I have always missed injection models of staff and civilian vehicles in 1/32 scale to accompany aircraft in dioramas and vignettes. This seems to be a niche overlooked by mainstream plastic model manufacturers. You can find one or other item here and there, but definitely this is a place where modelers have to improvise. Some time ago, I saw Signature Models die cast vehicles line on the shelves of a local hobby shop, and I found out that these are well done items. They come in civilian colors, and are made of white metal and soft (flexible) plastic parts. I wondered if they could be improved to bring them to an acceptable level, enough to be displayed along with some of the nice 1/32 aircraft being released lately.


Although these models are fine to be displayed as they are, they leave something to be part of a diorama, and any demanding modeler will want to improve them in a few areas. My first step was to disassemble the model and study what could be done to transform it in a typical staff car from the early 40's. I decided to remove the paint instead of simply over coating it with olive drab, but would not add many details, as the plan was to display the car with all doors shut.


Next, I removed the paint from all metal parts, as well as the chrome finish from the vinyl parts. Four things called my attention during that early stage of the project, and defined the major steps ahead:

1. The finish of the metal casting is not good as it looks before removing the paint. This explains why these models come with a rather thick gloss coat - it conceals most casting imperfections, which now must be addressed before applying the new paint coat.

2. The windows are made of large clear parts slotted inside the main body. This makes the lateral windows rest on the inner surface of the main shell, and therefore the shell thickness becomes an exaggerated step protruding from the windows' perimeters. I decided to live with that, maybe just replacing the clear parts for thinner ones.

3. From my previous experience with figures made of similar materials, the vinyl parts would pose an additional difficulty to hold the paint due to their flexibility, so extra care would be required when handling these parts (I decided not to copy them in resin). In addition, they cannot be comfortably sanded or puttied.

4. The underside of the model is devoid of suspension details. This is the only area where the model looks like a toy, and I elected to include the most visible items without worrying much with accuracy since they would not be too visible, anyway.

I started priming the main shell with automotive fast lacquer primer to reveal any casting faults. I found that the fitting of the front and rear windows with their apertures would need reworking.


My approach was to attach them temporarily and fill the seams with putty, then remove the windows and sand the areas flush with the surrounding surfaces:


I almost went nuts preparing the shell parts for painting. The metal used was of a porous type, so every time I washed the model after a sanding section, the water trapped in the metal would produce bubbles all over the primed areas. The only solution I found was to wash the model and leave it drying for several days before proceeding with further primer coats - no hair dryer here! I sanded the braking lights flat to install new ones later, made of colored clear plastic.


After two or three rounds struggling with the bubbles problem, I finally was able to lay the final coat of primer:


While the metal shell was drying, I painted the interior plastic parts. I used exclusively acrylic paints from Pactra and Vallejo range after scrubbing every part vigorously with a Scotch Brite pad. This simple measure helped the paint to grip better to the parts. The colors used were different tones of brown and ochre. I reasoned that these civilian cars had the metal body and chrome plated parts repainted but the interior remained mostly as it was. I replicated some wood parts by stroking burnt umber oil colors on some areas as well as chromed details using metalizer enamels. Everything in this stage was brush painted, except for some dark brown post-shading airbrushed along low light spots.


Since the airbrush was in hand, Olive Drab was applied over the inside and spots that would be difficult to hit when the remaining parts were glued in place.


At this point I started to work on the lower shell, which is also plastic, but thankfully styrene this time so it accepted liquid glue like any regular plastic model part. The exhaust pipe end was carved out; a new one would be added later. I made a simplified rear suspension limiting myself to what would be visible when looking the model from the sides and rear. That comprised opening the walls behind the wheels, adding new rear axle ends, rounding up everything with putty, and scratch building leaf springs and their connectors from plastic bits:


I used the original parts for the steering system, but the solid suspension arms were carved as per prototype, and a steering bar was added from plastic rod. All exaggerated plugs and slots were sanded for a better appearance and everything was cemented in a slightly steered position (the original model had working steering).


A coat of semi-gloss black lacquer was applied over the whole underside, and the final aspect of the suspension looked much better than the originals:


Rubber color lacquer was airbrushed inside the fenders' undersides and on the foot rests. The lower shell was declared done:


The exterior details molded in soft plastic were all painted in olive drab before attaching them to the main body. I was afraid that paint would not hit deep recesses:


Once dry, these parts were carefully plugged to their openings, trying to avoid any bending to the parts. All doors were cemented in place using epoxy glue at this stage, as well as other smaller details. I also added small lengths of rod to improve the final aspect of the passenger doors' hinges:


Painting was finished with an overall application of Olive Drab over the external surfaces. A highly diluted lighter shade of the OD was airbrushed over high spots and curved surfaces to simulate sun fading. A thick coat of Future prepared the main body for the decals:


Decals are leftover items. From wartime photos, the size of the stars varied a lot from vehicle to vehicle. I used what looked right to my eyes: a large one on the rooftop, two medium ones on the doors and a small on the stowage compartment door. A fake registration number was used on the sides of the engine door.


Another thick coat of Future sealed the decals and a pin-wash of artists' oils was applied. I concentrated the was on the engine grille and door recesses. During this stage, I removed the bumpers to reduce the risk of hitting them during handling and chipping the paint. Bogus tactical markings were applied - again from left over items - and sealed:


Next I applied a good coat of Testors Dullcote to reproduce that flat aspect of most staff cars I have seen in wartime photos. The gloss coat over the decal did a good jog - no sign of clear film at all! I was also satisfied with the highlights produced by airbrushing a lighter shade of OD on selected areas. They show much clearer after the flat finish is on. However, I refrained my wish to overdo it...


And since the airbrush was loaded, I painted the rubber areas of the wheels, but before that the wheel caps received a natural shadow wash from artists' oils. Generally, I trimmed around the wheel/hub seam with a diluted mix of enamel dark gray, letting capilary do the job. Later, a loose mask protect the hub while I airbrush rubber color over the rest of the wheel. Because I airbrushed the lacquer rubber color before the enamel was fully dry, the former cracked on some places. I don't care, hopefully they will disappear after the final weathering.