Schelturm Tchanka Colour Pics added

[cgh]

Well almost,

I bought this a year ago and built it so here's some long over assembly photo's.  I'll try to get a finished pic up tonight time permitting.

Tchanka kit, ignoring the gun and crew.



Suspension glued on.



Wheels added



Swangles(?) added



Wheel guards



Almost finished.  That loose pole goes straight forward between the horses.  I shall take colour pics of the finished model tonight and post them up.

[Hombre]

Looks good, but can`t find it  !

there is a lack of pictures in the shop, sometimes 

 I dont buy invisible things 

[duc de limbourg]

can't find it either in the catalogue

[cgh]

Here's the finished article.

It's a fairly decent lump of metal. 



Other side



Crew close up



Rear view - seems to have fallen over ....



Size comparison with a Scarab Miniatures Haller Pole ...



The base is thicker than the 2p base I use, it's also irritatingly bowed in the middle but not enough to annoy me. 

General impressions are - damn how do these go together!  I bought this off Sholto personally at a show and he kindly explained how it went together - it's not actually complex if you're logical about it.  NO DRILLING IS REQUIRED.  This is important as I did drill into the underside of the cart to ensure the suspension has a strong fit.  This was a huge mistake as it meant the cart acquired a forward tilt - which the sharp eyed will notice I've removed by making the front wheels go over a bump.  My fault entirely.  I used gel superglue and it seemed to work fine but I did have to hold some bits in place for up to a minute before letting go of them to ensure they stuck in place at the right angle.  No biggie there.  It went together quite easily overall.  The biggest complaint is I had to bend the HMG trailer to make sure it could sit properly in the tchanka proper.  But it's between the gunners legs and virtually unnoticeable so I'm not fussed.  It's also the proper 28mm scale.  The troops are a bit short legged but in suitable generic uniforms so this will do for any of the multitudes of sides for the chaos in the time.

There is another Tchanka available - I don't have it but will be buying it next time I see Sholto at a show.  It's obviously the same general thing but it has a different cart, and the one display model was painted (properly!) blue and was quite lovely to behold.  I think they're £25 so quite an investment but they are the most suitable for the period and a lovely model.  Your opinion may vary.

Ordering from Schelturm online ....  good luck.  Try emailing him or better still phone him.  His webpage is hopeless which is a real shame as some of the stuff is really nice and no one else does it.  Your best bet is probably getting someone in the UK to buy it at a show and post it to you.  He's losing a lot of sales due to that dire dire dire website. 

[Wirelizard]

Yeah, Schelturm is one of those companies on my "interesting stuff, never gotten around to placing an order" list, and the major reason is the lack of proper modern web presence, especially the severe lack of photos.

PIty, as they do some neat stuff, as you say.

Nice to see more choice in the tchanka market, I really must get either this one or the Eureka one to add a unique and strange piece of Russian equipment to my available forces!