Crusader War Tractors

 

Caerten class Main Battle Tractor

It's taken a while to get these armoured vehicles done for my Crusaders. But I've dug through my bits to find stowage left over from my 20mm Canadian battlegroup, because all tanks need stowage. 

The big turret bustles on the Centurion tanks were a puzzle. How to make them look full, without burning a fortune in resin and metal bits?

Big empty rack. From my game last month. 

I hit upon the idea to use blocks of balsa wood covered in squares if shop rag, to make tarp covered supplies. 

Getting stowage ready to paint. Normally I attach stowage before painting, but indecision etc....

Making a filler

First attempts turned out too big, because I forgot that folds of cloth to make the tarp added extra bulk. Fortunately, the glue hadn't stuck too well,  so I was able to trim the balsa down and reglue the cloth in place. 

A few shades of green and some ink, and things were ready to attach to make my tractors look lived in.

I have a third Centurion model, waiting on bits from Zombiesmith to give me a crew commander head.

I like the stowage to have variation between each vehicle. Which is a big problem with cast on stowage, every vehicle looks the same. Stowage is a way to make each vehicle unique.

I also finished off these two light recce tanks that Don printed for me. I'm calling them Pykpyks, after the small, intelligent squirrels that the Quar use to carry messages.

Turret bin is from a 15mm Sherman Firefly