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. 

Sd.Kfz. 250/3 by David Blankenship

 Tamiya's 1979 release of the Sd.Kfz. 250/3 in the markings of a Grossdeutschland vehicle. Painted with Mig Ammo acrylics and weathered with oils and pigments. 

Sd.Kfz. 3 Maultier Ambulance by Dave Blankenship

 I finished Dragon's 1/35th scale Sd.Kfz. 3 Maultier Ambulance with Ammo by MIG acrylics, weathered it with oil filters and pin washes, and powdered pigments. The interior was dressed up a bit with parts from the spares box and a floor surface done with oil paints. 

All-in-all, and enjoyable build and another kit to add to my growing collection of WW II German medical evacuation vehicles.

Napoleonic Diorama Work-in-Progress by David Blankenship

 I'm getting out of my comfort zone of building mainly World War Two armor and aircraft by jumping into an 18th century theme.  The figures are 54 mm Historex offerings which will (hopefully) end up in a diorama comprising around ten figures, five horses, and the 8-pounder artillery piece in the photo.  

Since the finished diorama will require considerable figure conversion (if you're familiar with Historex figures, you know they come in rather staid postures) and finishing with oils can be a time-consuming process, it may be a long-term undertaking.

Sd.Kfz. 251/8 Ausf.A Krankenpanzerwagen by Dave Blankenship

 Another completion in the German ambulance collection I'm putting together: the ICM Sd.Kfz. 251/8 in Afrika Korps markings.  I have built several ICM armor and soft skin vehicles and found this one typical in being highly detailed (if a bit over-engineered in areas) and generally (more on that later) an enjoyable build if you take your time in the construction.   

The vehicle was painted with Tamiya XF-92 Yellow Brown (DAK 1941.)   Weathering consisted of a sprayed-on filter of burnt umber oil paint, a pin wash of a heavier mixture of the same paint, chipping with Tamiya German Gray, and light dustings of Tamiya Buff.  

The Bedouin figure and camel are from the Masterbox "Commonwealth AFV Crew" set and were painted with Vallejo and Model Color acrylics.  I didn't put much time into painting the saddlecloth (which can be highly ornate) so may redo it someday

 Probably the fiddliest part of the whole build was installing the upper stretcher you can see in the above photo. To say it was frustrating is an understatement. After fiddling with it for an hour I almost said the heck with it (my language was a bit more colorful than that.) Instead, I set it aside for the night and tried again the next day and successfully pulled it off after coming close to giving up again. As an aside, when I did research prior to the build, I found one build review online. After I flailed around with the "stretcher", I went back to the article and noticed that the author hadn't installed the top bunk. I suppose his level of masochism didn't match mine. 

The kit didn't contain a canvas cover, but the vehicle screamed for one, so I resigned myself to fashioning one from epoxy putty. I was getting the Apoxie Sculpt out of the drawer when one of those eureka moments occurred. I thought to look through the pile of a dozen Sd.Kfz.251's in the stash and found one in a Dragon kit...and it fit the ICM kit perfectly! 

The German figure is a simple conversion I did years ago but don't remember the source of the parts other than the head which is a resin Warriors piece.

So, that makes eight WWII German ambulances finished, one work-in-progress, two more in the stash, and two conversions to finish someday. And, to add insult to injury, I recently learned that ICM is releasing another ambulance kit I won't be able to resist buying. 

Sd.Kfz. 251/8 Ambulance Work-in-progress by Dave Blankenship

 Here are a couple "in-progress" shots of the new ICM Sd.Kfz. 251/8 Ambulance. Look for the completed model placed in a small vignette very soon.

Stalingrad Diorama by Dave Blankenship

 This small diorama makes use of the vacuform building from the MiniArt "Poland 1944"  kit, replacing the Miniart Russian7.62cm gun and figures with a Dragon German 7.5cm PAK 40 and crew.  The figure straddling the left gun trail is a modified Tamiya figure from their PAK 37 kit.

