Completed! - Australian Jagdluther walking tank diorama 1949

[Austanker]

This is a build I have been working on and off on for the last 12 months , I only had just returned to modelling since leaving it in my teenage years and am a member of a die cast armour collectors forum that also has a healthy modelling fraternity , after salivating over some of the builds there I raided the local model shops and at the age of 45 re birthed my old hobby.
I only built a half dozen or so WW2 AFV's before another forum member posted pics of his Dust model build - a walking tank , that was it for me ........

I have been posting this build on another smallish forum that has a temporary lifespan and chanced upon this one , I hope you enjoy what I have brang so far as the project will be finished shortly before xmas ( I hope   )

So to bring yas up to speed ....

Background story

DUST is a "What if world", a fictionary world based on our true history and mixed-up with science fiction, created by Paolo Parente.
The setting is around 1950 the "cold war" where all the superpowers are developing new high-tech armaments, getting ready for a new war...
The difference is that amongst them we find Nazi Germany and their Axis allies, who were the first to develop new weapon technologies at the end of 1944, ending the war in a different way compared to history.

The Aussie twist

In June 1948 a German merchant vessel was intercepted off the coast of Madagascar , it was carrying the new walking armoured units from Germany and other high tech weapons.
Engineers from the 20 Cav Armoured Division have accquired some of this captured equipment and have outfitted it to existing vehicles , 3 of the Luther type walking AT guns are now in service with the Australians , a new night fighting unit has been established to raid German outposts in Libya , the Black Scorpions are now a feared force , no German can sleep safely ......



My build will feature a Jagdluther walking bot from Dust models ( http://www.dustgame.com/products_d.php?nid=2&id=22 ) that has been captured and re fitted by the Aussies in Libya in 1949 , also in this diorama there will be 2 modified Universal Carriers fitted with German and American modern weapons , as an after thought I also will be using a Tamiya SAS jeep that was originally bought for parts .

Kits to be used
1 x 1/35 Luther from Dust Models
2 x Bren Carriers from Tamiya
1 x German 20mmm Flak 38 from Dragon
1 x German Infared Night Vision set from Great Wall Hobby
1 x SAS Jeep from Tamiya
1 x British troops from Tamiya
1 x Commonwealth troops from Dragon
1 x Aussie heads in slouch hats from Firestorm Models
1 x Vietnam APC crew from Firestorm Models
1 x WW2 Unit markings decals from Firestorm Models
1 x decals from Italeri M13/30 Carro Armato
1 x parts raided from spares box

[Austanker]

Flak 38 " Fernwaffenstation "

The story

Part of the captured German weapons shipment consisted of 20mm Flak 38 remote weapons stations , these units could be mounted on a variety of vehicles and be remotely aimed and fired by an operator , the Australians have managed to fit one of these to a Universal Carrier ........

The model

Dragons Flak 38 kit was a pleasure to build and is highly detailed with PE parts as well.
I left off some parts like the gunners seat , won't be needing the trailer or base it goes on as I'm building a custom tower for it to sit on in the Bren.
If you look closely you will see 2 green cylinders where the manual winder handles were , these are my scratch built hydraulic servos which now power the gun , they come off the M113 kit and they are the tops off recoiless rifle ammo canisters I think.





Not using the trailer it comes with and haven't added gunners seat etc as it is remotely operating , there will be a loader though

[Austanker]

Universal Carriers " Dan " and " Jim "

Work on the 2 Universal Carriers , first up I modded the engine cover to make the base for the flak , again using bits of flotation tanks from the M113 kit and a bit of Dremeling / brainstorming  , ended up with this



I've modded the gunners seat so it now sits on the floor level with the driver , as this is now the gunners seat which operates the Flak and night vision gear , you can see the extra handles there in tan , they are the firing mechanism for the Flak and are the gear levers offa the SAS Jeep

The 2 carriers in undercoat after nutting out most of the mods , just have to work out where all the extras like stowage and crew go now , some extra bits added to the Flak , night vision lamp and what has got to be the best fit ever the turning rail around the base which came straight out of the trusty M113 box



The carrier on the left is " Dan " and has the Flak 38 mounted on it with night vision and remote firing , it will have crew of 3 - Driver / Radio operator , Gunner , Loader in rear
The one on the right is " Jim " and is equipped with a MAD system ( used to detect the ignition coils of enemy vehicles ) and a 50. cal with night vision , it has a 3 man crew as well , Driver , Gunner / Radio op and rear Gunner

[Austanker]

Originally intended as spares I got sidetracked and built this in one night , the detail on the Dragon Flak 38's trailer was just too good to waste , I decided to use it a a Command vehicle ( why not ! )



