PlasticPanzers.com Forum

Well I normally don't blog in the diorama section because I never know where is build is going to take me when I start. So lets try it for once.

I have been wanting to build a M3 Scout Car for some time, so why not now.



With inspiration from Johns great Chase's Ends Diorama it has made me want to build another Mini Art building. For some sick twisted reason I really like the Mini Art buildings. This will make number 4 for me. The difference this time though it is not going to be a ruined / destroyed building.



Last but not least I need figures and why not another vehicle. So I will be using this complete set from Masterbox. Now you see the reason for the title. The little boy either wants to talk to the soldiers or even go with them.



Now for my disclaimer. I don't always go for historical accuracy. In this case I don't even think US Airborne troops used the M3 Scout Car. If they did please let me know. Now saying that I'm going for a late war scene where this family was able to acquire a German Staff car at wars end.

I few changes to the Scout Car to make it late war will be done by replacing the Water Cooled 30cal machine guns with newer 30 cal ones. I will also add some Jerry Cans to it.

Thanks for following .

Shawn

Nice choice of ingredients! This will be fun to watch

As for the scout car, as far as I know US Forces basically didn't use it any more after 1943. However, according to Wikipedia a handful was sent to Normandy anyways. Quite possible that one could have survived until 1945. An alternative would be to replace the US Airborne with their British equivalents, who used it a bit longer. Masterbox has a very nice set.

Philipp

I decided to start with the Master Box car because I have never built a Masterbox kit before. Well hell now that I am typing this I have never build a Hobby boss kit either.

I have always been impressed with the detail of Masterbox figures, I can't say the same with their vehicles.

Problem's so far.
1) No part numbers on the spures. Not truly a big deal. I just made a copy of the pic below and hung it on my work bench.
2) The directions are really bad and really don't show part placement really well.
3) There are very few line up pins and the holes on the opposite piece(I hope you know what I am talking about)
4) The plastic really sucks. I have broke 4 pieces so far. Very Very fragile.
5) Lots and lots of mold lines and flash so far.





This is where I am so far. On a positive note detail is not to bad.





That's it for now.

Shawn

What an excellent range of kits and figures

Looks to be a really good diorama, Shawn

I have 4 mini-art buildings but have not really done much with them

I shall be watching with great interest

Never build a mini-art vehicle or HobbyBoss either, this will really be a trail blazer for me, too watch

Good start

Steve H

Intriguing project Shawn !

The figures should work out very nice and we know that Miniart buildings are good to work with - so it's going to be a cool dio eventually!


Best regards

Raoul G. Kunz

Philipp- Thanks for the link but I think I'm going to keep with the US figures.

Steve and Raoul- Thanks for checking in and following along. Glad to have you guys here.

Still plagued by horrible instructions, poor fit and parts that break easy, I am moving forward. Thanks god the chassis won't be seen because it really does not look good at all.

Does anyone have any idea what the seats were made out of in these cars?????????





Here are some fun gaps I have to deal with. Thinking about using 2 part epoxy putty to fill them.

The Scout car is a marvelous kit. I plan to eventually build another just for the fun, if no other reason. How much extra do you think you might add to the house. I've found that interiors are a lot of fun if you have the patience for it.

Also, I don't tend to worry much about historical inaccuracies. My dioramas have loads of history problems if one looks at them carefully. How many have you noticed?.....Exactly!

Great choice Shawn - I was only looking at one of these last week

Looking forward to this

Rob

Thanks for checking in John and Rob glad to have you here.

John- Yes on the interior. I hope you don't mind me sending some PM to our own miniature house interior designer.

Luckily there is not much floor space with how this kit is designed.

Small update. The body is fitting together much better than the frame did.



Shawn

I am going to change this up alittle and make this a civilian car instead of a military one. Just want to have some color in this scene instead of German Yellow.

Now saying that any suggestions on a color for the car and how to paint it??? I know some of you guys out there build and paint cars. I use Acrylic paints. I have ordered some Satin Black from the AMMO range but I don"t know if I want to paint it black either. Can you just paint it any color and put a gloss coat over it??? See I have no idea.

I have never painted anything other than military vehicles.



Used some Magic Sculpt to add some detail to the top.




Shawn