modell miltary int 40 august 2009

5/11/2018 Modell Miltary Int 40 August 2009

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S d UA O RO N S IG N AL P UB L IC A TI ON SM OD EL LIN G R EF ER EN CE B OO KSSquadron Signal Publications isone of the best known andmost extensive ranges of modelling reference books everpublished, featuring high quality photographs of aircraft,tanks, ships and more inaction, aswel las an ever-expandingrange of 'walk-arollnd' volumes which show the subjectins ide and out in crystal-c lear photographs - perfect forsuperdetailing projects.The books have been helping modellers to add essentlaldetails, find markings and apply paint schemes to aircraft,armour and ship models for many years, and the great newsis that Squadron Siqnal books now are easier to f ind than everbefore, because ADHPublishing. the company that brings youModel Military International each month, Is importing themfrom the USA .You can find Squadron Signal at good model and books shops,and you can also check www.adhbooks.com to seewhat wehave on offerlPlease cal l usnow for ful l detai ls of prices, availabil ity andrange; UK(+44) 01525 222573

552042 - WWIIJeep InActionOriq loal ly desiQned s a reconnaissance c a r ,J eeps plowed t h r o u qh t h e s and s of No r l hA f r i c a ,the snows of c e n t r al E u r o p e , p u ll e d a i r c r a fta c r o s s f l i q h t dpds and ferried t h ewoundedthrouqh j ungl es. J e ep swe r e c on f lq u r e d f o r r a d i oq ea r , a rmedw i t h weapon s , a n dbo r e s t r e t c h e r s.Laroe numbersof J e e ps w e r ea lso del ivered toaJl i ed nat ions. This book t a ~ e s ade t a i l e d l o o k a tt h e s e v eh i c l e s' s e r v ic e d u r i n qWo r l dWa r II with" - I 1 ' ! ! ' ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! i - - - - more than 100p l l o l oq r a p h s , c o l o r p r o t ll e s a ndde t a i le d l i ne d r o l w in q s .52 paoes.

555712 M 3 M ed iu m T an k L ee (L ee & G r an t) W a lk A r ou n d1'&!: l~!I i i l~~~- - - The M3 Mpdlum Tank w as de$lQned a s a nan swe r t o E u r op e a n battlefield cond i t ionsat the start orWW I I . The solution was theMJ's unconvent ional design. which (eaturpsa 7Smm m a in g u n m o un te d i n a s o o n se no n t he r igh t, f ront of the h u ll . T h e B r It is hd ub be d i t 'Genpral Grant ' and named theus A r m y v e rs i on 'General L e e : This booktakes a deta i led lookattneM3 Tanx withmore than ZO O photographs,olorprofilesa n d d p t a l le d l in e d r aw i ng s . 80 paqes.

The Sileridan was i n d eed a u n i q u e vehic letha t nrved the US A rmy over 3 decades.Whi le it was con c e i v e d asa l i q h t A rmo r e dReconnaissance/Ai rborne Assault Vehicfet h at h a d b o t h a m p h ib i ou s a n d a i rb o rn e assaultab i l i t i es , t h e c a s u a l o b s e rv e r, " n d m ( )s t in themi l i ta ry , saw til. M551 Sher idan a s ~ t a n k .Illustrated with 91color photos. S b i l l' p h o t o s ,7 c o l o r pro I l le s , 3 'Y / ew d r aW i n g , v e h ic l edevelopm.nt i l l u s tTd tlons , a n d " color izedpat terns. By Dav i dDo y l ~ . 60 pages.

D a vi d H a rp e r d e sc ri be s t hp US Marine Corps tan~sused In the bat t le for 'wo J lma. The author sppntfive y ea rs I nt er vi ew In g v e te ra ns , s tu d yi ng A ft erA ct io n R ep or ts a nd searching t h e N a ti o na l A r ch i ve s ,USMC HistoricalC e nt er a n d s ev e ra l p ri va tec o ll ec ti on s f or m o vi e film and mostly o rl qi na l a n do ft en u np ub li sh ed p ho to s t ro m t he b at tl e. A smailsection devoted to Japanese tan~s Is a l s o I n c lUded .1 3 3 p h ot os ( m an y n e ve r b et or e p u bl is he d ), fourteMv eh ic le c ol or p la te s, t we lv e colour movie stills andexce rp ts f rom off ic ia l documents; 9 6 p a Q es .

555713 Panzer 3S(t) Walk AroundThe Panz e rl l amu fwdgen 38 ( t s e ll e . hi s ch )Armoured Combat Vehic le 38 ( C z e c h )wa son ~o f t h e m o s t important I .m~s I n t h e Weh rmach ta r s p na l i n t h e tirst f la i r 01 WWII_Orig ina llvp r o d u c ednea r P r a g ue as a I l qh t t an kl VI. 38 l eh k y T a n~ v I a r 38. Rech r is t e n eda s t h e Germanname Pz . Kpfw . 3B r t) , t h e v e h i c le s awac t io n In thePol ishand f r e n c h c ampa / 9 ns a n d l o o k part In tllpInvasionof t h eSo v i e t l i n io n dur ing the s u mme r o f1 9 4 1 . Illustrated..,ith o v e r 3 0 0 pho t o g ra p h s , c o l o ra rt , a n d profiles; 80 paqes .

55570S - V100 Commando Colour Walk AroundCad i l la cGaqeV l 0 0 CommandoCo l o rWa l kA r o u nd . T hebe s t kn own Amer ic an armored c a r o ft h e p o s t -WWI I p r a , t h e CadillacGaQ 'Commandoa Ve r 5 a t; J e ,amphib iOUS, x4 vehic le s ti ll loo~smodprn e v en t h o uqh it made its debut in 1962 .Al though US military u s e o f t h e C o mm a n d odecl ined af le r the .nd o f t h e Vie tnam Wa r ,man yComm.ndos we r e r ! ' b u i lt a n d to t h i s d a y , s e r v epo l i ce t o r c e s a ndSWAT t e a m s in eu r o p eand t h e':;:;;.-I!!ii",iliiii;.;l us , I l lu s t r a te d w i t ll o ~ e r 200 c o l o r p h o t o g r a p h splus de t a i le d l i n e d r aw i ng s ;Do y l t . SO p a g e s .

555706 M26 Pershing Color Walk AroundB V e a r l y 1 9 4Z , it wa s apparent t h at t h eS h er m an t an k w a s no match l or I ts Ge rmana d v er s ar ie s . T h e bas ic design of t he M 2 6 t he designation t h e T Z 6 E '3 "ad beeng i ve n w h e n it was c/assilied 's tandard ' inMar,h 1945 . was to lo rm I ll e b a si s o f al on l l line of excel /ent tanks ( M 4 6 , M 4 7 ,M4 8 and M 60 ) that woulderve US a rmedf o rc e s f o r 40 years. fliustrated w i th Z 5 0"--"'~~!!!!'!i!i!!~!iiiJl photollraphs. color profiles, and detailedline drawim;rs. By Dav id Poyle. 80 pages.

Renownpd mniaturist Bill Chi /s tr om s~a res h is t ipsa n d f ec h ni qu ps f or b rl nq ln 'l Injection m o l de d p l as t icf l lu re s t o l i fe . HIs aW a r d w l n nl n q dIorama ' I n t h efoo ts tpps of til. Grand A rmH ' Is ti le focus of tillsbook . el1ld e ta I le d a n d c O l IV e rt e d 28 " qu re s, t hr eehorses , two wa90ns and a mule In the bu l ld ln l l ofthis diorama. Many stepby-step and I n - p ro g r e s sphotos accomp,ny t he I nf or m at iv e t ex t c le a rl ym u st r, U n o w l la t to do to r e al ly e n h an c e s toc~plastIc 1J'lur.s. All colour; 64 pa'les.

p 4 N E W SWhat'snewin theworld ofmilitary modelling.p 4 6 B O O K R E VIE W SA look atthe latest titleson our doostep.p48LmERSModelMilitary Intemational'svisitors havetheir say.P 5 1 D IA R Y D A T E S

A listing of upcomingworldwide models showsandevents.p 5 2 1 :4 8 S C A L ELuke Pitt explores 1:48scale military models,figures andaccessories.p5 4 S M A U S C A L ENewsandreviews in1:76and1/72 scales.p 5 8 IN C O MIN GMMl'sthoughts onthelatest kits and accessories.pGOFIGURESA round upof the lates lfigures to hitthe market.p G 6L AS T P O S TThe Editor considers "old"kits andtakes a walk downmemorylanewith hisCentaur IVconverslon,

p 5 P RE VI EWDarren Thompson sxarnlnastheamplecontents ofDragon'slatest 1:35version--of the PanzerIV- anupgraded Ausf. D.p G T H IN K T ANKPaulHandeldescribesAustralian Matilda Tankvariants.1 11 4 S OM E T H IN G O LD -J UN G LE F R OG PART O N EThe Editor upgradesTamiya's1973 vintageMatilda with conversionparts from MRModelsandF1restorm.p 2 0 S OM ET HIN G N EW -QUEENOFTHE DESERTTheEditor teams UP withChris Wauchopto buildandpaint Tamiya's brand-newInfantry Tank Mark II,Matilda Mk.III/IV.p28PREVIEWDarren ThompsonexaminesItaleri's upgraded1:35 scaleBergepanther kit.p 2 9 F RO M T H E F R ON T L IN EJoel Russin Afghanistanwalks us several RG33andMaxxProMPVs(MineProtected Vehicles).

p 3 0 J AG D PA N ZE R '4 6Fraser Graypresses onwith hisAccurate Armour1:35scaleJagdpanzer EIO,employingsome clevertechniques alongthe way.p 36 N E P T U N E ' S W A R R I O RJoseBrito places Dragon's1:72scaleUSMarineCorpsAmtrac ina suitablyaquatic setting.p41 PREVIEWAFVClubreleasesitssecond 1:35scaleChurchillkit - thebattlelield supportAVREfitted with the big290mm Petard mortar.p 42 FULL S I ZE D R E f E R EN C EGlennBowengets upandpersonal with somedetailsofthe TankMuseum'sChurchill Mk.lll AVRE.p44PREVIEWTrumpeter expands its LAVfamily with their latestvariant - tile ASLAV-25.SamDwyertakes a look inthe box.

pS I PREVIEWAFVClubhas addednewpartsto Skybow'sTigerIto deliver a 1:48scaleSturmtiger. Luke Pitt takesa lookat the mid-scalemodelof this massivevehicle.

p 55 T E C H G U ID EBuilding a Display CasePart 2 byLuke Pit t@ADH PubllshlnQLtd 2009Tel:(UK)1 5 25 2 2 2 57 3F ax : ( UK ) 0 1 52 5 2 2 25 7 4Email: [email protected]: AD H Publishing,DoolittleMill,DoolittleLane,T o t/ e rn h ae , B e d fo r ds ~ ir e . L l J6 l O X , U KM od 0 1 M t or y I nt em at l on a I .p u b l l s h e d m o n t ~ I V b y A D H P u b l i s h I n q.Reprodu


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e N e w s l i n e - _ 0 9 KIT REVIEW DRAGON PZ,KpfwN Ausf. 0 mit 7 ,5cm Kw.K40 L /43 KITNO. 633DMMINewsdesk, ADfIPublishing, Doolit tle Mill ,Dooli tt le Lane, Totternhoe, BedfoI"dshire , LU6lQX,UKTe!:01525 222573 Fax:01S25 222574Email:[email protected] isa modern, s tate ofthe art exhib it ion at the Tank Museum,Bov ington, that brines the s tory of thearmoured vehic le and i ts c rew to l if e;f rom the f irst tank to the very lates t.33 key vehldes f rom the his tory of armouredwarfare. including Litt le Willy, the Tiger Tankand Challenger 2 have been displayed amonqstcut tinq edge display mater ia ls in avast newexhibit ion hall, which a,150housesthe Museumsnewshop, restaur ant, entrance andother newvisitor facilities.Theexhibition draws on archiv! ' footage,photoqraphs, veterans' accounts andsupport lnqcollect ion artefacts; many of which have neverbeen on public display before. Thesoldier'ss tory is told inhisown words , and i t isp laced incontext w ith the wor ld events that gave r isetothe invention and rapid development of the tankthrough the 20th Century and beyond.Tank Museum DIr!!ctor Richard Smith said, "Thesupport ing collect ions andthe veterans' storiescreate fascinating sub-stones t hat are boththought provoklnq andinspirat ional. Thetanksthemselves have been selected for their historical

significance, maKing The Tank Story exhibitionhal l oneo f t he 'wonder s o f t he wor ld ' i n t erms o fmilitary history".For those who would l ike a tas te of f resh air ,the Dorset Military Trail hasalso recently beenlaunched.Thewhole of Dorset played a hugepar t in the DDayinvasion. As American troops andequipmentpoured into Britain after November 1943, Dorsetbecame host to oneof the D'Day assault divisionsthat w9uld larld on the Normandy beaches. Thetowns, villaQes and large houses were taken overor surrounded byunit s of the 1stUS InfantryDivision in camps. Around 34,000 menand 3,300vehic les were based in Dorset and went to OmahaBeach when the invasion beqan.The Dorset Mil it ary Trail isnewfor 2009. I ttakes in17of the mos t s iqni ficant mil it ary s itesin Dorset, from TheTank Museum at Bovingtondownto the famous chalk c li ff s and across toWeymouth and Dorchester andtheir historic forts.Todownload your copy of the complete DorsetMilitary Trai.1109on 10 TheTank Museumswebsite at: www.tankmLlseum.or9.Source - T he T an k Museum

f h r p h ot o '8 l l: he d t ro t s .r. i nc l ude d .

