CHEAP VBCW TANKS (6) - SP ARTILLERY

The sixth in our occasional series of how to create large VBCW armoured forces for only a few pounds. Here is a cheapy Chinese pre-moulded plastic tank that pops up on Ebay from time to time: 

Far too modern looking, of course, for the VBCW - on the other hand, there's no bothering with painfully cutting out from sprues, assembling and gluing lots of tiny plastic parts before one gets to something vaguely resembling an armoured vehicle. Here there are only two parts - the turret and the chassis. And there's the intriguing element of pre-moulded "bullets" at the rear end of the vehicle, which obviously suggested a conversion to some form of SP Artillery.

So - remove the turret (with fingers!). Then find some kind of (preferably cheepy plastic, preferably non scale) artillery that "looks right" sitting on top of the now denuded hull, cutting away any gun parts (such as wheels and trail) to fit. Paint, add crew, et voila:

BUF "Bison" SP Artillery. Non scale plastic 25pdrs converted to fit. Crew by Empress, GW etc.
(anything in a sidecap, really). The "bullets" at the rear of the chassis are now
"readily available artillery shells" for quick firing operations.

For more on the role of BUF "Bisons" in the Hereford VBCW, together with the full tale of the theft of the design  its subsequent adoption by the Wehrmacht, see HERE.

CHEAP VBCW TANKS (5) - SHODDY TURRETS

As noted in the 500th post, the most popular post of all time - on this Hereford1938 VBCW Blog at least - was the subject of the 2019 Modelling Challenge, the infamous and cheapy-cheep-cheep, roughly 1/55 scale,  "Shoddy Tank":

Cheep Chinese Plastic from Ebay - the "Shoddy Tank". 
Full background link HERE

The 2019 Modelling Challenge was to turn this plastic toy into a VBCW style tank, and different gamers had different solutions. The most powerful tank conversion, as it turned out, was LAF Bearwoodman's "Super Shoddy":

LAF Bearwoodman's "Super Shoddy" before painting
- a symphony of plastic bitz, tubes, card and varnish
together with totally unfeasible main armament.

All such clever conversions - which mostly centred on the removal or "disguising" of the "too thin original turret" - took time and imagination. The former quality, however, is always in short supply - particularly when "tank megalomania" is only too common within Hereford1938:

Tanks awaiting the conversion process at LAF Bearwoodman's "Shoddy Factory".
By no means the only sufferer from "tank megalomania" within Hereford1938,
but perhaps the only one brave enough to "come out". Medic !

With so many tanks awaiting treatment, the search was therefore "ON", not for a "conversion", but for a pre-fabricated turret - in any material, but probably best in plastic - that could be simply snapped on to the Shoddy Tank chassis in order to achieve the desired "1930s look". After a lengthy search (and many failures), finally the solution presented itself:

Airfix "Poly" plastic "Patton" tank - from the same venerable range of kits as the Airfix Poly SP Gun

Modelling tips - Remove turret from chassis (with fingers!)
Snip off the MG on the cupola, and halve the length of the main armament - there is even
a casing around the barrel at precisely the right point, creating an instant muzzle brake.
And that's all you need do before painting to taste.....

The taste on this occasion being Oxo Beef...an Airfix Poly Patton turret on the chassis
of a "Shoddy Tank", painted in Oxo Corporate Colours. The Lledo Oxo van gives a
good idea of scale compatibility.

Now you can churn out as many "Shoddy Tanks" as you want - here is the (Combined Corporate)
Guards Armoured Brigade. Three Shoddy Tanks with Patton turrets, each in their corporate
livery. The Lledo Silver Rolls Royce again gives a good idea of scale compatibility.

Now all we need to do is find a use for all those Airfix Poly Patton tracked chassis....but that's for another day.......

CHEAP VBCW TANKS (4)

Well, more "Cheap VBCW Self Propelled BIG GUNS" than actual tanks, but that would be splitting hairs:

A Self Propelled "Big Gun" painted in Cadbury's Corporate Colours
Seated Crew - Reiver. The gun can be raised into firing position
or lowered into travelling position.

The basis of this particular SP "Big Gun" is the old, nay "venerable", Airfix "Poly/Snap-Fit" 155mm Self - Propelled Gun, first produced way back in 1966:

Airfix SP Gun with Box 

The Airfix "Poly" model seems to be a simplified version of the M40 (or M43) Motor Gun Carriage, just coming in to service with the US Army at the end of WW2. For that reason, although huge numbers were produced by Airfix, it doesn't seem to have been a favourite of 20mm WW2 wargamers, even back when model choice was limited. For another reason, the howitzer itself is grossly oversimplified, long and spindly, resembling more of a peashooter than a big and powerful artillery piece.

So these "Poly" models regularly pop up cheaply on Ebay - don't go for the boxed ones (as collectors like them), but for the most "beaten up" types, even without the long and spindly howitzer, as you simply have to ditch that anyway. You could make your own replacement gun from any bits of tube, plasticard, wire or card-brushed-with-varnish (see HERE) as you like - or you could (as above) take a cheap plastic oversize 25pdr (Hong Kong variant), remove the wheels and most of the trail, then "chop it about" until it fits snugly into the Airfix model.

