1:35 Alvis FV622 Stalwart - 105 mm Ammunition Stowage (3D-Printed / for Airfix Kits)

The load the vehicle came about for

Ammunition of 105 mm caliber was exactly what British batteries of self-propelled howitzers used up fastest and what had to be brought right into the firing position, not onto a road a kilometer further on. A carrier with all six wheels driven managed this job even where trucks sank in, and it therefore became the link between the supply route and the gunners. The set gives the model precisely the content the real vehicle existed for.

What stowing the load does for a model

An empty load area always looks a little unfinished on a completed build. Loaded racks with shells and cartridge cases fill it, give the model a story and at the same time bring into play colors that occur nowhere else on the vehicle: the brass of the cases, the dark green of the bodies and the bright color markings on the heads. For a diorama a figure passing a shell over the side then suggests itself.

Painting and seating

Degrease the shells and spray them separately from the hull, or you will not get into the hollows between them. Brass looks best as a dark base worked over with a metallic pigment that is polished with a cloth. Apply the color bands on the heads with a thin brush once the base has dried. Insert the loaded part into the vehicle at the very end, after finishing all the dust effects on the surrounding surfaces.

Artillery ammunition differs from tank ammunition in that it was often carried in parts, that is the shell separately and the propellant charge separately. Stowage therefore usually combines several kinds of containers and racks, and it is exactly that variety which makes a loaded area interesting. Leave a few places empty; a completely full vehicle looks less alive than one from which the crew has already taken a round.