Dingo Mk III, 11th Hussars, 1945 (MiniArt 1:35)

[Howard M]

Having made MiniArt’s Mk Ib and Mk II Dingo Scout Cars I wanted to add a Mk III to the collection. MiniArt make one but it is very hard to find. Thankfully their Mk II kit has all the part needed to build a Mk III so I'm going to use that for my build. 

 

This is the vehicle I am going to model. It is from D Squadron, 11th Hussars, 7th Armoured Division and was photographed in Tonning, Germany near the Danish border. The regimental history says D Squadron was there between 10-20th May 1945. The photo is of poor quality but you can see it has been equipped with a spare wheel and a single Vickers K Gun (most up-gunned Dingos had two). There is no armoured roof so it is either an upgraded Mk II with the roof removed, or a Mk III built from scratch without one.

 

 

I’ve assembled most of the components I need – a Dingo Mk II kit, a Dragon SAS jeep which comes with one more finely detailed K Gun than it needs, and the old Tamiya jeep which will donate drum magazines. I like the DEF Model weighted wheels and have used them on my other Dingos. Markings are from Star Decals and Mk III instructions are from scalemates.com.

 

 

 

I’ve taken plenty of photos for reference including this one I saw at Bovington. It’s a Mk II converted to a Mk III owned by John Pearson who is driving it. (John also owns the running Valentine IX DD behind it). I got chatting to him on a Valentine tank modelling group and he very kindly invited me to visit his collection of vehicles. John is very amiable and hugely knowledgeable, and I spent a marvellous afternoon looking all over his vehicles and taking pictures of the details you often can’t get to see, so I’ll post some here as I build this model.

 

 

My historical picture doesn’t give any details on how the spare wheel is mounted but I found this picture on a Dingo group of a reinforced frame to carry it. It's a modern interpretation but it works so I will copy it.

 

 

I’ve only just started construction but here is my reinforced rear plate and a spare wheel for it. I’m using DEF Model wheels so taken one of the wheels from the kit and hollowed out the wheel mounting from the back to leave just the tyre and hub.

 

 

Next up is the interior where I’ll use the photos of John’s Dingo and some creating thinking regarding ammunition storage to model mine. It usually takes me several months to finish a model but I'll add to this diary as I go. 

[Howard M]

Today’s work on the interior. I’ve added Vickers K Gun drum magazines from the Tamiya kit but had to be creative as to where they would go as I don’t have a reference photo. Dingos with two K Guns usually had basket-like racks on the outside of the cabin holding half a dozen drums on each side where they could easily be accessed. My vehicle doesn’t have those, so I’ve assumed spare drums were mostly held with clips by the grenade boxes. There are some minute PE brackets to hold a map I've bent into shape but not yet added.

 

[APA]

Very nice work on a cool subject 👌

 

Andrew 

[Milan Mynar]

Nice work.

 

[Howard M]

10 hours ago, APA said:

Very nice work on a cool subject 👌

 

Andrew 

Thank you Andrew. I think the Dingo is a fascinating little vehicle, and it helps that there are a fair number out there owned by enthusiasts happy to show them and share information. 

[Howard M]

Only a little work today. I've added the brackets for the map case just above the side door and scratch built the map case to go in it. I used black cyanoacrylate glue for the brackets as this will give a bit of a raised surface round their base to match the welding used to attach them. For the map case I used plastic card and spare PE rivets to match examples I have seen. At 1:35 scale I won't try and replicate a textured canvas cover but will use paints to suggest this instead.

 

 

Edited March 16, 2024 by Howard M
Typo fixed

[Howard M]

I've built most of the interior components now. I will paint them separately while they are still accessible. The Mk III Dingo has an external first aid box and I'm not sure it usually carried the internal one, but as there is space for it I have included it on the floor just in front of the large upright fuel tank. 

 

 

On the side wall by the driver's right knees is an indicator showing what gear the vehicle is in. The kit has the tube on the wall which protects the rod running up to this indicator but not the indicator itself, so I've scratch built it. Here's the indicator - the gears are marked on the outside of the arc from 1-5 bottom to top, and the bronze rod moves to show which gear is selected.

 

 

My vanishingly small scratch-built version won't be very visible when the model is finished but I thought I'd include it.

 

Next steps are to finish the walls, including front and back, and then prime and paint them. 

[edjbartos]

This is looking very good, looking forward to seeing more...

