Super!

I echo that, John!
Superb detailing continued...

Yeah, what he said!

ST,Angel & Richard, thanks for the kind words guys, it means a lot, especially after seeing some of the models you have all done in other campaigns and in here.
Going to do the base primer in grey in a moment. Then start on the usual straight green and black finish.

Bit more progress on my R-142N radiotruck build:

HT leads installed, engine painted



Second commander comm. panel scratchbuilt and installed:


Radioset R-130M scratchbuilt:


I've also cast the second R-111 radioset, so I have now all radios available.
Next need to build their respective power units, their antennae switchboards, the radioman pannel, the tape-recorders e.t.c.

Blimey, Angel, you are doing some amazing detailing and scratch building so far.

The engine block and generator you scratched look fantastic, I think the little touches like simple HT leads and cables give it that special feel.

And the radio bits you have scratched ... It made my eyes hurt just thinking about doing that and to that intricate level, really top work.

My LAV-25 is on the way, had to wait for some space to clear up on the bench for it since this one is a subject near and dear to my heart. Also kind of apropos that things got backed up, as long as everything goes right I should be finished building the basic vehicle right about the time I arrived in Kuwait at LSA Matilda in 2003 for Spring Break 2003.

Looking forward to seeing that John. I have to say, the LAV family and M1's are growing on me the more I see people building them as possible to do's ...

I'm usually stuck in 1940 to 1945 on German armour so perhaps it's time to broaden my horizons.
I also had some good news with an accurate armour Striker.

Andreas who lives in the area I was posted to in Germany has offered me one he has in his stash and we agreed terms. I had given up ever getting one so was well chuffed when he got in contact.

And I will be doing the that for this campaign as well sometime in May when I get it. Can't wait.

We had a nice sunny weather today- I not only managed to finish some construction steps, but also sprayed some paint( first time in almost 5 months) on the cabin of my R-142N radiotruck:




I also sprayed the radiosets and painted their small bits(various selectors, switches, information tables etc.):


I have to do some more construction steps on the chassy and then will superdetail it.

How in the world did I miss this great idea!!!???

Still time for me to get in? If so, I have an airplane I can enter.

Fred, hi and welcome. You are very welcome to join in Sir, it is for land sea and air, so if you're in with an aircraft fantastic, all we need now is someone to do one of those floaty things , and then we would have all 3. You have plenty of time as its running till Dec 20. What is your build going to be ? And if you know anyone Fred.... Spread the word, the more the merrier.

Angel, your scratch building skill is now showing in all its glory. Those radios are genius, the whole thing is going to look amazing if you carry on with that level of attention to detail.

Wow, fantastic builds are going on here.

Today Revell delivered the new (reissued) model of the SPz Marder 1 A3 in 1/72.



Hope I can start tomorrow.

Oliver

Sensational work guys. I love all the effort you are taking to add details to really personalise your rides.

Thanks Peter, it is a labour of love, I will be putting even more effort into the Striker once I have it

Great news on the Marder Oliver, I remember the A1's & A2's from when I was posted over there mid to late 80's, really ground breaking when it came out. Can't wait to see it done.

And so. In the distant 1990-1992, I was a soldier in a reserve officer school. I was in a training motorized rifle battalion. We had BTR-60P armored personnel carriers in this battalion, which were used for training purposes.
A model of this machine (Trumpeter 01542) is my campaign choice.



The last photo is from the Military History Museum in Sofia.
Have fun.
Kalin

Welcome to Golden Memories Campaign, Frederick!
I'm really curious to see your airplane and hear about your experience with it!

Welcome here too, Oliver!
I'm not quite informed about the SPz. Marder you'll be building, but I have some knowledge about earlier Marders

Thanks Peter!
Our ranks are open and our Rules and Regulations explicitly allow building the rides of ancestors or friends.
So if you decide to join, we'll absolutely welcome you!

And last but not least-
Welcome to our nostalgic ranks, Kalin!
Persistancy prevails-I know how long it took you to find and receive the kit!
Looking forward to see your (battered) training APC,

Here is one for you, guys

The closest my family has been in the services, was my Maternal Grandfather. He was in the Dutch Grenadiers and was shot by the Germans whilst defending an airfield in 1940. His 'Ride' was in a make shift ambulance. He survived, but with just one lung. The closest thing to a real ride for him, was when the allies Liberated Holland and he got up on one of the tanks to thank the crew and travelled along a bit.

He commemorated that by scratch building a cigarette box of the tank he rode. He was a bit sketchy on the type when I asked him. Maybe you can help me identify the type so I can build it?


(I have a suspicion it was a Cromwell)

Inside the lid is the date they were liberated - that is how strong he felt about it:


He passed back in 1990 - emphysema from smoking and having just one lung got him. He was bitter with the Germans right to the end. His best friend was a Jew... the friend was dragged out of his home one night and Papa never saw him again...

