A few more bits n pieces completed for the 20mm SCW project - more Moors are on the painting table, plus some RCW Bolshevik sailors - it's all go here, I tell ya!
The last of the trio of HaT WWII horse drawn transport, repurposed for SCW - this one is Republican again
Courtesy of my ace modelling mate Andrew, two 1/72 T26 tanks. These kits were a complete bstrd and I would have given up on them I am sure - even Andrew, who enjoys this sort of challenge, used a fair amount of bad language when describing the building process - he reckoned 95% of people would have given up and not finished them - but they do actually look pretty good once done and painted!
Here is one T26 with cavalry, infantry and a PzKfw I for a size comparison - you can see why this was the dominant tank of the war?!
Beautiful models sir!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michal, purchased from your own fair land (although these were made in the Ukraine)
DeleteNice work as always Keith and well done on sticking with the challenge of assembling the T-26's. Some years ago a friend and I visited Bovington tank museum and you really were struck by the fact that the T-26 did look like a modern tank compared to the Pz I's & II's or the Matilda I. Given it's main gun and size, you can see why it did dominate the SCW; afterall an Italian L3/35 with twin MG's and barely bigger than a peddle car is not going to stop it!
ReplyDeleteWell Andrew deserves the plaudits for sticking out the building process Steve, but I did paint them :) Yes, there really is a size and technology gap between the opposing armoured forces. I don't know much about tanks really but I think the T26 had the Christie suspension, based on the American model, which was edge cutting in the Thirties and used on most British tanks too.
DeleteNicely done the T26 do look lovely 👍
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Matt, they were fun to paint and will be impressive in action - but the assembly process won't be missed! I won't be buying that brand again...
DeleteTop quality stuff! So pleased you finished the tanks.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Michael - I cannot take credit for getting the T26's built, but I did paint them, so I guess I "finished" them in the end!
DeleteThe wagon looks great, as do the tanks. Why was the assembly so fiddly? Was it the number of parts, or were they not aligning correctly?
ReplyDeleteIt was the former mainly Lawrence, but a bit of the latter. The kit could have been just as nice if it consisted of 10 -15 parts, like the four Panzers that came with them from Poland. To be honest, it was almost like they took a highly detailed 1/35 kit and shrank it! The bogeys etc were in about twenty separate parts, none bigger that 3-5mm and assembling two of them took me about an hour and expended all the patience I had. Andrew did say some of the parts just did not align completely and the tracks, which were a kind of very hard rubber (like Hasegawa used to do, rather than the soft type like Airfix) just did not fit. He just cut them into sections and glued them to the wheels and bogeys etc. There were even some etched brass parts which were TINY and did not need to be done this way in such a small scale.....but I think that's enough ranting to answer your question!
DeleteGreat looking minis and models Keith. Lovely painting!
ReplyDeleteThe T26 really looks like a cartoon tank to me. I don't know why, just does. 😊
Thanks Ben - I know what you mean about the T26 - perhaps its the way the drive wheel at the front is so high up, in comparison with the rear one. so the tracks look angled upwards?
DeleteThe drive wheels do make it sit up. But also the way it is built. All standing up straight. None of the skulking around like modern tanks trying to be inconspicuous. Here I am it says tall and proud😊 A bit like cavalry.
DeleteI think its the era Ben - I often think that about all the weird little tanks the Brits came up with in the 20's and 30's
DeleteNice work Keith, you're right, that's a massive difference between the tanks, not sure I'd fit in the P1!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ray, I think I might have had a similar issue with the Pz I! Mind you, I got inside a Centurian when I was about twelve or thirteen and that was cramped enough....and I am only 172cm (5'8") fully grown!
DeleteI do love wagons, and your looks good! They are excellent table dressing, and can be objectives as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter, yes, I have some vague scenario ideas about a supply column escorted by cavalry.....
DeleteI really need some horse-drawn equipment for my SCW crew. Yours look great.
