Tag Archives: armour

Another modelling magazine

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Few days ago I have found out (thanks to facebook) that there is another modelling magazine coming to the market these days. The name is Abrams Squad and it is magazine to be solely devoted to the modern armour. I find this to be very welcome additions (there is never enough of good modelling magazines I believe…) and judging by the name of authors contributing to the first issue, my expectations of quality are set high. Recent flurry of new models of modern vehicles should guarantee that there is going to be enough of subjects to cover in the future…

If you feel tempted, you can find more information and order the magazine online here (country of origin is this time Spain). I had some trouble to switch the page language to English – the English button was nowhere to be found, until it has mysteriously appeared below the Spanish language button (?).

I am hoping that the magazine could become available in a digital form, as I am progressively becoming more of a tablet user when it comes to modelling magazines.

It is interesting to see this recent trend in the modelling publications marketplace – specialization, going from modelling to armour modelling and then to even more specific subjects as weathering or specific time period. Maybe this is not the end yet…

Late for Christmas

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Christmas are almost behind the door, but it seems that season does not end for the armour modellers, rather the other way around. Having visited local hobby stores few times over the past weeks, I was rather surprised there was not really that much new on the shelves. Strangely, there are quite few kits expected in short time and here is the selection of my favourite ones.

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Sexton

It might just be that the kit is late in arriving here in Toronto, as there are already some reviews on the web (see here and here). These have already picked up on some inaccuracies with this kit, nevertheless it is still the first and only model of this vehicle out there. And of course, it is Canadian, so this will be a must buy…

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Merkava ARV

Another one of those kits, which was once hard to believe it would be available in plastic anytime soon. Not a lot of pictures of the built model are out there and again, first reviews have already found some flaws (see here), but I guess that’s what the reviews are for. Now given that this is Hobby Boss, I am hoping that the quality is going to be better than the Pershing I am just building and it is going to be at least at the level of their Merkava IV.

In any case, kudos to Hobby Boss for bringing it out.

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Panzerjaeger Marder II

Bronco is slowly and steadily becoming my most favourite kit producer. The quality of casting is on the par with Dragon, if not better, and their kit’s finesse and complexity is perhaps even higher. One thing that puts them ahead of Dragon is that they are not wasting their efforts on producing just another version of Panzer IV…

This kit is actually one of their few German vehicles and the photos Bronco has released so far are looking promising.

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RG-31

Now this is one where I am being cautious. Kinetic has ambitiously expanded into the armour models world not that long ago, but their first pieces disappointed me a bit. I have seen their M109 and frankly, there was so much simplifications and lack of details, that I just passed. I am hoping that RG-31 will be better, much better. And that it can be built into Canadian version…

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Tiger I Early version

Few months ago I would not spare too many words about this release, but after spending some time recently looking at what is at the market, I noticed that with all the different versions of Tiger I that Dragon has released so far, there is one big gap – early version. For anybody interested in building the Tiger I version from the Battle of Kursk or simply non-zimmerit vehicle other than the very early models, old Tamiya’s kit is the only choice. Not bad, but without all the beauty and bells and whistles that the new Dragon kits come with.

One more surprise, and for me as a customer positive one, is the decision to release this kit as part of their Orange box series. I might be missing something, but I just don’t understand why is Dragon not releasing this as regular kit, for which they could ask 80  bucks with a straight face and it would still sell like a Christmas cookies in December (judging based on the success of their other Tigers). But as I have said, I am a buyer and I don’t complain. In January one will definitely be mine…

So what it is that you are waiting for?

Blogs, blogs and some more blogs

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World of the web seems to be full of inspiration for a modeller these days (what the heck did we do without internet…?). It may sometimes take time to find something interesting in the flood of information (among all the offers for cheap Viagra), but some of the finds I have made recently are definitely worth being put into the favorites group:

Very nice blog of a fellow modeller from Voronezh. Even if you don’t speak russki, it is worth seeing. The JSU-122 featuring on the home page is definitely an inspiration for my JSU-122S in progress:

http://yarlikov.blogspot.ca/

If you are into dioramas, than you will definitely love this site. I have actually found this modeller on the facebook. The quality of Nico’s ground & building painting & weathering is in my opinion second to none and there are actually some very useful videos of the techniques used:

http://thedioramaworld.blogspot.ca/

French armour is somehow black sheep of today’s world of armour modelling, but if you are looking for some French tanks, here you can find some excellent ones. I simply love Emilien’s Renault D1…and there’s more:

http://eldiablo-model.over-blog.com/

Looking for inspiration to build some trucks. Don’t need to go any further. Javier’s work is first class. I wouldn’t even know where did some of these vehicles come from (Hey Javier, give us more…)

http://dieselwerk.blogspot.ca/

I joined the dark side!

