Churchill

I have to say the idea of riding that thing in the combat zone doesn't appeal. Were you proposing to join the GB with it?

Excellent choices both. Thank you for joining us.

Now let's be quite clear: No-one is making a scale model of a mobile phone for this GB, is that understood? Funnily enough, that's exactly what I thought when I saw it.

We've ruled out fictional vehicles. But civilian vehicles that were pressed into service would fit the brief.

I shall put your name down for a midget submarine, a bomber, a cavalry unit or something in-between.

Odd that Messrs @Stevejj and @Gorby have been looking at some of the rather desperate products of Home Guard ingenuity, because that's where Exhibit 3 from Bovington tank museum comrs from, and I think it tops the Beaverette for sheer daftness. I give you the Thornycroft Bison: a concrete armoured lorry with less power than a Nissan Micra: From a modelling perspective, both the Beaverette and the Bison could be fairly simple scratchbuilds for supporting roles in a diorama. The gun on top of the Beaverette was sometimes a glazed gun turret from a bomber.

Wikipedia sets out several flaws: "The vehicle was considered a very imperfect design, because of a poor layout, insufficient fire-power, a cramped interior and inferior mobility due to an overhanging nose section, which had been designed to crush through the belts of barbed wire but in practice caused the tank to get stuck." However, I think the best one was making the fuel tanks unarmoured and outside the hull. Genius. Pleased to add you to the list, and I look forward to seeing the model.

Oh wow, we've not had much maritime interest so far. I'm not familiar with this sub, but a quick search confirms that it's still in service and that the radiation shielding is poor, being based on 1950's technology. Scary stuff. I'll add you to the list, and welcome.

Ok, Exhibit 2 - I give you the NSU Springer Sd. Kfz 304: This is a shot from the rear of the vehicle, showing the area where the solitary occupant sits. The wire grille is I believe a museum addition, to prevent visitors poking around inside. The Springer is a tracked vehicle based on the Kettenrad half-track motorcycle affair. The motorcycle front fork and wheel have been removed, and a third of a ton of high explosive put in its place. The idea is that you drive the Springer up to an enemy's fortified position, then jump out and go and hide behind a bush. From there you use a wired remote control box to manoeuvre the Springer into its final position, and then blow it up. That is, of course, unless the enemy has something capable of penetrating a few mm of armour plate. Strongly fortified positions often do. In which case, the enemy will have blown you to atoms before you got within a hundred yards of him. Not something I'd Want To Go To War In.

A bit of pre-shading (never done this before) and a coat of Mig Russian Green. The flash exaggerates the pre-shading, which is a little more subtle in normal light. KBO, Churchill.

Masked a few spots where the running gear will be glued, then shot a coat of primer.

I had the pleasure of a trip to the tank museum at Bovington this week, if you've never been it is absolutely worth a visit, there are hundreds of AFV's from the very first tank prototype (Little Willie, surprisingly more like a modern tank than the Mark I was) through to Abrams and Challenger 2. Of course, it's also a rich seam of material to be mined for this thread. Apart from the obvious candidates, Covenanters and the like, three items in particular caught my eye. First, I give you the Carro Veloce L3/33. Based on the Carden Lloyd carrier (a predecessor of the Bren gun carrier) and built in vast quantities by the Italians. The museum's example is a flame tank conversion, and it's this specific version that you Wouldn't Want To Go To War In. The display sign explains why: Here it is, with its fuel trailer like a little Churchill Crocodile (yes, they've got one of those too) Will be back later with exhibit 2, KBO, Churchill.

Ok, we're overdue for an update. I haven't done quite as much as I'd hoped this week, but there is progress. I've fitted the rear axle and differential, the exhausts, and the two panels that pretty much hide all that. I've also fitted the external stowage. There's plenty of internal stowage boxes, but I thought I'd leave them till the rest is painted. The steering wheel had a scale thickness of almost three inches, rather than try to make a new one I carefully sanded it down. The gear lever was just as bad, I replaced it with bit of brass wire with a blob of superglue for the knob. There are a pair of towing eyes on the glacis. I photographed these at Bovington this week: Unfortunately on the kit there is a little void where one is supposed to be (blue arrow) and the one that is still attached to the sprue is 'orrible (it's the part just below) So back to the brass sheet, drilled a couple of holes, cut them out, and sanded the ends round: Then put a bend in and CA them in place. I'm quite pleased with the result The inside of the weapon bay on the real thing is quite busy: I wanted to replicate the feel of that, so added the fire extinguishers from copper wire, and made up the internal shutters for the vision slits from heavy gauge aluminium foil (the sort used for containers for ready meals etc). This is about the same thickness as the brass, very easy to work, but not as rigid as the brass so no good for the side armour. Next I'll get some primer on, then look at the running gear and those link and length tracks. Thanks for reading, Churchill.

