Finnish T-26 Platoon

Just a quick side project I did over the weekend, since I've had these 4 Zvezda T-26 models sitting on my work table now for 4 months. These are some earlier Finnish T-26 tanks, since they retain the dark Russian green paint and lack the "Ps-" serial numbers on their glacis plates. These are basically stock 1:100 Zvezda T-26Cs with minor modifications. The command tank has a hatch and command figure from the PSC T-34 kit, while the remainder include a mix of PSC T-34 & PzIII fuel cans, stowage boxes made from plasticard, and a plasticard axe and shovel.

Mit Den Panzern in Ost und West - WIP #2

Continuing on with my Mittlere Panzer Co. build, I have the final 2 tank platoons to show off. First is the Panzer III Platoon equipped with the Panzer III Ausf. G from PSC. I've already reviewed this kit and it was pretty nice, though fiddly. It really didn't require much embellishment except for some sandbag protection made from Green Stuff and some plasticard racks to hold the spare track sections to the hull.

Lastly, is an Assault Tank platoon made from the odd StuiG33b, basically this was a large 15cm SiG infantry support gun mounted on the Panzer III chassis and heavily armored. Even though they saw the majority of their action well to the south in Stalingrad, I couldn't resist these odd fusions of a Panzer tank and a StuG assault gun.

I received these models secondhand and they required about 5 days in Simple Green to remove 3 layers of paint and primer! After that, I had to make two commander's hatches from plasticard to replace missing metal hatches. I then added plasticard tubing for the hull MG, spare tracks and roadwheels from the PSC Panzer III sprues, a spare commander figure for the Command StuiG, some sandbags made out of Green Stuff, and finally whip antennas from guitar wire.

Well, my main company models are primed and ready for paint. All that's left is the 15mm AiM Stuka model for air support and the 2 Objectives....

Tutorial: Making Emplaced Turret "Bunkers" for FOW

With the release of the Late War Soviet rulebook Red Bear for Flames of War, I thought it might be cool to come up with a cheap DIY turret bunker, like the T34/76 featured in Red Bear (not to mention previous options like the emplaced Renault turrets in Earth and Steel).

To start, you'll need the following:

• A large FOW base
• .80 Plasticard, cut in an L-shape
• .60 Plasticard, cut in a square
• Thin plasticard
• Washer (diameter of your choice)
• Small 1mm-long metal or plasticard tube
• 15mm tank turret (I'm using a spare PSC T-34 turret)

1) Take the .80 plasticard and attach it to the base. This is the first "concrete" base and this will help make the "bunker" look more realistic then just a piece of plastic on the tabletop.

2)Attach the .60 plasticard on top of the .80 "concrete" base. Find the center of this square and drill a hole, large enough for the turret pin to be placed inside. Glue the washer on top of .60 plasticard square, centered on the hole you just drilled.

3) Take a piece of large-grain sandpaper and work over the surface of the "concrete" base, making it rough and rounding off the plasticard edges slightly. This will make the base look more like concrete after painting. You may also want to use an X-acto blade and score along the edges to simulate damage from shell fire.

4) On the protruding piece of the concrete base, you'll now place an access hatch and ventilation pipe. Drill a hole in one corner of the protrusion large enough for the metal or plasticard tube to be placed inside it.

5) Glue the tube into the hole you just drilled. With a hole punch, punch a circle out of the thin plasticard and glue this on top of the tube. Finally, cut a small square of thin plasicard as well as some strips and glue them together, like in the following pic:

6) Add groundwork to the surrounding base. I use a mixture of sand and gravel in acrylic modelling paste, since that holds up better than spackle. The emplaced turret is now complete!

For Sale: Customized Modular Battlewagon

Well, I really hate to part with this Battlewagon but I haven't played 40K and over a year and, even when I did, I rarely used this beast.

This is a custom-built Battlewagon. IIRC, it holds ~15 Orks, at least. The Deff Rolla really does roll and both Boarding Planks move up and down. The Big Shootas on either side of the cargo bay are magnetized and fully removable. There are 2 turrets - one Zappa turret and one Big Kannon turret. The Big Kannon turret has a modular hatch - either an Ork glyph or one mounting a Big Shoota. Total dimension are 9" L x 6" W x 4" H (without the turrets) and is painted to a very high TT standard.

