BarrettDuke

I just looked that up. Looks like a really cool truck. I can understand why it would bother you to think there's nothing under the hood. A build that awesome deserves to have an engine, even if you're the only one who knows it's there, IMHO. I thought about leaving the rear doors open on the geschutzwagen so you could look directly into the fighting compartment from the back. I would have had to fashion some kind of little piece to represent the hinges the doors opened on and decided it wasn't worth it since you can already see into the compartment from above. In your case, I believe I'd leave the hatches open if the engine actually looks good in the space and make something to represent the hinges. But it does take something away from the appearance of the build if you do that, doesn't it?

hey barretduke i have pics of the real the real truck. about 20% of the compartment, 10 on each side or turbo blowers so basically a b lock of plastic. may just cut an engine shape pattern and give it some thickness. really not going to see that far into the compartment unless i open the top hatches. the later version on the tank transporter has a longer engine bonnet so no problem.

as for hinges just get some L angle sprue. if you are going to do any scratchbuilding you need to get THE CHOPPER from northwest short line.  this allows you to cut multiple pieces the same size. i use it with angle sprue when i am making attachment points for spare tracks and tow cables, etc. drives me nuts, short trip, to see a really good build with equipment looking like the crew had a 5T tanker truck full of cya.to attach it. 

and 3 workstations in bunker are cleaned up, 2 for base building and 1 for my 1/72 SS-15. only 3 more and airbrush station to clean up. than i can start on the 7 shelf units for the stash.

here is a video of the dragon wagon that I tried to post earlier

Yup, the Chopper looks like a must have. I'll definitely be getting one. And the angle piece would be an easy fix for a hinge. I appreciate it. Thanks, waynec.

Thanks, Shiv. Is that not one of the coolest things you ever saw?!

Lots of activity and I'm impressed.

A change of plans from my point. I really thought I could make a DML Gleaves Class DD to tip the hat to America's role at D-Day. (Did a Polish P-51 and a Brit Cromwell to cover part of the Grand Alliance.) As happens often the real world screwed things up. We're talking a drive across the US; rebuilding a computer network among other things. I think I could have done the DD, but you don't rush a ship. So I brought in a pinch hitter that I was hoping to build anyway - a Heller 1/50 scale L-4 Piper Cub. Doing an L-4 is good history because the "grasshoppers" were bringing in allied artillery with serious effect from the first day of Normandy until war's end.

However, Heller's kit is, I think, about 50 years old and frankly shows it.

Ideally I could have paid eBay prices for the Minicraft L-4 "Rocketeer." They have other Cubs, but most are postwar and do not represent the L-4 version with lots of glass for the observer. The Heller had the right configuration and I had the kit - that's a big advantage. So here we go. Details later, but there are penalties when building a kit that's nearly as old as I am. And it's not going to look as clean as I'd like. But there are still some interesting things to try in terms of weathering and I'm hoping for the best. So, I can't build a counterpart to fight Schnellboats, but I'm thinking that my Cromwell is going to use help against Panthers and the best weapon against a Panther is a direct hit from an 8" naval gun (or even a 105). And hits like that were often the result of the various allied close support artillery planes of which the Piper L-4 was the most numerous.

The Allies ferried artillery in those?! They really were throwing everything including the kitchen sink at the Germans. I look forward to seeing it, Eric.

BD: Lol, the 'grasshoppers' were used as artillery spotters, they didn't carry any guns themselves but would circle the battlefield out of ground fire range and radio directions back to the gunners on the ground or ship telling them where to aim.

Eric: Really nice work, looks like you're doing some sort of streaking on the wings? Looks good!  

ah, "bringing in" referred to spotting for artillery. That helps a lot! A "duh" on my part is probably in order. :-)

Now that's an unusual scale Eric, nice looking build. I have changed your DD to the L-4.

BD, don't worry, those guys with the big guns use a funny language at the best of times, I think its all those load bangs mess with their heads.

BD: I wasn't sure if you were joking there or not! As Bish said I can see the confusion.

Gamera, no problem. I appreciated your clarification, and Bish's comments. I'm glad to know Eric's comment wasn't completely obvious. Though I'm sure the old hands knew what he meant. It was embarrassing to misunderstand the reference, but, hey, I'm not that thin-skinned. I do this modeling stuff for fun. When I start taking it that seriously, it's time to find a different diversion from the real world. And a "duh" on my part was in order. If a person can't laugh at himself, he's going to be one miserable soul.

BarrettDuke

Gamera, no problem. I appreciated your clarification, and Bish's comments. I'm glad to know Eric's comment wasn't completely obvious. Though I'm sure the old hands knew what he meant. It was embarrassing to misunderstand the reference, but, hey, I'm not that thin-skinned. I do this modeling stuff for fun. When I start taking it that seriously, it's time to find a different diversion from the real world. And a "duh" on my part was in order. If a person can't laugh at himself, he's going to be one miserable soul.

