Jim Ripley

That sounds very cool Allan . Do you have any pictures to share ? I think  SOLIDO metal military vehicles  would work with BA as they are close to 1/56 IRC . Of course when they were available in stores I was building  1/35 scale kits , the only one I managed to find at a swap meet  is an AMX  13 tank , nice body detail but lousy tracks IMO . Prob…[Read more]

Those guns look great .  For me the hardest part would be getting a good looking  gun barrel / breach built .  A good “cheat ” would be the extra barrels that you get in the PSC Russian 45mm AT gun kit  .  Wheels could also be a problem ,  is there any after market 1/56 wheels out there ? I’ve used Tamiya 1/48 wheels from bits I picked up at a hob…[Read more]

That MG 42 mount looks awesome . I might attempt that in 1/35 but 1/56 is too small with my bad vision and fat fingers .lol  Best I can do is kit bash the kit parts with bits and pieces from the parts box . This is the crappy flat looking  MG that comes with the Stalin II kit , with added ammo box / ammo , hand grips and balance cylinders , to g…[Read more]

He’s got some really cool stuff on his channel . Really love his dug in Panther hull .

Some very easy but well thought out kit bashes there . Your right K98 , some  can be a real PIA even if you done kit bashing for years . I’ve always liked Troop of Shewe’s conversions . Here’s a couple of his photos  I saved from the old Warlord site ( from 2014 IRC ). I’ve tried to cut / bend some Brit troops to make seated figures like these b…[Read more]

I thought the  machine gun came with the top plate as a separate piece ,but I cant find the leaflet with it shown  . I thought it was the late war Heer ( Warlords 1st German kit , skinny arms / weapons sprue )  but I only ever ordered them during the sprue sale for parts so got no instructions .  Love the sub machine guns / MGs in that set but the…[Read more]

Nice work on the SPR figures , those will look great when painted . So you build and then paint ? I paint on the sprue then assemble and touch up .Your VI MG team looks like a 3D puzzle , did you also swap legs on the gunner ? I find the flared tunic on the Germans and Russians makes it easier to swap legs , no crotch to worry about like on the US…[Read more]

I’ve tried to have them as separate groups of 3 or 4 but they just didn’t sit well on the tank so I finally broke down and glued them on . It did involve a few leg swaps to make them fit as  IRC I  mostly used only 4 body types from the sprue .  I  wanted to put as many troops as I could on the tank engine deck   , but 9 was the best I could manag…[Read more]

Sorry to hear you both had problems building  figures .  I think I’ve built 3 boxes worth and I love them . On the other hand I have a real hard time painting one piece metal figures , god I hate them . Love the sculpts but hate the painting .  And it is getting harder for me to see  the fiddley bits too when assembling kits , but  I’ve found a ma…[Read more]

They are out of Poland . They make a lot of not “40K” Marine & Orc parts ( arms , legs ,heads , personal  weapons , artillery  etc ) as well as scenic bases for figures . I’m not a 40K guy but my buddies teenage boys are , and they love their bits for conversions . The pieces I’ve seen are well detailed and crisply molded resin .  The WW2 fi…[Read more]

I have both the Rubicon and Italeri/Warlord kits .  Rubicon’s ammo boxes are not to scale or even look the part I’m afraid . The I/W gives you 2 boxes , and although I have cast my own pieces before , lately my results have been less than favorable  edging towards disaster  . I really don’t want to risk it . I think the Shapeways ones might do th…[Read more]

WOW ! Those look great . Thank you for letting me know about those

There is a Bren  arm pair  on the new Brit/ Canadian sprue , maybe some ones got a set  to spare . Or pick up a Brit weapons sprue and convert a pair arms to carry the Bren .  You will also find a Bren in the plastic Uni Carrier kit  .

The metal crew for the plastic 88 look much better than the guys that came with a buddies resin kit , new molds ?  Not much of a metal fan so I got both the Italeri and RM guns . I noticed that while you get the transport wheels with the RM kit , the drop legs on the gun platform have the stakes molded in them . And the Italeri kit has the stakes…[Read more]

IRC it was the guys from the original 1st Para Division ( formed 1938 ) who had fought at the Eden Emael fort in Belgium ( landed gliders on the fort !) and fought in Greece and  Crete with heavy loses who kept the Luft blue jump suit and wedge cap as a badge of honor after the uniform was changed . And of course as the war dragged on , less and…[Read more]

Wow , those look great , but they’re not the troops I was thinking of , it was a box of regular Russian troops that was being converted . But now this article has  got me thinking about  working on some winter Russians , I hope my Green Stuff hasn’t dried out

Company B has some  in their AFV accessory line .