Da rr en T h omp so ne xa m in es th e a m plec on te n ts o f D ra g on 'sla t es t 1:35 ve rs iono f the Panz e r IV - anu pd ra de d A u sf. D .Germanycontinued toup-qun and up-armourit 's ageing but excellentPanzer IVtanksthroughout the course of theSecondWorlll War,ThePanzer II/ Ausf. 0 wasgiven a mid-war overhaul ut ilizinq

the 10llg-barrelled KwK.40 L/43gun, bolted-on hull armour andadding turret side-skirts, bringingI t In to l inewi th the lates t new 'build Panzer IVs.As is Dragon's way , they toohave built upon andupdatedearlier versions of their PanzerIVkits, this t ime deliVering asomewhat unusual and relativelyrare example.The lower hul l isprovided with

the bolted, applique side armourand return roller mounts mouldedIn place. A wealth of r ivet andhatch detai l ispresent onthebel ly of the hull,Thesuspension mounts hai[from the Dragon's earlier Panzer

IVversions, whilst the road-wheels, drive sprockets. idlersand return rol lers are spruesf rom the later Aus f. Gk i ts ,donating the wider road wheelswith late style hubcaps,The 40cm type t racks are

individual 'Magic Track' links,baqqed separately with minimalclean-up required andnanned leftand r ight , jus t l ikethe real thing.Theseparate f illal drives offer

a good degree of internal detail,should you wish to show theseremoved.The upper hul l isbuil t upf rom

individual panels with appliqueand 'Vorpanzer' armour, this t imeprovided separately. All the visionblocks are, asusual, provided indear styr!'ne andpostttonabls.TheOVMtools, whilst having thebrackets moulded in place, reallydo showa great dealof f inesse.Theone-piece fenders offercomplete d! 'tail on upper and

lower surfaces, inctudinq the non-slip tread-plate. Theseparatef ront and rear mud f laps may bepositioned asdesired.Internally, there's a completeradio operator's MG-34 anddriver's binocular vision sight,provldlnq adegree of detailt hat may beseen through thepostttoneble forward hatches.All engine deck hatches are

also separate parts. Both regularandtropical covers areprovided,aswell as Internal a ir intake fansand drives,The turret isa new mould ing

of the old Aus f. D styfe shell, withthe forward ventilat ion hatch andsignal ports covered by a weldedplete, Screw-head andweld detailIs beautifully done, asIs the rnultl-part commander's cupola, whichisassembled from no less than25 separate parts. I t Includesclear vision blocks, posit ion able

armoured vision port covers andhatch lids.Theturret 'schOrzen' andits

respective brackets are veryf inely reproduced and I shouldimagine are asclose to scalethickness as plastlc mouldlll'gwould allow, with. again excellentbolt andscrew detail. The forwardplates are asymmetrical, with theleft-hand side protruding furtherforward than the r ight , a detai lthat is based onthe survivingexample atthe Tank Museum,Bovington. Theside access doorsare also separate, allowing youtoposit ion them open or closed.lnternaly, t he lurret isverybusy. A full sliding breechblock

andco-axial MG34 feature onthe backof the mantlet . whi le thedetailed turret ttoor and traversemechanism issuspended from thelower turret race. All the hatchesalso feature internal detailing,forminq the ideal start ing pointfor those wanting to take thedetailing further.Marking S


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The I I I M n C I a o o IIa1IIda ...tIq c i n : u tI d t w I n C TIIItfntZ O O 8 . The dnert _"""sea- i I .1 I I t Io 1 0 0 1 " " " _.,.mit 11M p e e n . . .. . ofDone f . ThI s WIle lias !be h l i l lCIIIIIIIIIIIIId. cupola a nd JotII-o full t a n . en t ile !U.

T he re q u ir e m e n t f o r a t a n k to a c c om p a ny a n ds u p po rt in f an t ry d u rin g t he ir a s s au l t o n d e fe n s Iv ep os it i o n s w a s t a b le d w h e n th e B r i t is h A rm ys ta r te d i t s r eo rg a n is a tio n i n t he e a rly 1 9 3 0s . T h isr e s ul te d in th e p ro d uc tio n o f a p ro to ty p e I n fa n tr yT a n k , th e A ll , in 1 9 36 . T he A ll m o u n te d o n ly am a . c h in e g u n , b u t a s t h e ro le o f t h e in fa n tr y t a n kw a s t o p ro v id e p ro te c tio n t o t h e i n fa n tr y f r o me n em y ta n ks , t h e r e q u ir e m e n t t o m o u n t a 2p ou n d er a n ti~ ta n k g u n le d t o its s u c c e s s o r , t h eA 1 2. T h is t a n k w a s a ls o k n o w n a s M a t i l d a .OfficlilllY i t was theInfantry Tank MarkII,Matilda, and i t waseventually built In fivemarks . The Mark I mounted a,Vickers .303 inch water-cooled

machine gun,but Marks I I to Vcarried the 7.92mm Besa Machinegun. Theturret was.keptsmallby the des igners inorder to savewl;'lght an'dso Itsring diameter wasonly 54 inches. This, coupled with

6 Model Military Internlltlonai August 2009

the narrow hull, prevented furtherup-gunning of the tank. A c losesupport version mounting a 3 Inchhowitzer in lieu 01 the 2 poundergun wasalsobuilt.Following trials in19.38,the

tank was deemed satisfactorylor service use, andan init ialorder to 140 we s given totheVulcan Foundry in Cheshire. Onecontrac tor was unl ikely to beableto fulil l requirements, given theapproaching hostilit ies, andso onthe eve of war other companieswere given orders: Ruston Hornsbyof Lincoln, Harland andWolffin Belfast, London Midland and:Scottish :Railways,British NorthLocomotive Company andJohnFowler andCompany. Over 2900Matildas we'e destined t o beproduced, seelnq service InFrancein1940, inthe Western Deser t andRussia, and in Australia andthe

[unqles of the South West Padfic.Prior tothe use 01 the 88mmanti-tank gun bythe Germans, theMatilda could absorb a qreet deal,01 punishment. I t wasbecause ofthis that the tanK became knownasthe Queen of the Batt lef ield.A U S T R A l i A N S E l V l t EI nMarch and Apr il 1942 the l irstmajor dellveries of overseas tank 5arrived in Australia, including 20Matlldas. These were the firstof409 Mat ildas to be receivedfrom the United Kingdom, beingaltocated in batches direct from UKfactories.The Matilda was1irs! issuedtothe Armoured Fighting VehicleSchool at Puckapunyal, where itwasused for the technical training01 individual tank crewmen indriving and maintenance, gunneryand!radio tasks. In October

Army Tank Battalion became thelirst operational. unit to belullyequipped with Matildas.Thelessons learnt following theuse o tM3 S tuar t l ight T anks , bythe 2/6th Australian ArmouredRegiment during operationsaround Buna, NewGuinea inDecember 1942 andJanuary1943, showed that aheavi~r tank,sui table for low speed work withthick armour and able to pushthrough jllngle, wasthe typereuul red lor operations in theSouth-West Pacif ic. TheMatlldasavailable to the Australian MilitaryForces were sui table for this task.Australian Matildas first sawaction in NewGuinea during

November., 1943,when thl;' tstAustralian Army Tank Battalio!1supported operations aroundSatelberq andFinschhafen. The

tanks hadvirtually no modif icationsat this stage, and were used!almostexactly as produced in th.1; 'actory.Thetanks acquitted themselveswell during their f irst appearenceon a jungle battlefiel.d.Thenext employment for the

for the Mat ilda was onthe island ofBougainville where, at t he end of1944, the2nd Australian Corps tookover the responsibility for moppingup30,000 Japanese troops stillonthe island. Tanksupport wasprovided bythe 2/4th AustralianArmoured Regiment, using A andBsquadrons. Thecountry wasveryrugqed, comprising mainly virginjungle undergrowth, with swampsan d rivers having to be crossedevery lew miles. The Regiment'sC Squadron wasengaged at thesametime-in other mopping' LJPoperetlons at WewakIn NewGuinea.

P as sI ng _ r ll I6 l aat l- t ani loIIItIcleI , B o o t i n I I M ' I Ml t ik l aIMds u , saull dim doud.The IpCatd!M Httw_Cl lpo ia 1M_lIfO*1Ionto!lie COIII IWII Iw e p e r a " " willi. " h ea d au!o f t h e t..,cIa.

The 0-11 l 1 l i kIIIIfIIId 1 1 1 1 8 4 1 stands III.t toOIM af tlHillJnp of IOdI y "s b M I I e f I e I U . t ile Cll lhnprZ M I I I r I B a n k r T ri . T IM M I ~ ". ItP W U d as 1 1 1 1 1 1of I.InrhrMI C e I o n e I N fNta, 71b layailartllfI!III.-t. wilen 111_ 1 l 1 l i VIdaia em . d u r i r o & tIMWIImm Desert c ampa l a nl n May/JIn 1 & 4 2 .

Many lessons hadbeen learnedf rom the tank'S employment inthejungle, andthe first modtt lcetlonsto incorporate the t essons ofcombat were started in late1943. One 01 the most significantmodif ications wasthe provision ofcast steel guards over the frontidlers. These could bef i tt ed toanyMatilda in about 30 'hours,andcould be hinged!back to allowmaintenance of the idler and tracktensloninq gear. Thespare tracklink boxes hadto beremoved toanowthe guards to behingedtul ly back in asalepos it ion whenperforming maintenance work.No! allMatildas were fitted with

turret ring protection plates whenreceiveO:from theUK. Those ofUK origin were bol ted tothe n u n ,andthe Australian type wassimilarInshape except that thl; 'ywere

Welded'into position. Examinationof surviving vehlctes shows severalpossibt l t t t es off ixing - boltedplates, welded plates or platesoriginally designed for bolt ing'welded into position.As the Mat lldas were usedin the

support of infantry., an effectivemeans of communication betweenthe tank c rew and the lnfantrvwas necessary. Arl inlantry tanktelephone was developed, and!mounted in an armoured box onthe lef t rear t r ack guard. I twasoften usedby the TankTroopLeader, whowent into actiondismounted sohe could betterobserve the action anddirect histhree tanks with awider v iew ofthe battlefield.The engine exhaust silencers(muff lers) were a constantproblem. being mounted lowdown onthe hul l rear . They were . .

August 2009 - ModelMilitary International 7


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The detlllI of the ,....the Auetnbn ....... whIcI ........."'It vehicle II the 2 . . . . .. c u n . -T1 I e tumt r t ac pnIIICtIIII tItted to 1MMIIIIdIIDmr ItileAullrlllan AnIylank . . . .. ThI t lillie... All.... type wlUclllIlI'IIl IId to " ' l i d . . . . . .IhiI c u a n ll M tI M " . .. . dr tww' I UtdI,lIIIIi I NI.rorc.d WIllI1 r i u C u I I r . . . . .. .. ,. . .. . l 1l i fnIIIIe.

Thelin! I I I I IT 1 1 . . .. . . .. . . 1 8 to H fllily I I I I I I I P I I 8 I I . . . . .IIttlkttlda 1II1II_ 2nd AarraIR AmJ T _Ba1IdIQ. A per I t an of I I t t I u n i li a . . _ IIIIt ItS I n 8 I m a In 1942. s.. f 11M Ib II I I Ia t IIIMIIIIt1 I I I N r . . . . . . . . . 1*poII.1IId*_ cIIIuI1nIIIcIa I I IM I . . PIIIary ..... 1UI I 1t lilt.......

