MODELLING CHALLENGE 2023 - THE RESULTS !

The Modelling Challenge 2023 ("Technicals") proved to be the most competitive modelling challenge in Hereford1938 history, with fully thirteen entries in total ! Unlucky for some? The competitors, in no particular, but nevertheless blog, order:

(1). No less than FIVE heavily armed entries from Mr Frank Richardson of the Wye Valley Reclamation Depot (Alan);

(2). A diminutive "Combat Car" in service with the Irish Lilliputian Leprechaun Legion (LAF Moriarty);

(3). A "Little Hereford Farmers' Co-Operative Big Gun Technical" (Umpire Clive);

(4). TWO Multi Machine Gun Technicals in service with the Independent Labour Party (prop. Mr Benn, aka Jon);

(5). a "King's Own Colonials 47mm Gun Recon Technical" (Umpire Roo);

(6). TWO MG Technicals of Doc Daktari's Shangani Patrol (Umpire Clive again); and

(7). "The Mosley Mobile" (LAF Bearwoodman).

The International Judging Panel, for reasons explained at the end of this previous post, had already decided to create a new category of "Disabled Technicals", in order to cope with the "entirely off-piste" (according to the French, Italian and Swiss judges) entries from LAF Bearwoodman and - here there was much controversy, not so much "off-piste" as "piste-off" - LAF Moriarty and the Irish Lilliputian Leprechaun Legion.

Against all the physical evidence, LAF Moriarty insisted that his Irish Combat Car "was 1/72 scale, which as we all know isn't 20mm at all, but the same as 25mm, and that's perfectly acceptable with 28mm, begorrah, all this scale growth in recent years...."

Declining to become involved in yet another interminable discussion on the subject of scales, heights, the history and interaction between wargaming and model railway gauges, whether "scale height" should be measured to the line of the eyes or the top of the head, etc. etc., the International Judging Panel simply ruled LAF Moriarty's entry as "too damned small" and assigned him to the "Disabled Technicals" category. Still protesting loudly, it was only when Mr Frank Richardson of the Wye Valley Reclamation Company lit up his blowtorch in a meaningful manner that LAF Moriarty allowed himself to be led away by the Italian judge........

Tall and short, big and small, 1/72 and 28mm. The Italian Judge provides
some practical rules guidance - and consolation - to the
newly "disabled" LAF Moriarty.

Having dealt with the much discussed "Moriarty controversy", the Judging Panel made another swift executive decision. Given the number and quality of the entries to the Modelling Challenge 2023, there was only one way to find out who should win:

The distinguished Chairman of the International Judging Panel announces their "executive decision".

The rules : one lap around Hereford Race Course (facilities kindly donated for the day by HMG and Major-General Everard), first past the post, "modest firing" allowed (subject to judicial penalty) and "quality control by red flag". The competitors lined up, with the "Disabled Technicals" placed in a separate lane, the starter fired his revolver, and THEY'RE OFF !!

OR NOT !

To horrified shrieks and groans from the watching stands, none of the Wye Valley Reclamation Company's five Technicals crossed the starting line, nor even started up at all ! What was the matter ?

But one example of the Wye Valley Reclamation Company's Technicals - "the Stinger"

It subsequently appeared that, in an impossible to ignore breach of the Challenge rules, none of the Wye Valley Technicals had been supplied with a crew - or drivers. This posed obvious difficulties in racing anywhere, let alone a competitive lap around Hereford Racecourse. 

Mr Frank Richardson therefore "retired hurt" from the Challenge, little consoled by the Judges' award of both the Stakhanov Award for Productivity (in Gold) and (given the amount of heavy weaponry fixed to the Technicals), a one half share in the Muammar Gadaffi Megalomanic Prize Fund. He was last seen screaming over the recumbent body of the Chief Designer of the Wye Valley Reclamation Company, while removing the said designer's molar teeth with large pliers - but without anesthetic. At least, we think it was Mr Richardson's screams.... 

And the King's Colonials leapt forward into the lead, chased around the first corner by Doc Daktari's Shangani Patrol, the Little Hereford Farmers, and two badly smoking Independent Labour Party Technicals:

The unfeasible ILP Technicals immediately before the Race.

Heavily overladen with multiple machine guns of all sorts (Soviet Quadruple AA MGs to the rear, twin Vickers K guns for the front seat passenger, with but a single measly Lewis Gun for the deprived driver), the ILP Technicals were simply unable to keep up with their lighter competitors, and the very many heavy boxes of ammunition required for this insane amount of ILP armament soon resulted in gear and engine trouble of a terminal sort.

