Armor Camouflage & Markings of the 2nd New Zealand Division

The formation of the 4th NZ Armored Brigade in 1942 finally gave General Bernard Freyberg what he had desired since 1940, an Armored unit that was integral with the 2nd NZ Division. Back then his desire had been a more modest one; the armored brigade he envisaged was only supposed to consist of one full armored regiment, while the other units proposed for it were a reconnaissance regiment, the 27th Machine Gun Battalion and an infantry battalion with its own motorized transport. Now, of course, he had three full armored regiments and a motor battalion. As a result of this reorganization the division had become a mixed division, consisting of two infantry brigades in addition to the new armored unit, the form it had fought in throughout the final stages of the campaign in North Africa, though with a British Armored brigade under its command. This was an experimental unit within the British army and while it had been employed with some success during the latter stages of the desert campaign it was to prove less suitable for the conditions encountered in Italy. There, as the Allies were to discover, the country did not favor the employment of tanks in a mobile role and they soon found themselves in need of more infantry. Ultimately Freyberg reached the same conclusion and came about with his own unique solution.

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British Armor in Sicily and Italy

The markings on this White Scout Car. photographed at Primisole Bridge, are something of a mystery. The large X on a red over blue square identities a RA Battery commander while the white 77 denotes the anti-tank regiment of an armored division. However, no armored divisions participated in the Sicily invasion. A possible candidate is 73rd Anti-tank Regiment attached to XXX Corps and until January 1943 officially part of 8th Armoured Division. The stylised battle-axe on the side is reminiscent of 78th Infantry Divisions Formation Badge.A Sherman III of The Royal Scots Greys (2nd Dragoons) comes ashore at Salerno. Italy. The Greys had been operating as an independent regiment since late 1942 although officially part of 4th Armoured Brigade. During that time, it is not clear exactly when, they began to use the Formation Badge seen here - a black over white square with a green and purple thistle. It is doubtful that this badge was used after the Italian Campaign. All tanks carried a red squadron sign on the turret, some with troop number enclosed. They were also named. probably after RN Ships, with the style of lettering differing from one vehicle to another.

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Focus On Armour Camouflage & Markings No.01 Germany North Africa

The war in North Africa started in June 1940 when Italy declared war on Britain. The British attacked the Italians with a hastily strengthened force on December 9th 1940, which ended with the defeat of the Italian force by the first week of February in the following year. On February 14th, 1941, the advance elements of what was to become Panzer Army Afrika, arrived at Tripoli; these were units of the 5th Light Division, namely the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion and the 39th Anti-Tank Battalion, formed from Cadres of the 3rd Panzer Division. The intention of the Germans was to re-enforce the unsuccessful Italians who had been pushed out of Cyrenaica by the British the previous year. The Germans went straight into action in their month of arrival, and in due course it may become apparent to the British that the troops facing them were made of more sterner stuff than they had encountered hitherto. Hitler was determined that his Italian allies would not be defeated in North Africa. He had considered the possibilities of a successful campaign, the strategic values of Egypt and the Suez Canal, and had sent the first detachments-culled from 3rd Panzer-to Tripoli. He chose one of his most promising Generals to command the new force, Erwin Rommel, a name which was soon to be on everyone's lips, on both sides.

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Kagero Topshots 13 - BMP-2

The BMP-1 and BMP-2 share the same chassis and have almost identical road performance. (The BMP-2 is heavier but also has a more powerful engine to compensate)
The driver sits in the front left of the vehicle, with the engine in a separate compartment to his right. The driver has his own entry hatch above him, with three day periscopes. The centre TNPO-170A periscope can be replaced with either a TNPO-350B extended periscope for amphibious operation or a TVNE-1PA night vision scope. An infantry man sits immediately behind the driver, and has a firing port and vision block. TNPO-170A periscopes are used throughout the vehicle and are electrically heated. In the centre of the vehicle is the welded steel turret which seats the commander and gunner, both of whom have hatches. The commander sits to the right and has three day vision periscopes, a 1PZ-3 day-sight designed for anti-aircraft use with 1x, 2x and 4x magnification, an OU-3GA2 infra-red searchlight, a TNP-165A designator and a TKN-3B binocular sight with x4.75 day magnification and x4 night-sight magnification.

