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Post by Ian H. on Jul 29, 2019 21:02:06 GMT
Lots of fun there! Projects galore....that a Stalin or T-10 on the far right?
Regards,
Ian
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alexb
Glue slinger 
Posts: 689 
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Post by alexb on Jul 30, 2019 2:58:09 GMT
Yep...busy busy busy. The boat...that's the Tamiya Pibber. It's part of a non-miliary build theme I've played with. It'll find itself as a scuba dive boat. If I can get it to work like I imagine it, you'll see the divers as well as what they are diving on. But that's down the road...I'd be happy to get the boat part done first.
That's a Stalin 3.
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alexb
Glue slinger
Posts: 689
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Post by alexb on Aug 1, 2019 2:25:38 GMT
Time to start on the fixer-uppers. Given the number of kits that need work...I go with one that isn't even in the grouped photo. It's the Tamiya M8 Greyhound in 1/35 scale. The main fix is reattaching the steering wheel & shaft to the underside of the upper hull. It also has a hatch knocked loose and is missing one of the antenna bases, which has vanished but can be replaced.
The first thing to do is break it down. After the fenders were removed, it was just a matter of sliding an x-acto blade in between the upper and lower hull halves. It came apart alot easier than I had expected. The steering wheel then cemented in to place. That was easy....too easy.
I was sort of liking the look of the M8 without its fenders. And that got me thinking...I never really cared for this model. My first thought was a lend-lease one in Soviet hands...wasn't an option. So, Privateer it is.
The M8 is thin skinned, prone to bogging down in mud and snow, and had a weak gun. It was designed as a recon vehicle, so it was what it was. It did do well on roads, where it found use as a patrol vehicle. I cannot do anything with the armor. So I could change its role by keeping it on roads. That leaves the gun...what could I do with the gun...oh let me think...the gun....okay I got it.
She'll need some reworking of the turret to accommodate it, but I'm liking rearming it with a ZPU-1. It'll give it a fire-support and air defense role. It looks like I'll have to notch the turret front so the gun can elevate. The rear will need cutting out so the seat will fit, as well as allow easier entry. Ammunition will mounted on the kit's turret basket and fed to the weapon via a feed belt. The gun is intended to have the ammo box mounted to the side of the gun, really too far forward to be mounted in the M8 turret.
And there we are for now. This really was a spur of the moment fix and conversion. I had played with doing a ZPU-2 in a M8 GMC, but decided to save that one for a long 75mm version. That was an actual TD but never saw service. It could make for a nice Privateer fire support vehicle.
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Post by Boots on Aug 1, 2019 18:42:46 GMT
I like it without the fenders as well  |
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Post by Paul B on Aug 2, 2019 17:47:04 GMT
I like that idea Alex  . Back in the 90's, I met an ex-Wehrmacht mechanic in a model shop close to Dortmund. He told a story about two M8 Greyhounds they captured, they were of naturally disgusted with weapons system on them so they changed them. He reported that they removed the 37mm guns and added to one an MG42, which went in place of the 37mil and to the other an MG151 "drilling" (tripple). I believe the bloke although I haven't found any photographic proof, the way he explained everything that needed changing, and how they did it sounded totally true to me. |
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Post by Ian H. on Aug 4, 2019 0:06:49 GMT
Great project, Alex. Lots of possibilities with this.
Regards,
Ian
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alexb
Glue slinger
Posts: 689
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Post by alexb on Aug 4, 2019 1:32:10 GMT
Paul, Intersting story. I love stuff like that. My father sometimes talks about Vietnam and their having some old French gear sitting about. As far as the M8, I never understood why they went with a 3.7cm gun. At least go with a 57mm gun or an auto-cannon. I'm sure someone thought is brilliant at the time...probably $omeone really $aw $omething $pecial about it. To be honest, I think around 1943 the US war production was as much about everyone getting their share of the pie.
I did find these. I had thought that I had posted these but...I didn't. Anyway, I had repainted the BMP-55 from the overall green to a sand/dark green scheme.
But back to the Greyhound.
I rigged up a mount for the turret ring/basket to hold the gun. The ZPU-1 has its ammo placed forward so the gun had to be fitted roughly in the center so it hopefully clear the turret walls. The gunner's seat would sit on the turret ring and the rear just be left open...or that was the plan.
By the way, the Meng ZPU-1 is a real beauty. It's small and delicate, but she's a looker. I assume the ZPU-2 just as nice, better. That's what I actually would have liked to mount on this, especially given what I'd have to do with the turret.
Test fitted the kit's turret. The idea was to cut the front and rear to accommodate the gun and gunner, respectively. The ammo fitting was an issue. I thought about mounting the ammo at the bottom of the basket and just have it feed up. The gun just didn't look right without the ammo box mounted to its side. A shame...I really liked the look of the gun poking out of the kit's turret.
So I made a new turret. I scratched a new bottom to fit on the turret basket to hold the new turret sides. I kept it simple...a hexagon shape. I used a single length of styrene, measured the sides, front, and front corners. I scored them and bent them. A ZPU-2 would have looked great in this turret.
 
