Compare the Jeep, part 94

Comparison photographs.

HLBSCo Spartan APC

Back in 2017 at Salute I bought the HLBSCo 1/48 scale CVR(T) Spartan from Empress.

I had been nagging Empress about producing one to go with their Scimitar since at least 2013.

This was the first HLBSCo vehicle I had bought, and I was disappointed by the model.

The kit is similar in form to some of the Warlord resin vehicles, with white metal running gear.
There appears to have been a change in the supplied components compared to the instructions (the instructions show stub axles on the lower hull to take the separate wheels).

 You can also see the stub axles protruding from the sprocket and idler wheels, with no matching sockets in the one piece hull moulding.

There are large resin blocks with the tools, lights and fire extinguishers on, that will be a pain to separate.

The separate wheels will need to be aligned carefully (there is no indication on the hull where the wheels should go.

I do have a second Empress Scimitar kit, I am wondering if the running gear from that would fit (and if I could buy a second set from Empress).

Rubicon Jagdpanzer 38(t)

I recently bought a second Jagdpanzer 38(t) from Wayland's Forge in Birmingham. The first one is assembled and has been painted but not finished.

The kit comes in one of Rubicon's standard boxes.

It is a three sprue kit. It includes options to build early, middle and late versions plus a flame thrower version.

The decal set includes examples of the vehicles seized by the  the Soviet backed Czech army.

The kit went together well, though there was an issue getting the gun mount to stick properly, and the exhaust silencer assembly would not go together properly. The latter resulted in the loss of the part and a replacement had to be fabricated. I did look for the part on the previous model's sprue, but I could not find it.

Rubicon use an ABS based plastic which is more robust, but it is not very impressed with normal liquid poly. I normally use Tamiya thin liquid poly, but assembling the kit at the height of summer makes it more difficult, the glue evaporating before it gets a chance to soften the plastic.

For the gun mount, I painted Tamiya thin liquid poly on both parts, and then used some Humbrol liquid poly. The combination seemed to provide a grip. Once the parts were joined, I put more Tamiya thin liquid poly into the gap to ensure there was a good bond.

The replacement exhaust part was made with a piece of Evergreen plastic tube, supported by a piece of plastic rod.

This would then be wrapped in green stuff.

 Here is the original Jagdpanzer 38(t) partly painted and the new one.

The story behind this particular paint job is that the vehicle has been undercoated and issued to the troops. Balkenkreuz and vehicle numbers were added before issue. This example had a damaged exhaust silencer repaired with asbestos tape.

Detail shot of the exhaust.

Warlord Tiger II - part five

Having completed the camouflage, the tools and tow cables were then painted.

 

The tank was given a wash of Citadel Agrax Earhshade.

Just spotted that I had not done under the nose, nor the tow shackle extensions.

Citadel Nuln oil wash was used around the exhausts.

Comets at IWM Duxford

There are two A34 Comet Tanks at IWM Duxford. Both of them show Post War modifications.