The good thing about the resulting "bodge" of a Self-Propelled Howitzer is that it is "scale compatible" with that armoured mainstay of the Hereford VBCW, the "Shoddy Tank" (see blogposts passim):

Another example of the converted Airfix SP 155mm, on this occasion in Fyffes Corporate Colours,
following a "Shoddy Tank" into action. Reiver seated crew again.

And while we are on "good things", Ebay prices can be such that a whole battery of these "SP Big Guns" can be purchased and bodged for very little:

An "SP battery" awaiting conversion (and their crews). Total cost less than one "historic 1/55" tank
model - and you wouldn't want to paint a historic model purple or yellow anyway!

CHEAP VBCW TANKS (3)

In the search for cheap "Hollywood style" tanks for use in the VBCW, there are the occasional frustrations. So this is a short post about "the one which got away" - the Mundus 609 plastic tank: 

A treasury - nine mint Mundus 609 plastic tanks in their original boxes.
Picture from an auction lot some twelve years ago - well before
the Hereford VBCW was 'in the market' for such "60s plastic toys".
A rough idea of size can be obtained from the accompanying 54mm figures.

The problem with the "Mundus 609" tank is not so much that "it got away"; rather, that it seems pretty impossible to find at all. This is particularly annoying as it is known to have a length of 9cm, which makes it wholly compatible with other VBCW "Hollywood tanks".

Obviously, in historical terms, the Mundus 609 is of a completely unrecognisable design - but arguably, that makes it even better from a VBCW viewpoint. So we shall just have to plug away looking for them - if anybody reading this post has one, or knows where to find them, then please leave a comment below!

CHEAP VBCW TANKS (2)

Another 1960s cheap plastic toy to use as a "Hollywood style" VBCW tank: 

As with so many of these 1960s products, the plastic toy looks nothing like the dramatic box art, and although the tank vaguely resembles an M-4 Sherman, it is far too "chubby" and stylised to be anything close to a scale model of the real thing. Hence, a perfect product for a VBCW "Elstree Industries" tank:

As a clockwork "friction tank", the toy has 4 road wheels underneath the chassis and slightly 
raised tank treads. The wheels and clockwork mechanism are easy enough to remove, as is the
"trumpet oversleeve" over the barrel (compare first picture with these).

100mm - or just under 4 inches - long. This is about the right length
for a "28mm tank", and the rest of the dimensions follow on from the length.

Two early production models crewed by the BUF go in to action under the command of 
Major Everard (as the then was, now Major-General Everard) at the Battle of Winforton Pontoons

Later production models form the basis of the Ledbury BUF "Mailed Fist" Battlegroup.
For scale comparison, note tank commander, an old GW Imperial Guard Commissar.

A closer shot of the tank commander, whose tank has been converted with a
longer tank barrel (made of plastic tube). The crewed vehicles to the left of this photograph
are "Yone Tanks" from THIS POST, and helpfully "scale compatible".

Unless you are lucky at a car boot sale, if you wish to recruit a force of "Elstree Industries" tanks, Ebay is your friend. A search under "friction tanks" often brings up examples marked at about the £5 range...

CHEAP VBCW TANKS (1)

If you're going to manoeuvre big VBCW tank forces (and who is not 'a tankie'?), then you need the tanks to be quick to build - and cheap. Hence, Hereford1938 has mostly taken a "Hollywood tank" approach to armoured warfare (well, this is alt-history), and scratched around for suitable 28mm-ish scale models/representations. Hong Kong/Japanese toys from the 1960s have been found to be 'just the thing':

A tinplate AND plastic creation from Japan, marketed as a "Yone tank".

This type (the "Skeet Tank") not only runs on a clockwork mechanism, but also
shoots "safe disks". Wow !

The tinplate upper is easily removable, allowing the wargamer to ditch the clockwork
mechanism, key and gear. The resulting holes are easy enough to disguise with a little
plasticard and filler. Then underspray and paint to taste..

Et voila - "French Lend-Lease" tank destroyers in use with the 
Ludlow Experimental Armoured Brigade. 28mm crew figures in Adrian Helmets.
Clearly waiting for suitable transfers/decals...

Going the other way, and no shortage of transfers/decals - BUF tank destroyers
 with 28mm crews head along the road to Ledbury, passing a parked up BUF Tank Brigade.

These "Yone/Skeet" tanks are particularly fun, as the "open top" allows for some characterful crew figures. One of the "Safe Disks" provides an exact fitting base. Both these "tank destroyers" were sourced from Ebay, where such "Yone/Skeet" tanks occasionally pop up at about £5 a piece. Warning - some sellers clearly think such tanks are made from "unobtainium", and price accordingly - obviously to be avoided. Most, however, realise that they simply have an old and mass produced cheap plastic toy for sale....