No one else here Brian can trace their career back to when Centurion was a rank 
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Mate, when I joined, we weren’t issued personal numbers, we all knew one another(!)
The Queen’s head on our LS&GC was Boudicca.
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Sorry about that Matthew, 
, but if it helps I’d have been pushing 40 way back then, 
…it’s just that it was the last century that makes it feel like a ‘way back in’ moment, 
.
G, 
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Okay, some work done on the Sexton. With no power here for a few days and therefore no access to reference pics I had, it went on the back burner for a bit.
Last bits of detailing added to the interior. cables, conduits, etc. I wasn’t going to bother, but after test fit I realised just how visible it would be.
Also fitted her shoes. These tracks were almost the death of me, but at least they fit the kit without too much sag.
Some dry fit pics of where she is:
Notice I broke the safety rail… it has been repaired several times since. If it breaks again, it will be the very last bit I’ll replace before painting!
After base painting the new bits, I’ll go back to doing the detail painting and hopefully get her ready for adding the rest of the exterior parts
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Very nice mate … the extra detailing paid off and was very much worth it. Makes a big difference.
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It’s okay G, no offence taken whatsoever. I’m 61 myself. Your reference to the 90’s made you sound much younger. Yeah, it was last century. Sigh.
Your diorama base is coming along phenomenal, by the way.
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Shows my age 
I still think of Tamiya kits from after 1989 as new releases! The old kits are 1970 & before.
I have to remind myself kits …
Relics ~1960’s
Venerable ~1970’s
Old kit before 1989
Middle Ages ~1990 to ~2020
New ~2020 to 2025
Cheers 
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Nice progress there Peter, look forward to seeing her painted, 
.
G,
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I have 4 years on you Matthew, so that makes you a veritable youngster, .
G,
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I’ll commit your method of dating kits to memory Wade, it sounds like a very balanced way, .
G,
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Hi all,
I’ve not been very happy with the beach in general, especially the lower side of the stream, it was too flat, so added some more chinchilla dust to give texture, 
. Also, looked at some images of well trod beaches and the sand seems to form small interlinked craterlets, so decided to roughen up the surface where the troops might have advanced…
Whilst checking that out I realised that the canvas matting from the Churchill Bobbin is ribbed, so added paper strips to suggest such…not suggesting for one minute that it’s accurate, 
, it’s artistic licence…plus it looks more interesting, …
I was still not happy with the colour of the beach, it was too yellow, so spent some time trying to improve things by toning down the yellow, and suggesting a salmon pinkish hue, 
. It’s still not right for my eyes, but I think it’s improved slightly, . Will see how it’s dried out in the morning and tweak as necessary, 
…
I’m also not happy with the sand islets, I think they need to be flatter, so will adjust them tomorrow, .
Cheers, ,
G
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Relics = Carved from Mammoth Bone, with your own teeth; instructions on the wall of cave.
Ancient = Carved from wood with a bronze knife; instructions on papyrus in hieroglyph or Linear B.
Classical = Carved from wood and antler or cast from lead, aftermarket detail parts in bronze; instructions in Greek or Latin on potsherds or wooden writing tablets.
Venerable = still mainly wood, antler and lead; instructions still in Latin but on vellum.
Middle Ages: As above, but instructions in Old/Middle English (Norman French for Heller and Historex).
Modern = Anything more recent…
FYP.
M
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Yeah, build that G!
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I’d like to submit this Mercedes VK 170 as a finished model in the D-Day campaign which is my first campaign since joining! Thanks heaps for allowing a late entry and I very much appreciate the opportunity to join in.
This has been finished as a telegraph/telephone line maintenance vehicle of the German 711 Infantry Division which held positions east of the Orne, between the 7th and 15th armies, with headquarters at Cabourg. On D Day this division mainly fought against paratroop elements which is why I’ve also put this vehicle into a little diorama.
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Late on 5 June 1944 the two messages the French Resistance were waiting for regarding sabotage were broadcast by BBC radio. The first message of “it is hot in Suez” was to trigger the ‘green plan’ (sabotage of railroads and equipment) whilst the second message of “the dice are on the table” initiated the ‘red plan’ (cutting of certain cables, telegraph and phone lines).
The Resistance responded to these prompts by enacting pre arranged plans. Their actions resulted in widespread communication issues throughout the region. Once paratroopers started dropping from pre dawn on 6 June 1944, they too would cut phone lines and attempt to disable the defender’s communication. For the German defence it was hard to work out whether communication outages were routine, from sabotage or from air activity which had been heavy over the night of 5/6 June.
As a result of various lines being down, elements of units such as the 711 Infantry Division were tasked to repair broken lines. Reports of paratroopers landing were being talked about amongst the various units , including how two [glider pilots] had landed right in front of Generalleutnant Reichert, the commander of 711, but it was hard for these line infantry soldiers to fully comprehend the situation.
That’s where and when this diorama comes in. A tired trio are out repairing lines on 6 June without fully understanding the invasion was happening. They’re approached by a colleague who shows them a British water bottle he’s just found nearby. Two of the trio are interested but tired, whilst the driver is more focused on the engine which has decided to take an unscheduled break.
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Very Nice job Sam. Love the grass effect - is it one of the grass mats you can get?
If I can put my two Bob’s worth in… the colour of the piping on waffenfarbe for German Signals was lemon yellow, not white. White was infantry:
Just change the driver’s colour, and say the other 3 are infantry that just happen to be hanging around the signals unit. That fits well, as they all have weapons harness and equipment on.
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Ta mate. Much appreciated.
Yes it is one of the bought grass mats. I’d prefer to do my own but this was just to pose the vehicle.
Noted ref the waffenfarbe. For this role though they wouldn’t usually be signallers as this was really grunt work to keep comms lines open, rather than a specialised skill like a signaller who’d need to understand radio theory and use of different bands.
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Great build Sam, and lovely setting with a really clever story which you could easily see occurring … the water bottle being found and discussed works very well.
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