Reviresco British Gun Weasel

What follows are some pictures sent to me by John at Reviresco Miniatures.  Apparantly my doddling about (q.v.) with his Fate Racing Car inspired him to do some conversions of his own, and here is the result.

Photo courtesy of Reviresco Miniatures

Photo courtesy of Reviresco Miniatures

Photo courtesy of Reviresco Miniatures

John added smaller seats and tracks from the Lenin Rolls winter set.   The solid wheels are extras from his automobile line.  The new sides and longer fenders were made from .03 plastic card. The gun is from the 6lb Quick Fire Set and the crew from the British Pith helmet artillery crew. The caterpillar tracks are from his Racer modification kit.

This makes for a distinctive tracked gun carrier that would do any Space:1889 wargamer proud, operating on Mars, Venus, or the Western Front, especially if you were considering “Weird War One” or (as has been suggested on TMP) Very British Civil War.. 

I think, in the general climate of Happy Meal/Jumble Sale vehicles that seem to be saturating the Victorian Science Fiction genre these days, John’s Gun Carrier, Mk. 1 “Weasel” offers a unique, yet reasonable addition to General Wood’s #1 Column advance on Œnotria.

John tells me that if there is enough interest in this model, he'll kit it up for sale.  Visit his website and let him know..

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C.G.V. Automitrailleuse Blindée

Charron-Giradot-Voigt Mk. 1 -1902 - Wikipedia

The first of the armoured cars, the Charron-Girardot-Voigt was introduced in 1902. Designed by the Georgian engineer Mikheil Nakashidze, the Russians were unable to produce it at home and thus it was contracted to the French automobile company Charron-Girardot-Voigt.

The Mark1 weighed 3000 kg., featured a Hotchkiss machine gun in an armoured cupola, and could achieve 50km per hour.

What follows is my Space:1889 fictional addition:

The Mark 2 weighed 4500 kg, features an Improved Lenoir Combustion Engine driving a dual rear drive-train, a Hotchkiss 3-pdr Revolving Cannon (later, a Hotchkiss 1-pdr Pom-Pom cannon) and could achieve 45km per hour.

The model was converted from the Reviresco  Six-Wheeled Racing Car.  The first caveat is, while listed at 28mm scale, it's closer to 22mm, being in the scale I refer to as "Old 25mm".  The kit has a lot of parts, many of which aren't needed for this conversion - canopy, baggage rails, valises,etc. which can go into the bits box.  I'll ceratinly be able to use the valises later for travellers on Mars.

 The 3-lbr H.R.C. came from the old Houston's Ships line, available from The Virtual Armchair General.  The armoured cupola is from the Reviresco Starguard line - it has lain in the bits box for a decade.

The rear side panels were cut from plastic styrene card - you can see the gap in the picture to the right where I didn't get quite flush. The front fender was converted from the rear luggage rack.  The twin engine was dremeled down a bit to provide more space for the gunner.

Shown with RAFM British Officer kicking tyres for scale

When I first unboxed the mini, I must confess I was a trifle disappointed with the size, but having muddled through, it's not quite as bad as I thought.  I was very set on matching the shape of the original C.G.V. bonnet/hood, and Reviresco's car was almost spot-on.

I still need to find a driver and convert a gunner.  I'm looking for the old Houston's 25s Zulu War Ox Wagon Driver in Pith Helmet, as the space in the front seat is tight.

Shown with RAFM British Officer for scale

Back to Space:1889:

The French have produced several prototypes – two are in Metropolitan France where they are undergoing tests. One has been sent to the Russian Tsar, who has expressed an interest in further armoured car projects. One has been sent to Algeria, and one has been sent to Idaeus Fons, Martian Colony, where it patrols the caravan routes along the old canal beds to Niliacus and Chryse along the edge of the Xanthe desert..

Movement: 4

Weight: 4 Tons (Metric)

Reliabilty: 4

Fuel Consumption: 1/4 ton Diesel

Crew: 3 Driver, Gunner, Commander/Spotter

Armor: H:1, RG:0, Crew:1*, Gun: 1 (front arc only)

*Crew get the armour rating as an addition to their saving throw.

Using the C-G-V Mk.II in Space:1889 presumes a slight acceleration of the historic technical timeline. The technology for an armoured car was certainly there, but the necessity was not yet quite clear. Etienne Lenoir had patented an internal combustion engine (albeit running on coal gas) as early as 1860, he sold the patent rights to the Compagnie Parisienne du Gaz.  Subsequent developers introduced petrol, and hey! Presto...

...Automitrailleuse Blindée!

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Conversion pics for the Ironclad Minis Steam Walker

These photies could probably have gone with the previous Tripod post, however, I don't get to post as often as I like, so whey-hay, here we go:

Here's the original front/bow of the crew compartment - as mentioned, I've decided this will be the rear/aft of the walker.  

The piece of 1/4 inch dowel that has been cut for to serve as a firebox can be seen.  The silver sliver is an HO scale railway smokestack.  There is a larger, white metal, smokestack supplied with the model which is fine - I just preferred the look of the smaller stack.

Below is the "new" front/bow.  The stack housing has been milliput-ed over and some styrene card glued on to simulate the gunners position.

Here is the assembled smokebox, stack and water/oil tank. I really do think the reversed cab looks better this way! More praise and glory to Ironclad for designing a model that is easily kit-bashed!

Below, atop the three legs, is the 25/28mm Sci-Fi console base, used for the running gear box - the top (not shown) looks a bit like a TARDIS column.  I will need to figure out where to get more of these if I want to make another tripod...(Edit: I have since discovered, a soft-drink bottle cap will work as well.)

Joining the legs was simpler than I thought it would be - I used some two-part epoxy to fasten the legs to a fender washer.  Once dry (and I had  to hold the legs down with my thumb for 10 minutes while watching the Game of Thrones) the washer and legs were easily epoxied to the gearbox.

The model needs a base, if only to protect the legs from catching on something and snapping off. I have 2" diameter sheet steel bases that were too small to fit the "feet", and a large 3" fender washer that I decided was too heavy.  Finally, the model was epoxied to a styrene-sheet base (actually two pieces, stuck together). This provides a nice stable base without making the model too heavy.

Vorwards!  Nach Paris!

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