Guest 767- Registered: 30 Aug 2012
- Posts: 458
#1
It's been a long time comeing but here it is, Tamiya's 1/35th SDKFZ 222 light armoured car. The 222 went into service in 1938 and remained in service until the wars end. Weighing in at 4.5 tons it's role was to scout ahead of the heavy armour and report back, it carried a short range radio, a MG34 machinegun and a 20mm cannon for self defence and it was crewed by 3 men. Seen here as used by the 21st division as part of the Afrika Corps in 1942. The model cost just under £20 from Turners in London Rd, it has a metal gun barrel and brass photo-etched screens over the turret. It was a great build, no problems atall and the result is a very welcome addition to my 21st div collection.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#2
Fascinating photos I didn't know that Turner's did the up market stuff like that, I remember Barry saying some time back that he bought all his stuff on the internet.
Guest 767- Registered: 30 Aug 2012
- Posts: 458
#3
Sadly so do I Howard, Turners carry a smallish selection of Tamiya tanks and figures, mainly the popular german ones - the tiger, panther,assult guns, along side the ever popular sherman tank and so on, a small selection of figures and 'extras' bits and pieces.
Some Tamiya models now cost £45 to £50 and some are nearer £100 and so are hardly in the pocket money braket! They do carry a great range of paints and tools etc and can get kits to order, my next major build will a WW1 diorama based around a MkIV tank but may well come from on-line because of cost.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
#4
Excellent work there Phil.... great photos too. These metal gun barrels do make a difference. I have some for my MkVIII Tammy Spitfire build when I get around to it. Building a Special Hobby 1/32 Aircobra at the moment and managed to get some very special aftermarket markings for it....
Phil is spot on Howard. I have a stash of 10 kits at the moment and 7 of them cost around £100 each and two over £75. One is actually a 1/24 scale Airfix Hawker Typhoon.... so even Airfix have joined the £100 club... It is not a pocket money hobby for those who do it seriously. Speaking of which....
Phil - do you use AK Interactive weathering/paints and if so what do you think of them? these have always been aimed at armour modellers. They have just launched an 'Air' series of paints and weathering for aircraftand I have just filled my boots with about £250 worth of these products.
Guest 767- Registered: 30 Aug 2012
- Posts: 458
#5
Hi Barry, The short answer is no. I don't really see the point in paying for paint that looks like mud when I have a garden full of the real thing! I found upon my return to the hobby sets of weathering dust, rust paints and so on and I really don't see why. Years ago when I first took airfix kits out of the polybags we had none of these things, we had to make our own and the results were fine. I like add-on sets, photo-etched parts which I cannot make myself, but dust paint? Not for me, I have a dozen or more coffee jars full of soils, stone dust, brick dust etc and use those for my weathering. Sorry to bang on, but doing it yourself is all part of the fun.
Alec Sheldon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 18 Aug 2008
- Posts: 1,037
#6
Great photos and model Phil, love the black and white ones.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
#7
Phil - Yes, I remember getting all sorts of stuff out of the garden in the old days!!!
I rather like using these products though. Carefully applied you can get some great effects out of them but they do take a lot of 'learning'...These days painting and weathering takes up 75% or more of my build time and what with less time available completions are down to a bit of a snail pace.
Guest 767- Registered: 30 Aug 2012
- Posts: 458
#8
Barry,I guess one reason for useing these products is subject matter. As an AFV builder I have it easy, when in doubt cover it in mud and stowage! On the other otherhand, as a aircraft builder, you can't do that, and aircraft weather in a very different way to a tank, while figures are a very different ballgame all together!
The 222 was quite a long build, it was a complex little kit with shed loads of options when finished, maybe I should build a Spitfire and you could tackle a Panzer 4!
Phil Wyborn - Brown at www.wybornphotography.co.uk
