Hi guys..
@paul:looking good,nice idea with panther engine covers.
on the subject of tarps..
ive been using tissue for tarps for ages,i prefer the face variety soaked in white glue.
Here's were i am with the doors for the HUMVEE-MRAP.

Paul: The saber toothed tiger is looking good. Still can't get over how huge those guns are.

Stephen: Nice work.

Happy Modeling, -zon

glomcient: Great! If you have time, finish the KV as well!

Stephen: Noted, looking forward to trying them out on a few projects. The doors are looking good, are you going to position them closed?

I'm fixing to start work on Kimmie. So here's her background story.

German command had a history of reusing older and captured fighting vehicles. Enter the Panzer II/ K, "Kimmie". She was the brainchild of engineer Otto Langer. He petitioned against re-inventing the Marder II. His premise was to avoid trying to press the small, under armored Panzer II into a vehicle slated to try to slug it our against T-34s and Shermans. Instead, he looked for a different role for the tank.

He proposed that they should take advantage of the tank's small size for use in cities. The thin armor could be supplemented with mesh style skirting to save weight. The 2cm gun would be retained for use against machinegun nests and softskin vehicles. To give it a chance against heavier targets it would have a 7.5cm Leichteschutz 40 mounted outside of the turret.

Command argued that it might be better served to use a fixed superstructure using the old short 75mm guns used on the early Panzer IVs and early StuGs. German Command would approve both of the plans, possibly hinting at a future what-if project.

Langer's team was allocated six Panzer II/Cs. The larger commander's hatch was seen as easier to load the light 75.cm gun. Simplicity was stressed. Langer joked that they spent more time designing the mesh shield mounts than the gun mount.

Trials showed promise. The biggest complaint was the exposed nature of the commander while loading and aiming the 7.5cm gun. The gun could not be aimed from inside the turret without extensive work. A compromise was a shield to offer some protection.

The Kimmies were organized into an independent infantry company, though it's actual strength was always below that. They made their combat debut in 1945 at the German town of Horten-Bruk. The unit was attached to the garrison HQ and used primarily in concealed ambush roles within the city. Combat performance was noted as "adequate compared to the cost in resources". One Kimmie was lost in the fighting.

The remaining five vehicles were pressed into the fighting withdrawal. By April 1945, all but two vehicles were lost. The survivors were handed over to the Berlin defenses and supported by Volkssturm forces. The final two vehicles are presumed to have been destroyed in the fighting.

Well done, Alex! The whole time I was reading, I was doubting where reality ended and your imagination began, not that I'm a German armor historian, but very believable back story to me.
-Sean H.

Thanks Sean. I've been working with the theory that sometimes a straightforward back-story works better. Lots of details are fine, but they also offer more opportunities to screw up.

Kimmie will hopefully be a quick and easy little project. In hindsight I think attaching groups of 8.8cm bazookas would probably been a better choice. Like a German Ontos. They may be a project for later.

Alex: nice back story. Can't wait to start seeing Kimmie. The Ontos would be cool too. Maybe What If 4?

I got a chance to work on my base a little this weekend. The basic concept is the rubble of Stalingrad. The flak trailer will be crushed under a fallen upper floor slab and a bunch of rubble. The walker and a couple of Shock Troops in support will be on ths slab. I'm a little disappointed the wall isn't brick, but maybe some interior partitions will be. I'm looking to do some red-brown in the camo scheme. Also, the wall ended up being more parallel to the frame than I intended, so I will have to adjust that.









Happy Modeling, -zon

Thanks Zon. I'm interested see your walker go a stompin.

Sort of as a bonus, here's a what-if I started back in the 90s and finished a year ago. It's based on the old Tamiya Brummbar. It was actually built as one. That zimmerit is actually made with a hot knife scribed directly into the plastic. About a year or two ago I decided to "mess with it". I added a 88mm gun, armored plates for the rear deck, shurzen, and a cupola MG with shield. I like the look but plan on rebuilding it at some point. Given it's a 1946+ vehicle I'll ditch the zimmerit. I'll enlarge the fighting compartment a bit to more realistically accomodate the gun. Maybe add some solid steel roadwheels. Maybe add IR gear for nightfighting. That may be seen in What If 4.

Anyway, I call it "The Einhorn".

Looks pretty cool. And realistic. Had the war been prolonged I can see the Germany Army getting desperate and re-purposing more older vehicles for Anti-tank work. They might even have kept the zimmerit except for on any new parts. It would make for an interesting finish and save you a LOT of work on sanding it all down!