Anyway, that's where we're at on that one for the moment.
I had a Windows update that took almost four hours to install so I decided to get started on this one. This is the old DML kit. I built it a while ago and slapped a base coat of dark greet on it...and just forgot about it. There's a better Shilka kit out there...Takom or Meng...so this one seems ripe for some Privateerization. The plan was to repaint it and fix the few bits that needed attention...some of the tracks had loosened and a few had fallen off. The tracks were never painted...they'll be addressed too.
I broke the kit down. The tracks popped off easy...I got lucky. The upper and lower hulls came apart....again...lucky.
I didn't want to do a green/black or a green/sand paint scheme. I figure this thing will be in an urban role so I decided to play with a funky urban camo scheme. Since it was green already, I masked off the parts I wanted to remain green. I then shot a coat of flat black. I let it dry, then added masking for a coat of gunship gray. After that, more masking and the final color of airforce gray. I thought using that was somewhat ironic. The layout is pretty random.
So that gives us a mass of masking tape to remove.....drumroll please.
You ever heard of a girl that was so ugly she was cute? Well, this is the triple-a vehicle version of that. The only thing is the light grey looks almost white in the pictures. The same thing happened with my privateer Leo 1. Anyway, I like how it looks.
And that's where that one sits. I'm thinking about side skirts...except maybe mesh. And maybe add a DShk. I figure this thing will be used in an rban environment. Probably used more for infantry support and anti-sniper duty than taking shots at aircraft. Those seem fitting for an urban operations vehicle. Something different from the usual.
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Post by Paul B on Aug 4, 2019 6:22:14 GMT
Cool M8 Alex and I like the new camo on ZSU 23/4 |
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Post by Boots on Aug 4, 2019 16:02:05 GMT
Super work Alex and i`ve just had that poxy windows update as well  |
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Post by Ian H. on Aug 5, 2019 8:56:39 GMT
Wow, camo on the "Zeus" 23 looks awesome! Cool Greyhound, too.
Regards,
Ian
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alexb
Glue slinger
Posts: 689
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Post by alexb on Sept 12, 2019 5:49:46 GMT
A quickish build. I've spoken on occasion about wanting to build a StuG VI...a Tiger 1 chassis-based Stug using the basic German StuG formula...take a chassis, replace the turret with a casemate, up the gun. This shouldn't be mistaken for the Jagdtiger...which uses a chassis of the King Tiger family.
I had an old Tamiya Tiger 1 with the steel wheels. I had built it back in the 90s...two of them actually. It's a good kit and it saw my attempt at adding zimm using a hot knife. I had borrowed its indie tracks for another build. So I had the kit minus tracks...but I did have a set of rubberband tracks from an Academy Tiger 1...which was the recipient of the Tamiya Tiger's tracks.
Assembly was pretty straight-forward. I used sheet styrene to make a intentionally rough casemate. If I had had a different gun I would have made the front more vertical and boxy. Instead, I only had a gun ad mount from a Jagdpanther so I had to give the front more of a sloped angle.
Commander's cupola is a cast Tiger or Panther example from te spares. I added a scratched IR scope I had in the spares. Loader's hatch is a StuG III design from the spares.
For the zimm I used a hot-knife hoping to get the old zimm to match the new. The new zimm is a bit cruder but I think it works. I see this as a wartime conversion, making use of some banged-up Tiger 1s.
  
