writes:
Many years ago, back at the dawn of TMP, I was tempted to get started in WWII wargaming in 28mm or 1:56 scale. This was when the first vehicles in this scale began to become available.
Unlike today, back then it was quite difficult to acquire 1:56 scale models. The companies were small, obscure and often out of stock. The retailers would advertise a line, then not be able to fulfill orders. The models were resin, often of a primitive quality, and sometimes crudely (and illegally) copied from a plastic kit master.
I acquired these models from Army Group North, which was a pioneer in this scale. AGN is not currently active, as the owner had a health issue and closed down shop some time ago.
These models are resin, and consist of hull (with cast-on base) and separate turret, gun barrels, machineguns, and hatches. Two stowage items (sleeping rolls) were also included.
The tanks were sitting around my hobby space for a few years, until I resolved to have a painting service take care of them. So in 2019, I sent them off to Old Guard Painters in Ukraine.
When the painted tanks returned from Ukraine, there was a problem with the packaging, and some of the hulls and turrets had collided with each other during shipping. Fortunately, touching up the paint was easy.
I had instructed the painters to provide one tank with particular tactical marking and air-recognition symbols, and provided a photo. The painters misunderstood, and used the same markings on all three tanks. They also made the air-recognition triangle quite small.
I glued the stowage items in place, and also added flocking to the bases.
Now, many years later, the tanks have crossed my workbench again, as I've decided to add LITKO FlexSteel to the base bottoms, to make them more secure in magnet-lined storage and transport boxes.
I also sent this extra turret to the painters, which I apparently believed was optional for the BT-7. My notes refer to 'extra turret', 'short-barreled howitzer' and separate hatch.
I've just realized, after all these years, that it doesn't fit on the BT-7 hulls! The turret's bottom ring is too large, and rides up on the back structure of the hull. There's no apparent way to fix the fit issue. Perhaps it belongs to a different vehicle?