A few 1/35 IFV's and AFV's

[GTX_Admin]

One could probably say that they are HOT missiles.

[Ramba]

Looks like this will be a quick and easy conversion for the Marder and AFT-9 combination.  The best kind of kit bash!

It was a fairly quick and easy conversion. There were some very tiny, fiddly bits on the Hobby Boss AFT-9 turret but the worst parts were actually on the Tamiya Marder. The headlight cage assembly has three rods and one oval part for each headlight.  One of the rods was too short on each side so I need to cut a piece of plastic rod to replace the too short kit part.

One could probably say that they are HOT missiles.

Yes, I actually had that discussion with Jeffry Fontaine a few weeks back. He also said they look very similar to the HOT missile. As you both have now said that, I will go with that they are HOT missiles.

[Ramba]

Got the ATGM turret and hull glued together. I am not putting the side firing ports on so will have to fill in those areas. Other than that, just a few small parts here and there that will be added after painting so it is almost ready for priming. The missile tubes and side skirts are only dry fitted for now for easier painting.

[Buzzbomb]

Yes, that mod works.
Are you going the full life extension type mods such as add-on or reactive armour ?

[Frank3k]

That looks good! How would they be reloaded?

[Ramba]

Yes, that mod works.
Are you going the full life extension type mods such as add-on or reactive armour ?

Thanks! I was thinking of adding something to the sides of the hull but not sure what to do. The only ERA I have are the ones from the ESCI IDF M60A1 and they don't really look that good on it. I was thinking of adding the Stryker side armor panels from the AFV Stryker upgrade set but they only give you one side. Still thinking of what else I could put on the sides.

[Ramba]

That looks good! How would they be reloaded?

Thanks!

The PLA AFT-9 has a retractable weapon station with 4 launchers that are ready to use. In traveling mode missile launchers are retracted inside the hull. This weapon station is controlled remotely. Also there are 8 reload missiles, stored inside the hull. So a total of 12 missiles are carried. Missiles are reloaded automatically. Rate of fire is about 2 missiles per minute.

The information above came from this link.
http://www.military-today.com/missiles/aft_9.htm

The Marder and AFT-9 hulls are roughly the same size in length and width. I placed the missile launcher turret in about the same position on the Marder as it would be on the AFT-9 so my what if basically operates the same as the AFT-9 would.

[Old Wombat]

Another interesting build!

[Ramba]

Another interesting build!

Thanks! I am still thinking of stuff to add to it especially the hull sides and also the top of the hull in front of the missile turret. It looks a bit plain so need to make it look more interesting.

[Ramba]

Another what if. It is the Revell 1/35 TPz 1 FUCHS A4 and I put the M242 Bushmaster gun from the Tamiya/Italeri M242 HMMWV kit. I primed the FUCHS way back in 2020 I think and still not finished. I keep changing it around. I think this will be the last change, I hope. I just need to prime the M242 now and then camo paint everything.

[Ramba]

I enclosed the ammo box with sheet plastic, added a thermal sight and put the Milan ATGM on. The Milan is from the Revell kit. I enclosed the ammo box as the ammo was exposed and with the ATGM next to it, better to protect the ammo from the ATGM blast. Jeffry Fontaine pointed out that the 7.62mm coax is missing the ammo box which was not included in the Tamiya/Italeri M242 Bushmaster kit. I think I have an extra 7.62mm ammo can sitting around that I can use.

[Ramba]

I had planned to prime some kits Saturday and paint some others Sunday but a few errands and rain got in the way. The forecast had said sunny Saturday to Monday but it rained Sunday and early Monday. Anyway, after the rained stopped Monday, I finally got to paint today. I used Mig-025 US Modern Vehicles Sand FS33446. It is extremely thin and needed roughly four coats to cover the black primer. Someone said to use gray primer instead next time. I started to feel a bit ill while painting so didn't get full coverage on both kits so they both need to go back out to get finished.

First one is the old Dragon M1A1. The M1A1 needs another coat on the APU box. Second image is of what mine will hopefully look like when done. USMC M1A1, Afghanistan, 2010-2012.



Next up is the Italeri M998. The body and hood are actually from Academy as the Italeri parts were horribly warped and unusable. The interior t needs another coat. Second image shows the one I am going for. USMC Force Recon, Iraq, 2003.

[Gingie]

^ Straight outta Generation Kill!

[Ramba]

^ Straight outta Generation Kill!

Yeah, I hope to get it to look close.

[Ramba]

I worked on the Zvezda Tiger-M with Arbalet RWS a little today. The roof is only dry fitted so I can put the windows in for the sides. I didn't spend a lot of time on the interior because I more than likely won't have the doors open. Even with the doors open, you won't see much of the inside anyway.

[Ramba]

So far, I got eight of the 13 figures done now that will be used with the BMP-2 and GAZ-66 . Right now, there are the four crew members of the BMP-2 and three special forces soldiers. I also got the one truck driver done too. Five more to go. I am taking a break though. I am really burned out from camo decaling those figures.

