Links to my other N.IRELAND Build Blogs for those interested in the subject;

Humber Pig
http://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/152987&page=1#1281581

Landrover VPK (Piglet)
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/211724&page=1



Hi guys

I'm currently converting a 1/35th Accurate Armour Saxon APC into a Saxon Patrol variant as used by the British Army in Northern Ireland during the latter part of "The Troubles".

This is going to be an early British Army variant which replaced the Humber Pig in Service in Belfast in the early 90's. I'll be building it without the Riot Shield "wings" and in the early color scheme of overall green (without red bits). The finished vehicle will be as close as possible to the three similar photos of the plain vehicles seen below.

















The photos of the model as it stands now show where I have made the conversion (white areas). I havent yet glued the hulls together as I wish to detail the interior more first. I'll be "filling" and painting the exterior after I finish the inside. I also have to add some additional bits along with the doors, hatches and the clear plastic perspex along the top at the back of the APC where the soldiers usually stand on patrols.

I'd be curious to confirm what color is the green seen in the earlier photos. Im thinking its the standard British Army Green and that the lighting or camera used for these shots just was'nt great)

As the kitmaker site in not fuctioning properly at the moment (see notice on site) I've been forced to use photobucket site so I hope the photos turn out ok here. I have more reference material but pictures of these vehicles in their N.Ireland livery are hard enough to come by so any additional photos along with comments would be very welcome (good or bad)

I'll update and post more photos when I can guys, thanks

Once again Laddie, top notch work!!! As per usual, I'll definitely want to post some photos at Warwheels.

Hope things have been going well for you since we last talked.

Pat my good friend, good to hear from ya and thanks for the kind words!!

All is well, just sitting down now to do some airbrushing, hope to update this post again later

..I'll forward on my stuff for warwheels, I'd be dead chuffed to. BTW the makeover looks well on the new site, keep up the good work, email ya soon

As usual Roy, nice job and a fascinating subject.

Ta Mecanix, just finished airbrushing the entire kit with primer, I'm hoping to get some of the interrior complete by end of the day ..Accurate Armour done a great job with this kit and I'm totally loving the build and conversion!

..I'm thinking of doing a series of RUC, PSNI and British Army vehicles from this period now and I cant wait until Derek releases the Snatch and Tangi kits later this year. I have the Hotspur already and it looks fantastic on the shelf. I have the humber Pig in my stash and a few plastic Landy's which I think I'll be converting and adding to the collection

quick update;

..I airbrushed a coat of Tamiya RAF Green inside and out along with the doors and some other bits not seen in the photos. I've also airbrushed the correct interior panels white as per my reference material and I've started on the crew seats in the rear compartment..





post more tommorow

Good build so far, as you’re working from some photos, I will give you some info on some of the side fitments to the patrol Saxon as it was call,
starting at the side door the big box that you have fitted is the cover for the mega phone with grill to front and rear, some mounting brackets for the flying wings to fit on just behind the door, like you have on the other side of the vehicle,
The two brackets that run inline on the top of the offside edge are for a towing bar, and the little hook on its own is for the side engine cover when it’s open for servicing,
the paint on the outside was the normal green, and the interior was the same apart from where Kevlar panels were fitted, these were left in there original manufactured sheet (greenyblue bordering on murky white ) and were painted on the doors only as can be viewed when open (green as outside shell)
Seats were black as I can recall, as well as the seatbelts,
Hope this helps with the rest of the build and finishing.
Frank

Awesome so far, I will watch for more pics. Keep on having fun. .

Frank, thanks for clarifing some detail, I'm thinking you have some history with this vehicle so I'm hoping you'll be happy with the end result. I've invested in some Archer Decals for the external "Confidential Telephone" no. etc but unlike the real deal I'll correct the hasty paint job and align everything properly (it will save some friends pointing out supposed errors when they see the kit finished too) ..I'm in two minds about adding a figure but we'll see what happens..


Warren thanks for the kind words, things will be a little slow with work commitments over the next few days but I'll update the thread when I can, thanks for you interest

I managed to detail the interior today and glue the two main sections of the hull together.

