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Dear fellow Britmodellers, having completed my move from the city to the countryside, I now enjoy bird songs instead of road noise and the greenery of my garden instaed of concrete facades! It took quite some time to set up my modelling room and equipment in the new house, and I'm happy to share my first completed models with you. Number one: the 1/72 Dragon Hummel from the "Neo Pro" line wich features link-and-length tracks instead of the dreaded rubber bands they used before. I built from the box, adding the antenna from stretched sprue, and painted with Mr.Hobby acrylics. Markings represent a vehicle of an unknown Self-propelled artillery regiment on the Eastern Front, 1944/45. Photographs by Wolfgang Rabel. # Thank you for your interest, best greetings from Lower Austria, Roman

Hallo again The Faun L 900 truck. The kit started quite logic. But quite fast the first question came up. At point 1.4 Differential with double noticing A9 again on the next side. But the absolute clue is the suspension: All 3 numbers are mixed up. From 15 to 17. · Unloaded 17 · Neutral 15 · Heavy 16 It is not so easy to mix up all 3 numbers that way, that no repetition with a former number comes up. Now another issue is the exhaust system. Of about 80mm distance, there is no fixation at the frame. About 2,5m in reality. Happy modelling

Dear fellow Britmodellers, here's my 1/72 Attack Kits Mercedes L1500 Personnel Carrier (aka "Kübelwagen"), built from the box. The "Profi Pack" box contains flawless plastic parts, resin wheels and a photo-etch fret. Due to scale, assembly was rather fiddly, and the instructions are sketchy in places. I painted with Gunze/Mr.Hobby acrylics, according to instructions, representing a vehicle of 8. Panerdivision, France 1944. Photographs by Wolfgang Rabel. Thank you for your interest, best greetings from Vienna!

Hallo Now thhis truck & trailer is finished. They existed in early war years, used to transport Panzer I and Panzer II. Small tanks and other vehicles, like Sd.Kfz.7 as maximum. The build was tricky, by an instruction full of flaws. Correction and help, so look at my Work in Progress: So, I do think, if you have this kit at home, you can build it. Happy modelling

