Garford-Putilov Armoured Car, 1/35 scale
First, let me say that I build airplanes, so this model was way out of my wheelhouse. When Louis (@lgardner) created this group, I thought it might be fun to jump into the group with something other than my usual airplane model. I have a doctor's note that says that I shouldn't build anything with more than one wing, so I thought some WW1 armor might be fun. I have always liked the rough and ready, improvised nature of WW1 armoured cars, so I found this kit at a good price and I was off.
Let's do a little history before we jump into the kit. At the start of WW1, the Russians had unsuccessfully tried to develop an armoured car for their army, so they looked for an alternative. Their answer was to buy unfinished truck chassis from the Garford Motor Truck Company in the US, and then add the superstructure and weapons in Russia. The Putilov Company designed the superstructure for the vehicle, and then manufactured the vehicle. The resulting vehicle proved to be rugged and reliable, but very under-powered. The combat weight of the armored car was 11 tons, which was propelled at a max speed of 13 mph using a 30 horsepower engine. It had a reverse speed of almost 2 mph. The top-heaviness of the design meant that the armored car couldn't handle rough terrain or steep inclines. What really made this vehicle a winner was its armament. I carried a 76.2mm "counter-assault" gun in a rotating turret, along with three 7.62mm machine guns. The vehicle required a crew of nine to operate, which was later reduced to 8 crew members. 48 of these armoured cars were produced between 1915-1916 at the Putilov Factory. 40 of these went to the Russian Army and 8 went to the Russian Navy. During the war, these vehicles were mainly used as mobile artillery firing from roads and other reliable terrain. When the Soviet Revolution began in 1917, these vehicles were found on both sides. In addition, several of these vehicles were captured by the Germans, and some of these armoured cars found their way to Poland, Latvia, Estonia, and Romania. There is evidence that these armoured cars survived in Russia well after the war and possibly into the start of WW2, although the evidence of use in WW2 is a little sketchy.
The Model:
This 1/35 kit was produced by Copperstate Models. I first became aware of Copperstate when they were located in Arizona, but at some point they were apparently sold and the company is now located in Latvia. I can't say enough about this kit. It is well-designed and well-molded. The instructions are comprehensive and presented in something that looks like the operating manual for the actual vehicle. It has a great history of the machine, along with some period photos. There is a separate guide, also looking like a manual for the actual vehicle, that has diagrams for painting the vehicle and a guide to the decals. This model was a lot of fun to build, paint, and weather. I am sure it won't stand the scrutiny of all of you who routinely build armor, but I think it came out pretty good for an airplane guy who briefly strayed outside of his wheelhouse.
I built this model for The Great War Group, and if you haven't stopped by to see the great models that are being built there, then I encourage you to take a peak.
Cheers everyone.
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- 1. Garford Truck
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- 1. Crew of 9 standing at their vehicle
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- 1. Instruction booklet
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- 1. I temporarily added a figure to give a sense of scale.
Excellent result, George! Excellent build thread as well!
Congratulations!
A wonderful result, George @gblair
No signs that this subject was out of your comfort zone.
Great build thread indeed with lots of research material mentioned.
Great job, George. Like that you change up subjects.
I've heard nothing but good things about Copperstate, I need to try one soon-ish.
Thanks, Spiros (@fiveten), John (@johnb), and Gary (@gwskat). This kit was a lot of fun to build. I still plan to build a diorama base for it at some point. The Copperstate model was really nice, especially if you can find it on sale somewhere.
Wonderfully done step outside of your comfort zone! I got a huge kick out of your sense of humor!
Excellent final result George (@gblair). The weathering finish looks very spot on. Looking forward to some day seeing this on a diorama. I know how that can be, sometimes, dioramas can take forever to get completed, but someday.
Excellent result, George. I enjoyed watching this monster take shape. Looks like a pre-dreadnought gun case mate on wheels.
Thanks, David (@tolss). This was really fun to build. Now I wonder why I haven't strayed into armor before this.
Thanks, Carl (@clipper). I have never tried using pigments for weathering before. Once mixed with Turpenoid, they stay workable on the model for a long time. I have the diorama planned and all the stuff to build it, so I may be working on it as a side project while I build something with wings.
Thanks, John (@j-healy). I love these WW1 armored cars because they are improvised and primitive. The turret on this one has 3 handles for the crew to turn the turret. No fancy gears and motors here, just muscle power.
Oh, that is so nice, George @gblair! 🤩 You did a great job on that armored car! 👏
Unique if nothing else. a fort on wheels. Very well done paint and weathering.
Thanks, Gary (@garybrantley) and Bill (@billkoppos). This was a really fun model. I may have to turn in my airplane model builders card, but I am am thinking about building another armoured car soon.
George R Blair Jr (@gblair)
This one snuck under my radar. I noticed tonight that you had completed the build journal. It was a lot of fun to follow along as you were working on it. I learned a lot too. Thanks for your continued support with our numerous group builds.
This turned out very well, and it looks incredible. I especially like how you have painted the overall green color in a manner so that it doesn't look monotone. The oil paint and pigments are also something that I have started dabbling in because of how you described using them. This is yet another tool in the tool belt.
I am very impressed with just how outstanding this model looks. The weathering and dirt / grime look spot on.
Well done my friend. I'm going to click on several of the various "like" buttons. As far as turning in your aircraft card... they say that building armor for an aircraft builder is like going over to the dark side... and you never come back. 😉
But I also enjoy building both types. I say go for it. You will have twice the fun.
Take care.
Thanks, Louis (@lgardner). I appreciate the kind comments. No danger of shifting completely to the armor side, but I did enjoy building this one and I plan to build more in the future.