Hi Irvin,
yep, that all sounds good. I never heard of Commander Series
Models, are they still around?

Paul

Paul,

Yes they are and here is the website link:

ironshipwrights.com

Irvin

Hi there everybody,
well according to the "call up" list we are 30 palaeontologists .
We have just over 7 hours (MET) to go, then I want this thread turned into the "Natural History Museum of Jurassic Plastic" .
I hope you´ve all found something fitting to do, I´m still deciding , but with over 3 months campaign time , I think I can settle on something.
See you all tomorrow and happy fossil preserving
Paul

Here's my entry kit

The recommended Italeri hull I planned on using for the Bergepanzer IV conversion is pretty beaten up and missing some parts. I have an Academy and a Tamiya Panzer IV/H hulls in the spares so I should be able to work up a replacement hull. From what I've read the Berges were rebuilt Hs anyway.

I also have a backup, actually a leftover from the Tamiya OOB Campaign from a while back. It's the old Panzer II kit. It's a quick and easy build. I figure I might toss it in as well as a vehicle SS vehicle from the fighting at Kharkov. I've got plans to use it later on as part of a diorama.

Hi Guys
Up and running with the Gaz



Good luck with all your builds



Looking forward to a great campaign.

Martin

Those are some oldie kits alright I was gonna go with a Tamiya 75mm Anit Tank Gun Pak40 from 1975 but I wanted something more substantial so this is what I found lurking in the stash


Spruces are stamped 1996 so that should qualify

Here’s an oldie but some what goody. I forgot I had this kit until I was going through my storage shed outback. Still in the original box even though some of the parts have broken free from the sprue. Everything seems to be there, but the decals are not usable.

Hello,

Here's my opening pic:



It just recently have I took serious notice of the kit having different codes – the box says its ESCI 8311, the instructions bear ESCI 8065. Most intriguing to me was that instead of rubber band tracks, it had link and length ones – the sprue says ESCI 8309. And yet the instructions sheet had rubber band tracks specified. Yikes! – did I get screwed from that the fire sale deal?

Curiosity got the better of me, so I turned online, and the sites I’ve found were Henk of Holland, On The Way Models, and Scalemates. The sites were very helpful – as before I read thru it, the only two things I knew about ESCI was that -- it was the popular brand in my younger modeling years, and it has been OOP for long. This kit’s got a bit of history in it, as it has been re-boxed, with some components having been replaced since it was introduced.

Now I know that the Brummbar was originally issued as ESCI 8065 back in 1981. So this probably answers for the series number reflected in the instruction sheet. I have read that the kit I have was a re-box – as ESCI-ERTL 8311 in 1987. A bit confusing here -- as my box still had no ERTL trademark in it, and that the only date I have seen on it was 1983. Anyways, no big deal.

I was most concerned about the tracks, so I looked further. I’ve traced ESCI 8309 to be an ESCI-ERTL release number for its Pz IV Ausf G – though the instructions also refer to rubber band tracks -- GRRRR. I finally tracked it down to a Jagdpanzer IV (ESCI-ERTL 8319). The Lang’s instructions vs parts that I have were a perfect match for the track build – now that was real relief! I was thinking the only option left was to model it as a wreck.

Anyways it was good to know more about the kit, especially about the brand itself. My thanks to the folks who have put up those ESCI-related sites. Too bad ESCI is no longer around. But I guess its popularity still lingers on given that so many other manufacturers have re-boxed / re-released these kits from 30-or so years back.

All the best to the campaigners!

Cheers,

Tat

hello, here is the kit that I will do. the sprues are dated 1976.
steph

Hi there, some cool kits turning up here:

@Andrew: Nice choice and it could also end up being my build too

@Alex: You can use what you wish mate , just make sure
it´s ancient

@Martin: I like it, , nice to see this will not just be
allied and axis

@Sal: Well my friend glad your here. Your kits not ancient but fits . It´s also a really nice build, the figures are excellent

@Christopher: Now that brings back memories. I hope you don´t lose too much of what is written on the box
You can also use new decals that´s no problem

@Tat: You also have a memory lane kit there, that was one of the last kits I built before I went off to play with 1/1
scale Chieftains . My kit had rubber tracks then if I remember right and I was glad too

@Steph: also nice to have you here my friend. Nice choice
this could also end up being my build as I have 2 of them in the stash

Well there is no rush my trusted bone collectors, all we have to do remove some dust and hope the plastic dosen´t
react strangely to the glue after so many years .
Like I said, new decals and new paint are no problem , but if you wish use all the old stuff including tube glue then be my guest

Happy modelling guys.
Paul

Paul Thanks for this Campaign! Alot of great memories viewing these old kits and reading the comments.

My choice is between these two:

If it says Esci, it says old! Question: Was this vehicle used in The Falklands?


