Supacat ATMP
Barrage Miniatures
1/50 scale (nominal)
£13.00
In my continued quest
for modern military vehicles in 1/48 scale I have a habit of scouring
the wargames manufacturers websites. Much of what's available isn't
of sufficient quality to be of interest. Scale perfection and
accurate profiles are not generally the gamers' priority so vehicles
tend to be basic approximations of the real thing.
That said, a number of
manufacturers do make the effort to deliver decent quality kits and
they are often around the 1/50 scale mark, which makes them good
companions for my 1/48 scale collection. I recently came across a
small Spanish wargames emporium and, quite randomly, they offer a
model of a Supacat ATMP, which they claim is 1/56 scale (the
'standard' 28mm wargaming scale). However, the published dimensions
of the model indicated that it was closer to 1/50 scale and on that
basis I decided to take a risk on the model. It looked basic but
reasonable in the photos and would cost me around £13.00, including
delivery from Spain.
When the kit arrived,
it lived up to my expectations - it was indeed a basic rendition of a
Supacat, but fundamentally sound in profile. The main hull is a
single moulding, to which are added six individual wheels and a
three-part roll bar. The hull had been sprayed in some form of primer
and looked very rough. However, it wasn't all that difficult to
remove and the base hull was actually better detailed than I
initially thought.
The question was how
far to take the detailing and additions. I definitely wanted to add
the steering handlebars and replace the roll bars with something more
accurate, but what else could I do? The moulded treadplate on the
fenders is both vastly overscale and the wrong pattern, whilst the
wheels benefit from a little bit of tinkering, but the most
significant change was to fit the 'cat with a Milan ATGW.
Work
started with the handlebar steering system. The Barrage Miniatures
kit doesn't provide any form of steering bar so one was fabricated
using plastic rod and some scrap plastic carved to roughly the right
shape for the steering column.
Moving
back along the hull, a frame was added over the engine cowling in the
centre of the vehicle. There are a number of different frames that
can be seen on Supacats and this one was chosen because of the
decision to fit my Supacat with Milan system.
The
aforementioned treadplate was sanded away and replaced with panels of
4-bar treadplate from Accurate Armour. The sheet was cut at 45
degrees so that the tread pattern is 'diamond' in orientation. I also
added a mesh screen to the front of the vehicle to tidy it up.
I remembered coming
across several photos of Supacats carrying Milan missile systems a
few years ago. They belonged to both the Green Howards and the Duke
of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment (DERR) and were being used on exercise
in Germany. It was immediately obvious when I rediscovered them that
the changes would make the model very different from the standard
load carrier.
The Milan unit itself
would be easy to source - Gaso-Line offer it as an accessory item in
their 1/48 scale resin range. The challenge would be the missile
reloads as they are unavailable in plastic or resin. I was confident
I could produce a single reload, but making multiple ones that looked
identical was a much greater issue. Instead I contacted a friendly
aftermarket producer who I purchase fairly regularly from. They said
they would be willing to cast a number of copies from a single master
and having agreed a price with them, sent off my completed master. I
ordered several more Milan reloads than I needed for the Supacat
because I have a couple of other projects that I can use them for.
The next question to
resolve was the exact stowage pattern to use. Several of the DERR
vehicles carried a pair of stowage racks on the fenders, each one
able to carry four missiles. The Green Howards vehicles carried a
series of three or four reloads strapped directly behind the roll bar
in the centre of the vehicle. Ultimately I preferred the look of the
racks on the fenders but I had to compromise slightly as I could only
fit one rack due to the configuration of the kit.
Also fitted to the DERR
vehicles was a large stowage box. I believe the box is part of the
normal Milan shipping package and I did my best to fabricate
something similar from scrap plastic, which was then carved and
sanded to shape.
Being a wargames kit,
the inner faces of the wheels are intended to glue straight to the
lower hull. This didn't look right, especially as it made the wheel
track look too narrow. Small spacers were added behind the wheels and
a stub axle fitted to ensure a sturdier fit. A word of warning here.
The rear pair of wheels have a different hub arrangement to the front
two pairs so don't get them mixed up!
Paint options for the
Supacat include overall green, green and black two tone disruptive or
overall desert sand, depending on your chosen theatre of operations.
Since mine was European, I had the choice of the first two and
plumped for the green and black style. An initial grey undercoat was
applied to all the parts, before a base coat of Tamiya Olive Green
(XF58), lightened with a touch of white, was sprayed on and left to
dry thoroughly. For a model of this size and configuration it was
easier to hand paint the disruptive bands of black (XF85 Rubber
Black)
Stowage consists of
various items in resin and plastic, most if it from Red Zebra Models.
The registration plates are home-produced decals.
That left a decision
about what format the base would take. Many years ago I came across a
photo of some British Paras crouched down by a German picket fence
and that image stayed in my mind. I'd also seen a convoy of German
Fuchs APCs parked up in a surburban German street, clearly on bin
collection day as there were green 'wheelie bins' neatly placed at
the end of each driveway. Again, this image stayed in my mind for
many years.
The fencing is part of
a 1/48 scale Tamiya accessory pack and the wheelie bin is a 3d
printed item from Shapeways. Add in a scratchbuilt pavement and some
simple groundwork and hey presto, I had a small scenic base on which
to display my Supacat. I have yet to find any decent 1980s-era
British infantry figures. The Airfix figures are too modern and many
of the 28mm wargames figures are likewise too modern.