Pulling up in clouds of steam and smoke, Degsy Hatton of the ILP leapt from the cab of his PMW 1.5 tonner to receive his richly deserved half share in the Muammar Gadaffi Megalomaniac Prize Fund and the "Thanks of the Soviet Military Attache" for so effectively showcasing his country's armaments industry.

Which left but three in the race going down the back straight, and - what's this ? It can't be ?! A Judges' "red flag" for the Shangani Patrol !

Umpire Clive's Shangani Patrol

Yes, as even Umpire Clive subsequently admitted, the Shangani Patrol had been "a bit of a rush job just before the Big Day" and "had too much Khaki Serge and not enough Khaki Drill". There was no VAR appeal (or rather, "cinematic projector appeal") against the Judges' "Red Flag for Quality", with Doc Daktari left to pick up "The Most Innovative Camouflage Scheme" Papyrus Scroll and a stern warning from the Judges to "get himself touched up smartened up for next time".

Which left the Hereford Farmers' Co-Operative neck in neck with the King's Colonials as the race rounded the last corner. The crowds in the stands rose to their feet, breathless and cheering. Who would win the Modelling Challenge 2023 ?

Umpire Clive's Hereford Farmers' Technical

Terrain Tsar Roo's King's Colonials Technical

It had been thought that their "snazzy 1930s three colour camouflage scheme" might give the Farmers' some speed advantage, but this was obviously countered by the huge amount of cut foliage with which the Farmers had sought to disguise the outlines of their Technical, and the sheer weight of their "Really Big Gun". The more nimble King's Colonials therefore drew ahead, just as the Farmers made their ultimate tactical mistake:

"FIRE !"

Some subsequently blamed the Farmer's "home made ammunition". Others argued that "farmers can't be expected to understand physics, after all". What was certain was that, in a vain attempt to blow up the King's Colonials Technical (the shot missed, and badly), the Farmers had put themselves into a catastrophic Big Gun recoil, resulting in their explosive reverse up the straight, through the guard rails, past the tea stand, and then (unhappily, due to the incline of the ground) into a giant airborne backward  leap that appeared to end, so far as anyone in the stands could see, somewhere around Aymestry. That seemed to be the general area from where the smoke of impact was rising, anyway.

The Farmers had, quite literally, triggered themselves, leaving the Kings Colonials to pass the finishing line and perform a victory lap of honour. Winners of the Modelling Challenge 2023 !

To the cheers of the crowd, the King's Colonials Technical drives up
 to the Winner's Enclosure at Hereford Racecourse.

Terrain Tsar Roo, having received only "Fell at the First" Certificates in recent Modelling Challenges, now raised, in triumph and acknowledgment of the crowds, his "From Zero to Hero Trophy" (a gilt edged exclamation mark on an ivory stand) alongside the much coveted "Winner's Cup", and was soon led away for an exclusive interview with the sports correspondent of the "Hereford Times"....

BUT WAIT....

What happened in the quite separate "Disabled Technicals" race?

We should like to draw a discreet veil over such proceedings, or perhaps more appropriately, a large number of shrouds.

Placing the largest ever known Modelling Challenge entry (the 1/43 scale Mosley Mobile) in a lane next to the smallest ever known Modelling Challenge entry (the 1/72 scale Irish Combat Car) was no fair match-up, particularly when many observers argued that the Combat Car was actually 1/76, or possibly 1/87, with a few "outliers" arguing for 1/100....

And it was too much to expect a merciful approach from Oswald Mosley.

The diminutive (and doomed) Irish Combat Car

The gigantic (and unmerciful) "Mosley Mobile"

And so it was that, right at the starting line, the Mosley Mobile performed a dastardly manoeuvre, simply turning and driving straight over the Combat Car with a horrible metal-on-metal KERRUNCH ! This same manoeuvre (known colloquially as "The Mosley Rightward Swerve") is still popular with certain VBCW re-enactors, particularly in the United States:

It was therefore a somewhat dazed and battered LAF Moriarty that received his special prize - the "Jonathan Swift Special Engraving for the Representative Use of Lilliputians in Modern Warfare" (together with solicitous enquiries as to his health):

The Jonathan Swift Special Engraving.

leaving Oswald Mosley (and LAF Bearwoodman) to "savour their triumph" in the "Disabled Technical Section" and parade their "Most Brutal Dictator" award (deepest black withal, with rare and specially pleasing "Ungentlemanly Conduct" ribbons) around the the Winner's Enclosure of Hereford Race Course....