A shot next to a JagdPanther to compare size and shape.
One of the idler arms broke so I might have to go with some indie tracks. The Academy rubberband set is really tight and I doubt any repairs would hold up under the track tension. Not sure about paint at the moment. I still have some fitting details to sort out and add....ventilator, gunner's sight, tools, etc. Some I have...some I have, but have to find.
Anyway, it's a fun little build for a project I've wanted to do for a while. Plus it was a diversion for a few days. I'll probably back off of it a bit until I get the rest of it together.
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Post by Paul B on Sept 12, 2019 10:46:16 GMT
I like that Alex  . I reckon I would have gone a 105 or even 150 main gun, but that's only my thought  |
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alexb
Glue slinger
Posts: 689
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Post by alexb on Sept 12, 2019 16:08:08 GMT
I thought about a 105. The idea is that at that time, the next tier upgrade for the Tiger 1's 88 was the long 88 you saw on the KingTiger and JagdPanther. I didn't want to do a 128 or larger simply because the 128 was the Jagdtiger's gun.
If I had gone with an early Tiger 1 chassis I would have had it as a test vehicle that proved to be impractical...a Tiger 1 was very expensive compared to a Panther-based version. I used the later steel wheels version so I figure it'd be more of a factory conversion using up battle-damaged Tiger 1s late in the war.
By the way, I might have a Tiger II turret lined up. You might be seeing my E50 sporting it soon.Also, that JagdPanther is almost done.
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Post by Snipersmudge on Sept 12, 2019 18:00:16 GMT
Great conversion Alex looks very interesting  |
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Post by Ian H. on Sept 12, 2019 18:09:59 GMT
Alex, that Stug-Tiger(?) looks great!! Love that concept. Rolling blockhouse with a massive gun.
Regards,
Ian
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alexb
Glue slinger
Posts: 689
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Post by alexb on Sept 16, 2019 5:18:59 GMT
Thanks all. The better design probably would have been to use a Sturmtiger. That would have been cleaner and probably could have been explained as a production build.
The tracks are pretty tight and I doubt the repaired idler will hold up. I'll probably pick up a set of indie link tracks. I may go ahead and finish up as much as I can.
I heard back from a guy today. He had a partially built Tiger II kit he was going to sell me for mainly shipping. He couldn't find it and thinks it got tossed back when they had some flooding. Oh well...it's not like I don't have enough builds to fiddle with any way.
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Post by Ian H. on Sept 17, 2019 14:54:23 GMT
I bet you can find another project to work on if that won't work. Best wishes, Ian |
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alexb
Glue slinger
Posts: 689
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Post by alexb on Nov 2, 2019 20:34:57 GMT
It's been a bit since I've posted any builds here. I have been building, just saving them up. Here's some of them.
This is Cyber Hobby's SU-85m in 1/35 scale. It's a good kit and I chose it as part of he Blitz 6 Campaign over on Armorama. It was initially intented to be part of a larger build but I scaled it back to just this AFV. Not much to the build. It's built OOB. The tracks are MT and went together great. The crew is Tamiya.
      
This is an old DML/Dragon kit. I had built it a while back and had it loaded down with tank riders. It's crew was the one I "borrowed" for the SU-85m. The main thing I wanted to address was the tracks. I had gotten into a bad habit of assembling the track and just spraying them with a medium grey. The idea was to go back and hand brush finish them. The truth is, the medium grey wasn't dark enough. I have several tanks that are having their tracks redone for this reason. So basically, I removed the tracks, repainted the ISU, and then re-assembled the tracks. I mudded them up and painted them.
    
