warhammer, wh40k, flames of war, bolt action, aeronautica imperialis, star wars, models, news, views and stuff
In addition to the Bolt Action Citroen Civilian 1000kg Dropside Truck I also bought a slightly bigger truck, the Citroen Civilian 4,500kg Truck with Canopy. Citroen made many of these trucks in the 1930s and 1940s.
Having constructed the model and given it a white undercoat, I gave the rear canopy a basecoat of Vallejo 70912 Tan Yellow.
See the full workbench feature on the Bolt Action Citroen Civilian 4,500kg Truck with Canopy.
For Bolt Action I am in the process of painting some partisans to fight Simon’s Italians. I have been looking for some vehicles and Warlord Games actually make a fair few civilian models for Bolt Action.
Looking through the Bolt Action website I quite liked the look of the Civilian 1000Kg Dropside Truck. The other civilian vehicles in the French range also look quite useful. In the main I will use them as scenery or as objectives. In the end I did get the Warlord Games Bolt Action Citroen Civilian 1000kg Dropside Truck.
Having given the model a white undercoat, I gave the rear of the truck (which was separate) a basecoat of Vallejo 70912 Tan Yellow.
See the workbench feature on the Citroen Civilian 1000Kg Dropside Truck.
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. It appears at first glance to be a Mark VIII with a turret, the reality was that it was built specially for the film and was built up from an excavator.
I wrote back in 2012 about finding a 28mm model of the tank. I did think about buying it back then, but put off my purchase. It was originally made by the Honourable Lead Boiler Suit Company (HLBSCo). I did some web searching and found that the tank is available today from Empress Miniatures. Well I made the leap and ordered the tank from Empress Miniatures.
It arrived in a small brown box, but it is quite a big model. The model consists of two large complete track units.
The main hull.
I was impressed with the quality of the sculpting and the castings.
There are separate sponsons as well as the turret and the turret hatch.
You also get as part of this kit, a range of stowage and baggage. When this was sold by Copplestone Castings, the baggage was an add-on extra to the model.
You can break this down into bundles of tarpaulins or other materials (maybe tents) as well as what are probably roles of barbed wire, or telephone cables.
Then there are wooden beams, jerry cans and what look like metal storage containers.
I did start to then look at the original film and stills to see how I could add the stowage to the tank.
A slightly wider shot of the other side of the tank.
The stowage supplied is similar, but doesn’t quite match what we see on the prototype, but this model isn’t supposed to be an exact copy, it’s more like “inspired by” the film tank.
The next step will be to start constructing the tank.
See the full workbench feature on the Mark IX Beast tank.
This model was the first one I bought for Tally Ho! It has been stuck in a box for about twenty years. It was originally designed and manufactured by the Honourable Lead Boiler Suit Company (HLBSCo) they were small and relatively new.
The Rolls-Royce armoured car was a British armoured car developed in 1914 and used in World War I and in the early part of World War II.
This is a 1920s version of the Armoured Car. The model consists of a resin armoured hull, metal chassis, wheels, turrets and fiddly headlights. The model went together very easily, the parts were a good fit. I glued the armoured car hull to the chassis. The wheels and axels fitted very nicely into the respective holes. I did check a few reference pictures to confirm that I had aligned the hull right and the spare wheels in the right place.
I gave the underside a black undercoat and then undercoated the rest of the model with a white spray.
The model looks rather good, even in just the white undercoat.
See the workbench feature on the Tally Ho Rolls Royce Armoured Car.
See the workbench feature on my 15mm Flames of War Rolls Royce Armoured Car.
For Bolt Action I am in the process of painting some partisans to fight Simon’s Italians. I have been looking for some vehicles and Warlord Games actually make a fair few civilian models for Bolt Action.
Looking through the Bolt Action website I quite liked the look of the Civilian 1000Kg Dropside Truck. The other civilian vehicles in the French range also look quite useful. In the main I will use them as scenery or as objectives. In the end I got the Warlord Games Bolt Action Citroen Civilian 1000kg Dropside Truck.
Having constructed the model I gave the underside a black undercoat and then undercoated the rest of the model with a white spray.
I had undercoated the rear part of the truck separately.
I like how the white undercoat brings out the detail in the model
The next stage will be a base coat.
See the workbench feature on the Citroen Civilian 1000Kg Dropside Truck.
For Bolt Action I am in the process of painting some partisans to fight Simon’s Italians. I have been looking for some vehicles and Warlord Games actually make a fair few civilian models for Bolt Action.
Looking through the Bolt Action website I quite liked the look of the Civilian 1000Kg Dropside Truck. The other civilian vehicles in the French range also look quite useful. In the main I will use them as scenery or as objectives. In the end I got the Warlord Games Bolt Action Citroen Civilian 1000kg Dropside Truck.
In a previous blog post I looked at some photographs of the actual vehicle.
The model comes in a blister pack and comprises a clean resin casting and some metal components. I glued the axels to the underneath of the model.
