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Having made MiniArt’s Mk Ib and Mk II Dingo Scout Cars I wanted to add a Mk III to the collection. MiniArt make one but it is very hard to find. Thankfully their Mk II kit has all the part needed to build a Mk III so I'm going to use that for my build. This is the vehicle I am going to model. It is from D Squadron, 11th Hussars, 7th Armoured Division and was photographed in Tonning, Germany near the Danish border. The regimental history says D Squadron was there between 10-20th May 1945. The photo is of poor quality but you can see it has been equipped with a spare wheel and a single Vickers K Gun (most up-gunned Dingos had two). There is no armoured roof so it is either an upgraded Mk II with the roof removed, or a Mk III built from scratch without one. I’ve assembled most of the components I need – a Dingo Mk II kit, a Dragon SAS jeep which comes with one more finely detailed K Gun than it needs, and the old Tamiya jeep which will donate drum magazines. I like the DEF Model weighted wheels and have used them on my other Dingos. Markings are from Star Decals and Mk III instructions are from scalemates.com. I’ve taken plenty of photos for reference including this one I saw at Bovington. It’s a Mk II converted to a Mk III owned by John Pearson who is driving it. (John also owns the running Valentine IX DD behind it). I got chatting to him on a Valentine tank modelling group and he very kindly invited me to visit his collection of vehicles. John is very amiable and hugely knowledgeable, and I spent a marvellous afternoon looking all over his vehicles and taking pictures of the details you often can’t get to see, so I’ll post some here as I build this model. My historical picture doesn’t give any details on how the spare wheel is mounted but I found this picture on a Dingo group of a reinforced frame to carry it. It's a modern interpretation but it works so I will copy it. I’ve only just started construction but here is my reinforced rear plate and a spare wheel for it. I’m using DEF Model wheels so taken one of the wheels from the kit and hollowed out the wheel mounting from the back to leave just the tyre and hub. Next up is the interior where I’ll use the photos of John’s Dingo and some creating thinking regarding ammunition storage to model mine. It usually takes me several months to finish a model but I'll add to this diary as I go.

Hi guys, Over 10 months, I built these vehicles for a diorama about El Alamein based on a well-known photo which fascinated me. A big project with a lot of variety and challenges including making two Academy Honeys look different. Stug III is from Dragon with PE set added. Dingo is Miniart, 10HP is Tamiya, Panzer III is RFM Full interior. Hope you find these of interest. Edit - Added full diorama scene. Common 'V for victory' hand gesture for British troops throughout war Full scene until I figure out more about GIMP Stug III Ausf D Sonderverband 288 Two Honeys No 1 No 2 Daimler Dingo 10HP for AFPU Panzer III

Dingo 2 GE A2.3 PatSi (03284) 1:35 Revell The Dingo is a German MRAP vehicle based on the Unimog chassis produced by Krauss-Maffei Wegman for the German Army. As well as being deigned to be mine resistant it will also protect the occupants from machine gun fire, and artillery fragments. The Dingo 2 has increased performance and higher payload than the original vehicle. The new vehicle also features a roof mounted remote weapons station and sensors. As well as the German Army the vehicle is used by Belgium, Norway, Austria, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic, with more than 800 under contract. The Kit This boxing is a re-release of the 2013 kit with additional parts for the 2 model. There are 7 sprues of plastic, a clear sprue and 4 runner tyres. The quality of the mouldings is good. Construction starts with the vehicle chassis. Both side rails are made up along with the front wheels arches. The rails are then linked by cross braces and the transmission casing. The rear plate containing the tow hitch and convoy marker plate is added. The front suspension units are then added into the chassis. Next up the front & rear axles are made up, along with the wheels. The transmission power shafts are then added as well. These can then be added to the chassis with the rear suspension units being added as well. The engine is then made up and added on to the chassis. along with the exhaust. Construction then moves to the body of the vehicle. The lower body pan is made with seats being made and added, along with equipment and its racks. At the front the dashboard is made up and added. Next the armoured windscreen and doors are made up, The doors being added into the vehicle side panels. The entry steps and supporting structure is made up for each side. The sides, rear, roof and windscreen can then be added onto the main body. The separate rear stowage compartment can then also be made up. These can then all be attached to the chassis along with the bonnet assembly. Last up the roof mounted remote weapons station and sensors can be made up and added. To finish off a few fitting such as mirror and antennas are added, a length of antenna wire being included taped to the front of the instruction booklet so it does not get lost. Markings There are markings for 3 German Army vehicles, one training unit in Germany, and 2 operational units in Afghanistan. Decals are by Cartograf as can be seen from the small "c" at the end of the code, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion It is good to see this kit being re-released and upgraded to represent the latest vehicle in use today. Highly recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Daimler Dingo Armoured Car. Pics thanks to John B

