Sunday 8 February 2015

Technical with ZPU-1

So I took this.....


A 1/72 scale Cararama Ford F150 pick up truck and turned it into this.....


A 'technical' mounting a ZPU-1 14.5mm AA HMG. The gun and crewman are from Elhiem and can be found in the 'Weapon Sets' and 'Insurgent' ranges respectively.

Took the diecast vehicle apart and and airbrushed the body and rear bed black. Then painted and weathered it all before reassembling into the completed model. The wheels, front and rear bumpers have not been painted only weathered and I left the interior alone. The plastic windows were weathered buy airbrushing AK Interactive Dust Effects, after masking off the windscreen to represent the movement of the wipers, and then sealed with Johnsons Klear.

After the painting etc., was finished I applied the final coat of varnish to the separate pieces before putting all back together. The windscreen was not varnished again to avoid any fogging.


I had not originally intended to use the ZPU gun on a pick up. I was going to mount it on a base to be used as a fixed emplacement, to engage air and ground targets. As described by Bing West in his book 'The March Up' when flying over Al Budayr and the helicopter is targeted by heavy MG's hidden amongst residential buildings.

The beauty of these diecast models over the resin pick-ups which are available, is that the rear tail gate can be lowered. The pick up had been purchased to use as a civilian vehicle to add another piece of terrain but after test fitting the tripod gun stand and it fitted then rear bed, the two had to become one.



There are plenty of photo's on the web of these weapons being used on pick ups. Though I used Meng Models 1/35th scale Technical with ZPU-1 as inspiration. Of course there are the photos of the Texas City plumbers truck which was sold three years ago and turned up in Syria still displaying the company logo.


Have not based this one yet, not sure if a will. The wheels have not been glued in place so still turn like they do on all good diecast models!

That's it for now more to follow..........


13 comments:

  1. Absolutely amazing transformation. Please do the famous ISIS truck that says Franks Plumbing on the door.

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    1. Thank you. It is very tempting to do the plumbers truck. :)

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  2. Superb work once again Mark. You take your painting and the fine details to the next level.

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    1. Thanks Pat. It's all do with the influence of Alex Clark, Steven Zaloga and Phil Stutcinskas. Plus of course Mig Jimenez.

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  3. Good stuff Mark.
    High time you rolled this down at the club :-)
    Cheers
    Stu

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  4. Brilliant work, what a transformation! The weathering looks so realistic.

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    1. Thank you. Through lots of trial and error I've found adding weathering in layers really gives good control...mistakes are easier to cover up too.:)

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  5. Fantastic work, love the way you've done the wipers on the windscreen.....very clever!!!

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  6. Thanks Ray. I just made a template out of Tamiya tape. I say 'just'.......first time I had.tried this and was abit of a pain. But live and learn. :)

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  7. Serious good weathering, great job on this

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