Welcome to The Amphibious Warfare blog, the place for you who can't decide whether you prefer mud to salty seas or vice versa. Here you'll find books, films, model kits and a few other things that are related to the world of amphibious warfare, many times from a modellers point of view. Do not hesitate to comment or give me a hint if you miss something here. Please do not expect this blog to get updated every day.
Let's stick with old Airfix Magazines for a while. In the September 1975 issue there is a short but excellent article on the Operation Sealion, the invasion plan to conquer the British isles in 1940. The invasion was supposed to take place right after the fall of France but this was never realized. A stubborn opposition (mainly the from the Royal air Force), lack of proper equipment (no proper landing crafts), other invasion plans etc made the Germans give up and look for next piece of property to rape and loot, the Soviet union. The plan was put in the Big Archive for once and ever. The article in Airfix Magazine explains the planning (or rather lack of it...) before the invasion was to commence and the planned invasion areas around the southern coast of England.
Now this is funny, I was leafing through a bunch of old magazines in a book shop and found this issue of the Airfix Magazine. There seems to be an Alvis wherever I look these days. The comment on the cover photo is "Three Alvis Stalwart get their feet wet during an exercise recently. Modelling details for a Stalwart in 1:76 scale appeared in our November 1973 issue." So let's find that issue, shall we?
Well I'm back from the mountains and still hoping for this summer to take off in a grand way. So far I had better weather in Swedish Lapland than now. Rain, cold, wind. Pure crap in other words. But, I manage to have a bit of a swim every day, just like this Norwegian Alvis Stalwart! You have not missed the Stalwart walk around, have you?
Many times journalism is made with a telephone by a desk in a town. War journalism can not be made that way but has to be done where the action is. One such reporter who went where it all happened is Max Hastings and he was at the Falkland Islands during the conflict in 1982. Going to the Wars is a compilation of some of the conflicts Hastings has covered, like a comment of the years spent at the front lines. Northern Ireland, Vietnam, Angola, Biafra, Yom Kippour, Rhodesia are there as the chapters on the Falklands. A good quarter of the book is on the South Atlantic events and is a jolly good reason for reading it. Max Hastings is also the author of Overlord and The Battle for the Falklands, two other books on amphibious matters. Will have to check them out I guess.
Academy used the Tamiya LVTP-7A1 as a base for this one. It is not a rotten copy but a sharply defined LVTP-7 model with a few details differing from the original model. Academy backdated the model and the difference are round openings for the front lights, only one support strut on each side for the top hatches and lowered commander cupola, as far as I can tell. This model should be a possible kit for making an Argentine vehicle from the Falkland conflict of 1982.
The decals are for two vehicles although it is a bit hard to sort out at first when looking at the instructions. The obvious one is the Republic of Korea in a multi coloured camouflage and a multitude of bright markings including a shark mouth of some sort, as per the box top. A bit hidden in the painting instruction is an alternative set of markings for a US Marine Corps machine, just a small vehicle number and a cartoon rat in black. This vehicle should be all over green according to the instructions. In Osprey's New Vanguard #30 on Amtracs there is a colour illustration showing a MERDC scheme going with exactly the same markings. What's so special with the markings are the cartoon on the side, "Rat Pack", a rather unusual treat for a machine not of WW2 or Vietnam vintage.
For a more technical review of this model, please check out this one.
Great times for us amph heads, the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter have an article and video showing a Schwimmwagen in its natural environment. Do you think you have seen this particular vehicle before? Well, it is the same as in the walk around on this blog.
No, you will not have me count the parts in this box, they're way too many! But the sprue shots are there for you to do it, if you care. The absolute massive number of parts includes a full interior and I somehow doubt there are many things missing if you want it totally complete. The PE fret is rather small for a model this well detailed but have at least the nettings for the vents and radiators. The decals are very nice and in register. Markings comes for three different countries: an all green machine from Italy, a tri colour camouflaged Argentine vehicle and a four colour camouflaged Korean crawler. The latter have lots of nice bright decals and a fearsome looking mouth with lots of sharp teeth. Somehow I doubt the latter's camouflage colours. I think this is a modified MERDC in Korean colours. Green and black should be all right, but yellow and white I think not. Possibly brown and cream should be the deal.
