1/72 Scale

1/72 Scale Modelling

The Plastic Soldier Company

~ Colonel Mustard ~ Leave a comment

Colonel Mustard is still on the road and so reports are a little different in nature while he is a few thousand miles from his dining room table!

I have the good luck to have a brother and a sister who live within 10 miles of Henfield, where the excellent Plastic Soldier Company have their HQ and distribution centre. So a quick email to Will the commander in chief allowed me to drop in and visit. I really needed some Sherman Fireflies for my British, and with only Armourfast offering an average looking model, i knew Will would have the best tanks for my requirements.

Its like one big candy store for the WW2 modeller. Tanks and vehicles line the shelves and order after order are loaded into boxes. Will was extremely friendly showing me around. If i had more luggage space i would have picked up more than my box of Fireflies.  Now i cant wait to get home and get cracking. Although i do have some PSC Churchills and Universal Carriers to get started on too.

So if you are in the vicinity of Henfield i highly recommend dropping into PSC HQ, with prior warning of course, oh and some cash in hand for some super goodies.

Unimodel M36 Tank Destroyer in 1/72 scale

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I actually got the next bit all wrong. What i really wanted was an Achilles Tank Destroyer for my British forces in Normandy. What i managed to buy was an M36 Tank Destroyer which i don’t think was even used by the Brits much. Anyway it was too late once i had clicked the order button on my favourite Ukrainian model store’s web site, and soon a couple of M36 kits were on the way across Asia towards Australia. For a wargamer looking for an Achilles or any other M10/M36 variant 1/72 scale in plastic, the options are very few and far between. In fact i am not sure there are any other manufacturers out there who make versions of this tank in plastic.

But who cares i really liked this kit. The more Unimodel kits i build the more i like them. The link and length tracks work well and the bogey wheels all look great. The kit comes with some excellent photo etched details, which although fiddly, really add to the detailed look of the vehicle. I did struggle a bit with getting the headlight protectors looking right, but nothing wrong with a bit of a challenge! The two piece turret needed some extra sanding and work to fit together and also to fit into the hull. Plus the contents of the turret were also a bit tricky and needed some special handling. But it all worked out in the end. There are some excellent pioneer tools to add onto the back, which makes a nice change to the boring moulded on type deal. I also added some rolled up tarps on the roof. The 50 cal Machine Gun looks good on the open turret, and i will be adding some crew men at some point too to finish the whole thing off.

To add to my confusion i kind of mixed up some British insignia on the tank with some US stars that were supplied with the kit. I like the white and yellow stars on Allied tanks, and i didn’t think anyone would object to my decal mixtures. Hey he can fight for the US or the British forces. Win win i say. Check out the photos below!

Zvezda Pak 36 Anti Tank Gun in 1/72 scale

~ Colonel Mustard ~ 3 Comments

Zvezda make some cool kits aimed at wargamers under the “Art Of Tactic” banner. Their Pak 36 Anti Tank Gun is great value and easily the cheapest option in plastic. It is such a tiny little gun there is not much point in spending big on any metal versions when you can pick one up with a couple of crew for less than $5. This kit from Zvezda comes in their usual grey plastic and takes literally seconds to put together. Detail is good, and at this scale i am not sure you could get any more detail onto the model anyway. The two man crew does the job, but i added a third crew man with binoculars. I think he came from another Zvezda kit so he fitted in nicely to make up the trio. It would be good to have a limbered version of this gun so when moving around behind his transport so i don’t have the crew all sitting there on the same base. It looks a bit weird. I might have to buy another kit for this purpose. So here is my “door knocker”, as the Pak 36 was called, covering a wheat field from among the bocage, with his Horch car ready to get him out of there in a rush if things get too hot…….

Revell PzKpfw III Ausf M in 1/72 scale

~ Colonel Mustard ~ 1 Comment

I had never made a model from German manufacturer Revell before but had read many good reports on most of their kits. The Panzer 3 Ausf M kit has always got rave reviews around the internet. I needed another to add to my two S-Model quick build kits and make a troop of three tanks. So i picked one up from Lucky Models in Hong Kong. Not the cheapest kits out there, but you really get what you pay for and this Revell model is worth every penny, or dollar.

There is nothing to say about this kit but good things. The wheels and lower hull go together nicely and everything is easy to align. The link and length tracks are the best i have made yet, and make it easy to make great looking tracks. I didn’t follow the instructions at this stage as i felt it would be easier to put the tracks on first before adding the upper hull. This was opposite to the guide. The upper hull has lots of detail to add including extra wheels and tow cables. The tank has a great little rear exhaust system and schurzen plates for the hull and turret. Extra track is supplied for the front of the vehicle plus some good decals with a couple of different options. You could leave the schurzen plates off if you wanted to make a less armoured version.

