Some really cool builds here. Great works!

I have finished my Sd.Kfz. 251. I made the interior look a bit more busy by adding various weapons and bits.

It is looking good Jesper. And your interior remains fully visible.

Here is my Bushmaster nearly completed. I think I'll add some streaking here and there but not more as I don't want to turn it into a piece of mud.
I changed the decals for the spare wheel and mudflaps covers for a reference from Mouse House Enterprise which is far better even though the tan still looks too light.
As the MGs in the box are awful. I decided not to use them. I only used the stock of the M249 which I glued on a Tamiya MG.













Olivier

Your models turned out quite well, Jesper and Olivier.

Jesper, I just started a SdKfz 251 this morning for the In Captivity/Under New Management Campaign. It will represent one that was captured and put to use by a US Artillery unit in France. I hope mine turns out half a good as your did.

Cheers,
James

That's a really nice bushmaster Olivier. From the photo that wheel cover looks spot on colour wise.

Like the soft top land rovers, those covers tended to fade quickly in the sun, and get dirt and dust embedded in them, and cleaning was generally a basic hosing, so colours would vary quite a bit.

Thank you Iain.

Olivier

Great looking build, Olivier.

Thanks for the comments, guys. Much appreciated.

Progress on my build(CV3/33 by Bronco):

Yovchev, in a small model, could not you do in this campaign. Just by looking at it and ...
Good job.

Thanks Kalin!
Sure it is tiny vehicle, the CV 3/33.
And packed with details.

Painted the interior and started weathering(engine oil on transmission and engine, engine grime in engine compartment and lavishly applied home made black wash).



Next will be interior wash and interior streaking grime,

I figured it was time to post something. Big update.

I was originally going to build the Academy M3a1 Stuart, but decided to go with their M36/M36B2 "Battle of the Bulge" kit.

The kit allows you to build either a M36 or a M36B2. These are the 90mm open turret mounted on a M10 or M10a1 chassis. Alternatively, the M36B1 was the 90mm turret mounted on a M4a3 chassis. Most B2s were built post-war. If you want a late-late-war Jackson or a post-war Jackson, your best shot is the B2. Of course, surplus M36s were sold abroad. For example, Iran were sold some. However, South Korea and Yugoslavia are probably best known operators.

Academy's kit is their normal M36/M36B2 kit, but tagged as a Battle of the Bulge TD. Of the six marking options, only two are BotB vehicles. The rest includes a M36 of 2nd Cav in Germany March 1945. The other three are post-war (1951-53) M36B2s in South Korean and French service. The two French TDs are based in Tonkin.

The kit shares alot of parts from Academy's Sherman and M10 kits. Detail is pretty nice. Obviously, it comes with a pretty nice interior. There's even sidewall detail in the engine compartment, but no actual engine. As an aside, their M36B1 kit (M4a3 chassis) has no interior for the chassis. It uses the same 90mm turret but you'll have to enlarge the turret ring for the 90mm turret to fit. It would have been nice to have a M4a3 interior for the M36B1 as well as their M4a3 kits.


The suspension assemblies are pretty much in-line with most Sherman kits. The hub inserts are keyed so a little care is needed to make sure they sit correctly. The detail is nice though.


I jumped to the interior. There's a good bit of detail there, plus you can go all-out on detail if you want. I kept the hull interior pretty much OOB for this build.
The trans looks really nice.



Lower hull assembly was typical. You add the drive mounts as extensions.


Lower hull done. Front interior painted and ready to go in. I painted it flat white (rattle-can). Before anyone says anything, the instructions call for the whole interior to be white. There's variation on actual M36s. Since the turret is open and you can see part of the chassis interior, I went with an OD fighting compartment floor and rear firewall. Sides (ammo stowage) and the front driver and co-driver areas are white.


I then turned to the rear hull interior. This will be OD. While I waited for paint to dry, I jumped ahead and assembled the lower turret. This is not the old Italeri M36/M36B2. It has more detail...like a more realistic turret bastket and some added interior detail. There's still room to add junction boxes and wiring.....but more on that later.


