105mm Howitzer Upgrades and Backgrades

For the last several years I have been working on a long term project to repair, upgrade, convert much of my collection.  My Roco 105mm howitzers were greatly in need of attention.  Many were missing parts, many were broken, some had no wheels, few were painted, and some were just piles of parts.

This one had trails that were broken, the little taps the clip into the shied have a tendency to break off, some of them had no tabs at all.  I solved this problem by using clay to hold the shield in position while the trails were glued both to the shield and the other end to a bit of sheet plastic.

I am also back dating some of these to an older style tire.  This is the same type often found on the Interwar French 75s and several other medium guns.

I am removing the small front shield and cutting down the main shield.

Here is the small shield removed.  I try to retain these pieces in case I need them for the next gun!

The shield is cut down.

Here is what it looks like after trimming.  Starting in 1938 the US Army began a massive mechanization project to replace all the wagon wheels on their artillery with pneumatic tires.  They wanted to do it about a decade earlier but the Congress would not spend them money.  Even starting in 1938 by the end of 1941 only about half of the inventory was upgraded.
 

Rock and Roll Band

Continuing my work on the hotel project I have put together a rock and roll band.

Lead girl singer, two guitars, keyboard, drummer and three girl back up singers.

They are all on individual bases that are removable, apart from the three girl back up singers who are all one one base.

The gray over pink is the color these figures came in and while I will likely keep the color scheme but repaint them.  I plan on keeping the bases white.  I still have to paint details like the musical instruments.  The guitars were simply drawn on sheet plastic and then cut out and glued on.  I did some re-posing of the figures but not much.  Parr of the drumset is just lego type pins for drums and sheet plastic for cymbals.
 

Friends Central Perk

All four sides of this model building are very well done.

I don't think I will change anything other than perhaps a window in the front.

I like the entrance particularly.

Here is it with two other similar buildings.  As you can see the size does vary.

A couple die cast vans for size comparison.

Makes a nice, but small street scene.

Two convenience stores.
 

Bitty Pop Town

Funko Bitty Pop! Towns is the name of the new series of little buildings and little people from Funko

This one is based on the TV series Friends, and it is Central Perk the coffee shop, and Rachel Green is the tiny pop person.

Like the previous one I reviewed these are nicely packaged and sturdy models.

It contains one figure and one building.

The building has an open front so that the figure can be inserted from underneath and look out the window.

The figure is about 1 inch tall and comes in a miniature version of the usual Pops box.

The building is nicely detailed all the way around, this side is particularly nice.

I am considering just putting a window into this space.

 Here it is with the figure inserted.

KWIK-E-MART

The KWIK-E-MART is pretty well detailed on the exterior.  Note the electrical meter on the side.

The back side is a bit plain.

This side has the burglar alarm bell, a door and graffiti.  I hate graffiti. My plan is to print out a Coke billboard and paste it over the vandalism.

Front is pretty good, parking sign, milk crates, bike rack and something people under 20 years old have never seen before, pay phones with a telephone directory book.  Some of that may be repainted.

Here is Bart with some kind of Slurpee type drink.

Bart inside the door.  My thought is to print out a "glass" door with metal frame photo and glue it to a piece of plastic to make the door.

I got two of them since it is supposed to be a chain of stores.  The figures will join the Buzz heads as Junkanoo figures.  I am also considering making them into 7-Eleven stores since I worked at one for a while, decades ago; when we used pay phones.

007 stops for a Slurpee and to use the phone.
 

Bart Simpson

I have probably watched three episodes of The Simpsons in the 35 years they have been on TV.  So I have a vague understanding of the characters and ideas of the show but it just never interested me.

Now Funko has released a new series that contain a very small Pop figure and a very small building.  And that does interest me.

It this case it is the KWIK-E-MART convenience store from the show and Bart Simpson.

Here is the legal stuff.

It is a clever idea, you get a figure that comes in a miniature Pop type box and a building that is associated with the character.  The figure can be removed from the miniature Pop box and inserted into the building where he looks out of the, non-existent front door.

Shown here in the full package insert.  These are designed to be collectable so they can be removed from the package, handled and then returned to the package without having to damage the package.  Very clever idea.  I throw the package away.

The miniature Pop figure can be returned to his miniature Pop package.  I will likely make a door for the building.
 

Cowabunga Dudes

No fish, just the waves they came with.  They are easily broken off and the tab on top cuts off easily.

Using a bit of sheet plastic I made two surfboards and planted a couple surfers on top.

These are not glued, there is enough flat on the top of the wave for the figures to sit nicely.

I collect surfer figures for several reasons.  Surfing was popular in Hawaii near Pearl Harbor even before the Second World War, Joker and Batman had a surfing competition to see who ruled the waves, Apocalypse Now informed us there was surfing in Viet Nam during the war, I am doing "American Cities" as part of my collection and one of those cities is greater Los Angeles where surfing has always been popular.

I may get a few more, I think they look pretty good as is, but of course a blue water base would look better.
 

Jag Fish

Dory the fish.  I have been looking for subjects to put on my Junkanoo floats and these fish seemed a natural choice.

Jamaica and Bahamas are both islands and fishing is popular as a sport and for a livelihood. 

I got two clown fish and a blue fish.

They are nicely done.

Size wise with a Jaguar and a man for comparison.