German Delivery Car Type 170V (35297) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd The Mercedes 170 was based upon their W15 chassis, which was their first with all-round independent suspension, and was available as a bare chassis for coachbuilders, as a saloon, cabriolet or as a light van, debuting in the early 30s with sales affected by the worldwide depression that started in Wall Street. Sales picked up after the recession eased, and later versions had internal boot/trunk-space and sleeker lines, moving with the times. As well as sharing a chassis with the saloon, the van was essentially identical in the forward section and inside the crew cab. The bodywork from the doors backward were designed with the same ethos but different due to the boxy load area behind the drivers. Of course, some of them found their way into military service with as saloons, or as the van for carrying small loads. The Kit This is a rebox with new decals of their recent Lieferwagen kit that has the same new sprues and parts added to create the necessary changes for the wagon. The original 2012 kit was highly detailed, and this one is no different, showing just how far MiniArt have come in their design and moulding technology. There is superb detail throughout, with slender racks, realistic-looking fabric door pockets as well as a full engine and interior to the cab. Inside the shrink-wrapped box are twelve sprues of grey styrene, one in clear, a decal sheet and a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass for finer details, protected in a card envelope. Construction begins with the 1700cc engine and transmission, which is made up from a substantial number of parts that just need a little wiring to do it full justice, and in fact the brake hoses are shown in diagrams to ensure that you obtain the correct bends, but you’ll need to find your own 0.2mm wire to begin with. The X-shaped chassis is prepped with a few mounts and a PE brackets, then the rear axle, differential and driveshafts are fitted on a pair of very realistic styrene springs that have hollow centres and individual coils thanks to some clever sliding moulds. Drum brakes, straps and brackets finish off the rear axle assembly, then the completed engine and drive-shaft are installed in the front to be joined by a pair of full-width leaf-springs from above and below with a stub-axle and drum brake at each end. The exhaust is made up with an impressively neatly designed four-part muffler, a pair of PE mounts, straight exit pipe and a curved length leading forward to the engine. With the addition of the bumper-irons at the front, the lower body can be fixed to the chassis after drilling a single hole in one of the front wings. The front firewall is next to be made up, and the pedal box is installed one side, with a set of tools and another neatly designed cylinder, this time the fuel tank, which is curiously situated in the rear of the engine bay. This fits over the transmission tunnel that is moulded into the floor, with more driver controls such as the gear lever, hand brake and steering column with PE horn-ring added at this time. The dashboard is integrated into the windscreen frame after being fitted with decals within the instrument housings, then covered over with clear faces for realism. There is also a nicely clear curved windscreen inserted before this is dropped over the firewall, joined by a rear cab panel that has a small rear window and the back of the bench seat applied before fitting. The base of the bench seat is also fitted on a riser moulded into the floor. Vehicles need wheels, and this one runs on four with a spare one lurking under a false floor in the back. Each wheel is made up from a layer-cake of three central sections to create the tread around the circumference, and two outer faces that depict the sidewalls of the tyres, with maker’s mark and data panel moulded into the sides. The hubs are inserted into the centres of the tyres, with a cap finishing off the assemblies. They are built up in handed pairs, and the spare has a different hub and no cap to differentiate it. The flat floor for the load area is a single piece with the pocket for the spare tyre to fit inside, and this sits over the rear arches and is supported at the front by a lip on the rear of the cab. The load area is then finished by adding the slab-sides and roof to the body, with a few ejector-pin marks that will need filling if you plan on leaving the door open. Speaking of doors, there are two options for open and closed, with moulded-in hinges and separate door handle, plus the number-plate holder above the door in the centre. The front doors are handed of course, and have separate door cards with handle and window winders added, and a piece of clear styrene playing the part of the window, which is first fitted to the door card before it is added to the door skin. Both doors can be posed open or closed as you wish, and are of the rearward opening "suicide door" type. At this stage the front of the van needs finishing, a job that begins with the radiator with an angled PE grille and three-pointed star added to a surround, then the radiator core and rear slam-panel with filler cap at the rear. This is put in place at the front of the body at an angle, with two cross-braces reducing body flex along with a central rod that forms the hinge-point for the side folding hood. Small PE fittings are fixed first on the louvered side panels, then added to the top parts in either the open or closed position. A pair of PE and styrene windscreen wipers are added to the windscreen sweeping from the top, a pair of clear-lensed headlamps, wing mirrors and indicator stalks on the A-pillars finish off the build of the van. To differentiate this from the previous kit, MiniArt have included a PE roof rack that is folded up and fitted to the exterior drip-rails around the roof, with a whole page of the instructions devoted to a set of card boxes of period German products that are folded up and glued together to give the truck something to carry. Markings There are four decal options in the box, including two military and two civilian vehicles, the latter belonging to the Railways and post departments. From the box you can build one of the following: Deutsche Reichsbahn, Germany, 1940-43 Reichpost, Germany, 1940-45 Unknown platoon Sanitary Vehicles, Wehrmacht, 1941-43 Unknown unit, Wehrmacht, 1943-45 Decals are by DecoGraph, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. The boxes are printed on glossy paper with tabs printed to facilitate gluing, so you may want to matt them down after construction, as most packing boxes tend to be of a matt finish. Conclusion This is yet another well-detailed kit of the old Merc van, and if you’re not a vehicle modeller you have the two military types to choose from, or the civilian types would make for great background fodder for a Defence of the Reich diorama, either intact or in a semi-demolished state courtesy of the ongoing fighting. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

German Soldiers with Jerry Cans (35286) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Tanks and other military vehicles are thirsty creatures, and you can’t just pull up to the pump in wartime to refill if you’ve misjudged your intake at the last fuel stop. Vehicles usually carry some form of spare fuel either in bespoke containers strapped to their hulls, or in racks of jerry cans, named after the excellent German design, a name that is still in use today. They are also used to carry water and other fluids, as both humans and vehicles can be thirsty too. This set depicts a pair of German Wehrmacht soldiers refuelling their vehicles or topping off the radiator in the field, together with a number of jerry cans and the less famous prism-shaped “Toblerone” tanks that sometimes carry oil, but these have “Kraftstoff” embossed on the side. Inside the shrink-wrapped box are eight sprues and a fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, two sprues containing the figures and the remaining six full of parts for the cans. The PE fret contains centreline parts for the jerry cans and clasps for the filler caps. The two figures are both standing, one in a peaked cap bending at the waist to offer the can up to a low receptacle, while the other is standing up straight in a greatcoat, pouring at roughly shoulder height. Their construction is shown on the rear of the box, which also shows the building of the two types of can. There are six jerry cans, which are made up on a central PE flange with styrene shells to each side. The triple handle is glued to the top, as is the cap, with the choice of a complete styrene version, or a more detailed styrene cap with PE clasp that allows the modeller to pose the cap off for filling or emptying. The Toblerone cans are two parts and have a PE handle attached to the top edge, with moulded-in handles on each endcap. Various painting options for the cans are given on the rear, with the water containers bearing a white cross to prevent accidental contamination with the wrong fluids. A key to the letter codes is printed below with Vallejo, Mr.Color, AK Real Color, Mission Models, AMMO, Tamiya, a colour swatch and the name of the colour in English to assist you with picking suitable shades from your own stocks. As usual with MiniArt figures their sculpting is exceptional with crisp detail and sensible parts breakdown plus spare jerry cans if you use them in a diorama, as you can see above. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hallo again This kit I built straight from the box. In addition to my truck. So, that is it. Happy modelling