ReplyDeleteWhat T-26 kit is that? The t-26's I have are the Minairons box set.
Hi Greg....the T26 were from some Ukrainian crowd, purchase from a retailer in Poland! My own fault, always on the hunt for a more cost effective option...if I need any more, I will get the Minairons version! As to horse drawn transport, HaT have several sets of wagons, Germans for both world wars, plus some slightly earlier ones...all could be used to add some variety, in my opinion!
DeleteSounds like a UM-MT kit. I purchased 2 of their BA-6 kits and passed along one and put the other entirely in my bits box! So many parts...
DeleteThe Minairons T-26 is a very nice and simple kit; I need to finish mine some time!
Yes that rings a bell Greg. Please do finish off your T26, I am considering another order to get a few of the iconic atmoured cars so may grab an extra single T26 at the same time!
DeleteResults look great, Keith! Nice to have a friendly, helping hand with your troublesome tank assembly.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jon and yes, Andrews help was greatly appreciated!
DeleteNice job on the painting and a doubly nice move to outsource the tank construction. From what I read above it’s a terrible kit to put together. Next time you play with Steve he should get three +1 tokens to use during the game. 😀
ReplyDeleteThanks Stew....I am picking "Steve" is your cover name for Andrew.....??!😀
DeleteDammit! Failed my roll for reading comprehension…
DeleteHahaha.....😂
DeleteWell, there's some consolation in knowing that unlike WWII gaming you don't need to put a load of T-26s on the table: two will probably do ya. Nice weathering touches on those, by the way!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely correct Ed, although I might "need" one or two more....but as mentioned to Greg above, they won't be coming from the same source!
DeleteI like the look of those T-26s. They were most certainly the dominant tank of the war The Nationalist even re-used captured T-26s
ReplyDeleteThanks Scotty, they were definitely "reflagged" by the Nationalists....which is why I might get one or two more (from Minairons!) to give the Republicans a trio and the Nationalists one they have captured!
DeleteNicely done. Amusing to see a horse drawn wagon and tank on the same field!
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Mark....I think Stew mentioned the same thing last time I posted one of these wagons. Of course, the Germans were using horses up until 1945.....
DeleteThat T26 looks like it's going to drive right over the Pz1!
ReplyDeleteNice work as usual.
Thanks Chris, there certainly is quite a size disparity! The Germans must have been a bit worried, pitting their little "Noddy Tank" against a big, grown up Russian model!
DeleteGreat wagon Keith. Your title reminded me of a 1970s summer hit in the UK.
ReplyDeleteHaha...exactly Richard. I thought it was sung by the same Spanish duo who did " Yes sir, I can boogie"...Baccara I think....but turns out, it was a single female singer called Sylvia Vrethammer....!
DeleteLovely looking wagon and great pair of T26s ( even if they were a pain) the T26 was a development of the vickers 6 ton tank I think, the Christie suspension tanks were the BT ( fast) tanks.
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Well there you go Iain, told you I wasn't an expert...in fact, I had claimed the Christie suspension was British....and then thought, I better just check that....maybe what I half remembered reading somewhere was what you have said, so the T26 was inspired by a British tank, but the Chritie suspension came into the story later and on different models!
DeleteThe Christie suspension was American, the Soviets adopted it and so did the British for cruiser tanks and then developed it through the crusader, cromwell, comet and then centurion, so I can see why you made the connection!
DeleteBest Iain
Thanks Iain....I will file that away with all my other "useful" info....I will probably always remember this now, but I struggle to remember what day the bins go out each fortnight!😀
DeleteLovely additions to your SCW collection…
ReplyDeleteI know for certain that I wouldn’t have finished building such complicated little tanks…they look very nice though.
All the best. Aly
Thanks Aly, yes, I am very grateful to Andrew for staying on task and getting them finished for me! I just put together a Plastic Soldier Company M5 halftrack - it had about fifteen parts and took twenty minutes to do - that's the sort of model building I am happy to do!
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