Keeping with the Falkland theme I'd like to present the Airfix HMS Fearless (L10) to you. It is not the grandest kit in any way but it's a classic. MT Miniatures and L'Arsenal also have HMS Fearless in their respective range but they are in 1/700 scale and I have no idea how they are as model kits.
Ed. Found a review each of L'Arsenal's as well as MT Miniatures' HMS Fearless at Model Warships. They look nice!
Launched in 1963, commissioned in 1965 and in active duty till 2002 she and her sister ship, HMS Intrepid (L11), are now broken up for scrap. The Fearless class is now superseded by the Albion class LPDs, HMS Abion (L14) and HMS Bulwark (L15).
The kit is molded in light grey polystyrene and made up of 119 parts. The kit is definitively showing its age by its simple construction and chunky details. But do not fear, a bit of TLC and if you are willing to fold a bit of photo eched parts (this and that) you may end up having a great little ship. It is not a very large model, only 26,5 cm long, but it certainly has a great place in any model fleet.
I guess many people have what to call their "own" war, the ones that made a visual and historical impact on them. One of mine is the Falkland conflict that ended 30 years ago, on this day. Of course, I did not participate in it but just like the first Gulf war this one was real, it happened right there and then, it wasn't just old history from way back.
I will not get into the politics or the history of the conflict, you can read about it on the internet and in books and make up your own mind about it. The Wikipedia article on the topic seems to be extensive although I can not say for sure if there are any omissions, faults or the like. Wikipedia also have a couple of extensive articles on the British naval forces as well as the Argentine naval forces in the conflict.
Well, what amph models are there if one wants to have a piece of Falkland history? In my collection I haven't got much from the conflict but Airfix' HMS Fearless in 1/600 can be found, as can Hobby Boss' LVTP-7 in 1/35. So at least I have one model from each nation directly involved in the war.
The Fearless model is a bit basic and heavy but can be fixed with some TLC. Check out this one that Andy Mullen did, or Frank Spahr's. There are a few small landing crafts included in the kit just screaming to be painted in tiger stripes just as they were in 1982, and Frank did that! Typical camouflage painting can be seen here. Some one should make a British LCVP in 1/72 or 1/35 and a box full of Royal Marines to go with it! Or are there already one out there...?
Two LCUs and four LCVPs are included in the box.
The Hobby Boss LVTP-7 is complete from head to toe, no more scratching if you want an interior for your Tuna Boat. Missing Lynx has a nice review on the Hobby Boss AVVP7-A1. Basically it should be the same model as the LVTP-7 but with some exrta details to bring it up to AVVP7-A1 standard. The Osprey New Vanguard #30 on Amtracs has a colour profile and a short explaining text to it, this profile can also be found at the Malvinas Online site together with some nice photos of the real vehicles. The Hobby Boss kit have small anchor and flag decals one should be able to use, the vehicle number should be found in the decal spares box or masked and airbrushed on. Add a bit of dark green paint and you're done (I think...).
I haven't compared the Hobby Boss and Academy LVTP-7 kits but I guess it should be possible to use the latter as well.
In this footage from the invasion one can spot some small landing crafts of the Argentine Navy, looking like good old LCVP of Higgins type. Anyone having any information on them, like colours and markings? A few sequences also confirms the very few markings the LVTPs had. A blurry sequence shows some LARC-V from the ARA Cabo San Antonio driving up the beach. After having seen this film we may add LCVP, LARC-V and LST to the list of things to model from the conflict. Also in use during the conflict were the Centurion BARVs brought to shore by the LCUs attached to the HMS Fearless and her sistership, HMS Intrepid. Check out this
restored one, it's by the way same as at the Centurion BARV page. At
the Model Shipwrights page you may find a nice semi-scrached model,
click here and here.
