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Polish Pair


Foxbat

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Inspired by Big X's Kubelwagen build, and my idea to mix up the decals, I've put my money where my mouth is and I have a build of my own on a similar theme. In my case it is a Kubelwagen and Schwimmwagen captured and given new markings by my pet unit, Polish 1st Armoured Division in NW Europe 1944/45.

 

I've gone with Tamiya 1/48 because I've already got a few in the cabinet and they suit me the way 1/35 never really has.

 

The kits:

European Kubel, there's an Afrika Korps version too, which may or may not have the balloon tyres. Decals are irrelevant here as I won't be using any.

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Sprue shot. Some nice detail and nothing too taxing. The figures will go straight in the spares box - maybe that map was upside down :D 

 

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The Schwimmwagen has much better box art, shame mine won't finish up looking anything like that.

 

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Again, there's some lovely detail. Hope I can do it justice.

 

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Finally (for now) the decals and their instructions.

 

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It's quite hard to see anything there as the instructions are in black and white and the actual decal sheet is mostly white on pale blue backing. Fortunately Toro do everything in full colour on their website - see here Toro Decals. I've got an AB41 on the shelf that could stand a refurb, an Sd.Kfz 250 on back order to do that option and I could always find room for a Greyhound, so quite a useful sheet :)

 

That's me for now. Construction to start over the weekend.

 

Andy

 

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  • 1 month later...

I've been working on these on an occasional basis, so time for an update. 

 

Started with the Schwimmwagen. The basic tub, suspension and wheels pretty much built themselves while I was making a cuppa.

 

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Parked next to the Steyr I did in the Christmas Blitzbuild for a size comparison.

 

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The floor is duckboards over the basic tub, so they got a coat of brown and a sepia wash.

 

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Seats, steering column, gear stick and handbrake added.

 

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Top half of the body added.

 

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Some details added - lights, rail, tilt and aerial. That tilt was murder to get on as there is no positive location for it, it's just  a case of anchor the front end of the frame and bodge from there. Unusual for Tamiya.

 

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That's it for now. Few more details to add then I'll start painting. This one is unusual in that it got a coat of SCC15 over the German colours and the markings are neatly applied. Looking forward to that bit. I'll need a cover for the spare wheel when I fit it as there's an air recognition star to go on it.

 

Andy

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Construction is now essentially complete. I'll add the windscreen after painting but everything else is on. Still struggling with depth of field on my camera trying to get close ups of something that is less than 8cm long but I'll work on that with the paint pictures.

 

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Andy

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2 hours ago, Vaastav said:

Interesting topic. Mind if I follow.?? 

Please do. I've made more progress so I'll add more pictures soon.

 

Andy

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Missed some intermediate steps as I took pictures on my phone instead of my proper camera and I haven't worked out how to get them from phone to Imgur to here. Anyhoo, a couple of snaps to bring you up to date...

 

Basic paint went on, followed by  a very heavy wash to create depth and bring out detail. Note how the front passenger seat is in perfect focus while everything else just kind of swirls around it 😕 

 

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Another coat (or two, when Hataka paint has been standing a while it does take some getting back to a good opaque consistency) to tone things down and it was time for some decals. There's an aerial recognition star for the spare wheel, but since it doesn't come with the necessary cover I left it off. Maybe the crew were feeling brave the day I took the pictures - who can say?

 

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Still some details to finish and a bit more weathering to tie it all together but I can see the finish from here. Then it'll be Kubelwagen time :)

 

Andy

 

 

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Calling this one done. Some pics here, I'll wait until the Kubel is komplete before I bother RFI.

 

VW Typ 166 Scwimmwagen, 11th Sapper Company, 1st Polish Armoured Division, Holland, winter 1945.

 

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Side on with added cat hair 🙄

 

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Andy

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Funny.. I was thinking about doing this (in 35 though) soon. Yellow interior with SCC15 out sounded good.

Yours looks good, even with somehow "bright" marking. No time to weather, when you think about it.

Most of them ended up in  some "private hands" anyway. Sought-after item :-)) Good for a duck shooting - they said.

Zig

Edited by zigster
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8 minutes ago, zigster said:

Yours looks good, even with somehow "bright" marking. No time to weather, when you think about it.

Zig

There is weathering over the markings but then I had to use flash to get the photos so it doesn't show up too well. That said, it is quite subtle as this wouldn't be a front line vehicle and you'd want to discourage friendly fire

 

Andy

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Well, Mr. Foxbat, I would say it was used towards the end, or even past the end of war. There was an early regulation "not to use captured vehicles", I've read somewhere. 

Guess it was relaxed, or disobeyed at that time. And Poles stayed in Northern Germany for another year, or so.

Now, we wait for that Kubelwagen 🙂

Zig

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1 hour ago, zigster said:

Well, Mr. Foxbat, I would say it was used towards the end, or even past the end of war. There was an early regulation "not to use captured vehicles", I've read somewhere. 

