Dragon Fokker E.V/ D.VIII

A little bit more done to this as the wing was covered in Uschi Van Der Rosten woodgrain decal and matt varnished. I had to order some oil paints for the underside colours so when I get a chance I'll begin the streaky camouflage finish however being oil paint they will take a while to dry...stupid bloody hobby... :o)

Trumpeter E-50 and Paper Panzer Productions Heimdall turret

After I received the Heimdall turret from Paper Panzer Productions a Trumpeter E-50 miraculously turned up via Evil Bay at more or less the same time (coincidences eh?). Even though I have other stuff on the go I thought "bugger it lets build this one" so it's all on the bench.

The turret goes together very well with just a couple of moulding lugs to get rid of via a razor saw and the detail is great. I added a few grab handles on the hatches and turret rear as I figured with the height of it the crew would require a few to clamber up onto the roof. Three turret lifting rings were added using the wire supplied in the kit.
Here's the progress so far;

The Trumpeter hull fits very well although there are a couple of sink marks at the rear on both sides that need filling. The two large boxes in the foreground will sit on the rear hull, the idea behind them is that the Heimdall turreted E-50 would be relaying height and range information to a battery of E-50 Flakpanzers and these would be connected via cable to these boxes on the Heimdall to provide co-ordinated fire on the target.
Again this is well into the 'What-if' category and never existed, for me it's just a bit of fun to lighten my modelling mood.

Accurate Armour Humber Scout Car

Here's a couple of shots that show how the machine gun mount goes together as the instructions are terrible;

And that's as far as this particular model is going as I'm thoroughly bored with it. The instructions are dreadful and I've spent far too much time studying other builds of this kit online just to get the thing finished, the model also feels 'crude' compared to an injection moulded one so it's been put back in the box for a later time.

Paper Panzer Productions (part 2)

As well as the Heimdall turret I ordered a set of wheels for the E-50 (PPP35003) as the Trumpeter ones are not brilliant plus new exhausts (PPP35002);

 Although the set is aimed at the E-50 and E-75 the exhausts can be used on King Tigers as well (apart from the flammenwerfer bits).
Paper Panzer Productions are doing some great stuff so if you are into the 'what-if' genre they are well worth looking at to 'pimp' your paper panzers :o)
Find the wheels and exhausts here;

http://www.paperpanzer.com/

http://www.paperpanzer.com/paper-panzer-productions/ppp35003-e-50-wheel-set/

http://www.paperpanzer.com/paper-panzer-productions/ppp35002-exhaust-set-kingjagdtiger-e-5075100/

Paper Panzer Productions

I've been naughty again! In recent months Paper Panzer Productions had announced PPP35025 Radar und KDO040 Turm Heimdall (turret) to fit the E-50 or E-75 chassis and seeing it made we want to build a 'what-if' again. Last week the set was finally released and by Friday it was in my possession along with a set of wheels (PPP35003) and new exhausts (PPP35002) to replace those in the Trumpeter E-50 kit.
The quality of the parts is VERY good indeed, detailing is crisp and I am seriously impressed, being resin they need a clean up but it will be nothing too taxing and should'nt take long at all.
The idea behind it is a TOTAL 'what-if' and here's what Paper Panzer Productions say about it;

'As the war progressed the Germans realized that their air defences were put to an increasingly difficult task. The massive deployment of allied fast fighter-bombers forced them to create a barrage. Barrage fire by multiple weapons had to be coordinated by complicated mechnical calculators. The KDO Gerät 40 (range finder) was widely used, but both equipment and crew were very vulnerable in the open. Therefore it was decided to incorporate this big device in an armored turret. The 5,5cm Flakturm offered enough space for the device and a four-man crew. The cooling of the aggregate was done by an external cooling unit. The large optical device (4,2m) was built in so that underneath a large space for the calculator was available. The maximum range of the complex system was 18.000m. The target coordinates could be transmitted to four Flak vehicles. The timelapse between detecting a target and the first shot was only 30 seconds.
Data was transmitted over a cable. A novelty device was built in the turret, the FUG240 Berlin radar. The device had a range of about 9.000m which was more than enough at night and in bad weather conditions. The device had a bakelite cover for protection. The detection systems could be used in sync or separately.'

Personally I love it! Anyway onto the pictures;

The 2m antenna shown is not in the kit by the way. I've ordered a Trumpeter E-50 via Ebay plus some Hobbyboss King Tiger tracks (because they were cheap) so when it all turns up the bench may be cleared to make way for this project. 
Find the turret and other interesting bits here;

http://www.paperpanzer.com/

http://www.paperpanzer.com/paper-panzer-productions/ppp35025-radar-und-kdo40-turm-heimdall/

Accurate Armour Humber Scout Car

I got this when it was recently re-released by Accurate Armour so because it's only little I've decided to put it together. Not as easy as you think as the instructions are pretty naff as to where things go so if you are attempting to build this as well here's some photographs of the build so far that you may find useful;

 This is where the bump stops (part 5) live either side of the drive shaft on the front suspension;

 The rear suspension springs have a lug on one end that needs removing to fit into a slot underneath the body;

 The two small shock absorbers (Part 7) are attached on both sides as shown here;

 

To attach the link arms (Parts 35 and 36) I found it easier to the smaller 'S' shape piece to the shock absorber first then align the other part that joins to the axle;

 The completed lower rear hull;

Theoretically the assembly time should be quite short as after this stage the amount of parts left is very little and it *should* be up to the painting stage pretty quickly but I've been here before.
I wanted to do the Bronco Humber but that has been difficult to get hold of so as soon as AA announced the re-release I bought the kit. The downside is that I had to find a decal sheet as there is'nt one supplied in the kit and there is no interior detail, just two square holes in the top of the hull also I believe Bronco are reissuing their kit with a crew so I may get another Humber in the future.
For reference I used an article by Sean Emmot on the Military Modelling website as he made a lovely job of his AA kit.

Dragon Fokker E.V/ D.VIII

I've now completely covered the wing in Uschi Van Der Rosten woodgrain decal and after cleaning up the excess the wing will be coated with matt varnish, when dry I shall attempt the streaky camouflage colours on the top and bottom using oil paint. Obviously these will take ages to dry so in the meantime I shall start something else (as you do...);