Showing posts with label Diecast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Diecast. Show all posts

Sunday, August 30, 2020

Customized Diecast Vehicles for 28mm China Wargaming Part 2

I'm back with some more customized Lledo Days Gone vehicle for  28mm Back of Beyond and WW2 Chinese wargaming.  Part 1, which also covers decal creation, can be found here.

Lledo Diecast Vehicles for Wargaming 1920's,1930's and WW2  China in 28mm

For this round, I used several promotional  vehicles:  Hershey's Chocolate, Standard Oil, and a local wholesale company, J J Brodsky & Sons. The last vehicle only had stickers instead of decals, so I stripped them off at the start.  Sadly some paint came off with them.

Lledo Days Gone Diecast DG20, DG16, DG18

DG20 Ford 1934 Model A Stake Truck

Lledo DG20 Ford 1934 Model A Stake Truck , Sean You Zoo Company, Hangchow, China, 28mm WW2 Bolt Action Wargaming

This truck took its inspiration the Sean You Zoo factory vehicles from Hangchow.  The included barrels can be popped out of the bed, so I too the opportunity to drybrush them and paint in a wooden floor for the truck bed. 

Sean You Zoo Company Truck , 1930's Hangchow, China. Source: Madspace.org
Source: Madspace.org

Sean You Zoo Company Truck , 1930's Hangchow, China. Source: Madspace.org
Source: Madspace.org

DG16 Dennis 1934 Parcels Van

Lledo DG16 Dennis 1934 Parcels Van , Tai Choi Company, Shanghai, China, 28mm WW2 Bolt Action Wargaming

This van was based off a van from the Tai Chong furniture company out of Shangai. As mentioned previously, the van had suffered some paint damage during preparation, so the weathering was really ramped up to hide that. I think this particular vehicle was slightly undersized when compared to the other two, but it's still not too bad looking.

Tai Chong Company Van , 1930's Shanghai, China. Source: Madspace.org
Source: Madspace.org

DG18 Packard 1936 Van

Lledo DG18 Packard 1936 Van , Kuomintang Party 國民黨, Shanghai, China, 28mm WW2 Bolt Action Wargaming

This particular customization was a completely original idea. When I saw the announcer horns, it reminded me of old election/political rally vehicles, so I though it would be perfect to roam the streets and whip up patriotic fervor for the Kuomintang and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.

Lledo DG18 Packard 1936 Van , Kuomintang Party 國民黨, Shanghai, China, 28mm WW2 Bolt Action Wargaming

The size of these vehicles were again comparable to the Warlord Games 1/56 Morris 15cwt Truck.

Lledo Vans Compared to Warlord Games Truck

As before, I am including the decal designs here for personal use, but they are not allowed to  to be sold.

Chinese Decals for 28mm Wargaming by Chris Schuetz.  Free for Personal Use Only.

Sunday, August 9, 2020

Customized Diecast Vehicles for 28mm China Wargaming

 I wanted some more scatter terrain for my Back of Beyond and WW2 Chinese wargaming, so I though some appropriate 1920's and 1930's vehicle would fit the bill nicely. 1/56 civilian vehicles designed for 28mm wargaming are hard to come by, so your best bet is to look for diecast cars and trucks that are relatively close in scale (as I did for VBCW).  As I only knew of one truck specifically intended to represent a vehicle of that era in China, so conversions of American and British branded vehicles were called for.

Lledo and Matchbox Diecast Vehicles for Wargaming 1920's,1930's and WW2  China in 28mm
Lledo and Matchbox Diecast Vehicles for Wargaming 1920's,1930's and WW2  China in 28mm

First up was the aforementioned ready to use truck, a Matchbox Yesteryear Tsingtao Great Beers of The World 1920 AC Mack (YGB23).

Matchbox Yesteryear Tsingtao Great Beers of The World 1920 AC Mack (YGB23)
For modifications, I only weathered it and added some clear plastic for a windshield. It was nicely detailed for a toy truck and cost me around $15 US with shipping. No scale was listed on the box, but collector sites have given it a nominal scale 1/60, so fairly close to target.   When compared to a Warlord Games' 1/56 Type 97 Isuzu truck, they looked reasonable together.

Matchbox Mack Compared to Warlord Games Truck
Matchbox Mack Compared to Warlord Games Truck
Next up were some Lledo Days Gone vehicles that seemed suitable for conversion.  The Lledo cars were not as detailed as their Matchbox rival, but at $7-10 US with shipping, they were a good deal (with lots of color variants to choose from).