Frank - I've no doubt the seats you mentioned were most likely black but I went with my only reference material and chose the odd green/blue scheme. I was going to go back to black after your post but I thought the blue/green would be a nice addition to the already dull appearance of the interior..

The build is coming on nicely and I'm happy enough so far. I have some detail to add to the exterior like the addional wing arm retaining bolts on the drivers side (which I somehow forgot to add originally) and I want to get some filler into the gaps left from the hulls being glued together, hopefully I'll get some of this done tommorow..

The last of the Archer decals arrived in the post this morning and I'm dead chuffed the yellow lettering will be the correct style and stencil as the real APC in the photos.





..rush job on the photos guys sorry, I was stuck for time! I promiss better with later posts

Today I finished the filling and sanding.
I corrected a few issues including the front left marker pole for judging the vehicles width and I replaced the rear mirror arms with brass instead of plastic which was becoming a little flimsy with all the handling over the past few days.
I added two retaining bolds to both sides of the hull where the armour wings would hang and I added the rear mudguards.
I finished detailing the doors and hatches but I wont attach them until after I've the entire hull given another coat of green and the yellow stencilling complete..





..looks like I might have this finished by the end of the week, fingers crossed!

Quick update

I painted the windows of the APC, the photos are showing them up as really bright due to the flash on the camer but infact they are almost black in original appearence.
I painted them originally tamiya matelic grey then gave a few coats of clear green. Today I gave them a coat of finish.

I detailed some of the exterior and did some work on the wheels

I hoping to start the stenciling tommorow. I've still got some work ahead of me..

That is looking great so far!

That is a very good build. It's an interesting subject from a period of time that is not well represented in subject matter for modellers, no doubt because of the political sensitivities of The Troubles. Having said that, few modellers object to building SS tanks (I've just bought the Cyberhobby "Wittmann's Last Tiger" kit myself), and I very much doubt that many of us have Nazi sympathies, so maybe it's the distance in time that makes the difference....

Nice work Roy. I was a frequent visitor to belfast in the early nineties and have fond memories of getting off the bus from Dublin at the Royal Victoria Hospital and being stopped and asked very politely by a members of a foot patrol "Do you mind if we look in your bag mate?"

What if I'd said no

I was on a hiatus from modelling then so although I remember seeing plenty of Landrovers I don't remember seeing the Saxon but then I was staying in a posh area of belfast

Murdo: Thanks man! I took the pics at a very high pixel rate, looking at the photos posted here they show up every blemish and scratch so I'll be tidying these bits up towards completion of the model

Sean: I agree with your statement about this era not being well represented. I think most modellers are grown up and mature enough here to stay well clear of political rants at this stage. This was a huge part of British and Irish Military history and see no reason why we cant model it just like every other conflict.
I spoke to a few modeling manufacturors over the past year or two and they all said that "The Troubles" was indeed a very interesting subject for modelling and producing scale vehicles but most just didnt want to run the risk of producing kits incase of a backlash or criticism.
I commend Accurate Armour for the courage and excellence in releasing some of these vehicles like the Centurion AVRE from operation Motorman, the RUC Hotspur and the future release of the Tangi and Snatch Landrovers, they should be great, after building the Hotspur I was dead impressed!


I'll be building more vehicles from "The Troubles" British and Irish vehicles from Border operations on the Southern side. I'm thinking of starting a build log for each one here on armorama (this time from the complete start). Maybe they will be interesting for some of the guys. Thanks for you comments mate!

Pat: Just like you I remember many a vist to Newry and the occasional visit to Belfast when I was younger too. As you mentioned I did see plenty of Landies and many a checkpoint but only more recently (ie 2000+) I caught a glimpse of a few Saxons in Belfast returning to a fortified building or base, I wasnt far from miltown cemetary but which base it was I'm not aware of.. I didnt build armour back then, mostly aircraft but I'm making up for it now

I'll post more this evening guys, thanks again

Roy
You are carving out quite a niche in Irish military modeling subjects.

As you say a much neglected field.

I too remember driving in from the airport/ferry stopping at the lights and then getting the rear view mirror completely full of a grey/green shape. Never thought it appropriate to pull out a camera though ! sadly.

Thanks again Ghengis, pehaps taking out that camera was'nt a bad idea, "itchy fingers" back then and all that..