I gave him a black undercoat, a spray in Tamiya dark yellow, then did a two colour camouflage scheme based on the painting suggestion with the instructions. I painted the side schurzen plates separately before attaching them last so i could get the main tank painted more easily. Based as usual on MDF with some greenery he is ready to go with my other panzers! I have a Revell Tiger somewhere in my stocks so i am very excited to get on with building that now i know how good these kits are.

Hope you like the pictures below! Colonel M

In The Greenwood Laser Buildings Part 2

~ Colonel Mustard ~ 1 Comment

I finished the second building i had bought from In The Greenwood and was very happy how it turned out. This was was the Victorian Terrace with some nice looking bay windows. Flat packed brilliantly into a small cardboard box these kits are really cool. They scale out quite nicely to my 1/72 scale stuff, i think being around 110 – 115mm high. Only costing around $20 on line, probably less now since Brexit, they are really good value compared to other MDF and resin model buildings.

Quite easy to build, i only struggled a bit with the bay windows, and didn’t get them totally square or straight….. next time i will do better. Although the designs are not necessarily for Normandy they fit in really well with all my other buildings, most of which are home made. The addition of some French looking adverts and signs will help the houses blend into the Normandy countryside. I have a corner shop left to build which i will get to next.

The backyards are particularly nice, with some sheds and outbuildings. I added a path and some grass out back to the rear gates. Just ready for some troops to hide out there ready for action…… Its turning into a smart looking MDF street.

 

 

 

Dragon Models Sherman M4A3 (105mm) 1/72 scale

~ Colonel Mustard ~ Leave a comment

You can never have enough Sherman tanks. Ever. There is always room for another Sherman in the far corners of your tank units. This one is the up gunned M4A3 with a 105mm howitzer from Dragon Models. This tank was mainly used by US forces and from what i have read sometimes showed up with Canadian tank units. Mine was going to join my British forces, probably on loan or stolen or something like that.

My experience with Dragon Models has always been great. It’s been a love love relationship. However, this little Sherman changed all that. Dragon kits are always more expensive than others but you get a better standard of detail and their kits are usually great to put together. This Sherman kit had a couple of nagging problems that made it hard work. First up the lower hull section is too long for the top half of the hull and the two do not fit together. I had to shave off at least 3mm off its rear lower hull to get the top half of the hull to fit. After sanding off the back the rear vent section did not have enough room to fit over the exhausts and so had to be cut in half. Annoying. My other gripe was that the tracks were too short, even after i stretched them by hand. The Dragon track do not stretch much, and they ended up around 1 track link too short. I added in bits of a Unimodel M10 kit which filled in the track link gaps i was left with. Please Dragon make your tracks a little bit on the long side, then at least you can cut them down.

My whining aside the kit turned out really well, great detail and everything else you would expect from Dragon’s usual offerings. I added a British tank commander from Battlefield miniatures but kept the decals from the kit with US markings. Confusing i know but i really liked the decals and the big yellow “15”. Painted in the usual olive drab with some muddy weathering and MDF base i was pretty happy with the final result. You can never have enough Shermans whoever you are……

Charles Grant’s “Battle – Practical Wargaming”

~ Colonel Mustard ~ 3 Comments

While Gavin Lyall’s “Operation Warboard” was my number one, go to rule book, back in the eighties, “Battle – Practical Wargaming”, by Charles Grant, was my silver medal, or my second most read volume. Actually both books were my big brothers, and i just used to borrow them and read them over and over again. I decided to reenact one of Charles Grant’s scenarios from the book. Its a very simple joust between some Panzer IVs and some T34s. I changed it a bit and had a couple of troops of Panthers and Panzer IVs take on a troop of Shermans and a troop of Cromwells.

I based my terrain on the map in the book which you can see below. It gave me a chance to try out my new folding tables i picked up on Gumtree. I also repainted all my river sections with a paint thickening medium to create a wavy texture, then gave them a coat of greeny brown acrylic paint, plus a top coat of gloss varnish. I was really happy with how the end result came out, far more realistic than my previous bright green and blue artificial looking waterways.

Funnily enough my big brother is lining up as the opposition in this little fight. Only 30 years on since i borrowed his book in the first place……… Will post some action shots when battle commences.