Skoda Rasdschlepper Ost Riich.Models 1/35 Engine: The enginer consists of many small parts, all of which are very accurate. So assembled is easy straight forward. The engine I sprayed black completely, then I dry brushed with aluminum C8. Frame: assembly without exhaust, gear rods and winch. Sprayed in dark gray C40, weathering with oil. I dipped the rope in brown oil mixture and left it for one day to become dry. Wheels: The RSO was designed with oversized steel wheels. Aluminum tread sprayed, afterward I put some crystals of salt with some water, and let it dry. After a layer of yellow paint, I brushed off the salt and darkened the surface with highly diluted black paint. Happy modelling

Hallo I try an easy project after a F-15A in 1/48. Simple kit, as it seemed, but..I will see! Happy modelling

Hallo again This trailer is actually nothing special. I thought it will be just an easy build. Far away. The instruction is the most annoying paper I saw until today. From multiple numbering starting. Some parts are shown in a way, they do not look like at all. So you start looking for missing parts. You may drill one hole, 5 are possible, 5 marks to make a hole, but you do not know which one. Wrong instruction, concerning the position of hammerheads for the front ramp configuration. In the instruction 45° and look at the close up of the finished ramp! On and on… I tried to get in contact with DasWerk. The person told me, he built several trailers and all are fine. To my question about the wrong instruction, came no reply. In communication, if you ask a question, and somebody tells you stuff you never asked, hands off. I have to build the Faun truck too, but I prefer Takom or ReyField or Dragon or anything else. Look at my guide, I do this particular for every member of the forum, so that you can avoid any misery with kits from DasWerk. Happy modelling

Hi folks. Here's my work on the Stug III ausf. F/8 by Dragon from the 90s. Not a great kit (a lot of recycled parts and thus detail that needs to be erased on the fenders which means the tread detail is lost). Their other Stugs were better in that regard. Thanks for looking

German Drivers (1939-1945) 35642 1:35 ICM So many vehicle kits arrive bereft of driver figure, so there's bound to be a market for additional figure to fill these seats. The seating position of vehicles can be quite different between trucks and cars, and even between types of these vehicles. Also, not every officer cared to have, or was appointed a driver, so sometimes drove themselves – the shame of it! This small set from ICM gives you four figures to fill those empty seats. It arrives in a sub-figure sized box with a lift off lid and tray lid inside, with a single sprue inside that has been attacked with sprue-cutters to enable it to fit in the box. It was also wrapped in the longest and thinnest releasable bag I have seen, which was unusual! I've attached the sprue back together for aesthetic reasons, but as you can see where it was cut you won't be upset when you open your box up. The boxtop shows some neat examples of the use for the drivers, as well as giving you a sneak peek at what they look like, and I do rather like the dynamics of the painting, with the cut-away doors and so forth. That chap in the saloon car is just a bit too cheerful, given the danger he's in though. The guy in the top left is also looking a bit cheesed off at being rear-ended whilst flying over two other vehicles too. It's safe to say that these figures are all posed in the seated position, and two are dressed in standard Wehrmacht uniforms with a forage and patrol cap on their heads. One other figure has a smock coat over his uniform with a lace-up neck, and the final one is an officer with a rather relaxed hand draped over the top of his steering wheel. Two of the drivers forage cap and smock guy are looking to their left (the two on top on the box art), while patrol cap guy seems to be looking at his steering wheel, perhaps at a map? Each figure comes broken down as torso, individual legs and arms, head and hat, with a couple of ammo pouches for the belt around the smock bedecked gentleman. The instructions are on a single sheet of glossy paper, with part numbers and colour call outs that reference a chart on the rear that shows Revell and Tamiya colour codes, plus the name of the colour in English and Ukrainian (that's a guess). Sculpting and moulding is excellent as we have come to expect from ICM, and the figures will doubtless fit a lot of applications without any adjustment, although that isn't guaranteed, so prepare yourself for a little sanding and such to adapt them. Conclusion A useful set of figures to add a little human scale to your German WWII vehicles, with typical quality from ICM's figure people. Available from their UK importers, H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of

Dear fellow Britmodellers, this is Fujimi's 1/72 Opel Blitz Ambulance truck. Painted with Gunze/Mr.Hobby acrylics. Photographs by Wolfgang Rabel.