The MiniArt bases are fairly plain and offer a lot of opportunity for embellishment. Crushed plaster and assorted detritus were strew about to give it a more realistic look. All-in-all, a relaxing and enjoyable build.

 

Scammell Pioneer TRM30 Tractor and TRC30 Trailer by Dave Blankenship

Dave took first place in the "Soft Skins" category of the February "BlizzCon" IPMS Show in Columbus  with this Thunder Models British Scammell Pioneer TRM30 Tractor and TRC30 Trailer with a Tamiya Matilda III load.

 

The Thunder Models Pioneer tractor and trailer is a gem of a kit but is far from a quick build, taking a couple months to complete.

The tractor/trailer were painted with Ammo by Mig acrylics and the Matilda with colors from the AK Real Colors "British Caunter" set. Both were weathered with oils and pigments.

 

Kubelwagen Radio Car Type 82 by Dave Blankenship

The kit is from Dragon with a few modifications made. The photo etched radio table/compartment was used as a template to cut plastic parts to fit...in the long run, it was a simpler solution than fumbling with the PE. Additional water cans were added, the radio aerial base spring was enhanced using .015 fly tying solder, and sundry stowage thrown in to give the vehicle a lived-in look.

After a bit more weathering,  Dave has plans to place the Kubel in a small diorama. 

The model placed second in the 1/35the scale "Soft Skinned Vehicles" category at the Cleveland Model Show 24 on November 7, 2021.

 

 

M4 High Speed Tractor (90mm) and Captured German 8.8cm Gun by David Blankenship

The photo which served as an inspiration for the build.

The Hobbyboss M-4 90mm High-Speed Tractor is a gem of a kit. The "88" is the venerable Tamiya kit. Vehicles painted with Tamiya acrylics; the figures with Vallejo.

LAV-R Light Armored Recovery Vehicle by Dave Blankenship

 This 1/35th scale 2007 boxing of Trumpeter's LAV Recovery vehicle represents a generic NATO camouflaged vehicle since no unit markings (more on the decals later) were include with the kit. With the possible exception of an odd construction sequence suggested in the instructions, the kit went together well. The parts were crisp and detailed, enhanced by a nice set of two photoetch frets for the exhaust screen, engine deck screens, stowage straps, front light mounts, and a few other small fixtures. The crane is nicely detailed and includes black tubing to represent the hydraulic lines. The vinyl tires are well done but lack raised “Michelin” inscriptions. The wheel hubs are excellent.

Now, to the decals...for the most part unusable. I opted to use just one of them. Whomever designed the quite extensive sheet of vehicle stencils obviously had a poor command of the English language or was the world's worst typist and didn't believe in spell checking. I actually got a few laughs reading through the entire sheet. 

A few examples: TYRE POESSORE

                             MICHWAY TOWZING 

                             POZNT DCE HANNER

  The model was finished with Tamiya acrylics and was lightly weathered. My only concessions to “Advanced Modeler's Syndrome” was detailing the the outrigger/stabilizer jacks. I felt they were just too bereft of detail so added hydraulic lines using lead wire. All-in-all, an enjoyable build.

Kubelwagen Ambulance by Dave Blankenship

Dave mated the Tamiya Kubelwagen with the Dragon ambulance conversion  (basically a stretcher, support for it, and several figures) to model this Afrika Korps vignette set in the latter part of the campaign.  The Kubelwagen was painted with a custom mix of Tamiya acrylics and weathered with oil filters and pigments. The chipping was done with Vallejo acrylics and the vehicle was given a final dusting of Tamiya buff.

The head of the walking wounded figure was replaced with a Warrior's resin sculpt. The base is a modified Monroe Perdue casting and was painted with several shades of Tamiya browns and tans, washed with oils, and lightly dry-brushed to complete.

All-in-all, a fairly quick and enjoyable build. It's not uncommon these days for models to have a parts count in excess of 1,000 pieces, so it's a treat to tackle something like this little guy.  Tamiya manages to keep the number of parts down without much sacrifice in detail and are so well engineered you can often build one without having to use any filler putty.