SAS Jeep has had the Mad Max treatment and now sports an American V8 engine and dual rear wheels , other than that it's straight out of the box
SD.AH.51 trailer has been heavily modified to carry a recoiless rifle which I later ditched
Quite proud of this semi scratch built trailer I made from spares it came out a treat I reckons , for anyone interested I post up what parts I used , the trailer is from Dragons Flak 38 kit and was that nicely detailed I didnt want to waste it so I added a deck made from a spare engine cover from an Academy M113 kit ( the angled bit ) , next part of the deck over the axle and that mounts the gun is from an Airfix 1/72 Bofors gun tractor kit , it fit perfectly with no trimming needed  , the sides are also from the Airfix kit.
On the back I stuck a spare tool box from the Tamiya Bren Carrier kit and put 2 handles there from the Flak kit.
The trailer hitch I made up from the Airfix kit and added detail bits from the Flak kit and the Infrared night vision kit , the bracket holding the gun stable is made from bits from the M113 kit and and tiny winder handle from the Flak kit , the recoiless rifle is from the M113 kit ( an Aladins cave of goodies lol ) as well .Tools came from an Academy tank equipment set 

[Austanker]

The Dust 1/35 Jagdluther it is a resin model and I had to use super glue to stick it together , sometimes that didnt even work  
Despite slick graphics on the box and a nice colour catalouge this $115.00 model comes with no assembly instructions , I eventually worked it all out using pics on the web as a guide  
Being a resin kit the fit of parts was a bit dodgy and I had to trim nearly every part , the sprue left on the parts was massive , without trusty Dremel tool this mission would have been impossible  
Detail is not to bad with plenty of big rivets , steel barrels and of course I couldn't help myself and added a few extras ( green and grey parts ) once again the M113 kit provided some handy glue on additions , added a twin 30. cal nose gun



Added guns and grab handles , MG rack on back , vision slots on turret



Legs were a bit tricky to make , lucky for photos online ! nice detail with the chrome piston done in metal



Twin cannons done in metal are nice looking , sprue bits were in crucial places on the cannon pieces  

[lenny100]

welcome to the mad house

[Thorvic]

Some interesting builds in progress there, look forward to seeing how they progress.

Regarding the resin, many producers use a mould release agent that stays on the resin until it it washed off and this can prevent the superglue from bonding the two parts together. Generally this can be done by washing the parts in a washing up bowl with luke warm water and washing up liquid and a soft old toothbrush, however in some cases something of a stronger cleaning solution may be required. (Remember only warm water if its too warm it can soften the resin plastic)

Cheers

Geoff

[NARSES2]

Looking good, wellcome aboard

[philp]

Good stuff.

I have been looking at the Dust Tactics stuff cause I thought it was 72nd scale (my scale and cheaper) but looks like they are 48th.

Still, lots of potential.  Been thinking the "Pounder" would look good with some turret mods and Israeli markings.

[Taiidantomcat]

Excellent work so far! Welcome aboard 

[RussC]

Completely new to me ! Looks fascinatin'

Welcome, Aus'

[buzzbomb]

Nice looking vehicles.

Really like the idea of the trailer mounted recoiless rifle and the carriers look nice as well

[Austanker]

Thanks for the welcome guys 

Geoff - thanks for that info , I do believe my model was indeed covered in some kinds greasy film

Philp - yeh the premium range is that bastardo 1/48 scale , you would think for wargaming they would go to 1/72 

[Austanker]

Working on the dio and painting up 9 crew figures for the vehicles , I'm using the standard Bren crews slightly modified and one of the SAS figures that came with the jeep , for the bot driver I'm using an American M113 crew figure that has a helmet and boom mic , I'm also using just one of the 11 British / Commonwealth troops from Dragon I bought when I was originally going to have another 6 guys on the dio but it's getting a little crowded out there and I do want to finish this thing this century 


Bren gun carrier figure with Aussie slouch hat , Dragon Commonwealth Infantry , M113 driver looks Aussie enough to moi

The dio isn't going to be much as there is plenty to look at already , I needed something with height though to counter balance the bots height , was originally going to be a palm tree , but I can't find a decent looking one in 1/35 and I'm not gonna make one , so I settled on a bit of reliable building ruin ala ancient temple , after looking at Ebay for kits and not finding something cool looking I decided to make my own out of Polyfilla plaster .



I cast some bits up using the plastic molded tray that the bot parts came in , it had a few nice looking shapes so I just spooned the plaster straight into em , for the column I used an old Berocca container , filled her up with plaster and not fully mushing it all in as to leave air bubbles in the mix , this looks like the pock marks caused by wind eroding sandstone me reckons , came out a beauty !

[Austanker]

Operation Glenrowan Libya 1949 - under the cover of darkness mobile units from the 8th Cav Australian Army strikeforce " Kelly " momentarily pause at an old temple ruin to meet up with ground troops.
The target - a clandestine German jet fighter base hidden in the desert wasteland , the Australian troops have a big surprise for old Jerry this time - a captured Jagdluther " Skorpion " AT walker , one of 9 seized from a merchant vessel off the coast of Madagascar some months earlier.
The Aussie engineers have also been busy fitting out 2 Universal carriers with new American engines , German night vision equipment and arming them with a captured German remote Flak 38 , new American recoiless anti - tank cannon and Magnetic Anomaly Detection system.