1:24 PAM-36A "Guntos" (Dorvack) with HRM-02 rocket mortar & CW-27F gatling gun

Dizzyfugu · January 02, 2020, 08:16:33 AM

Actually new pictures from an old kit (built in 2009, IIRC), also with a view from the top since this one is so cramped, complex and massive, it's hard to grasp in close-up pics.

Dorvack +++ 1:24 PAM-36A "Guntos" with HRM-02 assault rocket mortar and CW-27F 'Gatling Smash' (Kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

This is/was a major modification of a stock Aoshima PA-36K "Berlon" kit – redesigned almost beyond recognition. I will tell a bit of the story behind this kit, because idea and inspiration evolved step by step over a longer course of time.

It all started with the idea of applying a stylish "state of the art" fractal camouflage scheme on a Dorvack Powered Armour. Considering colours and such a paint scheme's purpose to break up an objects outlines, I remembered the so-called "Hinterhalt" ("Ambush") scheme of German WWII military vehicles around 1943-1944: a scheme of 3 high contrast colors (RAL 7028 "Dunkelgelb"/"Dark Yellow", RAL 6003 "Olivgruen"/"Olive Green" and RAL 8017 "Schokoladenbraun"/"Chocolate Brown" or RAL 8021, actually a rust primer).
The pattern of these basic colors was improvised in the field – with the result that many tanks did not look alike. You can find many different and even creative versions of the 3 basic colours, with stripes and mottles. Its design purpose was to conceal vehicles in forests, from above, mainly in mid Europe where air superiority faded.

This historic pattern has already found its way on some PAs I found in the internet, it is a classic. My idea was then to take the basic colors and follow the basic scheme idea, but apply it in a "digital" fashion, in a kind of grid that would effectively break up any outline.

At that time I considered a standard PA like a PA-58 as a kit basis, since I just followed the paint scheme idea at that time. And this camouflage idea got even more fuel when I saw parts of the Dorvack TV series in the internet – in some scenes (e. g. in episode 14), Powered Armours with a disruptive 3 tone camouflage scheme (I'd say a medium olive green, a very light grey-green and a sand tone with a very pink hue...) or in overall bronze green livery appear. So, camouflage on such a kit was not total fiction.

You might check here for reference:
<a href="http://de.video.yahoo.com/watch/5808916/15203328" rel="noreferrer nofollow">Dorvack TV series - stills from Ep. 14 & 18</a> auf <a href="http://de.video.yahoo.com" rel="noreferrer nofollow">Yahoo! Video</a>

Anyway, with the WWII inspiration, I stumbled across a certain vehicle while reading reference literature – the German "Sturmtiger" tank. It was an assault version of the famous Tiger tank, only 78 were re-built from damaged chassis. The turret was replaced by a heavily armoured "box" and a 38cm(!) rocket mortar was built into the tank's front – actually a weapon which had been developed for the German navy. The Sturmtiger's main purpose was to crack heavy fortifications like bunkers and to support soldiers in urban combat with building-wrecking firepower.

Bringing it all together, it clicked: I wanted to create a cross-breed between a Dorvack PA and a Sturmtiger tank – or, at least, bring both "spirits" together – and paint it with a weird camouflage scheme!

Here, a spare PA-36K "Berlon" kit came into play. The original kit from the box still waits for assembly, and since #2 comes without decals and its bigger arms' and legs' parts would make the figure appear more massive and "edgy" than a standard PA-36 "Nove", this became an ideal basis.

The kit itself underwent major modification, e .g. the head/helmet with the visor front. Here, American locomotives like the Baldwin ,,Shark Nose" diesel locomotive were an inspiration. The original round front/top of the basic PA-36 kit was replaced - besides lots of Tamiya 2C putty, the cockpit area of a 1:144 F-117 kit went into it! The former clear cockpit canopy now houses a new visor arrangement, and the broad and edgy new outline gives the PA-36 a totally different look, much like the PA-48Z "Paladin" conversion kit vs. its PA-48 "Guardian" base.

Another custom piece is the kit's armament. Taking up the Sturmtiger idea and its characteristic mortar, I built a massive forearm gun from Dorvack spare parts and scratch. The basis is a reversed R6 cannon (the hand-held gun that comes with the standard blue PA-36N kit), its cannon muzzle actually is an A-10A's engine exhaust in 1:72! Inside, a barrel was added as well as a characteristic exhaust ring (an engine part from a Matchbox 1:72 PB4Y -2Privateer) that creates a similar look like the Sturmtiger's 38cm assault mortar's mouthpiece.

Thinking the urban combat/assault task further through, I felt that this assault PA needed another weapon. Smoke dischargers for defence were already part of my plan, but just like in real life (like the German heavily armoured assault tanks in WWII), this PA lacked short range firepower at close range and against soft targets.
It had to be a gun, no further missiles, and so I salvaged a "CW-27 Gatling Smash" gun from a PA-58N kit – a 3 barrelled gatling gun with a drum magazine that is a 2 handed heavy weapon for the small PA-58, but a medium gun for the bulky PA-36 base.
The gatling gun was modified to hold a belted cartridge feed system with a corresponding magazine on the PA's back (which made a new exhaust system for the jump jets necessary...). The gun itself was modified to be mounted on the PA's left forearm, which offers – thanks to the different PA-36K's parts – an even and credible basis to hold the massive gun.

All in all, the PA looks very intimidating with all this equipment – Idelians beware!

Finally the painting: I wanted to stay close to the German original colors. But even though some of the authentic tones are available, I slightly varied them for the kit:

• The RAL 7028 Dark Yellow became Humbrol 94 ("Brown Yellow"). Actually, it is IMHO a good approximation to the WWII RAL colour. Anyway, there were no colour samples left after the war, and nobody knows for sure what this tone actually looked like! As a side note: anything you see today on kits or in museums is just guesswork.

• I replaced RAL 6003 Green (very similar to FS 34102) with an FS tone I found from Testors: FS 34096, an obscure green/olive drab which had been used on B-52 bombers. It contains less yellow than both RAL 6003 and FS 34102 and yields a lighter, almost sun-bleached and worn look.

• RAL 8021 is actually available from Humbrol (tone 160). But again, I settled for a lighter colour with Humbrol 186 ("Brown").

The colours were applied with a flat 4mm brush in rectangular "blocks", so that each tone got a third share on the surface.
In a second step, the colour boundaries were frazzled and fractal "mottles" were added all over the kit – a time-consuming job, but the effect is stunning. I copied the fashion in which the original colors were applied: green on sand, and the sand on green and brown, so that the color shares become about 40% sand, 35% green and 25% brown.
Altogether, the overall look and impression of the "Hinterhalt" scheme was kept, despite the fractal scheme, and the kit looks less dark and murky.
Some typical PA details like the chest box were painted in orange - mainly because the water sliding decals (from various kits, including a Dougram Round Facer in 1:72) were orange, too.

Finally, the whole kit received a black ink wash and some weathering through dry painting in hemp and some silver, and finally a matte overall cote.

zenrat · January 03, 2020, 03:41:32 AM

Wow. That paint job...

NARSES2 · January 03, 2020, 06:02:46 AM

Quote from: zenrat on January 03, 2020, 03:41:32 AM
Wow. That paint job...

Indeed

1:24 PAM-36A "Guntos" (Dorvack) with HRM-02 rocket mortar & CW-27F gatling gun

Dizzyfugu

zenrat

NARSES2