Author Topic: Renault-Mgebrov Armoured Car 1915  (Read 9320 times)

Offline Steven Robson

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Re: Renault-Mgebrov Armoured Car 1915
« Reply #15 on: December 04, 2015, 05:50:04 PM »
Steve,
Fantastic collection of Armored Cars and Artillery my old friend. The Renault-Mgebrov is new to me,did the French also use the same vehicle? Not a clue as to why but I've developed a thing for Renault vehicles. Wouldn't mine building more of them.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

Hi Gregory

Thanks for liking my little Renault-Mgebrov armoured car model.  I love early armoured cars, they are a very interesting subject.

Yes please, build, build, build more Renaults :)

Firstly, much of what the Russians got up to in both the first and second world wars is not well understood in the west.  There is a significant language barrier here before we even start to untangle the historical records.  Additionally, lets not forget that most of us are also Cold War babies, that is to say, post 1945 our Russian buddies didn’t really get much good press in the mainstream media and this is still the case today.  So there’s a lot of documentation in the East that has not really seen the light of day because of complex, politico-historical reasons.
 
The main thrust of the story with these early armoured cars is…..(and you can also find this in the tank forums)..

Tsarist Russia at the turn of the Twentieth Century was a very under-developed country and she did not have a sophisticated automotive industry.  Uncle Nicolas went on a pre-conflict buying spree and purchased a lot of armoured cars, including regular car and light truck chassis from his European neighbours ( the French, British & Italians).  He also got some Ford light trucks from the Yanks.  A Russian officer (surname Mgebrov) was tasked with turning the Renault 1914 chassis into an armoured car.

Mgebrov’s great insight was to slope the armour on the front of the car and the improved ballistic properties enabled a decrease in the thickness of the armoured steel plate.  Decreasing the overall weight of the car improved its performance and an AFV legend was born.  This makes the Renault-Mgeborv armoured car historically significant.  Modellers who also love the early Russian tanks (circa WW2) may recognise the significance of sloped armour on the front of the legendary T-34 tank and make a connection back to the development of the Renault-Mgebrov.

If you’re interested in this subject, there’s a lovely book by James Kinnear (2000) Russian Armored Cars 1930-2000, Darlington Publications, Maryland.  The introduction of this book describes the development of these early Russian AFVs.

They were hybrid vehicles, Russian innovations applied to imported car and truck chassis.

Also, don’t forget, Ivan from Yellow House Models, he's a lovely bloke with a young family.  Ivan's is a small, cottage industry, modelling concern and most worthy of support.  Ivan has a wealth of knowledge in this area and he is easily found with a quick Google or Facebook search.  I reckon he won’t mind if I include a couple of inspirational photos for the WW1 forum modellers.

The photo of the Russo-Balt armoured car is from a model made by Alexandar Rogozin and they don’t get much better than that.





This is lovely weathering on the canon.
I tried to have a conversation about weathering models with this young fellow but he just wasn't interested
:)




That's BS about the conversation, I got the photos off FB from a group of European re-enactors.
You have to admire dedication like this.









It that shit on my nice new uniform!

This is a very interesting photo, please note: the lovely green paint job on this reproduction car and the chains on the wheels to cope with a very wet and muddy field.  I have some idiosyncratic ideas about weathering armoured vehicles but I'm still an armoured vehicle modelling virgin, so if you won't respect me in the morning, I just can't kiss and tell my new weathering technique at this stage.

Cheers Big Ears
Otto from Blotto
« Last Edit: December 04, 2015, 06:31:04 PM by Steven Robson »
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Offline Pgtaylorart

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Re: Renault-Mgebrov Armoured Car 1915
« Reply #16 on: December 04, 2015, 06:02:09 PM »
Renault! Yes, that is what I'm going to build for the French GB. A Renault FT-17 Light Tank. A very innovative company in its day. :)

George

Offline Steven Robson

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Re: Renault-Mgebrov Armoured Car 1915
« Reply #17 on: December 04, 2015, 06:24:05 PM »
Renault! Yes, that is what I'm going to build for the French GB. A Renault FT-17 Light Tank. A very innovative company in its day. :)

George

Now that's a beautiful tank George.  Both the Meng and Takom kits are excellent for the FT-17; both the Russians and Japanese used this tank as well.  It says a lot about the underlying design characteristics of the vehicle when a tank like the FT-17 was used in both world wars.

Viva George's FT-17
Make Otto your motto for lovely spoked wheels.

Offline Des

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Re: Renault-Mgebrov Armoured Car 1915
« Reply #18 on: December 04, 2015, 06:40:41 PM »
I pre-ordered the Takom Big Bertha today Steven, as you said it was a few dollars short of $100AUD including shipping, but being quite a hefty model the shipping was only $10. I have been looking forward to the release of this model for some time so hopefully by mid January I will have one.

Des.
Late Founder of ww1aircraftmodels.com and forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com

Offline Steven Robson

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Re: Renault-Mgebrov Armoured Car 1915
« Reply #19 on: December 04, 2015, 06:47:54 PM »
I pre-ordered the Takom Big Bertha today Steven, as you said it was a few dollars short of $100AUD including shipping, but being quite a hefty model the shipping was only $10. I have been looking forward to the release of this model for some time so hopefully by mid January I will have one.

Des.

That's great news Des.

