Humber Scout Car

 

I watched A Bridge Too Far again recently, while I was banged up in Covid Jail, and it occurred to me that what I really really need is a little 15mm JOE Vandeleur in his little 15mm Humber scout car.

I found a 1:56 Humber on Thingiverse that I could assemble into a one-piece model and rescale, so now all I had to do was sculpt a teensy-tiny Michael Caine to perch on it.

Humber Mk.II Armoured Car

 

Here's a WWII British armoured car, the Humber Mk.II in 15mm/1:100 scale. It mounts a BESA 15mm heavy machine gun with a coaxial 7.92mm machine gun, also a BESA. It was used in North Africa from late 1941, and stayed in active service in Africa, Europe, and the far East in various configurations throughout the war.

The vehicle is a Bergman design, and I've opened up the hatches and added a commander.

It's printed in resin on my Mars Pro.

Vickers-Crossley (1:100)

 

Here's my latest 3d printing project in progress, a Vickers-Crossley armoured car in 1:100 scale (designed by Zachary Kavulich) alongside a 1921 Rolls Royce (background) that I've been using as a painting test model for a while now.

The Vickers-Crossley is one of the most difficult models I've tried to print. This is version four, and it's still kind of a mess — I'm coming to the conclusion that it's just too much for my poor old Ender 3. I might see if my friend Steve can get something better out of his resin printer.

Some time later...

I got it painted, though it's not a great job.

I should go back over it and clean up the panels a bit. This one looks like it's just been dragged out of a peat bog.

Autoblinda 40/41

I printed and painted these some time ago, but I seem to have neglected to display them to the outside world, so here they are. They're Italian WWII Autoblinda 40 and 41 armoured cars (the AB40 is on the left, with two MG in the turret).

The digital models come from TigerAce1945 on Thingiverse.

SdKfz 231 (15mm)

 This is a 1:100 scale resin and pewter model from Battlefront, from their WWII Flames of War range.

It's the German SdKfz 231 heavy armoured car.

I've had the model hanging about, unbuilt, for a few years now, and I thought it was about time I got it on to the wargames table.

I suspect that, for the 1939-40 period I'm primarily interested in, that the crewman should be wearing the big beret rather than the side-cap, but I shall let that pass since I can't be faffed getting out the Green Stuff to make him a new hat.

AutoMitrailleuse White

The White Armoured Car (Mitrailleuse White in French service) was the French equivalent of Britain's Rolls Royce armoured car, inasmuch as it was a World War One design that was continually upgraded and in service until World War Two. It was based on an American White chassis, and mounted a Hotchkiss machine gun and a 37mm gun opposite each other in the turret.

This is my 1:100 (15mm) 3d printed model in WSF nylon, available for sale in this material or in high-resolution FUD resin at http://shpws.me/MKq1

I'm not sure exactly what tactical markings they would have worn, but I think some French roundels would probably be a reasonably safe bet.

Later...

Somebody suggested the playing-card symbols as used on interwar/WWII French tanks as platoon identifiers. I don't know if they were actually used for armoured cars, but I liked the idea so I tried it out.

The French roundel on the doors makes a nice aiming bullseye.

White Armoured Car, 1915

After much travail, here is the White Armoured Car of 1915, in 1:100 scale (15mm).

They were built by the French on the chassis of American White trucks, and remained in service right through until the 1940s. The turret mounted both a short 37mm gun and a Hotchkiss machine-gun. In French service they were known as Automitrailleuse White.

It's available at http://shpws.me/MKq1

The travail comes not so much from actually modelling the thing as from wrestling with Shapeways' systems to actually make it available for purchase and printing.