This turned up in the post today, and I mean to build it in this GB: I was at Bovington tank museum yesterday, mining a rich seam of material for the SYWWTGTWI GB chat, and their gift shop is well supplied with model kits from a variety of manufacturers, also etch and resin detailing kits, armour specific paint sets from Mig, and plenty of reference books too. My friend very kindly offered me my choice of kit as a late birthday present. So, while we're waiting for the GB to start, hands up everyone who wants to see me build this Sturmtiger?

Oh yes, might make an interesting conversion. Here it is in the Osprey book:

On the subject of WWII protagonists copying each other's successful designs, I just came across this in Anthony Tucker-Jones' Tiger I and Tiger II: "The T-34’s superiority was such that German officers on the Eastern Front were of the view that it should be copied, but the Germans were in no position to do so. Guderian pointed out that Hitler’s panzer designers could never agree to such a move, not because of national pride, though that was clearly a factor, but because it was simply not possible to mass-produce the T-34. Germany was suffering a shortage of raw materials, and even at this stage of the war lacked alloys and could not turn out the T-34’s aluminium diesel engines at the rate required. Essentially it was all or nothing on the Tiger and the Panther." I'm sure Guderian understood the issues rather better than I, but I'm surprised another engine couldn't have been found.

Delighted to. Welcome Mr Muddyf.

Been a bit busy with work this week, didn't get a chance to do any modelling until yesterday. But I have some time off next week and hopefully will get most of the carrier done before the Patton GB starts. The topsides are now fitted. Some fettling and filling was needed. It's a real challenge to make replacement parts that have a good level of detail and precision, sharp accurate angles, etc. In some respects the kit parts do look better. But overall I'm happy that I replaced the kit parts. The thickness of the originals just looks really wrong. It's all learning. The main issue is that there is a slight twist in the front armour, which takes the vertical angles out of square. This is most evident when looking straight on, and I intend to address the problem by not taking any photos from that angle. KBO Churchill.

Yesterday I sawed the tops off the side armour/track cover pieces. A bit committing, that. If the homebrewed brass replacements don't work, the kit is a write-off. However, early indications are good. A little fettling will be needed, mainly to bulk out parts that don't quite meet the brass because it's thinner, and that's as expected. This is just dropped in place:

I remain unaware of the existence of other scales.

I have a super Pershing for the Patton, an Achilles for the D-Day (a bit complicated, that one), and I'm looking for an Elefant for the Tiger GB, so I'll see you there!

I'd also like to join the vote of thanks to @PlaStix for hosting this GB. I've had a great time with it, the support has been fantastic, and I've learnt a lot watching the really high standard of modelling. It was my first GB but it won't be my last, I've already started on The Specialists with a Universal Carrier (I reckon they're a bit light on armour over there ). I've been persuaded to put my Pz IV in the Lancing model show in May, maybe I'll see some of you round there. KBO, Churchill

Just about finished the front armour.

Not committing, but I had in mind a duplex drive Sherman for the SYWWTGTWI GB Have I signed you up for that build by the way?

Obligatory sprues shot: The kit comes with decals for several versions, including German, Canadian, and Russian. I'll go with the Red Army version on the box art. Trickyrich pointed me at an online review of the kit, which included some ideas for enhancing detail. The reviewer thinned down the sides, back, and front armour which is unavoidably moulded at over scale thickness. But I want to see if I can replace the topside armour with 0.12mm brass sheet (about 9mm to scale). I measured from the kit parts for the sides and back, and cut these as one piece from the brass sheet, to be folded to shape. Rivets are made by gentle pressure on the reverse with a pin or the point of scalpel blade. On the back plate there are some fittings that may be fairly hidden, but were added from plastic sheet and stretched styrene rod just in case. The front armour is a little more complex. So rather than measuring it I made a template using a post-it note. Which was then used to mark up the brass. The brass cuts easily with scissors, but there are some holes and vision slits to come out of this piece, which may be tricky. I'll tackle those tomorrow.