I bought the Citroen Civilian 4,500kg Truck with Canopy from Warlord Games to go with my French Partisan Band. Either to use as a transport or as scenery. Citroen made many of these trucks in the 1930s and 1940s.
Having constructed the model and given it a white undercoat, I then gave the rear canopy a basecoat. The next stage was to give the bodywork a basecoat. For this I used a blue paint I had in my collection, Vallejo 70.899 Dark Prussian Blue.
The name should have made me realise, but I think the blue is too dark, well I don’t have too many blues in my paint collection that I can use (quite a few have dried up) and it’s not simple to buy a single pot of paint these days.
I think I might try and add a second lighter coat, partly to highlight, but also to ensure that when I give the model a wash that it isn’t too dark.
I had kept the back part of the truck separate, so I could easily paint the underbody.
I should add, one of the rear wheels fell off whilst I was holding the model to paint it, so that had to be re-glued back on.
This Bedford OYD GS 4×2 Truck was on display at the Imperial War Museum Duxford.
The Bedford OY is an army lorry built by Bedford for the British Armed Forces and introduced in 1939. It was based on Bedford’s O-series commercial vehicles with a modified front end and single rear tyres.
Land Rovers have been used by military forces across the world and many different conversions have been tried and utilised. The most radical conversion of a Land Rover for military purposes was the Centaur half-track back in 1978. It was based on a Series III with a V8 engine and a shortened belt drive from the Alvis Scorpion light tank. A small number was manufactured, and they were used by Ghana, among others.
This video is from the Tank Museum at Bovington who have one in their collection, though I didn’t see it on my last visit there.
The Laird Centaur was the brainchild of Laird (Angelsey) Limited and was the result of intensive engineering development combining the Land Rover and the Alvis designed tracks of the FV101 Scorpion light tank. The Alvis Scorpion was developed to meet a British Army requirement for the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) or CVR(T).
Alvis FV1010 Scorpion CRV(T) at the tank museum at Bovington
In 1967, Alvis was awarded the contract to produce 30 CVR(T) prototypes. The Centaur made use of a shortened version of the tracks.
The proposed design offered unique advantages in both performance and cost-effectiveness. In addition maintencena nd spares, as well as support could have been based on existing arrangements and mechanisms in place to support Land Rovers and the CVR(T) family of armoured vehicles.
What was interesting were the proposed variants for customers and these were detailed in a pamphlet from Laird (Angelsey).
They included armoured versions that could be used as an APC, reconnaissance and as a command vehicle. Their pamphlet also had weaponised versions including the Milan AT system and even one with a 106mm gun!
It was extensively tested by the British Army, I quite like this winter version that you can see on Flickr.
It’s a Land Rover Centaur on trial in Norway with the British army in the early eighties and with a special projects registration.
Here is a video of that vehicle undergoing testing in Norway.
Half track vehicles likes the Centaur have some advantages, it is not difficult for someone who can drive a car to drive a half-track, which is a great advantage over fully tracked vehicles which often require more specialised training.
The main disadvantage is the increased maintenance to maintain track tension, and the reduced life span of the tracks. In addition they perform less well cross country than fully tracked vehicles and perform less well on roads that fully wheeled ones. As a result they are a compromise across both and these disadvantages usually outweigh the advantages. As a result you don’t really see many hard tracks now in modern military service.
The Laird Centaur makes for an interesting what if vehicle and, well that story is for another time…
There are many dioramas at Warhammer World, these photographs are of The Gates Of Sharrowmourne.
In the wake of the Shyish Necroquake the ghostly processions of Lady Olynder, Mortarch of Grief, laid siege to great swathes of the Mortal Realms. Yet beleaguered as the armies of the God-King were, they did not weather this onslaught without answer. At the mausoleum-fortress of Sharrowmourne, in the heart of Lady Olynder?s domain, Lord-Arcanum Aventis Firestrike led a daring assault alongside the elite warriors of his Sacrosanct Chamber.
It says so much about how little I know about the Age of Sigmar that I have no real idea what is going on, and who is involved…
It did remind me of the Army of the Dead from Lord of the Rings.
Probably my favourite Indiana Jones film is Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The combination of archaeology, mythology, nazi soldiers and lots of wonderful pulp action. Though we know the tank wasn’t real, and there was no actual historical version of it; I am sure most of us who have thought about recreating the Indiana Jones films on the table have wanted to use that tank.
