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This was my project for the MTO GB. It was a fun kit to build – as most of Tamiya’s 1/48 Armour kits seem to be. Pz.III No.04 was part of the 501st Heavy Panzer Battalion, which was part of the Afrika Korps in North Africa. Following the Allied landing in French North Africa the Battalion, with its 16 Panzer IIIs, arrived in Tunisia between November 1942 and January 1943. Initially only three Tiger Is of the 501st landed at Tunis on 23 November 1942. These first elements of the battalion, along with four Panzer IIIs, were organized with other units into Kampfgruppe Lueder. They were involved in fighting just over a week later during the Axis counterattack on 1 December, destroying nine US and two British tanks on the first day while relieving German forces. I have done my version as part of a small vignette with the crew using the radio to get their orders. The base was one of my slightly rushed simple ones, using a bit of 4mm MDF and some household filler. Kit: Tamiya 1/48 Paints: Humbrol, Revell, Citadel, Railmatch and Vajello acrylic paints – all applied by brushes Extras: Lead wire, fuse wire, splatter guard mesh, stretched sprue, styrene strip, plasticard, Redog Models and Tamiya stowage, Tamiya 1/48 figures, 4mm MDF, household filler, Army Painter grass tufts. The WIP can be found HERE The Pz.III on its own against a white background: On its base with the figures: I also took a set of photos against the desert photo backdrop I have: Thank you to everyone who commented and offered advice and encouragement in my build thread. Thank you also to Patrice @TEMPESTMK5 for hosting such an excellent GB. Looking forward to the next one! Kind regards, Stix PS. IF YOU LIKE MAKING Pz.IIIs - PLEASE JOIN US IN THE Pz.III STGB WHICH STARTS ON THE 6TH FEBRUARY!

Evening folk's,another of my all time favourite kits Airfix's old tool Vb.Lord knows how many of these I've built since it was a new release this is the second this year,now before the flaming torches and pitchforks are dug out I seem to recall Airfix molded the prop blades back to front certainly they don't look right anyway here she is and thank's for looking. Here's Airfix's old tool 109 my other MTO GB build. And the other of this years builds of the kit.

This was the fourth kit I made for the MTO GB - the first 3 being German tanks. It forms the final part of a small diorama called 'Kampfgruppe Tunesien'. This was only my second Fw190 kit build and I decided I wanted to make it because I had thoroughly enjoyed building the (slightly tricky) Airfix 1/72 new tool kit and came to appreciate what a great looking aircraft it is. I used Tamiya's A3 Fw190 kit and slightly modified it to represent Fw190 A4 ’Black Double Chevron' as flown by Hauptmann Adolf Dickfeld in Tunisia. As I wanted to use it 'in flight' I had to find a way to get the propeller to work so I used an Airfix prop motor. Kit: 1/48 Tamiya Fw190 A3 (converted to an A4 ) Paints: Humbrol, Revell and Citadel all applied by brush Extras: Aerial cable from EZ-line plus an Airfix propeller motor. WIP: Here Diorama RFI: Here Edit: 04/01/17 - New Photoshopped image added: Some photos - the first few were taken before it had been fitted onto the diorama base and were shot against one of my desert backdrops: Now some photos of it once it had been fitted onto the diorama base. The idea is that it has just taken off and is flying low over a group of tanks on the ground - I have used Woodlands Scenics palm trees to try and disguise the metal support tube: For some of the wider shots the sandy background wasn't big enough so Mrs PlaStix suggested using a blue sheet as a backdrop which works okay: And now one (for now) of the Fw190 over the diorama base: This is a video to show the propeller working - it was filmed before I had finished the build: I'll post a couple more from the diorama once I have them organised and then, when I have posted the photos of the full diorama in the Diorama section, I will post a link here. I thoroughly enjoyed building this aircraft and thanks must go to all the Britmodeller members who offered advice and support throughout my project. It was a great GB to take part in and, if you haven't checked it out out I would recommend a quick look! Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix Edit 04/01/17 - as mentioned above - some extra photos with some Photoshopping:

Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.L No.1 - 10th Panzer Division 1943 - Tunisia EDIT 03/05/17: a while back I said I would include some photos of this Pz.III on the scenic base I built for this and the two other tanks I made in the same GB. I have included them at the bottom of this first post. The Ausf.L version of the Pz.Kpfw. III was produced from July 1942 and was similar to previous versions. Armament consisted of an improved, long barreled Kwk50 L/60 tank gun and two 7.92mm MG34 machine guns. The front armor thickness was increased to 57mm plus 20mm thick spaced armor was added to the gun mantlet - meaning the suspension system had to be strengthened to cope with the 200 Kg of extra weight. In total 635 Ausf. Ls were produced by the end of 1942, most seeing active service on the Eastern and North African Fronts, including Tunisia. Pz.Kpfw. III No.1 saw action in Tunisia including in the Kasserine Pass where it was eventually knocked out by 37mm American artillery. My build depicts it sometime in the days before. Kit: 1/48 Tamiya Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf.L Paints: Humbrol, Revell and Citadel all applied by brush Extras: Stretched sprue aerial and Tamiya stowage items from the Jerry Can set. The rope for the stowage was made from some of Mrs PlaStix's thread. This tank was the first completed model of a scene I built for the MTO GB. The first photos were just taken on my chipboard table top with a desert scene propped up behind. I will now made a proper base. The kit was fun to build with only a few minor fit issues here and there. The diorama RFI I built this Pz.III as part of can be found Here. Some photos taken in the days before it was complete to show some of the details: And one with my second completion - AFV Club's Tiger 1 (as 131): The WIP for this project can be found here: EDIT 03/05/17: a bit late but, as promised, some photos of the Pz.III on the base I made for this and the two Tiger tanks I built for the MTO GB: Lots more photos of the scene can be found here: Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix

