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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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!  

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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?

i have a soviet 8x8 KZKT-537L with the shorter engine bonnet which is open at the back but nothing inside, and very obvious. it was suggested i take the engine from the PLA TYPE 83 SPA and use it. it's a nice engine and, if i keep the access hatches closed, no on will see it on the gun.

I need to get some of that debonder! I know what you mean about stuff that isn't seen. There's a complete lower level on the geschutzwagen that will never be seen. I did the full detail work on it anyway. But if I had realized there was no way for it to show, I might not have been quite as careful!

Thanks, waynec. Yes, I did the camo in full color so I could do a fading effect on areas that would have been exposed more to the sun and elements. Lower areas got spray coated with Polly scale dirt color and so that camo doesn't show up well for that reason. I didn't trust my brushing skills to actually be able to lay down uniform layers on a rough surface, so I air brushed several coats of very thin Polly Scale earth color over most of the exterior. That helped me avoid getting the grainy look of a sprayed on semi-transparent application. I really like the effect, too. In fact, I like it so much, that I am actually taking apart a lot of the work I had done on my King Tiger so I can do a proper weathering job on it!

BarrettDuke

Thanks, Jack. It has been a steep learning curve, but I am really enjoying myself. The road wheels are tedious. Fortunately, I got a lot of that done before I put the KT aside for the geschutzwagen. Unfortunately, though, I want to do a lot more with them than I did originally, so I have already pulled them all off their axles so I can get to work on weathering and fading. I didn't know anything about those techniques when I started on the KT. On the plus side, I used Tamiya thin glue to secure the wheel caps to the axles. A little thinner loosened them right up. :-)

sometimes, like for wheels, i will use white glue initially in case i need to pull them off. ans sometimes, if i think i may need to remove a piece, i will use cya so i can debonder it. on the TIGER half the road wheels won't be seen anway. i speak from the experience of building warwheels and wartrucks where half the kit is the suspension that isn't seen. but i do it up anyway because that's the fun part.

and now green camo take 4 on this damned LCVP. i could just paint the whole think gray but i want to try a similar pattern on my 1/35 VOSPER. plus now it's a battle of wills between the LCVP and moi.

Thanks, Jack. It has been a steep learning curve, but I am really enjoying myself. The road wheels are tedious. Fortunately, I got a lot of that done before I put the KT aside for the geschutzwagen. Unfortunately, though, I want to do a lot more with them than I did originally, so I have already pulled them all off their axles so I can get to work on weathering and fading. I didn't know anything about those techniques when I started on the KT. On the plus side, I used Tamiya thin glue to secure the wheel caps to the axles. A little thinner loosened them right up. :-)

Interesting, Bish.Thanks for that.  I found some good footage of 9's on the web. They were huge. Should be a fun build. I have a Dragon Wagon kit with the trailer, but the FAMO kit I have doesn't include the trailer. I wonder if I can buy the trailer as a separate piece. Do you know? I did some searching on the web but came up empty. There's a web page of a guy who built the Dragon. He says it stopped being fun long before he finished! Hmmmm.

BarrettDuke

Bish, Thanks for a great experience with this Group Build. I appreciate you letting me join it late and with a partially finished project. This is my second completed model since about 1966! I built a 7.5cm PAK 40 for practice, got bogged down on a King Tiger, and then decided to enter this GB with a Bronco Models 10.5cm LEFH18(SF) auf Geschutzwagen 39H(F). I learned a lot with this build, and plan to revisit the King Tiger with my newfound skills. Thanks to everyone for your encouragement and pointers. This has been great fun. OK, now to the pictures. There are plenty of mistakes, so don't look too closely, but I hope everyone enjoys something about them.

looks more like freshly remembered skills. that turned out really nice. did you overspray the camo with a base color mist to tone it down? i did that yesterday on a 37mm flak. first time i tried it and liked the results.

yes photographs will show up mistakes. i missed weathering the entire side of a KV-2 turret and didn't realize it until the photographs. a word of caution AND A REMINDER TO ME, looking at a photograph in a graphics program when you can zoom around will show "mistakes" the naked eye cannot see.

Barret - really is a great job. 

Particularly the fact that it is your first completion in such a long time - nice comeback to the hobby!

Definitely agree that the Tiger build should be easier having a closed turret, but there is a lot of road wheels which can be tedious for some.

regards,

Jack

Not quite, the FAMO was an Sd.Kfz 9 and the one in the movie was an Sd.Kfz 8. The 9 is slightly larger, but all these German halftracks do look very similar.

The 8 was mainly used for towing artillery, including the 88. The 9 was largely a recovery vehicle but was also used for towing some artillery.

Thanks, Silentbob. The weathering is some of the more enjoyable work for me. I don't like how the rust pooled at the bottom of some of the streaks. I didn't really notice that until I took the pics. I suppose I was still not working with a smooth enough surface even though I sprayed on a clear coat before doing them. All-in-all, though, I am pretty satisfied and I learned a lot.

Great work Barret, I love the weathering, especially the rust spots.

That Dragon Wagon and FAMO sound like nice ideas. I have actually been hosting GB's for the last 3 years I think, I do feel that I am hogging things a bit. But even if I am not, there are always some great GB's on here. There are the two armour in the west GB's starting on June 6th. But failing a GB that suits your build, there always the chance to do a separate WiP thread which often gets to a far bigger audience, so there's plenty of scope to share your builds.

You have made a great start on the forum, look forward to seeing plenty more.