Hi everyone:

I'm currently building the old Airfix 1/72 Panzer IV. when putting the front glacias plate together with the lower hull, a little tenax got under my fingers. You can guess what happened....I burned a fingerprint into the glacias plate. I did what I could to work it out, but it is still visible.

I decided that this kit would now be a good candidate for a little dio I've been wanting to try out. A tank entering a waterway, or river with water splashing over the glacias plate.

Here's the question...the tank colors and decals are for the Afrika theater. Would there have been any waterways or rivers in Africa that tanks would have had to cross?

It would be great if anyone had pictures of this type of a scenario, but verbal confirmations are just as appreciated.

Thanks all!

John

heres a dio Idea,have it stuck in an oasis and come up with a funny title like,I told you we should have taken a left at el alamien!

I think other than the occassional oasis, the only other water would be the coast

It depends on the time of year. There are massive flash floods that sweep down the wadis when the rains come in the mountains and uplands - sometimes these can be amazingly fast - you can be walking in the dry and sunshine, and your guide starts looking around and listening. In the distance you can hear a rumble like a big lorry in the distance - within twenty minutes you can have a respectable water way running where there was dry sand before.
So - yes you could have a tank crossing a run off. The water would be very turbid, and have a lot of debris in it - logs brushwood, dead animals, discarded equipment.
Try your local railroad model shop for a product called Ez Water which melts like candle wax and can be poured. You could have a flash flood just stopping short of the tank, splashing it, with the crew frantically reversing up the slope...

The answer to your question is - yes...

I have never been to Africa - but I do have picture books:)

On page 44 of PzKpfw III in action by Squadron - there is a Panzer III L crossing a small stream. Sure it is not very big (about 8 inches deep and 25 feet wide) - but hey, it is running water. Im sure if the PzKpfw III's had to cross a stream in Tunisia, the IV's did as well.

Go ahead and make your dio - I'm sure that it would be plausible to depict a stream crossing of sorts...

Hope that helps-
Jeff

By the way - I've done the same "fingerprint" thing with Tenax before as well. I got rid of the print by brushing some more tenax over it and sort of "smoothed" it out. You might try duplicating your print on a scrap piece of plastic before trying it on your model.
Later-
Jeff