Big_Bad_Bill

Holy Crab, I thought the first picture was the actual vehicle. Very well done.

Duly noted and stolen

The problem with MILAN is it was wire guided and designed for the wide open North German Plain. Lots of things in a city to snag and break the wire, hence they kept Wombat. You are not wrong about the back blast which is why is was mobile. I've been led to believe plan was for the Lanny would reverse until the Wombat could just aim around the corner, wait for the advancing T-80s. The boards would make it look like a wall with a bush on top. Once Ivan was spotted, shoot and scoot before the Soviets even realised. Then move down the the next junction and repeat. I was told once that they could only fire six times before the Lanny was written off as it was shook to bits. A bit pie in the sky. We used to joke that if they did try and take Berlin, chances are they would be in the CO's office before he was.

Not much to show as an update. I thought I'd crack the "camouflage" boards next: I started by drawing pencil lines every two mmm or so and gave then a coat of Tamiya buff as a base. I then channelled my inner Tom - you're 20, hungover, bored, the Platoon Commander has come up with a "bright" idea and you've been told you can knock off after finishing.......I did them free hand and deliberately not too well (that's my story and I'm sticking to it). I started with Mig medium brown and added some red to give variations. I'm pleased with how they come out. Someone did suggest using brickwork decals but I didn't want them looking too good. Once the rest of the build is finished I'll figure out a suitable method of attachment. Probably two ropes between the two so it just sits on it. As you can see the Lanny has had it's exterior coat if IRR green (Mig NATO Green with a few drops of oily ochre). I've also fabricated the brackets for the Wombat wheels out of brass: I'll make the straps out of tape. Unfortunately the missing part for the Wombat hasn't arrived yet so that part of it has stalled. To do: Seat belts Straps for the brackets I've done the four wheel plate by making it in Publisher and printing on a laser printer. Once it has four coats of varnish you can soak it in water, carefully scrape of the soggy paper and be let with the ink stuck to the varnish, which you can attach using decal fix. I tend to make a sheet of them all at once so you can keep going until one is good enough to use. I've used this method before for fire extinguisher labels previously.

Inspired by Viper-30's Snow-Trac, I'm doing a Wombat portee in a Land Rover. I've been wanting to do this for a while but never found a 1/35 Wombat before. It's going to be a version that was in Berlin, so I may include the oddity of a SA80 and Wombat in the same build. I arrived in Berlin in 1990 and our Rovers were black and green and I saw a demo where they had boards tied to the side painted in a brick pattern which I'm hoping to recreate. The Wombat is from Scorpion Miniatures 9 (no surprise) and the Rover from Italeri. Unfortunately the Wombat came missing a piece, but a quick email and Michael immediately replied and promised it in the next post. Mistakes happen. Nothing important, only the upper cradle! This is only my second resin kit - the last one took 40 years to complete so hopefully this won't take as long. I used my Dremel to cut the sprue done to size and a sanding wheel to take them down to size. It worked really well with even part No 4, which he warns you about being fragile, came off in one piece. I won't go into details about the build as I don't want to steal Viper-30's thunder. I do wish it came with the portee wheels which come with the Snow-Trac but I'll have to bluff the bracket. Maybe a suggestion would be to sell them as an extra. The build from start to finish took a couple of hours. The Land Rover was mostly OOB but I couldn't help myself but add some details. The kit showed it's age but, being a Land Rover, the bad fit actually makes it more realistic. As I'm doing an open top I had to deal with ejection marks everywhere. I've left off the centre seat, doors, and windscreen. I don't remember ever seeing a centre seat in a military Land Rover, so I added the tool-box lid and three latches for that, the battery box, and fuel tank. I may use the third seat and fit it in the back. As I'm leaving off the doors, I sawed off the hinges to fill the gaps in the frame. I spend more time on the dash as it's open top. I added the lights dial and plate it sits on, the map reading light, the "air-con" handles, heater vents, and the heater selector handle (just visible in the right). I used extra-thin glue and a stiff brush to give it some texture. I used a strip of plastic card to fill the gap left behind it due to the lack of the windshield. I'm going to use a buckshee extinguisher and bracket to fit between the seats, instead of the bizarre looking thing that came with the kit. To do list: Seat belts Portee wheel brackets and straps Bluff the 4-wheel drive plate behind the gear-lever. Boards with brick pattern. The paint job will be straight IRR green and black, although the interior will be closer to bronze green. Although I've seen pictures of Berlin cammo Rovers, ours were green and black, as were our Foxes. Bill

Ta. The green zone was full of 6' wide irrigation ditches and they bridges were vital to get the quad across them. The lads had to jump. For wider context they were normally driven by the Sgt Maj and used as a kind of modern day universal carrier.

Welcome aboard, and that is a cracking model. Well done on the MTP. Braver than me to paint that free hand. The ammo boxes are spot on and I do like the subtle weathering. Do the bridge sections fit on the side of the trailer like the real thing?

Cheers Trevor. I'd forgotten about the Action Man one. It's up there with the Johnny Seven on my list of toys I wanted but never got.

Cheers Ivan, for some reason I've always preferred the Scorpion. Not sure why. It might be making the Airfix on in braille scale as a kid. It is small enough in 1/35, how in hell did I make it in 1/76.

Cheers Andrew, that was exactly the look I was aiming for. I spent 8 1/2 years in Fally so saw them trundling past enough. Vehicles were never allowed to get into too much of a state - muddy on the training area, yes, but always washed down on return to camp. If they started to get shabby they would be put them in for a re-spray or be brush painted. Bill

I've gone the markings for a Fallingbostel based vehicle after it had been for a cabby round Soltau. A fun little build - I haven't done a WIP. The only alterations are adding a shroud for the barrel out of tissue and watered down pva, and clear headlights (which I've ended up covering in mud. The main paints are Mig NATO green mixed with a few drops of oily ochre and lightened black. I intended black shading but got carried away with the green and lost most of it. Quick Shine Floor polish for the gloss, Tamiya matt varnish for the final, black oil paint for the pin wash and Mig pigment mixed with plaster and thinners for the mud. My first attempt with the pigment mug and I'm chuffed with how it came out.

Blimey Nick, I could almost taste the herforder pils looking at that pic.

I use Quick Shine Floor Finish as gloss varnish, black oil paint diluted in turps for the pin wash and a light dusting of Tamiya buff for the dusty look.

Thank you. I used Revell aqua bronze green.

If I was really brave I'd use an IPK shudder....