2023 - A Year in Review

A respectable 7 completions this year. Same as last year.  The tally this year was 2 jets, 2 World War II Props and 3 pieces of armour.  The last one got across the line on the 24th December

One highlight was completing the Special Hobby Viggen.  This was one subject I have really wanted to add to cabinet for a long time. It was a bit of slog but I'm happy with the result and it should be appearing in a magazine in 2024.

Onto the images.  If you want more on any of the builds the title is a link to the build.

1/48 Kinetic BAe Harrier Gr.3 - No IV (AC) Sqn Royal Air Force

Depicted as aircraft XZ997 / V from No IV (AC) Sqn Royal Air Force RAF Gutersloh, West Germany, 1992.

I have always liked the look of the Harrier Gr.3 with the LRMTS nose. So I was happy when Kinetic finally released that variant.  

1/48 Tamiya T-55

Depicted as generic tank from a Middle Eastern Army.  I wanted to do something other than an all green Warsaw Pact machine.  In the end I went for a generic vehicle using a lot of images found online of other peoples models and actual machines.  I also used Martin Kovac's (Uncle Nightshift) build of the T-55 as inspiration.

This model won it's categories at the 2023 Scale Model Show and ScaleACT 2023.  Needless to say I was pretty happy with the results.

1/48 Eduard North American P-51D Mustang - Marie

Depicted as P-51D-5, SN 44-13298, flown by Capt. Freddie F. Ohr, 2nd FS, 52nd FG, 15th AF, Madna, Italy, Autumn 1944.

This is my third Eduard P-51D. You can see the first here and second here.  The third was to be another bare metal aircraft as bare metal is not something I feel I'm particularly good at.  

I chose this one from from Eduard's Chattanooga Choo Choo Boxing after seeing Spencer Pollards build online.

1/48 Tamiya Marder III - 19 Tank Destroyer Battalion 19 Panzer Division

Depicted as a vehicle from 19 Tank Destroyer Battalion 19 Panzer Division in Russia, Winter 1942.

This model got a highly commended award at ScaleACT 2023.

1/48 Eduard Supermarine Spitfire Vc Trop - No 243 Sqn RAF

Depicted as aircraft JK715 flown by Squadron Leader Evan "Rosie" Mackie,  RNZAF when flown from RAF Hal Far Malta in June to July 1943.

Evan Dall "Rosie" Mackie, DSO, DFC & Bar  was the highest scoring flying ace to serve with the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) with a total of 21.5 victories.  Wikipedia has a good article on his life if you're interested in reading more (click here).

One of the interesting things with Mackie's JK715 was that he fitted a set of exhausts from Spitfire Mk.IX.  Mackie was originally a mechanic so he was always interested in the maintenance of his machines. He first fitted these exhausts to his another Spitfire. After it crash landed, he removed the them and installed them on his new JK715.

1/48 Special Hobby Saab AJ-37 Viggen - F15 Wing Swedish Air Force

Depicted as an aircraft from the F15 wing based at Söderhamn, 1978.

The Viggen was one of those aircraft I loved from the moment I saw it - jumping out of the centrefold of Airplane magazine in that amazing splinter camouflage.

1/48 Tamiya Sd.kfz251/1 Ausf.D Half Track - United States Army - Germany 1945

Depicted as a vehicle captured by the US Army in Germany, 1945 and pushed into service as an ambulance. 

This kit was built as an entry for the 2024 NSW Scale Model Show's Panzer Tracks Trophy.  The theme being "In Enemy Hands

1/48 Tamiya Sd.kfz251/1 Ausf.D Half Track - United States Army - Germany 1945

 

Depicted as a vehicle captured by the US Army in Germany, 1945 and pushed into service as an ambulance. 

This kit was built as an entry for the 2024 NSW Scale Model Show's Panzer Tracks Trophy.  The theme being "In Enemy Hands".

The Kit

• Tamiya 1/48 Model Kit German Standard Personnel Carrier Sd.kfz251/1 Ausf.D - Kit No 32564 

I originally bought this kit for the figures which I used on my Marder III build.  But after looking through Captured Panzers: German Vehicles in Allied Service: 39 by Kagero publications there was a cool US operated half track that was perfect for the 2024 Panzer Tracks Trophy.

Aftermarket

• Some resin bits from the spares box
• Figure from the 1/48 Tamiya U.S. Airfield Fuel Truck (Kit No. 32579)
• The Stretcher was scratch built from evergreen sprue and tissue paper dampened with white glue.

The Build 

Construction is straight forward although, due to the open compartment there was a bit more work than a subject with a turret. 

Painting and Weathering

I first painted the model Tamiya Dark Yellow 2 from the LP range (LP-55).  The Dark Green was Mr Color 70 and the brown was Tamiya Red Brown (XF-64).

All the markings, bar the "USA" were painted on. I tried to make the white a little translucent so you could see original underlying paint.  The USA were decals from the decal sheet that came with the book.

Weathering was done almost entirely with pigments. I have three pigments mixture, light , middle and dark.  These mixes are made up from a number of different pigments of different shades.

Streaks were done with a damp brush loaded with a liquid pigment mix .  Likewise, the splatters were the same liquid pigment mixes flicked on the model  

  

The Base

The base was made from insulation foam. I then covered it with artists texture paste mixed with Tamiya Texture Paint Soil Effect Dark Earth.  The above described Pigment mixes were applied and set with Tamiya X20A.  The Tufts are from various manufacturers.  Vallejo gloss acrylic was used for the really wet mud and semi gloss for the slightly dryer wet mud (if that makes sense).

The Figure

The figure was from the 1/48 Tamiya U.S. Airfield Fuel Truck.  He was painted with various Vallejo acrylics.  A wash of Mr Weathering colour Stain brown and then some dry brushing finished him off. 

Sure, there is no story here but I'm not a subscriber to idea that “the scene must tell a story” in modelling.  I've only ever seen a few pieces that I think tell an obvious deep story.  I just like adding a figure or 2 to armour models as it gives a sense of scale and gives my an excuse to try paint little people. 

Conclusion

This far from my best work but it was a fun little project.  The mud is a little monotone and it needs another figure to give the existing one someone to talk too. That said, my modelling philosophy is that not every model has to be a potential competition winner and it's fine just to slap things together.  That's what I did here.

The Photos

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