I then glued the wheels to the axels, it was challenging to get them to be even.
I then stuck the headlamps and front bumper.
The next stage will be an undercoat.
See the workbench feature on the Citroen Civilian 1000Kg Dropside Truck.
I have been digging through my workbench models and realised I had a fair few Forge World Ork Weapons.
This is the KillKannon, it fires either large bore frag rounds to use against enemy infantry, or a solid shell for destroying tanks.
I would usually paint this black and then drybrush, but I am now thinking I might more go along the same technique I used on my Ork Fight Bommer jet engine.
I have both volumes of the Forge World Masterclass books and they are a real inspiration and full of ideas and techniques for painting and weathering models. I wanted to try and emulate some of those techniques on the engine of the Ork Bommer.
I have been using a combination of inks and shades on a base coat of Bolt Gun Metal.
See the workbench feature on the Forgeworld Ork KilKannon.
I also have the Big Zzappa.
See the workbench feature on the Forgeworld Ork Big Zzappa.
I thought I had painted the Kannon, but then realised I had two, one which came with my Gunwagon.
See the workbench feature on the Forgeworld Ork Kannon.
I also found the Supa Kannon and the Flakk Gun as well, but they are still in their plastic bags waiting to be constructed.
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. Watching it recently I was reminded of that tank!
Though we know it wasn’t real, and though we know that 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.
Yes the tank from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
It appears at first glance to be a Mark VIII with a turret, the reality was that it was built specially for the film and was built up from an excavator.
Mechanical effects supervisor George Gibbs said this movie was the most difficult one of his career. He visited a museum to negotiate renting a small French World War I tank, but decided he wanted to make one. The tank was based on the tank Mark VIII, which was thirty-six feet (eleven meters) long, and weighed twenty-five tons. Gibbs built the tank over the framework of a twenty-five ton excavator, and added 6.4 ton tracks, that were driven by two automatic hydraulic pumps, each connected to a Range Rover V8 engine. Gibbs built the tank from steel, rather than aluminum or fiberglass, because it would allow the realistically suspensionless vehicle to endure the rocky surfaces. Unlike its historical counterpart, which had only the two side guns, the tank had a turret gun added as well. It took four months to build, and was transported to Almería on a Short Belfast plane, and then a low loader truck.
I wrote back in 2012 about finding a 28mm model of the tank. I did think about buying it back then, but put off my purchase. I thought back then it was a Copplestone Castings model, the reality was that it wasn’t from Copplestone Castings.
It's not. It was never Copplestones, it belonged to HLBSCo, but I think they sold the whole range to another company. Sorry can't help more.
— NorthStarFigs (@NorthStarFigs) November 12, 2019
So it appeared that it wasn’t even a Copplestones Castings, but was by the Honourable Lead Boiler Suit Company (HLBSCo), alas that company no longer is around.
Sometimes you should buy things when you see them and not wait…
So it was originally designed and manufactured by the Honourable Lead Boiler Suit Company (HLBSCo) they were small and relatively new. I even remember discussing licensing the models for a commercial version of Tally Ho!
So I did some searching on the Google and found that the tank is available today with the other HLBSCo models from Empress Miniatures.
Well I made the leap and have ordered the tank from Empress Miniatures. This is the photograph of the model on their website.
Now just waiting for it to arrive.
I have been reflecting and looking at some of the models on my workbench and making progress on them.
I have the Bolt Action Citroen Civilian 4,500kg Truck with Canopy. Citroen made many of these trucks in the 1930s and 1940s.
The pack contains a resin and metal kit, this is a nice clean casting.
Having constructed the model kit, I then gave the model an undercoat. I undercoated the underside with black paint and then gave the model an overall white undercoat.
I like how the white undercoat brings out the detail in the model. I also gave the canopy a white undercoat.
I then noticed something…
There was a huge piece of resin sticking out the side, where the mould was filled with resin. I will need to clean that off before I start painting.
The next stage is to start painting the model.
See the workbench feature on the Citroen Civilian 4,500kg Truck with Canopy.
I have been reflecting and looking at some of the models on my workbench and making progress on them.
In addition to the Bolt Action Citroen Civilian 1000kg Dropside Truck I also bought a slightly bigger truck, the Citroen Civilian 4,500kg Truck with Canopy.
Citroen made many of these trucks in the 1930s and 1940s.
The pack contains a resin and metal kit, this is a nice clean casting.
The rear wheels were quite easy to secure to the rear of the truck. There is an axel and two sets of wheels.
The front axel, I really had no idea how this was secured and the photographs on the Warlord Games site didn’t help that much. So I first stuck the front wheels to the front axel and then checked how the wheels would fit on the underside.
I was then able to secure the front axel to the underside of the truck, getting it to sit flat was challenging. I also stuck the front bumper on as well.
The next stage is to give the model an undercoat.
See the workbench feature on the Citroen Civilian 4,500kg Truck with Canopy.