Opel Blitz mit Sonderaufbau - Ardennes 1944

This is the Tamiya Opel Blitz with a CMK resin "Sonderaufbau" (loosely -- "Special Body") conversion. It sits on a resin base by Reality in Scale, which was painted by my good friend from the Netherlands, Jerry Plettenberg. Thanks Jerry!

Anyway, here it is:

Tiger 1 - S Pz Abt 508, Italy 1944

Here is a DML Tiger 1 with moulded on zimmerit as a sPz Abt 508 vehicle in Italy. The Abt had an unusual method of numbering it's tanks - 1 kompanie vehicles just had a plain "1", 2 kompanie a "2" and so on. Makes life easier I suppose!

I replaced a few tool clamp handles and added wing nuts here and there, plus hollowed out cleaning rod ends but its pretty much OOTB. The driver is an old verlinden resin item, and the commander is by Alpine.

SdKfz 251/7 - KG Peiper, Ardennes December 1944

This is the DML SdKfz 251/7 (Engineer variant), painted as a late war, Ardennes campaign vehicle. It was inspired by a colour plate in "Duel in the Mist 2" and features a factory applied late war paint scheme. I added Archer balkenkreuz, an SS number plate to the front and a shipping stencil.

It's pretty much OOTB - it's a superb kit - but I stuffed out the interior with engineer gear - boxes, explosives, mines and tools. The figures are a mixture of resin and styrene; DML, Cromwell and an unidentified resin standing figure in cold-weather trousers, panzer wrap and Hornet head (wearing cold weather cap). I added Archer SS collar titles where appropriate. Anyway, here it is:

Steyr 1500A - 1st SS Panzer Division, Wacht am Rhein

This is the old but very good Tamiya Steyr with the equally good Black Dog resin update set. The Black Dog set also includes some excellent replacement tyres with snow chains, which fit straight on to the Tamiya axles with no dramas. For those of you who think that the stowage might be a little over the top? In 1944, even the highly mechanised German Army still relied on it's infantry marching from A to B, and for me, this looks like a few section's worth of Stubblehopper's gear piled into the Zug's transport. Anyway, that's my theory! The crew is the Evolution Miniatures Schwimmwagen crew. It fits pretty well - I just had to increase the length of the steering column by 2mm or so to match the moulded on steering wheel in the driver's hands.

SdKfz 234/2 "Puma" - Kampfgruppe Knittel, Ardennes 1944

Here is my KG Knittel Puma, coded "028". It's the excellent DML Puma, with the addition of metal RB Models antennas as the kit ones weren't really that robust. I also added metal tool clamp handles, and gave the tyres a good sanding to give them a worn look. 

For anyone contemplating any of the DML 234 series kits, but who are put off by the extremely complex looking suspension - don't be. Get stuck in, but take your time and it soon becomes very clear. Don't forget to remove the small "nub" on the end of the suspension arm ball joints, as this will allow you to move the wheels. Otherwise, they'll all be dead straight.