[Jim Ripley]

I feel your pain in having to have more then one of a tank or gun . I too am afflicted with that malady . I tend to build more then one of something because there is such a variety of source material in the form of pictures , never mind a lot of kit fought in Asia , Africa , the Russian Steppe and Europe , so different paint schemes , crew uniforms , ground cover  etc .   Here’s a couple of examples : PSC 28mm  Soviet 47mm Anti tank gun . I have 12 IRC , maybe 14 . Got the first 2 on sale years age . Loved it was plastic and was easy to kit bash . I have whitewashed guns on winter bases , I have a couple with closed trail legs in tow order and I even built one knocked out , that way I able to use some metal casualty figures

The WG plastic Pak 40 is awesome , will be getting one for my FJ troops . The new Brit 6 pounder is great as well . Just figuring out the crew and have ordered another one to base inside a building ruin .

I did add a few gun tools as that’s what my sources showed . Hopefully the next plastic gun will be the ZIS 3 , I do have 4 already , 2 WG metal & 2- 3D print , but who wouldn’t want more ?

 

• This reply was modified 1 week ago by Jim Ripley.

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[Jim Ripley]

Just received the new British plastic 6 pounder and Heavy Weapons platoon , they shipped early , well done Warlord . The figures are a little smaller in height ( maybe 1-2 mm ) than the new Brit box , pretty much on par with the original 5 man plastic sprue . I always thought the 5 man sprue looked a little off , with 3 of the figures having skinny legs compared to the other 2 . This new sprue has fixed that IMO , they look “right ” , if you know what I mean .  I test fit some of the one piece weapon arm pairs from the new Brits , Commandos & Airbourne that I had in the parts box and they fit the shoulders of the new figures easily , no filing needed .

I’ll get around to  building them this weekend as I am converting 8th Army prone bodies into European theatre troops by giving them long pant legs from some of the old original Brit plastics .

Only negative on the new kits : they both could use loose ammo boxes . You get 2 per mortar , 1 on the ground , 1 being carried . The Vickers has the same , 1 with a belt and 1 carried . Not enough in my opinion . The 6 pounder gives you 2  closed metal boxes , would like to have seen a few more plus one molded with an open lid . Hopefully one of those 3D print aftermarket guys will fill the gap . I have got some 1/56 German ammo , 75mm Pak and 88mm Flak  sets in resin from Frontline Games , maybe they’ll branch out into Allied ammo

[Jim Ripley]

I pre ordered both the Pak 40 & the Heavy Weapons box . A little pricey for what you get but nice models . Nice having ammo boxes for the weapons as well as both left and right hands carrying them included .  Having both boxes  , I ended up with 16 crew figures ( 4 sprues of 4 ) , by adding extra troops from the parts box I was able to make a 5 man crew for the Pak and 3 man crews for all 4 MGs , both mortars and both Panzerschrecks .Still have lots of arms left over to sort into the parts box . Hopefully both the crew & weapons  sprues will be available during the next half price sprue sale . My only negative comment is that the Panzerschreck loader has the round in his left hand , making it weird to load the weapon if he’s kneeling behind the gunner , which in pictures he usually is .  I sometimes wonder if the guys designing these actually look at period photos to see how things were done . And don’t get me started on machine gun ammo cans and artillery ammo boxes that look nothing like the real thing . Thank goodness for 3D printers

 

• This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by Jim Ripley.

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[Jim Ripley]

Just picked up the newish Warlord resin Winter British Vickers MG & a 3 inch mortar . The figures , while nicely sculpted are on the small side . I even added a camo mesh  covered plastic helmet to a figure by just gluing it on top of molded helmet , another bare head figure got a plastic helmet as well . While basing the 3 man mortar crew I wanted to add a 4th figure , the new Brit/Canadian plastics are too big , so I dug out one of the original plastic Brits ( 5 figure sprue ) , he also is bigger than the resin guys but not as bad as the B/C guys  so he’ll have to do . And don’t get me started on the Vickers loader , sitting there like he’s seated in a car , holding an ammo belt , not kneeling beside the gunner , feeding a belt from an ammo box . Come on Warlord , let’s try to make things look realistic

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[Jim Ripley]

I often ask myself that question as 2 of the 3 I built are mine . I ended up building one with a bunch of FJ tank riders  and built the other as knocked out . Still haven’t figured out how to replicate the rear casement doors open , so just tacked the panel in place , might get around to it one day . Missing small parts are probably just a symptom of someone not caring and yanking the sprues out of the mold . Its the partial molded pieces which is the real PIA . I’ve probably built over 100 Warlord plastic vehicles and except for the missing Jagdtiger bow guns I’ve only had one Stalin tank with a small “bite” out of the lower hull tub . Easy enough to fix as the road  wheels and suspension arms are a full side piece which covered it up . We won’t go into the problems that show up on some of the Resin vehicles here …..

