Dewchurch 3

[Gopher]

Another busy day at Currans

 

[Kevin Johnson]

Clive lovely shot. The stonework on the buildings and those cobbles look really good.👍

[Gopher]

5 hours ago, Kevin Johnson said:

Clive lovely shot. The stonework on the buildings and those cobbles look really good.👍

Thanks Kevin.

 

The Wills cobbles were a bit of a disaster when I first painted/weathered them.  I kept re-working what I had done.  I painted them a slate grey, - then a series of washes, rubbed off with a paper towel and eventually got a finish which I was happy with, finished off with Tamiya weathering powders. 

 

The building  was painted in an overall mid stone colour then had individual blocks, and window and door arches painted dark stone, and the quoins and window sills in light stone (big building so seemed to take ages).  Then mortar courses picked out with a diluted Nato black wash, and finally some dry brushing and weathering powders applied sparingly to part of the stonework to vary the tone.

 

Best Wishes

 

Clive 

[Gopher]

Here is the tank commander figure kit, which I hope to fit in the turret.  I had a choice of two, and opted for this one.  He is holding a mug of something (I guess tea) in his right hand.  I'm not sure whether tank commanders had a brew whilst the tank was moving, so I may have chosen the wrong figure.  (The other option was a moustachioed figure with binoculars, but looked a bit more WW2, than Korean war) 

 

 

[lezz01]

Yeh you can't really drink from anything other than a water bottle when a tracked vehicle is in motion as you get bounced around quite a bit. It's a very nice figure nonetheless although I'm not sure about the shirt. It looks wrong somehow, tankies wear a one piece coverall known as pixie suits which date from 1943. I don't know what they used to ware back in the 50's as it's a bit before my time. 

Regards Lez.

[Gopher]

40 minutes ago, lezz01 said:

Yeh you can't really drink from anything other than a water bottle when a tracked vehicle is in motion as you get bounced around quite a bit. It's a very nice figure nonetheless although I'm not sure about the shirt. It looks wrong somehow, tankies wear a one piece coverall known as pixie suits which date from 1943. I don't know what they used to ware back in the 50's as it's a bit before my time. 

Regards Lez.

Thanks Lez, I think I may order the other figure. Hard to get 1/16th British tank crew from the 1950s, and they all seem to be in battle dress, rather than the one piece coverall (had no idea they were called pixie suits). I also considered trying to replace the mug in his hand with something else like a radio Mike, or binoculars. Problem is the figure is made of quite hard resin, so not sure my modelling skills are up to it.

 

Thanks for your advice 

 

Best wishes

 

Clive

[lezz01]

Yes but they used throat mikes in tanks after the war I don't know when they came in but I would think that the Centurion had them, we used them back in the 80s in 432s and they were all from the 50s and 60s. We got the idea from the Germans. You can't use hand held mikes in a tank mate, all the crew are using both hands and sometimes both feet as well depending on your position. Some crew are using both hands both feet and an elbow. The gunner, driver, loader and commander are seriously multitasking in a tank. Even in something like a 432 the driver and commander are very busy especially if it's buttoned up and if it's fitted with a gun turret so are everyone else. Before 43 they were in battle dress with leather jerkins after 43 it was pixie suits and there are 2 different grades of those. Given how cold it gets in Korea they would have had both summer and winter kit. It's cold in a tank in winter they didn't have air con or heaters until recently.

Regards Lez.    

[Gopher]

BR Open wagon in Dewchurch goods yard

 

[Gopher]

8 hours ago, lezz01 said:

Yes but they used throat mikes in tanks after the war I don't know when they came in but I would think that the Centurion had them, we used them back in the 80s in 432s and they were all from the 50s and 60s. We got the idea from the Germans. You can't use hand held mikes in a tank mate, all the crew are using both hands and sometimes both feet as well depending on your position. Some crew are using both hands both feet and an elbow. The gunner, driver, loader and commander are seriously multitasking in a tank. Even in something like a 432 the driver and commander are very busy especially if it's buttoned up and if it's fitted with a gun turret so are everyone else. Before 43 they were in battle dress with leather jerkins after 43 it was pixie suits and there are 2 different grades of those. Given how cold it gets in Korea they would have had both summer and winter kit. It's cold in a tank in winter they didn't have air con or heaters until recently.

Regards Lez.    

That's really useful, thanks Lez.  I think I'm a bit snookered.  Both the figures I looked at look like WW2 vintage, so I might be stuck with using the least worst option (which is the figure I did not buy).  There are some other figures from another internet site, but these are ready painted with moveable arms, and look a bit toy like.  They look like 1960s/70s tank crew but at least have the pixie suits (camouflaged).  So not  suitable for the 1950s, plus not very realistic figures.  There are some US tank crew, with coveralls/dungarees  but also leather helmets WW2 era, so again not a good option

 

Must have been a tough life for tank crew.  Can't imagine going through a harsh winter in a tank without heating (probably slightly better than being in the infantry in a fox hole).  Most photos I've seen of Centurions in Korea show them in winter, so must have been freezing. 