This was my third tank build for the MTO GB and again I thoroughly enjoyed making it although there were a couple more minor issues with it's construction than previous Tamiya 1/48 builds or the AFV Club Tiger 1 I made for the same GB. I made this kit to represent Tiger 1 No. 731 'Norbert' in Tunisia. Kit: 1/48 Tamiya Tiger 1 Initial Production Paints: Humbrol, Revell and Citadel all applied by brush Extras: Stretched sprue aerial and some Hauler PE WIP: Here Diorama RFI: Here ....and a few on my chipboard tabletop with one of my sandy backgrounds behind - (this isn't the diorama base): Finally one photo showing how 731 appears on the diorama: I have posted the photos of the full diorama in the Diorama section which can be found here. I thoroughly enjoyed building this tank and thanks must go to all the Britmodeller members who offered advice and support throughout my project. It was a great GB to take part in and, if you haven't checked it out out I would recommend a quick look! Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix Edit: 04/01/17 - some more photos of Norbert on the diorama, some of which have had some Photoshop work on them: Photoshopped image - Norbert on the left: Photoshopped image - Norbert on the right: Images without any Photoshop work:

When I was planning what I wanted to build for the MTO GB I was initially thinking of just making a couple of German tanks based in Tunisia. Then Jack G mentioned that the units did tend to fight in battlegroups and, in fact, that In early 1943 the eleven surviving tigers of 501 were allocated to 504. From there the project grew and now includes two Tiger 1s, a Pz.III Ausf.L and an Fw.190 A4 in a small diorama which includes some figures. The kits: Kit 1: 1/48 Tamiya Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf.L as Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.L No.1 - 10th Panzer Division 1943 Paints: Humbrol, Revell and Citadel all applied by brush Extras: Stretched sprue aerial and Tamiya stowage items from the Jerry Can Set. RFI: Here Kit 2: 1/48 AFV Club Tiger 1 as Panzerkampfwagen VI, Tiger I (E), SdKfz 181 No.131 Paints: Humbrol, Revell and Citadel all applied by brush Extras: Skybow individual track links RFI: Here Kit 3: 1/48 Tamiya Tiger 1 Initial production as Tiger 1, No.731, 'Norbert' Paints: Humbrol, Revell and Citadel all applied by brush Extras: Stretched sprue aerial and some Hauler PE RFI: Here Kit 4: 1/48 Tamiya Fw190 A3 (converted to an A4 ) as Fw 190 A-4 of II./JG 2 Flown by Hauptmann Dickfeld Paints: Humbrol, Revell and Citadel all applied by brush Extras: Aerial cable from EZ-line plus an Airfix propeller motor. RFI: Here Figures are all from the Tamiya Africa Corps and Tank Maintenance sets. The palm trees (such as they are) are from Woodlands Scenics and the tufts are by Army Painter. WIP: Here ] .....and a couple to show how it looks without a background: As I have said in my other posts I thoroughly enjoyed building this diorama and a lot of that is down to the support and advice offered by Britmodeller members - so a big thank you to all those who contributed to my build thread, especially JackG and Sgt.Squarehead for the initial advice and ideas for the project. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix Edit: 04/01/17 Some new Photoshop images:

Panzerkampfwagen VI, Tiger I (E), SdKfz 181 No.131 in Tunisia Possibly one of the most famous Tiger 1s, 131 saw service in Tunisia where it was eventually captured by the British 48th Royal Tank Regiment during World War II. It is now at The Tank Museum in Bovington and is currently the only operating Tiger tank in the world. This tank is the second completed model of a scene I am building for the MTO GB. The first photos were just taken on my chipboard table top with a desert scene propped up behind. I will eventually make a proper base. The kit was 'modified' from the base version to be more like 131 with the addition of a few bits and pieces here and there and the removal of some others. I have depicted the tank sometime in the days before it was captured. More details of the build can be found in my WIP thread - see below for details. Kit: 1/48 AFV Club Tiger 1 Ausf.E Early Version Paints: Humbrol, Revell and Citadel all applied by brush Extras: Skybow Tiger 1 tracks, plus wire and plastic strip for the grab handle and step that were a feature on the front of the hull The diorama I made in the the MTO GB which this tank forms part of can be found Here Some photos from above to show some of the details: One with the Tamiya Pz.Kpfw.III I have also completed for this project: The WIP for this project can be found here: Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix