Ricks' Ramblings

[NARSES2]

but fresh strawberries eaten with (sugar free) vanilla ice works

My favourite summer sweet. Apple crumble and custard in winter.

[Rick Lowe]

1/72 Stargate Tau'ri F-302 Fighter  **Sci Fi**

There is a lot of information on the net about this craft, so I won't bore you with it, or reinvent the wheel.

Another Christmas present for my Brother in Law, who is a huge SF fan; Stargate in particular being a favourite.

I was trying to find a way to do something like this, but the thought of getting and translating a set of 3-views into a workable plan/template was daunting, what with all the angled faces.
I then found there was a paper model available, and had an 'Aha!' Moment.
I printed the paper model out and figured out how big it should be in 1/72 – or around the right size anyway, sizing from the cockpit windows.
I enlarged the parts on a photocopier and proceeded to assemble the paper model as a practice run. It worked out ok, and was a reasonable size, so the plastic version was next.
Using another set of the parts as templates, I cut the bits out of plastic sheet.

The central core was from 1mm, in a wedge shape. This made a solid base for subsequent construction.
I made the top plate of the wedge 10mm wider than the lower; this would set the angle of the anhedral wings. The wing uppers were cut from .5mm in single pieces, then scored and bent to get the angled faces; the lower were 1mm for rigidity. There were a couple of ribs and spars inserted at points between the upper and lower faces, for added structural strength. Leading edges were thicker card, cut in wedges, and glued into the gaps. The insets for the engine nozzles were cut out and boxed in.
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The cockpit and upper works were basically a series of boxes of various shapes and sizes, with some planked card as detail in a couple of the intake areas. The cockpit part was clad in .5mm to define the inset windows. The underside Pyramid used the same technique.
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The engines were more boxes and the exhaust mountings from tube; the actual nozzles were made from sections of tube, 1/35 oil barrels and toothpaste tube caps. The central rocket unit was from various scrap bits and detailing. Fins, again from sheet.
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The model was sprayed in a rattlecan primer grey which looked about right to me. I didn't put any markings on, both because I didn't have any grey script/stars and bars, and because I'm not convinced they carried markings in the show. The paper model certainly didn't sport any.

I scratchbuilt 6 missiles from tubing and kit runner, with .25mm fins and mounted them on scratch pylons. (Yes I know they only carry 4 in the show, but there was all that wing area that needed filling up and 6 are better that 4, right?) Markings on the missiles are transfer stripes.
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The base is a piece of MDF, with knitting needle supports mounting into tubing I set into the base and rear of the model.
The base is sprayed black and detailed with printouts of a couple of patches from the show, glued on.

[Rick Lowe]

And some completed shots
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[Rick Lowe]

Apple crumble and custard in winter.

Yeessss!

[NARSES2]

Neat work on the Stargate job Rick 

[Rick Lowe]

Thanks, Chris.

[Rick Lowe]

1/35 Israeli M50 Sherman pillbox **Real World**

"Honourable Retirement"

A number of these tanks were used as fixed position pillboxes to defend Kibbutz, predominantly in Northern Israel along the Jordanian and Lebanese borders, in the 1980s.
Some were driven into dug out positions, others were merely parked in place and had concrete blocks stacked around them.
They were used as parts of defensive networks.
Some had the engines removed and a small generator installed to drive the hydraulics and electrics. Access was usually via either the tank hatches or a tunnel running up to the rear engine hatch.

Back when the Dragon M51 Super Sherman kit first came out, it also included most of the parts for the earlier M50 turret.
When I sold my kit on, I asked the buyer whether they might let me have the spare turret; they were agreeable and the project was more easily achievable.
The odd part had to be cobbled up but most of it was already there.
I used an old Italeri hull and glued it to a base.
I replaced the engine deck with a flat plate and built an exhaust for the generator.

Foam blocks were used for the shape of the groundwork and plaster applied over this.
Sand was glued on, with odd scatterings of kitty litter.
Paint was a mix I made of 50/50 Tamiya Panzer Yellow and Light Grey.
The groundwork base colour was also used as camouflage on the tank and other colours drybrushed over the lot.

Main reference was "Israeli Armoured Vehicles, the first 50 years" by John Myszka; well worth a look, if you can track down a copy.
Others were a series of articles by Vasco Barbic in UK Military Modelling from the 1980s

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[Rick Lowe]

And another couple that wouldn't quite fit.

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[NARSES2]

Neat build Rick 

[Rick Lowe]

Cheers, Chris.

[Wardukw]

The M50 turned out sweet mate..a bunker with a barrel   
Specking as a fan of the M50 /M51 family this one I like 👍 👌

[Rick Lowe]

Cheers, Phill. 

[kerick]

Great job on the pillbox!

[Old Wombat]

Nice!

My biggest concern with this type of buried-tank anti-tank pillbox is getting out when the bad guys get too close.

Two options, I suppose; fight to the end or run away early.

[NARSES2]

Nice!

My biggest concern with this type of buried-tank anti-tank pillbox is getting out when the bad guys get too close.

Two options, I suppose; fight to the end or run away early.

If they were planed rather then an emergency set-up, then I suppose you could have a tunnel from the tanks underbelly escape hatch (if it had one) to enable the crew to get out of there ?