Wednesday, September 7, 2022

"Desert Adversaries" Diorama by Stew Langenbeck

 
 Stew put a lot of time and effort into this diorama of  LRDG/SAS and Italian desert groups facing each other across hundreds of scale miles of North African desert. The base is a shadow box with a map of Libya from a West Point military history atlas.
 
 
The Saharianna AS 42 is from Italeri with PE/resin from Royal Model and Part. Stowage includes ammo boxes from Italeri. The majority of the packs & bags are from Tamiya and Airfix. The tarp and convertible top are scratch built. The front wheels/axles were modified so they could  be turned. The British Lewis machine gun is from Italeri. The vehicle was initially sprayed with gray primer and then hand painted with lightened/faded Model Color green ochre, and finally "weather-dusted."
 
 
The SAS jeep is based on  Italeri's Commando car with kit bashing from the old Tamiya SAS jeep. Machine guns are from a variety of after market sources, including Academy's early 50 cal.  Def Model provided commercial tires for the jeep. A lot of  Eduard PE was added to the model. The tarps were scratch built. The front wheels, axles, and steering gear were modified so they could be turned and brake lines added. Leaf springs also modified with aftermarket and scratch built pieces. Other scratch built items include: 50. cal . mount, early ammo box, radiator catch can, and RAF vibration-proof compass. Initially sprayed with Testors U.S. Army green and hand painted with muted Model Color desert yellow and a "home made" dust/weathering mix.
 

The LRDG and SAS figures are from D-Day Miniatures and a Vietnamese E-bay vendor. All but one of the Italians are Chinese knock-offs. 



 



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