Interior mounted in lower chassis. Placement is a bit vague. This was further complicated by the fit of the trans in the cast front-end. I used the rear placement tabs as a common spot for the interior sections. Test fit it like a maniac.
Anyway, I went ahead and gave the interior a wash and drybrushed it.



Back to the turret. It has most of the core details. I added a few electric boxes and some wiring (thanks Jeff). As an aside, the turret ammo rack looks a bit wonky and the kit does not come with any rounds or round ends to go in them.




Back to the hull...the rear to be precise. Again, pretty standard assembly. The M36 and M36B2 has different exhaust and rear ends. I had to decide to go with a M36 so I went with the M36 rear. The exhaust grills are left off for now.
Note the engine compartment has detailed sidewalls but no engine.


I shot some olive drab on the turret interior and lower hull. I thought I had a picture of the ammo placed but I guess I was mistaken. The ammo is stored in tubes and sit in racks. These are a bit fiddly and placement of the middle and forward rack supports are a bit vague.


Turret time. The kit gun has a guard assembly....and it eats up alot of the turret interior space. I've seen M36s without the guard so I was worried it might be a post-war (B2) option.



I finished up assembly on the upper hull. Engine hatch varies between the M36 and M36B2. By the way, I want to add that the instructions are pretty clear on which parts are specific for each version.
One thing they mess-up on are considering the hull details in with the markings. For example, the rear jerry can racks are where the side stars go for several examples. I would take some artistic license with mine....I moved the side stars to the turret sides.
I didn't hang all the cleats. I wanted to use the mounts for stowage.


Base coat of Olive Drab. I used Testors OD for the exterior and Tamiya OD for the interior. I tend to prefer Testors' OD for exteriors. To me, the lighter shade looks more worn and weathered.
Tracks are rubberband type. They look pretty good. They are tight so you have to be careful when putting them on the vehicle. The front roadwheels will actually pivot up. You may want to glue those in position.
And yeah that rear view is missing the tracks. The original post-painting pictures did not have the tracks on yet. I had to retake some pictures.




Finished her up with light washes and drybrushing. Painted on mud on running gear and bottom edge of lower hull. Decals utilized some artistic license on their placement. I had planned to add a good bit of stowage, but decided against it at the 11th hour.






And I proclaim it done. This was a build I started and stopped on a few times for about 4 months. It wasn't a bad build. Academy cut a few corners, which seems to be their deal. A shame there was no engine included. I'll probably use it in a diorama at some point.
I would recommend it and I wouldn't mind picking up another copy to make a Cold War M36B2....but not right now.
Thanks for the campaign and I've enjoyed watching the work.

Looks great Alex. Nice one.

Finished:

Great work Alex and Darius.

I love the weathering of that little Panzer.

Very well done Darius. Hope you had fun building it.

Alex, love the internal weathering! Very nice and looks realistic.

Darius, great little build.


Congrats on very nice builds, gentlemen.

Thanks for comments guys. Indeed, it was very enjoyable kit to build Peter. There are some puzzling places, such as included glass visor blocks, but no instructions what to do with them. I think i am going to get munition panzer and flak panzer from them too
Its sad Tristar is not around anymore.

Hi folks! Jumping in a bit late into this one. I've been meaning to build this kit for over a year now. Hoping this campaign will provide me with teh chance to do so. Kinda daunting though - seeing all the wonderful work already done here. Hope I can do this kit justice.

Hobby Boss picked up the molds and is selling the kits under their label, but Tristar did show better quality and detail than some of the Hobby Boss offerings. The Marder 3 Ausf H for example is excellent and far more accurate than Dragon's. A lot more parts in it too, especially etch, so would be a stretch for someone new to the hobby, but a great kit otherwise.



Welcome Nigel

This large box landed on my doorstep yesterday. With good planning I will get her finished.

Kit Takom Bergepanther Ausf. A Assembled by Demag
Start Date 16 August 2018

Hi all, I am in with this

BogiBg

I have always enjoyed the look of the Dingo, so brutally simple in the role it was mean to play

Progress update

Sweet Bogibg, just like the morning's first brew of the day... and I bet it smells like it too


Really quick build, but looks fantastic.

Yeah Peter. And, since winter is coming, I am thinking on inventing some tea technique. 😀 Still have some work on it...