Golikell

Thanks , I will take a look...

Both the Dutch colonel and the tank crew are ready. I changed the heads of the crew for Wolf heads and modified the helmets to resemble the one in the Nederlands Militaire Museum. Also, one of the overalls (the left one) was too skinny, so I added a layer of putty to give it more bulk. According to a picture I found, the overall was tied around the waist by means of a thin belt. So the original broad one was removed and one made from lead was added. I painted the leather jacket black, since that is the color the ones used by motor ordinances, and added the sergeant stripes. I painted the walking cane as if made from bamboo, to refer to the colonial status of the Netherlands at the time. I hope you like it and questions or comments are welcome.

For long range transportation, the Karls were suspended between 2 specially designed railway wagons. See image below:

Thanks. I must see if I have something like that...

Now that my Renault FT dio is approaching its completion, and I am waiting for some materials, I decided, on "order" of the missus, to dig the next kit out of the stash. An oldie. Upon opening the box, I discovered that I already started it. But the instructions are missing the blue print on the inside. Since there was no internet then (yes, it is that old), I couldn't proceed then. Started to lay down the green interrior layer and the zinc yellow weel wells. Not sure about the decals, though. What is the quality and how will they hold after all these years?

Well. I started throwing mud yesterday (actually it is Mig European earth pigments combined with Water Effects), as the previous drawn conclusion led me to believe the tank was indeed too clean. Also made some grabbing straps on the hatches, since these were missing in the kit. Definitely looking better IMHO.

I actually thought I was finished with the FT, until I found out, after close scrutiny of the original picture, there turned out to be quite some mud on the running gear. Specially on the drive sprocket (rear). After thinking it over, this is logical as it just drove through the muddy floor of the moat. Yet, I do not want to withhold from the results of my splashing around with AK's water effects and my effort to represent some small ice chunks.

Ready for weathering:

Received some resin pollard willows from Blast Models last week. Only need to add the twigs. Not too sure about what to use. Seafoam? Also, I have been toying with the composition. More ice will be added to the icy obstacle. Also the figures will be on a higher level than the ice, standing on top of a partially snow covered grassy slope. The definitive shape still has to be decided. What do you think?

Looks almost like a metal rain pipe as seen outside older houses...

After finishing the adoptions to make the vehicle "Dutch", it received a base coat, over the layer of black primer. The adoptions made on the exterior, were collated from contemporary pictures and are as followed: - Lifting ring on the turret - New mounting plate for the Schwarzlöse MG (got the dimension for the cooling jacket from the Dutch National Military Museum) - Extra brackets (dunno what for) on the left side hull - Wrench on the left side sponson - Rail on the engine deck (apparently to prevent from firing in the engine room) + it's brackets on the side. The colour used is Tamiya IJA Green.

@FrancisGLI also thank you for the compliments. It was exactly my goal to create just this. A scene which really shows the oppression of a police state, while people desperately try to pretend there is nothing wrong.

@Nikolay Polyakov I take a deep bow of gratitude! Next to being a pleasure to create, I find it a pleasure to behold too.

Closed up the vehicle, minus hatches. The rear hatch will be closed, though I might try and see if it can be made workable. Getting the side walls in place required some tender and loving force, not to mention persuasion.

Thanks... It took me 3 evenings and an afternoon to get this far... 😕 Well, they actually came to the conclusion that the weapon was not suitable a.o. because of the amount of smoke it developed and lack of accuracy. These guns used belts wooden ammo boxes.

Some say I'm crazy, others that I am insane. Both sides are totally correct. 🤪 50% in building the munitions racks of the Dutch Renault FT. Since the Dutch used non standard Schwarzlose MG, I decided to adapt the racks too. Each rack can hold 6 boxes, for which I figured straps where needed to keep them in place.

I can concur on this one: I help my son with his build of a ship: the 1:350 Bronco USS San Antonio. You are supposed to add tiny PE wipers on this one. 2 have done PLING on my first try. Not sure how many spares there are, and if I will retry adding them...

Great! I'm doing the Takom 1:35 version of this FT. Will be in Dutch colours, though. Keep in mind that the tracks of these vehicles were dark brown, not steel coloured..

Thank you for the suggestion... Through another channel, looking at a couple of extensive walkarounds and even the instruction manual, I came to the conclusion that the original vehicle didn't have a instrument panel at all... No need to spend 20 pounds then, which can be uses for other modelling purposes The colour is tricky. Almost all restored vehicles are painted white. Some red oxide primer...

I'm looking for a photo of a Renault FT instrument panel. Need to know the colours... Anyone here?

Eh, the menitioned name seems familiar Good build!

The first wip pictures. Also did some weathering, since the usage of tank after 12 or 13 years, including a almost sink into peat, does leave its traces. Specially the inside, which is not easily painted over.

@Ozzy Thanks for the kind words. :)

@Pete in Lincs Thanks for the compliment. In this case the credits go to Custom Dioramics. There are enough shortcomings, but this they did well. @dogsbody Merci for your kind words.

@Badder You exactly phrased (about the figures at least) what wanted to convey. Eacht figure has his/her own story, yet their projected rail travel or working day at the station, where this journey starts, is what binds them. Just as in real life...