Thursday 15 April 2021

Rapid Fire! NW Europe 1944-45 in 20mm - M32 ARVs for the US Tank battalions



Some badly needed ARVs arrive to the shelves of the US Armoured Regiment. With luck no more bogging down in the (Richard) marshes of the Cotentin. 


The models are MiniGeneral 3d PLA prints. The models are simple and very well designed but lack all the details that made this vehicle win plenty of Modelling contests with 1/35th scale models. No problem though as the extra details are easy to make. 

After washing and carving out some excess plastic I tried something new in order to erase the few printing lines visible: before gluing any extras, two coats of varnish were applied and the problem was solved. The varnish covers most of the lines and this solution is much better than all the pastes I´ve tried. Besides now, and thanks to the varnish, the superglue that attaches all details has a firm substance to hold and stay. 


Then all the extras were glued and the vehicles gained the look of ARV vehicles, crammed with tools and all the objects we see when we take the car to the auto repair shop. 


I caught some nice photos on the web of a M32 with a Ben-Hur trailer and used one from Airfix.



The additions were: 
- a 81mm mortar, used mostly to lay smoke
- different types of wheels and extra tracks
- bags and chains
- a second repair arm you can see here folded on the left side of the vehicle
- antenna, turret light and crewmen from PSC, Esci and Fujimi. 


Another view of other extra details which are fun to improvise and are always historically accurate :)


 In the future another group like this one will be added to the British Tank Regiments of my Sherman division.

Next: Maybe a group of BT-7 for early war Russians.  

15 comments:

  1. Fabulous mate, really nice builds

    Cheers
    Matt

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Matt. Very enjoyable but only a few things as Im trying to concentrate on placing RF rules in my head for my 1st wargame in many years. Look as if im going to marry my oldest :)

      Delete
  2. I've never seen these recovery vehicles before, but they look great:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Steve. They are a joy to add details and you can find incredible kits of them in 1/35th scale on the web which are great inspiration.

      Delete
  3. I like those a lot, much better than assembling the version by UM

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Will. Only had few UM but if they are close to old ACE I can see what you mean.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very nice mate, mine a at least 30yrs old a conversion on an Airfix Sherman chassis based on a plan in an old modelling book :) Not as nice as these, but usable :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks Richard. I treasure those old conversions much more than many new stuff. Besides no one as one like that for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have two on order from Pedro. Yours look great. What kind of varnish are you using to blend the printing lines - water based or solvent based? Also, I see you prime your models in a light grey. Do you use an airbrush to paint? I fear missing bits and having the primer show up in those missed places.... Thanks for posting. Love your site.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Chris. I use acrylic varnish in spray. Two coats with 30 min intervals are enough and insist a bit more on areas with more visible printing lines until a small pool is formed.That thing will dry and cause no problems. Only then glue all extras with superglue. Finally I spray grey primer and the whole model is painted by hand. Hope it helps.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Just received my first of three Minigeneral orders. The vehicles were really well printed -- better than I expected. What was also not what I expected was how time consuming it is to remove the excess plastic! I broke a an MG barrel and found it quite difficult to remove some of the materials under fenders and other undercut areas. Any suggestions? Still love the models, just a bit more challenging to prepare than I expected.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Know that pain. For the excess plastic there are some videos on YouTube on how to do it. Also check the BPM 3d printed miniatures as there is a nice video on how to do it. Under the fenders there is that f#### kind of plastic net that you take out using an old Xacto. Carve it in an oblique way and that thing will come out in one piece. With practice and some yelling and swearing things get better.

      Delete
  10. Thanks, JP. Must say that I am relieved that I am not the only one struggling. I think that I got a mix of old and new designs. The 21st Pz funnies were a real pain. I kept realizing that there was ever more to remove and I think I removed something that was meant to be part of the model! My attitude is "if it can't be seen, leave it." I will check out the links. Cheers, Chris

    ReplyDelete