Israeli Improvised Armoured Car.

[Bullbasket]

I decided that two shelf queens finished was enough for now, so therefore it was time to move onto something new. As the book on Israeli Improvised Armoured Cars arrived this week, and I wanted something to build while the paint dried on the Centaur, the decision was made for me as to what I would tackle next. This project has been on my to do list for a long time, ever since I saw the plans for one in an old Tankette magazine. Lack of decent photos was what had put me off of starting, but now there was no excuse.

It wasn't until I got hold of the book that I realised just how resourceful the Israelis were in the immediate years following WW2. There were four or five armoured cars based on the M3A1 Scout Car and several more, based on anything with wheels. The drawings that were in the Tankette magazine and the one illustrated below, are of the Type 1. This took a lot more work than the later types 3 and 4, and the same is true for modelling them. So therefore I took the decision to attempt the Type 4 a/c.

I bought an Italeri M3A1 White Scout Car some years ago just for this project. It's not of the quality of the later Hobbyboss version, but seeing as how half of it won't be used, it's of no consequence. I also have the Eduard set for this kit, but again, it's not a lot of use as most of it is for the interior, of which, not a lot will be seen.

 

 

There are some purchases that I need to make as these items are not in the kit, namely a pair of German MG34 machine guns, a set of British pattern sand channels, and a set of replacement wheels. I believe the ones that I want are made by Panzerart and are meant for the M3 Half Track. The MG34's will be sourced from RB Models. The rest of it will be scratched from plasticard.

 

John.

Edited September 30, 2018 by Bullbasket

[Hamden]

 

An interesting looking project mind if I take a seat and watch this come to life?

 

   Roger

[Bullbasket]

35 minutes ago, Hamden said:

 

An interesting looking project mind if I take a seat and watch this come to life?

 

   Roger

You are very welcome Roger. Ever since I got hold of the book, I've found more and more possible future projects. I'll try and post an update later today.

 

John.

[Bullbasket]

I made a start on the chassis thinking that it would be fairly quick and straightforward. Not so. Although this is an Italeri boxing, I believe that it's history goes back much further, Zvezda I think…….and it shows. There is a lot of flash in evidence and parts that were misaligned in the moulds, which makes the clean up process awkward, especially with some of the smaller parts.

As this is going to take some time, I ordered a set of Panzerart replacement wheels, as the kit ones are missing all of the bolt heads around the rim. The ones that I ordered are for the M3 Half Track, but I'm sure they are identical to the Scout Car's. They do do a set for the M3 Scout Car, but they have moulded on snow chains. Just what you need in the Negev Desert, snow chains!! I also ordered a couple of MG.34's by RB Models. They should arrive before I get to that stage.

All of the parts needed substantial clean up as there was some flash, but also, every part had seam lines on them and large ejector pin marks, mostly in prominent places. If I was to do this again, and I might as there were four different types of armoured car based on the White Scout Car, I would use the newer Hobbyboss offering.

 

Once the chassis was complete, I moved onto the bodywork. Italeri supply you with a basic interior, but as 90% of it wouldn't be seen on the armoured car, I kept it to just the seats. Although these scout cars carried pioneer tools in their previous life, they were rarely seen once in Israeli hands, so therefore, there were a few holes to be filled. To do this, I punched out some small circles using a Waldron Punch and Die set. On each side of the engine cover are a couple of moulded on grab handles which I removed and replaced with brass wire and thin card. Most photos of these a/c's show only one headlight, the left hand one, and no brush guards fitted, so all of the fittings on the mudguards were removed and the holes filled.

 

 

John.

 

BTW. Anyone know who makes British pattern sand channels?

Edited October 1, 2018 by Bullbasket

[PlaStix]

Interesting idea for a project John. I will be interested to see this in progress.

Kind regards,

Stix

[Bullbasket]

'Morning Stix, Yes, it does make a change from the usual tank with a 75mm cannon out in front. I'll be winging it for most of the build as all of the upper parts will be scratch built. I'm not even sure of the colour that they were finished in. Need to do some more research.

 

John.

 

 

[Kingsman]

This kit goes waaaaaay back to the 70's.  Max, Airfix, Peerless Max, Tomy, Italeri, Zvezda and Revell. Italeri tooled out the metal axles.  Really good in its day.

 

Yes, Panzer Art or one of the other brands of M3 half track wheels will be correct enough.  I believe they were exactly the same at the front on the real vehicles, but I'm sure someone out there will say that the nuts are a fraction of a nanometer off ....................  But note that the front and rear hubs are different, so you may need to drill out the resin hub centres and use the kit hubs at the rear if you use half track wheels.  Or perhaps add the cut off kit hub to the outside of the resin wheel somehow.  Half track wheels are only the front hub type, obviously. 

 

Unfortunately the Panzer Art wheel set for the scout car has snow chains.  Hussar do a couple of scout car sets, but you need deep pockets.  MR Modellbau have a scout car set.  The Armo ones are long discontinued.

Sand channels: Hauler HLU35013.

 

The RB MG34 barrels don't include the sights, but that's easily remedied.

 

You can probably use the longest of the RB width indicators, but then I suppose you can just as well use wire.  If you're stuck for rivets I recommend EDM products: http://www.ngtrains.com/Pages/Details/NBW/nbw.html

[robgizlu]

Looking forward to seeing this unfold

Rob

[Kris B]

Interesting project John. I will keep my eye on it.