. . . often damaged by undergrowth,especially when the tankmanceuvred back andforth inclose jungle. Onefield solutionwas to repos it ion the s ilencer onthe rear deckbehind the air out le tlouvres. This modificat ion alonecould drop theengine operatingtemperature between 10and15degrees.


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1 ' 1 I I 1 1 a t 1 d a Doar I Io 3I 11 11 lI , . . .. ., I III ' ucka,I I i IY& ThIIdour IIIIde II .......r ow . r. d ' " IIydndo cy IhI dIr , _ ofwhloll_ ..._18 t h _ . " tile till bIcIc.,...r IIt h e . . ".._.lIaItof H......

.....normal gun tanks.The second type, the No.2 Mark

1, was to bl?s imilar to the I?arlymodel, except that hydraulics wereto be used for raising andloweringthe blade. As this redesign wasbeing undertaken at the sametime as a completely newdesignwasbeing manufactured andtested. andthat equipment provedsatisfactory, the order tor thl' pilotmodel No.2 Mark 1wascancelled inJune 1945.TheBrit ish Standard MachineryCompany (Britstand) of Liverpool,NSW,undertook the developmentwork of a newhydraulicallyoperated unit. Thenew Britstanddozer used a horizontal bladeandbowl assembly almost threemetres wide attached to pushpolesmounted ontrunnions welded tothe skirting plates on each sideof the tank. A pivot f rame andconnecting link to the pushpoleallowed the blade to beraised andlowered bymeans of anhydrauliccylinder facing 10 t he rear of thetank. Hydraulic pressure wasobtained from apump mountedin the enginl? compartment anddriven by chain of the propellorshaft. A control valve waslocatedinthe r ight s ideof f the driver'scompartment.

The No.3 Mark1Dozer did notsee operational service, althoughat least one arrived in Bougainvilleprior to the cessation of hostilit ies.M A T I L D A H E I H iE H O GThe4th Australian ArmouredBrigade developed the HedgehogBomb Projector to provideimmediate andheavy lire supportto infantry during operations 1nclose country. TheHedgehog wasa naval anti-submarine weapon,which t ired abombof 30 k ilogramsin weight, Including about 14kilograms of high e~plosive.As originally constructedby 2/5th Australian Armoured

Regiment Workshop, six Hedgehogspigots were mounted onarotat ing steel shaft, pivoted onbearings mounted on the reartrack guards of a Matilda Tank.Thespigot wasenclosed by a steeltube of suf ficient s izeto hold theHedgehog bomb. Theassemblywasraised and lowered bytwohydraulic cylinders that wereoperated by ahand pump Insidethe turret. When inthe travellingpos it ion, the tubes lay ontherear deckof the tank. f ir ing wasinit iated electrically, with switchesInSide the turret. Interlocksprevented f ir ing i f the tubes were

10 ModelMilitary International' August 2009

within the safety l im it s of theturret roof.The f irst tes ts inmid1944 foundthat a crater over 2 yards across

and 2 feet deepwas madeby theexplosion of onebomb. It tookthree bombs to destroy a standardbunker of logs andsandbags. Whenusedin thick scrub, anarea of3yards f rom the centre of the burstwas completely cleared.A subsequent developmentresulted ina seven tube system,completely encased by 11mmarmour plate and which could layon the engine decks 01 the Matildaand present an inconspiCUOUStarget. Thetubes were raisedhydraulically. usingthe traversepump and f it tings f rom anM3Grant Medium Tank. TheP1.Jmpndreservoir were located inthe leltt ront chain locker onthe tank andwere control led by the driver. Anelevation Indicator waslocatedin the driver's compartment.connected tothe pivot shalt bymeans ofsteel wire anda sprocket. The Hedgehog could bef i reds ingly, or ina salvo 01 six rounds.(Number 5 t ube could not befired until


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:18M1:35

.1136031V i l l a g e H o u s ew i t h B o s e


8/35

F E AT U RE A R T IC LE T A MI Y A I N F AN T RY T A NK M K .l 1 M A T IL D A' K IT No. 35024

19.73' Pink F_'OYdele.ases DarkSide of the Moon. TheSting,TheExorcist andSerpico areplaying at thl! ' movies, while"Di rt y Harry " is tak ing his secondouting with "Magnum Force".TheParis Peace Accord issignedby the USA and North Vietnam,and the Wor ld Trade Center isdedicated in NewYork City.There arC'no cellular mobile

phones, personal computers,iPods or digital media. NoInfernet,Facebcck or Google. Inthis strangeworld though, there isst ill Tamiya.1973 wasthe year that Tamlya

S O M E T IN G O L D . . .

released the 24th k it in thei r 1:35scale Military Miniatures series,the Infantry Tank Mk.1IMatilda.Thiswas atypical k it o f its daywith f lexible tracks end the optionof asmal l e lect ric motor . I f I recaucorrectly, there wasevena versionwith a wired remote control.Tamiya's 1:35 scale Matilda was

a good k it at the t ime, w ith decentdetail anda lair representat ionof the real tank's main features.Surface texture wasuniformlysmooth andit always looked al it tle bulky , probably due to therequirement to f it anengine,

14 ModelMIlitaryInternational' Auqust 2009

I A I N EC O N S R U C I I OT he E dit or u pg ra de s T am iy a's 1 97 3 v in ta ge M at ild aw it h c on ve rs io n p arts f ro m MR M o de ls a nd F ire sto rm .

gearbox and batteries inside thehul l, but for more than 35 yearsthis was the only qarne in town i fyou wantl 'd to bui ld anA12Mat ildain 1:35 scale.This kit was.

unavailable for quitesome time, but Iwaslucky enough to findtwo at a model c lub"Swap and Sell"around ten years aqo ,These we r e snappedupand add td t omycollection.

K i ls n d ac~lSso r t e s hay. b e e .acem ulatadYn aper iod .fyears .

G R O W I N G T H E S T A SHMorl' recently, I purchased threeconversions andupdate sets fromMRModels in Germany. All threewere for Aus tral ian Mat ildas - as tandard 2 Pdr qun tank, aC loseSupport version f it ted with a3" howitzer, anda Matilda Frogflamethrower conversion.These conversions are producedto a very high standard. A resin

replacement for the main turretpart is included Ineach set, ThisIshollow andfeatures lovelycas t tex ture and subtle detai l inplace.All the sets also offer resinarmoured front mudguards, thewelded style of turret ring armour,POW canracks, a replacement

Fhs to rm produc e d 3 c omprehen s ive Aus tr a l i a nMa li lda c e nve r s le n 3 towye a ! s ' ro.

mantlet andstowage. W.llite metalparts include tools, hatches.spotlight andspare spudded tracklinks.Almost without exception,Austr allan Matildas were fitted

with theblocky spudded tracks,but the MRModels' conversionsdo not provide a full set. Iwasabout to buy a setof Fruil Modelwhite metal spudded tracks whenFirestorm Modelsreleased theirAustrauan Matilda conversion. Thiscomprehensive upgrade provideda full upper hull, solid turret. resinandphoto-etched details plus resinspudded track lengths. A mere $90later arld this boxwas added to mygrowing Matilda pile.

M O R E I H A M O N E W A Y 1 9 S K IN A F R O GWhen I heard that Tamiya plannedto launch a brand new Mat ilda. Ithought Ihadbetter start buildingsome of the kits andaccessoriesthat Ihadaccumulated over theyears . The two k it s might make aninteresting comparison, but afterthe newMatilda wasreleased Iknewi t would behardto mot ivatemyself to wrestle with resin an d35'year-old vintaqe plastic.Idecided to build an AustralianMatilda Frog flamethrower. Iwasspoiled for choice with the MRModels and Flrestorm conversion.The bes t par ts f rom both setswere combined aftl 'r carefuldeltberatlon. Thehollow-cas!

I n a d d it io n r o f u ll u p p ~ r h u ll a n d . o l id t ur r et , F i re s to n n 's c o n Ye r si o tl o f fe r sa my r i a d o f dC l a ll s I n r e s i n .

t ur ret, turned metal barre l andwhi tl ' metal par is were usedf romthe MRModels conversion, whilethe Firestorm upgrade contributedthe upper hull, armoured frontmudguards and tracks.Inmy opinion, careful

preparation isthe keyto successfor anymajor conversion project.Smaller parts were cut from theircasting blocks with a razor saw.Thelarger blocks were dispatchedusing my Dremel motor tool f ittedwith a grinding wheel attachment.This isa real t ime saver .With the resin parts baggedand tagged, work commencedon Tamiya's venerable plastic.Runrling CJearwas assembled II-

Auqust 2009 - ModelMilihry International 15


9/35

F E AT U RE A R T IC LE TAMryf, INFANTRYTANK MKIJMATILDA' KITNo. 35024

~ u "l ta li a n M a f ll d w e r. f i tl o d w i t h . p u d de dF i r os t orm" c onv"noion s uppl i e s lileSOll1ll:ks i n h a n d e d l e ng t hs . P r ep a ra ti o n i s I h o key I . a n y m a jo r r es in e on n lon .

A r uo r u w iha ndy to o lfo . qui ckly despalching r In c a s t i n g blo cks . A Dremel Molo , T o cl wm ~. p le nt y 01flmawhon r e m o vi n g m o r esubs ta n t ia l c a s t i n g blocks

.... .without much trouble, but thef it o f the road wheels and thesuspension units wassloppy. Iooka l it tle ext ra t ime to makesurethat everything wasproperly linedupandthat a ll t he road wheelstouched the qround,Firestorm supplies their handedtracks in separate bags. Each sidecomprises four straight lengthsandtwo curved sections ~oneforthe drive sprocket and one for theidler Wheel.The castjnq strips werecut from onesideof each track'slenglh and therearmost cu rved

section wasfit ted against the drivesprocket. A hair dryer wasusedtosoften the resin,allowlnQthe trackto sneqq t e up asclose aspossibleto the drive sprocket. When I washappy with'the conformity of thiscrit ical f irst section, super gluewassparingly applied to secure thet rack , , then worked forward onthebottom run, sett ing andgluing thetwo f lat runs, then the idler wheelsectlon andfinally the top run. Theprocess was surprisingly painless.Although the tracks still QivetheIllusion of f loating around thedrive

sprockets, I believe this isdue moreto theoverly pronounced sprocketteeth than Firestorms resin tracks.With thetracks inplace, it was

t ime tomate the plast ic lowerandresin upper hulls,Firestormsinstruct ions suggest that the upperhul lwould needto beheated andbent to meet Tamiya's lower hull,but Id id not f ind that was the case.Theupper andlower hulls lined upalmost perfect ly with a minimum ofeffor t and afew spots ofsuperglue.MR's resin turret Isdesigned touseTamiya's outer mantle! and

turret r ing (part A2) . The plast ictur ret basehadto bet r immeds lightly for a per fect f it , but thegun shield f itted inthe mantletwithout modification, As a bonus.the gun was capable of elevationafter assembly.Firestorrn suggests that thekit's outermost armoured louvresshould beused. I thought theytooxso a litt le plain, soa texturingmi x ofTamiya Grey Put ty andlacquer thinner wasstippled ontothe smooth plast ic surface torepresent cast steel.

MR's lur r e t employs T am ly a ' s m a n t le t a n d10..... r u rr o ' p a n s. T h e t u m ed melal barrelsincluded i n MR ' , c o n v e r si o n s e t ,

M E lT IN G M O M E N T STamiya's armoured side skirts werefitted to the vehicle, Once again,alignment waspretty good.At this point I decided to f ine-

tune the drape of the res in t racks.Heat from a hair dryer was appliedto the t racks and they were eas ilybent into a more convincing shape.Unfortunately, the heat also meltedthe plast ic onthe bot tom of the

the hunand glacis plates onthetutl-slzed Matilda as additionalarmour. MR's white metal toolslooked great, butthey lacked theappropriate mounts andclamps.These were cut and bent intoshape from thin brass strip.ManyAustralian Matildas

featured thelater style bulkyhingeson the suspensioninspection hatches. Idecided that

port side skirt . I f i l led the unsightlywedge andsunken plastic with acombinetton of plastic scrap (cut toshape andattached with super glueQel)and Milliput White two-partepoxy putty before sanding thepanel flat. Disaster averted.Hul l and turret f it tings were

lnstslled atthis point, includinglenQths of spare trac k supplied byFirestorm. Thesewere welded to

these would betoo obv ious toIgnore, so I setout to scratch b u l t o22 newhinges.First, thin plasticsheet was sliced into 3mm widestrips. Next, Iglued lmm half'roundplast ic s tr ip along the centre of theflat strips. Once the glue hadset,Iused myvery helpful "Chopper"tool tocut these s tr ips into 3mmsquares, ...

