K&C Repaints and Conversions. (1 Viewer)

[Panzer]

I’m off to the sandbox next week so this is my last chance to post any conversions and repaints for several months. Some of these I have been completed for a while. Others I finished within the last two weeks as they were lingering projects I wanted to finish.

First up is a bookshelf diorama that sits above my desk. There are 6 conversions and 5 repaints. Can you pick them out?

 

[Panzer]

Like John, my favorite K&C sets are AK and British 8th Army. I can’t get enough of these so I’m always looking at possibilities to increase these ranges through repaints and conversions.

The young helmeted Officer on the left is a repaint. The guy next to him is a conversion. The officer on the right is a slight conversion. I liked the idea of having an officer in a custom tailored olive green uniform indicating that he was a desert rookie or a desert veteran with some brand new duds. The original tropical uniform was a shade of olive green. The intense North African sun soon bleached uniforms to a variety of different shades. The figure in the background is a repaint. Louis has one of these.

 

[Panzer]

Rommel gets a facelift. ...and no, I didn’t use the head of the Rommel figure from the Grief. That one is safe and sound inside the original box.

 

[Panzer]

The figure in the middle is a slight conversion. The other two figures are repaints.

 

[Pierre]

Nice work.

The diorama is very cool. Non fighting figures.

Pierre.

 

[Panzer]

I bought this tank about 18 months ago off Ebay. It was damaged with a broken barrel, broken exhaust pipe, and some of the struts from the turret side-skirts were broken. I removed the broken struts and side-skirt to make a Panzer IVG. When these were first fielded in North Africa in the spring of 1942, they were the best tank on either side known as “Panzer IV Specials.”

The tank commander and radio operator are both conversions. The tank commander (officer) is wearing a “crusher” with the wire and silver braids removed to make a very comfortable and stylish piece of headgear. Probably can’t see by the photo but the piping on the crusher is golden yellow, the color of the cavalry. Many tankers were former Cavalrymen. The driver is a repaint.

 

[Panzer]

This is another bookshelf diorama above my desk. I wanted to have some sort of building as a back drop and found an image of the “Ice Factory” outside Sollum on the border of Lybia and Egypt. Sollum was near Halfaya (Hellfire) Pass and was the most hotly contested area of the North Africa campaign changing hands more than any other area in the campaign.

 

[Panzer]

I wanted an Arab in one of my dioramas so I searched hundreds of photographs. When I found this photo, I knew I had to make the guy on the right. He is carrying a Mameluke sword. This is the same swords that US Marine Officers carry in parades and ceremonies.

In 1805, Lt Presley O’Bannon and his Marines marched 600 miles across the North African Libyan desert and successfully stormed the fortified city of Derna in Tripoli. They were there to put down Barbary Coast pirates taking a toll on US merchant ships in the Mediterranean.

To show his appreciation for ridding the area of pirates, a desert chieftain presented Marine Lieutenant Presley O’Bannon with a sword used by the Mameluke warriors of North Africa. By 1825, all Marine officers had to wear the famed Mameluke sword, making it the oldest weapon in the United States military arsenal.

 

[Panzer]

The wearing of white signified that the Arab was of some wealth and means. Not only could he wear white but he could afford to have it cleaned.

 

[Panzer]

Here is a shot of me carrying the Mamaluke sword at a parade put on for the Saudis a few days before Desert Storm kicked off. With the exception of the Rolex watch, Arab dress has not changed that much over the years.

 

[Panzer]

Here is the NMA SdKfz 232 modified to hold a converted K&C figure. I like Ray’s version much better than mine.

 

[Panzer]

My second favorite range is Wehrmacht Cavalry. I only have two originals and this conversion makes a third.

 

[Harrytheheid]

Panzer,
I have to admit that having resisted the temptation for a very long time to collect WW2 N. Africa, I'm being drawn more and more into it. Your photos are compelling. Thanks for posting them.

 

[Panzer]

Got the idea for the soldier wearing zeltbahn from an original photo album I have from a former member of the Wehrmacht 1st Calvary Division. which after Barbarosa became the 24th Panzer Division.

 

[Panzer]

One conversion and one repaint.

 

[Panzer]

Anyone recognize this one?

 

[Panzer]

I got it in the mail yesterday and couldn’t wait to repaint it as AK as I don’t collect LAH. By the way, this one is heavier than the previous Krupp truck with a good bit of metal parts and of course no painted windshield. It’s a great truck with a lot of potential for future versions in a variety of theaters.

I’ll be checking in from time to time when I get a chance.
Semper Fi!
Rick

 

[maddadicus]

Dear Rick, when you get there, take care ,be safe and God bless...Thanks, Michael

 

[Old Guard]

Love your work. After the Napoleonics AK and 8th Army gets most of my cash. I think K&C does a great job on everything Afrika. Love your repaints and conversions. You have real skill.

Take care and God Bless while you are away. Come home safe.

Thanks,
Old Guard

 

[Alexdakar]

Wow you have been busy. Great conversions and repaints!