ntrocket88 Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 First of four Airfix Opel Blitz I am working on as troop carriers. This one represents a second production series 4x4 Opel Blitz, as Airfix intended, implying that must have been produced in the second half of 1940. In this case, it miraculously survived three trips to the Eastern Front and three winters there, being painted for Normandy 1944. I removed the two spurious large stowage boxes from under the cargo bed and replaced them with two small tool boxes mounted under the rear of the cargo deck and a medium-sized box attached to the chassis behind the cab, on the driver's side. As far as I can tell, all Series 2 Blitz were produced with this tool box arrangement. Other small changes to correct the kit to a Series 2 were: Moving the pioneer tools to the cargo bed sides, leaving off the Notec light and adding the small searchlight. I also scratched the width indicators and wing-mirror to make them thinner and more durable that the kit ones, and added the windscreen and side windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard baker1707820250 Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Fantastic work as allways Neil. Rich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genesis1210 Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Looks really good in the camo scheme , most impressed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rael Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 Did you get the decals and story with the Airfix kit?P.S Nice Camo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntrocket88 Posted February 18, 2016 Author Share Posted February 18, 2016 Many thanks for the very kind comments. Much appreciated as always.@Rael: The decals came from Archer Fine Transfers and custom ones I printed myself. The story is really just a comment that the early Series 2 Opel Blitz portrayed by the Airfix kit would be a rare survivor in Normandy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rael Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Many thanks for the very kind comments. Much appreciated as always.@Rael: The decals came from Archer Fine Transfers and custom ones I printed myself. The story is really just a comment that the early Series 2 Opel Blitz portrayed by the Airfix kit would be a rare survivor in Normandy. Cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 Very nicely done. 😎 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntrocket88 Posted March 5, 2016 Author Share Posted March 5, 2016 Having said that Series 2 Opel Blitz would be rare in Normandy... here's another lucky survivor! This has the same corrections to the Airfix kit as the one above, but for this one, I scratch-built the interior of the cargo bed to show the seating arrangement./media/tinymce_upload/fc7bafd36b12bdf2581fdf856eb132a5.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/4ea2a71cfd306c74aa6ccff387f7b085.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/bb91a152470c01e0b3cc3d08173471fc.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/3f46f0743b272ea4f30ceb3343b42281.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/19b039beb7dcbdf68b5c9ddc78810914.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/92f1ce65fbbd0c4a76a20f324a9f52d7.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/0fed23b44a8bf6ba3e2758b80ede486d.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Super work Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the F-111C dude Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 nice, but it would be cool if airfix included some drivers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntrocket88 Posted April 15, 2016 Author Share Posted April 15, 2016 nice, but it would be cool if airfix included some driversMany thanks for the comment! Actually, the Airfix Opel Blitz kit is pretty good for that. You do get a driver and an OK gun crew for the PaK40. Here's the Airfix driver during construction of the second Blitz above (and before I cut off the spurious side stowage boxes...):/media/tinymce_upload/d85a274bbba8bef63b83cad90a61345e.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew72 Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 Superb work! The finishes are first rate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntrocket88 Posted June 3, 2016 Author Share Posted June 3, 2016 /media/tinymce_upload/632504a47e953badb4060560fa94f9f1.jpg Third of my four Opel Blitz... I converted this one to a Series 3 production version. The Series 3 entered production at the start of 1941 and featured the third style of cargo bed, with lower sides. All other features, including the two small and one mid size tool box arrangement were the same as the Series 2. Over time, a number of changes were introduced to simplify production. This Blitz represents a Series 3 made in 1943. The towing indicator, small searchlight, rear mudguards, edge markers and Opel hood ornament were all deleted. The mid-sized tool box was replaced with two more of the small ones, mounted towards the front under the cargo deck. The Notec light was fitted, starting in 1942. This is included in the kit - incorrectly for a Series 2 version.../media/tinymce_upload/73e5dca1a6b6d76a77adff52db935b97.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/40a12fb12bf5085cd5e5383be147c5cf.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/187e9034cf9f58d9abc0d4a8f5f04854.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/377ccdd4c8d42c680b98edb8cdbf9f0d.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/91f60e6be80660acc1387d39fa33f77e.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/0f5ef178d83e29d8b621f3753e273a1a.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/a68ff756f29dea2327076852480737c0.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 Another super example Neil, well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomek22 Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 very nice, were are the figures from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntrocket88 Posted August 5, 2016 Author Share Posted August 5, 2016 Thanks for the comment. The passengers are white-metal figures from SHQ Miniatures' 20mm WW2 range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
500 Fan Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 Great work on those models. Any chance of a photo of the fleet parked up together? 500 Fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Astle Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 it's a minor part, but what i love best is the windscreen, that dirty AND whiped clear (sort of) s really great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard baker1707820250 Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Great work Neil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntrocket88 Posted January 12, 2017 Author Share Posted January 12, 2017 Many thanks again for the kind comments.@500 Fan: I am really close to finishing the fourth one of these and will post a photo of all of them together when I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntrocket88 Posted March 4, 2017 Author Share Posted March 4, 2017 /media/tinymce_upload/5ac44cb59f3c3f7cb7288626caa20a37.jpgAnd finally, the fourth one. Four down, twelve more to go... sigh. This one is converted to a Series 3 Blitz as manufactured in the first half of 1944. Changes from the 1943 Series 3 version above are: A bulge was added to the steel cab roof to allow room for the crew to wear steel helmets; the running boards below the cab doors were eliminated and replaced with a simple step; the Opel Blitz logo was deleted from the radiator (very difficult to do with this kit...); the large headlights were replaced with smaller ones./media/tinymce_upload/243a0e367c12b067714b4e771c14d8ea.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/33f984dd356da7d4c2c2a76ce158f92b.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/c55b474c5da2d0cd1aa3d7eeebb199bb.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/8c8cc19d5f4b4f01500cc4f35f2df38e.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/151830f48e2511bab270460a8d7c3e20.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/cc2b05920d274ff20cbff90e892c14a5.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/fe124430d214faf519bfba0c91855981.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rael Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Amazing conversion, made even more amazing by the way in which you pulled it off!Rael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntrocket88 Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 @Rael, Many thanks for your very kind comment.As requested, here is a photo of all four, along with two (hidden at the back for a reason...) that I made long ago./media/tinymce_upload/fbe4f1b7c6ff9e373bea4ca121965b45.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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