Military Hobbies

Randy from Fidelis Models and I stopped by Military Hobbies, 138 E Taft Ave, Orange, CA 92865 today. We got there only 5 minutes before closing time but Lindy was nice enough to do work even after the work hours.

While there I picked up a Anigrand Craftswork Piasecki VZ-8 Airgeep in 1/72nd scale. The kit retails for $48.85, but again, Lindy was nice enough to cut 10% off the price. It is a resin kit of a small flying vehicle that the US Army developed in the late 1950's. This kit makes either the prototype or the first test vehicle. Eventually the Army dropped the program because helicopters were the winners in the air transport competition.

While I was there shopping I ran into a couple readers of this blog and we shared some vehicle collection stories. It is always great to speak to folks who read the blog and even more interesting to talk hobby stuff with a couple good guys.

Figure Sale At Toy Soldier HQ

"I now have a closeout and overstock page for my 1/72 sets. I am trying to get out of paid storage and will limit stock on hand. The Overstock page has excess sets at a nice discount and now until the end of January you get a further 30% off. So a Stretlet set with a normal retail of 11.00 has been reduced to 8.00 if overstocked and with the extra 30% is only 5.60 until the end of January. One week left. Kent"

TOY SOLDIER HQ INC
TIM-MEE & PROCESSED PLASTIC
WWII AND MODERN MILITARY TOY SOLDIERS, FIGURES AND ITEMS FOR SALE

Kent has run Toy Soldier HQ forever. It is a great company to do business with, I have purchased items from him many times. It is a good chance to get some cheap figures, as we all know they don't go on sale much and with the low exchange rates for the US dollar, we are unlikely to see cheap plastic figures for a while.

M38, M47, M48

While I upgrade my vehicle storage, I am taking a bit of time to take some photos. I like the chance to see a few vehicles that have been in storage for a while.

Some M48 tanks. I cut a tiny bit of a drinking straw to make the early round style searchlight. I also put some .30 caliber mgs on the cupola, perfect for early Viet Nam War.

A couple camo AHM M47 tanks.

I filled the drinking straws with putty to fill them up a bit.

A die cast M48 and a Roco upgraded with sandbag armor.

M-38

The Bunkermeister Collection is stored primarily in underbed storage boxes, each with a little white 3 x 5 card at the end showing the contents.

Inside you will find a vast array of M-38 Jeeps and a few tents. While most are Roco, a few are from other companies. Some of these are over 40 years old. Some are nearly new. Well, maybe five years old.

Some of these need work, but many have been highly modified. The Roco Machine Gun set has been very useful here, those .30 caliber air cooled being very good here, but some of the .30 caliber water cooled also make an appearance.

The US Infantry Battalion had loads of Jeeps, for HQ, supply, anti-tank, mortars, machine gun carriers, and scouting.

The Roco M-38 Jeep when purchased used often is missing parts. The windshield and the back seat are two of the most frequently missing items. Sometimes I mount a machine gun and use one of the Jeeps without a back seat. A bit of sheet styrene to make a smooth floor and I am done. The absence of a back seat can be explained by making more room for the machine gunner.