Captain Blood's Western Desert: P.125 - SdKfz10 half-track with 2cm Flak 30

[ARKOUDAKI]

Great looking crew but a rather crude gun...not your fault as you did your best to bring it to life. Oh, and get your pin vice out and drill that barrel hole matey!  Keep up the good work Richard!

[Westfalia Chris]

Beautiful, Richard.

I always wondered what that klunky bit at the end of the barrels of 75s is. Anyone know?

It's a pair of rollers to guide the barrel as it recoils. IIRC, the 75's barrel recoiled more than a metre, to avoid the carriage taking the recoil and thus requiring manhandling to reposition the gun before the next shot.

[Captain Blood]

Ah. Thanks Chris. I did wonder...

Rob, the end of the barrel was slightly mis-cast as it was. I didn't think trying to drill it out was a good move.
Plus I am a great believer in the illusory power of a black spot!

[Volleyfire!]

Lovely work as usual. I find Perry's gun barrels are so bendy that the thought of drilling them out fills me with dread. They always arrive mishapen as it is, I just bought the Pak 36(r) hot off the press and the barrel as usual is bent sideways and downwards. Any tips anyone on straightening them so they are true?

[Helen]

Lovely work Richard.

[tomrommel1]

very nice indeed

[Keith]

Lovely work Richard - they look great. I need to start working in some more green uniforms into mine - there's a lot of unofficial kit worn by my Vichy so far :-). Having said that there are quite a few pics of surrendering solddiers in Syria and the mix of kit is mind-boggling. What green are you using for these?

The gun is a little sparse and under-sized and I was very tempted to swap it out for the Empress one at one point. In the end I just added a lot of the missing gubbins (support struts, various boxes and packages behind the shield, details on the fron of the shield etc.) running with the assumption that I'd only make one anyway and I didn't have much better to do at the time. I'd post a picture but that feels like bad form and I don't want to pollute this beauty of a project log.

BTW one nice detail you can add for a bit of extra interest is on the 'bread-bag'. The fastening straps for the buckles were often leather, and the bag often had an additional strip of leather around the edge of the flap to make it more durable. It looks quite attractive and is an easy thing to add.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Beautiful, Richard.

I always wondered what that klunky bit at the end of the barrels of 75s is. Anyone know?

I suspect a counterweight (assuming the trails are used for towing).

Excellent paint job.

[Captain Blood]

Thanks all.

Keith, please go ahead and post pics of your version here. Not bad form at all. I'd love to see it again 

As for my DAK, the green is Vallejo 'Russian Uniform' - one of those all-purpose 'magic' colours I use across most of my figures, irrespective of period or genre!

I'll look out references for the bread bag.

[carlos marighela]

Get yerself a Valentine and you are well on the way to being able to do one of the Second World War’s most interesting and undersold campaigns, the invasion of Madagascar.

Sans the Valentine, you could do one of fiction’s most fabulous scenarios: Brigadier Richie-Hook terrorising and beheading Tirailleurs Sénégalais at Dakar a la Waugh’s Sword of Honour.

[lou passejaire]

I'll look out references for the bread bag.

the colors vary a lot from a manufacturer to the other , but it's the idea .

nice job, we'll say the the summer kit in green is a local product for the levant 

[lou passejaire]

waiting for more
 

[moiterei_1984]

More excellent work Richard! Really love the colours used.

[majorsmith]

Nice gun!

[Bugsda]

Excellent addition to the Captain Blood cannon...........did ya' see what I did there?