Hello

this is the Attack 1/72 Phanomen Granit 25H Ambulance WIP

So far I've assembled the basic body This is a "Work In Progress" so will be updated regularly, till its completed.

The body pieces are a very good fit with just a tiny bit of filler needed where the rear guards join the chassis.

The body sides are moulded flat, but actually need to be bent inwards just behind the drivers door, as the sides taper inwards towards the front at this point. I was able to bend them slightly without heating or scoring, though I might add the inside air temperature was about 35 degrees Centigrade, maybe the plastic might have been less pliable were it very cold.

The vehicle comes with basic under chassis detail, but no exhaust system. From checking pictures of the real thing, I think I have it about right. The exhaust pipe is solder bent to shape and glued, and the muffler is from a Zis 5 truck in the spares box.

I was going to model this one with rear doors open, and scratch build an interior, as it just comes with two stretchers. The problem with this is that all the body windows should have wire mesh screens, which are not supplied with the kit. I found the wire mesh in a tea strainer is just about the right scale, but its very hard to cut without destroying the integrity of the mesh. I may have to close the back doors, and just model the mesh that is seen at the top of the windows (the bottom 80% of the body windows were painted white in almost all wartime pictures of this ambulance)

I'm also going for an unusual paint scheme on this one, based on pictures of an abandoned one that is in yellow with camouflage lines & white panels. My model will be based on before it was smashed up and abandoned

Next job is to get an undercoat on, then mask off and get the yellow and white panels sprayed on.

I'll also set this model on a small wooden base.

cheers
Neil

Interesting concept buddy.
You have pickes a rather large base I think I am curious to see what's next.

Any chance you post the reference picture with the paintjob?

Hi Alexander

thanks for your comment

a friend suggested the unusual scheme and sent me some pictures to use as reference.

I have pasted them below, they are of the granit beaten up and abandoned, my model will be of the vehicle while its still in good condition.

I actually will put the ambulance on a smaller base, the BA20ZhD will go on the larger one (my mistake)

I've put a coat of yellow for undercoat on the granit body, just sanding a few edges, more to follow soon

That's an unusual pattern indeed.

Neil, as with your recently posted armoured car this is a very interesting and out of the ordinary (at least in my neck of the woods) subject. Be interesting to see this one come together, especially with the unusual camouflage. An interior with the stretchers would really add to the build. I would tend to think that in colder climates the windows would be glass so you could use some "artistic license" and fill the openings with clear styrene.

Cheers and thanks for sharing,
Jan

Hi Jan

thanks for your kind words. These ambulances had glass in the windows, but also had mesh on the inside (see pictures below)

I guess the mesh was kind of a safety feature for the era, to prevent large pieces of shattered glass further injuring the wounded inside, as the ambulances could (and frequently did) come under fire.

The real ambulances had the windows painted white, except for a little bit at the top, to let light in, and so that the wounded inside could not be seen. I can replicate the little bit of mesh at the top of the window without too much trouble, which will look OK with the doors shut, but its too hard to make 6 full neat mesh screens which is what would be required with the doors open, so it will have to be doors shut.

I did some sanding of the body which required another coat of yellow undercoat on many parts, so wont be progressing any further with the paint job on this one for another week

the pictures below show an ambulance with battle damage, and just a little glass left in a back window. A piece of cloth has been hung in the nearest window. The picture below it is from an undamged ambulance.

cheers
Neil

Hi

heres a couple of pictures to show progress on this ambulance.

most of the construction is done, still tweaking the final look

I found it hard to exactly replicate the exact lines and shades from the black & white photos but have given it a go

I'll paste more pictures when its closer to completed

cheers
Neil

It looks very nice Neil, I like the weathering.

You could try to thin the headlights a little if you haven't glued them on the chassis this will greatly improve how the vehicle looks. I use a tiny engrave head on my Dremel to achive this give it a go and you'll see.

The rear b/w photo is very realistic you've done a good job with the mesh, what did you use to replicate it?

Best regards, Alexander

Hi Alexander

thanks for the suggestion, you are right about the headlights. I removed them and cut off the supports and replaced them with some 0.44mm wire, which looks much more like the real thing.

