Endgame 1946 GB - 1/1/09-12/31/09

Sounds good JMart. I have changed your build to the Ausf. G. And thanks for the little history about the steel wheeled Panthers. I thought a good many Ausf. G's had steel wheels. The IR gear and splinter camo sound cool too. I actually plan to put IR gear on my King Tiger II as well.

RBaer; Russ, the Marines actually put 18 inch GE spotlights on some M46 Pattons during Korea. It would be a good alternative to IR gear. Another thing to consider, with the Germans developing IR gear for their tanks, there would have been more German tanks on the prowl at night. The Army and Marines were starting to field their early IR scopes at the end of the war but I think they only saw use in the Pacific and later in Korea and Vietnam. These were called the Sniperscope and the Snooperscope. Now with the IR lamp provided, these were only effective to about 200 yards, maybe 300 yards max depending on conditions. But with a larger lamp of lets say 18 inch, the range would be better. It was reported that these devices significantly decreased the danger of Japanese infiltrators at night. The Russians also recieved some of these through the Lend-Lease program. If the threat of German tanks at night became great enough, I would think that the Americans and Russians would have adapted these systems to work on tanks as well. No doubt the M26 would have recieved this treatment. Either the spotlight or IR gear would look cool though. Here are some pics of the Pattons with the spotlight and some of the Sniperscope/Snooperscope.

This one shows the mounting brackets.

Sniperscope on M3 carbine:

Sniperscope on T3 carbine:

Snooperscope:

Brendan, thanks for the pics. That's kind of what I had in mind for a "white" light. I was mainly curious if the brightness of a white light pointed at an IR setup would "blind" the IR gear. The sniper scopes were "low-light" setups that would definitely be disabled if hit with bright light, possibly blinding the user as well....

I may see if I can hunt up a pic or two of early US IR gear.....that would be a nice twist. Otherwise I think I'll do a regular "white" light similar to that used in Korea.

No problem Russ. Glad to be of help. A thing to remember though. Infrared is an "Active" night-vision when the current ambient light NVDs are "Passive". A very bright light will blackout a "Passive" NVD and possibly momentarily blind the user, especially the early stuff. I am not real certain about infrared. My understanding about it is that all light has infrared in it. The IR lamps only projected infrared light which, of course, is invisible. A regular light would enhance the image, but I think that a light above a certain brightness would burn out the IR detector or something in the IR device. Definitely do some more research. Another possibility would be to mount a "white" light and then mount just a IR scope for the commander. The commander would look through the scope, and if any German's had an IR lamp on which would be very noticable(one major minus with IR gear and the reason no modern military uses it), the commander could direct the gunner, "light up" the target, and destroy it.I also saw some were that the US put some IR gear on either Pershings or Pattons I think under a project named "Leaflet II". Might be able to find something out about that.

It took a fair amount of Milliput to fair in the tail section and the edges of the new landing gear bay.

After some considerable test fitting and sanding the first engine pod is attached, still need some fine fill along the seam to repair some chips that were there right out of the box. Fortunately the other engine pod does not have the same chipping.

Very nice Matt! It seems to be fitting together without many problems.

LOL, that's cause you only get to see the done picture.

Matt,

Lookin good so far Can't wait to see some paint on there!

Deep into PSR right now (putty-sand-repeat) and still have at least one or two more rounds before I get the finish I'm looking for but it is coming along.

some progress on the e-25, will get pics up soon

She's up on her legs. I'm hoping that I'm done puttying but the primer will tell the final story.

 

Looking good Swanny

Awesome Matt! Looking very good.

Helga likes shiney

Only about four more top colors to go.

That's one good looking plane.

Some girls like to add highlights, not Helga - she goes in a different direction.

That is looking awesome Matt! The NMF really looks good. Keep it up!

another great "swammy" production! Thanks matt

Stop it Swanny!

 

You are making us look bad here :)

 

Seriously though. That looks awesome. I wish I could do something like that.

 

BTW, just a thank you to ya. Your site is the greatest reference I have found anywhere. I use most of your tips and tricks. I made one of your paint cans using a respirator too. :) 

 

 

I have a 1/35 Dragon Panther F ready to be unboxed and built, can I get in on this one?  It's my first GB!

Matt,

She looks great! Very sinister looking kinda like the F117.

Look forward to more updates.

 

atomicrob wrote:

I have a 1/35 Dragon Panther F ready to be unboxed and built, can I get in on this one?  It's my first GB!

Yes you can! Welcome to your first GB. Glad to have you aboard. I will put you down for the Panther F.

Well, getting the flu isn't all bad, I got the basic assembly done on the M26, pretty much all the OOB stuff and all I can do at the kitchen table. Now it's off the the model room for stowage and some kind of big spot light on the mantlet. I have an Academy M51 for parts that will probably contribute the light, and this thing needs a 30 cal for the loader, maybe for the commander as well. Not sure if the drivers' hatches will be populated yet, so they're still off. I also modded the rear fenders, since these would certainly have been a casualty of any unban use.

Sorry about the cluttered background, still need to set up a clean photo area.....

 

That's looking pretty sharp, what are you using for snow?

Can I join with Pegasus' 1/48 Me 262?

Nice job on the HS Swanny.

Karl

KJ200 wrote:

Can I join with Pegasus' 1/48 Me 262? Nice job on the HS Swanny. Karl

Yes! You are on the list for a 1/48 Pegasus Me-262.

Looking good Russ. Hope the flu doesn't have you too under the weather. Keep up the good work and get well!

Warhammer, thanks.

I picked this up last week, with a view to doing something a little different. It dosn't have much in the way of parts, and is fairly crude, but armed with a spares box full of goodies I want to see what I can do with this kit.

First order of business was to fill most of the panel lines, as the kit ones are quite heavy, and the 262 had most of it's panel joints puttied smooth.

Checking out the rear stabs showed a short shot on one of the trim tabs, so I cut back and CA'd in a piece of plastic card which I then sanded to the contour of the wing.

The pit is pretty basic as is, not even having a control column! So I added one made from something I found in the spares box, possibly from Monogram's old F106, as well as some backs to the instruments, and cables as this area is highly visible on 262s.

I also added a few extra dial faces to the front of the IP.

As you can see the attachment points for the two fuselage halves are pretty substantial! You can also see the total lack of detail in the U/C bay, one area I won't be touching as this is definitely going to be a shelf sitter.

Primer is already on the interior areas, ready for a coat of silver and RLM 66.

Karl

Klaus says 'fighter jets are good for picking up chicks'

That thing is sick Matt! Very well done. The conversion turned out very nice and the finish is as well. Another great build by Swanny!

I might have to get myself one of those now. BTW, how did the fuselage of the Dragon 262 fit together? Any problems?

The Dragon parts went together just fine. All the work was in mating the Antares stuff to the Dragon stuff as it was not made for this particulare kit. If you are going to attempt this conversion you might want to use a Tamiya donor.

Ok. Thanks Matt. When I get ready to do this, I will probably get the Tamiya then. Once again, great job!