A Type-Trio of 1/144 Vehicles
By Matt Bittner
Overview
Some time ago, not long after receiving the Brengun kits for review, I started on their US Jeeps and Kübelwagens. I would futz on them from time-to-time when the mood struck, but never moved them further ahead than that. When trying to think of things I could finish and get off "The Shelf" these came to mind. I decided to throw in the Heroes Models Clarktor because I have a diorama in mind in which it will be used. Anyway, on to the show!
Construction
There aren't many parts to any of these kits. The biggest problem with the Brengun kits is the main body of each were attached at the bottom of the kits to a pour block. That meant careful cutting away of the body to minimize damage, and also meant there was a lot of clean up to be done, even though in most cases the underside wouldn't be seen. It was also a major area to be concerned with because the Jeeps had their wheels molded onto the one-piece body so care needed to be taken to not damage them too much.
|
My biggest complaint with the Jeeps is the windshield is molded direct to the body as well, and not supplied as separate parts, photoetch or otherwise. The Kübelwagens, however, had the windshields as separate photoetch parts which is a much better way of handling this area. In order to make the Jeeps look a little more realistic I ended up removing the center area from the frames - by first drilling small holes in all corners, and then carefully cutting the material away with a brand new #11 blade and following up with files - and then filling the area in with Kristal Kleer. I also used Kristal Kleer inside the Kübelwagens frames.
|
The only other thing I added to the Brengun kits were stick shifts out of plastic rod, to give a little more life to the interiors.
|
The Heroes Models Clarktor 6 Tug was built entirely out of the "clam shell" with no additions. The kit comes with plastic rod for the axles and steering wheel column (and be careful cutting the steering wheels away from the pour block, but also feel confident since Heroes Models provides three wheels "just in case") and also includes a nice scale driver.
|
The Clarktor and one of the Jeeps will be used in a diorama I have in mind which also includes a Brengun SBD Dauntless. Because of this I haven't decided if I'm using the Clarktor driver provided with the kit or not, so I will make that determination as I start approaching assembling the diorama.
|
All were primed with Vallejo primers: Olive for the Clarktor and Jeeps, and Gray for the Kübelwagens. I then sprayed one of the Kübelwagens with Vallejo Panzer Yellow and the other Panzer Gray just to have some variety. I used the Brengun decals on both Kübelwagens and one of the Jeeps: while there were decals for both Jeeps, they were for the same vehicle with the same codes and numbers. So, one of the Jeeps just had the star on the hood applied and nothing else. All the decals behaved well and settled down using the MicroScale products.
|
Weathering was a combination of washes and dry brushing, with some pastel chalks used at the very end.
|
Conclusion
All of these were great diversions to assembling model aircraft and while only two of them have a "purpose" (special or otherwise), the others will probably be used for some other displays in the future.
|
Huge thanks to Brengun for supplying the Jeeps and Kübelwagens, and Heroes Models for the Clarktor 6. These were truly fun builds.