I reckon strike while the iron's hot.  You'll do a magnificent build log on Big Bertha?
Make Otto your motto for lovely spoked wheels.

Offline Steven Robson

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Re: Renault-Mgebrov Armoured Car 1915
« Reply #20 on: December 09, 2015, 10:30:22 AM »
I'm calling this one finished.

























« Last Edit: December 09, 2015, 10:41:04 AM by Steven Robson »
Make Otto your motto for lovely spoked wheels.

Offline Pgtaylorart

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Re: Renault-Mgebrov Armoured Car 1915
« Reply #21 on: December 09, 2015, 10:54:14 AM »
Looks great, Steven! I'm sure it's nice to build something that goes together so quickly! :)

George

Offline uncletony

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Re: Renault-Mgebrov Armoured Car 1915
« Reply #22 on: December 09, 2015, 12:47:57 PM »
Really like the paintwork Steven. Well done.

Offline Steven Robson

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Re: Renault-Mgebrov Armoured Car 1915
« Reply #23 on: December 09, 2015, 02:00:13 PM »
Really like the paintwork Steven. Well done.

Thanks George and Bo!

I keep forgetting to document finishes from one model to the next.  It's a bit naughty really because sometimes I can't remember how to do some stuff.

This Renault-Mgebrov is Fat Otto's first WW1 armour build and his paint job, sort-of, followed the following sequence:

- spray all parts, matt black enamel, one thin undercoat, burnish the painted surfaces with a square brush by rubbing-in Conte a Paris powder (black).  I do this because I can't paint for shit and the Conte burnishing smooths down a furry paint job.

- next, hand paint floor polish onto all surfaces to fix the Conte and protect the enamel paint (use lovely new brushes for floor polish, no rough stuff here & no dust bunnies)

- now drink beer (it's hot)

- next spray matt forest green paint, one coat, burnish when cured with some green Conte rubbed-in (slightly different green powder for mottling is good).

Fat Otto's Tip: mix different Conte powders to achieve a colour tone shift, one up and one down from your base coat

- hand paint floor polish again to fix the green Conte and protect the surface

- don't drink beer during the next step

- now SAND BLAST the lovely green surface.  This is my most high risk and exciting weathering technique for WW1 modelling. It's very easy to stuff things up at this stage especially if you cut too far into the painted layers

- now drink more beer (regardless of the blasted results) any overdone blasting is easily fixed with a little green touch-up spray and some more Conte (now you're mottling with Otto on the Australian team :) )

- next is to spray a matt varnish (Testors) over all surfaces, let this cure and..

- finish with a hand painted floor polish.

In summary:  hand painted floor polish over a sprayed matt varnish gives our models a lovely semi-gloss finish.  You can now work some details (additional finishes) into this semi-gloss presentation by burnishing some surfaces up (for gloss) or gently down for matt with a (dry) 1200 Carbide paper.  Fatso reckons this approach will give your model an overall mottled, weathered, semi-gloss finish with a few additional (gloss & matt) highlights ready for the photo shoot.

     
« Last Edit: December 09, 2015, 02:59:57 PM by Steven Robson »
Make Otto your motto for lovely spoked wheels.

Offline Des

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Re: Renault-Mgebrov Armoured Car 1915
« Reply #24 on: December 09, 2015, 02:15:44 PM »
An excellent looking model Steven, and as others have said the paint work is superb.

Des.
Late Founder of ww1aircraftmodels.com and forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com

Offline Pgtaylorart

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Re: Renault-Mgebrov Armoured Car 1915
« Reply #25 on: December 09, 2015, 02:23:40 PM »
I can figure out the beer part, but sandblasting? Where do you get that kind or setup for a scale model?

George

Offline Steven Robson

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Re: Renault-Mgebrov Armoured Car 1915
« Reply #26 on: December 09, 2015, 02:52:06 PM »
I can figure out the beer part, but sandblasting? Where do you get that kind or setup for a scale model?

George

Hmmmm, George, do you really, really promise to keep a secret?
Make Otto your motto for lovely spoked wheels.

Offline Pgtaylorart

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Re: Renault-Mgebrov Armoured Car 1915
« Reply #27 on: December 09, 2015, 04:06:43 PM »
Naw, I can't be trusted... I'll just take my kit to the beach on a windy day.


Offline Steven Robson

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Re: Renault-Mgebrov Armoured Car 1915
« Reply #28 on: December 09, 2015, 05:38:44 PM »
Naw, I can't be trusted... I'll just take my kit to the beach on a windy day.

Hey George!

Here's a photo of you and me having an intimate cyber-moment as I gently blow your L) ear :) with a Badger Mini-Sandblaster



You need a thing with a what's-it to make it work properly, hmmm, that would be a compressor with a regulator a deft touch and a great big bag of Aluminium Oxide.  I've also used regular baking soda with good effect.

« Last Edit: December 09, 2015, 05:45:11 PM by Steven Robson »
Make Otto your motto for lovely spoked wheels.

Offline bobs_buckles

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Re: Renault-Mgebrov Armoured Car 1915
« Reply #29 on: December 09, 2015, 05:39:57 PM »
Lovely Rubbery wheels, Van Otto  ;)
The paint has a glowing depth that I find rather nice. Well done ;-)

Come join my wee group on FB. We go by the name The WingNutters. Link is in my siggy below.
Bring your PA with you, Otto  ;D

Von NutJob



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