Munitions Train

[Beano Boy]

It`s time to make a start on the 6 Marder Variants,like those in the photo,plus 2 Armoured Cars.
Then the Four 1/76 Tiger Tanks. These along with the Guns will easily fill up two Trains or perhaps three. ( A Train is made up of rolling stock a Steam Locomotive Pulls.)





This Munitions Train is gradually filling up,and without the Engine,is at present 28" Long.
The List now includes.
5 Stugs,
4 Halftracks
and 4 Anti-aircraft Guns.

4 Tiger Tanks,and 2 Panzer III`s and the 2 Stuig`s.will not be included on this Train. They and the others I bought will be used elswhere. BB

[Beano Boy]

I ought to do some Track. BB

[Beano Boy]

Meandering Along the Track

I found the following photo`s very interesting, and of great help too,because I am no expert on WWII.
Although saying this, I am of course not totally ignorant upon the subject.

I finally found a picture of a Train with Tiger Tanks aboard it,and the turrect is turned to the back of the tank.So to the front or back can be modelled correctly.



I like the little details that can be gleaned form old photo`s like this one ,for instance note the wedges hammered in to make sure this monster does not fly off during the trip. Then there`s the angled wood pieces cut and fixed around those spare tank wheels on the wagon. The cover over the muzzle of the Gun can be seen,and the tanks spare track fixed to the side or its turret. There appears to be a canvas shade above the hatchway which suggests a rather hot climate.



Below this is one train load of German Tanks that never reached their assigned desternation. Both the Cab,and the far side of the Locomotive has been hit,and its front has been completely blown off. Probebly an aircraft strike while the train was stationary. There with their bikes are members of the French Resistance wearing their armbands, awaiting the arrival of allied troops to sacure the train. I wonder who took the photo?



Because of the photo and relaxed nature of the lightly armed French fighters pictured ,I would suggest that Allied troops had already arrived .



An Allied War Photographer shot this scene a little further up the track,and I`m sure that this is the same train,and the picture was taken earlier while smoke was still rising. The Tiger Tank with its turret pointing the gun to the its side,and the open hatch suggests to me that this tanks crew had been firing from the train.

I hope there is no objection to my Meandering in this way? BB

[Beano Boy]

Work on the 88mm Gun



This was so frustrating to put together. Following the plan was straight forward enough ,however the Revell glue ran and melted the tiny pivot pins ,so i could not connect the gun to the mount at all. Pondering upon such a dilemma as this,i came up with the solution of this conundrum which was to make a thicker pivot piece from the plastic sprue and then stick it to the gun. It worked a treat! The Gun moves up and down in a tight but free moving action ,and stays put without movement at different angles. The repair is not noticeable either,unless one actually takes time out to look for it.
The new Pivot is just a short piece of plastic sharppend at both ends. So another Tip!
This situation of melting cannot be unique to me,and I feel throughout the history of this model kit,this has happened before many thousands of times over. Hopefully like myself the simple easy-peasy solution was found,and the difficulty put to rights.

TRI-ANG OO GAUGE 40 Ton Well Boggie

Produced in the 1950`s these are based upon the real ones,and are the closest things capable of transporting heavy armoured vechicles. So this is real antique history stuff that i am putting together,and the rust on some is real too. There will be 8 or 9 of these to each train,plus other stuff too.





German Armoured Car abandoned and quite intact.





The AIRFIX Model of one shown below.



The Sd.Kfz.234 Armoured Car,is a heavy beast, and is as big as the Medium Tanks. A real Gem,of a model this one,and so easy to put together. I have two of these, and have found it easier to fix the guard onto the gun after everything else has been glued in place. This makes for lining it up much better.



The Sd.Kfz.7 Tractor is a whopper too in size,and it will be placed with its 88 mm on a much longer railway boggie.

So another three more models are upon the list for the munitions train. The guy up front sitting down,might seem oddly out of place.



That temporarily pose of mine is based upon the Photo above. As for the Locomotive it seems to be pushing more rolling stock rather then pulling it along the track.

Now to get creaking on more Tanks. BB

[Beano Boy]

AIRFIX TIGER TANK 1/76 Scale & ITALERI TIGER TANK 1/72 Scale

Comparision View









In order to be able to load Tiger Tanks onto my TRI-ANG Well Bogies,i had to downsize to 1/76 scale. So I thought comparing scales might be of benefit to others.



Most certainly the 25 mm figures by AIRFIX ,seem almost the same in size to the one 1/72 26 mm figure above produced by Zvezda.

A slight overlap of 2/16th - 4mm,on each side of my wagon can easily be corrected by the wooden deck that will be laid,which is only a slight conversion that should give me no problem concerning these trains going through the tunnels.
Research reveals that the Tiger Tank was way to wide for rail transport when fitted with battle tracks. So likewise the German Army also had this problem too. As the top of most wagons were adjusted ,to accommodate heavy tanks,the width of the rails stayed the same. Eventually larger bogies were manufactured by the Germans and tanks rolled out of the factories producing them on the rails.