The re.in s p u d de d I r a ck lengths arenicely derailed a n d f a i rl y f as t t o I i I .

16 Model Military I nt er na ti on al - A u gu st 2 00 9

1

Mos t et fu. ,iOlplifled 5uspen,sioopa r t s are biddene h ind the mud~ h" le S a n d .d. s k i rt s ,

Fil is r e a s on a b I y good . with j us t littlefill" r e qu i re d a t t h o h o t lom j ,l o "


10/35

IIfter the new Matilda was released I knew itwould be hard to motivate myself to wrestle with

resin and a 35-year-old piece of plastic."

H in g w ere mld. t.r I he I lUge armo med s ide c ers . [J(1ra t.


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F E A TU RE A R T IC LE TNIAIYAMATILDA MKJIIIIV KlTNo. 35300

. . . S O M E N I N e N E W

Of T H ET he E dito r te am s u p w ithC hr is W a uc ho p t o b uild a nd p ain tT am i ya 's b ra nd -n ew I nf an tr y T an k.M a rk I I, M a ti ld a M k JI I/ IV .Is more than 35 yearssince Tamiya released theiroriginal 1:35scale Britishinfantrv Tank Mk.ll, sotheannouncement ot anall-newMatilda at the recent 2009snlzuoke Hobby Show wasawelcome surprise for tans ofBritish armour.Tamiya's deslqnatton for the new

kit isInfantry Tank Mk.IIA (don't

look for a footnote - the aster lxwasan official deslqnatton forLeyland-powered Matlldas) MatildaMk.lIl!IV,TheInfantry Tank Mk.IIA and

IIA were developed asa resultof lessons learnt b the Brit ish1stArmy Tank Brigade in France,which wasequipped with theMatilda 1 . 1 1 1 . . 1 . I n the event , mos t ofthe external modifications we re

minor, Themost notable cl\ange tothe Matilda Mk.I lA wasthe revisedmantlet to accommodate a .303Besa machine gun, This replacedthe water-cooled vtcksrs machinegun Inthe ear tler version. Anextractor fan wasalso Installed inthe turret roof.TheInfa~try Tank Mk.IIA,otherwise known asthe Matilda

Mk. II I, was f it ted with anew7 l it re

Leyland diesel enqine. The MatildaMk.lV wasalmost identical to the"'111..111,he only difference beingevacuation pumps fitted to thefueltanks under tne air Inlet louvres.Identifying particular variants

is tricky, TheLeyland enQIneversions, the Matilda Mks.111ndIV,may be externally identif ied bythe two sets of exhaust p ipes onthe upper engine deck, while the

20 ModelMilitary International -August 2009

s ignall ing lamp onthe turret wasdeleted from the Mk.IVonward.Track type isnot a definiteindication of variant (two styleswere used,spudded andsmooth),andIhe only other obviousdist inct ion isthe heavier hinges onthe suspension inspection hatchesoften seen on later productionmodels. Seeour precedingarticle on the AUstralianMatilda Frog for an exampleof a vehicle fitted with spudtracks and heavy Inspectionpanel hinges.Many later model Matildas

were fitted with low cupolas.and some also received strips ofarmour to protect the turret r ingandthe base at the turret.Less obvious, but st il l visible

under carefUl scrutiny, wastnereplacement of the small returnrollers with f ixed skids to supportthe upper t rack run onlaterproduction vehicles. Theouter skidswere mounted onthe mudchutes.

W H A T 'S I N T H E B O X ?Tamiya's new Matilda MK.III /I Vc ompr is es 387 par ts i nth. . lr f amil iar dark yel lowplastic, two flexible tracks,a l engt h o f s tr ing f or t hetow cables, poly caps andmarkings for three vehic les- two Indesert camouflage

and one in green and black .Surface texture is everything

wehave c ome t o expec t f rom anew Tamiya release. Cas t metal isbeaut iful ly depic ted onthe turret.the nose and the armoured enginede.ckcovers. Recessed screwheads on the lower hul l s idecovers even Includes slot detail.Raised s tr ips, r ivets and bol ts arepresent wherever appropriate.Theasbestos insulat ion wrappedaround the exhaust p ipes looksfantastic too,This k it offers the choice

of hard plast ic l ink and lengthtracks, or f lexible black tracksin a s lnqle run. Both opt ionsare wel l detai led Ins ide and out ,w ith noejector p ins or otherImperfect ions to clean up beforeassembly. The peculiar guide

teeth arehol low on the real tank.F or t he k it , t he p last i cguide teeth are mouldedw it h a den t a t t he f rontand rear. This offers apretty good representationconslderlnq the guide teeth ar ealmos t completely hidden behlndthe complex runnlnq gear andlarqe armoured s ide covers. Onthe other hand,.Tamiya supplieshol low qulde teeth for the highlyv is ib l . . spare t rack l inks onthef ront mudguard - a nice touch.The sprues conta in two s ty les

o f 2 Pd rqun bar re I s p lus a3 "howitzer barrel, whkh suggeststhat a C lose SUpport version Isonthe way . Eachbarre l is suppl iedi nonep i ec eand I s hol low a tthe muzzle end. Also on thesprues but unused Is the laterversion low-profi le cupola and anatternate antenna base. Severalrows of f lashed over holes maybe f ound on t he i ns ide o f t he hul lsurrounding the turret r ing. Thishints that versions featuring thearmoured r ing protect ing thebas eo f t he t ur re t w i II bes eensome t ime inthe future too.The mantlet issecured withpoly caps allow ing the qun to

elevate, and the driver's hatchmay be l el t t o s li de on I t s r ai ls .A fUll compliment 01 n..won-vehicle tools plus c rew

T I l . n o s e a s s e mb l y l o o k s c o mp i e .b u t f i T is e x ce l le " , a n d t h o r . , ul t I s am - fr e e f o rw a .r d hu .

stowage is supplied.Three crew f igures areincluded. Poses ar e relaxedand sculpting Isvery good. Thef igures are depic ted in summeruni form with long t rousers androlled-up sleeves.Kit enqineerlnq Issens ib le. I

par ticu larly l ike the way Tamiyahas b roken down t he nos eo f t hevehic le to avoid a hor izonta l joinacros s t he f ront o f t he hul lMoulding quality is marvellous.

T he re a re j us t a few very faintc ircles to c lean upon the ins ideof the loader's hatch. Althoughthere are analarming number ofe jector p in marks onthe lowerhull, these will all be completelyhidden behind suspension

TI l~ l OWE r hu l l l s b u i l t u~fr om se~aral. panels,

components and the big mudchutes. Spansons are not boxedin but you won't see t he l ight o fday once the armoured hul l s idesare secured. The searchl ight lensis a solid"plast ic piece.t O N S T I D e n O NConst ruct ion s tart s w ith thesuspension. Whereas the roadwheels and suspension units werea sloppy fit on the 1973'vlntagek it , t he new k it isvery preciseinth is area. All t he running gearpar ts were careful ly laid out innumber order after they werecut f rom the sprues, as thereare three dif ferent s ty les ofsuspension units using a differentc ombina ti on o f pa rt s. Pol y c aps . ..


12/35

LncaTingDlesor" , .1 . a n d f i f fi n , sm u S ! b e d r i ll e d nut

T h e a . r mo u r e d engine k < o v er sa r e p r o v ld o d . s . epa ra te pans .

accurate enamel caunter modelpaints, but Chris andl generallywork I n a c r v n c s 50 we decidedto f ind a mix to match the colourchips InMikestarmer's book. HereIswhat Chriscame upwith: SSCNo.64 Port land Stone: 40%Tamlya Xf-55 Deck ren + 50%XF'2 Flat White + 10% XF-60Dark Yellow BSCNo.28 Sliver Grey: 50%Tamiya Xf5S DeckTan+ 50%Gunze'Sangyo H312 Green FS34227 e s c No.34 Slate:Tamiya XF-65rleld GreyChri 5 applied thethree basic

shades with hisTestor Aztekairbrush f it ted with the f ine tan-coloured tip. Theherd-edqeddemarcation wasmasked withTamlya tape. Overspray was ...

been glued into place, twist part066 forward sothe joining f langeisfacing outward, then place thebot tom ofpar t 077 near the joinbefore twist ing par t D66 back toits vertical position.Stowaqe boxes are suppliedfor the turret. Init ially I attachedone box tothe s tarboard s ide,but this waseventually removedwhen i t became c lear that i twouldInterfere with the fit of the 10marking decal.

and1941. It wasnamed after itsreputed inventor. Colonel Caunlerof the 4th Armoured Brigade. Thisscheme hasalways been popularwith modellers thanks to its variedshades. Traditionally. the CaunterScheme has been depicted byrncdellers asa Sand base colourwith a hard-edged geometricd is rupt ive pat tern of Ught BlueandDark Green or Dark Blue.Recent research suggests thatthe middle colour isnot L lqht Blue'

but Silver Grey. actually a palegreenish grey tone.Armed with Mike Starmer'sauthoritat ive guide "The CaunterScheme", f irst published in 2004andamended in March 2009, Chrisand Isetabout determininq someup-to-date Caunter colours. WhiteEnsign Models produce a set of

the box, Ipart icularly liked thesawn-off .303s used for the smokedlscharqers.Theupper andlower hulls wereJoinedwith a single poly cap at therear, and glued at the f ront . Therewas a join line between the caseforward hllil sect ion andthe rolleds teel main hul l. This did not lookqui te r ight to my eye so Iaddedraised weld beads from softenedplastic strip..Iamnot sure thattheweld bead in this location isaccurate, socheck your referencesbefore adding them yourself,Fitt ing the lower ste rboard side

e~haust (part D77) to the bottommuf fler proved a l it tle awkward. Inthe end. I found the bes t way tojoin the par ts was tot rap par t 066without glue betwe!'n the muff lerhalves. After the muff lers have

C A U I I T II O U l I O I YWith the oldand newMatildamodels being buill s trnu ttaneous tv .Invited Chris Wauchop to paintandweather this newkit.TheCaunter Scheme was a

disruptive camouflage pattern usedillthe Western Desert during 1940

. .. .are usedto secure the idler 'wheels end drive sprockets. butthe small road Wheelsare fittedbetween solid plastic locators, Theinstructions s u q q e s t t hat the roadwheels should beleft to rotate, butIglued mine inplace.Theidler wheels anddrive

sprockets area bit ambiguous. asthey cal l bef i tt ed onthei r axlesfrom either side. Take note thatthe big hole onthe idler wheel

should face inward, while the raisedmount onthe drive sprocket mateswith the f inal drive. I f in doubt , tes tf it with the flexible tracks.Myfirst decision waswhether

to usethe excel lent sol id l inkandlength plast ic tracks. or theflexible black track lengths. Thesolid tracks feature exceptionallysubtle draping along the lop run.but the detai l onthe f lexible t racksisalmost equal tothe tan s ty rene

parts. As Iwasbuilding the kitfor a deadline, andconslderlnqthe similarity Indetail, Idecidedto usethe flexible tracks. Thisnewgeneration of f lexible tracksmay besecured with regularplast ic cement. I brushed eachmating surface with Tamiya ExtraThin Liquid Cement andjoinedthe ends, clamping them whilethey set . Af ter afew hours thetracks were stretched around the

drive sprockets andsuspension.Although Iwas initially concernedthat the tracks looked slightlys tressed at the top of thesprockets. the overall effect wasconvincing.The balance of construction

wassimilarly trouble-free. Afterlocating holes were drilled throughtheupper hull andtu rret, smallerdetails were added.The tools andfitt ings look great straight from

It I s aiwaVI a r el ie f w h o" a ll t h e r o ad wh,ellaill I al o n l b . g r o u n d! n. dr ive s p r o c k . I, a n d idlerwbeelsre onnoc l e d viapoly cap.,

The largomud chu te , ands m al l r .t ur n r o ll er s h a b e en1 i I fe d h e r e. Springo ra l l I.stillvisibleat thisstag., T h e l o u vr e d

p a n el s o n t h ef o r w ar d I I I Ip e r h u l lareprovidedsseparale pan s . P e e k -a - b o o ! S p a n .o n . are O l b o x e d In.sorheresfresh ir betw n Th.on ly qu tI"".bl. area1 f i l o n IheenH r e mode l i,h. d ia gona lI h e t r ac k s a n d I h e u p p er h u ll . F o r t u n a T e l y , thisa r e a w i l l b . c a m pl e r" l y j o i n I n f r o nl o f I h o d r iv e r' s h a rt h. W e ld b e ad . w e re a d de d t o I h i s a r e a.

h i dd e n b y the a r mo u re d s i de sk ins .

