1:35 M29 Weasel closed canvas cover

A closed canvas cover for the American M29 Weasel

This canvas cover from Pimp My Miniatures in 1:35 scale closes the open crew compartment with a single cover. The model thereby gets quite a different outline from the one the base kit has, and it suits scenes in cold weather and the carrying of materiel in the rear alike.

The Weasel, a vehicle that did not break through snow

The M29 grew out of a project for a light machine able to move through deep snow, originally because of planned sabotage operations in Norway. Studebaker built it from 1943 and a Champion six-cylinder engine of seventy horsepower powered it. The vehicle was neither armored nor armed, but thanks to its exceptionally low ground pressure it got through where wheeled equipment bogged down, and in some cases it even crossed a minefield without setting a charge off. It served to supply the front lines, for casualty evacuation and as a command vehicle, from Normandy through Italy as far as Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Paint and patina

Fabric calls for a different approach from metal: lighten the basic olive shade in the middle of the surfaces and darken the seams instead with a thin glaze, so that the sag of the cloth comes out. Do the dusting with pigment in a top-down direction. The underside of the vehicle deserves a heavier layer of mud.

Suitable for

• builders of American equipment of the Second World War
• makers of winter and muddy dioramas
• modelers looking for a variant outside the box form
• those interested in supply and rear-area vehicles

The cover is a separate part; the carrier, glue and paints are not included.