Hello everyone after a little debate and going back and forth on my next build I decided to continue my Desert Odyssey after my AS 42 Sahariana build. Manny had mentioned the Osprey Battle Orders series during that WIP and it I ended up ordering both of the following books and burned many long hours with web research and learning about the history of both the Italian, British, and Germans in North Africa. I love that theater and cannot learn enough about it.
That being said a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing and I am not an expert or a historian but I would love to pass on some of what I learned to you guys as I go through this WIP. I have found many references that contradicted other references so please bear with me if I pass on any discrepancies or errors.
The kit I will be modeling is as most of you know the release of Tamiya’s #92 kit bundled with a brand new Italeri Breda 20mm AA gun.
The cool thing about it is there must literally hundreds of you that have built this kit so please weigh in with your opinions and any gotcha’s that I might run into. The model is the command radio car with a towed Italian Breda 20MM AA Gun which was highly prized as war booty by the British but it is highly unlikely that it would be towed because according to my research the Chevy 30 CWT could only go 20KM when towing the Breda and the Breda was very fragile. It was more common for it to be mounted in the tray and vehicles with that modification came to be known as Desert Scorpions. I am going to make that conversion and scratch build the necessary changes to prevent the gun from literally blowing the head off the driver. I also picked up the four crew set from New World Miniatures that were molded specifically for this vehicle. I hope you enjoy them because they were more $$$ than the kit!
I have ordered a set of six resin replacement tires for the kit supplied ones from R&J Enterprises for $12.00 which I thought was a great deal.
I plan to use the hairspray technique again and after a lot of research and artistic thinking I am pretty sure I have decided ion a final paint scheme. As most of you are aware they came in a lot of different cammo schemes. Here are a few real world and model reference photos to illustrate that.
Before I forget here a great computer model of the Chevy 30 CWT that I found that makes a cool wallpaper for your computer.
I am leaning towards Azure over Middle stone or Azure over Faded Pink. I still have to experiment with colors. I am using the November Issue of Model Military International as a primary resource for the build as well which provided the inspiration for this build. Thank Indy!
Here are the box contents and it’s time to light this candle!
I was going to ask you which book you picked up for the LRDG. I was thinking there was a Concord book, but I see you have the Osprey. I do like the Osprey books. I have a mini-library myself of much of the armor in my stash.
Yes I like the Osprey series and if you work Amazon and are willing to take a chance on used you can get them for about $6.00 a piece. I really like this one as well it really helped me with leraning figure painting.
~Great start for the project Mr Schnabel . This is going to be a hoot! I Really dig the info-laden step-by-step, but you know that. That MMI article really had me itching to build this myself(of course I’m up to my ears with builds) this is going to be the next best thing(maybe better–with you doing all the work! [:P] ) BTW I just got the new MMI #45 and there’s a really interesting letter(in letters section) from a retired Sergeant, Royal Corps of Signals, statng that the LRDG had it’s origins in the Signal Corps section of the Royal engineers and gives some interesting little-known info about its beginnings
Hey that Mark Bannerman book! I gotta get that. I bought his figure painting book. It was basic. Great for a basic book, but basic. Anyways he’s really cool, and I’m always picking up tips from him as he’s on the Mil Mod site near everyday—thanks for reminding about that book though- Buddy! I’ve read alot of it on Googlebooks, but I’d like to oun it too.
Yes i did find that site during my research and I swear to God I think I inhaled it! It has very good information.
Stephen: Thanks for coming on board the more the better!!
SpacePacker: Cool good luck with your build. The same gun was in the AS 42 kit and there a coupel of gotcha’s. Make sure you look at some real world references when you are cleaning it up or you could easily remove some of the detail and if you are careful with the glue the gun will transverse and elevate and so will the site.
I finished the chassis tongiht and I wore out an exacto blade and half way through another one removing seams. The age of the molds must be showing because I have never seen it this bad. I am not complaining though it is very Zen!
I also picked up some final Tamiya paints tonight at the LHS for the build.
I will be using Life Color paints to represent BSC No. 61 light sand for the interior of the cab and the cargo area. It chips really nicely with the HP method.
The colors for the cammo paint job will be Desert Pink and Azure.
I am hard at work researchign this morning. As you guys know I am doing the conversion from a Radio Command car to a Scorpion so I will be removing the radio but I have a question about the large piece behind the cab. Is this a battery bank for the radio or just a stowage locker or something else?
It’s a spare engine that came with a Verlinden Military Cargo set i picked up fro my Stug III Re-supply Dio. I was saving it for just such an emergency!
Edmund,
Now if you could only scrape seams in your sleep just think how much more productive you would be. LOL
I just didn’t want to hear Indy crack the whip on you. That kind of screaming only disrupts those who do sleep.
Seriously though, nice job cleaning up the seam lines. I’ve had a few older Tamiya kits with some wonky seam lines. I know what you mean my Zen.
Yummy—this is gonna be good. Are you planning on mounting the Breda in the back of the truck? If so, I have a great article in I can scan and show how the modifications were made to the bed to hold the gun and remove the radio…the front-end of the bed was made into a “bustle” storage area…
I was looking at this kit before I knew of the re-release but couldn’t fork over the $100 asking price on Ebay. So I’ll be following along with your progress. For a little extra entertainment while your building, have a go at this book:
Apropos for your scorpion and a very enjoyable read. Here’s a review
Edmund…wake up lad, its time to continue…I’m leaving town tomorrow for a couple of weeks and will be checking your work when I return. Now again, wake up lad…[zzz]