An earere l . , r.wrn rollersismDIl I1t.d 10 Ih. insi deofI h e a r m o u r e d s i l l",.

Tn e black vlny!lracksre bea"TlflJl lydetailednd maya g lu e d W i t hregular polySlyl'cn.ement.

August2009 . ModelMIlitary International 232 ModelMilitary International - AUQllst 2009


13/35

F E A T U RE A R T IC L E Tf\MjY~MATILDA MK.UIi1\I KJTNo, 35300

Tbe muftlery sl en a n d p i p a re n i ce ly detailed. Th , sparo f U G I tanks d e ! lc . . lely rendeod 100, T I u o mod',1 t a k on t b e c h u n k y p r o po r ti o n s o f I h . M a t i ld a w i th t ho s i de s k ir T S I n p i ) , .

S o m. d e li c aT e d r il li n g i s n d edt or t II .l .c .l in g h a le s I n T h et u rr e T . T h e a u tl l or drilledUTs o m e u nneededol e s , wbic hhethsn had10 fil l inl

T a mi ,a ', n e w Mat i lda,straighT f rom The bOl

. . .. inevitable around the undulat ingarm 0ured air inlet louvres,so thiswas touched upwi th a f ine brush,Thedelicate f lat f inish wassealed with several thin coats of

Future f loor polish. This servesthe dual purpose ofprotect ing thechalky Tamiya acrylic paint fromscrapes and scuffs, andbeing ahelpful base for further weatheringand decals.A thin wash was mixed

comprising 50% Tamlya XF'Flat Black,and XF64 RedBrownenamel paints, heavily thinned withMineral Turpenti ne,This dilutedmixture wasliberally applied tothe ent ire vehic le w ith asof t t>rushand allowed to dry overnight . Theresult wasa bit messy Inplaces.

but the enamel wash over theacrylic base waseasily cleanedup with a select ive applicat ion ofthinners,Decals arrived from Tamiya

just asthe basic weatheringwascomplete. Tamiya's seconddecal option waschosen forthe appeal 01its strikjJ1gandunusual ly proport ioned red andwhite identif icat ion markings,and t he l ar ge whi te " 4" on t hehull sides. The white markingswere per fect ly opaque over thecamouflage paint. and the decalsresponded wel l to Mr Mark Sol ter.The surrounding film disappearedunder the potent decal solut ion.I n f act , par t o f the actualmarkings dlssolved too, but these

areas were touched upwi th paintbefore proceedi ng further.With the decals inplace, themodel r ec ei ved a t h in t op c oa t o fPolly Scale Flat.Chr iS was Inspi red to t ry some

new weathering techniques afterreading a model book entit led"The Nordic Edge" . Inaddi tion tohiscustomary useof airbrusheds ta ins and s treaks with a SO/50mix of th inned Tamiya F lat Blackand RedBrown, Chris also triedhis hand at mlcroctlipping anddusting with pastel chalks.The finishing tOUCh,and thesole alter -market i tem ontheentire mod... . was a c lear lens forthe turret's spotl ight . I I -

Ma t il d a r e f er e n c es an f e 'l l a n d fir b 0 1 ' l l c e n , b~TMike tarl l .r's Ca unt a r Scheme"ook Includesactual p a i nt c h i ps f or d i e c o l ou r s u s e d I n t I I i si n t . r u t i n , camouf lage ,

24 Mod,,1Military International - August 2009 August 2009. ModelMlllhry International 25

Tw o n . k . ~ ladles.amiya 's o l d o rMa~ I d a w i th plenly o f ma k c u pe e u r 1 e o y 01 MR MDdelsndFi ruTorm m a y b e s e e n a l llu! rear ,

Th a s aw.nD t 1.303 sused f o r t h e Sm l l~ Dlaunch. . . . aren~.fydetail.d.

Themodolain's weremixedto mat ch t h l c o l o ur chips ioMike S t ar m e '" b o ok . S ur fa .e le xt u, e m ay b e s e en 1 0 ad va nt ag e u nd er a c o al o f glo$SYuturel o o r P o l is h .

The Caunt e r schemeompr i s e d Thn" c ol ou r s- U gh t S to n e, 5 i l r G r ey a n d S i a le.


14/35

F E A T UR E A R T I C LE T.AMIYAMATILDA MKUv rv K ITNo_ 3 5 3 0 0

. .. . C O N C l U S I O NThe Mat ilda was one of themos t impor tant Bri tish tanks ofthe ear ly war per iod. Despi teits pedestrian speed. a narrowturret r ing that l im ited fur therdevelopment, and an inadequatemain gun. It served s to ical ly inthe ext remes of the WesternDeser t, the f rozen pla ins of theEastern Front and the steamingjunqlesof the South Pac if ic .Indeed. the Matilda was t he onlyBri tish tank to see service f romthe f irst day of the Second Wor ldWar to the las t.Tamiya's original 1973 Matilda

was a good k it upon release, butit was a typical product of i tsday . Aspec ts of the model we-reoverseale due to the need toaccommodate motorisation qear,surface texture wasnon-existentand some detai ls were basic. Themodel looks dec idedly dated in2009.Onthe other hand,

Tamiya's brand rlewMatilda is a state"of-the-art offeringwith excellent detail,beautifUlly authenticcast texture whereappropriate, useful optionsand superb fit.Bronco an a AFII Club haverecently released some great1:35 scale British w w n tanks

(Dragon too, If you include theirShermans). It i sp leas ing to seeTamiva join the ranks with theirexcel lent new Mat ilda tank .

Tamiya '$ " , ou ld e d ' ub e sl o $ w r ap p in g " o n t he e x ha u st p i pe s I s broughtto l if e R a is ed s lr u 'l ur a l d e ta i l i s b e a u ti f ul ly rond.",d D. lhe ",.del.u n de r a n e.amel h.

T h i s . e w Matilda i s l i gh t y e a r. a h e. d o f l iteor i ina l 197 JTamiy a ~r i n t e r m" o f d e ta i lf i n e $ 3o , f i l an d a c c u ra c y ,

11heMatildawas theonly Britishtank to seeservice from the first dayof the SecondWorldWarto the last.II

Modelspecr a n iy a l lA l t rj T i I I k I l l" " M i t i d a 1oI U 11 / I Y .

1 l I 1 1 i n be 1 35 l l OMaterialST a m i la E I \ ra T h h L i q u id C e m e n t; Rml l Con lo . d a[ e m t n t p l l s t ic s t r i p ; a f t e r - m a n e ! c l M r lellSors po t l i g h f ( r u n O l l l l ~ r . l l l ll f o r m o c l e l c a r s , d r e d g e df r om t h e b o t t om 0 1 t b l1 p ar e cs b o x )Paints usedT.t I t iyi k l) 1 i s : I N F L lt Bl i c i , n - Z F la tWl i i t e .If-55 l l !e k T a l l ; x r - y j D a J 1 l Y e l f o w , X f - 6 , 1 R e dSm r l l , I H S F Je ld IlRyG o I ll e -S a J J; f G k r yt lc : 8 3 1 2 G r t e I1 fS 3 4 Z lReferences

. ~ ~ e r a pg u a r d 1 1 0 . 8 - l i a l i J c l a ~f~ T o n kby D am FII'I~'r aH d Pem s a ~ mI l S i J f t Y M l ld E ll il lQ M o . 5 - M o d e !l il lQ 1 M M a l Dd aI n l a l l lr y T . . . 1Jy M a l l l Ba nde t ' l l l o l l lM U l l a ry O r d r J R e S p e c i al M o. 13 T l I e Ma t i l d a_try Ti l i inA uW a l i a n S em c e ~ P a u l H a l i d e !l . uW a l i a n A n u c I! r A A m o l l o f t~ e R O l a lA u , tl i ll i ,n A m l i l~ r ed C o rv > 1 m - 1 m b, M a j o r -G e n t r . l l U .L H o pk in s . C . B .E .1 1 I t c.J ul l l t f S t U m e by M i k e S t a r m e rI I U It II !H I d e ta il a l ii s u l f ac e t t lM e ; e a sy 1 0

build;useM optiM!;i n ka~dI ln~ t r a c k s .IIolidl a s t i t s po t l i g h t I ! n s .

T h e se C a o n to r c o l o ur s w e r e mlled f r om l om iy a a n d G u n z. pil .i n ls . The a i rb ru sh ed we a t he r i ng w a s m a i n ly us e d 10 de p i c t s t ai a n d s t r ea k s! r ound t~.mud ch u l e s and hullold.s.

T h e m o d e l r e co i vo < ! a t o p COl l t of P o l ly S o a I " F l al lo su b d ue th e p re vi ou s h i gl ! T he 10 'ret btl ' t lM with d o l ai l _ T h e i n t er i o r 0 1 .11 0 C o m ma nd c r s h al ch I sg lo s. Fu la r . fin i sh , su i ta b ly .hus y .

Tamiy . ' , de . a l$ p e r fo r m e d p u le e tl y .T h , y . . .. re o p a qu e a n d c a rr i er f i lm

d i sa p pe a ", d u n de r , ." i og s ol u t i on.

Available fromAU ~ o O O mo d e l l h D p sW D ~ d l l i d ~ .Rating ()

Model Military International and MPMProduction bring you the chance to wina kit of the Gloster Meteor FMk.8 ..Hi-tech" (7253" or the

X-'S-' "Eight XLR-11 Engines'(5H32029)'ust send your namearidaddress on a postcard or ona sealed envelope to:

MMIKit ComplltltionADHPublishing, Doolittle Mill, Doolittle Lone,Tolternhoe, Bedtordshire, LU61QX, UKand answer this simplequestion:

What was the tirst operational BritiSh jet fighter?This isopen to 01 1 ourreaders wOr'ldwide. You'vegot until 31stAugust 2009 to enter.


15/35

KIT REVIEW I TA L ER ! S d n ,, :_ 1J 9 B E RG E PA N TH E R K IT N O . 6 4 72

D a rr en T h omp s on examines Italeri's upgraded 1:35 scaleBergepanther kit.Ialerl's 1:35 scale resembling a n atural 'sag'.Bergepant he r m ight act ua ll y W it hi n t he hul l, t he i nt er io rb e qu ite f am il ia r t om any o f c on ta in s a very simplified driver'syou as,w i th the exception ofa s tation, central ly mounted winchnewe t ched met ol f re t andp roduc t ass embl y and a f ul l enq l nenumber, it isidentical to their compartment.r el ease f rom several y ea rs ago . T he d ri ve r' s and rad io ope ra to rsThe l ower hul l i s a c onvent iona l s ta ti on is basic andprobably the

tub style with separate poorest part of t he interior. Nosuspension arms allowing radios are included at alland thet he b ui lde r to a rti cu la te th e d ri ve r ha s aw he el to s te er wi th ,suspension if d esired. rather than the lever and p edalT he ro ad wh ee ls a re r at her se t-u p o f th e r ea l P ant he r.

soft In d eta il , wi th th e i nn er o ne s Mo vi ng b ac k t o t he wi nc h, th iscompletely lacking any r im detai l. f ares bet ter. Mos t of the majorThe Wheel edqe smoothly merges components are present , w ithwith the tyre. The cen tr al hubs t he exc ep ti on o f t he f or emos tonmy examp le were a ls os unk en pul le y wheel . T hec abl ed rum i sami mls -formed around the ecqe, unfor tunate ly moulded in2 halves,b ut t ha t sh oul dn 't b e t he ca se wi lh th e j oi n c ut ti ng rlqht acrosswith all kits. the moulded c able detail. T his willTracks come in t he shape of be d ifficult to dtsqutse,v inyl hal f- leng ths, needi nq two The eng ine c ompa rtment i sn 'Ip ie ces j o ined t oc st ne r t omake bad e it he r, a lt hough aga in qui teas i ng le r un .Wh il st t hese appea r s impl if ied. It should look fine onceto be o f a softer material than painted and once in place,it willI ta teri 's original release, i t won't only v is ib le f rom direc tly above.b e an ea sy ta sk to g et some th in g Th e u pp er h ul l i s m oul de d i n

