Matchbox LRDG - old armour, OOB

[Faust]

There are kits we all want because we think they’re amazing from an engineering standpoint. You know the kind, they’re big, impressive and the box is packed so full of styrene that you can’t even figure out how to get it all back in there. Sometimes, it’s a subject we’ve always wanted, sometimes, it’s just because we can’t resist the lure of something so impressive.

There are lots of kits like that. However, I’m sure most of us also have kits that we’ve wanted just because they look fun. Maybe they’re funky, or different, or classic; there can be a million reasons why a specific kit just “calls to you”. For me, one of those kinds of kits is old-school Matchbox LRDG. This Orange Range armour kit always just looked “fun” to me. Lots of “stuff” like Gerry cans, bags, boxes and the like, lots of machine guns, and a cool, almost “Mad Max” survival vibe, really sold me on it. Sure, it’s 40 years old, but so what?

Thankfully, through the kindness of a friend (Thanks Alan!) I was able to finally get my hands on one, and it’s an old Matchbox, not Revell reissue! I’m really pumped to build this one, and will be starting it very shortly. Check out this classic take on the famous Long Range Desert Group of WWII fame at the link below. Get ready, because there’s always all kinds of awesome in a Matchbox armour kit!

https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/matchbox-1-76-lrdg-oob/

[stavanzer]

I am happy that the kit pleases you. Great Review.

[Faust]

Thanks Alan!

It's really the best of the Orange Range kits, I think. So much fun little stuff to play with!

[Mike999]

Great review of that classic little kit!  Especially the nearly-edible base.  LOL!  

The El Alamein Museum didn't have an LRDG truck or Jeep when I was in Egypt.  But here's another iconic piece of German hardware for you, a BMW R75 rig with Hans und Fritz riding.  The name "Erika" is written around the BMW emblem on the fuel tank. 

The Museum does have several Canadian Chevy trucks, Grant and Sherman tanks, an 88mm gun and other interesting hardware. And a Spitfire that was pulled out of the Mediterranean in 2003, IIRC.

[stavanzer]

This is the only One that has survived, that is known.

[64Comet404]

Very nice kit, I have seen them built up in magazines and have been tempted to track one down!

[Matt Bacon]

9 hours ago, alexis said:

This is the only One that has survived, that is known.

I have a diorama in my head (and in my stash) featuring that very truck. Half of it looks like the picture, with a “modern” special forces Land Rover WMIK pulled up alongside it and the crew looking at the weathered wreck, and the other side in black and white the LRDG crew and a couple of SAS jeeps and crews looking at a map and taking a brew of tea. It’ll be called “Ghost Recon”... One day I’ll build it, maybe when I’ve retired...

That Matchbox LRDG set is a true Classic British Kit... looking forward to seeing what you do with it!

best,

M.

[stavanzer]

Another Replica of an LRDG Chevrolet truck.  The smaller, Pilot car style.

http://www.scalewarmachines.com/allcontent/lrdg-30cwt-chevrolet-walkaround

 

[Faust]

Interesting.... that cammo is hard-edged. 

I saw some cool colour combos on a site (http://lrdg.hegewisch.net/camo.html) that showed some neat colours, but it made the colours look airbrushed on. 

Now, that could be a shortcoming of paint, and I wondered how the LRDG would have sprayed the vehicles in the field. Does that mean then that all LRDG cammo would be hard edged, or would there have been some soft stuff, too?

[64Comet404]

1 hour ago, Faust said:

Interesting.... that cammo is hard-edged. 

I saw some cool colour combos on a site (http://lrdg.hegewisch.net/camo.html) that showed some neat colours, but it made the colours look airbrushed on. 

Now, that could be a shortcoming of paint, and I wondered how the LRDG would have sprayed the vehicles in the field. Does that mean then that all LRDG cammo would be hard edged, or would there have been some soft stuff, too?

I have a feeling it was a mix, based on where the vehicle was deployed. Some of those paint schemes were probably done by the transport pool with a spray gun, while others would be freehand with a paintbrush or mop. At least they had the freedom to try ideas that worked (imagine LRDG units trying to hide in the desert with the Caunter scheme; some ideas should have stayed as ideas!).