Armourfast Panzer IV

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Armourfast make a big range of awesome kits for the wargamer. They come two tanks in the box for not much more than five dollars per tank. You really cannot get any better value than that anywhere in the 1/72 scale world of plastic models. I bought these Panzer IV’s to join my Italeri Panzer IV and make up a three tank troop. I have also previously blogged about the Armourfast Cromwell tanks, i think my first post back in October.

You know what you will get with Armourfast, two sprues (one per tank), and minimal parts. These panzers can be put together in minutes with their one piece track and running gear, two part hull and maybe four or five piece gun and turret. If you are looking for super detailed, accurate models, then these are not for you. But if you want good looking tanks, affordable, quick to build and ready to roll onto the table, then these are a great product.

Best thing is you can dress them up a bit and add some bells and whistles. Adding some stowage items, a commander in the open hatch, and some decals really makes up for the basic detail of the kits. I added my own stowage from SHQ and Value Gear, commanders from AB figures and Battlefield miniatures, plus decals from my growing bag of spares. I tried out a different camo scheme, which is more of a blotchy three colour as opposed to my usual stripey ideas. Aerials also added from stretched sprue glued into the thoughtfully provided holes.

Overall another great offering from Armourfast and makes me want to run out and try more of their kits. Photos below as my brace of tanks enters the edge of town looking for a scrap……

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SHQ Miniatures 17 pdr Gun with AB Crew

~ Colonel Mustard ~ 3 Comments

After hunting around for a plastic model of a British 17 pounder anti tank gun, i soon realised that the choices i had were severely limited. In fact, i could not find one option for a 1/72 scale 17 pdr gun in plastic anywhere. So in my quest i had to turn to metal manufacturers, which was against my self imposed rules, but i had little choice. On reflection i am happy to break my rules on metal for figures, so why not for anything else?

SHQ make a huge range of everything 20mm for World War 2 and i picked up there 17 pdr for eight pounds fifty. I think after Brexit i may be purchasing more stuff from England in the future if the pound keeps depreciating. The gun is nicely detailed, well moulded and easy to put together with a bit of superglue. I think the model came in about ten parts maximum, so it didn’t take long to build. My crew figures are from AB Figures which is no surprise as they are far and away the best figures you can find.

I cut the base and placed the gun and crew on there first to get an idea of positioning. Then used modelling clay to build it up a bit before gluing the crew on, leaving the gun off. I find this makes it easy to paint the base and the crew before gluing the gun onto the base last. The gun was base coated black before a spray with olive drab. You get some ammo boxes and spare shells with the AB crew so i spread them around the base too.

The 17 pdr is an essential addition to my under gunned British company, especially when they come up against the bigger German tanks. Here he is taking up a defensive position in a French village.

Laser Cut MDF Buildings by In The Greenwood

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I had been scratch building all my own Normandy village constructions, but felt i needed to try out something professionally made to balance things out. Oh and i have also got kind of tired of foam board, balsa and modelling clay. On my internet travels i stumbled across the In The Greenwood Ebay shop and then their own web site at http://www.inthegreenwoodlaser.co.uk

They do a range of laser cut MDF buildings in HO scale which are excellent value compared to other companies i had a look at. At around $20 Australian per house i thought this was a pretty good deal, so i ordered three of them. Although I think they are aimed more at Railway people, and are not actually French but rather Victorian, i reckoned i could make them fit into my Normandy landscape without too much problem!

As with other HO Scale manufacturers i have investigated i was worried these buildings would come in too small compared to my own creations and also my range of 1/72 scale models and figures. What a happy chappy i was when they came in around 120mm tall including my extra MDF base and fit perfectly with everything else i had made. The kit comes Ikea style in a flat pack box, amazingly packed in. So i got to work building my first one which was the Victorian Pub. I decided to make it as a restaurant instead.

All the pieces are very cleanly cut and i only had trouble with the bay windows at the front, as the holes in the bottom section did not match up with the holes in the top, so i had to do some carving to get it all to fit together. The instructions follow a step by step process which are a little hard to follow as there are no diagrams, but as long as you are not Stevie Wonder wearing boxing gloves you should be OK. The whole kit goes together with a bit of PVA glue. I added an MDF base to keep it all together, and to create a garden area at the back. One great thing is that the roof can be left removable which is perfect for all you wargamers! I did add some supports inside the roof to give it some extra strength.

My Brasserie painted up nicely and i added a sign on the front and a Martini ad on the side wall, both ideas i borrowed from other designs i have seen out there on the internet. Overall these are great little kits and fit nicely into my village, i am looking forward to making the other two kits i purchased. Check out my village photos below and you can see the MDF constructions fitting nicely into my assortment of home made houses