Now that's one line I really must remember.

I think there were three or four different small aircraft used for artillery spotting. They had two huge advantages over larger planes for work with artillery - their stall speed was somewhere around 5mph (a little higher probably) so you could come in very low and slow and see small targets that were very close to the front line. (Naturally that meant that Grasshoppers got shot at a lot too.) The other advantage was that some were attached directly to divisions removing the need to go up the chain for a mission. By 1944 the allies were learning that very close support could be invaluable and that artillery (including naval on occasion) was far faster on target and safer than air attack. Anyway, there were a lot of these little things flying around. During Italy they were flying them directly off LSTs via a special deck. I haven't seen that set-up at Normandy, but as you can see below, Grasshoppers were a very high priority item and started coming ashore during the second wave on June 6.

Eric

Eric, Thanks for that background, very interesting stuff. Thanks for the pics, too. I'd like to build a model of the tow truck shown on the beach, that's for sure.

Neat idea to put a L-4 into a truck - would catch the eye. Tamiya sells a 1/48 2.5 and any one of the Minicraft Cubs would probably work just fine. I've been threatening to try a 1/48 AFV someday - I know the scale has real fans. And for a big vehicle I might be able to pass on the 700 part count you could find on a DML. I did a 1/72 Stug just when I was starting to model - the thing really is small. 1/48 would work a lot better.

Eric

decided my green paint wasn't working well with silly putty and, since this was the third attempt, i smoothed it down and painted the entire bow green. have it under a lamp to cure and will overspray the other colors. this has been quite annoying given i base coated my DANA with the same bottle and had no problems.

Still lots of good stuff going on here.

Went camping for a long weekend but I'm still chugging along on the Mustang.  I hope to complete it this weekend.

Hey, 68GT. That plane's looking really good. Congrats.

wayne, what build is that, have I missed a later entry.

68, looking nice, can't wait to add it to the list.

We are almost into the last week all, so hopefully we can round it off nicely.

Looks good 68GT, and you're almost done!

Been out of the loop, since I've been out of the state since last Sunday.

That's a nice looking bit of heavy armor there, BD.  Very appealing paint work!

Nice effect on the wings of your Piper Cub, Eric.  Quite pleasing to the eye.

Well done with the P-51, 68GT!  The NMF looks very nice, along with the striping!

Thanks, Checkmate. I really enjoyed doing it.

There's some great work in here.

 Duke's Bronco Models 10.5cm LEFH18(SF) auf Geschutzwagen 39H(F) is just fantastic (and I had to copy that from his description because I had no idea what that thing was!)  Can you tell I'm not an armor guy?

Eric's Heller L-4 is going nicely.  I need to add a version of that to my stash.

68GT's P-51 is coming together.  Great work!

As for me, this is as far as I've gotten this weekend.

 Sorry for the blurry image.  The wheels are on and she's ready for decals.  I decided not to do anything about the striping.  I've looked at pictures of C-47's from WWII painted with invasion stripes, and as far as I can tell I'm not that far off... somehow.  Since I have several C-47s in the stash (and since Revell just released the 1/48th scale version recently I have one in the mail), I'll be more discerning in the future. 

Meanwhile, some questions for those of you who know such things:

The elevators on the C-47 -- cloth covered?  I'm shading the rudder and the ailerons.  Figure the elevators were too.

The forward antenna on the C-47 is not the boomerang type in the kit.  Was there an antenna there (the one over the cockpit).  The profiles don't show one.

On a more personal note, I've had a minor set-back in my modeling.  I've suffered some burst blood vessels in my right eye because of a blocked vein (related to my diabetes).  My vision in that eye is now rather like looking through a dirty windshield.  Depth perception is a bit shot.  I'm going to try to muddle through, but I may not make the deadline for this one.  We'll see how the future goes for any new builds.  The opthamologist said it might clear up, or it might not.  Here's hoping!

Thanks for reading.

Gary

Gary: She looks good! Sorry I can't answer any of your questions.

Ouch, I hope your eye clears up. I can see how you can't do much modeling but it seems like a pain to try to read, watch TV or anything with blurry vision. My hopes and prayers.

GAF

Meanwhile, some questions for those of you who know such things:

The elevators on the C-47 -- cloth covered?  I'm shading the rudder and the ailerons.  Figure the elevators were too.

The forward antenna on the C-47 is not the boomerang type in the kit.  Was there an antenna there (the one over the cockpit).  The profiles don't show one.

Nice looking build B17, really glad we have these C-47's. A D-Day GB would not be the same without one. I'll use the top pic now and can always change it once you have done the dio, which I hope you will post here even if its after the 6th.

actually working on the 18 paratroopers now. though it might be a couple of months, give or take