I had a great lucky find today on my way home from work that I think will fit the campaign nicely. I pass by a couple of charity shops that sell second hand goods at cheap prices and pass on the profits to whatever chairty they support. I've had a couple of good kit finds over the year, bagging AMT's 1/6 Odo and Quark from DS9, Matchbox's 1/700 HMS Arethusa minelayer, a Roden 1/72 Albatros DII and a few weeks ago a Verlinden building kit that retails at close to £20. Today I was lucky enough to find an old Zoids Scorpion kit. All the parts are loose from the sprue and were bagged. Fortunately all the important bits are here. The only parts missing are some alternate weapons and cockpit pod for the tail. Detail is actually quite good for what is essentially a 'toy'. I plan on finishing it as future urban combat vehicle. Judging by the size of the pilots I reckon its about 1/76 scale.



This should be a fairly quick build and paint. I'm still on the lookout for an Airfix Mk1 Tank for my original idea. Still a year to go so plenty of time for that.

Alex: Nice backstory! And the old build is cool too, they'd need to upgrade the rams on the gun to cope with the extra weight needed to lift and support it.

Zon: Aside from stating the obvious of how cool your project is looking, I wanted to state my observation that your skills are noticeably growing and you're getting even better. It's awesome to watch things like that happen with people. Keep at it, maybe one day I'll be able to catch up

Stephen: Wow, I haven't seen one of those kits in years! It would look great in heavy weathering

Its a cool kit, and just proves that even in the 80's Japanese toys were light years ahead of us in the west! This is the first one I've seen since I had one as a boy in the early 90's. The wind up motor wore out and then it just fell to bits. I think the odd loose part from that should be kicking about somewhere. I remember it being a two tone grey.
Its a 2004 boxing so fairly recent although its no longer in production. Wonder what they fetch on ebay these days?
Haven't thought up a back story yet but I will be calling it the Alvis Scorpion II Urban Pacification System.

Stephen, it looks sort of like a Lego knock-off product. Will be cool to see once it's painted and weathered.

Thanks Jeremy. Yeah with that howitzer mount I figure the long 88 would be all over the place. I doubt the long 88 would fit in it. Extending the rear of the fighting compartment is limited to the clearance of the engine deck. I do plan on some day rebuilding it using a new Brummbar kit. Right now, it's not a priority for me. Anyway, I think it has a neat looking profile shape and looks good up on my "what-if" shelf.

Alex: nice work on the Brummbar conversion, particularly the zim.

Stephen: nice find. Looking forward to see how your bug comes together.

Jeremy: thanks for the kind words. It is fun to keep trying new things and learning. You've got it too, just keep doing stuff.

Happy Modeling, -zon

Hi guys here's the shot of the suspension,

and crew survival pod..

This is the body with work on hood for the larger engine.

jeremy the doors are all glued shut to make the superstructure stronger.

Stephen, I really like the look of that crew pod. I'm interested to see how it all comes together.

Oh Alex, I found this a couple days ago;



It's a modified Sd.Kfz.301 Borgward 'Panzerjager Wanze'. Looks like the Germans beat you to the Ontos creation. Pretty sure six Panzerfausts and three S-mines are going to ruin your day.

Christopher, I've seen pictures of it but you cannot really tell much. The model actually shows a lot of detail that isn't visible in the pictures I've seen. So thanks.

Yeah, well when there's only approximately fifty-six of them and they're all late-war, essentially throw away weapons there's probably not going to be to many good photos of it.

I assumed when you brought up the Ontos idea you were probably thinking of something resembling it. Will be cool to see if that project comes to life one day.

hi everybody
just finished the kevlar? Bomb proofing for the hummer chassis.

Stephen: Wow, those are much older than I thought then. I take it no motor this time?

Alex: I bet you have quite a large shelf of "what-ifs". I think I need to start my own, too many fun and interesting ideas out there. Albeit most of them highly impractical

Zon: I have fair basics, I just need more time dedicated to the bench which has been hard to find lately. When do we get the next update? I find that the 1/48 DUST kits don't have the same poseability as their 1/35 counterparts.

Stephen: Great work so far. The lifted suspension looks really solid, and that "survival pod" looks like a pill box! As far as the underarmor goes I'd say that it is comprised of an undisclosed or secret material, much as the special armor used on the Abrams and Challenger MBTs.

Christopher: Wow that is interesting, thanks for sharing! Was it possible to collapse the launchers and store them inside? A lot of the photos I see show it without the tubes in position. It reminds me of these LAVs



I'd hate to operate one of those Panzerjagers, but they have got to be a tremendous improvement over these,

Jeremy, I've got no clue but that's a great picture. I doubt it though, by the time Borgward was re-engineering the 'Wanzes' it's very likely that there wasn't time or materials to waste on a aiming mechanism. It was probably point-and-shoot.

I have to agree about your 'Panzerjager'. Especially since the 37mm PaK was pretty useless against T-34s

Like I said, I wouldn't want to operate that thing lol.

I thought you'd enjoy this,

Er, the middle launchers are facing the wrong way around for an anti-tank weapon? Is it some sort of servicing/storage cart maybe?

I would certainly hope so...