_ __; :...._-- on e piece with a separate,multi-part superstructurefor the winch housing andwork deck. Thewoodgrainis a little heavv o-nthe drop-down sides andthere aresome knock-out pinmarksthat w il l needf i l linq. Inaddit ion, there is noraisedliparound the open driver'scompartment andthe glacismounted zcm gunis prettycrude by today's standards.The rear spade isaprominent feature of theBergeparJther and, for a

28 ModelMilitary International -August 2009 Auqust 2009 ModelMilitary International 29

one-plece moulding, the Italedoffering looks good.The realvehicle's spade wasactually anasymmetrical structure. whichItaleri hasfailed to duplicate, butotherwise it does look the part.Onthe other hand, the cablesthat are usedto raise and lowerit are moulded from solid plast icanddon't look remotely realist ic.For tunate ly i t isan easyJobtoreplace these with some suitablethread or aftermarket tow cableto vastly Improve this area.Thenew etched fret contains

parts for the previously missingstowage boxes andengine deckIntake mesh, aswell asa shieldfor the aforementioned 2cm gunThedecal sheet providesa simple pair of Balkankreuzandthe paint ing guide showstwo schemes. Onean overallDunkelgelb, the other a softedged, s-cciccr scheme, bothsimply described asGermanArmy. winter 1944',I f you s imply mus t have a

Bergepanther in your collect ionandyou canoverlook the kit'ssncrtcornlnqs and simplification,then this Shouldbe perfectfor you. If, however, youareconcerned with capturing everydetail with the utmost realismandaccuracy, then you'll haveto wait a bit longer for a plast icBergepanther!Thanks to Italerif or the sample

~ F r o m t h e F r o n t L i n e F R O M T H E F R O II T U I I Ei s a r e g u la r n e w f e a tu r e f o r M o d e lM i l it a r y I n te r n a t io n a l m a g a z i n e .If y o u h a v e s e e n r e c e n t o v e r s e a ss e r v ic e , o r if y o u a r e o n t h e f r o n tl in e s r ig h t n o w , w e ' d l o v e t o s e ey o u r p h o t o g r a p h s of v e h i c l e s ,u n H o rm s , o r o t h e r i t e m s t h a t m i g h tbe o f i n t e re s t t o m i li t a r y m o d e l l e r s .S e n d y o u r p h o to s o r e n q u ir ie s t oe d t t o r @ m o d e l m i l n a r y . c o m11111InIrap In AfJ IIan lmn lneludesnRG-33nd whi te. .. .. _""" . .. . fl ri ed IIr two Man P r o M P V s .

The RG31, RG-33,MaxxPro and CougarMine Protected Vehiclesare regularly seen herein Afghanistan. TheCougars arethe most numerous, mainly belnqretreads from Iraq.TheMaxxPro and RG-33 arebrand newoff the shell.The RG-33 is desl


16/35

m T e c h G u i d e . A C C U R A T E A R M O U R J A G D P A N Z E R E tO

he [10 was a lighttank destroyer projectdeveloped aspart of aprogramme to stand-ardise German armoured vehicle

production.Designedby Herr Honsiq,the

Jagdpanzer [10 hada numberofdesigninnovations that setthevehicle apart from other designs Intheseries,OnenovelJeature wasItsability to'lower thehullon thesus-pension,a helpful aidto concealmentfor this ambush tank destroyer.Swift maintenance wasalso pos-sibleas theentire enginepackand

transmission couldbe removed andreplaced viathe rear hull,whichwashingedfor that purpose.Hadthe warcontinued past1945,and without the bureaucratic

interference of competing manufac-turers, theE10and other vehiclesin the seriesmay have gone intoproduction. Thedesignswere thereon paper,and the AlIleseven cts-covered somehall-built prototypes,TheSchmallturm turret intendedfor useon the E50,andthe El00were brought to England for evalu-ation. The E50's turret ended upasa gunnery target, butwas later

30 Model MIl it ary International ' Augus t 2009

recovered andrestored byTheRA e Tank Museum, Bovinl;lton. TheEl00 survived until the late 1950's,before i twascut upforsc rap.P A P E R P A N I E R S I N 1 :3 5 S C A L EIwas astonished at the announce-ment that Trumpeter was about torelease the El0 and E25 "paper.Jaqnpanzers' as injection mouldedk it s In 1:35 scale, I hadjust begunbuilding Accurate Armour's kit sodespite a stlq ht dip inenthusiasm,the Editor.,-ncouraqed metofinish the model. Model MilitaryInternational's mantra issimple

- "build i t, paint i t, f in ish i t! ",Following some good advice I hopethe'se constnrction and paintingtechniques will encourage readersto f inish their modelsBefore reading about the

Trumpeter kit. I decided to alterAccurate Armour's EIOtofit withmy interpretat ion of the way theproduction Jagdpanzer mayhavelooked. Themost obvious place tostart W


17/35

I I T e c h G u id e - A C C U R A T E A R M O U R J A G D P A N Z E R E l0


18/35

IIIT e c h G u i d e - A C C U R A T E A R M O U R J A G D P A N Z E R [ 1 0. . T i l . w l l lM ' c a mQ u f la g e w a s l h en

m . sk O d w i t h b r o l ld b a nd s o fT . ml ya M a s ld ll gT l pe c u t f r o mthe 4Dmm roll .

Modelspec . .! cm i le I rm o Ii r G e rm . m [ 10 P l' O fI O se du p e r i r o e . l a l J a gd ~ l U e r lit N o . l O a . !MaterialsG r e j ' r e s i l l , whi t e r n ~ ld l a n d b r .l s s p h ol o e t ch fr e tPairlts uS4ld10 c o m p l e t e m y m o 1 e l l u . n d A H O M i s t er L u ft W a ff eR I M 1 5 G r a l l l' i o l e H I nd I h l rd e d g e d ! l f n t ! rc . 1 l l 1 O w l l a ~ e01 T a m t y a I H F il l W h i t e , Th e w i n l e rs d \ e m e wa s ~ ~ I f e s s e d u \ in ~ a n . p t l l i c . ! t i on ofH u m ~ r o l M a s k o I. T h l m o d ~ ' ; p a i n i w o r h . ; t h e ns e a l e d .u h .0 a p p l : c a l ! c m of J a m n 1 1 , 1 K le l ri t f y l k f f oo l l a m i s l t I u s e r 1l o ca l r. e d w a l ll e s o fR O M l e y M i s ts Oil C l J l o l l l S e p i< l s e ue s 8 2 5 1 . " , p l l e e !a r ou n d b o lt h e a d s a n d d e l a i l s . W i S h e s 0 1 M I Gp i gm e n ts E u r op e D u s t I't l~ ; li d R l I S li a n E . lr tb 1 ' 0 3 4t h i n n e d w i t h w I I t e s p i r i t i I I I d b i f ru l e l l t lX J e t h ~ r . IIlfeu s e d on t il e d m e t J il in a n d h u ll s i de s . R u s t e f f ec t sO n t h e c a l l 1 o u ' l i ~ e r e t ai n ln ~ l o o p s a n d ! l f re s w e l e. m ad e u s in g M I G pi (J n en l U q lt ~ u st P O N l i q ~i fl ed 1 0a p a i n t t ~ n ! ls l e n q w i l l W h i l t s ~ i r l t W e a r . r u s t a n d' , I i p p i n ! ' ~I! p . i l l e d in w i t h I l en d 0 1 H u m b lo l160 G e r r n a n t a mooR i I i j ! ~ e i J B l O w n an d 3 3 ~ a t te l a c k, 1 0 s i m u 1 . le w e a r [ 0 t i le I r . I c k s I u s e d a ! t i l f sp e n c i l S u p r a c o l D U f I m9A98 ' S i l v e t ' j l j l l i e ~ In th ei m i d e 0 1 I I ! t r . c ks . H u n l i l l u ll i S i l ' ! e r an d 6 7 M i l tT a n i G r e y w m m i J . I I I and dr y D M b e d on 1 0 t n eo u l ! 1 s . o ! $ . H l I l l b ro l p a i o b an d ..n i t e llI iI illfef tI l s e d t o p a i o t t~!iel! m . n . W h e n t h e m o d e l h a db e e n e o m p l d e d , I o i r li r u $ h e d a fD ! o f H u r n b l D l M a l tCol e on to t li e u p l le r s u r fa ~ ! s o f ! h e I lI J d e l w i t h al i 9 M e r ap p l i c a l i o n t rO l l l d Ihe d r i f t t I i i i n to av o i ds ~ i l i n q t I e w u l n e r l l l l j p i l J l l e n t s .Accessories usedA b e r G e r m a n C l am p s a n d C l a s p ; set 3 5 1 2 0 , G e r m a nT o o l H o l d e r Sel T i ll 1 9 4 5 3 3 A ( J . ! , H a f ll lw W e l d U n e sR O ! . T a m i i l l G e l l l l .l n O n ~ ! h i c J e l i u l p m e n t le tI r e p~ C !d t he ~ t' s r es in t u c k s ! l ' i U l F r i u 1 1 1 1 0 d e lP am ! ! ' 1 1 1 M ~ t l: e ft e n, f o r I l l e c a l l ~ ~ n n u m o e r Iu s e d a s t en c il ' r o m S t e ~ d l i l S S l l t d . 1 M , O r c t w dP , I I: b p n u p G l a ~ D lI ' G 4 f i l O G . i IIj$ ~ 1 ' O " ' dwa s p U J ( ha s e di n t h e m i d ~ O ' a ~ d m a y n e w b ~d i s c on t i n l ed . P l ea s e c h e d i h i r aYa i l ab i f i t y .References usedL t i c b l e J i ~ d p a n m W a t t e r J. S p j e l i l e r ~ e l , ~ . J e , nR e s t a 1 n p l ' 6 f f l e s , p . u . b l j! h ~ d i n S t e e I M i l ! l , r : K o.1 9 . ' T h e H e l l er nat H e Y I ' r ' f f ;r ; ' , It. M a r i o E e n s .M i l n or ; ~ o d e ll i n~ V o l J6 H o _ 5 _ ~ n j J U h n S l i d d e n~E1 S m o d e l .IIJi c p p o l 1 : l l ~ i t y to a d , p t l I I e m o o e l an d "p e r i 'm e n t ~ i lh Cl .mcl l fl i l l )! l e b em e ; , f re e f m m I h e

c r it i ci s m o f t h e ' r i v e t ( c o o l e r s '. ~ n H il ly . a nu n u l u ~ l I y c o m p r e h e n si l e : o t t 0 1 i n s tr u c ti o ns f o rHtlin k i t .a n te l ) r a l l y m o o l d e ~ e n g i n e . f i n t a l o e s c r W l Ss p o i j s an o t h o l ' ll ! !e e x c e l l e r d m od e l . C o n l u s i n ~i n s t r u c t i o n s fo r tne l o c a ti o n o f the s u s p e n s i o nC j ' I i . d e r s .

Available fromA m r r a ! e l r r n O l l T l i m i t e d . Uo i t l l S ' 1 6 , K i n ~ s t o ~I n d l l $ lr i a l , E s t a l e, P o r t G l a s g l lW . ! ' c o ll a n d . pmS D G . T e l : ( 0 ) 1 4 1 5 1 4 3 9 5 5 , A b e r p ho to e l c n s e t s an dD r a Q o n ~t; nu f i g w r e s i ! T I ! a y a i l a b l e f r o m LaM o d e l s . I ~ : 0 1 1 7 3 1 0 5. 0 1 2 0 .


19/35

DIORAMA FEATURE AAV7Al - 0 rag on 1:72 KitNo. 7318

11it seemed to be a wastedeffort to build the running

gear only to be hidden underwater later...I'

T h . A l l lh o r d id n o t , ," th e " 'n n ln g g ea r and t ra c k s , O n c e th,mod,' , I n pla c o o n l i te " " $ " i,.. uld not h . .. . b e en .ill~le.So th.~ ere salYag.do r t i le s pa " ,s ~ GX ,T h e o n , y . d d l l io ~ $ W e r e s o m e g r ab h a nd le s m a de f r om f i new i re a n d c o rr e ct in g th . s h ap e o f t h e t ur r et ,The Amphibious AssaultVehicle (AAV), nowofficially designatedAAV-7Al but formerlyknown as LVT-1, isa fuliV tracked

amphibious I;;lndingvehiclemanufactured by FMCCorporation(now BAESystems Land andArmaments),The AAV-1Al is thecurrent

amphibious troop transport of theUn l t e d States Marine Corps.It isused by USMCAssault AmphibianBattalions to land the surfaceassault elements of the landingforce and their equipment inasingle lift from assault shippingduring amphibious operatlons toinland objectives andto conductmechanized operations and relatedcombat support in subsequentmechanized operations ashore. Itisalso operated byother forces.

