Revamped Dinky Saracens

[vodkafan]

Here are a couple of old Dinky diecast toys. Replaced broken MGs and gave them a repaint, pinwash and drybrush. With a few exceptions the Dinky stuff is 1/60 scale and in my opinion they make nice robust wargames models.

[Poiter50]

Yep, just got a couple in the mail today done as "African" generic.

Where did you source gun barrels?

[has.been]

Well impressed, especially as you are doing them for me.
I had a hankering for the toys of my youth & my friend (Vodkafan)
has done all the work.
Now I am starting to think how best to use them in a wargaming setting.
Possibles (so far) are:-
Northern Ireland (anti IRA); West Germany (cold war gone hot); UNIT (Dr Who);
Winter of Discontent (Civil unrest) or Zombie fighting.
Has anyone got any other ideas?

[Doug ex-em4]

As a kid, back in the fifties, I always wanted the Centurion. Far too expensive. And the tank transporter? Way out of reach.

Anyone know what scale those two items are? I could use some Centurions in imagi-nations Africa.

Love these Saracens.....they look the biz.....daft question but what’s a pinwash?

Doug

[Harry Faversham]

I gleaned five of those Dinky Saracens off fleabay. Two were going to be tickled up like vodkafan's, the other three, sprayed sand and brown for our 'Wild Geese' games.
Then the lad's father in law picked himself in, sad bastard's an anorak type expert, in original unmended/mucked about with Dinly toys...
he sniffed at 'em (  ) then checked the wheels and pronounced them 100% original and issued a no tampering imperial decree!
I gently pointed out to the senile old duffer that the toys were actually mine, but I've now bottled out attacking 'em with spraypaint and pinwash*.

* For the uneducated among us I will translate... a pinwash is a black/dark brown wash that brings out all the nice detail you can see on vodkafan's excellently painted, but now totally worthless, toy APCs!

[vodkafan]

As a kid, back in the fifties, I always wanted the Centurion. Far too expensive. And the tank transporter? Way out of reach.

Anyone know what scale those two items are? I could use some Centurions in imagi-nations Africa.

Love these Saracens.....they look the biz.....daft question but what’s a pinwash?

Doug

The Dinky centurion is horrible, really horrible,    get the Corgi one, it is also 1/60  (I have measured it) and will match all the Dinky post war stuff except the Ferret, which is 1/48...
a pinwash is where you don't do an all -over wash (which darkens the whole thing) but take a thin brush and just go around all the panel lines and raised detail with thinned down darker shade...it is slightly time consuming but I like it because it is more controlled...really makes the detail pop with a subtle drybrush afterwards.   

[vodkafan]

Yep, just got a couple in the mail today done as "African" generic.

Where did you source gun barrels?

Poiter, well spotted sir! The gun barrels are actual .30 cal barrels I sawed off TAG M1919 MGs (they do a pack of 4). Nothing will be wasted because I can scratchbuild jacketed barrels and convert them into the water cooled version...

[vodkafan]

I gleaned five of those Dinky Saracens off fleabay. Two were going to be tickled up like vodkafan's, the other three, sprayed sand and brown for our 'Wild Geese' games.

Harry, many more revamped Dinkys to come...some of them I have changed the wheels  on to make them more realistic for wargames use...I purposely buy the beat up/missing /bent wheels broken crap ones .

[vodkafan]

Here's what I did with the Dinky 10 tonner...wheels were totally missing so had build a sort of support box for the front wheels (other wise you can see right through from one side to the other)










I have no idea what I am doing, I am learning how to scratchbuild as I go along. 

[Harry Faversham]

"I purposely buy the beat up/missing /bent wheels broken crap ones."

That's wot I thought I was doing with mine!
Yet, when No.1 son's father in law spotted the stick on transfers he nearly laid an egg... "You never see them these days with the original decals," he trilled (decals, they're gummed stickers!!!). I've got that paranoid about wrecking these priceless artefacts I've bought a couple of resin kits for the desert Saracens I need... there's just something about the Saracen that just looks so right.

[vodkafan]

"I purposely buy the beat up/missing /bent wheels broken crap ones."

That's wot I thought I was doing with mine!
Yet, when No.1 son's father in law spotted the stick on transfers he nearly laid an egg... "You never see them these days with the original decals," he trilled (decals, they're gummed stickers!!!). I've got that paranoid about wrecking these priceless artefacts I've bought a couple of resin kits for the desert Saracens I need... there's just something about the Saracen that just looks so right.

The way I look at it...when I gleefully destroy the value of the ones I repaint and cut about, I actually increase the value of the pristine examples that collectors just want to keep in a box. 

[Belisarius]

Wonder what David Dickinson would say about it 😁 he looks like he’s spent years in the desert . 😎

[Poiter50]

resin kits for the desert Saracens? Tell me more.

Side note, did they serve in Malaya and Borneo as well? Konfrontasi!

[Harry Faversham]

The Saracen served in the Malayan Emergency and I believe some were deployed to Borneo too.
There you go old bean...

https://www.grubbytanks.com/product/britannia-miniatures/28mm-ranges/28mm-malayan-emergency/156th-scale-vehicles/british-saracen-apc/



 

[Harry Faversham]

The way I look at it...when I gleefully destroy the value of the ones I repaint and cut about, I actually increase the value of the pristine examples that collectors just want to keep in a box.

VF, looking forward to seeing the vehicles in action, your games with has.been are a feast for the eyes. I always spot some bright idea worth nicking when I drool over the piccys!