I Did'nt have my best day today with the saxon, got out the stencils and forgot them being dry transfers I didnt have the blue media paper. I decided to crack on anyway and try simply dry transfering the decals to the side panels, alas this didnt work as the decals were too small and akward. I tried transfering them onto a clear decal sheet but they didnt exactly transfer very well and I destroyed a few letters.



At this point I decided to back off before making I made a radical mistake. I ordered more decals and some media paper so I'll have to wait a few days for these to arrive

I cracked on with weathering inside the wheel wells using various shades of Mig Pigment, I gave the wheels themselves the once over for good measure. I attached the exhaust which had got the once over with Mig Rust Pigments too.


I gave the undersurfaces and wheels a coat of Hannants Matt Varnish to seal everyhting in. I re-attached the wheels also.


I attached the crew doors and Hatches. I was relieved with the position of the drivers side door which allows crew enter and egress through the centre of the vehicle. I was able to hide the small error I had made with the megaphone cover just forward of this door. The megaphone cover should of been open at the rear and expose the rear of the megaphone itself but at the time I built the cover I had no reference material for the back of this and I wasnt aware. With the crew door open there was no need to make alterations as the rear of the megaphone cover is ou of view









..tommorow i'll be working on the spot lights and the armoured grills over the window areas..

Update;

I attached the mesh grills over the driver and commanders viewing blocks and windows.
Also I did some work on the spot-lights on the roof. I attached the rear view mirrors too. The semi circulor ones are scratchbuilt.




while I'm waiting on the decal paper and additonal decals from archer (which is en-route) I'll attach the plastic perspex glass over the rear roof door hatches. The Saxon Patrol as its known in its N.Irish setting is unusal to most variants as it has additional roof doors to allow soldiers take arks of fire around the vehicle on patrols (see photo below)


I'll be looking to add the registration plates and any additional decals needed tommorow also. I'll probably start weathering the main hull of the saxon too although I'm a little restricted by the fact I'll have to add the yellow stencilling later in the week..



..on another note, Just for some of our friends further afar who might not be aware of the conditions these vehicles are put through I'll post this interesting photo

So far today I've attached the perspex glass sheets which protect exposed troops when up top at the rear of the vehicle using clear plastic sheet. I'll later give this a coat or two of Matt Varnish to weather its appearence.

I'm going to carry on with adding some decals and give a few parts of the hull a coat of Mig Dark Wash..

Terrific work Roy,it´s coming along a treat .I appreciate your taking the time to take the photos & share with us a very interesting subject that is well researched & executed on your part. I´m struggling to find time to get things done on my new AA resin vehicle but I´m already thinking of what the next one may be,(Maybe an RUC Landrover with a sheet of Tamiya brickwall overpainted with some of the Gable-end wall murals.) Jeez !!! I have more ideas & models & accesssories than I actually have time for

Great build Roy.
I really like your idea for vehicles from both sides of the Border, any thoughts on what you'll build next?

Roy,

That's a really cool build. Impressive.

Tony

Mike: Thanks for the the kind words, I'm glad to see some interest in this build, alot of hits in two weeks but not many comments, I dont mind though as I'm really enjoying the build!
I totally agree with your remark about having so many ideas and too many models, infact I'll never even clear half my stash before i'm 6 feet under
I have so many thoughts and Ideas on a dio for this saxon but I really just want to crack on with the next build first. I may however do a batch of dioramas for the vehicles when I'm browned off building kits later in the year and take a breather! ..BTW what AA kit are you building??

David: thanks for your kudos too, glad your enjoying this build. To answer your question about whats next, well its definatly got to be the saxons predecesor the Humber FV1611 APC (you gotta did the "PIG"!!)
I'm gonna upgrade the AA kit but I'm still indecisive as to what guese this Pig will take but I'm leaning towards a version with flying wings ..I'll probably start it this week as there is not much more I have to do with the Saxon whilst I'm waiting on the decals and media paper to arrive from the states..

..after that I have loads more ideas and kits in the stash for vehicles both sides of the Border

cheers Tony thanks, I'll try update the thread later with more photos, I'm off tommorow so I'm hoping to get loads done!