This topic contains 7 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by 
a27cromwell 10 months, 3 weeks ago.
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Been about 6 months since I did any hobby building or painting . I thought I would really enjoy spending all day at the hobby bench when I retired . but it wore off rather quickly and I spent a lot of time watching DVDs and ordering hobby books and kits on ebay . But just after Christmas I got inspired to get back to the bench . Got a box of winter Germans done , a Rubicon GAZ AAA truck conversion , plus I kitbashed a trailer from all those extra parts in the Rubicon kit . Next up a resin T 26 based artillery tractor , 76mm gun from Warlord on order . Then it was the Rubicon T26 , which I managed to build it so I could swap out the upper hull giving me 5 variations of the tank to use in a game . Really only needed to cast the driver’s visor as you only get one . Plus scratch up some on vehicle tools as the molded on ones are crap .
Back about 6 -8 months ago I grabbed the troop box of Warlord’s M4A3E8 thinking it would work with the Canadian unit I;m bulding . Wrong , they never got the A3 version . Oh well I said , I;m sure my Russians would like . Wrong again as Ivan nly got the M4A2E8 versin . Hmm , what to do . Looking through the parts box , I found a couple of Rubicon A2 hulls I was given by a friend . Put a new blade in exacto handle start cutting . It worked a charm , so I;m going to convert 2 to the A2 engine deck , 1 for Ivan and 1 for my Canucks , the 3rd I’ll probably leave as a A3 and use it as a Canadian Sherman in Korea .
Now that I can move without wincing in pain , and can see straight now that the drugs have worn off , I’ll post some photos of stuff I finally finished from the pile and the newer stuff that I’ve completed in the past couple of weeks . the problem is the pile never seems to get any smaller – picked up a Rubicon LVT 4 and 2 Warlord Russian 76mm gun kits this week .
Got the 2nd M4A2 hull conversion done and both tanks built and weathered. Not too sure about the Russian turret crew and the Canadian tank needs more stowage but will do for now
I like building variations of the same vehicle, so I tend to buy Tank Platoon boxes from Warlord or the 3 packs from Rubicon. If the kit hasn’t had a good build review or I can’t find a copy of the plans, I ‘ll buy one to see what my options are. Most times I can find lots of potential in a so so kit with the various bits and pieces in my parts box and inspiration from my library. A good supply of scale stowage bits goes a long way to covering a multitude of molded on resin or plastic sins if they are in an inconvenient place to remove . And remember to think in scales other than 28mm / 1/56 so other plastic kit scales and model railroad stuff can work .
Here’s a couple of Warlord resin ISU 152s and a ISU 122 I built last year . Minor details added besides ammo boxes on 2 of them Those are Mini Art 1/35 scale decals from Russian ammo sets on the boxes , not the exactly correct but the letters are in Russian so it looks the part . The other 152 had tank riders added by kit bashing Warlord Russian plastics . 8 on the back of an ISU is easy , try fitting 9 on a T34-85 , fun times . Most of my tanks have 5 or 6
Still haven’t figured out if I want to base all my tanks yet . It might work well for the more diorama type builds with tank riders jumping off the sides or a knocked out vehicle with the track strung out in front of it . But like everything its a work in progress
Thank you . I guess it comes from being a model builder instead of a gamer . They do say there is a game involving these 1/56 scale tanks , but I haven’t seen it . I just like to build tanks . Started off with Airfix & Matchbox in the early 70s , on to Monogram 1/32 scale mid 70s and then Tamiya 1/35 with a sprinking of Bandai 1/48 , man I still wish I had those kits . Between work and a family the 80s & 90s just blurred by with out a minute , it seemed, of free time for any hobby stuff , although I did end up with a large collection of HO scale model trains , none of which every made it out of the box and onto a piece of track . Another bunch of cool toys I wish I still had . Came back to tanks when 1st Warlord plastic T-34 kit came out . It looked cool and I thought I would build it and add a few detail bits and bobs and then give it to one of the local hobby shop guys who played Bolt Action . But it was so much fun to build , plus you could store 3 on a shelf in place of a 1/35 scale kit , I kept it and started adding more kits to my collection , most getting some sort of detailing , wether crew , open hatches , stowage or battle damage . Hence the multiple versions of each tank . I should probably start another project thread . I did one a few years ago building a trio Tiger IIs , but found that unless someone was there to take pictures of what I was doing and ask why I was doing it, I would just build to my hearts content and the kit would be finished with a before and after photo. Not much insight shared if you go about it like that. Maybe try building 2 drastically different kits might slow process down , I’ll give that a try .
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