This is my attempt at the 1/56th scale Rubicon Crusader Mk II/III- a kit I reviewed earlier in the year.The kit was a pleasure to paint - plenty of crisp details to pick up with washes and dry brushing. Also, the way the kit goes together allows sub-assemblies (running gear, turret, hull) to be painted separately and then assembled.
As I mentioned in the previous post on this kit, I was set on painting the vehicle in a Desert-Sand/Blue-Black pattern used by some vehicles in the Tunisian campaign. I wanted a change from painting a series of Light Mud/Blue-Black vehicles for my Italian campaign force.
So I knew that would mean I would have to represent a vehicle in the 8th Army at around the time of the assault on the Mareth line, (as opposed to one of the 1st Army, in the north of Tunisia).
But I didn't ever get to grips with the insignia and markings of the various units that made up the Desert Rats, and when they had Crusaders, and when they applied various camo patterns. So I must confess, the markings are a bit of conjecture. I think I have represented a vehicle from A Squadron 3rd RTR, brigaded in the 7th Armoured Division. Maybe. Or maybe not at all. Rivet counters can look away, or better still, point me to some clear and comprehensive references.
And below, pix of the same hull with the Mk II turret.
At the same time, I painted up a second Mk II Crusader, this one from Blitzkrieg Miniatures. In this case, decals were spares from the Rubicon kit (and I am not sure if the Blitzkrieg kit includes decals, as this one came to me secondhand), and I was hoping to represent a vehicle from the same unit as the model above, but a bit earlier in the campaign. While the detail on the Blitzkrieg kit is not a patch on the Rubicon offering, it produces a very neat wargaming model once painted up. Standing alone, it looks the part. Its only when you put it alongside the plastic kit that you notice the difference in detail. I am sure there are wargamers who would choose the ease of assembly of the Blitzkrieg kit over the particularly detailed but slower build of the Rubicon kit...