[Bullbasket]

13 hours ago, Das Abteilung said:

This kit goes waaaaaay back to the 70's.  Max, Airfix, Peerless Max, Tomy, Italeri, Zvezda and Revell. Italeri tooled out the metal axles. 

...and believe me, it shows.

I'm expecting the Panzerart wheels to turn up any day now, so when I get them, I'll see what needs to be done to the hubs. The width indicators will probably have to be soldered as they seem to have unusual diamond shaped tips, That will be fun!

Thanks for the headsup regarding the sand channels.

 

John.

[Bullbasket]

11 hours ago, robgizlu said:

Looking forward to seeing this unfold

Rob

 

30 minutes ago, Kris B said:

Interesting project John. I will keep my eye on it.

Glad to have you both watching.

 

John.

[Israel]

What an interesting project! I'll be following this one, that's for sure... You might find some interesting stuff in my blog here: 

 

http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=SquawkBox&file=index&req=viewtopic&topic_id=260992&ord=&page=6

Edited October 5, 2018 by Israel

[Bullbasket]

Wow! That is a truly amazing collection of photos. Many thanks for pointing me in the right direction. If this one turns out successfully, I might have a go at the Dodge Weapons Carrier a/c next.

Thanks again.

 

John.

[Kingsman]

Volume 1 of the Tom Gannon book on IDF half-tracks actually - and surprisingly - covers pretty much all of the early improvised armoured vehicles.  I noticed a book on this subject on a Bookworld alert a while back, but I can't remember the author or exact title.

 

There are some very expensive resin conversions for 2 or 3 of the improvised armoured vehicles,  IIRC including this one, the Dodge and the CMP "Sandwich Truck".  They pop up on eBay every now and again, usually around £80-90.  But they are essentially simple fabrications (like the real thing) if you're OK with fabricating plastic card.

[Bullbasket]

I try to avoid large resin conversions for various reasons not least of which is the cost. I'll probably not bother with the Tom Gannon book, not because there's anything wrong with it, but I assume that the photos are going to be duplicated with the ones in the Mouse House book.

 

John.

[Bullbasket]

Once the three rear body parts were fixed in place, I removed the mouldings that run around the perimeter of the inside which I believe was the rail for the machine guns. These would not be needed on this build and would get in the way for the pieces of reinforcing card that would be used to attach the upper structure.

Incidentally, I replaced the rear panel with a piece of 1mm card as the kit part is about 1mm short and it was easier to replace it than to fill the gap and remove all of the moulded on detail.

 

I had great difficulty attaching the engine bonnet in place, as the radiator grill got in the way and pushed the whole thing about 3mm too far forward. There was only one thing for it and that was to grind off a load of plastic from the radiator surround until the bonnet sat (almost) in the right place. Once the slats on the front of the radiator would be in place, the damage to the actual radiator wouldn't be seen. As well as the filler on the mudguards, I had to fill two large sink marks, either side of the radiator.

 

The fit of some parts left a little to be desired, and none more so than the two armoured doors and the fold down armoured pieces above them. Part of the problem was the hinges, so I shaved them off and made new ones and filled any slight gaps still visible with some slithers of thin card. While I was in shaving mood, I removed the door handles and made replacement ones from copper wire.

 

 

That's it for now. If the household authority doesn't com up with too many jobs, I'll get some more done over the weekend.

Thanks for looking.

 

John.

[Kingsman]

Resin for large flat shapes isn't always very successful, whether cast solid or in pieces.  I am surprised that no-one has come up with laser or die-cut plastic card kits for things like this.  I was just pointing out that some kits exist.  With donor kits they're *@$%*! expensive

 

I don't have the Mouse House book so I can't compare but I imagine many of the photos will be the same.  The Gannon book has 17pp on the scout car conversions, of which there were several slightly different configurations, and something over 30 photos with about 20 of those really being useful for modelling.  Only about half of his "Half Tracks vol 1" actually covers half-tracks, split roughly into 1/4 on general background/history and 1/4 on IDF general use.  The other half covers other light wheeled armour, including the improvised designs.

 

The turret in your plans was also fitted to some GMC Otters.  I don't think I've ever seen an IDF Otter modelled.

Edited October 6, 2018 by Das Abteilung
correction

[Silenoz]

Interesting conversion, splendid subject, and work, what could one want more...

 

Thx Israël for these pics, some nice subjects in there...

[Hamden]

 

More nice progress on this project - superb workmanship

 

      Roger

[spaddad]

On 10/5/2018 at 10:20 AM, Israel said:

What an interesting project! I'll be following this one, that's for sure... You might find some interesting stuff in my blog here: 

 

http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=SquawkBox&file=index&req=viewtopic&topic_id=260992&ord=&page=6

Can I add my thanks & appreciation for this amazing resource, especially the early stuff.

[Bullbasket]

Thanks for all of the comments and I agree, Israel's link is a mine of information.

 

John.

[spaddad]

Hi John,

looking forward to this as early Israeli stuff really interests me so I'm here for the duration,

cheers,

Spad

[Bullbasket]

Thanks Spad. Glad to have you along.

 

John.

[Israel]

Splendid craftsmanship there John, keep 'em coming!

 

 

[Bullbasket]

Thanks Israel. I'll certainly try.

 

John.