Ground Vehicles

by Marc Flake

Here is the Reviresco 1/72 Austin armored car. I used a camouflage scheme illustrated in a black-and-white photo in "War Cars" by David Fletcher. The car illustrated was painted in light blue over khaki "in the hope that they would not show up against the horizon." I also replaced the Vickers with Lewis machine guns as per the photo prototype.

The Talbots were armored in much the same way as the Rolls Royces. The only visible outside difference was in the wheels.

The Lanchesters were about as numerous as the Rolls Royces, serviing in Belgium, the Middle East and in Russia. They are frequently pictured flying the White Ensign.

After watching "Lawrence of Arabia" for the first time, I knew I would have to ultimately build that neat Rolls Royce armored car featured in a couple of scenes in the movie.

It wasn't until I found the Reviresco site on the Web that I was able to fulfill this dream. The kit comes with about 25 white metal parts. Some clean-up is necessary for flash and such. Everything fit incredibly well, except the turret. I had to grind away at the turret ring as well as the inside of the turret. I even had to lightly tap the top of the turret (protected with folded rag) with a small hammer to get it to sit right.

A little putty here and there filled the gaps -- mostly where the bonnet meats the body. And sanding didn't even affect the white metal details!

The instructions call for an overall medium gray scheme. I chose neutral gray. Decals are from a set of railroad letters by Superscale.

Paraphrasing from the Reviresco site: The Erhrhardt was utilized by the German Army in the Verdun region, primarily as convoy support. They were also used in Transylvannia against the Rumanian. Some were sent to support Turkish operations in Palestine. They also made an appearance on the Ukranian Front in 1918.

Reviresco calls it the Strassenpanzerkraftwagen, any translations are welcomen! Everything went together well, including the turret. No mention in the instructions on painting, so I selected a dark gray. The Eisenkruze were taken from the spares box.

This is the 1/72nd scale RPM kit. It's pretty dinky compared to the other two armored cars. Used in Poland. Nice kit.

Reviresco places this Rolls Royce Tender in the Middle East Theater. The kit comes with two jacketed Lewis machine guns and their mounts. You also get a couple of long boxes for the back. The builder is given the option to place the machine guns where-ever he or she wants. I painted her in overall mid-stone.

The Crossley Tender is another of the easy to assemble Reviresco kits. It can be built with or without the cover. Or leave the cover loose like I did and you can have your cake and eat it, too.

Mark IV Female

Kit: Emhar (1:72)

This is the Emhar 1/72 British Mark IV Female tank. Like the "Male" version, the track did not meet all the way around, requiring me to use a piece of strip styrene.

Mark IV Male

Kit: Emhar (1:72)

The Emhar 1/72 British Mark IV Male is shown here. My biggest complaint about it is that the track did not fit all the way around. I had to add the width of one track link by using a bit of strip styrene. It's painted in Tamiya Khaki Drab.

Schneider char d'assaut

Kit: Reviresco (1:72)

This is Reviresco's 1/72 scale white metal Schneider char d'assaut. The 16 pieces went together well. I only had to apply some putty here and there. I had to add the grill-work on the bow. I wish I had been able to find a finer mesh. I replaced some of the clunkier fittings, like the exhaust pipe, with scratched items. The paint job is extrapolated from several photographs. The colors are an educated guess.

St. Chamond

This is Reviresco's 1/72 scale St. Chamond white metal kit. this is the second type, with the standard 75 mm cannon and no cupolas. The camouflage scheme is fictional. In what little references I found, there didn't seem to be a standard pattern, so I made one up. I used three colors of the French Air Force's five-color camouflage scheme -- a hypothetical guess that what worked on aircraft would also work on tanks. This is essentially a wargame piece that can be enhanced with some work. The interior is detailable, if you can find the right references. The hatches can be left open, including the starboard side door. The hardest part is removing the seams from the tracks.

Whippet Tank

Kit: Emhar (1:72)

Putting togther Emhar's 1/72 scale Whippet tank was a nice break from some of the more complicated models I've been building lately. The kit is practically viceless, with only the decals provding a challenge. They are thick and prone to silvering. I used Tamiya Khaki Drab for the main tank color.

Up | Chez Marc Flake | Gallery | Home