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1/76 Scorpion "Light Armoured Recce Vehicle" - TimV


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Just for a change, I thought I wouldn't do a helicopter for a group build (although there's a Puma waiting in the stash that I might start next!) - so my pick will be the Scorpion which I've had for quite a while without quite finding the inspiration to build.  As far as I can see it dates back to 1975 (hence the 1973 decal options) so should be quite eligible.  So, obligatory box and sprue shots:

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I probably won't do too much extra to it for this build, and I'll probably represent a fairly early Scorpion, and I have the Osprey book for reference, and photos of a few real ones, including the one at Cosford.  One thing that is clear to me that I'll need to scratch-build some additional storage bins, at least!  But first, I'll follow the instructions and start with the running gear.  More to follow...

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31 minutes ago, BIG X said:

This has suddenly brought back an old childhood memory...

 

 

 

...hands up if you had one of these.

I seem to remeber i had something that was like a bond bug type affair that came with wings....

 

ahhhh the memories......

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11 hours ago, BIG X said:

This has suddenly brought back an old childhood memory...

 

34754.jpg

 

...hands up if you had one of these.

Always wanted it and had to make do with the Ferret.  I was still happy.

 

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On 7/21/2018 at 11:55 AM, BIG X said:

This has suddenly brought back an old childhood memory...

 

34754.jpg

 

...hands up if you had one of these.

I always wanted one but never had one!  Now I've done a bit of research I see that like Airfix, Action Man also copied the 4 headlights of the prototype, it's just a bit more obvious in 1/6 scale...

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Just a bit of progress this weekend - a trip to the Silverstone Classic on Friday meant I've spent a lot of time editing photographs, and it's too hot to do much anyway!  So, wheels assembled and mounted:

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and then added to the lower hull - I also removed the integral 4 headlights which must have been a feature of the prototype but don't appear on any photograph that I've seen:

IMG_3843.jpg

 

I also filled in the sinkholes in the lower hull sides, which seem to be the only visible sinkholes in the kit, which seems pretty good to me.  Next steps - wondering what to do about the headlights - early ones appear to hang down from the waistline, later ones are above the waistline and mounted in boxes? Also deciding whether to keep the flotation screens - I suspect I will as an early one will be in keeping with the nostalgic theme of this group build.

 

Tim

 

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Didn't have time to do anything during the week but then a wet weekend gave me loads of opportunity so I:

Considered whether I needed any internal detail and decided that all that might be visible was the inside of the turret if I left a hatch open with a crewman in it.  Obviously to do that properly would mean opening up an actual turret ring, mounting the turret differently, etc, so I decided the easy route was an optical illusion.  So I painted the turret interior white, then masked a hole in the centre and painted that dark grey, to give the illusion of the shadow of an actual interior:

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(in fact test-fitting my possible figure, in the commanders' hatch, indicates you can't even see that, but it was worth trying I think.  Then I got a bit carried away just building it as per instructions -  except I added a bit of detail to the rear-turret storage, drilled out the gun barrel and some towing and other rings, drilled out the rear exhaust and fitted a 1mm aluminum tube:

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Keeping the superstructure and lower hull separate at this point so I can paint them separately before fitting the tracks.  Just as well as I then realised, looking at reference photographs, that the front mudguards were rarely fitted (if indeed they survived the prototype/acceptance phase) so I removed them:

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Next steps: I think I just need to scratchbuild a fire extinguisher to mount on the left/front upper turret panel, and then I can start priming.  I will fit the early headlights that hang down from the 'waistline' - I've read that these were originally 5" sealed-beam units that were later upgraded to 7" ones.  No wonder they were later improved on - I don't remember 7" sealed-beams being that effective on a classic Mini, let alone on something somewhat bigger and only slightly slower...

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Quick update before disappearing for a long weekend (Cambridge Folk Festival!);

sub-assemblies primed:

IMG_1825.jpg

and then body airbrushed with Humbrol 102 (my favoured approximate match for IRR green) and tracks brush-painted Humbrol 53 as a basis for further washes and painting:

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(apologies for picture quality on that one - combination of a camera phone and low sun...)  so those base coats will have plenty of time to dry before further painting, etc.

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On 21/07/2018 at 11:55, BIG X said:

This has suddenly brought back an old childhood memory...

 

34754.jpg

 

...hands up if you had one of these.

I did!

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On 21/07/2018 at 12:28, Lawzer said:

I seem to remeber i had something that was like a bond bug type affair that came with wings....

 

ahhhh the memories......

I had that as well - some kind of transformable assault boat/plane if I remember correctly.

 

 

Apologies for the thread hijack - excellent progress so far. Really neat and tidy job!

Edited by badger
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I bought my nephew the 'rigid dinghy' a few years back and threw in a very realistic 'rubber shark' - he just didn't 'get it' - kids today - they have no imagination.  I would have gone wild for ACTION MAN in his scuba gear - battling a shark - it was a REALLY good shark.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Made a bit of progress last weekend - aided by the miserable weather outside! - and fitted the tracks, eventually (I'm not the first person to find out they're not long enough, and I ended up scratch-building an extra link each side, and supergluing everything in place, to get them to fit.  I also had to mostly repaint the tracks after fitting them, my plan of using Halfords Plastic Primer didn't make the paint stick at all.  I then added a random black pattern:

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I then picked out the metal parts of the moulded-on tools in satin black, scratch-built some wing mirrors, added some headlamps, added decals (from the kit, plus small union flags from an aftermarket sheet) and test-fitted my commander figure (from the waist-up, he's actually from the Matchbox LRDG set, with added headphones!):

IMG_2353.jpg

 

next steps:  lots of weathering!

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A bit of weathering - mostly pan pastels - over the tracks and lower surfaces, and a wash over the commander's DPM to tone it down a bit, and I'm calling it done.  It's been a fun build (and reminds me of building one when I was a kid, I think I might have won second prize in a model-making competition at our local department store for that one!), so much so that I bought another one on ebay while I was building it, for a future project - maybe converted into a Striker or Samson?  Anyway, for now:

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And, because I haven't got a suitable 1970s diorama or backdrop for photography, a side view of an otherwise-ruined Cafe...

"Over there!"

IMG_2370.jpg

 

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