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Kagero Topshots 17 - M3A1 Stuart

The M3A1 Light Tank was a significant incremental improvement over the earlier M3 Light design program begun originally in 1940. Focusing on increased crew safety and survivability, the Al model also incorporated improvements that increased the operational accuracy and lethality of the vehicle when fielded against enemy tanks of equal weight and class. Many of the design improvements incorporated into the M3A1 went on to become international standards for armor design to this day. Production of the M3A1 began in May of 1942 and continued through February of '43. Of the nearly 20,000 Stuarts of all classes and types built during the war, production of the M3A1 totaled 4,621 units. Of this number 4,410 were powered by the Continental W-970-9A seven-cylinder, 262 hp, radial gas engine. The balance of this total being powered by the Guiberson T-1020-4 nine cylinder, 250 hp, radial die-sel engine. Both these engines utilized a 5-speed syncromesh transmission and the vehicle could attain a top speed on firm ground of 36 to 38 mph. Dimensions for the M3A1 were as follows: Length 173 inches, Width 88 inches and a Height of 100 inches. Total vehicle weight in combat ready condition was 28,500 pounds. Internal fuel storage was a mere 54 US gallons.

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Kagero Topshots 19 - T-72 M1

The "product 172" was designed in Nishni Tagil as the variant of T-64 with less advanced but more reliable engine. It was close to the T-64 only in its first iteration. Before the series production started almost all the construction, including running gear was replaced and the T-72 shared with T-64 only the gun, communication equipment and some components of FCS. The smooth-bore 125mm D-81T gun was the world's most powerful tank weapon in mid seventies and retained its advantages for quite a long time. Unfortunately the range of shells offered for D-81T by Soviets was limited and became obsolete very soon. The auto loader device purpose-built for T-72 and different to those used in T-64 and T-80 enabled the tank to fire up to 8 shells per minute. Another advantage of T-72 is its low silhouette. The price for it is the cramped inner space assuring only minimum comfort for the crew. That feature made any upgrade of the T-72 difficult too.

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Kagero Topshots 22 - T-64, T-64A Main Battle Tank

Design work on T-64 main battle tank, developed as successor to the T-54/55/62 family, commenced in 1954 in the Design Bureau of the Malyshev Factory in Kharkov, Ukraine. At the head of the project was the Bureau's chief designer A. Morozov. The first prototype, designated "Object 430", incorporated many innovative features, among them the 5TD powerplant. It was a two-stroke, five-cylinder, opposed-piston turbodiesel engine. Despite its smaller (13.6 litre) cubic capacity, it was more powerful, with an estimated output of 750 horsepower. The tank had an ejection-type cooling system, which used the energy of engine exhaust gases. The resulting absence of cooling fans and fan drive reducer considerably decreased power consumption. T-64 was the first tank in the world fitted with fully automatic electro-hydraulic loading system, which allowed the number of crew members to decrease to three: the commander, the gunner and the driver. For the first time in a Russian construction an optical sight - range finder was installed, which vastly improved the accuracy of fire. "Object 430" was armed with a 100mm gun, subsequently substituted by a D-68 115mm gun. A new lightweight suspension was fitted, featuring hollow metallic wheels of small diameter and caterpillar tracks with rubber joints.

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Kagero Topshots 24 - UAZ-469B

The UAZ is one of the world's most popular and wide spread off-road 4x4 vehicles. The UAZ-469 was the only Russian car able to compete with renowned western products in its class, like the US Jeep and the British Land Rover and has found the place in the history of 4x4 cars. The UAZ (Ulyanovskiy Avtomobilnyi Zavod - The Ulyanovsk Car Factory) was founded in the 1941 when the famous ZIS was evacuated from Moscow facing German assault. The first product of the factory were the ZIS-5 trucks. When the ZIS returned to the Soviet capital, the Ulyanovsk plant was renamed and was known as UIZIS and produced cars designed in Moscow and Gorkyi, including "Soviet Jeep" - GAZ-69. In the early sixties of the last century the project of a new lightweight 4x4 as the replacement of the ageing GAZ-69 was launched. After ten years of trials and tests, in the 1972, the first UAZ-469 left the assembly line. It became the standard light vehicle of Russian and most War-Pac forces, as well as almost all former or current socialist states around the world. In addition, it was widely sold as a civilian off-road vehicle. It is rather a simple vehicle, of conventional layout: seven-seat, four/five-door. The rear area may be open or covered by a canvas tilt; hard-bodied versions are also available.

