Two Three Alpha Scorpion, 3 Troop, 'B' Sqn Blues and Royals, Falklands 1982

[Boldman]

30 years ago, 4 Scorpions, 4 Scimitars and a Samson went to the Falklands from 3 and 4 Troop, 'B' Sqn, The Blues and Royals. They played an important role in the retaking of the islands as they were the only armour that made it to land. My plan is to build one of the Scorpions from 3 Troops, namely 23A.

I've spent some time trying to identify which particular vehicles they were, which has not been easy considering the paucity of photos from this time! Thankfully the Osprey Scorpion book by Chris Foss and Simon Dunstan has some cracking nuggets of information and a couple of very useful photos such as this one linked to Google Books.

The caption of that photo give the most perfect information, this is Two Three Alpha. here is a larger version of that photo that I found elsewhere

In addition I found another photo which also looks like it is 23A:

You can see from this photo that the front registration numbers have been painted over and the bridging plate also painted over. Now further along in the Osprey book is a drawing taken from the famous photo of a Scimitar concealed with camo nets and tarp:

What is really interesting about the drawling is it identifies the Scimitar as two three charlie and shows that it had the rear registration still visible along with the convoy stripes, plus the 'B' Squadron insignia in red on the turret and the movement information codes CHALK FAW RAW AUP stenciled on the turret. The Blues and Royals regimental insignia has also been painted over.

Interestingly I found another photo of 23C:

which shows the sort of layout at the rear, which matches what you can see on 23A in the previous picture.

So the only piece of information I'm missing is the registration number of the Scorpion 23A! I think I might have to fudge it by covering the rear with lots of dirt I have on order the May 2007 edition of Military Modelcraft International which apparently has a build of 23A.

That iss the background and current research (which is still ongoing so if you know anything about this subject I would be really interested to hear from you!), so what about the model? Well, needless to say I'm using the AFV Club kit:

and here is the obligatory sprue shot.

The flash glare is obscuring the Eduard etch set, so I re-photographed it seperately:

There is lots of PE here, I doubt if I'll use all, but some is goign to be very useful. You can also see the Accurate Armour resin tracks, although I doubt if I'll be using all of them - I might just use enough to reduce the tension in the rubber tracks that come with the kit. I've actually got the Fruimodel metal tracks as well but they are reserved for later this year for the up-armoured Scimitar I'm planning For the crew, I've got some AFV crew from Accurate Armour

I got the warrior set as they are wearing the old style "bone dome" helmets, plus some heads with berets to replace one of the AA figures. The Kinetic rope will also be included as it seems to be attached to the right side (ether that or its camo netting).

For the base I've been able to get hold of a stony steppe grass mat (from here) that looks like a very good representation of the sort of terrain in the Falklands, just a bit more marshy/boggy and with more mud and large rocks.

So let us begin...

 

[hoggatt]

oo, im looking forward to seeing this one , good luck

 

[papa 695]

Nice one Andrew I used to be in the 13th/18th Royal Hussars joined in 84 they used the Scorpion and Scimitar and i had loads of fun playing with them, the Tarp you talk about on the side of the Scimitar is a three man tent that they carry for the crew

 

[Boldman]

Ahh that makes sense, thanks Ian. So let me pick your brains a bit, does the rubber on the roadwheels of a Scorpion/Scimitar get worn like the rubber on the roadwheels on the Chally?

 

[papa 695]

Yes they do Andrew

 

[Boldman]

Thanks for the feedback Ian. I'm going to lightly weather the roadwheels, but there will be more mud and dirt rather than hard wear and tear since much of the Falklands landscape was marsh and bog! So now onto the build. If you follow the instructions, you start off with the roadwheels and suspension. Well before that I'm taking a quick diversion... if you take a look at this reference photo:

you'll see that the middle front of the "skirt" is much thinner than the rest. This should be where the headlamps would normally be, but they were removed and have left a thin plate, much thinner than the moulded plastic. So to replicate that I've cut out a section of the skirt and replaced it with a wide strip of photoetch border that was hanging about:

Then onto the wheels - there are lots of roadwheels, drive wheels and return wheels to assemble and here you see I've already painted them in readines for some weathering

Next, on close examination of the top deck, you see the engine vents raised up above the surface:

This is for the newer Scimitars and not for the Scorpion, so this needs fixing. First cut out the engine vent

then refit it with a suitable plate from thin plastic card:

 

[papa 695]

Nice work so far Andrew

 

[mobear]

coming along nicely,i`ll keep my nose in on this one

mobear

 

[Boldman]

Lots of fiddly little work the last couple of days, adding tiny PE details:

The handles and hooks on the rear stowage box have been replaced, as has the fixtures for the shovel. Various other handles, hooks and fittings also attached. I ordered a set of 120mm ammo boxes from Accurate Armour as these are the ones seen down the side in the main reference picture. Also made up a tow rope that will be fixed to the side.

The rear idler wheels have had the slot filled so as to represent the earlier wheels which were solid. The wing mirror fittings have been added but the wing mirrors removed. So overall solid albeit slow progress...

 

[mobear]

Oh yeahhhhhhhhhhhh nice

mobear

 

[AJay]

Looking great so far, Andrew. I just love build blogs!

 

[Boldman]

Today's update shows the result of visiting the Newbury show yesterday - I ended up buying the Fruimodel metal tracks for the early Scorpion and picked up another Scorpion kit for another build later. So last night I sat down in front of the PC and watched 5 episodes of Mad Men while fitting the tracks together! It was not as difficult as I thought - a fine drill to open up the holes, a little bit of filing to get rid of some flash and a little dab of CA glue on the end of each bit of wire that holds the tracks together. In total it took about 5 hours to put two tracks together that are long enough to fit and give a realistic bit of sag.

