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Matchbox 1/76 AFVs


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I hope people won't mind them having another quick outing here but these are my armour entries from the recent Matchbox GB. The models and diorama bases were tweaked to varying degrees and a bit of detail added here and there. It was great fun doing these old classics, although all were actually built from Revell boxes. The only thing lacking was the great Roy Huxley artwork!    

 

Jagdpanther rearranging the landscape:

 

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Captured Wespe:

 

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SdKfz 251 Hanomag and crew in action:

 

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BMW R75, SdKfz 11 and 7.5cm A/T gun:

 

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Jagdpanzer IV:

 

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17 hours ago, sardaukar said:

wow very good work. jagdpanther looking very beefy for 1/76. and I love that German leaping out of the half track. they could be right out of a present day matchbox catalogue.

 

Many thanks. Yes, that chap was always a favourite of mine as a lad - Matchbox certainly instilled a bit of movement and drama into some of their diorama scenes! 😄 

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When the kits were new on the market "nobody" had an airbrush, nobody knew about dry brushing, nobody new about panel wash, nobody knew about a filter or pastels, and these builds would have been way to good to be shown in the matchbox catalogue.

 

I'm envious.

 

("white" envy = I wish mine would have looked half as good)

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Such things were available before these kits.  Certainly dry brushing and washes, although airbrushes were expensive and you had to be fairly dedicated to have one.  However both Badger and Revell Sprite (De Vilbis) were certainly available at the same time as Matchbox kits, if a little later than the first aircraft.  I remain unclear as to how a "filter" differs from the kind of wash that was used then.  Can I suggest a bit of research into "Verlinden", who/which was a fairly obvious ancestor of what is now called "the Spanish School".

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"nobody"

 

Around that time (1974 the Jagdpanther, VW was about the replace the beetle with the Golf and West-Germany won the soccer world championship the second time) a cheap (but usefull in that scale) airbrush was a russian one, around 100,-DM (imported "somehow" by the store owner of my local hobby store), and you needed a compressor (not commonly available, there were instructions circulating to use an old fridge compressor and the tank of the VW bug's windshield washer system and a few pipes) - when the basic Matchbox (and Airfix and Escii) armored vehicle kits cost less than 5,-DM each.

 

I don't remember when I first heard of Francois Verlinden or saw his first diorama (maybe '83), we were poor and didn't have any internet connection in those days, we didn't even own a computer or a smartphone (just a landline) and had just upgraded from B&W to color TV and we had an orange VW beetle (1200cc 34hp, no air condition, no radio, no leather seats, no alloy wheels) those days.

 

Summary: When the kits came onto the market I did not personally know anybody owning an airbrush, but word had spraid to me there was such a thing. My and my friends' samples of these models were all covered in thick Humbrol layers of brush painting.

 

 

Let's not get distracted, these "OOB" (if we disregard the people next to the captured Wespe) builds of historic kits do look good to me (and that's what I tried to convey with my words).

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Superb!

I remember building these as a lad when they first came out (That was even before black & white, possibly hieroglyphics!).

You really have done a top job on those models :)

 

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4 hours ago, Jochen Barett said:

Let's not get distracted, these "OOB" (if we disregard the people next to the captured Wespe) builds of historic kits do look good to me (and that's what I tried to convey with my words).

 

Many thanks Jochen. Yes, when I started out it was Airfix and Matchbox kits, Humbrol paints (including the much missed Authentics..) and a brush. 

 

Then I discovered Tamiya 1/35 AFVs and the work of Francois Verlinden - thanks to Military Modelling magazine. Shep Paine was another hero of mine. I can't remember when I first got an airbrush but I know it was a Badger 200. 

 

It's all a lot more complicated these days! 😃

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Terrific models and model making. 

 

Quote

I can't remember when I first got an airbrush but I know it was a Badger 200

 

Same. Circa 1975. Still have it. Must get an 'o' ring/washer kit and get it working again.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Very nice.  Built most of them as a kid so nice to see someone build & paint them properly.  And still loads of others - the long range desert group Chevy and Jeep, the Humber armoured car, the Priest SPG, the Sherman Firefly, etc.  they were all great fun to build and I think the mini dioramas got me started liking to see models in a setting.  Great work

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On 10/21/2022 at 9:36 PM, bar side said:

Very nice.  Built most of them as a kid so nice to see someone build & paint them properly.  And still loads of others - the long range desert group Chevy and Jeep, the Humber armoured car, the Priest SPG, the Sherman Firefly, etc.  they were all great fun to build and I think the mini dioramas got me started liking to see models in a setting.  Great work

 

 

Thanks! You mention the Humber Armoured Car - here's one I did recently in an Italian Front scheme, with some added Milicast figures. 

 

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  • 1 year later...
On 7/5/2022 at 11:05 AM, Hairtrigger said:

Outstanding results ...  Remember doing the Hanomag back in the day, and my dad put it on a base Eastern front diorama not sure what he used for snow but it looked pretty good back then.

 

On 7/5/2022 at 11:05 AM, Hairtrigger said:

Outstanding results ...  Remember doing the Hanomag back in the day, and my dad put it on a base Eastern front diorama not sure what he used for snow but it looked pretty good back then.


I remember using actual snow, but it didn’t last long. :)

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Fantastic models. I can definitely remember building the jagdpanther when I was a youngster, bought from my local petrol station! 
A lot of modern manufacturers could learn a thing or two from these old mouldings about how to make modelling fun. 
I also love how the weathering has been kept to a minimum but they look just right. Something to think about for the Tamiya JS2 I am building at the moment. 
Many thanks for sharing 

Alan 

 

 

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5 hours ago, Blanketyblank said:

Fantastic models. I can definitely remember building the jagdpanther when I was a youngster, bought from my local petrol station! 
A lot of modern manufacturers could learn a thing or two from these old mouldings about how to make modelling fun. 
I also love how the weathering has been kept to a minimum but they look just right. Something to think about for the Tamiya JS2 I am building at the moment. 
Many thanks for sharing 

Alan 

 

 

 

Thanks for your comments, Alan.

 

Yes, I find these golden oldies a lot of fun and make for very relaxing and satisfying builds. Currently, I'm working my way through Airfix's 1/76 back catalogue. 

 

Looking forward to seeing your JS 2 on here! 🙂

 

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