[Jim Ripley]

Sorry Lee , that rifle  is part 34 and has a bayonet folded against the barrel, not part 36 . Its got to be a short shot or a really tight mold gate which snaps the part off , as I’ve had 7 sprues with the same problem . There are 2 other rifles with extended bayonet per sprue so if you have platoon box you could figure it out with a little surgery and super glue . And speaking of missing parts , I’ve built 3 of the Warlord plastic Jagdtigers , all were missing the bow machine . Nothing in the sealed bags so it broke on when the plastic came out of the mold I guess . Lucky I have a deep parts box with spares from WG & Rubicon kits . Still bloody annoying though

• This reply was modified 5 months ago by Jim Ripley.

[Jim Ripley]

Well it seems to be a QC problem , as a sprue I’ve just received from a online seller  ( 4 months after I got my 1st box ) is also missing the bayonet on the same part . Come on Warlord , sort it out

[Jim Ripley]

That would work , I just didn’t feel like messing around that much when the Warlord plastics were easier arm swaps , just remember to have the same cuff on both arms .

[Jim Ripley]

I wasn’t that keen on the Victrix Germans when I got them . Very nice detail , loved the heavy weapons sprue , and although you could have 3 or 4 arm versions per body , you couldn’t use all the arms on all 10 body styles , at least that’s the way it seemed to me . So I passed the kit off to one of my fiends , who’s quite happy with it . To each there own I guess . I’ll stick to the Warlord plastics for my kit bashing , although I do have some RKX files to have printed of multi part late war Germans and Canadians , I’m hoping the bodies and arms are compatible with my plastics

[Jim Ripley]

Yea they do look a little plumper than the original plastics . I guess a few  sprinkled amongst a squad would look OK if the weapons are of comparable size . I wonder how they are height wise ? They look taller than the originals . And as there are only a few heads on that sprue , there is probably a separate smaller head / base sprue like the new Ivans . Will still probably get 1 box …..I think I need an intervention

[Jim Ripley]

Thanks guys . Found the one I was thinking of , a small boat with a 4 man crew from Black Tree Design . But that larger Barrage Miniatures boat and crew looks good as well . If I can figure out aa realistic water base for the BT one , I think more boats will be in my hobby future next year

[Jim Ripley]

One thing I like  to do , is open up the hatches that are molded closed . A lot of the newer kits are staring to have separate hatch covers but the older stuff is sadly lacking .

• This reply was modified 8 months, 1 week ago by Jim Ripley.

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[Jim Ripley]

Cool .  I did something similar converting the Puma to a 234/3 with the  Warlord 251/9 sprue they always seem to have on a half price sale . In fact I grabbed all those 251 sprues on a “just might need it one day ” kind of thing

• This reply was modified 8 months, 1 week ago by Jim Ripley.

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[Jim Ripley]

You’re right  , generic is boring . I’ve always wondered why Warlord’s resin vehicles have molded on stowage as opposed to separate stowage so you can place it where you like , or better yet no stowage at all , leaving it up to the builder to add what they like . I’ve always wanted to build a beach diorama with DD Shermans , but having 2 or 3 with the same molded on  gear , which is sometimes placed blocking hatches , periscopes or air intakes on the engine deck  doesn’t sit well with me . The same goes for the new resin Priest Kangaroo kit , too much molded on junk IMO . Just look at any period photo of a row of tanks , the amount of diversity in how each crew stores their gear is crazy , from barely anything except fuel cans , to tarps , ammo boxes , personal gear and “found” items like bicycles to chickens . I like the option of choice .

 

[Jim Ripley]

I  built   a box a couple weeks ago , and I like the 2 older Russian sets ( Summer & Winter ) better . While the separate rain capes are a nice touch ( not really a fan of those molded on ones , and the backpacks ) the size differences of various parts is annoying . Example ,the heads are larger as is  the PTRD anti-tank rifle than the one in the original set , but the DP-28 ammo box is smaller . As well the gasmask bag , bread bags & DP-28 drum bag are noticeably smaller than  on the weapons  sprue. I also found some of the arm variations to be silly , who needs 5 arms holding a chicken or a mega phone ?   I did use some of the new  arm pair with weapon parts on the older bodies but I had to use putty as the new figure’s shoulders are wider than the old box resulting in a gap . I’m sure if these were the 1st box of Russians I bought , they would be fine , but I’ve built more than 6 of the older boxes and really like the kit bashing potential of having separate arms and weapons . I also got the new Katyusha , and the 2 ground troops with rockets are smaller than than either box’s figures .  This makes me wonder how the new Japanese box will compare with the older set ……..I’m not going to pre order these , I’ll wait to see an on-line review from my fav hobby dude on youtube.

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