Your Pz III is looking great there Guy .. always nice to know an ex tanker who remembers the depressing feeling of hearing the words ... " It's track bashing time" lol. My worse one was being told while on exercise my tracks had been condemned and we then had the joy of changing them out on the Soltau training area in a very wet and muddy Oct or Nov....

Guy,

Wonderful job with that Panzer III.

Mark

The panzer III looks great!

PS. The infantry is always in the cold and mud - not only when tracks needs to be changed. 😉 In my time there where trucks for road marches and then feet mk. 1 for the rest of the time 🙂

Typical infantry..... Moaning about a bit of mud .. only kidding

Well at the risk of getting a little off topic, I offer up these pictures to my fellow veterans.

A much younger me, heavy Company 2/3 Armored CAV at Fort Bliss around 1984


One of my M1A1's with a bit of a track problem, Hohenfels, Germany C Company 1-35 Armor 1987

I think a little off topic is ok for those pics Guy, very cool.

And I've gotta say, in 22 years of being on tracks - heavy & light -, I have never seen a wagon slip a track like yours on the M1, were any links or sprockets damaged ? How did it come off like that, terrain ? Track bounce ?

This was my XO’s tank, if I recall correctly it was a wicked grade, you can see the mud, and I think they tried to steer uphill as they started to slide. Not too long to get it squared away, thank God it wasn’t thrown to the inside! No damage to any of the track or suspension, just some egg on my XO’s face😂🤣😂🤣

Great story Guy, thanks for sharing, before I get back on topic, if you have time Guy, and fancy reliving your M60 or M1 days, check my campaign, "Golden memories" , would be great to see you build one of them.

Now, the Panther, I have done as much detailing on the turret as it needs, going to leave off the hatch handles and lifting rings & MG ring until I prime it as I always break those off lol.



Next will be work on the left side of the hull and this will be pretty standard as it's out of shot.

Thanks for the pictures - cool to see. I do not have much to show in terms of pictures - just muddy infantry from the 90ties.

Anyway back on topic: looking good on your panther, John. Looking forward to see more.

I have two pics I have narrowed down to building.

Both great subjects Stephen, but which is the lesser of the 2 evils, both are super detailed, probably more so the PzIV with all the rubble,detritus on top and all around it. And how far were you thinking of going ? To include the truck in the background ? Have fun deciding on which one it's going to be.
Will look forward to either coming together.

Thanks John.

I have never attempted anything in such detail so it will be interesting indeed. I am leaning toward the Panzer and would include the truck in the background. I might attempt the M8 in the 20/20 in 2020 campaign.

Will probably narrow the image down to this.

Nice pictures guys. It will be great to see some of these reproduced as models.

That narrowed down image looks perfect Stephen. It looks like it will have just the right amount of depth to it giving you loads of detail to ponder over. Should look pretty impressive once its done ..... get ready for some long nights lol

Stephen, that will be a super nice challenge. Quite a busy scene. Significant banging up of the Pz. IV will be necessary. You can do it!

Looking forward to see more.

Did a bit more on the Panther detailing, went out of sync a bit but thought I would get some of the top engine deck detailing started.
I'm using the voyager Late Panther G set which is supposed to be for the Tamiya late Panther G I am using, and so far, all the bits I am using have fitted great so far ..... until the grills

The pics are not super clear but there is an overlay of about 1mm which makes the grills sit at an angle in the louvre wells which just looks horrid.





And this is how much I had to scrape away from all 4 louvres to get the grills to sit correctly with a wheel to show scale



All grills fitted and crew heater almost finished.

Hi all

Found a colourised image of the photo and some additional information on it.

Also a photo of the area today.







Pont-Farcy, Basse-Normandie, France.
Photo taken between the 3rd and the 5th of August 1944.

In a village left in ruins, a US Medical truck passes behind a wrecked Panzer IV Ausf. J medium tank of the 2.Panzer-Division. The Panzer IV formed part of the 8 Kompanie of Panzer Abteilung II, Panzer-Regiment 3 which blocked the crossroads at the centre of Pont-Farcy. It was destroyed during the liberation of the town by the 35th U.S. Infantry Division on the 2nd of August 1944.

(Note the truck appears to be a GMC CCKW 353 2.5 ton 6X6.)

137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Inf.Div. battle report; 2nd of August 1944
“……at 1530 the 1st Battalion was reported south of les Verges, and the 3rd Battalion at Beau Costil. All battalions were receiving heavy shelling from German artillery and mortar positions west of the Vire River. However, steady progress was made, and the high ground north of the river was cleared of the enemy resistance by 1800. Four enemy tanks reported at the bend of the river north of Pont-farcy were destroyed by Allied aircraft.
At 1845 the main body of the 3rd Battalion was across the river.
With the 2nd and 3rd Battalions across the river, the Division Commander then ordered one battalion to remain north of the river. The 1st Battalion remained, to protect the west flank of the Division.

Will be using the two kits below with some serious bashing required.

Stephen, as said before, very good choice going with the Pzr IV, it will look great once it all comes together, its always a shame when you have to build a kit with so much care, then wilfully go about the process of destroying it. The end result will more than justify it though, so cant wait to see it go through its transformation.

That find of a colour pic and also the modern day shot is really good, it gives the pic a whole new perspective and will no doubt be a great aid in the build, its a shame i cant find one of my pic in colour.

Thats one good thing about my build, there is hardly any bashing or destroying needed on the Panther, any damage is only cosmetic so I can use it again in a planned dio I'm thinking about.

In regard to mine, I am in the process of putting together an old Tiger engine and giving it the look of a Panther pack as the engine deck is askew on my pic, and also attempting a knock up of a radio Op's position as his hatch is fully open. The joys of modelling lol.

You are doing great work John. Having to work the kit to fit the etch is surprising! I had heard from club members the ET set was a poor fit and inaccurate sizing, but I was not aware the Voyager set also had issues.

Stephen, you have set yourself a nice challenge. Pushing beyond your comfort zone adds a greater sense of accomplishment when it is done. I hope this one comes out as you expect.

Now I need a ruling...…

I am thinking of doing this layout:


but I have an issue. My BL 7.2 inch Howitzer has already been built. The Scammell Pioneer kit is untouched...

Rules say no started builds, but is that for the main vehicle depicted or every element in the complete picture?

No biggie if it does not suit the regs, I have other options I am contemplating.

Peter, I think this solves the problem.

Hi guys

Thanks for the feedback and encouragement. Am loving everyone’s builds.

This is really going to push me beyond anything I have done. Equal parts excited and terrified.

Peter, i am not the campaign leader so cannot make an official ruling.

However, normally it is ok to use other builds for dioramas in campaigns as long as the main entry is unbuild. One could fx. Use figures, buildings, smaller builds etc. and combine with the main entry. I suspect you could do the same here.

Just my two cents 🙂

Thats a very clever plan Bogi lol .... very cunning lol.

To be fair to Voyager, it was only the grills that were out of sync, the rest of the bits I have used so far all fit like a glove and look very good.

Hopefully Richard will pick up about your proposed entry Peter and get back to you, but as Jesper said,as its the Scammell that is the main element, hopefully it will all be ok, as it would be great to see that built.

I'm already involved in two other projects but this is going to be a quick one.
I always wanted to do this particular vehicle withe slogan "Our answer to Chamberlain".

I had the AER model but it was one of the ugliest model I ever had. I thought that HB's T-18 would be much better. Well, it is not. I honestly doubt if they do any research in HB before they release any new model. Sometimes I think that they base their work on children's drawings.
Anyway, I've just received this superb update set from russian SPM company and I have to start this model now