ARMOUR MODELLING CHALLENGE 2019 - THE RESULTS!

At the start of a New Year (if you're living in the alternative, non 1938 timeline), it's worth looking back at the results of the 2019 Armour Modelling Challenge. The full backstory - of Elstree Industries and it's disastrous sub-contract with the Schezuan Ordnance Depot and Delivery Yards ("SHODDY") can be found HERE. The challenge was simple : to convert a piece of cheep (i.e. so cheap it couldn't even afford a different vowel) Chinese plastic - given away FREE to players at the Spring 2019 Big Game - into an acceptable looking (nay, wonderful looking) VBCW(ish) tank.

The 2019 Armour Modelling Challenge followed hard on the heels of the 2018 Maritime Modelling Challenge - see HERE - and produced the following results:

Clive replaced the original "too thin turret" with a spare plastic turret from an out of scale armoured car, then slapped on lots of yellow paint and added some spare tank commanders and Automobile Association decals sourced
from Ebay. Unfortunately, real time testing of the resultant formidable piece of armour did not go too well....

Alan kept the original turret, but compensated by adding an outsize barrel, machine gun and hedge cutter accessory,
then disguised everything with a snazzy 1930s three colour dazzle camouflage scheme. Excellent stuff, even though
this particular "Shoddy" tank spent most of the Mortimer's Cross game breaking down..

Roo "went to town" on his creation, replacing the original turret and adding lots of inventive "bitz" to produce
a Flamethrower Tank! It looks like the rear gubbins is made up of a piece of sprue and the back end of a Lledo
tanker, while the remainder seems to be plastic card and tubing. Consistent with the ineffective results of every
 other "Shoddy" tank at the Mortimer's Cross game, however, the Flamethrower Tank stopped an AT shot
 relatively early on, and ground to a halt at an ineffective distance from anyone (other than a Hereford Police
AT Gun, which it then completely incinerated, just for fun). However:

....Alan was not content with just one "Shoddy Tank" design. Here on his modelling table are the pre-paint shots
of not one, but three "Shoddy variants" - a Stug like Assault Cannon (original turret removed and replaced with
a scratchbuilt commander's hatch), the "Fat Barrel" variant already seen painted, and then (original turret removed
and body excavated)  a truly splendid "Armoured Assault Multi-Mortar with Mine Clearing Attachment".
That left just the painting to do:

The completed Armoured Multi Mortar (with Mine Clearing Attachment) and....

The completed Assault Cannon, with a nice tank commander added and various decals from the bitzbox.
Given the consistent paint scheme, it looks like all three tanks were designed to operate together...

Not to be outdone, Roo got down to some serious work....and had the artistic vision to see that, if suitably painted,
the original tank turret wasn't actually out of place/scale as originally feared. This was a marvellous example of
"minimal efficient conversion" i.e. simply chop off one of the original two gun barrels, argue that the remaining
 "offset"tank barrel was a VBCW experiment or field conversion, then slap on a commander's hatch (with radio
antennae and hull machine gun) - and Bob's your uncle. Spray green, forget any time consuming camouflage ideas,
cover in Dark Tone to bring out the detail and........repeat....... 

Roo's Shoddy Tank Assembly Line. A limited edition "Wargames Illustrated" D-Day beachmaster is in the foreground for scale. Again, it looks like these three "Shoddy" tanks are designed (or painted) to operate as a unit, which appears to have taken Alan back - having presumably run out of Shoddy prototypes to modify - to the original 2018 challenge:

What could be more original than a Landing Craft scratchbuilt from a curry container? What with Alan's landing craft, Roo's beachmaster and hordes of expendable "Shoddy" tanks all painted up and ready to serve the interests of HMG, it's almost as if these two suspect a "VBCW amphibious landing" game is coming up very soon....... 

Note: The original plastic tanks were sourced from Ebay, and are still readily available - see HERE for one example amongst many. Note that postage from China to the UK is rather variable, so you may wish to find a UK supplier (and pay a little more than 62p per tank!!). The 2019 Armour Modelling Challenge will remain open for entries (from players or non players) for a while yet.....