There were quite a few pieces left over as well. Dunno what to do with them as it doesn't seem that Falklands Scorpions carried spare track pieces. So now that is done, this evening I'll revisit the rear stowage box and thread the "rope" through the cover and around the hooks...

It was good to see someone else's builds of the Scorpion and Scimitar at the Newbury show as well. It doesn't seem to be a particularly common subject sadly. Newbury show was good for another reason - my Babylon 5 Starfury won Gold in the Sci Fi class in the competition

 

[Boldman]

Todays update: bit of work done over the last few days in lots of different areas, starting off with the the big stowage box that attaches to the rear hull:

PE cleats and handles were a bit fiddly to fit, but on this build I was detaermined to try to use as much of the PE as I could even though it meant using the stronger magnifying lenses in my visor You can also see there the primed exhaust pipe and the PE grill to go over it, plus the PE phone cable spool.

Next: in the various sources I've found for building a Falklands Scorpion there has been some discussion about the stowage boxes, particularly on the left side of the hull.. in the build in Military Modelcraft May 2007, he uses the normal long box directly under the turret plus an additional stowage box sourced from "Plus Models" but this is the wrong era one. However, the build in Military in Scale from December 1996 scratch builds a large stowage box that looks very much like a more recent Scimitar box. This too, I believe is wrong.

Take a look at this photo:

What I think you are seeing is the normal long stowage box attached to the hull directly under the turret plus the stowage box that is normally attached to the right side of the hull instead stuck on the left backing onto the original box. Here is a detail from the photo of 23A shown above:

I've drawn the outline of the profile of the stowage boxes. I am pretty certain this is what you are seeing and so I give you...

which I believe is a good match for what we saw in the real thing. As you can see the hull has been primed with Halfords primer. The driver is just placed there temporarily, he needs painting up properly still. Another thing to note in the photos shown above is that the upper indicator lamp (which I believe is the gear indicator?) has been removed, so I've done the same...

You can also see the "bolts" I've added to the engine vent plate. These are just blobs of Mr Dissolved Putty.

Next comes the turret:

First thing is the smoke projectors. Scorpions have 3 barrel smoke projectors while Scimitars have 4. The Eduard PE set contains the parts needed to fit 3 barrels. I've also added the cabling that connects the smoke projectors to the inside. Various holes for fittings have been filled in and the cylindrical container seen in the photos above has been scratch built and fitted using some left over PE. Several details such as antennae and other bits have been left off to be attached after the main painting. This includes the commander's hatch which is having some work done in its interior. There are a few other boxes and containers that are being kept separate for now - here is an overview...

 

[mobear]

good god man you`re quick and its awesome,lovin your work

mobear

 

[phalinmegob]

congratulations on your gold medal andrew, well deserved

 

[Boldman]

Here is the base I completed this evening...

The paint was still wet on the rocks which explains why they looks so shiny. This pic gives you a better idea of the lumpiness of the terrain

This was created using a base of air dough which if kept damp remains sticky and is a perfect base for the grass mat that has been spread over it and squeezed down into all the corners, nooks and crannies.

The rocks are plaster casts from rubber moulds - the ones you can get in Modelzone. There is some added grass clumbs and small stones, but most of it is the grass mat which I think is superb - its the stony steppe grass mat from here.

Now back to the Scorpion build itself...

 

[aaron]

Great build mate i like the base A LOT.

I think my country used these too.

Reality in scale is awesome i looked at getting some of thier carpet sets.

 

[yak face]

Firstly congrats on your gold medal! Superb work andrew, the scorpion is coming along brilliantly , as you say this and the scimitar arent very often seen. The base looks superb and its great to see the research and effort youre putting into this to get it correct , keep the pics coming , cheers tony

 

[Boldman]

Thanks guys, its great that so many people are interested in this build

Well this was a turn up for the books, I was sent a link to a BBC documentary about the Flaklands and lo and behold, there in all its glory is 23A:

Today has been something of a marathon! Started the day with the airbrush and ended the day, well looking like this...

All I can say is thank god for Accurate Armour! There is so many of their accessories on this now... Bergan, bedrools and helmets, AFV Hanging kit, PE camo netting, carbon fibre aerials, 120mm ammo boxes, 30mm Rarden ammo boxes... (yes I know this is a Scorpion not a Scimitar, but it looks like they salvaged boxes from wherever they could!)

Lots of mud and sadly the green/black camo has been lost under a layer of black wash I applied that went a bit funny, but never mind its a dirty machine and thats what I was aiming for. However I'm not sure that I haven't overdone the mud on the roadwheels...

Fitting the tracks was entertaining! After getting all the wheels on I fitted the first track only to discover that it came up a bit tight. Bugger I thought, I'll have to add another link, so I did and then the track sagged so much the upper track sagged down onto the top of the roadwheels!! Well thats not right, so I had to take the link out again. Now that the tracks have been on for a while, the links have stretched a tiny bit so there is a small amount of sag that looks realistic I'm pleased to say!

So all thats left to do tomorrow is sort out the driver and commander figure. Should be a piece of cake (he says laughing hysterically!)

Looks like I may even finish this one in time to take it to IPMS Farnborough on Monday evening... oh hang on I've still got to sort of the bloody decals... arse! Might need to take a quick trip into the office tomorrow to use the colour laser printer...

 

[papa 695]

Great work there Andrew and i dont think the road wheels are over done the Falklands are one wet muddy place