Considering the time and effort that I put into building and painting this, I'm looking for $40 cash/$45 trade but I will consider reasonable offers. Would also be willing to trade for:

Dark Eldar Clawed Fiend

new Finecast Isabella Von Carstein (with no large defects)

FOW British A13 Cruiser Mk IVs

FOW 8th Army Rifle or Motor Platoon

FOW 8th Army 15cwt Trucks

FOW EW German Pioneers/Grenadiers

FOW ISU-152

FOW Finnish BT-42 or Anti II Tanks

Heavy Gear NuCoal items

Heavy Gear Southern Sidewinders

Product Review: PSC 1/100 Panzer III Ausf. F/G/H

For my EW/MW Panzer Company, I picked up the newly-released Panzer III F/G/H kit from Plastic Soldier Company from The War Store. Overall, this was a nice kit to build but it IS time-consuming (especially after assembling Zvezda's 1/100 models the past few days) and there are some flaws to be aware of.

To start off, as always, Plastic Soldier Company's box art and design is really great. I reviewed one of their early kits last year (the Russian T-34s) and the box art was just OK but it seems like they're really starting to do some nice, evocative scenes on their boxes. This may not be a big deal for some modellers but it is to me and I'm sure it can be a nice merchandising point for retailers.

Additionally, I've noticed that PSC is one of the very few plastic kit makers who utilize ALL of their packaging. You can see below that the sprues are really packed in well and there is no wasted space, which means less packaging waste.


Each kit comes with 5 tank sprues and instructions. The instructions and sprues aren't bad, but I think PSC really needs to start investing some time into parts numbering and more detailed instructions. Even with 15 years of model-building under my belt, I had a tough time discerning what the plain plastic rectangle pictured as being inserted in the rear of the chassis was (...it's the muffler, if you're curious, which I only found out through looking at the rear of the assembled model pic in the bottom of the instruction sheet).

This lack of numbered parts combined with a very basic instruction sheet could make putting this kit together properly very difficult for amateurs. As I mentioned last year in the T-34 review, I recommend going over the instructions thoroughly and dry-fitting all parts before fitting.

Moving on, the first sub-assembly was the turret. It's an easy enough process but there is one very big, even glaring, flaw - there is a large, noticeable casting void on the G/H model turret gun (see below). It wouldn't be such an issue if this were on the bottom of the gun, but sadly it's not.

This will obviously need to be filled before painting. Again, not an issue for a seasoned modeler but might be tough for a newcomer. Another problem is the KWK barrel is very thin and easily breakable and I'll give you a tip:

When cutting either turret gun from the sprue, CUT THE FRONT BARREL SPRUE FIRST, then cut the two holding the elevation plate.

If you try cutting the elevation plate sprues first, it will cause too much stress on the barrel, which may cause it to snap or bend. Otherwise, the turret sub-assembly is straightforward.

The second sub-assembly are the left and right tracks and, again, we run into another issue involving the casting problems. In the pic below, I've started to scrap down the roadwheels in the foreground (so you can see they are even) while I left the roadwheels in back as they come off the sprue. Can you tell the difference?

The problem is there's a slight ridge on the side which attaches to the chassis so, if you don't scrap or sand this down, it will cause the tracks to bow inwards and not be level. This can be very time-consuming and added somewhere between 5-10mins to each tank build.

The finished tracks do look very good and it is worth it to scrap/sand the roadwheels correctly.

The last assembly is the chassis build and then putting the tracks and turret on. The chassis assembly is the easiest one of the three and the main chassis has enough room inside to add a little or a lot of weight, if you're so inclined (I added about an ounce worth of lead). I should note that, when attaching the tracks, don't push them all the way up (they can easily hit the fenders, even though PSC put "pegs" on the chassis sides to "prevent" this). Instead, there's a slight lip on the back of each track that should end up sitting proud of the chassis bottom.

Below is a completed Ausf. G model.

Luckily, I have a Battlefront StuiG33b (which is an assault gun based on the PzIII chassis) to compare it to. As you can see below, both models are nearly identical in size and scale. The PSC model is only slightly longer but, being less than a 1mm difference, is virtually undetectable on the tabletop.

Pros:

-Lots of good, accurate detail

-Scales well with other Battlefront FOW armored vehicles

-Deep chassis interior allows you to add weight

-Price point is a huge savings over every other 15mm producer

Cons:

-Very prominent casting void in KWK38 gun needs to be filled

-KWK38 gun is easily breakable

-Raised areas on road wheels can make track assembly time-consuming

-Lack of parts numbering, basic instructions, and casting defects can make this a difficult build for newcomers