And so on to the Modelling Challenge 2024 !

The people of Hereford congratulate all the participants in the Modelling Challenge 2023.
What will happen next year ?

FOOTNOTE OF UTMOST IRONY

It was suggested in THIS POST that LAF Bearwoodman had entered a state of "suspended animation" after his production of the 40K Shoddy Tank(s) back in 2019. We now recognise that this is NOT TRUE, and that contrary to such ill-informed reports, LAF Bearwoodman was in fact still beavering away on "Shoddy Tank" conversions as recently as March 2022, producing Hereford1938 VBCW's VERY FIRST CULTIST VEHICLE for use in the Spring Big Game of that year.

And here's the rub. The subsequent owner of the Cultist Vehicle ? LAF Moriarty. The return gesture for LAF Bearwoodman's generosity ? A 28mm Oswald Mosley figure, obtained by LAF Moriarty as one of the 10th Anniversary Free Figures, as then painted up by LAF Bearwoodman for use with his "Mosley Mobile".

In short and for those who appreciate the concept of karma, for the purposes of the Modelling Challenge 2023, LAF Moriarty found himself being driven over by the very same Oswald Mosley figure that he had previously given away.....

It's a small world, Hereford 1938. In more ways than one......

TECHNICALS INTERLUDE (2) - THE MOSLEY MOBILE and BEARWOODMAN !

The final entrant to the Modelling Challenge 2023 (Technicals) reveals a twisted tale of travel in time and space, child sweated labour, 1930s British social attitudes, odd bits of cardboard and the welcome return of LAF Bearwoodman!

Regular readers of this blog (and who is not?) will recall LAF Bearwoodman's intergalactic intervention in the Modelling Challenge 2019, when he translated the concept of the (haphazardly) armoured tank products of the Shezuan Ordnance Depot and Delivery Yards ("Shoddy") into the 40K universe (complete with wonderful "White Dwarf" parodies), produced the "Super Shoddy" tank with little more than cardboard, a flourish and an old metal washer, and was the first to introduce - to an astonished universe - the now famous "GW - Shezuan Exchange Index", noting that:

"...buyers can acquire 52.42 Shoddy 40K tanks for the cost of one Leman Russ (at current UK prices) making it attractive to Adeptus Mechanicus bean-counters and frugal xenos invaders alike....."

And then.............silence. Aeons passed. Empires rose and fell. Somewhere beyond the stars, out past the Gates of Antares, LAF Bearwoodman curled up his multitude of converting limbs (biological and bionic) and entered a state of suspended animation, knowing that only one thing could ever re-awaken him...

The irresistible lure of cheap Chinese 1960s plastic !

Not having taken part in the Spring Big Game 2023, and therefore not having received a FREE GIFT of a suitably sized vintage plastic jeep, the Modelling Challenge 2023 presented a particular problem for LAF Bearwoodman : he lacked the necessary "donor vehicle":

Cheap plastic - jeeps here, jeeps there...and nary a one for LAF Bearwoodman !
The Spring Big Game 2023 donor vehicles - the smell of vintage plastic
had clearly wafted from Earth to LAF Bearwoodman's intergalactic lair..

Not one to be put off by such an insignificant initial hurdle to ultimate modelling success, we shall let LAF Bearwoodman himself take up the tale:

"...Fortunately, I am blessed with a teenage daughter who (as a result of being cursed with a miserly father) has become adept at scouting charity shops for bargains. She has found that her meagre pocket money allowance goes further if the clothes she buys are 'pre-loved' and I thought I might put this skill to good use. I asked her to keep a look out for a second hand cheap plastic model jeep while she trawled and promised to re-imburse her if she found one and brought it back to me.

Weeks went by, and every time she returned from an expedition I would ask her if she had secured a cheap plastic jeep. Inevitably the answer was 'no' and it became a sort of running joke. She started pre-empting my question with a roll of her eyes and a 'Hi Dad, no I didn't buy you a plastic toy jeep thing, but look at these hardly worn Converse High Tops/distressed denim shorts/etc...

That is, until one day she returned with a triumphant look in her eye: 'I got one Dad ! You owe me £1.50'. And she presented me with this: "

A 1/43 diecast 1980s Land Rover - wrong scale, wrong material, very wrong decade.....and
no flatbed on which to mount a heavy weapon, thereby producing a "Technical".
 As the curmudgeons say in Hereford1938 - "the result of sending a woman to do a man's job".