 

Thanks Again

 

Clive 

[Gopher]

I've been cracking on with the turret. First two photos show painted side storage bins and gun recoil mechanism

 

Last photo shows the gun installed and wired in.  The main gun and Besa machine gun have leds which flash as the guns are fired, also synchronised with sounds, and the tank also jerks backwards when the main gun fires  

 

 

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Gopher

[Gopher]

These photos show the turret top installed (held on by magnets).  Also my home made gun mantlet canvas cover.   I was not keen on the large gaps shown below in the kit instructions.  These are to let the guns elevate and depress.

 

So I wondered if I could cover the rubber mantlet cover with some kind of canvas looking material to conceal the gaps, but still allow the guns to elevate and recoil.

 

Tissue paper was my first thought.  It looks like canvas when painted, but rips so easily.  I mentioned the problem to my wife (who is the creative one in our house).  She said how about using the material from one of the blue covid face masks. No way I thought.  Anyway I took one apart, and intended to use the inner lining, which seemed like a more robust tissue.  Initially I just plugged the two holes in the rubber mantlet,  (my wife was not convinced this looked good).  I thought it looked O.K but it ripped very easily when I made the holes for the guns.

 

Back to the drawing board.  I decided to use the blue outer material from the facemask, and cover the whole mantlet.  Bit messy sticking it to the rubber mantlet cover, whilst trying to maintain some of the raised profile. 

 

So I stuck it, undercoated and then painted it.  The photo shows the finished article on the tank turret.  I cut some Xs in the two gaps for the guns.  It is not totally prototypical because you can still see a bit of a gap, and some of my folds at the corners are a bit obvious.  However I think it looks better than just using the simulated canvas rubber mantlet cover which comes with the kit.    I should add a strip of dummy rivets along the top edge, but not sure if you can get them ready made.  I'm not sure I have the patience to try and make some.

 

So the moral of the story - if at first you don't succeed  - do it the way your wife told you 🙄

 

 

  

 

  

 

 

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Gopher

[Gopher]

Final photo shows turret temporarily in place on the tank chassis.  Lots of detail to add to the turret, plus it needs weathering to blend it in with the rest of the tank 

[MrWolf]

I think that the mantlet cover works rather well, it certainly looks like canvas.

 

It's making me want to build something military again.

[Gopher]

1 minute ago, MrWolf said:

I think that the mantlet cover works rather well, it certainly looks like canvas.

 

It's making me want to build something military again.

Thanks Rob, I'm actually in danger of completing this kit shortly.  I've really enjoyed the change from railway modelling. 

 

Clive  

[Fishplate]

52 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

it certainly looks like canvas

 

It does indeed. Nice one.

 

I do like the newspaper photo your building it next to as well. A bit of wartime leader inspiration ?

[lezz01]

Looks fab mate. It makes me want to build something military as well. Go with the canvas cover as well it looks very good.

Regards Lez

[Graham T]

Steve at @railtec-models does rivets, I believe.

 

[lezz01]

2 minutes ago, Graham T said:

Steve at @railtec-models does rivets, I believe.

 

Archers also does rivets in multiple scales.

Regards Lez.

[St Enodoc]

6 hours ago, Gopher said:

The main gun and Besa machine gun have leds which flash as the guns are fired

Wot, no shells or bullets?

 

6 hours ago, Gopher said:

So the moral of the story - if at first you don't succeed  - do it the way your wife told you

Rule 1: your other half is always right.

 

Rule 2: if your other half is wrong, see Rule 1.

[Gopher]

12 hours ago, Fishplate said:

 

It does indeed. Nice one.

 

I do like the newspaper photo your building it next to as well. A bit of wartime leader inspiration ?

Thanks John, I should probably also be playing some wartime music when I'm building the tank, rather than my 1970s/80s/90s rock and new wave music

 

Clive

[Gopher]

11 hours ago, Graham T said:

Steve at @railtec-models does rivets, I believe.

 

 

11 hours ago, lezz01 said:

Archers also does rivets in multiple scales.

Regards Lez.

Thanks both, I'll check them out

[Gopher]

8 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Wot, no shells or bullets?

 

Rule 1: your other half is always right.

 

Rule 2: if your other half is wrong, see Rule 1.

For some strange Health and Safety reason my local council objected to me having live shells and machine gun rounds in the house 

 

As to the rules - ain't that the truth.

 

Clive

Edited June 2, 2023 by Gopher

[railtec-models]

41 minutes ago, Gopher said:

 

Thanks both, I'll check them out

 

Archers have ceased so I picked up the baton and introduced a range of ~120 packs: https://www.railtec-models.com/rivets/

 

Feedback from magazines and modellers of railway, aviation and military has been extremely encouraging, so they're here to stay. In fact I'm working on more.

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, railtec-models said:

 

Archers have ceased so I picked up the baton and introduced a range of ~120 packs: https://www.railtec-models.com/rivets/

 

Feedback from magazines and modellers of railway, aviation and military has been extremely encouraging, so they're here to stay. In fact I'm working on more.

 

That's very useful to know as I'm planning to build 21st century versions of a few more scratch builds that were featured as how to articles in 1970s and 80s model railway magazines, the lack of rivet details being the big giveaway.

[MrWolf]

This might be some help with detailing the tank crew.

 

https://pin.it/1vP3V5p