The box says 1987...




Cheers Dave

Finally it's February! I got it put together pretty fast (obviously). The rubberband tracks were not straight and needed some TLC, and have been under heavy books for a week to straighten them out.

Since it was already a dark color, and it is COLD in my Ohio garage, I decided on a short-cut and did a little "reverse pre-shading" using off-white. I hope this will cut down on some time, and still look good in the end.



Oh! Does anyone know if the tires were rubber, or steel? And color sugestions?

- Steve

Steve,
Rubber tires.

Cheers Rob.

I’ve started working on my 110 today and nock a lot out on the build. Still have a few nasty gaps that need to be filled in. Forgot how simple these kit were back in the day and not compared to kits like dragon with 500+ parts.

I am having a tough time deciding what to build for this campaign. I did find these while looking.

Cheers Rob.






And so many more to pick from,Man I have a lot of old kits.

WOW Rob I remember that Cherry Bomb kit
Well I got started cuttin and gluein on my Wespe today and here is where I got to
The lower hull road wheels are just dry fit

and the 10.5cm Gun

dont know how much work will get one tomorrow Super Sunday

I guess I could shorten this to 3 weeks, the way things have taken off here

@Dave: Thanks mate, that was the general idea of this campaign - a short trip down memory lane .
I don´t know if the Rover was used in that configuration in the Falkland conflict, but i suppose it´s was feasible.
The T34 definatly wasn´t .

@Steve: Ohio is not the only cold place at the moment mate.
Nice Su 122 there, try and get some muddy rusty color on the tracks and some rubber color (XF69 Nato Black) on the tyres.

@Christopher: looking good buddy and you haven´t lost much "blood sweat and tears" either

@Rob: any of those will be well appreciated mate, they are all cool lookers

@Sal: do ever build in slow motion?
Looking good as always.

I just enlisted as well.

My trackrecord on finishing campaigns is not that impressive but still it might inspire me to keep plodding on. This campaign also got my interest because I went by my parents house and picked up my collection of vintage plastic. Among that collection were a few boxes full of ancient Vacu Form kits. And you pretty much can't get more jurassic then that when it comes to plastic. My pick from the box ended up to be the GAZ M1 from Tonda. Which basically is nothing more then a licensebuild Ford model B.

The starting pics



I have no clue what the age of the kit is. But since the Information sheet is originally typed on a typewriter I guess it even predates the Computer era. The kit is very complete though a lot of the parts are available in vacu form however since this is the abovementioned vacu form it means a lot of details still need to be scratchbuilt.
Here are the three biggest parts cut out (not yet cleaned)

Hi Robert,
welcome on board, I have the greatest respect for those Vacu kits aand anyone who can build them My experience
with one ended in disaster as I cut the palstic and knife went in a totaly different direction, it now lives
somewhere in waste dump

Paul

@ Paul
Thanks for the welcome
They are not that bad but there are a few little tricks that make assembling them a lot easier. And aside from that it is an amazing exercise in putty and sanding Built 1 vacu form kit succesfully and you are a master at both.

Howdy Y'all,
Here's the kit I will be trying to build, sans "servants". I say, "try" because I might throw it against the wall before I'm done.
Other than that, Y'all have a nice day,
Don "Lakota"

@ Don
Nice kit that. Looking forward to your built.

Got a little update as well. Started on the works at the bottom of the vehicle. Main chassisbeams with strengthening bars. The bottomside of the engine and transmission. And the bottomside of the fueltank. And believe it or not. This is actually still the easy part. Because soon I have to scratchbuilt the leafsprings and detailing an interior.



Also decided that it will not end up as a military GAZ. Instead it will be an American made Ford Model B. During the Depression era.

More to come later

Some rather interesting builds so far and bring back some memories as a kid.

Robert good luck with your kit, never had much patient to deal with vacuformed kits.

Well some more progress on my build, a lot of filling and sanding some of those pesky gaps. I still need to fill and sand the trunion and gun support. Other than that the kit goes to gather like a breeze.

@ Christopher
That M110 is starting to look very good. Should look impressive once painted.
I can really see how people don't have much with Vacuform. It definately is not shake and bake. And it takes a lot of time to make something out of it. However oddly enough some of the most enjoyable builds I have done through the years were Vacu Form kits. I love scratchbuilding parts and it is really cool to see how a vehicle comes to life part by part.

Speaking of which. I started on one of the more daunting tasks on my Ford. Scratchbuilding the front suspension. This meant scratching leafsprings. Each leafspring consists of 5 strips of evergreen styrene. I added the bend with my fingers and glued them together. I also build the frontaxle. This is how it stands now





Now I only need to detail them adding bolts and the metal clamps holding the strips together. And then doing the same all over for the suspension at the back. It is really extremely satisfying to create your own parts.

More pictures tomorrow.