 

Ed

[robw_uk]

great work on this so far, love the extra little details you have added

[Howard M]

The Dingo is coming along nicely but is still a collection of bits rather than a vehicle. The components of the cabin are all done now ready to be primed. They're just clipped together here.

 

The hatches and doors fit poorly and need considerable sanding if they are to fit in the closed position. The hinges are separate parts and also need some work, but I have then done to my satisfaction now.

 

The gunner’s side of the cabin now has its emergency escape door in place and I’ve added a bag (from MiniArt's British weapons and equipment) and the strap holding it in place. The lookout flap is in place with its small PE handle.

 

 

The kit comes with a rifle for the back of the cabin but no support for it, or even clear instructions as to where it should go. It took me a while to find out how it was held, there is a thick bracket for the stock and a much thinner felt-lined clip for the barrel. Pictures from John Pearson’s Dingo again.

Bracket for the rifle stock:

 

Clip for the barrel:

 

Rather than add these mountings to the roof I’ve added them to the rifle itself and will carefully insert it into the cabin when it has been closed up. Original Dingo stowage diagrams show the rifle has a breach cover, which makes sense given how exposed to dust it was, so I’ve made one using tissue and PVA glue and PE press-studs to close it.

 

Next steps will be to start painting all the components and then start on the suspension, which from the two Dingo I have completed before is a fiddly task.

[APA]

Coming on nicely and nice scratching 👍🏻 

 

Andrew

[Howard M]

I realised there is one more bit of detail I need to add to the edge of the cabin before priming. The Dingo usually had an armoured roof. To cushion this there is a fabric thread woven through holes in the ledges in the cabin the roof sits on when it is closed. You can see it in this photo. The Mk III didn’t have the roof, but they had the padding all the same, either left in place from Mk IIs if converted or fitted in new-build Mk IIIs, just in case the roof needed to be added.

 

The MiniArt kit doesn’t have this padding. I thought about simply painting my model to show it but decided it would be difficult to get it even enough. So I’ve carefully measured photographs and printed on paper the cushions, and a template to put them accurately in place. This is simply standard A4 paper but it will raise the surface just enough to be able to paint them cleanly once done and show the shape of the fabric itself.

[Howard M]

10 minutes ago, APA said:

Coming on nicely and nice scratching 👍🏻 

 

Andrew

Thank you Andrew. When I finish a model I usually want to go and build it again to make a better job of it, but this is one of the few times I have actually done so. I have the quirks of the kit still fresh in my mind and I've put in many hours researching Dingos and building up a library of documents and photos to help me with this one. 

[APA]

Liking your attention to detail 😉👍

 

Andrew 

[APA]

1 minute ago, Howard M said:

Thank you Andrew. When I finish a model I usually want to go and build it again to make a better job of it, but this is one of the few times I have actually done so. I have the quirks of the kit still fresh in my mind and I've put in many hours researching Dingos and building up a library of documents and photos to help me with this one. 

Never done one twice but I know what you mean. Yep my phone is full of random bits of AFV's 😉😁

 

I have a plan to do all the Gecko bedford MW's 2 down, 3 to go, so that will be interesting to go through. 

 

Crack on 😁

 

Andrew 

[Howard M]

5 minutes ago, APA said:

Never done one twice but I know what you mean. Yep my phone is full of random bits of AFV's 😉😁

 

I have a plan to do all the Gecko bedford MW's 2 down, 3 to go, so that will be interesting to go through. 

 

Crack on 😁

 

Andrew 

I've had to buy an external hard drive to store all the photos I have filed away from Bovington 😁 Good luck with the Bedfords!

[Howard M]

Interior components now primed and painted in olive drab. I use water-based acrylics for convenience. The primer is Ammo One Shot white and the green is Hataka’s S.C.C. 15 Olive Drab.

 

 

There’s more than a few posts here about how to get the most realistic British colours, and what that actually means, but to my eyes Hataka’s S.C.C. 15 is a close match to the samples I have. In the past I have had trouble with Hataka paints clogging my airbrush but this time they have worked well with one drop of flow improver per six of paint.

 

 

The kit comes with the wheels on the left. They’re crisply moulded but are perfectly round. In the past I tried replacing them with some FC Model 3D printed weighted wheels, the two in the centre. Their detail is good, but I found cleaning the moulding struts without erasing it very difficult, as shown by my ham-fisted attempt at the top. I settled on the weighted wheels on the right from DEF Model which I’ve used on my previous two Dingos. They have good detail and the moulding tab is conveniently on the flattened base of the wheel so easy to cut off and sand. They also come with templates for painting though with a clear distinction between hub and tyre I usually do this by eye.

