Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer

Here's my 9th build of 2025, Airfix's 1/35 scale Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer. 

I’m joining Dave from my Seaton Scale Modellers group in this build. Mine is the Airfix, or re-badged Academy kit, which I’m going to finish in the colours and markings of one attached to the Assault Gun Platoon, First Bulgarian Army, Hungary during the spring 1945, which I hope will complement Dave’s German build. 

This Airfix kit builds nicely and even has a little piece of photo etch which adds a quality bit of detail.

This was probably one of the easiest 1:35 AFVs I've built to date, I even think I got away with building it from start to finish and not pre-painting any of the pieces! Everything fits beautifully, there's no flash and the parts cut off the sprue cleanly. I also loved the ideal of being able to complete it in some different colours and this Bulgarian finish will be perfect for my upcoming VE-Day80 displays.

HMS Belfast

Just back from visiting the IWM's HMS Belfast and what a fantastic experience. I wouldn't say it helped a great deal in me finishing my Airfix kit, as the ship on the Thames has been knocked around considerably since it saw action in WW2, but the atmosphere of being on board and tour of engine room was a real highlight!

Where as my previous attempt at building ships have left me thinking when finished, how grey and drab they were, for HMS Belfast I probably went a little bit too far the other way with a full Technicolor paint job! 

Added railings, rigging and a little light weathering to my Airfix 1/600 scale HMS Belfast. 

Looking a little more like the real thing now. 

British Tank Destroyer M10 IIC Achilles

I've decided to kick off my VE-Day80 builds with a kit I purchased on a birthday visit to the Tank Museum way back in 2020 and which has been continually overlooked when I've reached for a 1:35 scale AFV since! This is its time.

This 17 pounder, Self-Propelled, Achilles is a British variant of the American M10 tank destroyer used across the European theatre between 1943 - 1945. Coincidentally, I've just finished reading Anthony Beever's book "Arnem" and the Achilles kept cropping up, so may be I was subliminally steered in this direction as I had originally pulled out the Fury Sherman and a Tiger! 

The build ....

I know it's a cliché, but one can't deny how good Tamyia AFV kits are. This is a 2016 moulding of an M10 with new Achilles parts added in 2019. Everything fits beautifully, the moulds are crisp and detailed and I'm loving it. I've got to the position now where I'm going to black prime ahead of giving it a coat of British Army Khaki Drab. The kit comes with an array of shells, bags and personal arms ... oh yes, and a number of figures to construct and paint. I can start tackling these while the vehicle's paint cures.

Adding some of the detail to my Tamiya M10 Achilles, including a rack of 17pdr shells. I’ve also dug out a couple of reference photos from the Bovington Tank Museum to get the right colours for those tracks. 

My new goto metallic Vallejo Liquid Metal sprays on beautifully. 

The finished model ...

I’ve finished this in the markings of 75th Anti-Tank Regiment, 11th Armoured Division, North West Europe, 1944-1945. The Regiment landed in Normandy shortly after D-Day and were involved in many of the major operations to liberate Europe.