Airfix Vickers light tank BEF 1940 France 1/76.

Hello all,

Here is an older work of mine from 2010. I have always had a soft spot for small pre war light tanks , so when I bought an old JB models kit at a model show I was surprised by how simple it was to build. It only has 40 or so parts for three different variants “a” ,”b” and “c”. The tracks come as a complete unit and you could knock one this kit in an hour if pushed.

I wanted to try and modify this kit a bit so I tried to open the drivers hatch and commander’s hatch. Trying to find pictures on the net was a nightmare. I am lucky enough to live just down the road from Bovington tank museum were they have a Vickers on show! It was there I got the idea to do the pendants on the aerials. Tin foil was folded in half and glued around the wire and the cut into a triangle. The foil allowed the flag to shaped quite nicely and stay in “fluttering”. A few bits of stowage was add from a set from SGTS MESS.

The figures are from Wee friends, and I have been told that they did not wear khaki cover all’s but a black set. It make’s sense from the point of view of oil and stains but from a painting angle the khaki win’s. The poses are brilliant, the bloke laying down asleep is a first for me. I liked the idea of a peacefull diorama rather than a full on battle, and soldiers having a “brew” does bring back memories of being on exercise.

The men in shirt sleeves fixing the the tracks work well together in a dio and could be used on there own.The shirt colour is a bit of a matter of choice like the cover all’s. I want to try out some GW washes and all I could think of was a light blue/grey colour.

The base was one of my first larger efforts. Before that I used to only use GW black bases for single figure so this was a step up for me. The base is an old photo frame covered in PVA glue and sand with a wall from Jarvis scenery. I have been told that if the wall put at an angle it would have looked better and to be fair they have a point. The grass is from Silfor tufts and the trees are from woodland scenic.

The Airfix (Ex-JB) model still is available through Ebay here. Also you can found interesting the UMMT and Mirage range for this kind of vehicles. Take a look here.

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