How about this?

Thanks Paul !

I'm definitely up for a What If 4. I have an Assault Stuart, a Bradley based Hellfire Tender, and a Panzer IV ausf. K all floating around in my brainpan.

Jeremy I'll do my best, this I can promise you

Paul the ribbon is cool, and I also have an idea for Pt.4. Its a joint venture between Alvis Vickers Ltd. and MANTAK (Merkava Tank Office)

Here's todays update:

Dunkelgelb :-




Camo:-







I will paint the tools and road wheels tonight and the get some gloss on there tomorrow. That will be it until next Friday, as I'm going home with the wife on Sunday to get some "crimbo shopping" done and see my parents, and also have some lovely Everades Old Original Ale .



Paul

Doing another What If would be cool.

I've got images of a repurposed Swedish Strv 103 (S-Tank) in my head. The gun is removed and replaced with an advanced sensor suite and the stealthy little MBT becomes an even steathier little Recce AFV. The pannier on the left fender is replaced with a fixed mount for a Bushmaster 25mm canon, the cooling air and exhaust are contained in a new IR reducing system on the enginer deck and the sensor suite can be elevated on a pole to provide extended range and to protect the vehicle by allowing it to stay hull down. There's enough room in the back for a dismount section of 2 guys with a Javalin or extra ammo or fuel.

The old radio operator's position now becomes the recce sensor operator with a vast amount of sensor power to apply to any situation. There's even a pop-up Milan/TOW II launcher on the engine deck and a self protection suite to ensure the intel gets home safe.

I'm all revved up and ready to go!

Paul

Sounds interesting Paul R. You could maybe use a Marder turret. That would give to a low profile turret with cannon and missile launcher.

Paul B,
That's coming along pretty good. Can't wait to see it done.

To keep the tradition alive, and to have a good "all around" Sci-Fi campaign where almost anything goes AND combines storytelling, I'm all for another "What If 4."

I believe the "What If?" campaigns have been a big success for the Sci-Fi modeling world here and combines a lot of "Alternate Universes" and creative thinking in vehicles, planes, figures and the like.

Thumbs up for "What If #4!"

I'm so in for a What-If #4 and another End of Days Campaign.

Count me in for What If #4! I had a blast with #2, even though I didn't get going in time for this one.
Now, what's an "Assault Stuart"?
-Sean H

How about an early war attempt to create infantry support, seeing how successful the concept was for the Germans in Poland and France? mate a M3 Stuart with a 155 mm Howitzer Carriage, M1917 left over from WW I (and still in service in the Arty) in a casemate over the driver.

Comme ca:


It unfortunately didn't pan out because of insuffcient room for the crew to serve the gun, even without the co-driver.

Paul

Hey is this still part III or have I missed something ?


Alex thanks, you're the master of the "what ifs" in my opinion

Here's todays update, that's it now until next Friday:

Tools painted, gloss on , decals on:-




24th Panzerdivision, (belongs to the back ground story, which I still have to sort out )








See you soon and next Friday will be oils and other things



Paul

Paul R: thanks for the great ribbon!

Paul B: she's looking great! Keep the stride going strong


To answer everyone's question, yes there will be a What if 4! Next year, you all let me know what start dates you'd be comfortable with

How about Jan 1 through Dec 31, 2014? I'm ready 'n' rarin' go!

Paul

Thanks Paul. I blame my short attention span for the what-if ideas.

I could go with a new What-If campaign starting yesterday. But first of the year is fine for me.

The Assault Stuart is based on the German StuG theory. Take a chassis, remove the turret, and up-gun it. The Assault Stuart would be based on a M5 Stuart. The Assault Stuart I would be be up-gunned with a 57mm gun. The Assault Stuart II would be taken a bit further, based on theoretical battlefield performance...not to mention still being under-armorerd against Panthers. The gun would be a 76mm, most probably snatched from an old Italeri Shermy. The chassis would be stretched to allow for a bigger powerplant to allow more armor. And, I on the fence on this one, the suspension would have an extra pair of bogies added or the Stuart type would be replaced with Sherman VVSS bogies and track. I'd probably stay away from using the Sherman suspension. I think it'd really lose its Stuart origins. I'd probably go with a different name, instead of the Assault Stuart.

I would have thought the Hellfire Tender would have drawn more questions than the STuart.

For my purposes, the Marder turret is still too tall, that's why my concept has the Bushmaster in the fender box. Remember, the S-Tank could aim quite adequately using it's transmission and the variable suspension, so why not use it and lower the profile even more. The Tow/Milan mount would be stowed behind the engine deck when not in use and then rise up from behind the vehicle, kinda like the turret on the Aliens APC that comes over the top on rails. I might not use that method, but that's the general idea.

The whole thing is to keep the vehicle almost undetectable. I'd have an IR suppression scheme for the exhausts, especially the plume from the gas turbine, which would show up from a hundred miles off with modern IR equipment. Might actually swap it with a 700 hp diesel and change the air supply and exhaust arrangements.