Hi all, I'm currently building a Tamiya 1/48 Dingo mk.II as used by the Federation Armoured Car Regiment in Malaya in 1952-1964. The Malayan Dingos had been handed down by the British Army (some via the Australians) to provide escort duties, roadblocks, reconnaissance and fire support and armoured protection against Communists in the Malayan jungle. The Dingos were modified by British army units in-country to offer better protection against ambush in the jungle. I've used the Tamiya kit and made the armour extensions using plastic sheet. The dimensions are not really exact, but I think I've captured the look of the Dingo reasonably well. This was actually more of a exercise or proof of concept before I convert, and potentially ruin, the bigger (and COSTLIER) MiniArt kit. The Tamiya kit is really well engineered, and goes together very nicely. The progress shown below is the result of a few hours' work over the last weekend. Hopefully, I'll get the interior painted and finished this coming weekend so I can button up the fighting compartment. Now I've got to look for a 1/48 bren gun to arm the little fella.

I modified the front and added tow hooks, lifting eyes, headlights, tail light, horn and a plate on the left rear fender. Markings are very wrong for an early Dingo but there are none supplied with the kit and I had to raid the spares box. I must be crazy! Pre-primer, you can see some of the added detail more clearly.

Monty's Caravan Leyland Retriever and Scout Car 1:76 Revell Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO, PC - unsurprisingly shortened to 'Monty' for most purposes, was the legendary commander of the British Eighth Army in North Africa who masterminded the allied victory over Rommel's Afrika Korps. He went on to command the Eighth Army during the Italian campaign and had overall command of Allied ground forces for the D Day landings. He was also the senior commander for the less successful Operation Market Garden airborne assault. A significant number of artefacts associated with Monty are still extant, including a Leyland Retriever which resides at IWM Duxford. Anyone who knows their model history will instantly recognise this as one of Matchbox's original 1:76 scale releases. Inside the modern Revell end-opening box are three sprues of dark green coloured plastic which hold a total of 142 parts. You get rather more than a caravan though included is the Leyland Retriever itself, a Daimler Dingo scout car, three figures (including, of course, the aforementioned Monty) and a diorama base. The instructions kick off with the Leyland Retriever caravan. Despite being the same age as me, the kit is surprisingly complex. The ladder chassis forms the basis of the model, onto which the drive shaft, axles, suspension, exhaust, steering rods and other running gear have to be fixed. The wheels themselves are pretty nicely moulded and feature nice, chunky tyres. The cab is reasonably well detailed, with gear levers, an instrument panel and steering wheel all included. The caravan body is a separate sub-assembly, meaning you can convert the basic vehicle into a range of different variants if desired. The internal structure is very basic, even though the rear door is designed to be posed in the open position. A nice canvas awning structure and ladder is provided if you want to finish the model in the parked position with the included diorama base. The canvas roof is pretty good and should look convincing enough once painted. The Daimler Dingo Scout Car is surprisingly well detailed for such a tiny model. Seats for the crew are included, along with a steering wheel for the driver. The angular box structure is split logically into bottom, front, rear and side pieces and the wheel arches are moulded separately. The suspension units fit into the sides of the hull beneath the wheel arches, with the tiny wheels being added last of all. Small details such as headlights, various stowage bins and the optional bren gun are added last of all. The roof hatch can be posed in the open or closed position. The diorama base is comprised of two base plates, a couple of barricades and some oil drums arranged into a rudimentary table. It's fairly basic stuff, but as with all diorama bases you can add as much or as little extra detail as your spares box will allow. Two decal options are provided for each of the vehicles. The Caravan can be finished as it appeared in North Africa in 1942, or Germany in 1945 when Monty accepted the German surrender from Admiral Doenitz. The Dingo can be finished as a vehicle of the 2 Troop, B-Squadron, Household Cavalry (in dark green) or HQ Squadron, 10th Royal Hussars (in a desert scheme). Conclusion Whilst this set is neither perfect nor state of the art, for those who were weaned on kits from Airfix and Matchbox it is a welcome trip down memory lane. The kits themselves are actually pretty good and contain enough detail for this diminutive scale and the inclusion of the scout car and diorama base adds significant value to the overall package. Recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or