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Marmon Harrington MkII Armoured Car
This is a Marmon Harrington MkII Armoured Car, part of the 1st King’s Dragoon Guards in North Africa during the Second World War. It operated in support of the 9th Australian Division at Tobruk.
This is a 3D-printed vehicle from files found on Thingiverse and printed by my friend Daniel on an FDM printer.
Due to the tight tolerances in the original design and differences in printers, some shaving and filing were required to get the parts to fit together. The turret bolt (to fit the turret to the body) I could not use at all; luckily I found I had some metal washers that were the right size so glued together a stack and they fit perfectly!
The picture above highlights the MkII’s armament; the main weapon was a Boys Anti-Tank gun, with a Bren gun mounted in the turret beside it. A pintle-mounted Vickers machinegun was added for anti-aircraft defence.
Painting
Painting this vehicle presented a new challenge. Starting with a prime in Army Painter Desert Yellow, I wanted this vehicle to be the test for my painting the Caunter Scheme, a series of camouflage paints and patterns used on British and Commonwealth vehicles in Africa and the Mediterranean from 1940 to 1941. The scheme was devised by Col. Caunter of the 4th Armoured Brigade, though would only get the Caunter name retroactively. The scheme used three prominent colours: Light Stone, Silver Grey and Slate in a horizontal splinter pattern.
There is much dispute over this pattern, and many modellers and gamers over time have used blue. There is a suggestion this comes from the use of blue by the famous Bovington Tank Museum when they repainted their Matilda II in 1960; their colour scheme has been copied by modellers and gamers ever since.
Caunter Scheme
Caunter Scheme colours:
Base – Army Painter Desert Yellow
First – AK Interactive Silver Grey
Second – AK Interactive Slate
Painting Process
Once dry, I painted details (tyres, shovel, weapons) and then gave the whole vehicle a dry brush of Army Painter Skeleton Bone. This gives it a dusty appearance like you would expect of a vehicle used in North Africa. Then a wash of Army Painter Soft Tone to highlight shadows and details. I was concerned that this would accentuate the 3D printing lines however it was not bad. Finally, I painted my own Arm of Service insignia since I did not have an appropriate decal – this consisted of a blue and green square with a white “44” headed by a white line. I need to repaint this (I don’t have a photo) as it came out pretty bad. Added some weathering of oil and paint chipping and finally, a matt spray to seal it all.
Very happy with the outcome.