This is CyberHobby's M4a3 (75) kit. This was going to be part of the Blitz 6 Campaign I mentioned above. The kit's pretty nice. The only issue I had was with the DS Tracks...which I actually don't mind for a tank like a Sherman. They actually look great and are easier to assemble than Dragon's Sherman indie tracks. The issue is how stiff they are. The upper run floats above the return rollers and make the tank look bottom heavy. Not sure what I'll do with it yet. It's mostly done should I decide on something.
  
Remember my M4a3e8 with 90mm gun build? This is the dozer blade assembly and turret from the Academy donor kit. The chassis is the venerable Tamya M4a3 kit. It's built from various bits found in my Sherman Spares boxes and is a mix of Tamiya, Academy, and Dragon. The stowage was already on it. The dozer is actually more accurate for the VVSS Sherman and fits it perfect. The turret is a 105mm howitzer and wasn't my first choice. I wanted to use a 75mm gun turret and thought I had one...but I don't seem to be able to find it. I'm not sure what this one will be used for. I'm leaning towards a what-if ETO '46 build but from the Allies' side. Either that or Operation Unthinkable based build.
 
Italeri's venerable M47 Patton. Still a great kit. I was going to build this one as a Jordanian M47. The headlights had some issues...one guard was missing and one of the lights looked mis-molded. I tossed that idea and went with a Privateer tank. For the lights I swapped out a pair of LVTP light assemblies and placed them on the fenders. I did the same for a Centurion so those will probably find a common home nation to serve...something Middle Eastern since the Centurion is sporting a sand camo scheme already. Still a bit of work to do on that one.
  
This is the second M48a3 I've built as a Privateer tank. Initially this was going to be a Soviet-ized Patton...captured or the user changed patrons and used the tank for propaganda. I decided to go with a Western m48 and show it as a continued evolution of the M48 as a privateer tank. It received a 105mm gun like the earlier one. I gave it an Abrams commander's cupola. I gave it adifferent IR spotlight, armored smoke launchers, and side skirts. I went with a different side skirt design; larger with stowage racks. The problem with the Tamiya (and the cloned Academy M48) is how it sits. The rear sits up higher than the front. The other M48 I built I addressed this during the build by repositioning the suspension. I couldn't do that with this one so I cut the skirts at an angle so the were level across the tops of the roadwheels. The side racks help mask the slight wedge shape. Also, to sretch the length a bit, I gave it a pair of external fuel drums for the rear. I mounted these low to help with the profile length. Paint was a med/dark grey on dark green. Decals were from the spares and include the cobra insignia found on the other Privateer Patton. I included a pic with both tanks to compare.
       
This is an old Tamiya Marder III I built a while back. The intention was to make a DAK version and give it indie tracks. I have a DRagon 38(t) set I picked up somewhere. The fit wasn't there and I sort of lost interest in DAK AFVs so I went to the other extreme and went with a winter camo vehicle. I've got a Panzer II/J and a pair of Panzer IIs I had built for a different Blitz Campaign, but didn't finish. I was going to recreate the cover of Squadron's SS Armor book. I want to do something winter-themed so I might use the Marder with that at some point.
Anyway, I went ahead and started the winter/mud work. For mud I used glue/celluclay and tried to build up layers on the wheels and wheel bolts. A few coats of white and some gratuitous weathering and she's finished enough for now. Once I decide on what I'll do I can paint the mud and "tie it" to the base's mud.
     
And the funky camo Shilka. I just finished the weathering, though a it could use a nice dusting. This is a local indigenous unit in the Privateer Theme. I figure it's an urban fighter as much as anything. I'm painting the M8 Greyhound with the ZPU HMG a similar camo scheme. The idea is a local militia unit working their way through a ruined town. Just a different perspective of the Privateer thing.
 
That's all for now. I've got more but this update is large enough already.
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Post by Snipersmudge on Nov 3, 2019 9:35:48 GMT
Been busy then? All looking very good indeed |
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Post by Paul B on Nov 3, 2019 15:25:39 GMT
Mmmmh, I think I need to some odd looking soviet gear going . Maybe an SU-122-54 or an Object 704 SPH  |
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