Three further kits were released in 1962 - The 'Stalin tank', 'Assault Gun' and 'Tank Transporter'.
Staring off with the 'Stalin', this is in fact a JS-3 heavy tank. Apart from the turret being the wrong shape this isn't a bad model, and the wheels provide much conversion fodder. I built my first (long since departed) JS-3 in the late 1970s - for some reason I remember painting it grey! The photos show my current JS-3 which has had it's turret replaced with a rather more accurate resin casting.
Next up is the '75mm Assault Gun' - which as we now all know is actually a StuG III. Given it's age this is a remarkably nice kit with much conversion potential. This is a kit I never owned until the 1990s, having missed out on it in the 70s.
This is an old model which came out of JR's attic (see previous postings on the subject!). I painted it, after making some repairs - including replacing the broken gun barrel with one from the Airfix PAK40 kit.
Another StuG III - this time with a 'clothesline' radio antenna.
Finally, we have the mighty Scammell Tank Transporter. As this was a costly Series 2 kit without a single gun, I didn't have one in the 1970s - my defence budget (50p per week) was better spent on tanks!
This is the kit made up straight from the box. It's a very impressive beast, and the trailer is large enough to accommodate a Sherman.Churchill/Crusader - even my based models. Again this is a kit awash with conversion possibilities - I have two serving as artillery/recovery tractors. I also have a few still in boxes - better get them built!
Coming next - the sole release for 1963.
I too was in my early 40's before I acquired this "gunless" series 2 kit
ReplyDeleteLikewise I see that I missed out on the mice tractor part of the kit
Hey, nice painting Tim!
As usual a wealth of knowleadge put down in a single post.
ReplyDeleteI have many JS wrecks that sit on the bash box, the conversion possiblity as you said keeps me from throwing them out.
The 75mm Assault Gun is in front line service with my forces and holds its age particulary well. Rock on Airfix StuG III!
Just chucked a wrecked Scammell into the bash box, The wheels hold some interest, but it is beyond repair.
Great post Tim
Geordie
ReplyDeleteInteresting to see that we had the same buying priorities!
Paul
ReplyDeleteI too have a Scammell wreck in the spares box - maybe this is the time to rise to the challenge of rebuilding them?
Oh I like a challenge, consider me in...later in the month I suspect.
ReplyDeleteGood idea Tim.
Paul
ReplyDeleteYou're on! After all, this is a quiet month, apart from catching up with work after being snowed in for a week, wedding on the 24th, Xmas on the 25th etc. Still, we always manage to find some time for fooling around with toys.
My recollection of the Assault Gun is that the gun barrel itself was very thin and prone to snapping.
ReplyDeleteI repaired mine with BIC refills.
Trebian
ReplyDeleteWouldn't a Bic tube be nearer to 105mm in scale? Just kidding - I don't care either!
Tim
Great topic ...
ReplyDeleteJS3 was my first tank kit.
And now you tell me the turret was wrong :(
Phil
Phil
ReplyDeleteAt the time I built my first JS-3 I neither knew nor cared about the mis-shapen turret. It had a really big gun and that was good enough for me!
Tim
(JS3 turret)It is still a bitter spill to swallow Tim, (damn that Airfix designer who clocked off early)
ReplyDeleteI have "two", black under costed beasts (as they have been for the last fifteen years)
I knew about the Tiger's turret and I knew about the 234's side skirting
And I knew about the smallness of the Bren carrier
But not the Stalin III :(
Is there anything else I should know of as a grown man?
Geordie
ReplyDeleteI apologise for having shattered one of the illusions which has clearly sustained you through life! I hardly know how to tell you about Santa...
Tim
I've built the StuG myself recently, and it's a very nice kit. The gun is a smidge weak but so far it's in perfet condition.
ReplyDeleteThe Scammal truck might be pressed into service as an engineering vehicle at some point, it looks like a sturdy rig.
Of course, even at 26, I still prefer things with guns....
Arquinsiel
ReplyDelete26? You've plenty of time. I didn't develop the principle "You can never have too many lorries" until I was in my early 30s.
Tim
I'm but a wee nipper really. I've been at this wargaming lark seriously for about seventeen years now, with a technical start twenty-two-ish years back. It was pretty early on in my Games Workshop days that I realised that "fast" == "good" and "transports" == "fast", so vehicles with cargo capacity of some form have always been a priority.
ReplyDeleteThen getting into Battletech resulted in all kinds of insanity, messing around with construction rules to drop obscene numbers of suicide-infantry from space.
A great game for teaching just how important transport and logistics really is is the old FASA Succession Wars board game. It's like Risk but your "battalions" (regiments here) require ship transportation to move and there are potential tradeoffs to consider for hurrying along any given invasion in any one area. Highly recomended if you can find a copy lying around, or have somewhere to download a "totally legit and legally sourced" digital copy.
Arquinsiel
ReplyDeleteI'm afrid I have something of an aversion to any games involving goblins or spacemen - but each to their own. The Scammell definitely counts as 'transport' but not really 'fast'. Apparently it had a top speed of around 20mph!
Tim
"Fast" is a relative term, it's faster to use a Scammell to move a tank across the county than it is to drive the tank and stop every hundred miles to replace worn out tracks :p
ReplyDeleteSuccession Wars is pretty much just moving counters around on a map of space. There's comparatively little Sci-Fi to it, beyond the obvious "future guns" apart from the giant robots. The setting might not appeal to all, but the mechanics are very nicely executed.