C O N S T I U C T I O NMyidea was to makea quickbui ld out of the box and t ry newt e cnn t qu e s , such asrepresent! ngthe seaand the vehicle in thewater.TheAAV7Al from Dragon is avery f ine k it in 1 :7 2 scale. It canbl' bui lt into a great model and isa great addit ion to any modeler'scollect ion. As usual with Dragon'srecent rell 'ases, allwe need isinthe box . In this casewe arepresented with a several plastics p ru e s , t ra c k s, a small photo-etched"fret andwaterslide decals.Detai l isvery good and the k it isvery accurate.Construct ion isvery

straightforward. Because Idid notusethe running gear and t racks i twas even taster. These parts wouldnotbe visible once my seaqoingscene wascompleted, soit seemedto bea was ted effor t to bui ld the

the pat tern f reehand wlt tl myAZTEK 470 airbrush fitted withthe fine tan-coloured nozzte a t l owpressure.Thefirst coat waslight green,in this case Tamiya acrylic XF-

71Cockpit Green (lJN - ImperialJapanese Navy). This colour actsboth asa primer and one of thethree tone camouflage shades.The paint was airbrushed at low

pressure andin successive layersto maintain the fine surf acedetail.The ned colours applied were

Tamiya acrylic XF-58 NATOBrownandTamiya acrylic XF-69 NATOGreen. once again,the paint washeavily diluted layers andsprayedat low pressure.Small details such astools and

spare tracks were painted with afine brush using Vallejo acrylics ... .

running gear only tobe hiddenlater. Theonly addit ions weresome grab handles made from finewire and correct ing the shape ofthe turret. After only a few hours,construction wascomplete and Iwas ready to start paint ing.

. laces Dragon's 1:72 ~calei : : r : : ~ ~ O; > suitably aquatic setting.P A I H T I N GI painted my model inthree-colourcamouflage. Idecided to airbrush

August 2009 . ModelMilitary International 37


20/35

DIORAMA FEATURE MVlAl-Dragon 1:72 KftNo. 7318

. .. W E A T H E R IN G A N D F I N I S H I N GWith the paint ing complete andcamouflage colors applied. it wast ime to s tart the weather ing andfinishing process.The ent ire model received a

much diluted oil wash composedof Winsor & Newton 25 LampBlack and Winsor & Newton 35Raw Umber. Asusual , IusedWinsor & Newton Sansodor (lowodor solvent ) to mix and dilute theoils. Thewash wasapplied mainly

inthe recessed areas and alongthe ver tica l I ine s onthe s ides ofthe vehicle.Theweathering process was

very straightforward. Considerinqt he model w il l bedisplayed inthe water . Id id not apply thet radi tional layer ofdust and mud. Igained some valuable t ime here.

F I G U R E SThefigures came from a Preiserset. They aregreat good detail.

38 Model Military International' August 2009

natural poses andaccurate. Theyreally improve themodel andaddthe human fac tor and scale to themodel andthe scene. Asusual, theywere primed with Tamiya acrylicXF-15Flat Fleshand the flesh areaswere painted with Winsor & Newtonoils. The balance 01 the ligureswere painted with Vallejo acrylics.I used two figures Inthis model.

They look relaxed andenjoying ther ide Ina calm sea.L ike a walk in thepark. but in this case with water!

B A S E , S E A A N D D I SP L A YAll mymodels are displayed onbases sothat they can tel l as toryand add interest.I like bases with volume 50 I usea wooden base with balsa wood

sidewalls. Theinterior isf il ledwith oasis foam. Oasisfoam Islightweight, easy to f ind, easy tocut andcheap.For the sea Iemployed the sameprocess that Iuse to reproduce

mUd.Yes,mud! Ionly changed

H e re a r e a l l t h e m a te r ia ls u s ed 1 0 p r od u ce w a t. r. R a bb i .l ac p r e- m a d e f i ll .r , a c ry li c s a n d w a t er . T h e p a s ll l w a s a p pl ie d w n h I h e h e lp of a .pM . l a . Dur ing I h e p r o ce s s. j u st p r os s I h e spawl" I V f o r m t h e w a v e .the colors. Inthis case, Ichangedthe brown bydark blueand black .Imade a pas te composed byRobbia.lacAguaplast. water andacrylic blue andblack paint. TheRObbia!acAguaplast Is a pre-madefiller used inthe Civil construct ionsand used mainly to f ill cracks.I just hadto decide exactly where

to place the vehic le then dig aholein theoasisloam.The model wasdisplayed alongan invisible diagonall ineto add interes t tothe scene.Once the model wasIn place,

the pas te was applied over theoas is foam with the help of asmallspatula, Extreme care must beused near the vehicle. This wasmyf irst attempt at represent ing theseaand my knees were shClki~giIl it tle! Tocreate the waves near thevebi


21/35

1 : 1 1 D r a ~D , U I '1 AI~I(lIC,~I M o , 1 3 1 8til Prei>!ri l lk !1!II U S A n n y , kit M o. m l~

P l as ti c g lu e , C o n ta c t g lu e , O a s is l o am , W o o d bm,I n j m e d plastit.l a s t i c a n i . I M l I p a r is

IkttdIII SMI l Ie Snn,.... ..,W... -.tlllwmr ...-wNMMI1I" of\IiIIIIH ... 2e23O,MITIIJ i k~

PaInts usedY i l l !j o a c r y f lC SB2 2 SS ( a i l e B l ,c k B r O W l l(I), 95111h i t l . 9 5 ( l 8 1 a c k ,8 93 U S n o r ! ; G r e \ ! n , 82 6 C o l i . ~ e m u m 8 1 1 1 W D ( ~ ),91( G f e \ ! n O c h r e , Gs a N a t l V a r n i; , ~ , Slill i le r 1 6 l JOI l n I i y a a c r y l i c sI f oO l nal W h le . X H 5 ~Ia ln~l . .XH3 Ha l o B r o w n ,lH 9 H , l o G r e t n , 1 F - 7 1~pit G r e e a ( l JK : I m p e r i a l J ! j)a I IS l ! ' H O l " I l . l F - 13 l i Q ~ 1 B l u e .I f. 5 0 r i! ld B l ueOil ( :(JIomW i n s o r Ii R m o l Oil O l o u r 3 5 I i i i' ! U m l l e rl I i r r s o r Ii K! t l l o l O l i C O l o u r 2 5 L l m p i B l ,c k~ e l u x e W i lm a l, s c e n i c ~OIIA Q U a p l a s t ~ o I il ~ l acB I G o o o de ta i l , g o o d s u i 1 a te d1!oilnd ~rall, c w m e ( e l C e p t l o r l i l e kirrt l)_

1E

KJT REVIEW CHURCHIll.M K ,I II A \l RE K IT No _ AF35167 .. .. . . .@D~l"IIIYeVSly 0 < >

~

I S T I N G I T S O W N P E T A R DAFV Club releases its second 1:35 scale Churchill kit-the batt lefield support AVREfit ted with the big 290mmPetard mortar.The IIIInt ill b r o k 8 1 1 down l ' O I l m I I I o n I S l ' f, wlflI..... androo! m o u ki _ a s o n e part,

V.,.b locks and . f I t 1_ 81'8 i nc l ude d on tile ~a8f~-

Auqust 2009' Modll Mllltery InternatIonal 41

Te Churchill AVRE wasdeveloped a.sanengineersupport vehicle afterthe disastrous landingat Dieppeas a platform for minetlaiIs,fasclne rollers, explosiveplacers andmore, Thebiggestdistinguishing factor, however,was the s tubby main weapon ~the"Petard". This was a290mmspigot mortar that lobbed a40lb high exproslve shell againstheavily armoured tortttlcetlons,Dange-rousl.yfor the crew, theweapon could only be loaded fromthe outside of the vehicfe.The A V R E variant was appl. ied

to the Churchill Mk.11 I with thewelded turret and th.eChurchWMk ,1 V with tt le cast turret, AFVClub's kit 'isa Mk . 1 1 1 AVRE , the l e sscommonly photographed of thetwo versions.

AFV Club's 1:35scale C,llurchillA V R E comprises 487 par ts inolive coloured plast ic, 15partsin clear, 24 large springs, 1 smallspring, IIphoto-etched fret, twoflexible tracks, a length of stringandmarking,sfor four vehicles.Thestandard of moulding is

e~cellent overall. Theupper andlower hulls are bui lt upf romiMividual panels. Therunninggear isa remarkable piece ofengineering that reflects theworkings of th'" re~1vehicle.Each suspension unit includes a

workable steel spring. These formthe basis for amazingly authenticbut intricate runnln Q ge a r , wh lc hi smade upf rom atotal ofnearly200 parts. Patience anda steadynand will beneeded in equalport ions, butthe modeler will iberewarded with aremarkable result.Theinstruct ions refer tooptional parts for "Type A" and

"Type B", but they donot seemtospecify which version applies toeach marking option. Check yourreferences carefully.Thelevelof exterior detailon the remainder 01 the model

matches the highs tandard of thesuspension. Enginegrilles aresolid,but they look qreat. Thehullandturret mounted Besa machineguns aresupplemented withphoto-etched parts, Tools andon-vehicle equipment iswellidone,Allthe trac;k quartts are separateso YOl ! migM opt to I.eavesomeoff to expose more of that lovelysuspens ion, ThePetard mortarlooks great It willelevate ilyouarecareful to avoidqluinq thehinges.Iparticularlylike the castingnumbers on theoutsid'eo! themain spigot barrel.Two dustbin shells

are also included.Almos t every hatch onthemodel ma y be posit ioned open,but there isno inter ior detai l.T ile t racks are provided in fun-length tlexlble black vinyl. Thesearewell detailed on inside and

outer s u r f a c e s .Markings are provided for four

vehicles, allin overall dark green.Two of these are depic ted inservice on D-Day,6 June 1944,whi le the thi rd opt ion is I taly 1945w.i ththe f inal markings for a pest-war unit InGermany during 1949.

A'FV Club's 1 :35 scale ChurchillA V R E isstunningly detailedand beaut iful ly moulded. Thecomplex suspension wIll demandsome prior exper ience, but thef in ished resul t should be wel lwor th t he e ff or t!

A d d i ! io n a l d ' o !. i I i s s u p p l i o d 0 n t no ph o! o- ct c'h od s ot. O la c'k v lo ,l l, ac k le ng th s a re " -; o, ly d ol. lle d a nd f re e o f m ou ld in g [ mp cr lo ~~ Qn s_


22/35

@ R e f e r e n c e s - C H U R C H I L L A V R E M K J I I

G le n n B ow e n g e t s u p a n d p e r s o n a l w i t h s om ed e t a i l s o f t he T a n k M u s e u m 's C h u rc h il l M k .1 II A V R E- t h e s am e v e r s io n a s t h e A FV C lu b 1 :3 5 s c a l e k itr e v ie w e d o n t h e p re v i o u s p a g e .

hesephotos were alltaken of the ChurchillAVREon display at theTank Museum Bovingtonin Dorset, TheTank Museum iswell

wor th a v is l! am! isalso the per lectexcuse to get a ll t ne reference you

could possibly need on AFVClub'sever expanding range of Churchills.Here are some detail.

photographs of Bovington's greatlooking Churchill Mk. !II ArmouredVehicle Royal Engineers.

. . T h is i s t h e a s s is ta n t d r i r ' s s i d e e s . a pe h a lc h . 0 1 i n te r es t h e re i s t h e t e x tu r e 0 1 m ea r mo u r a n d t he h e ~ w e ld s e am s , ro u n d the a p p li Q u " a r m o ur p a n e ls ,

. . T o h . r e ar 0 1 t h o a s si st an t d ri r 's ca pe h at ch . .. e nos e e I h _ r em a in s 0 1t h o SD . c" l I st m o u n ti n g b ' a c kc t >. " , 1i i ch c a n b e u s e d 1 0 a tt ac h _ n m a n n er o f"QU I pm "n t s uc h a s t ho A ss au lt a ri dS _ " c ar pe t l ay in g b 0 bb ios .

