Thursday, September 11, 2025

M3 Stuart With Quad 50 by Chan Jackson

 This unique vehicle (along with a rocket launcher version) represents modifications Brazil made to three M3/M5's which they used well into the 1980's.  The model is a kit bash of Tamiya's M3 and the quad 50 gun is from their M16 halftrack.


The kit was painted with Tamiya and AK paints. The figure carrying the ammo crate is an old VLS item and the one on the tank was taken from the spares box and shall henceforth remain unidentified.







Israeli M-51 Super Sherman by Dave Blankenship

 This is Dragon's original (1997) boxing of the M51 built pretty much out of the box. The only changes were the addition of small chains to the smoke launcher covers, a cover on the spotlight, tarps and a bit of stowage on the rear deck.


The model was painted with Polly Scale "Israel Khaki" which appears to be a fairly accurate representation of the IDF's colors in the 1967 Six Day War. 





M4A3 "Black Panthers" Sherman by Chan Jackson

 After watching several YouTube videos on the 761st "Black Panthers, Chan decided to build a diorama of the group. The model is an Italeri M4A3 shelf queen he built years ago and thought he'd give new life to by incorporating it into this small diorama. 


The jeep is a Testors snap kit. Both vehicles are painted with a base coat of Tamiya Olive Drab and modulated with AK acrylics. They were weathered with oil paints and Mig and AK pigments.

The 761st pigments are from Alpine and the jeep crew and POWs are from an unknown source. All the figures were painted with Scale 75 acrylics.

The building ruin is a Royal Models product.



Wednesday, August 6, 2025

British Bishop Self-Propelled Gun by Chan Jackson

 Another outstanding small diorama by Chan using the old Alan(ger) Bishop 25-pounder SPG.  Due to its age, the kit was rather hit-or-miss in molding and fit. Since the Bishop was based on a Valentine chassis, Chan borrowed some parts from a Tamiya Valentine to improve the look of the vehicle. On the positive side, the Alan kit did have some nice interior detail. 



The 25-pounder ammunition trailer was also borrowed from Tamiya.


The Bishop and trailer were painted with Tamiya and AK paints. VLS and MIG pigments and AK Dry Soil Weathering were used to weather the scene.



The figures are Scale 75 (with one from an unknown source.) The palm tree was purchased from a Vietnamese dealer who no longer appears to be in business.




Leopard VK1602 by Terry McKeown

 Terry built the HobbyBoss Leopard VK1602 (a scaled-down Panther replacement for the Lynx) pretty much out-of-the-box, only replacing the tracks with a set from a Dragon kit. He painted it with Tamiya paints and weathered it with oils.









British Challenger 2 MBT by Bill Seaman

 

Bill built Dragon's 2003 1/72nd scale boxing of the Challenger 2 as a vehicle with the 2nd Scots Dragoons. He used a lightened shade of Tamiya's Desert Yellow to finish it.








Panzer IB Landungsleger by Chan Jackson

 

Chan built this unusual vehicle using Tamiya's newly released Panzer IB kit and the Commanders conversion kit. The Landungsleger was an engineering vehicle capable of delivering a large explosive device on enemy strongpoints and in minefield clearing operations. 


The Tamiya kit of the Panzer IB is an excellent kit which Chan finished with Tamiya paints modulated with the MIG modulation set. He used MIG and Adam Wilder pigments to weather the model.