operation unthinkable Archives - Page 4 of 5

Constructing the IS-3

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 IS-3 is a Soviet heavy tank developed in late 1944. Its semi-hemispherical cast turret (resembling that of an upturned soup bowl) became the hallmark of post-war Soviet tanks.

This is the GF9 finished model.

This is the sprue.

The model is quite simple to construct.

This is quite a large tank.

The next step will be a white undercoat.

Constructing the T30 Heavy Tank

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 Centurion Mk3

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.

This is the sprue

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

The finished model prior to a white undercoat.

Constructing the Panzer IV/70

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

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

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

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

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.

Basecoating the Maus Super Heavy Tanks

The Maus was a German World War Two super heavy tank that was completed in late 1944. Five were ordered, but only two hulls and one turret were completed before the testing grounds were captured by advancing Soviet forces It is the heaviest fully enclosed armoured fighting vehicle ever built at 188 metric tons. It was armed with a 128mm gun and a coaxial 75mm gun. The Maus was intended to punch holes through enemy defences in the manner of an immense “breakthrough tank”, whilst taking almost no damage to any components.

I have been constructing two 15mm models of the Maus Super Heavy Tank. One from Zvezda and the other from Clash of Steel. Having given both models a white undercoat I gave them a base coat of Army Painter Desert Yellow Spray.

This is the Zvezda model.

This is the Clash of Steel model.

I sprayed the tracks with Mechanicus Standard Grey Spray, though I think they will be painted a dark brown colour eventually.

The next stage will be painting the tracks and the camouflage. I am going to go for the similar pattern as on the GF9 Clash of Steel model.

Though as I don’t have an airbrush I am going to have to do this by hand with a paintbrush.

Another Maus

This Maus came in the Operation Unthinkable starter set for Clash of Steel. One of seventeen tanks in the box.

This is the sprue.

The model was a relatively simple build.

I kept the tracks off the model to paint separately.

Having recently constructed the Zvezda Maus, it’s interesting to compare the two models.

They are pretty much identical.

However from a modelling perspective, the Clash of Steel version is much easier to put together.

I then gave the Maus a white undercoat.

The yellow of the plastic can still be seen, but I wasn’t trying to do a thicker base coat, this was about setting a primer for the sand base coat later.

Next step will be painting the model a sand colour.