42 Mode l M il it ar y I nt er na ti on al - A u qu st 2 00 9

. . D e ta i l ,h~to ll he i dl er m o un ti n g. N o te t h at I h . i d l er whee l a c t ua l l, h a s r u b be rt y r. , o n t h o o u ts i de s o f t h e s p ro c ke ' r eo l h.

. . C lo se U P o f t he P et ar d l au n ch er . T he a ct ua l m or ta r h ad 1 0 b. l oa de d I ro m t h e o ut ,i de b ~ h in gi ng u p ,h . endo f t h a ta u n ch e r v e rt ic a ll y a n d t he r o un d b e in g i n s er te d " o m b e ne at h v i a a m o di f ie d a s s i " o nl d r l .. . ' s h a t ch .

. .. T h. b a .o o f r h e w e l de d , " rr O I 0 n rhl , Mk, IIl loature s thl s u n u su a l c u t O u l i n tha a p~1iq ""a r m c u r. 4 1 " vi'ible 3" t ho t l. , d o wn s a n d t hn l in l h oi a r ou nd t he b as . c f t ho h Ur et r in g.

. . T h. s id e m o u nl ed a ir In tokes '. 'IU,e a we a l t h Df dera i ls , I n c i u di n l il l e l i ft i n g e y e ,., ,, i n c ~ 'e r s a n d I h . t el .l in l ng b r a e k .t o f o r 1 M d e ep w a di n g t r u n k ln g .


23/35

KIT REVIEW: T R UM P E T ER A S L AV - 2S R E C ON N A JS S ANC E V E H IC L E P H A SE I II K l T N o . 0 03 9 2

The Australiarl DeferlceForce conducted ayear10 rig E'V alu at i a n o n 15light armoured vehicles

purchased from the Urlited StatesMarirle Corps irl1990. Theobjectivewasto f irld out howwheeledvehicles wouldhandle Australianconditlons andwhat modificationswould need to bemade.In1992,under Phase 2 of

ASLAV Program, the ADFacquired 113of the Australianversian ofthe Canadianmanufactured LAV for tneAustralian Army. The2nd CavalryRegiment wasfully equipped withthe ASLAV by1991.Phase 3ofthe ASLAVacquisit ion wasapproved with

the follow-on purchase of 144vehicles. These new vehiclesfeatured l n c r e e se c levels of localcontent lncludlnq the tabrtcetlonarid ass!?mblyof LAV-25 turretsby General Dynamics LandSystems - Australia.This latest 1:35 scale releasE'

from Trumpeter represents aPhase IIIASLAV.Moulded in Trumpeters'

cus tomary l ight grey. the model isf lash free, comortstnq roughly 330par ts on10 sp r u e s plus upper andlower hull, 9 vinyl lyres, 3 decentsized photo-etched frets andacomprehensive decal sheet withoptions for 2 vehicles. Aswith allTrumpeter kits the instructionsare clear en d easy to read.Trumpeter should be applaudedlor seeking assistance from theirlocal distributor aswell asonline

model ling forums to get this k itaccurate. They have done a greatjob lor the mos t par t.

TH E urTrumpeter 's ASLAV isa bit ofahybrid of Phase IIand IIIvehicles.Once the Phase III programstarted (2003-2004) andtheinit ial vehicles were sent to unitsafter the upgrade, not a ll o f thePhaseIll 's hadall of the externalmods. Thesight assembly lorthe commander andthe largercamouflage pole stowage rack aretwo examples 01 items that werenot upgraded inthe f irst PhaseIlls delivered. Some vehicles alsodid not havespare tyre racks anddrivers windscreen box, If YOL lwant to do an operational vehicle,you wil l need towork c losely f romimages of the real thing, there aremarlYcombinations of parts thatcan bI? used,for e~ample the first,second and thi rd rotat ions of theSecurity Detachment (SECDET)InIraq were completed in PnaseII ASLAV's. Subsequent rotationswere Phase IIupgraded ln theatreto Phase III.The kit builds upvery nicely.

w ith few or nogaps . I only foundit necessarv to sand thematingsurfaces onthe upper and lowerhull halvesto ensurea perfect f it.Thehull hasdelicate weld detailon most edges,but these shouldbe sanded off asthe hull we:ldsare ground smooth atthe factory.Trumpeter includes the delicatecontinuous tie down on both theturret andhull.

A common featureof (III ASLAVs isthe tubular ~teelheadlight cluster andprop/rudder guards.Trumpeter lnctudesthese i rl t he k it . andthey are very l ine. Iwould suggest takirlgextra care when.removing theseparts Irom thesprues,

44 Model Miltary International" August 2009

The wheels inth isk i t are threepiece affairs, hubfront and r ea r .and a v iny l ly re. The detai l onthel yr es i s qreat, They even featurerippled sidewalls like on the realthing. Trumpeter haslneluded anaddit ional sprue of hubs with thecorrect depth. Becareful to uset he correct hubs" ASLAV's usedtho?deeper ones!Built up,this model r e auvcaptures the heavy rearward sit

of the ASLAV. The turret and hul lshape look prett y spot onto myMk.1 Eyeball too. TheTrumpeterkit features the commonestmodif ications that are present onmost ASLAV's.Out of the box, Trumpeter'sk it bui lds into a decent

representat ion of anASLAV.It iscertainly vasty superior tothe comparatively crude Italerior L indberg LAV-25. Aswi th allmodels though, there are alwaysthings you canimprove on.In fact,an entire article could bedevotedto bringing this kit up to speed.Stay tuned to this Model MilitaryInternational lor anin deptharticle on detailing the ASLAVina future issue. Already theaftermarket crowd hasaddit ionsfor this model , but that should notbeseen asa ref lect ion onth is kit,Which isfantastic,Trumpeter hasdelivered afaithful rendition of the PhaseIIIASLAV. With ASLAVs beingused extensively overseas, fromEas tT imor, to I raq and nowAfqhanistan, this model offersplenty of scope.Highly Recommended

O ~ "" '" "" _ _oA F Va . o' ,4 8 _ . .. . ' __ A I H - I I O K _o_ro __ so..rr.os .IPoy __ - " {IGM


24/35

A 7V M EP HIS TO -T HE L AS T G ER MA N .FI RS TW OR LD W AR T ANKGR E GORYCZ E CHURAAND J E F F H O PK IN S WE IS EQ U EE N Sl AN D M U S EUM G U I D E' I S BN 918.0.980569.2.0.9Compa re d t o t ne e no rmou s amo un t o f Wl.VII reference .wailable, bookson WM venldes a re p re tty thin on the g round. Thisnew ( it le pub li shedby the Queensland Museum focuses on the German AN tank and . morespeci fi ca ll y, on the examp le in the museum. 'Meph isw .T he f ir st t hi ng y ou w il l n ot ic e i s t he h an dy pocket-size s ty le o f thebook, r n e a s or i n q J u s t 4" x 6". Hav in g s ai d t ha t, t he q ua li ty o f t h e p ho toreproourtion i~ incredibly good.T he b oo k i s c rammed w it h p er io d b la ck a nd w hi te photoqrapnsaccompany ing the informa tive and ver y readable text, out lining the l ifes to ry o fMe ph is to a nd t he h is to ry o f t h e Tan k i n g en er al a nd o f t h os ew ho f ou gh t f rom w it ll in t hem, d ur in g WWI .Mephls- cos jou rney back to Aus tr al ia i s a lso ver y wel l c overed . A detailedcha rt documen ting the names , chass is numbers and eventua l fate o f a ll20 A7V's eve r bua r ' t s also included.The f ina l Chapter i s an interna l and externa l 'wa lkarounCr con ta in ing S6cap tioned pho tographs and a g lossar y Ofsour ces USed.I r ea ll y e ! t ioyed this book. Despi te the sma ll s iz e, the p ic tu res a re excel lenta nd t he l ex t i s i nf or ma ti ve a nd i nt er es ti ng . W it h t he i nc lm io n o f tnedetai l pho tographs , i t w il l make an ideal companion for anyone wan tingt o mod el t he A7V.Highly Recommended.ThanKSto Wendy a t the Aviat ion Book Cent re for the rev iew sample.

D IO .R AM AS C ON CE rn , C OM P OS ln ONAND IMPLEMENTAT IONJ OA Q ui N G A R ci A WO U EZ A N .D J A V IE R R . ED O ND OBLACK S TA R M OD EW N G H AN DB OO KS - X TR EM EM O DE WN G P U BU C AT IO N SThis second volume in the Black Star ser ies focusses on thedes ign and const ruct ion o f mil i ta ry d io ramas.T he i de a b eh i n d t he Black St a r s e r ies is to provide a con dsea nd a ff or da bl e g ui de l or me mcceue r and rather man gO_lngInto g re at d ep th a bo ut t he b ul l d in g a nd p ai n l in g o f t hevar ious e lements and models w ithin the d io rama . the autho rsf oc us o n t he i ni ti al i de a, l ay ou t a nd p la ceme nt o f t ho see lements. to bes t convey the s to ry to the v iewer.The book isp resented ina sof t c over . AS forma l ove r 32pages. Fo r me mos t p ar t t he l ef t ha nd p ag es c on si st o f b r ie ftex t, exp la in ing the images printed on the lacing, r igllthandpage. The tex t Is p rinted in dua l Eng li sh and Spanish , r edUC ingthe amount of i nforma tion w ithin the tex t. The t rans la tion toEng Ii sn i sn t q ui te a s smo ot h a s i t c ou ld b e i n p l ac es , b ut [ ,h epo lnts are.generally ea s y to uncersta nd.It has t o b e sa Id tha t the models chosen to II ustrate the poin tsmade by the autho rs a re of the h ighest Standa rd . and anyonewno app reciates the Spanish s ty le o f paint ing and d io ramabui ld ing wou ld agree tha t they a r e v e ry p le as in g t o l oo k a tI ty ou a re looking for a det .: l il ed guide on how to buildd io rama s, t he n y ou d d o b et te r l oo ld ng e ls ew he re , b ut i fy ou a re j us t a ft er s ome p oi nt er s o n h ow t o l ay ou t y ou r n el ltVignette as wel l as some del ic ious eye -candy , then this is acheap , quick read tha t should mee t you r need.Recommended.Thank5 to aoozwor io Who lesa le for me rev iew sample.7,S/l 0 - Darren Thompson

46 Mod el M il it ar y I nt er na ti on al Auq us t 2 00 9 Auqus t 2009 - Model Mi li ta ry lnterna ttona! 47

u! ~ tl . _ l . I ~ ~ f " -. lT 'I I lJ ' ~ 1 Uk 1 \"lJ.J~LU, L i j I I I I I J I l ! . l I I A .~< D~ T T :X T TH :\ C H ,~ ,- 'H I UU " ' I I 111.111111 1 1 1 11'11.[$.., . ,.. .. . . . . .. . .~., . .

P E R IO D IC A L R E V IE W : M I NI TR A CK S N O. 8I 'U BU SH ED I N F RA NC E, M IN JT Jl AC K S I S A S MA LV SC Al M OD EL M AG AZ IN E T HA T H AS J US TREDUCED ITS P R OD U CT IO N T O T WO I S SU E S P E R YEAR,M in it ra ck s NO.8 i s t he f ir st o f t he rwtoe -yee rly issues. Apart from a few advertisements in Frenchonly. eve ry th ing i5b i li ngua l headl ines , tex t and cap tions. W ith French tex t on t i le lef t andEng li Sh t o t il e r ig ht i t i s easy t o f ol lo w f rom p ag e to page and the t rans la tions a re a lmos t per fect .As is usual w ith this maqazme. we s ta rt o ff w ith some h is to ry . This issue the sub ject i s theSChneider tank. The r e a re man y p er io d p ho to s o f the v e n i c t e i nquest ion p lm several c olou rprofiles to s how t he ir c ol ou r s ch emes . T hi s i s f ol lo we d b y a b ui ld a rt ic le o f a 1 / 72nd ~cale RetrokitSChneider CJ\ 1. The autho r descr ibes the bui ld in easy to follow text including proote rns he hadplus modifications and additions.t n e s e a re j u st t he f ir st two o f tw el ve a rt ic le s o n va r i ous subjects including dioramas. showreports. rnanuracturers and, OJ! ttlf " end. new products.The re is even I :72 sea les cience f ic tion ..Being a French magaz ine, you wou ld e x p e c t to f ind a few a rt ic les on Frenc tl s ub jects but theothers are not ignorE'd. 8 riush, Amer ic an , Russian , Japanese and natural

modell miltary int 40 august 2009

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