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Yes, it’s true, I decided to switch side and build: an airplane. And the reason is very simple – to learn something new. After years building tanks and armored vehicles I realized how little I know about building airplanes. I definitely haven’t tried to build one since I was like maybe 12. And having seen really magnificent airplane models on the recent model shows I thought I might learn something.

When I started modeling about 8 years ago (I mean serious modelling, not the things you build when you’re 12), the breakthrough in my model building efforts was participation in the modelling workshop. The clinic (called Box-to-Battlefied) is still regularly held at Hornet Hobbies store in Toronto. In those few evenings that the workshop took, I have not only learned techniques and tricks that simply cannot be read in books and magazines, I have also found one of my now best friends in Dave, owner of Hornet Hobbies and long-time master modeller, whom I owe most of what I now know about building models.

So knowing that similar workshop aimed at airplane modellers (called Flightlines) is also held at Dave’s store, I decided to sign up for the current run. The workshop is run by Tony Bell, another modeller whom I greatly respect (even though he has not built a single tank as far as I know). In spite of all the years of modelling under my belt, I was surprised to find out how much I can still learn - in the three evenings of the workshop so far I have learned things I haven’t heard about before.

The subject this time is recently released Revell’s PV-1 Ventura. it’s very nice looking kit (for a very fair price), not overly complicated, but solid base for further detailing. And Tony is master in that field.

So if you were ever wondering what are the secrets of modellers building all those amazing models and you happen to be from the Toronto area, I have one advice for you – sign up for the Box-to-Battlefield or Flightlines workshop and you will find out. To do so, contact Dave or Trish at Hornet Hobbies (http://www.hornethobbies.com/) and they will gladly help you (and say hi to them from Vlad).

Few pictures below from the last Flightlines sessions…

El Alamein Sherman

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After some time I had also laid my hands on the El Alamein Sherman that is sitting on my desk in the final phases of the construction.

One of the last  major steps that were in front of me was addition of tools. For this I planned to use Formation set of Sherman tools which I got from my friend Dave Brown loooong time ago. This set contains all the tools that can be found on Sherman tank. It is very finely cast in beige resin. Removal of the tools is rather straightforward – razor saw and then some trimming with X-acto knife. The look of the tools is great, it might not be as perfect as when using the photoetch tie-downs and straps, but given that I had all the tools attached on the model in something over one hour, the benefit is clear.

The resin tie-down straps were little too long, so I had to cut some of those mounted on the right side of the Sherman, as there are four tools and space is at premium.

Given the changes Formations brand has gone through recently I don’t know how easy (or difficult) it is to get this set, but if you have chance, take it. It’s worth its price.

Dorchester – Build continues

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I have been also looking at the Dorchester sitting on my desk over the past days.

One thing that I have decided is that I will not paint it in the camouflage from the North Africa as I originally intended, but rather in the colours of the Independent Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade. The reason is simple – as much as I don’t like to admit it, I am bit disappointed with the kit. There are definitely very good parts of it (nice surface details on the walls, very well done photoetch parts by Hauler, very nicely done instruction sheet, very nice resin parts), overall I think I expected more from this kit. Especially given the price.

Since I definitely want to build the African version, I will wait for the AFV kit with that one.

So, having thus changed plans, I have studied what changes on the construction and there is a quite a bit of difference. First of all, very prominent “nose” was added to the front of the vehicle. Not sure what this was for…? This has to be built from the photoetch parts. I decided to use soldiering as a method of attaching the two parts comprising this nose. As much as I had fear of soldering some year ago, I find it actually extremely simple and dare to say even faster than trying to fiddle with super glue.

I also added a door step to the back of the vehicle. More photoetch parts to come… (there is quite a bit of them).

Here comes: the Sexton

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Now ladies and gentlemen, this is a big one! On the Nuremberg toy show, Dragon has announced another kit and Canadian armor fans can rejoice, because what should be coming has never been here before in plastic in 1/35 scale: Sexton!

Only one picture available at this time, hoping more will be coming soon…

Nagmachon

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Another contribution to the gallery of my finished models. The vehicle is Israeli APC Nagmachon, based on the Centurion chassis. It is one of those unique conversions, IDF is famous for. Using its experience from Intifada and years of low intensity conflicts, IDF realised it needs heavily armored personnel carrier capable of defeating the latest RPG weapons. At he same time vehicle did not need heavy caliber gun, as there were no enemy armoured vehicles to counter. Instead the need was for high situational awareness of the crew in urban areas and firepower against soft targets.

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