Lotsa options!

Can I start now? I'm getting pumped!

Paul

Hi there,
here's the back story, I hope you like it. More pics from the StuG H tomorrow:

After the disastrous end of the 6th Army in Stalingrad ´42 / ´43, the OKW put out the order to develop a vehicle with a gun big enough to deal with heavy soviet tanks from a distance of 2000 meters and also have a heavy destructive force at close range i.e. inside cities.
The answer they came up with was a Panzerkampfwagen III with a lengthened hull, a large casematt
fitted to the rear of the vehicle, with 2 to 4 Mg34’s and a 128mm main armament. As the 128mm field gun was also being developed, cal L54.8, it was decided to use this gun but in a shortened form.
The choice was made and the StuG III Ausf. H 128mm Sturmkanone cal L36.6 went into service. In March 1943 the Wehrmacht received the first 50 vehicles, these were sent straight to the Russian front with only one objective, Stalingrad and the capture of the Volga.
Once they arrived at their destination, they caused havoc. The Soviet KV’s and T34’s were being destroyed at distances of 2500 meters and with experienced gunners even 3000 meters. The way
to Stalingrad was cleared, and then the 24th Panzer division entered the city and cleaned up the mess
left over from the 42/43 disaster. Two weeks later Hitler had control of the Volga including all raw metal and crude oil transports along it. With this “Hitler’s Macht” grew and the fortress of Europe/Eurasia became almost impenetrable.
The Soviet Union was for the time being crippled, there was no chance of help from west Europe as this had already fallen. Britain we’re their own, as the U-Boot strength had grown with the resources from the Soviets and Euro-Asia. This made any shipping convoys from the US impossible.
The only way to get at Nazi Germany now would be an American / Chinese coalition attack from the east. But this would mean clearing the Japanese threat out of the Pacific, neutralizing the Japanese mainland and then entering the game after crossing roughly 8000 miles of mountains, swamps, deserts. But this is another story.





Paul

Done, here's the "AO serie der StuG III Ausf. H 128mm Sturmkanone L36.6 :-




















Hope you all like it . I'm now ready for Pt.4 with the Challenger/Merkava



Paul

OK, everyone, we're only 2 days from campaign completion, so get out the airbrushes & weathering powders & get your entries finished!

How many people out there still have something to complete???

BTW I formally submitted the request for a What If 4 Campaign. Might as well get the ball rolling.

I named it What if 4: Machines of the Mind

vonHengest, that doesn't mean I'm trying to steal the leadership from you. You've done a really good job on this one so, if you want to keep doing it, I'm happy to follow where you lead. I just wanted to submit early enuogh that we might get approved before Christmas so we can start right in the New Year. I'm also happy enough to run it of you want. Whatever works best for you.

Paul

Paul B,
I'm liking the StuG/H. It looks good and the design appears to be completely plausible. If I were to nitpick, I'd note the rear hatch would be above eye level. I guess there could be steps or ladder rungs on the inside of the hatch. When it's opened all the way, it would hang down to about the bottom lip of the casement. A rung or two beneath that and I think you should be good to go.

Paul R & Jeremy,
Anytime to start is fine with me. Using partials is still okay? Most of the kits I plan on using have had some work done to them. But I also plan on doing a lot of scratching and reworking.

I'm probably going to start off with the assault Stuart and maybe dabble with the Panzer IV/K on the side. I'll probably use the chassis I used for the first Panzyusha. Then plan on using the second half of the year on the Bradley Hellfire Launcher and the M113 Hellfire Tender Vehicle.

Heck I've gt a couple ideas brewing for part #5. I'm sort of on an assault vehicle kick.

Paul, excellent work on your Stug. I can easily imagine such a vehicle being built towards the end of WW2.

I'm hoping to resubmit my idea for a WW1 laser-tank for the next campaign. I've just seen the History channels 'The Martian War 1913-17' and its given me a lot more inspiration and determination to get that project off the ground.

Best of luck to everyone still working at this one.

Stephen

It would have been done today, except some guest dropped by, unannounced, and stayed for 5 hours. There went the modelling time.

I'm all for a WIF 4. Here's where my build sits now. It's really close to being done.

Graeme,
Another nice piece of work.

Paul B,
Just to clarify I was joking about the rear hatch.

Another original piece, Graeme, looks great!

I hope to make the deadline this Tuesday. I'm almost finished with mine but I don't know if I'll have time to write a story or not. Most "What Ifs" I do write something, but this time I'm not sure.

Great work Graeme and Paul, here is my finished, the British ITD (Interm Tank Destroyer)









cheers
David

P.S. I'm in for WIF #4

David, that looks really nice!

Graeme, doncha just hate friends??

I've also started a new campaign thread here:

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/215770&page=1&ord=1

Please indicate there if you want to join a new What If 4 campaign. Do it quickly, please, so we can show the moderators that there is interest and we can get approved and started right after Christmas!

Paul