Lledo Days Gone Diecast DG51, DG56, DG13
In addition to weathering and added windshields, I decided to update these with customs decals based on period photos from Shanghai. I had never made custom decals before, so did a lot of online research in hopes of not completely screwing it up.  For what I wanted to do, it appeared white decal paper was going to be more useful than the clear version. I tried locating the Testors paper in the US, but could find nowhere selling it (and it's proprietary sealant) for a reasonable price. In the end, I went with Sunnyscopia inkjet decal paper from Korea (available on Amazon).  It's a general crafting decal sheet rather than one specially designed for model makers, but the price was right for experimenting.
Some of the reviews cited problems with the images bleeding when submerged in water, or decals not releasing easily from the backing.  I experienced none of these issues after following the directions.  I printed my decals at 300dpi photo quality on an HP Deskjet 1510 and gave them one hour to dry before spaying them with Rust-Oleum Universal Clear Topcoat Satin. I chose satin over gloss, as it was easier to see where the spray had landed on the glossy paper.  The Rust-Oleum wasn't designed for model makers either, so the spray mist wasn't as fine as I would have liked.  This made me nervous about good coverage, so I ended up applying 4 coats (5 minutes in between), rotating the paper for each application. The decal paper was allowed to sit for one hour, then dried with a hair dryer on low for 5 minutes.

The application was rather straightforward, with the decals releasing easily from the backing (though they did have a tenancy to curl in the water), and able to stick to the glossy paint (I didn't pretreat the vehicles with anything). The one major thing to be aware of with these decals is that the film was much thicker than professionally made decals. As such, you could see and feel the decal edges after application.  It may be less obvious with the clear version, but the edges of the white backed decals required touching up when printing darker colors. The white of the decals was also not completely opaque, so if you had large areas of white on your decal, it's best if you had a uniform color underneath it.
Decal edges before finishing touch ups
DG51 Chevrolet 1928 Box Van 
Lledo DG51 Chevrolet 1928 Box Van , Western Branch Market, Shanghai, China, 28mm WW2 Bolt Action Wargaming
For this van, I didn't find an image of a particular vehicle, but used a reference photo of a sandbag emplacement being built in front of a Shanghai market in 1937.
DG56 Ford 1930 Model A Raised-Roof Van
Lledo DG56 Ford 1930 Model A Raised-Roof Van, Socony Motor Gasoline, Shanghai, China, 28mm WW2 Bolt Action Wargaming
Though the Lledo van was already marked with Standard Oil livery, I opted to convert it over to the Chinese branding seen in this image from 1931. Standard started the Atlas tire brand in the 1930's, and though I don't know if they were sold in China, I decided to keep the sign.

Socony Motor Gasoline Truck, Shanghai, China, 1931. Source: Madspace.org
Source: Madspace.org

DG13 1934 Model A Ford Van
Lledo DG13 Ford 1934 Model A Van, Sin Wan Pao Newspaper, Shanghai, China, 28mm WW2 Bolt Action Wargaming
Sin Wan Pao (新聞報) was a Chinese newspaper firm in operation from the 1890's to the 1940's.

I have not be able to find a scale guide for the various Lledo vehicles, But I think these models looked reasonable with a Copplestone Chinese figure and against a Warlord Games 1/56 Morris 15cwt Truck.

Lledo Vans Compared to Warlord Games Truck
Lledo Vans Compared to Warlord Games Truck

One additional Lledo vehicle I purchased that did not look good for 28mm wargaming was the DG42 1934 Mack Tank Truck. It should have been similar in size to my Matchbox Mack, but was woefully undersized.


As I think the 1934 Mack variants share parts, I would avoid all of these.

Overall, these came out much better than I thought they would.  I've placed some eBay orders for additional Lledo vehicles, so fingers crossed they will look good as well.  If you would like to do any conversions yourself, here's the decal designs I made.  They are free for personal use, but I don not give permission for them to be sold.

Added 30Aug20: Part 2 of my conversions can be found here.

Chinese Decals for 28mm Wargaming by Chris Schuetz.  Free for Personal Use Only.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Diecast Vehicles for VBCW Part V

Bought another car this week:

Lledo DG 18000 1936 Packard  U.K. Ambulance

I am unable to locate a photo of the real vehicle for comparison, but I think it looks good with the figures.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Diecast Vehicles for VBCW Part IV

Another couple of vehicles arrived today.

Lledo DG 029  1931 Rolls-Royce Phantom II

Lledo DG 025 1925 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Tourer

Compared to the Model A Truck

Size-wise they seem to fit fairly well, though perhaps slightly small for the larger Artizan miniature.  Let's check against real life examples.


Source:  Flicker
This is a 1931 Phantom II Limousine.  As you can see, the gentlemens' heads are going to be at or slightly above the roofline.  So I would say even though the Lledo Phantom seems slightly small at first compared to the Artizan figure, it's actually not a bad match.

Source: Wikimedia Commons
 Here is a 1925 Silver Ghost Torpedo.  Unfortunately the only person standing right next to it is a girl, but the adults in the background appear as if their heads would be at or slightly below the roofline.  So I would say the Lledo car is about right for the Artizan figure and maybe slightly big for the Musketeer figure.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Diecast Vehicles for VBCW Part III

Another set of vehicles arrived today (my last order for a bit):
  1. Lledo DG 043 1931 Morris Van
  2. Lledo DG 013 1934 Model A Ford Van
The Morris van arrived in a new box type, but as you can see, it has the same dimensions as the one seen in Part II of this series.
Both vehicles look reasonable with the miniatures, with the door tops around head height or slightly higher.