However, constrained by paternal duty, and not one to be put off by such a multiple of hurdles to ultimate modelling success, LAF Bearwoodman consoled himself with the fact that his daughter's find was "at least green, and that was a start...." and set to work with an iron will and pile of cardboard:

Back to the 1930s ! New cardboard wings...

New radiator shape, VBCW protection for the windscreen, 1930s running boards and
further work on the wings ...a strangely familiar 28mm VBCW figure
 looks in on LAF Bearwoodman's workshop..

Rivets, turrets, machine guns, milliput and cardboard lights...

"The Leader" inspects the latest work.

Conversion finished...milliput loudspeakers, cardboard bonnet, door reinforcements, more rivets..

And painted ! Not quite a Technical, but a heavily armed converted 
civilian vehicle nonetheless, fit for none other than...

"The Leader" himself, Oswald Mosley !

beautifully painted 28mm example by LAF Bearwoodman.
For uniform references, see HERE

"The Leader" in front of his "Mosley Mobile".
A clear breakthrough in "Personal Messaging"....

...with multiple machine guns if the populace don't appreciate the message...

A side view. You will love my message, and spontaneously so...or else !

Microphone atop the "Mosley Mobile".

An ideal position for a political rant..."the Leader" in full flow.
Wonderful modelling !

So what did the international judging panel of the Modelling Challenge 2023 make of LAF Bearwoodman's entry of the "Mosley Mobile" ?? It has to be confessed that the "Mosley Mobile" breaks pretty much every rule of the Challenge, as solemnly laid down HERE, save for the most fundamental: LAF Bearwoodman's back story made all of the judges quietly giggle. And there was one more factor - another Modelling Challenge 2023 entry that, due to its non regulation beginnings and diminutive size, could not enter the main Challenge concourse.

Hence, in their wisdom, the judges created an entirely new category for the Challenge - the "Disabled Technical" lane. While attitudes to disability were very different back in 1938, the BUF Leader and his Lorried Loudspeaker Machine were back in the hunt for modelling prizes.....could he yet triumph ?

Attitudes to disability were very different in the 1930s.
Read on to the next thrilling blog instalment to discover
the fate of LAF Bearwoodman !

TECHNICALS INTERLUDE (1) - DOC DAKTARI'S SHANGANI PATROL

A late entrant to the Modelling Challenge 2023 - not too late to take part in the Autumn Big Game 2023 (see the Umpire's Table here) - but the only "standard entry" not to have received extensive pre-game publicity. Various Propaganda Departments were clearly working overtime before "the Big Day":

Doc Daktari's Shangani Patrol

Standard PMW 1.5 ton trucks in "zebra stripe pattern" with a compliment of crew (and machine guns) from Empress Miniatures (WW1 range, Model T Ford passengers). The leader of this motley crew of South Rhodesian Big Game Hunters is one "Doc" Daktari (perhaps to be the inspiration for the subsequent 1960s TV Series, see HERE, and YouTube titles HERE). For some unknown reason, "Daktari" is not now often repeated on TV....The original "Shangani Patrol" (of 1893) was one of the founding legends of Rhodesia, much like Custer's Last Stand served the United States - READ ALL ABAHT IT HERE.

Notes:

(1). "Doc Daktari's Shangani Patrol" had an unhappy start to their Hereford1938 VBCW career, being blown up by the Irish Legion of Lilliputian Leprechauns just as soon as, under Umpire direction, they drove on to the table....

(2). North Star Figures do 28mm versions of the 1893 Shangani Patrol within their useful "North Star Africa !" line of figures. Well worth a look for the odd VBCW figure....

(3). For the Rhodesian Regiment, 1938, see HERE

(4). "Doc Daktari and the Shangani Patrol" formed part of Umpire Clive's Modelling Challenge 2023 submission, alongside the "Farmers' Technical":

The Farmers' Technical, also an early casualty of proceedings in Little Hereford.
(Umpire Clive, returning from the West Table, "I think I'll fire the Technical now."
Chorus of players on the East Table, "You can't do that !"
"Why not ?" Not so guilty shuffling of East Table players:
 "Well, we massacred the entire crew while you were away.."

TECHNICALS RACE HOTS UP !

It could very well be that Autumn Big Game 2023 ("Big Trouble in Little Hereford") will come to resemble, not the usual painstakingly authentic historical reconstruction, but a warlike episode of "Wacky Races" - for the Modelling Challenge 2023 entries are now flooding in.