 

I am busy for a few days but next steps are to paint details inside the cabin and also the tyres on the wheels.

[Howard M]

 

I’ve now painted the detail in the Dingo’s interior with acrylics and it is ready for a bit of wear and tear, an enamel pin wash, and then oils to add a bit of mud.

 

 

The Wireless Set No. 19 is right on the limits of what my eyes and dexterity will allow me to do. I'll look at it again tomorrow in better light. There are no painting instructions for it in the kit but there are some good photographs on line. This one is borrowed from Wikipedia.

 

 

 

Using paper to raise the cushioning strip on the ledges has worked as hoped and helps with painting them, but they will be difficult to mask completely when painting the exterior so I will look at them again closer to the end of the build. Photo of the real strips is from when I examined John Pearson’s Dingo.

 

 

[edjbartos]

Its' coming along a treat, your detail painting is excellent, well done...

 

Ed

[Howard M]

On 01/04/2024 at 07:45, edjbartos said:

Its' coming along a treat, your detail painting is excellent, well done...

 

Ed

 

Thanks Ed, so far I'm pleased with it.

[Howard M]

The Dingo’s interior is mostly done now. I’ve used a dark brown enamel wash for general dirt and as a pin wash, varnished it, and then used oils over the top for mud.

 

This is a vehicle which has been in the field for some time and so is going to be a bit muddy inside. The soil near Tonning is light brown (thanks Google) so I’ve reflected that in the colours used. I always like to add a few boot prints as well. I’ve used gloss varnish over the instrument dials and for the first time used AK’s ‘crystal magic glue’ to fill in the armoured glass, both on the front plate and also the spare block by the driver’s feet. I will see how it looks in daylight, I think it is a bit too shiny now. It's difficult to see but one of the rivets on the map folder on the right came off while I was painting. Rather than replace it I've drilled a hole where it was and left it as damage. 

 

 

Armoured glass blocks in front of the driver, and two spares to the right. These have a bare metal surround, I've done mine camouflaged.

 

 

 

The seats need a little more work. They are done in acrylics with very small spots of oils brushed over the top to break up they solid colour and represent dirt, but I will add some rips and wear-polished edges to make them a bit better. Here are some leather seats on a Dingo I took pictures of. Originally the gunner’s seat seems to have been canvas but by the end of the war both seats were leather.

 

[Howard M]

I have added a bit more to the seat using oils and now the nerve-wracking part. Having spent weeks painting the cabin’s individual components it’s time to assemble them and close it up. Painting first allows full access to all parts of the cabin, but you have to carefully scrape away paint on surfaces to be glued, not too hard as I use water-based acrylics. I’ve done a lot of test fitting as I go but it is still an opportunity to stuff things up properly.

 

 

This view shows most of the detailed parts of the interior from an angle that will won’t be possible when completed.

 

 

Tremendous relief when it all fits together!

 

 

 

As always I’ll put it to one side for a day and look at it with a fresh pair of eyes to see if anything needs touching up. I’m tempted to add a map, binoculars and perhaps a camera into the cabin but I can put do those later – I will also be adding the rifle to the rear wall once I have finished painting that, and the bar which supports the canvas roof. And finally on to the rest of the vehicle.

[APA]

First class work howard. Great detail which is showing the benefits now 👌

 

Andrew 

[Milan Mynar]

Really excellent work.

 

[Howard M]

I’ve started the suspension now and also done a bit of work on the front mudguards.

 

The Dingos I have examined have a reinforcing rib under the front right mudguard. I believe it is there to take the extra weight of the attached right hands side stowage box – there isn’t an equivalent box on the left hand side because of the emergency escape hatch and hence no reinforcing rib. It is hard to see and even harder to photograph but you can make it out in this picture. I’ve measured and scaled the rib from several photos I have taken of it and added it to my model.

 

 

On the kit the mudguards are secured by a tab going through the compartment side wall, and if you get the angle just right (wrong) you can see the tabs through the top of the cabin. So I have primed and painted the top and rear surfaces of the tabs so that they match the rest of the interior. One tab fits easily, but the one needs considerable sanding.

 

 

And now back to the suspension 😊

Edited April 6, 2024 by Howard M
Typo fixed