Month: December 2020

Hasegawa Daimler Mk II Armoured Car in 1/72 scale

~ Colonel Mustard ~ 10 Comments

Another great British Armoured Car I picked up from the best place for Hasegawa kits – my friends in Japan https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/plamo/

From Australia these Hasegawa kits only cost 810 yen which i think is about 7-8 USD, and postage for three kits is about the same. So a pretty good deal and way better value than buying these kits from any other retailer. I really liked the Humber Armoured Car kit they make, and needed a couple of Daimlers for sure. This kit is in the usual grey plastic which is really easy to work with. Not too many pieces either which always makes these Hasegawa kits perfect for an evening of easy model making. Most importantly for me is that everything fits together and instructions are clear and easy to follow. Plenty of good detail in this scale and easily enough for my purpose of putting them on my table top.

My Daimler had a couple of additions, including an aerial, a pickaxe on the front and a hatchet on the back. Also some stowage items added on the back and sides. He received an olive drab paint job as usual, but I don’t think I bothered with a brown wash this time. I do a gloss varnish coat where I am placing my decals and also use a decal softener which does help with blending the decals into the paint work. As with all my wheeled vehicles I like to base them on MDF bases to prevent any damage. Some European earth weathering powder makes Mr Daimler look well used. I still do not bother with any chipping or other effects on green vehicles as i am not sure it really adds much. I really enjoyed making this kit and next up have a Staghound Armoured Car from a company called RPM which is new to me. Hopefully it’s just as good!

Revell PzKpfw V Ausf G

~ Colonel Mustard ~ 3 Comments

I picked up another bargain Panther kit on eBay, I think this one came from France for a few Euros. Not that I needed another Panther, it is just hard for me to resist a bargain. Especially a big cat bargain. So now I have nine completed Panthers (4 Plastic Soldier Company, 2 Zvezda, 1 Esci, 1 Dragon, 1 Revell). Which is more than enough for any battle. Although I have almost finished a Hasagewa Panther too – so that will make ten. So no more Panthers. At least I can say I have a good grasp of Panther tank kits in 1/72 scale.

Revell always make good kits. This one is also good, except for the weird looking turret. The size and shape of the turret is a bit too tall compared to other kits. Not that it is very noticeable. The hatches can be left open which is nice for those of us who will place a commander in the hatch. I added an aerial and left off the schurtzen. The tracks are great link and length and not crappy vinyl. The decals are excellent and they give you enough for a couple of vehicles, so I used the others on my previous Zvezda Panther. The tank commander is an AB figure as usual as they are the best!

Really enjoyed building this kit, and its only the slightly weird turret that is a negative. If you can find a good deal on eBay it is well worth it. One day I will line up all the Panthers together so we compare and contrast.

Wrecked Tanks Terrain

~ Colonel Mustard ~ 5 Comments

I wanted to create some wrecked vehicle markers, both as nice looking scenery and bits of cover, as well as potentially actual wrecked tanks to replace vehicles destroyed during proceedings. I thought that having a few actual wrecked models would add to the variety rather than the usual plumes of cotton wool smoke.

These two are a Plastic Soldier Soldier Company Sherman and an Armourfast Jagdpanther. Neither model I was particularly impressed with. The Sherman was very big and chunky and I found many better offerings from Trumpeter, Esci, Dragon etc. Same for the Jagdpanther who was since replaced with much finer model kits from Zvezda and Trumpeter again. SO i got to it ripping off bits, hatches, tracks and punching holes in the hulls with pins and drills. I placed them on bases at funny angles which helps with the drunken wrecked look. I added lots of homemade rubble and stuff and other bits and pieces of debris. Always good to have an old oil drum kicking around. I used a heavy brown wash followed by lots of dust and dirt powders and some charcoal to show the burnt out bits. They look good just as extra scenery cover near some blown out buildings. I am looking forward to Christmas and hope to get some more work finished so I can post more pictures!