First up, the entry of Mr Benn of the Independent Labour Party (aka Jon), who is clearly determined not to be out-gunned:

The ILP "Technicals" - double Vickers K guns, a Lewis Gun, and what appears to be
Soviet multi barrelled AA machine guns to the rear. Good Golly...

Yes, those multi barrelled MMGs are undoubtedly Soviet in origin.
As they say of the ILP, never knowingly under-gunned...

While Mr Benn must be wondering where to find all the enormous quantities of ammunition necessary for his multiple machine guns, Umpire Roo has avoided another "Fell at the First Certificate" and produced a splendid (and extensively photographed) addition to his "King's Own Colonials" recon section:

We're told that Mickey "Chimpy" Gibbons is at the wheel of this KOC recon Technical, while John "Clown" Macdonald and Aub "Guns" Hodgson operate the 47mm AT/Gun Model 1931 "with deadeye accuracy".... 

Saturday can't come soon enough to see all the "Technicals" in action, and who knows what further entries to the Modelling Challenge 2023 might yet come to light:

FARMERS' TECHNICAL !

Just in time for the Autumn Big Game 2023 this Saturday, 7th October, Umpire Clive has produced his "Little Hereford Farmers' Co-Operative" Technical, as described in the Scenario, viz. "a PMW 1.5 ton truck armed with an improvised 'heavy tank gun' using 'homemade ammunition'. Softskin with a crew of 4, Green/Raw for all purposes": 

The Little Hereford Farmers' Co-Operative Technical. A motley crew from Citadel, Reiver, 
Redoubt ACW, all rescued one way or another from the "spare and broken figures" box.

The "Big Gun" is a converted plastic toy from an old "Army Men" playset, and there is no way
of knowing how the "Technical" will deal with its enormous recoil once fired.
 Extensive foliage from (crumbling) 1960s plastic Britains hedges.

In its "snazzy 1930s three colour camouflage scheme" and with a full crew, Umpire Clive is confident that his Modelling Challenge 2023 entry is roaring ahead of the competition at this early stage - in fact, its the only entry so far to be entirely rule compliant. Let's see what Saturday brings....

TECHNICALS - ANOTHER ENTRY !

Just behind Major-General Everard's "Technical Achievements" rolls in yet another entry for the Modelling Challenge 2023 : a spectacular "Combat Car" with multi-machineguns from LAF Moriarty (aka John):

Undoubtedly a "snazzy 1930s three colour camouflage scheme", ensuring favour from the Judges.
And how many machine-guns did you say ?

2 heavy machine guns and an LMG, fully crewed, looking good....BUT WAIT....
THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG !

There is something wrong ! Spectacular as the camouflage on the "Combat Car" might be, even it can't disguise the fact that the "donor vehicle" is NOT the "cheap cruddy plastic out of scale toy jeep" given away for free at the Spring Big Game 2023 (see HERE). Fleet Street's motoring correspondents suspect it is a Chinese manufactured late period Lledo, possibly with a 20mm crew....HORROR.....

While the Umpires of the Autumn Big Game 2023 ("Big Trouble in Little Hereford") have already given special dispensation for the "Combat Car" to be playable on Saturday 7th October, it is nevertheless wholly unclear how the distinguished panel of internationally renowned Judges will deal with this vehicle for the purposes of the Modelling Challenge 2023.....will it even get over the start line?

Add Edit:

(1). LAF Moriarty unfortunately couldn't make the Spring Big Game 2023, and was therefore unable to collect the "cheap cruddy out of scale Jeep" for the Modelling Challenge - hence the clever improvisation. The Judges Panel's hand has only been stayed by a strong Fleet Street rumour that yet another "non conforming vehicle" is on its way to the concourse of the Modelling Challenge 2023.....

TECHNICALS - FIRST ENTRIES !

And the first entries for the Modelling Challenge 2023 ("Technicals") are IN ! Major-General Everard, County Commander of the Forces of HMG (aka Alan), has provided this carefully preserved and beautifully illustrated extract from the "Hereford Times" of 1938:

"At yesterday’s annual Open Day and Gala at the Wye Valley Reclamation depot in Rotherwas, Managing Director Frank Richardson unveiled the company’s new range of ‘Enhanced Utility Vehicles’ for the discerning enthusiast wishing to work or travel safely in Herefordshire in these troubled times.

Rebuilt from scrap vehicles and parts at the Rotherwas depot, these vehicles certainly pack a punch, belying their unobtrusive livery, and will no doubt find a variety of uses.

