More Grist for the Painting Challenge Mill

January 2021

A couple of weeks ago I shared my first offering to the fickle Gods of the 11th Annual Painting Challenge, and as I continue to use it as an excuse to chip away at the grey mountain of doom, here's the second tranche of completed models from my WW2 vehicle park - all in 1/56 scale(-ish):

Challenger A30 tank (11th Armoured Division; 3D print),
Crusader AA tank (11th Armoured Division; Rubicon Models),
Marmon-Herrington armoured car (RAF Regiment; 3D print),
Otter armoured car (RAF Regiment; 3D print),
Lorry (RAF Regiment; Lledo die-cast 'Days Gone' repaint), and
2x Lorries (German Heer; Lledo die-cast 'Days Gone' repaint).

I'm not in the general habit of using 3D printed models, as I prefer to support mini manufacturers where I can, buuuuuuut I've yet to find anyone who makes a 1/56 Challenger A30 to support my armoured recce Cromwells, so I consider that fair enough. The model was printed by a very generous friend and is a little blocky but I was able to smooth-out some of the striations so it looks indistinguishable from a tabletop distance:

The Crusader AA (for the HQ of 3RTR) is a gorgeous model (being Rubicon), and the guns elevate for their AA role, even with the broken star decal on the mechanism... or at least they did right up to the point where I put the final wash on the tank and left it overnight to dry. Rats. Because it's such a thin layer, I'm hoping that I'll eventually be able to wiggle it loose again, but I dread the damage I could cause in the attempt:

The Marmon-Herrington and Otter armoured cars are the first non-transport vehicles I've completed for my small RAF Regiment force and both are 3D print from the same friend. These are similarly a little blocky, but look fine with a lick of paint:

[Marmon-Herrington above; Otter below]
On all of these RAF vehicles, the roundels are hand-painted, as is much of the lettering. Not perfect, maybe, but I'm getting there.

I use old Lledo die-cast lorry toys as transports for all of my British WW2 forces - partially because I hadn't any spare hobby cash when I started, and partially because I love going 'vrooom!' as they trundle along on the tabletop with their working wheels! This is the seond lorry I've repainted for my RAF Regiment, and (although it's not clear in these pics - drat!) I make sure to paint flecks of RAF blue into the weathering/'chipping' etc. and on high-traffic ridges so that the keen viewer on inspection might just buy the idea that these were - in a previous incarnation - sitting comfortably in an MT shed at RAF West Malling or somesuch. It's the little things, right?

Lastly, two [- ahem: 'captured' -] lorries for my Heer. Again, these are used from a habit going back quite a few years now, and in this case, they've both been repurposed for the German war machine with Dunkelgelb, and then at some point one has received locally two additional colours for camouflage. I don't have an airbrush, so it's just sponged on, but even if it's not quite perfect, it complements some other vehicles in my already-assembled forces. And it brings me joy! I've tried a vague approximation of Heer markings, but I'd be lying if I claimed any sort of comprehensive understanding of the German systems, and besides: it all just gets muddied-up on my models anyway...