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

[pease1]

If the General sees all of that extra crap on the back of the tank he'll blow a gasket!

Good looking build. I like the extra stuff. Everything I read from both German and American armor diaries suggests a common thread of conflict between tank crews wanting to carry extra crap on their vehicles and officers chewing their asses out for it!

[moiterei_1984]

Nicely done on both the modeling as well on the painting of your first vehicles. I

[carlos marighela]

The thing about stowage is that it needs to be thought through to look realistic and most gamers don't, they just pile it on wherever.

Tanks move. They move as often as not over uneven ground. Items simply placed on top of hull or turret won't stay there long unless tied, wedged or otherwise secured. There's a reason stowage bins exist. Few enough bother to model the cords, ropes, straps, chains or bungees or place the stowed item against a tie point/ grab rail. Most gamers stowage seems to be impelled to adhere through magnetism.

Tanks can get quite hot, especially around exhausts and cooling ducts. Nobody with any sense is going to wedge their bedroll against a hot pipe, that's likely to set it alight. They are probably not going to do the same with cardboard ration boxes, wooden crates or metal ammunition boxes, if they have ammo in them.

Turreted vehicles, where possible, like to take advantage of the possibilities inherent in rotating that turret. Untold exceptions of course but given the option people will try and avoid blocking the rotation of said item and certainly discourage the stowage of items where they will jam the turret.

[Eclaireur]

So I was thinking those things Carlos wrote about the stowage but didn't say them. I don't know whether he's ever been a tank crew man but I have and all of the points that Carlos makes about the reasons for stowing a tank the way you do are pretty much spot on.
With many WW2 tanks (e.g. Pz III & IV or British Shermans and Cromwells) you see purpose designed stowage racks, or bins usually on the hull or turret rear. You don't really want to be stowing stuff on the sides, cos when you drive down that narrow street or woodland path you often find it's not there any more at the end of the journey. The front glacis plate of the hull was often used for storage but stuff gets very dirty there. So your options are put stuff there that it doesn't matter if it gets dirty (the inevitable track links, road wheels, oil cans) or fit a special bin to keep more precious things clean and dry (you see this on late model British Shermans).
On top of the turret it's quite natural to see helmets close to the crew hatches, but they've got to be close enough for the crewman to put it on without getting half way out of the hatch - helmet strap can be used to secure it somewhere within reach. The same would be true of a commander's MP40 or Sten gun...
EC  

[tomrommel1]

The Tiger really looks the part

[Kane]

Hey Captain Blood, how's the quality of the Blitzkrieg model? I saw your AC, I got one from Warlord and it's abysmal and I'm looking for a replacement of higher quality...

Never mind. Found your initial post about that AC.

[Captain Blood]

Hey Captain Blood, how's the quality of the Blitzkrieg model? I saw your AC, I got one from Warlord and it's abysmal and I'm looking for a replacement of higher quality...

Never mind. Found your initial post about that AC.

Yeah - the end result looks very nice. The model has a few minor failings, as listed. Overall, I'd give it 9/10 though. (It is a model for the wargames table, not a faithful scale model engineering piece )

I've just received two more Blitzkrieg models - Panzer II and Vickers tankette, and they both look very nicely detailed and sharply cast. I'll let you know once I start building them... Meanwhile, the Tiger I is nearly done. Just some last bits of titivation to do... Pics in the next couple of days hopefully.

Back to work tomorrow... That's the end of my productive Christmas and New Year modelling and painting spurt! Normal snail-like progress will be resumed shortly... 

[Captain Blood]

The completed Tiger.
I tried to get the colour to the kind of 'green sand' I saw from photographs of some of the early DAK Tigers.
The surface moulded on details of cables, tools etc was indeed extremely fiddly to paint accurately...
Micro sized swastikas smudged out in the pics.












A few close-ups...

[Phil Robinson]

Purrrrfect.

[Keith]

Boom! Love it.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

Very good   and very quick

[Mason]

Bloody hell, that was quick!
 

She looks lovely!
 

You are on a roll, sir.
 


You have to add some motorbikes to the cavalcade, I reckon.
 

[Romark]

That Tiger looks grrrreat ! 

[Mason]

That Tiger looks grrrreat ! 

I was wondering how long before someone said it.
  

[Helen]

Wunderbar!