I`m afraid that my modelling skills are really not up to scratch where gluing kits up are concerned ,but historically the photo`s from the period are the real Gems of this topic.
" i agree BB."__________" Tanks.i mean Thanks BW." BB

[Peter]

Here you can see very good the difference between 1/76 and 1/72! Thanks for showing us Paul!

[Beano Boy]

Marder 138 Ausf H



This is the first of many from PASTIC SOLDIER,and is easy to put together . However the plate over the Gun needs cutting out and then resticking back higher to allow for greater elivation for the gun. As it is at present that center plate has forced the barrel downwards. You can see my point in the picture. If that gun could be fired the shell would explode hitting the ground about 40 feet away from the tank. I need to stick the shell-rack on the back to finish the assembly. At the end of the production line the painting will begin. " Top Tip,about the Gun BB."



Every part needs gluing,but assembly is quick. BB

[Beano Boy]

Sorry the first Marder is the 139,and not the 138. To finish off this model i need to find the seats and stick them into the cab.
" Cab, BB?" __________" Well BW,whatever it is called, The seats need gluing in. OK?"
____ "I`ll look it up."

Here is the 2nd Marder below which is the 138 Ausf H





This one was a bit harder to work out what goes where,because the instructions of sorts have arrows pointing ,but the pictures are way to dark to determine just where parts making up the Gun-Mount go. However after much sticking and then realising , OH! Dear! It`s wrong,and pulling parts off real quick before they set up. Finally I got it completed.
There are lots of figures for both tanks,but i have chosen not to include them here at this time. Perhaps later when I`ve stuck them together.BB

[Beano Boy]

After a brief visit to the railway room,I fetched down six Locomotives,along with five hornby Dublo OO Guage 40 ton well bogies,and lots of new railway track . The Marder veriants will sit nicely on those wagons. Mrs B,being tired of seeing tanks all around the computor made mention that i could move them onto the new work table. A table she had specially polished up for the occasion. So as I construct the kits good bad or otherwise they will be placed there upon six shinny rails.

I decided Its the year 1942 ,and even though the lines might be straight,it is a turning point in the War







The Station Master of Honey Well Railway Station,was not pleased. In fact he gave me a wagging finger look,as I took the Loco`s, and muttered " Make sure and bring them back",as he shuffled back into his Office with its roaring fire and shiny copper kettle hissing tea time, tea time. There`s hot buns for tea and fresh cream,with lashings of homemade jam . I`mmm. i nearly stayed.
_____ "I did." See Ya ,BB

[Beano Boy]

My first conversion on this topic.



The Germans took this tiny tank and upguned it,so having lots of parts over I thought I`d do the same.



This is the model to make from the little tank.



The start removel of the turret,and then cut the back of the top section away and shape it into a housing that would eccept the top section seen in the picture. Doing the cutting was tuff going,but finally after the last bit of hacking the waste was off,and the edges were tidied up to eccept the new top section.



The wheel and tracked sides were removed.



New side armour bearing shovels was added to the model



Then the new top section was fitted in place,and as these new parts were glued together my confidence grew because i knew then that i could do it. Once in place more armour was added to the new top,and the Gun Mount put in place with its massive Gun. Seats were added next.



The wheels and tracked sides were glued back in place.



The metal shield was cut and modified to gain a much better ellivation for the Gun,and then glued into place,and the metal bar fixed onto the top of the shield,and then finally the metal rack was fixed into place at the back.





As you can see i have another tank to convert which will be more fun.



There it is on the 40 ton Well Bogie,and my very first conversion on WWII stuff is finished. BB

[Beano Boy]

Opp`s! Sorry I forgot to mention the Pegasus Pz.38T model tanks that I converted. BB

[Beano Boy]

The last four AIRFIX 1/76 Tiger Tanks were finished today,and that makes my armoured vehicle list complete.



I have at present two trains nine foot long,but i still have quadruple anti-aircraft guns,and some field artillery to add on other wagons.



German troops will be on flat cars like the one shown in the picture.
Munitions :Scratch-Built-Ammo and Explosives Loads , will be on other covered wagons,and I will easily end up with three trains to run at the same time.
Also added to each Train, a Heavy Lifting Crane ,and the all important Brake Vans will be added to the end of each train,and behind them a quadruple anti-aircraft gun on a wagon. A quadrople gun will also be placed on wagons in front of each Locomotive too,giving them a maximum field of firepower.

The Finished List at Present
8 Marder Veriants: Tank Killers. _______ I Highly Recommend This PLASTIC SOLDIER KIT.
2 Armoured Cars, ________________________ Brillient OLD AIRFIX KIT!
1 Tractor & 88mm Gun,
5 StuG`s,Anti-Tank Killers ______________ Brillient OLD AIRFIX KIT!
4 Half-Track , STUMMEL,
2 Panzer III`s
and 4 Mk 1 Tiger Tanks.
4 105mm Howitzers _________ I do not recommend this ARMOURFAST KIT
6 20mm Anti-aircraft Guns

" BB,How are you going to fix all this stuff on ?"________" blu tac,of course BW."

Things to purchase: 2 boxes of Italeri Gun Sets,and some German Infantry.