I rarely build Axis vehicles, preferring to celebrate the Allies who defeated Nazism, but I have always had a soft spot for the Tamiya Krupp Protze, which I built as a kid not long after it was released. Today, as part of my demo at Scale Scotland, I started work on a recent re-release of this venerable soft skin kit. KP by jongwinnett, on Flickr First job was to scratchbuild some pedals, as the Tamiya mould ignores these: Scale Scotland by jongwinnett, on Flickr The accelerator was fashioned from a piece of plastic coffee stirrer donated by a colleague - the rib allowing the part to stand proud of the foot well. Clutch and brake pedals were discs of 2.5mm plastic rod: Scale Scotland by jongwinnett, on Flickr And here we see the state of play when the show closed. Not much progress, but I’m enjoying it: Scale Scotland by jongwinnett, on Flickr

This small tank I've been working on for half a year or so. While Dragon's plastic parts fit nicely, the photo etch side skirts need a lot of tender-love-and-care to get them positioned correctly (something I've not entierly achieved). However I feel they look much better than the kit's oversized plastic parts and you can add some 'battle-damage' with a pen. The vehicle was painted with Gunze/Mr.Hobby acrylics and weathered with pastel chalks and artists' oils. It represents a tank from 6. Panzerdivision at Kursk, 1943. Photographs taken by Mr. Wolfgang Rabel of IGM Cars & Bikes.

Ok, this isn't "Armour" but since I've seen a Kübelwagen here, I suppose this is the right section to present my 1/72 Profiline Steyr 1500 Truck. I have a special interest in this vehicle as it was built in my country - in the town of Steyr in Upper Austria, to be exact (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steyr). Profiline seems to be a subsidiary of Special Hobby, and the same kit is also marketed under their 'Special Armour' range. It comes in various set-ups, as a cargo truck or ambulance vehicle. When CMK/Special Hobby attended IMPS Austria's Go Modelling in March 2016 they had some version of this kit reduced -50%. I got myself three. Here's the first one finished. As it is of short-run nature, some fiddling and fettling is neccessary to get everything lined-up. Cargo are resin items from CMK, my spares box and scratch built tarpaulin (from rubber gloves). Painted with Gunze/Mr.Hobby acrylics, weathering with artist's oils and pastel chalks. Windshield wipers and rear view mirror are scratch built from photo etch scraps. Hope you like this tiny truck!

Hello, this is my 1/72 Schatton Daimler Benz DB4500 w/ resin cargo from Blackdog. Painted with Gunze/Mr.Hobby acrylics. Thanks for looking! Happy easter Weekend! cheers from Vienna, Roman

Hello, thanks for your interest in this topic. It's Maco's 1/72 Schwerer Wehrmachtsschlepper with 15cm Rocket Launcher 43. A neat little kit, built out of the box, only the link & length tracks require some patience. Painted with acrylics from the Gunze range, weathered with artist oils, pastel chalks and a soft pencil for chipping effects. Hope you like it!

Hello, my attempt on small-scale armor: 1/72 Revell's Panzer III Ausf.M with side skirts and small details from Eduard Photo Etch. This is a vehicle of 6.Panzerdivision, in action at Kursk, 1943. Painted with colours from the Gunze/Mr.Hobby range. Decals from the box. Thanks for looking! Roman

This is Caesar Miniature's 1/72 SdKfz 10/4. Such a big box - such a small kit. The "crew included" isn't very useful as it comes from their "Panzer Riders" set. The figures are well done but do not interact with the vehicle or the gun in any way. Also note that the applied armor on the front cab is in fact absent from the kit. The tiny instructions gave me a headache, you need a magnifying glass to make out the part numbers. The weakest part of the kit are the sideskirts. These are too thick for this scale, I replaced them with Mesh, framed in metal U-profiles. On my first attempt I tried to install the amunition boxes that I'd sawn off the original part. This didn't work too well as the glue messed up the mesh when viewed from the other side, so I left them off in the end. The base comes from an old Matchbox kit. A windscreen from clear acetate was added. Thanks for your interest.