59-19 by Rob Churchill, on Flickr
2021-04-30_09-59-28 by Rob Churchill, on Flickr
That's better. Tomorrow I'll get some primer on.
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Building both tanks took me maybe an hour or so, no more. I put a bit of stowage from the BF kit on the Zvezda, along with something from the bits box.
2021-04-30_09-58-59 by Rob Churchill, on Flickr
2021-04-30_09-59-05 by Rob Churchill, on Flickr
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The BF also has the engine hatches on a separate piece, which is double sided so you can portray them hinged to open fore-aft or flip it over for port-starboard. I have not been able to find which is correct for the type I'm making. In fact my research has been pretty woeful generally. Wikipedia says the Ausf J saw action in North Africa and that some had the long gun, it also says they had the extra spaced armour but has a picture of a long-barreled Ausf J which seems to have the same armour as the earlier types so that's what I've used. I went with the same orientation of engine hatches as on the Ausf G.
2021-04-30_09-58-20 by Rob Churchill, on Flickr
2021-04-30_09-58-14 by Rob Churchill, on Flickr
Hmm, on an enlarged picture that hatch looks a bit 'sinky'. Might stick a bit of filler on there.
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The Battlefront (I'm gonna call it BF from here) kit has more parts, and more options - there's the long 5cm barrel, and a short barrel - not sure if it's meant to be the L/42 5cm or the 3.7cm, and there's the stubby 7.5cm (no rules for that last one in the kit but I expect it's an option for Flames of War). There's some additional armour for the mantlet and an option for the extra thick front armour on the plate with the driver's vision slit, so you can make it up as most of the Ausf types. The hatch can be portrayed open or closed, and there's a bit of stowage. I'll be showing the hatch open with a figure from the bits box, and going for the L/60 option as the two Zvezdas are short barrelled only.
The Zvezda is AusfG. Fewer parts, and no options, but the detail is generally much finer, especially the checker plate on the track covers, the air filters, the exhaust cans (hardly there on the BF), the running gear, and the thickness of the various hatches. The Zvezda's hull MG is very fine, whereas the BF has a prize marrow growing out of the ball mount:
2021-04-30_09-58-31 by Rob Churchill, on Flickr
The only area where the BF scores over the Zvezda is the molding of the tracks, but that's what mud is for, right?
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I've been putting together a few pieces for the mini-wargame 'Tanks!' by Gale Force Nine. The game is no longer supported by the maker, but starter sets and expansion packs are still readily available. It uses the same 15mm (1/100) models from Battlefront as the more complex 'Flames of War' system. I have one Panzer IIIG already completed, you can see it here. It will be joined by two more Panzer III's, One is the Zvezda Panzer II Ausf G, the other is by Battlefront.
2021-04-30_09-55-59 by Rob Churchill, on Flickr
Obligatory sprue shots:
2021-04-30_09-56-17 by Rob Churchill, on Flickr
Zvezda in grey:
2021-04-30_09-57-57 by Rob Churchill, on Flickr
Battlefront in dunkelgelb:
2021-04-30_09-58-06 by Rob Churchill, on Flickr
stay tuned for the next episode, for a side-by side kit comparison.... 😁
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I'm a little late to the party, but just posted this and only then realised there's a Pz III group build. I do have two more ready to start though, so is it too late for me to jump in with those?
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1 hour ago, echen said:
Great build. Especially at this scale. Did you paint it under a microscope?
No, but I am now so severely shortsighted that when I take my glasses off I can focus at a couple of inches!
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Aargh! Came on BM for the first time in a couple of years (been busy), posted this up, had a look around, and what do I find? A Panzer III group build!
But I have two more in the stash...
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I thought I'd have a go at a bit of wargaming, but not sure about a big game with complex rules that takes hours to play. So I got a copy of Gale Force Nine's 'Tanks!' which is played on a three foot square board and apparently only takes 30 minutes or so. And I've been building some scenery, building some stash, and (finally) built my first 15mm scale tank.
This one is by Zvezda, rather than Gale Force Nine. I've done my best (I'm out of practice) but kept it OOB as it'll be handled in gaming.
The buildings are scratch, might post them in the scenery section.
Thanks for looking.
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11 minutes ago, Botan said:
I'm already here under no. 19. I have just bumped thread with ideas for others.
Doh!
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8 minutes ago, Botan said:
That Japanese one is Type A Kō-hyōteki-class submarine - only two men to run theoretically proper submarine, which was transported to and from their target areas on the decks of larger Type C1 submarines. Usually "from their target" part did not worked out though.
About Neger, from wikipedia: "About 200 vessels of this type were manufactured in 1944. The first Neger vessels entered service in March 1944. However, the Neger turned out to be very hazardous for its operator and up to 80 percent were killed.
Sound pretty conclusive to me. Sticking your undercrackers on your head and pencils up your nose then going "wibble" would be a better use of one's time.
I'll put you on the list, Mr Botan.
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31 minutes ago, Botan said:
Ooh, mini-subs. Do tell us some more: what made you think of these?
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3 hours ago, DaveyGair said:
If this GB gets off the ground, I'll probably do a PH Models resin 1/72nd Blackburn Botha.
Severely underpowered and difficult to fly, 580 were made but were withdrawn from frontline service very quickly, after being used in the maritime reconnaissance role by only one squadron, and relegated to training duties, obviously with disastrous results!
Davey.
The Wikipedia entry is fairly damning, this is the worst of it; "The Botha proved to be severely underpowered and unstable; there were a number of fatal crashes in 1940."
There seem to have been quite a few Blackburn aircraft suggested for this build. It won't be lonely.
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Thanks for the bump. Real life has slightly pushed modelling to the side for a few months but I will be getting back to it soon I hope, and my panzer IV from the STGB won first prize in a local model show, which was a boost.
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Progress is slow, but is happening. The running gear is on, and I've made a start on the link and length tracks.
KBO,
Churchill.
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Still planning to join you, just making slow progress in The Specialists GB.
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1 hour ago, Beazer said:
Would a bouillon Paul defiant be acceptable or a Lagg-3?
The defiant was brutal in daylight but was decent at night. The Lagg could barely do anything.
I might be misremembering, but I think both those aircraft have cropped up in the thread already. The Defiant, a fighter with no forward firing guns, and the underpowered Lavochkin of which Wikipedia has this to say:
"The LaGG-3 proved immensely unpopular with pilots. It was somewhat hard to control as it reacted sluggishly to stick forces. In particular, it was difficult to pull out of a dive, and if the stick was pulled too hard, it tended to fall into a spin. As a consequence, sharp turns were difficult to perform. Moreover, pilots reported a number of imperfections: badly made hydraulic systems, broken connecting rods, oil leaks, overheating engine. Moreover, the landing gear was defective, the tail wheel easily broke, the canopy was badly fitted, the metal sheet on the engine cowling and the stressed skin were badly finished."
They're both pretty awful although the Defiant I think found a role better suited to it, and they'd both fit in this GB. I'll put your name down if that's ok.
A brace of panzers - 1/100
in Panzer III STGB
Posted
This serious looking young man is Herr Leutnant Fritz von Schermannknäckerer, who will in due course be taking command of the long-barrelled Pz III.