The Mule is a tracked towing vehicle capable of hauling a combine harvester or heavy artillery piece with equal facility, and with an LMG for self-defence against poachers:

"The Mule"

The Stinger carries a light anti-tank weapon for clearing any vehicle blocking farm gateways, while the Widowmaker has a quadruple-barrelled HMG for heavy pest control:

"The Stinger"

"The Widowmaker"

The Cloudburst has a medium mortar for delivering items to remote sites, and the Tempest mounts a mini rocket launcher for scaring off those unwanted flocks of pigeons:

"The Cloudburst"

"The Tempest"

Unsubstantiated rumours that these vehicles incorporated parts from vehicles missing after a recent outbreak of vehicle theft were dismissed by Mr. Richardson, nicknamed ‘Blowtorch’ by his friends, as malicious gossip spread by jealous rivals.

Recent inquiries into the thefts by Herefordshire Constabulary have failed to make any progress, after several patients recently discharged from the Burns Unit at the Hereford General Hospital declined to be interviewed, claiming their injuries had resulted from industrial accidents with acid-etching or acetylene welding equipment."

[Historical Footnote

In later years Frank Richardson’s sons, Charlie and Eddie, would find fame (and an extended holiday at Her Majesty’s pleasure) for excessively enthusiastic use of industrial equipment (including pliers and electricity generators) during interviews with recalcitrant debtors at their South London business premises.]

Add Edit

Alan takes his applause for being the FIRST to complete the Modelling Challenge 2023, including providing photographs, a full backstory, and a complete text to boot ! I say ! Hurrah !

JIM'S WARGAMES WORKBENCH AK47 CAMPAIGN

For those who enjoyed the previous post about the classic Ztum-Setum AK47 campaign, or those looking for more inspiration for the Modelling Challenge 2023 - all those VBCW 'Technicals' - a nod in the direction of Jim Jackaman's "Jim's Wargames Workbench" and his long running AK47 campaign (it's been going, off and on, since January 2010) - see HERE.

Always enjoyable, Jim's recent account of the contestants for the "Afro Vision 72 Final" (see HERE) and the resulting "Mbote Pop Band Tragedy" (see HERE) has reached new levels of faux historicity ludicrousness AK47 humour - goodness knows what Terry Wogan would have made of it...

The site of the Mbote Pop Band Tragedy. Photo "liberated" from Jim's blog.

Modelling Challenge 2023 Note: this year's campaign Challenge is now underway, and remember that "if you make it you can play it" at the Autumn Big Game 2023. Having painfully learned via the "Disaster at Dinmore" that the converse is also true - "if you don't make it, it's going to be played against you" - it looks at the moment as if the Presteigne Soviets have taken an early lead...

AK47 Campaign Note: Long Live President Dudu!

RED FRONT TECHNICALS !

In yet another bid to restore the battered reputation of the Communists in Herefordshire, Commissar Moody of the Presteigne "Bureau Desinformatziya" has opened the "Presteigne Motor Show and International Sales Exhibition", a trade gathering devoted to the technical superiority of all Communist made products, including the famous PMW 1.5 ton truck. 

New models of the "PMW" entering service with the Communist 2nd and 3rd Shock Armies have been armed in a variety of interesting ways:

PMW 1.5 ton trucks with "20mm Oerlikon Cannon"

These PMW "Technicals" did useful service with Comrade Colonel Knokisblokov's 2nd Shock Army
at the Autumn Big Game 2021. Guns and drivers converted (and ancient) Tudor Rose plastics.
Gunners converted from the OOP PSC 28mm Soviet Infantry

These PMW "Technicals" are fresh from the factory floor. Drivers ancient "Tudor Rose" plastics;

Heavy Machine Gun and Gunner from a modern plastic USMC playset.

Another view. The USMC gunners were so "indistinctly modelled"
that there is no problem passing them off as 1938 Soviets!

The "heavy boys" - PMWs with Recoiless Rifles (of the 3rd Shock Army)
Drivers Tudor Rose again; guns converted from a cheap plastic Hong Kong WW2 joblot.
There is some speculation as to the calibre of these "Red RCLs", ranging from "75mm to 175mm".
However, as the entirety of the Hereford VBCW deals only in Imperial Measures (obviously)
this is completely meaningless to most.

The gathering of Soviet "Technicals" from the 2nd and 3rd Shock Armies respectively
at the Presteigne Motor Show and International Sales Exhibition.
Death to Fascism! On to Hereford!
All power to Comrade Colonel Professor Winters and the Presteigne Soviet !