Constructing the T30 Heavy Tank

One of the Clash of Steel Starter Sets have been on my wants list ever since I found out about them at the beginning of the year. I ordered Operation Unthinkable boxed set containing the British and German tanks.

I decided I would add to the game by ordering the other Operation Unthinkable set, which contains American and Soviet tanks.

The T30 was designed at the same time as the T29 Heavy Tank. The T29 Heavy Tank was an American heavy tank project started in March 1944. The Heavy Tank T30 was developed to counter new German tanks, such as Tiger I, Tiger II, and tank destroyers, such as the Jagdtiger, or Soviet heavy tanks, such as IS-2 or IS-3.

This is the sprue.

The instructions allow you to construct either the T30 or T29 Heavy Tank.

The kit was relatively easy to construct.

The next step will be a white undercoat.

Constructing the Legions Imperialis Arvus Lighter

I’ve always liked the Arvus Lighter. I did think about getting some resin versions for Aeronautica Imperialis. I was pleased to see the plastic versions for Legions Imperialis and they did go on that awfully long wants list. Visiting Jadlam Toys and Models in Glastonbury I was browsing and saw they had a box of the Legions Imperialis Arvus Lighters on sale at 33% off. Bargain, so I bought the box.

The Arvus Lighter is a solid and reliable workhorse shuttle, affectionately referred to as ‘Little Pig’ among air crews. The Solar Auxilia employ these durable craft as unarmed combat transports, to insert officers and specialists into a war zone with pinpoint accuracy.

In the box you get eight aircraft, across two sprues.

Alongside with flying bases and a transfer sheet. With appropriate bases they can also be used in Aeronautica Imperialis.

I am planning to paint some of them using the same painting method as I did with my Valkyrie transports. The others will be in a different Imperial scheme.

The models did feel like they would go together easily.

There are quite a number of parts for what are very small models.

However when photographing them for this post, I noticed that I hadn’t managed to get the parts together tightly on all the models, so they might need some additional work before undercoating.

So after sorting out the gaps, I will give the models a white undercoat.

Constructing the Centurion Mk3

One of the Clash of Steel Starter Sets have been on my wants list ever since I found out about them at the beginning of the year. I ordered Operation Unthinkable boxed set containing the British and German tanks.

There are  17 tanks in the box, of which four are the Centurion Tanks. They can be constructed as a range of variants. For this model I went with the Mk3. I did think about the Mk1 initially, but I think I will model two Mk3 tanks and two Mk1 tanks.

This is the GF9 finished model.

Centurion Mk3

This is the sprue

Centurion Mk3 sprue

Centurion Mk3 sprue

There are various parts to the model, however it goes together very easily.

part completed Centurion Mk3 model

The finished model prior to a white undercoat.

Centurion Mk3

Centurion Mk3

Constructing the Panzer IV/70

One of the Clash of Steel Starter Sets have been on my wants list ever since I found out about them at the beginning of the year. I ordered Operation Unthinkable boxed set containing the British and German tanks. It contains 17 tanks, three of which are the Panzer IV/70 tank destroyer.

The Panzer IV/70, was a German tank destroyer based on the Panzer IV chassis, it was armed with the 7.5 cm Pak 42 L/70. Officially, only the L/48-armed vehicle was named Jagdpanzer IV. The L/70-armed vehicle was named Panzer IV/70.

This is the GF9 finished model.

This is the sprue. It has the parts to make the L/48-armed vehicle as well.

The first stage was constructing the hull and tracks.

Then the main weaponry was added and the side armour.

Next stage will be a white undercoat.

Constructing the King Tiger

One of the Clash of Steel Starter Sets have been on my wants list ever since I found out about them at the beginning of the year. I ordered Operation Unthinkable boxed set containing the British and German tanks. It contains 17 tanks, two of which are the King Tiger tank.

The Tiger II (or as was informally known to the Germans who fought in it, Königstiger), was a 70 tonne heavy tank.

This is the GF9 finished model.

This is the sprue.

As with the other Operation Unthinkable models, it was quite simple to construct.

The next stage will be a white undercoat.

Constructing the T28 Super Heavy Tank

One of the Clash of Steel Starter Sets have been on my wants list ever since I found out about them at the beginning of the year. I ordered Operation Unthinkable boxed set containing the British and German tanks.

I decided I would add to the game by ordering the other Operation Unthinkable set, which contains American and Soviet tanks.

The T28 super-heavy tank was an American super-heavy tank/assault gun designed for the United States Army during World War II. It was originally designed to break through German defenses of the Siegfried Line and was later considered as a possible participant in the planned invasion of the Japanese mainland.

This is the GF9 finished model.

This is the sprue.

The kit was relatively easy to construct.

The next step will be a white undercoat.

Constructing the Tortoise Heavy Assault Tank

One of the Clash of Steel Starter Sets have been on my wants list ever since I found out about them at the beginning of the year. I ordered Operation Unthinkable boxed set containing the British and German tanks.

There are  17 tanks, two of which are the Tortoise heavy assault tank.

The Tortoise heavy assault tank (A39) was a British heavy assault gun design developed during the Second World War, but never put into mass production. It was developed for the task of clearing heavily fortified areas such as the Siegfried Line and as a result favoured armour protection over mobility.

This is the GF9 finished model.

This the sprue.

Constructing the model was quite simple, though initially I wasn’t quite sure about how to affix the tracks.

I did think about adding some extra weight to the model, but couldn’t find the weights I had bought in the past for this purpose.

The next stage will be a white undercoat.

Constructing the ISU-130

One of the Clash of Steel Starter Sets have been on my wants list ever since I found out about them at the beginning of the year. I ordered Operation Unthinkable boxed set containing the British and German tanks.

I decided I would add to the game by ordering the other Operation Unthinkable set, which contains American and Soviet tanks.

The ISU-130, is a tank destroyer based on the IS-2 chassis armed with an 130mm S-26 gun.

This is the GF9 finished model.

This is the track sprue.

The kit also allows you to build the ISU-122 and ISU-152 variants as well. As there are five kits I think I will mix and match the different variants.

Firstly I went with the ISU-130. The kit was relatively easy to construct.

The next step will be a white undercoat.

Painting the Werewolves

On the cover of a Miniature Wargames was a sprue of Wargames Atlantic Werewolves. I constructed the models and based them on two pence coins. I then gave the models a white undercoat. 

After using a contrast paint, I used a dark brown wash, and then started dry brushing the models.

Werewolves

As is usual with my experiences of using contrast paints there were areas of the models which I had missed. The next stage will be painting the teeth and claws.

Next steps for the Kil Bursta Tank

I have been thinking what I could do with the model to make it look better and in some way a little more like an Ork vehicle. I think I need to review some other Ork vehicles to find out what I can do.

I have had my Kill Bursta hanging around on the workbench for a while now, so it was s nice to make some significant progress on the model.

I was looking at the work I had done with the Ork Kill Bursta Tank. I liked the effect I had achieved on the engine.

There is still a fair bit of work to do on the model, but I am pleased with my progress so far.

Looking at the Forge World model, there is a lot of rust on this model, but I can see they also painted some of the cabling and there is of course the Ork iconography.

I think I might add some more weathering and paint the teeth of the dozer blade in a similar fashion to the Forge World model.