Though this photograph isn’t quite showing the right colour, I decided, again looking at the source material that this colour was too dark, especially as I wanted to wash it with a shade or ink.
So I took it back to the garage and gave it a spray of white to cover the basecoat and provide a lighter base for a sandstone or light brown colour.
I didn’t do a full respray as I am quite happy for some of the undersides to be darker than the top of the model.
As for the new base coat, that I am still considering. What colour I use is dependent on what I have in my box, challenging to buy paints easily at this time. I Have a Flames of War German Camo Beige 821 which looks like it might work.
The Militarum Tempestus, also known as the Ordo Tempestus, is amongst the most rigidly codified of all Imperial organisations, for its troops form the elite backbone of the Astra Militarum, serving as its special operations units. Though the Ordo is technically a sub-faction governed by the Adeptus Administratum, it enjoys a far greater amount of autonomy than the Imperial Guard regiments that often fight alongside it.
Alongside the Taurox Prime vehicles the Militarum Tempestus also use the Valkyrie Transport. The Valkyrie Airborne Assault Carrier is a heavily armed Imperial Aircraft with VTOL (Vertical Takeoff Or Landing) capabilities, used to ferry troops, such as the Tempestus Scions, to and from combat zones.
This Militarum Tempestus Valkyrie was on display at Warhammer World.
The Taurox is a robust infantry assault vehicle. It is heavily armoured with thick plates and is equipped with an array of heavy weapons to support the Astra Militarum on the battlefield.
This Militarum Tempestus Taurox Prime at Warhammer World is armed with a missile launcher.
This version in Warhammer World is painted as a Taurox Prime in the Militarum Tempestus.
When the Taurox was released back in 2014, I said back then.
The Taurox Prime is a new model from Games Workshop, and I really don’t like it. I think it’s too tall and the tracked “wheels” fail to work for me.
I wasn’t alone in that though as the comments show in that post.
The Taurox can be armed with twin-linked autocannons mounted on the sides of the hull or upon the turret. Both the Taurox and the Taurox Prime can be equipped with a pintle mounted Storm Bolter, bull bars and a gunner who can be positioned at 3 different heights.
Probably my favourite Indiana Jones film is Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The combination of archaeology, mythology, nazi soldiers and lots of wonderful pulp action. Though we know the tank wasn’t real, and there was no actual historical version of it; I am sure most of us who have thought about recreating the Indiana Jones films on the table have wanted to use that tank.
Having given the model another look, I think this colour is too dark, especially as I am anticipating giving it a dark wash over the base coat.
What colour I use is dependent on what I have in my box, challenging to buy paints easily at this time. I have a Flames of War German Camo Beige 821 which looks like it might work.
I also thought looking at the film footage whether I should re-arrange the stowage and baggage.
I did follow the example on the Empress Miniatures website as my guide. So most of the stowage is on the back of the tank.
However looking at the film footage, they didn’t do this on their tank. Most of the stowage is on the sides. There is none on the sponsons, nor on the turret.
Though this side of the tank looks more like the one in the film, from a stowage perspective.
The USS Enterprise is back, under the command of Captain Pike in a new Star Trek series based on their appearance in Star Trek Discovery. The new series is called Strange New Worlds, which is of course a phrase from the original opening of the original series.
“Fans fell in love with Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn, and Ethan Peck’s portrayals of these iconic characters when they were first introduced on Star Trek: Discovery last season,” said Julie McNamara, Executive Vice President and Head of Programming of CBS All Access in a press release. “This new series will be a perfect complement to the franchise, bringing a whole new perspective and series of adventures to Star Trek.”
In an announcement from the case, the new series was talked about by the actors playing Captain Pike, Spock and Number One.
I really enjoyed the second series of Discovery and when earlier there were calls for a new series featuring Pike and co, I thought, that will be nice, but this probably won’t go anywhere. So glad to be proved wrong.
This sounds like the reboot of Star Trek that we have been waiting for. All the essence of the classic series, combined with the filming and SFX technology of today with the support of that legacy of Star Trek content from over the last fifty odd years.
It will be interesting to see how they will run with this, will it be episodic like the original series, or will they do a story arc as they do with Discovery and Picard?