My Paternal Grandfather was an engineer in England in WW2. Whilst he did fly in a bomber over Germany a couple of times during WW2, trying to work out some issues for the RAF, I have no idea which one. He was killed after a motor vehicle accident in 1976 - hit by a truck whilst walking on a pedestrian crossing - and died a few months later.

My Mother-in-laws family all served - but mostly as infantry. My wife's cousin used to crew a Rapier air defense system and then as a RB40 team.

I have been pestering some friends in my club about pics of their time in the OZ army. They crewed M113's and MRV's mostly. I'll give them another nudge on Saturday.

Cheers

Peter,

The story of your grandfathers tank ride- and the cigarette box he built to commemorate it- is a Golden Mine!

I read the date as 24(25?) Sep. 1944, so it was definetely during Market Garden.
Which town your grandfather lived in back then?Nijmegen?

Isn't it possible to narrow down to the specific tank unit, that liberated the town?And get certainty about it's tank equipment?

A build like that would fit perfectly into Golden Memories Campaign idea!

Thats quite an impressive bit of carpentry skill shown in how he scratched that cigarette box, and really shows how he felt about it all .... as to what it depicts...well, when you look at the tracks on each corner and how pronounced they are, I think Churchill, then when you look at the box lid and how its angled with a rounded turret on it and the long barrel I then think Sherman.... tricky...

It would be a good build though if you could narrow it down as thats a real link, and something really personal.

It is hard to say where it was he jumped on, as he was not in his home town at the time; I never thought to ask back then. It certainly was during Market Garden though - and the date is 25/09/1944.

Papa lived in Aarle-Rixtel. He was a part of the Resistance and when word got round the allies were coming they all went off to help kick out the Germans, so it could have been anywhere reasonably close or possibly on the way to Eindhoven, which is just a few Km's away



It could have been near Helmond, that is even closer to Aarle-Rixtel. It would have been at the time or just after 23 Battalion of the 11th Hussars drove their Shermans through - chasing the absconding Germans.

I remember showing him a Sherman I built when I was a teen, and he said it would have been too high for him to climb up on as he climbed on from the rear. He did pick out a Churchill and Cromwell from a book I had then and said it could be either, but he thought it had big bolts … hence my leaning toward a Cromwell.

The front of the cigarette box my Grandfather painted the Dutch flag and a blue shield and white cross. The latter is reminiscent of the British 2nd Army insignia of white shield, blue cross and yellow sword. The 2nd Army formed part of XXX Corps, the lead element of Operation Market Garden, so maybe he painted it from what he remembered of the tank?



I have tried to pin it down by this, but to no avail.

Not sure if this is strictly what the build was intended for, but if no-one objects to me building a Cromwell or Churchill tank, with markings that I know was in the area, I would love to join in. It would mean a lot to me. I'd have to do a figure of him, of course.

Peter,

If the build means a lot for you, then it fits perfectly into Golden Memories idea!

Peter, I think with your back story and the effect it had with your grandfather and the trails and hardships he went through, then yes, its 100% ok and I hope you have a great time thinking about him as you build whichever of the 2 wagons you think fits the build best.

Maybe as Angel said earlier, if you can ( or someone else with in depth knowledge of units and their orders of battle for that area and time) can narrow it down to a vehicle type ), that would make it even better, but if you are happy with a Comet, then go for that. And then we can see the Comet in a pic along side of the the nostalgic cigarette box he made.

Thanks John. I have a lot of memories of him, but a lot of what he got up to during the war he would not talk about. It was not until after he died that my Grandmother started telling me about things. How he was in the Resistance, how me made a cubby in the attic wall of their home (he was a carpenter - hence the effort on the cigarette box) to hide in when the Germans were searching the town, etc.

As I said, he lost a lung and was in hospital for a long time. His doctor helped him escape when, nearly recovered, the Germans started selecting ex-soldiers to be 'conscripted' to their army. This meant he had no papers and had to live through the rest of the war in fear of being caught, plus with no ration book, he relied on what others would share with him.

Its hard to imagine what they must have gone through, but it is clear to me how his experiences made him the strong independent man he was. So independent that he would not allow us to mow his lawn, even though his emphysema was so bad he could only do 3 or 4 strips at a time. "If I have to take all week to mow, so be it. When I can't do it at all, that is when you can help" - that day never came!!!

Some plumbing and wiring added to my Deymos:





Most of it will be hidden once cab and kung are mounted, but...I'll know it's there

Peter,
I look forward to your build,

You are really putting some hours in Angel with all that intricate detailing, it is looking superb. All those little extra touches make it leap out at you... Keep it up mate.