Dragon Models Heuschrecke 10 "Grasshopper"

Dragon's Grasshopper is a top quality kit of an unusual subject. Only a handful were built and the peculiar feature was the ability to remove the turret to form a seperate artillery piece.

Although the kit offers the possibility to make it in both formats it does not seem possible to make a model with moving parts and a few parts on the crane mechanism for removing the turret are missing. Also the interior of the vehicle is basic, only what can be seen directly through the top of the turret is included and there is nothing forward of the turret or of the drivers position. All of which would cause a problem if the turret was removed, with the turret on this isn't apparent (just). There are a few mistakes with numbering in the instructions to keep you on your toes and the kit also suggesting using different drive sprockets on the left and right hand sides of the chassis. This is how the Heuschrecke is configured in Aberdeen Proving Grounds but, frankly, it looks peculiar. As it is a prototype it's more likely to be an example of something having been put together from spare parts than an actual design decision. So mine was built with a pair of drive sprockets to look the same.

But all these niggles are fairly minor unless you want to remove the turret from the vehicle. The kit is of top quality. There is almost no flash or ejector pin marks. Detail is of the highest standard with panel lines and rivets given full definition. Detail is to be found everywhere and give the model a very crisp appearance. Everthing goes together well without any gaps and the way the hull and chassis have been cast in one makes it a well engineered kit courtesy of wider use of 'slide mould' technology. All the parts of the crane mechanism fot together in parallel lines making it look very neat; worries of the effect being spoiled by it looking squiffy were unfounded.

All in all a top kit and one which appears to be readily available and freqently discounted for £20.

Deathstrike Missile!

This was my recent entry for the Dakkadakka "Nitty Gritty" competition. I had it planned for some time with an old Baslisk kit in need of restoration and a 1/48th V2 rocket from Pegasus Hobbies, a snip at only £6. The kit is a straight forward but fairly accurate model of a V2 which goes together well.



The Baslisk was stripped down and the Deathstrike ramp built up with plastic card and completed with various parts from the Imperial vehicle accessory sprue that coems with various Games Workshop tanks. The rocket was done in a plain black and white design based on various images and the vehicle painted in Vallejo 'German Grey'.

F-117 "Stars and Stripes" (Italeri)

I don't normally makes models of one-off variants with specific pilots/distinctively unique markings, I prefer something more generic in appearance where possible. But in this case I found the stars and stripes quite appealing. Also the Stealth isn't really known for being aesthetically pleasing in appearance and as the bulk of the colour is on the underside I thought it would make an interesting contrast without being intrusive...until you look at the underside that is.

Italeri offer a decent kit, a fairly minimal number of parts which fit together well. The body of the kit comes in two halves, other kits offer the wings seperately which I've read is more awkward to assembly neatly. The cockpit is completely clear, but the Stealth has tinted glass. I tried to create this effect with a mix of gloss varnish and a tiny drop of black painted on the inside, but this didn't quite work as well as intended. As with the Eurofighter, a pilot had to be found elsewhere.

The model was painted with humbrol enamels, matt black for the top and gloss white for the underside. Patches of gloss varnish were painted onto the matt black in preparation for transfers. The transfers were of excellent quality with minimal carrier film, the stars and stipes section comes in a series of red stripes to lay over the white gloss and the blue triangle comes in a single section at the end, apart from a hole for the undercarriage. Further decals are supplied to be fitted to the undercarriage and bomb bay doors, and overall the fit is good. With a priority placed on making the stripes straight and equally spaced there was a little work done trimming the ends of the stripes and cutting to make the transfer run smoothly over the ailerons. Thankfully the bulk of the underside is smooth making the whole job fairly pain free. The miniatures paint 'Bright Red' served as a good match to patch up the odd gap.

The model was then finished with a coat of Humbrol Satin Cote which has rather caught the camera flash in these photos making it appear more glossy than it is. Overall a simple kit with an excellent decal sheet allowing you to quickly achieve a crisp finish.

28mm Ghost

My entry for the online painting competition run on http://www.dakkadakka.com/. The theme for this competition was something 'old school', so after a rummage around at home I dug this one out. A 1985 'Ghost' by Citadel miniatures. I seemed a good choice as it would be unusual, colourful and something standalone unlike a rank-and-file figure. The painting standard was very high from the entries, particularly those from the forum staff.

Most figure I paint only use half a dozen colours at most with black and white to shade and highlight. This used a lot more and came from either Games Workshop's own brand or from the Miniatures range.

Bovington Tankfest (2008)

Part of our summer holiday this year was a visit to Bovington for their Tankfest which was mainly centred around British vehicles. Some pleasant suprises, among others they had running were the Matilda I and II, Churchill, Valentine, Crusader and a variety of Shermans, Centurions and Chieftains. The Tiger I also made an appearance, which was a bit special as it was the first time I'd seen it running. I've been visiting the museum since I was a young child, and the Tiger was always in various states of repair with either the turret or chasis away abroad.


Chieftain in urban colours, several variants were out on the day but this was among the more interesting.



The Tiger, odd colour scheme though, but a beauty.

The Churchill, another favourite.

I took many reference photos of the Black Prince, I was hoping a 1/35th model would be available in some form that I could hunt down. It appears one does not exist, though a 1/72 one does. Closer examination shows that a conversion from a Churchill would require so much work you would be better off starting from scratch. So that's one idea shelved for now.

First Entry: Eurofighter Typhoon

Hello! This is my first blog, and hopefully the first entry of many. In coming weeks I will add some older things, but will mainly be concentrating on new projects. In the past I have built cars, planes, tanks in a variety of scales and cover some miniature painting too, so I expect this blog to be fairly varied in content and I have every intention of keeping it up to date.

Eurofighter Typhoon

I've never actually seen one of these flying but think they look particularly gorgeous. I came across the older Revell kit in a charity shop. The older kit definately isn't as good as the newer retooling, some gaps had to be filled where the wings meet the fuselage and around the air intake on the underside. The transfers with the older kit cover several nationalities but the newer contains specific markings for different RAF squadrons so a spare set of those were used on this model.

As with many modern kits there was no pilot so this was sourced from my dad's spare bits boxes. The bulk of the model was painted with Xtracrylix RAF Camouflage Barley Grey (XA1017) with a little black added for the slightly darker shading on the nose. Pretty much a straight forward build with a nice finish.