Guess it was relaxed, or disobeyed at that time. And Poles stayed in Northern Germany for another year, or so.

Now, we wait for that Kubelwagen 🙂

Zig

 

The regulations seemed to have been ignored quite a bit, especially by the Poles who used all kinds of kit they weren't issued with - I also have Polish markings for Italian and US armoured cars and another Schwimmwagen used by the Military Police in Italy :)

 

From the location and date I'm guessing this one was very early in 1945 because as you say, the division finished the war in Northern Germany and stayed there until 1946. On that basis I've tried to make it look wet and well used but not too muddy as the ground would still be hard under the rain/snow. 

 

Now, Kubel-time :)

 

Andy

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I did a lot of painting before I started building to see if it was any easier than with the Schwimmwagen. This is the first four pieces joined; rear end with the bottom of the engine plus the two exhausts.

 

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Apologies for this picture being so blurry. Too late to go back and take a better one, but this is the start of the interior with the wooden slat floor.

 

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Rear bodywork and back seat added. 

 

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There should have been an intermediate photo here, but it seems I forgot so here we jump to the bodywork and interior being largely done.

 

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As an aside, I looked for photographs of the original car and I found this build thread: Polish Kubel

 

I think the builder has missed something even though he picked up on some detail in the pictures. My interpretation is that the first two pictures show the car shortly after capture. Note that the bodywork is scruffy but apart from behind the star in the first picture it is arguably all dunkelgelb. The spare wheel and shovel are still there and the visible markings look very uneven and hand applied in a hurry. In the third picture there appears to be a second colour, the wheel and shovel are gone, at least one mud flap has been added and the star is much more regular. I'm choosing to believe that a partial repaint happened at some point so my markings and single colour paint job represent the Kubel in the field just after being captured.

 

I still have time to change things if anyone out there has better ideas/info.

 

Andy 

 

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3 hours ago, Vaastav said:

Very nice. Will you be adding figures because they would add great value to the build. 

I do have some suitable figures I bought for a previous build and never used. You've got me thinking now...

 

Andy

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That first photo, with two German Officers in the back seat would make a great diorama. I've got a bigger scan of this pic, and it looks to me, like there is not any other colour on yellow, than a big spot under the star.

Nothing like cammo patches. I've noticed quite big abuse on fenders though :-)

And TORO decal shows the spare wheel with like some kind of cover, that was just a "rag" thrown over it, with a star painted on

Zig.

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I commented in another thread about my own way of painting and hopefully these pictures will show it in action. The original Tamiya XF-60 has had a coat of VERY thinned Vallejo Game sepia ink splashed over everything. It settles into the details and puddles on flat surfaces to give some colour variation. I then dry brushed some Vallejo Buff paint over the raised detail. The end result is quite stark and a lot browner than the original scheme. This pic was taken with flash, it's even darker in real life.

 

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To blend everything together, I added another coat of well thinned XF-60. This tones down the shadows and highlights and even though it could have turned out better, to my eye it gives a nicely modulated base for adding the decals and final weathering (The missing doors and a few other parts were done on the sprues at the same time so the colours match up).

 

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More later. Possibly much later, we'll see how it goes.

 

Andy

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With major construction complete, I added a coat of varnish prior to decalling. Still some spots to tidy up, but that's what weathering is for, right?

 

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Remembered to add the green patch to the passenger door per the photograph in the link above. That's watery SCC.15 which seems the most likely colour but I can't think why it would be just on that door unless there was something unusual underneath.

 

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The decals fought me every inch of the way. There are 10 of them and I think 2 of those went on in the right place without cracking or folding. The big 'POLAND' down the door did both so half of it is decal and half of it is hand painted. I'm glad the original was a bit shonky, makes my effort very slightly less obvious.

 

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Wheels, windscreen and a couple of details to add, then matt coat and final weathering and she'll be done.

 

Andy

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Calling this one done. There's more I could do, and it doesn't quite match the photographs, but it's close enough for jazz :)

 

A few muddy water splashes along the lower sides and a little dried muck around the wheels and tyres is enough - the photographs show it wasn't that dirty when first captured.

 

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Hmmm, some of those spots are a bit big and obvious. Might do something there before the final RFI photoshoot.

 

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And finally, since he inspired this build in the first place, here is the obligatory 'penny shot' for Big X.

 

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Hope the ribs are healing well Steve and we some progress on your Kubel before too long.

 

Andy

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  • 10 months later...

WOW - thanks for leading me to this thread.  I'm feeling pretty humbled that you started this when I started my Kubel & finished it during my "broken rib" saga.  Even finishing with the signature "penny shot" - which I always love.

 

God knows where my head was at that point - but you have done a brilliant job & thanks for the mentions - in retrospect it means a lot.

 

Thank you Sir!!!

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