'Rommel's Rod' (Tom Daniel Monogram showcar)

[thorfinn]

Not a new build, but never posted here (I'm pretty sure), and a fitting topic in advance of Halloween. The skeletal Field Marshal Rommel and his faithful driver take to the African deserts once again, in the form of Monogram's 2009 1/24 reissue of Tom Daniel's classic '60s “Krazy Kommand Kar” design.

 

 

This was one of the few Tom Daniel showrods I never actually got to build as a kid, so I wanted to do it more or less stock OOB (with complete original-style decals), with just a few added touches. I dumped the chrome finish on the kit parts in favor of a more regulation heavily-weathered sandgelb finish, then added more accurate command flags and convoy reflectors to the fenders, standard Wehrmacht vehicle plates front and rear, and a rear-view mirror for the driver. I modified the kit aerial (and added a jaunty pennant) and scratchbuilt a command radio so the Generalfeldmarschall could stay in touch with his spectral divisions.

 

The real fun was with the figures. I added ribcages from styrene strip, then made up (suitably tattered) uniforms piece by piece with white-glue-soaked tissue, and regular paper for pockets, belts and such. Insignia and decorations were internet images printed out on paper and decal stock, with a little hand-painting thrown in. I modified the driver's steel helmet to form the more stylish Afrika Korps field cap. My finishing touch was to remove Herr Feldmarschall's molded-on motorcycle-type goggles from his hat, and replace them with tiny scratchbuilt sand goggles of the British design which became part of Rommel's oft-photographed iconic image.

 

An Internet search turned up an image of an actual German military map of the Tobruk area, so I had to shrink it down and print it out. I enlarged the kit's map table, added a few covenient hand grenades as paperweights, and all was done.

 

The ghostly Field Marshal thoughtfully studies his map of Tobruk, deciding strategy and planning his next brilliant against-the-odds attack. His loyal driver smiles for the camera and checks his rear-view mirror for any sign of SAS Commandos or marauding low-flying Hurricanes.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APA]

Cool stuff indeed. Nice details on the radio 😎👍👌 Those skeletons are brilliant 👍

Naught wrong with a bit of fantasy. 

 

A

[Stef N.]

Something quite different but also quite brilliant. Love it. 👍

[Pete in Lincs]

Crazy, man! Love it.

[StuartH]

I love it! Absolutely brilliant.

So many nice touches such as the grenades as paperweights, the skull on the end of the bonnet and the uniforms to name a few.

How did you do the map?

[thorfinn]

39 minutes ago, StuartH said:

How did you do the map?

I found the image through an online search. Then I did what I often do making decals: pasted it into an Open Office/MS Word document to resize it to scale. I just printed it out on the lightest-weight paper I could find, curled it a bit with the edge of a steel rule, and carefully glued it to the table with high-tack craft glue.

Thanks for you interest!

[f matthews]

Fantastic!  I remember this kit from when I was a kid.  My brother built this one (the Monogram kit) and I built the Red Baron Rod Revell kit with the big chrome helmet.

Yours looks much better of course and the figures are brilliant.

[PlaStix]

That looks brilliant!! Great fun too! Very well done. 

Kind regards,

Stix

[EpicPlastic]

I never knew of the existence of this kit until i just watched your photo's. Definately something different, very cool!