And now they have reached Australia. They arrived today, Doc. In an excess of enthusiasm, I showed them to the wife and her reaction was fascinating:
"Wow. They are so cute. I've never seen such a cute tank. Paint it. Paint it now."
How many times have you had that reaction from your one true love about your armoured vehicle?
Excellent work, Doc. As we say in the Antipodes: "HEWJ"
Gratified you like it, mate:)
Now, get this. My wife, also a wargamer, said almost the same thing. She said, "I hate to get all girly on you, but that thing is soo cute!!!!"
I can somehow imagine somebody painting this up like a "love bug" with flowers, hearts, and smiley faces... Disturbing. But somehow, fitting.
As for former user's suggestions:
>>I would like to see a break-up picture , don't know if I eventually missed one.
Not much to show. It's three parts. Hull. Turret. Tubes. Hey presto, toy tank. I think that one customer (and it was one of the guys here, but forgive me, I can't remember who) remarked today that it was "ridiculously simple" compared to other kits he'd recently purchased. What can I say - Tobi, a German, managed to build a tank without complex mechanisms. Good lord!;)
>As I understood, the weapons require some drilling and tend to break off. To adress this problem, I would suggest the manufacturer does the >drilling, and also could offer a choice of brass tubes to replace the guns and/or the smaller versions of brass naval guns on sale by naval >model suppliers.
There's been only one break that I'm aware of, and it was admittedly the fault of the painter, that nasty Bandit86 person;) However, I'm sure others could occur. They are simply pieces of plastic tube cast for a little more strength than standard "plastruct" tubing, though you could easily replace them with saidsame thing if you prefer. There's a barrel guide for the turret gun, which may require a tiny bit of drilling, as the attachment holes have, in some examples, filled in with resin. In my case, I also tend to drill out barrels a little more in guns, just for aesthetic purposes, but I know that this is a personal preference.
The brass tube suggestion is a good one, but unfortunately I don't have the resources to stock them or cut them at the moment.
>in addition, some add-ons might be a good idea, maybe in the pulp/VSF/SF department respectively, to increase the model's use:
>- different turret
>- replacement canopy for APC
>- trailer
>loading bay
>mounted bigger gun as SP artillery
Those are all great ideas. At the moment, I'm actually trying to convert one of my own into a self propelled gun. I was going to enter it into the "Build Something" contest, but every attempt thus far has simply met with abject failure,so I'm sticking with my converted gun truck for now. It wouldn't be impossible, just a matter of figuring out how to do up the mounting point for the larger piece of artillery. I even have a couple pieces of excess heavy artillery sitting around here that could be used for that goal. The problem is that it's a tankette, and very small, so many of my attempts to mount guns just look ridiculously oversized.
Seriously, though, those are all great ideas. I'm hoping we see a few conversions in the painting contest.
>If my spanish is not too poor, some seem to have been armed with a cannon, presumably a 37 mm.
I've heard that, as well, and it might explaiin why so many photographs depict what appear to be actual guns, not merely HMGs with protective tubes. However, I haven't been able to find any evidence of that first hand. I'm sure it's a possibility. As my Basque friend could attest, the people of Iberia can turn anything into a weapon...
>I would like to stress out that I like the model very much (in spite it being of resin ), and these are only thoughts I share about my >possibilities to use it, since I do not game SCW, nor intend to do it in the future.
And I greatly appreciate your enthusiasm and input. It means a lot to me. Feel free to share that enthusiasm over at the forum, too. I'm paying for the darn thing, after all, and would like to generate some discussion.
As a side note, the other half of the initial stock is arriving within the next day or so, so we will have plenty for those interested. Interestingly enough, about half of the Euzkadis I've sold (well, rather, half of the customers, as the number they order does vary considerably) seem to be for non SCW projects. Interwar/Pulp mainly, but all sorts of interesting possibilities have sprung up.
-Doc
30 July 2008, 11:53:16 AM
