Carrying on across the desert

 

While I was sorting out crews for my other British Bren Carriers it seemed appropriate to do the same for this pair.  I actually painted these a couple of years ago but they remained crewless until recently.  Drivers and gunners are cut-about Airfix 8th Army figures, the back-seater is Deetail.

Not so Lone Stars

 

More Lone Star Bren Carrier fettling now.  These really are charming little diecasts and tatty examples can still be found for under a Fiver.  Tatty is of course good, as even the smartest will need some paint.  All of these had a going over with a dark olive green, but first came the issue of crew figures.  These chaps are a combination of cut-about Airfix, Deetail and Lone Star figures - the latter from a peculiar tinplate amphibian.  I didn't want the toy (since passed on to one of the Little Cold Wars faithful) but the six hard plastic seated figures were a great find.  Two of the carriers are indeed sporting Bren Guns, while the others have bodged up Vickers Guns.  The figures were cut to fit and glued into place.  Then came painting.  Finally a coat of varnish finished them off.

Para Carrier

Following the successful refurbishment of a pair of Lone Star diecast Carriers for Soviet service (Link) I dug out more.  This one was acquired complete with the (so I’m told) very rare metal Para crew.  The carrier needed a full repaint but for the crew I confined myself to repairing the existing paint - though I decided I couldn’t live with the grey helmets.  I also added length the the MG barrel with a piece of wooden cocktail stick. Going by the ammo belt this is intended to represent a Vickers gun. Decals and serial numbers finished it off. 

Carrying on

I’m a big fan of the old diecast Lone Star Bren Carriers.  Some time ago I picked up a few with an assortment of crew figures and recently I decided to sort a couple out as a present (lucky them!) for my 54mm WW2 Sovs.  I gave them a rough coat of green paint - just enough to cover all the bare metal areas. The running gear can be much improved by painting it all black and then picking out the wheels and suspension units in the same green.  A bit of gunmetal on the tracks completed the painting.  The crew figures are hard plastic and look more USA than USSR, but as usual a bit of paint makes all the difference.  DP machine guns were added, along with Soviet markings - a combination of decals and paint.  A coat of gloss varnish finished them off.