Comparison with the Ford truck:
Again, they all seem similar in scale.

 I could not find a photo of this particular Morris van, but here is a 1930 box van:
Source: Grace's Guide
 It looks like the door tops would be head height, which matches my van.

Here is the Model A Van:
Source: Motorstown.com
Sadly there is only a child in the photo, but I would guess that the door tops would be slightly lower than adult head height.  Looking at a photo of a Model A sedan, this seems likely:
Source: imcdb.org
So I would say the Model A is a good fit for 28mm miniatures, perhaps even slightly oversized.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Diecast Vehicles for VBCW Part II

So, two new vehicles have arrived.

Lledo DG 034 1932 Dennis Delivery Van
To me, this looks like a fairly good size match for my figures.  The door height is about the same as the Ford Model A truck from the earlier post. 

Lledo DG 016 1934 Dennis Parcels Van
 Looking at the door height, I think this one might be slightly undersized for 28mm figures. However, all in all it's not too bad (especially since it was on $4.99, including the shipping).

Size comparison of both with the Ford truck:

I wasn't able to find photos of either van, but here is link to a Dennis van similar to the 1934 model: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bpk395/2757634100/
Though there is no person in the photo, the chairs behind the van would lead me to believe the tops of the doors should be above a man's head. So I think my belief  that the parcels van is too small is likely true.

One of the tricky things in trying determine the size of Lledo vehicles when looking at online auctions, is that their box sizes have changed over time.


To help you in sizing up vehicles, here are the dimensions for these two box types:

Small
  • Height (not counting the top tab) 6.0cm, 2 3/8"
  • Length 12.6cm, 4 7/8"
Large
  • Height (not counting the top tab) 6.6cm, 2 5/8"
  • Length 14.2 cm, 5 5/8"

Monday, May 6, 2013

Diecast Vehicles for VBCW

I have been looking for civilian vehicles for my 28mm VBCW gaming, but have been struggling to find some that fit with my 1/55-1/56 military vehicles. Most models seem to be 1/48, and the majority of diecast cars seem to run approximately 1/43.  Both of these option are way too big for my preferences, especially since my building are underscaled (around 1/63, slightly bigger than model railroad S scale).

I asked for advice on LAF, and got various opinions on what looked good and what didn't, but got no real consensus other than people were using some models from Matchbox's "Models of Yesteryear" and Lledo's  "Models of Days Gone" lines (both discontinued, but available second hand).

Some additional Googling turned up a Russian Matchbox site that had photos and scales for the Yesteryear series.  Based on this I made a short list of Matchbox vehicles between 1/50 and 1/60 size that seemed promising.  Sadly, I couldn't find such a guide for the Lledo cars, and had to eye it based on photos helpful LAFers added to my post.

After a bit of searching on eBay, I took the plunge with two vehicles:
  1. Matchbox Y31-B 1931 Morris Courier (though oddly the stamp on the bottom of the lorry says 1933 Morris Pantechnicon - not sure if they are sharing parts); 1/59 given scale
  2. Lledo DG 020 1934 Ford A Stake Truck; no given scale
So How do they look compared to my Copplestone Lanchester armoured car?  I've placed each vehicle against my cutting board grid (sorry it's in inches, 1 inch = 25mm), and added Musketeer (smaller) and Artizan (larger) figures for comparison (base thickness is 3mm).

Lanchester 6x4 Armoured Car
 
Morris Courier

Ford A Stake Truck


 To my eye, these three vehicles look fairly reasonable to one another. How do they compare to reality?


Source: Wikipedia
The wheels on the model Lanchester seem slightly oversized, but the figures come up to the height of the door, which is a good match to the historical photo.

Source: Grace's Guide
Sadly, I could not find a photo of the Morris Courier, but here is another model from the same era. From photos I've seen online, most of the lorries and vans from this time seem to have cabs about this size, so I think it is a reasonable comparison.  Though there is no person standing next to it, based on the people inside, I think the Matchbox Courier is an acceptable fit.
Source:  Wikipedia
Finally there is the Ford A truck.  In this photo, the man's head is slightly below the top of the door. My 28mm figures are closer to the roof line of the Lledo truck, but if you subtract the base thickness, it isn't too far off of reality.

As such, I think I'm off to a good start with both brands. The Lledo seem to go a bit cheaper on eBay (I got mine for $7 with shipping, vs $17 in total for the Matchbox), so I think I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for these even though I'll have to guess at the scale for each individual model.  Luckily my Ford came in the original box, so that will help me gauge how large (or small) other vehicles are in comparison.

As I add more, I'll post additional size photos.