The four BMP-2 crew members and the GAZ-66 truck driver are in the FFSMC French camo decals. The three special forces soldiers are in the FFSMC Russian Flora summer camo decals. As you can see, I only finished the camo decals. Plenty more to do on the figures before they are fully completed. These are all what if and not any specific country.

[Old Wombat]

They look great!

I'm going to be ordering some camo decals for the Ukrainian crew of my Merk IV.

[Ramba]

They look great!

I'm going to be ordering some camo decals for the Ukrainian crew of my Merk IV.

Thanks!

I have the Cross Delta 1/35 Ukrainian MM-14 digital camouflage decals. Here are some available on Ebay.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw=Cross+Delta+1%2F35+Ukrainian+MM-14&_sacat=0

Breeze from Ukraine also make some 1/35 Ukrainian digital camouflage decals as well. Also on Ebay.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw=Breeze+Decals+1%2F35+Ukrainian+digital+camouflage&_sacat=0

[Old Wombat]

Yep, they're the ones!

(Both types.)

[Ramba]

Yep, they're the ones!

(Both types.)

Here are the Cross Delta Ukrainian MM-14 digital camo decals. I still haven't used them yet. I am waiting on the MasterBox Ukrainian figures to show up.



These are the figures I am waiting on.
https://www.detailscaleview.com/2023/04/master-box-135-defence-of-kharkiv.html
https://www.detailscaleview.com/2023/03/master-box-135-azov-regiment-defence-of.html

[Old Wombat]

Yeah, still toss up whether to have infantry figures to go with the Merk & crew or not.

[Ramba]

No painting lately as I can only paint outside so I am weather dependent. The weather has been nice though but the pollen has been horrible. Besides the pollen, the smoke from the Canadian wildfires is affecting my area. No way I can sit outside to paint breathing in all that smoke.

Smoke from the wildfires from Canada. First three photos are from the end of the street we live on. Fourth photo is from town. Last photo shows the highway into town and no town visible at all. From that highway, the town is always visible.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

British Columbia did that to us a few years ago.  The sky was a nice tinge of orange for several days before the weather finally moved it in a different direction. 

[apophenia]

British Columbia did that to us a few years ago.  The sky was a nice tinge of orange for several days before the weather finally moved it in a different direction.

Yep. And here in British Columbia we had 'dusk at noon' for a couple of weeks. Cough, hack 

[Ramba]

It's been seven months since I have been on here. Time for a quick update. I have been working on a few kits but haven't gotten very far with any of them. I have been busy taking care of my elderly parents and which have been taking up most of my time. I barely have time to do anything else. Also, with the winter here and relying on the weather to paint stuff sucks as I can only paint outside.

One of the latest kits I started was the RFM USMC M1A1 FEP. I am making it into a USMC M1A1 deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan so this one won't have the SCWS on it. I originally wanted the Meng M1A1 kit to do the Afghanistan deployed M1A1 as it includes the DUKE antennas, belly armor, loader's M240 gun shield, blast shields and snorkel but never got one. The Meng kit didn't include the two antenna mounts behind the commander's cupola though. Unfortunately, the RFM USMC M1A1 FEP kit doesn't include the loader's M240 gun shield, blast shields and snorkel but fortunately, it does include the belly armor and  the two antenna mounts behind the commander's cupola. I got an RFM M1A2 SEP V2 spare parts tree which includes the loader's M240 gun shield and blast shields so I am good to go.

This is the RFM USMC M1A1 FEP kit that I am building. I got this kit as a gift from my sister for Christmas 2022. I didn't actually get it until April 2023 though. She ordered it to be delivered to her house and I didn't get to visit her until April.


This is the one I am going for but mine will have the dozer blade mounted. This particular one has the loader's M240 gun shield and blast shields. The blast shields were rare from reference photos I have but the loader's M240 gun shield and dozer blade were common.


I followed the RFM instructions which started off with the lower hull.



I had gotten the Meng USMC M1A1 parts tree with the USMC parts from a friend which includes the snorkel.



I also got the Meng parts tree with the DUKE antennas from Meng customer service.


Unfortunately, the Meng snorkel attachment plate is not the same size as the RFM part. The Meng part is the same length but the RFM part is higher. RFM part on the left.


Some USMC M1A1's in Afghanistan used the exhaust deflector instead of the snorkel and luckily, the RFM kit includes the exhaust deflector. Here you can see one of the USMC M1A1's with the exhaust deflector attached.


Here is the RFM exhaust deflector included in the kit.


In this image, you can see both the snorkel and exhaust deflector were used. Also, both the dozer blade and mine plough were also used.


A nice reference image of a USMC M1A1 in Helmand Province, Afghanistan with the snorkel.


Another good reference image showing the dozer blade and M240 gun shield.


Anyway, I really wanted to use the Meng snorkel as I like the look of the snorkel better. As I said, the Meng parts are smaller than the RFM parts so I cut some sheet plastic to the same size as the RFM part.

Meng snorkel attachment on the left. RFM on the right.


I trimmed the Meng snorkel attachment part to fit inside the new sheet plastic part.



The Meng snorkel now fits to the RFM exhaust. I just need to add the bolt heads on the new sheet plastic part. I have some Meng nuts and bolts that I will be using.


That's as far as I got with the kit.