I also removed the WL number plate as it was not narrow enough, I'll make another.

I fixed up the red cross on the radiator, the old one wore out too much with my weathering. The old one was hand painted, I've added a decal this time.

I also removed the front tow hooks as most pictures of these seem to not have the hooks on. If I'm wrong I can easily put them back on.

I didnt use the etch indicator lights on the front mudguards as they were too thin, I made some that were more the right shape from the spares box.

I'm still working on the final finish and weathering, and still have a few small pieces to add.

The mesh in all the ambulance body windows is a material called 'Tulle' which was the closest I could find to the mesh these things actually had. Its not perfectly to scale, but is quite close and looks good to the naked eye, and even doesnt look too bad magnified with the camera macro lens.

I gave up the idea of making the doors open with a scratch built interior, mainly due to the difficulty of needing perfect looking window screens if the doors were opened.

I'm still working on the roof trap. I've painted it white, given the roof was painted white, but I'm not certain this is a good idea.
Its missing on the old B & W photo so we'll never know if it was whitened or not. I made the straps on the roof tarp from spare brass etch sprues. They are intentionally a bit uneven as they often were on real photos, depending on how tightened they were.

Here is another picture, I'll post more as I progress and finish

cheers
Neil

Extremely nice job on this unique oddity, Neil. It's really coming along but it's too bad about the difficulties with the mesh on the interior. Your camo looks quite good, how did you do it? (brush, airbrush) It still strikes me as odd that you'd camouflage an ambulance and then paint parts white and of course the big red crosses. Kind of defeats the purpose of camouflaging it in the first place.

Cheers,
Jan

Nice job on the lights Neil, the model looking great btw.

I agree with Jan, the camo idea on an ambulance is strange, maybe the crew got creative who knows?

How did you manage to stick the decal on the grilles of the radiator without flaws?

Best regards, Alexander

Hi Jan / Alexander

thanks for your interest

the camo was painted with a 2 x 0 brush. I prefer to airbrush, but decided this one was a brush job.

the radiator decal conformed nicely to the ripples on the radiator, but the pictures are too unclear to show this, as they are all taken at night. I sealed the red cross on with some Aqueous Hobby Colour Flat Clear. The whole model has had a coat of flat clear.

I should finish this one on the weekend, and will take some pictures outdoor in the sunlight (weather permitting), and post them here

I have looked at lots of pictures of ambulances in german service in WW2, and it appears as the war progressed, and allied air power grew stronger that more white panels and more red crosses, and larger red crosses began to be painted on german army ambulances.

Earlier in the war it was more common to have fewer and smaller red crosses and no white panels at all. Some of the ambulances used early in the russian campaign had the white area around the small red crosses painted out, to make them less visible, as they believed that the soviets didn't respect the red cross anyway. I dont know how accurate this information is, but there are photos of plenty of shot up ambulances on all fronts in WW2.

There are quite a number of photos of odd camouflage schemes on german ambulances & medical vehicles on the Axis History Forum under the topic 'German Red Cross Vehicles'.

anyway I have posted a colour picture of where the vehicle is at, still have to add rear view mirrors, a new front numberplate, and get the final weathering look finished

cheers
Neil

Neil, thank you for the history information on the paint scheme. It is one of the side advantages of this hobby that researching your subject can often lead one to accumulate some very interesting information. It may not exactly make one an expert but definitely more knowledgeable than most.

Cheers,
Jan

Hi all

well here are a few pictures. they are not the best as we had overcast and rain all day , so the light was quite dull

the roof tarp looks a bit loose, because its not fastened down yet, as I may repaint it, otherwise its done.

I've placed it for the pictures on another incomplete diorama

I'll place the ambulance on its own small diorama in time

cheers
Neil

Neil, your ambulance looks great! I know you say that it isn't on it's final diorama but the one you have it on is beautiful and really shows it off. I particularly like the way the ground looks.

Regards,
AJ

Excellent work Neil. It blends really nice with the surroundings in the dio that you took the pictures.

Did you slip the driver through the window ?(Dukes of Hazard style?)