The heavily armoured German Trains in occupied Europe came into full use durring 1944 so my halfway period of the war being 1942 N Africa,means I don`t need to make them,but the photo`s were interesting to view. _________________ Perhaps a future Project!

I spent an extra £100 due to me having to replace all my German 1/72 scale Tanks with those of 1/76 scale. A costly mistake,yes,but the unopened boxes of German Tanks will go into my collection so it ain`t no big deal. See Ya! BB

[Peter]

I like that blue and yellow German secret weapon on the pictures!

Great work Paul!

[Beano Boy]

Peter Gave Me The Idea For This One


N AFRICA 1942

For Rommel the new Pz Mk1 WOLLEY`DNA EULB , was surely his last chance to destroy the British 1/76 scale armour that was paused, but ready to strike.
Secret test firing , and an incident,had shown both good and bad results,it being the case it was totally responsible for melting down Rommel`s favourite Jack-Boots. Very true,and completely ruining that tiny fine model of him,along with a German 88mm Gun ,and a Cricket Bat,that had been signed *MOUNTY*



Private Schultz,had been whiling away the time cleaning the weapon, or pretending to clean it when an Officer passed by.A splendid occupation called skiving and one that he was highly skilled at.
For Schultz he`d decided it was fag break time,and when leaning on the weapon while taking this crafty drag of an English Woodbine Cigarette the Cap fell off. The result , three fine jets of fluid shot out and whistled like three heavy artillery shells through the air,and splosh! Splosh!Splosh! Hitting the Gun,the Bat and Rommels favourite Boots. Rommel who was at that time engaged with instructing the Gun crew realised something was wrong when he noticed that they seemed to be growing taller,and Taller. Suddenly looking down at the Cricket Bat,and his fast disappearing Jack Boots along with his legs,he realised this to be curtains. KAPUT! Nearby soldiers tried hard to whipe the stuff off the Gun,the Bat and Rommel who was now downsized to less than 15mm and still melting!
What was left of the fast melting 88mm Gun Barrel fell in two,and off and down with a thud! Thud!
The Cricket Bat was totally gone. The boots ,the lower legs and way past the knees of the Field Marshal were nowhere to be seen and he was fast nearing the 12mm mark.
( ALIEN COMES TO MIND! )

"Mrs B,Can you fetch me another Rommel out of the draw please. This ones melted down."
__ "What! Another one? Paul you must be more careful."___ "Thats right Mrs B,You tell him."
__ It`s not BB`s fault the guy was smoking.Nasty habbit."

Yes, the Pz Mk1 WOLLEY`DNA EULB was a very destructive top secret weapon developed by Revell, that could melt down any plastic tank the British had to throw into the coming battle.
As we have read it was also great at cutting German Field Marshals down to size.

That Cricket Bat signed by MOUNTY, would`ev been worth Quaids on E bay. BB

[Peter]

What a simple assist can do to a man!

[Beano Boy]

I guess i am a dreamer,but i`m not the only one_________
That song always rings true,
even if the tall tales never do. BB

[Beano Boy]

After making conversions i still have lots of useful stuff left over,but i don`t believe in waste.
So this lot will go elsewhere . Certainly not Fly Tipped ,but placed in GRIND`S FOUNDRY ,Scrap Yard near HoneyWell. Mr Glad Grind, rubbing his greedy mitts, smirks a Wicked Grin.He`s dead keen to feed his Furnace for free with this lot.
The place lays between Halfway House and the Post Mill,and is an un-built oddity true,but is scratched out rustylike in my minds eye. "BB,You have written the story though."
_______ "Thats Very True BW."_____ I`ll show the plans marked out soon on Tutorials.



After all that cutting of bits off for scrap iron.I need time out for other stuff.
I will however be making up some more Anti-aircraft Guns later tonight,and lots of figures too.There being the case of silent calm for such deep thinking and then sticking A to B. I must say it is not entirely my favourite occupation cutting arms and heads off sprues and trying to stick them onto tiny figures,but it must be done. The results good,bad or otherwise should be interesting and i`ll post them later. See Ya Than,Than OK? BB

[Kekso]

but i don`t believe in waste.

Keep them coming Paul

[Susofrick]

Agree totally with Dali! Keep 'em coming!

[Beano Boy]

Thanks for the encouragement guys.

A few Guns,figures as promised.





The Stummels deing quite the work-horse have towed these new Guns, in place.
The removal of the wheels from the Quadruple Anti-aircraft Gun will also make it possible to remount it on the train.
All went together well ,but not without misadventure. Tiny pieces falling on the floor were as invisible as was the Daleks Cloaking Device! In the end avoiding most of the instructions i reasoned it out that if A ,B,and C were fixed in place as instructed, than D and F would or could not be glued in place,because the holes excepting the pins on those tiny pieces were covered up.

There`s another three Guns to make up tonight plus more figures.

" So more fun and games BB?"______ "Very true BW. Do you remember the shelving unit I eventually put up on the wall last year? Beautiful Job!"___________ " Yes BB,thats very true.But the plans were for a coffee table." BB