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Panzer I

Nach dem 1. Weltkrieg durfte Deutschland keine Panzer in seiner Reichswehr haben. Die Versuche und Entwicklungen mit verbotenem Gerät, Waffen und Munition nach den Bestimmungen des Versailler Vertrages begannen dennoch bereits Anfang 1921 und wurden im Geheimen bis in die 30er Jahre fortgesetzt. Zwar schritten die Entwicklung und die Konstruktion von Panzerfahrzeugen während des Jahrzehnts der 20er Jahre nur langsam voran, dennoch entstanden in dieser Zeit, teilweise in Rußland erprobt, die Panzer, die letzten Endes das Rückgrat der Panzertruppe der Wehrmacht werden sollten. General Lutz, Kommandeur der deutschen Kraftfahrtruppe, erhielt vom Heereswaffenamt den Auftrag, da die Entwicklung guter serienreifer Fahrzeuge zwischen fünf und sieben Jahre in Anspruch nähme, für die Zwischenzeit Übergangslösungen zu entwickeln. Diese "Übergangspanzer" sollten für die Ausbildung der Panzertruppen genutzt werden. Sie wurden jedoch später Deutschlands, nach der Menge bedeutendste Kampfpanzer, nämlich die Panzer III und IV. 1933 nahm das Heereswaffenamt Verbindungen zum Herstellen gepanzerter Fahrzeuge zwischen vier und sieben Tonnen Gewicht auf. Angebote kamen von Krupp (Essen), Henschel (Kassel), Daimler-Benz (Berlin) und der Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg (MAN) in Nürnberg. Alle Firmen legten Prototypen vor, die untereinander jedoch recht ähnlich waren. Das Angebot von Krupp wurde gewählt. Die Massenproduktion dieses Fahrzeugs begann Mitte 1934 unter der Bezeichnung Panzerkampfwagen I A (Sd. Kfz 101).

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Panzer Tracts No.3-2 - Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf E-F-G-H

Now for the first time Panzer Tracts has created a reliable reference work documenting the histoiy of the Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.E to H. Information presented in this Panzer Tracts allows the reader to correctly interpret photographic content from any and all other sources. You can successfully identify the Ausfuehrung (model) of a Pz.Kpfw.lII in a photograph by using the key characteristics correctly identified in this Panzer Tracts for the Ausf.E, F, G, and H. In addition, details of what the far side, top, rear, and belly looked like on any given Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf.E - H can be determined when you only have a single photograph of the Panzer that you are interested in. The Gruppenliste (component list) is the starting point for determining exactly which characteristics and changes were associated with each Ausfuehrung. A new drawing number was assigned as new components were designed or significantly modified. New numbers added to the Gruppenliste provide us with the primary clue that a change was made and therefore should be investigated to determine exactly what the change was. As specified in TL 21/2023 and 21/3043 (technical specifications), Gruppenliste 021 Gr 9200 (assigned to Z.VV.38) was used to number the WaA drawings and parts lists for the Fahrgestell and Auflbau of Panzerkampfwagen III (3.7 cm) (Sd.Kfz.141) Ausfuehrung E, F, und G and Gruppenliste 021 Gr 39000 (assigned to Z.W.39) was used for the Panzerkampfwagen III (5 cm) (Sd.Kfz.141) Ausfuehrung H. These Gruppenliste numbers (included in the text section describing the characteristics of each Ausfuehrung) were cast onto or stamped into parts and are still readable on surviving Panzers.

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Warmachines 10 - IDF Tiran 4 T54 Tiran 5 T55 Tiran 6 T62

No other country in the modern world has taken advantage of enemy assets the way the Israeli Defense Force did. Ever since they fought the Arabs on various battle fields, the IDF was able to capture a huge number of different Armored Fighting Vehicles (including battle tanks) which they masterly modified for their own use. Actually, their first fighting vehicles were taken from the British who saw a lot of their Bren carriers and armored scout cars confiscated by the Haganah (the forerunner of the IDF). The Egyptian army lost several of their T-34 tanks in the Sinai peninsula in Octoberl956 in favor of the IDF, and hundreds of T-54, T-55 and T-62 battle tanks were captured during the 1967 Six-Day war, the 1973 Yom-Kippur war and the 1982 "Peace for Galilee" Operation. The first T-54 and T-55, still wearing Egyptian and Syrian markings, were conveyed on train flatbeds and heavy duty truck transporters to the IDF Ordnance Corps Depot for the first stage of standardization. This included a communication equipment update, storage modifications and above all the application of different painting and markings. These tanks entered IDF service as the TIRAN 4 (T-54) and TIRAN 5 (T-55), named after an island in the Red Sea, southeast of Eylat, Israels gateway to the Far East.

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Ship Modeling from Stem to Stern

The foundation of your kit model is the plywood frames and keel. Some of the pieces, which are cut by powerful hydraulic cutting blades, are warped, or unequal. The longest piece, the keel, might be bent as a result of changes in humidity. If this "hogging" is evident by sighting along the part, you might be able to save it.
Wrap the part in kitchen plastic wrap with a small piece of cotton placed out of the way. Moisten it with water. Be careful because all you want is some moisture to fill the air spaces within the wrapping. You do not want saturation. Place the part under a weight on a flat surface. Leave it overnight. Remove the wrapping and air-dry completely under the same weight. Make certain that the part remains flat. This method should loosen the binding glues and reshape the part. If you can't cure the warp, remake the piece. Aircraft plywood is available at most hobby shops.

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