A Crusader in the desert - Finnished build page 3

Yeah, that's cool! A very nice presentation!

Six- 38t turrets were sent to north Africa to be installed by the Africa Korps as concrete based turret bunkers, the turrets were removed during early Marder 3 conversions. These turrets were also used in France on the Atlantic wall installations and in Italy. I have studied the North Africa Campaign for 20 years and i have to say no Crusader Mk III, 6pdr turrets were used as turret bunkers. Also British turrets were never used  on there own, the whole tank was berried  under the ground!  how would the turret rotate? how could the crew operate the main gun with no room to stand? What Tactical advantage would a turret be with no left or right movement? it would just be a death trap!

Wow, that looks awesome. And really well done.

Looks great bultenibo! Looks like patience and a steady hand pay off...

wing_nut: peanut butter panzer?!

Thanks a bunch for the comments guys!

Maybe it is time to continue with the Burma M3 diorama project. After all, the work on this vignette started as a practice run for that project.

/Tony

Very nice Tony, agree with the others on the addition of the details and the figure.

First off.. superb little vignette there Tony.  Looks great

jgeratic1

 

 

I have not done a "Peanut Butter Panzer" in a long while.  This would be cool subject.

A very successful project. 

I really like how you varied the colour on the desert ground.

regards,

Jack

Hi Buster!

Here it is:

/forums/p/146457/1558950.aspx#1558950

I haven't built much for two months, but now when I'm finnished with the Cruser I'll take up the work on the M3's again. If everything goes well they are going to be placed on a diorama (that's why I built the little vignette in the first place - for practice). :)

/Tony aka bultenibo

bultenibo

A couple of days ago I posted a WIP-thread on the forum on two M3 Lee tanks that I'm currently building.

Where's that thread?

Well done Tony.

I really like the addition of the figure which gives life to the little dio. Well painted too. 

I also like the little details on the turret such as the lens and wiring. 

Thats looking great, glad you got back to us with this.

It's been a while since the last update, but here's some pics of the finnished vignette - a Crusader in the desert!

Enjoy!

/Tony aka Bultenibo

PaperPanzer

 

bultenibo:

 

 

 

 

Jack: That's one cool camo, trying to blend in with the bricks! Wonder if it worked?

Reminds me of the camo  used on the British Maltidas stationed on Malta. They  tryied to blend into a background that consisted of stonewalls that surrounded the roads and orchard on the island.

 

/Tony

 

 

 

 

Ahhh! getting dizzy... now imagine painting that... lots of masking!

 

I would replicate it by brushing. I recently did a camo with a brush and after weathering, blends in well.

Hi Mike!

Sounds like a great book! I'll be visiting amazon soon! Thanks for the tips!

/Tony

Tony - Itsa great book. So little is written from the Italian perspective. Its amazing that even one armor division was even built with the Italian arms manufacturers (esp. FIAT) producing equipment. take the M13/40 series of tanks, the M3 Stuart, in my opinion, out classes it in almost every category. The Italian tankers had to have iron hearts to do the job in those iron hulled sardine cans.

Mike T.

Hi Mike!

Thanks for the info!

I've heard about  "Iron hulls, iron hearts", but I have not read  it. Is it good?

/Tony

It was the Allies (Brits and Aussies) at Trobruk who dug in the A13's and Valentines that had broken down without a chance for repair. After Rommel took Trobruk the Afrika and its Italian allies manned the same positions. The two Italians in the A13 are engineers according to a book that I have and it was taken shortly after the fall of Trobruk. I have another picture of a Valentine being inspected by Itailan troops. some of this is mentioned in the book "Iron Hulls, Iron Hearts".

http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Hulls-Hearts-Ian-Walker/dp/1861266464

Mike T.

bultenibo

 

 

 

Jack: That's one cool camo, trying to blend in with the bricks! Wonder if it worked?

Reminds me of the camo  used on the British Maltidas stationed on Malta. They  tryied to blend into a background that consisted of stonewalls that surrounded the roads and orchard on the island.

 

/Tony

 

 

 

jgeratic1

Hey Tony,

Yes, pith helmets are associated with any tropical climates, so Corsica sounds good.
Czech made tanks in Africa would of made for a nice change, was seriously hoping maybe something new had been discovered on this, but unfortunately no.

Check out the camou on this one - caption has it somewhere on the Belgium coast.

regards,

Jack

Jack: That's one cool camo, trying to blend in with the bricks! Wonder if it worked?

Reminds me of the camo  used on the British Maltidas stationed on Malta. They  tryied to blend into a background that consisted of stonewalls that surrounded the roads and orchard on the island.

/Tony

PaperPanzer

 

That looks cool... I wonder if that scheme was used in Normandy 1944?

I dunno, maybe ... but here is the forum thread I found the above pic from. 

regards,

Jack

jgeratic1

Hey Tony,

Yes, pith helmets are associated with any tropical climates, so Corsica sounds good.
Czech made tanks in Africa would of made for a nice change, was seriously hoping maybe something new had been discovered on this, but unfortunately no.

Check out the camou on this one - caption has it somewhere on the Belgium coast.

regards,

Jack

Tony

This little dio is looking great!  The balance with the added objects is just right and really adds beautifully to the turret.  Will be looking for your next update.

Jack - Cool picture.  Have saved it for later use.

38(t)s were never sent to Africa because of the issues involved in creating a "Tropen" version of them combined with the determination that the gun tank design was largely obsolete vs. other versions that could be built with "tropen" modifications like the Pz III in 1941-42. The Marder of course is the exception and the only member of the 38(t) family to have seen combat in that theater. The Corsica explanation for the photo makes perfect sense.

Hey Tony,

Yes, pith helmets are associated with any tropical climates, so Corsica sounds good.
Czech made tanks in Africa would of made for a nice change, was seriously hoping maybe something new had been discovered on this, but unfortunately no.

Check out the camou on this one - caption has it somewhere on the Belgium coast.

regards,

Jack

Hi Jack!

Up until now I thought that the 38(t) was used in North Africa. See, you learn something new everyday.

BTW, On a French site I found the same pic, but with it's original captions, and it stated that the turret was part of the defenses of Corsica. That explains the tropical helmet.

/Tony aka Bultenibo

Very  cool work on the base. It's shaping up real nicely.

I think this a great project, certainly unique as a small dio or vignette.

For historical context, the Crusader 6-pdr first saw action at the second battle of El Alamein.  So it's plausable to think some might have been disabled at that time and turned into a fortified positon, or panzerstellungs as the Germans called it.  Some too probably broke down as they gave chase to the retreating axis and would be utilized in that manner.

As for the 38(t) photo, no I don't believe either that these were sent to North Africa other than it's chasis as the Marder tank destroyer.  I can see why some might think the pic is from the desert due to the head gear.  It was mostly likely taken in Greece, a left over from the Balkan campaign.

regards,
Jack

Stikpusher: Of course, you're right! I thought one thing and wrote antother. The good thing is that I manage to get the order on e-bay right atleast, so there are 6 pdr shells heading my way.

/Tony