A history of Airfix HO/OO AFV kits - part 15 - 1973

Another three-kit year!  And what a trio.  First up is the RAF Recovery Set.  This contains two vehicles - a lengthy 'Queen Mary' trailer hauled by a (rather underscale) Bedford tractor....

...and a Coles crane mounted on a Thornycroft chassis.  Both are candidates for many conversions and bodges.

Speaking of bodges, here are some Soviet Komintern artillery tractors.  These use the Thornycroft cab (except the one on the left which is from a Roco Faun lorry) and Roco Panzer IV running gear

It may not be 100% accurate but these comrades seem happy enough!

Next - the Matilda infantry tank.  Really rather a nice kit - though the (largely unseen) wheels are a bit fiddly.

This pair were completed a couple of years ago.  Bendy gun barrels aside they are very solid little models.

And finally - the SA-2 'Guideline' missile kit.  One of many kits I made a real mess of back when it was (as the box claims) 'new' (well around 1978...).  The kit contained a ZIL tractor unit the missile and a semi trailer for the latter, as well as a launcher unit.

I don't have this kit built as god and Airfix intended, but a pair of modified ZILs lurk in my boxfiles.

This one has been adapted to mount the Katyusha rails from another (truly horrid) kit.  Behind can just be glimpsed it's ammo-carrying comrade.  And yes, I know the ZIL is a postwar vehicle but it was based on and bears a striking resemblance to the lend-lease Studebaker.  And that's good enough for me.

Escort Agency

Fresh from the inland shipyard - Butler class destroyer escorts.  These are metal castings by Mick Yarrow with masts added from florists wire.  Paintwork is my usual 'wet drybrush' over a black base coat.
DE 51 Buckley
DE 57 Fogg
DE 209 Lloyd
DE 215 Burke
DE 665 Jenks

A history of Airfix HO/OO AFV kits - part 14 - 1972

1972 saw only one new release.  While an unusual subject it was at the time rather topical, as the M-551 Sheridan had been deployed to Vietnam.  

I am sorry to say that I have never built this kit and so I am once again indebted to Paul at Plastic Warriors for photos of his (lightly modified) models.

I did once own a pair of Airfix Sheridans which came into my possession resplendent in gloss black paint!  At the time the centrepiece of our wargames was a wide river, so amphibious AFVs were highly sought after.  I do remember toning down the black with other colours but the fate of these models is - as with so many others - lost in the mists of time.

More from the Wg Cdr - part 4 - Hind

Here is another of Wg Cdr Luddite's recently completed models.  This Mi-24 began life as a 1/285 scale GHQ casting.