Panzerserra Bunker- Military Scale Models in 1/35 scale: Humber Scout Car Mk.I

Attention, scout car crews!!!

I'm going to show you a vehicle that is truly typically English. Let's learn some details about this sturdy little escort and reconnaissance vehicle and its use on the front lines by its fearless crews: Introducing the Humber Scout Car Mk.I!!

Troubles with maps!!
Humber Scout Car Mk.I

The Humber Scout Car was a British light scout car used in the Second World War. It entered service in 1942 and continued in production until 1945.

Humber Scout Car Mk I
font: IWM (STT 8284)

Humber Scout Car Mk I
font: IWM (STT 8285)

Humber Scout Car Mk.I
font: IWM (KID 2432)

Humber Scout Car Mk.I

Designed for reconnaissance, and liaison between armoured units, it provided protection only against light arms fire. More importantly it was small and fast and could quickly evade trouble. It became the shape format for the post war Ferret armoured car which began production in 1952.

Ferret Scout Car Mk.II - 1959

History

Athough at the outbreak of the Second World War the British Army had already selected the Daimler Dingo for production, the need for scout cars could not be met by Daimler alone, so other companies were required to produce similar vehicles.

A Scout Car Daimler Mk 1 Dingo reconditioned,
leaving the REME depot for a road test after a complete overhaul.
England - 14/07/1942.
font: IWM H 21420

One of these companies was Humber which along with other companies in the Rootes Group was already producing armoured cars and the Humber light reconnaissance car. In 1942 they built a vehicle similar to the Dingo in layout. To comply with the official requirement to keep the weight down, the Daimler "Dingo" was open top (the Humber had an unarmoured floor).

Humber light reconnaissance car Mk IIIa
font: IWM MH 3751

The vehicle carried a crew of two, with an emergency seat for a third member. It was equipped with a No. 19 radio set. The armament consisted of one or two Bren light machine gun with a 100-round drum. This was mounted above the roof, and could be operated from inside the vehicle using a system looking similar to bicycle handlebars, where the "brake" levers fired the triggers of the Brens.

French patriots help the crew of a Humber scout car
spot German positions during mopping-up operations in Le Havre.
Notice the single Bren light machine gun with a 100-round drum
mounted in the car's roof.
France - 12 September 1944.
font: IWM (BU 916)

8th Royal Scots move forward past a Humber scout car
of 31st Tank Brigade during Operation 'Epsom'.
Notice the twin Bren light machine guns with a 100-round drum
mounted in the car's roof.
France - 28 June 1944
font: IWM (B 6115)

The machine gun remote control, similar to that of a bicycle handlebar (red circle)
where the "brake" levers activated the Brens triggers.
The 100 round Bren drum is in the blue circle.

Humber scout car
font: IWM KID 830

Humber scout car
font: IWM KID 833

Princess Royal stops to talk to a Sergeant driver of
a Humber Scout Car of Royal Signals. England -16-10-43
font: IWM (H 33618)

Production of the vehicles continued until 1945. At least 4.298 were ordered and at least 4.102 delivered, 1.698 of them Mk I. They were used by British armoured units (e.g. the 79th Armoured Division, the 11th Armoured Division and the Guards Armoured Division) for countless tasks.

Humber scout car of Brigadier Nigel W. Duncan
of 30th Armoured Brigade, 79th Armoured Division,
watches the attack on Caen from beside his vehicle,
outside Beuville. France - 8 July 1944.
font: IWM (B 6656)

M7 Priest SPH passes a Humber scout car of 79th Armoured Division
during Operation Charnwood, the attack on Caen, France.
8 July 1944
font: IWM (B 6657)

German prisoners being brought in on the bonnet of a Humber scout car
Caen, France - 9 July 1944
font: IWM (B 6744)

Humber scout car passes a sign warning of
the dangers of raising dust, 12 July 1944.
font: IWM (B 7018)

A policeman guides a Humber scout car across a
bridge over the Odon, 16 July 1944.
font: IWM (B 7594)

Humber scout car and Comet tank of the 11th Armoured Division,
29th Armoured Brigade, 3rd Royal Tank Regiment
in a devastated German town - 30 March 1945
font: IWM BU 2758

Humber scout car of the 11th Armoured Division,
during the advance to Osnabruck, Germany - 2-3 April 1945
font: IWM (BU 3030)

These agile and versatile vehicles were used by the Canadians, Czechs and Poles in WWII as liaison, escort, command and observation vehicles, including as outposts connecting ground forces and fighter-bomber groups by the Allied Air Forces.

The crew of a Canadian Humber scout car checking the navigation

on your campaign map in Falaise, France.

17 August 1944

font: Library and Archives Canada

Major David V. Currie, VC, of the South Alberta Regiment

in a Humber I scout car. - Halte, Netherlands - 12 November 1944

font: Library and Archives Canada

Unidentified personnel in a Humber Mk. I scout car of the

Sherbrooke Fusiliers Regiment - England, 20 April 1944

font: Library and Archives Canada / PA-188675

Polish Humber Scout Car Mk.I from 2nd Armored Division
on parade near Loreto, Italy - 15-08-1945.
font: Polish National Archives

Visual Control Post (VCP) from RAF operating from a
Humber scout car in No. 83 Group's sector of operations in Normandy.
font: IWM (CL 565)

Humber scout car from the British 2nd Household Cavalry's RHQ
along a road - Bourg Leopold-Hechtel - Belgium
font: frame of IWM A70 155-10

Humber scout car and trucks of 59th Heavy Regiment, Royal Artillery
crossing a Bailey Bridge at Dreierwalde, Germany - 6 - 8 April 1945
font: IWM (BU 3335)

Humber scout car crew are greeted by local people in
the town of Gace, France - 23 August 1944
font: IWM (B 9635)

Humber scout car crew watch for the enemy in Cormeilles, France
as a Churchill tank burns in the town square, 26 August 1944
font: IWM (BU 166)

Universal carrier and Humber scout car with infantry of
43rd (Wessex) Division during the advance on Goch, 17 February 1945
font: IWM (B 14682)

Universal carrier and Humber scout car traversing a
flooded road between Beek and Kranenburg, 12 February 1944
font: IWM (B 14575)

Humber scout cars lead a convoy moving up through Kevelaer, Germany
4 March 1945
font: IWM (B 15144)

After the war, some European armies used the Humber,some until the end of the fifties. Most of the vehicles were destroyed in the 1960s when the British Army used them as targets for tank gunnery practice. There are now currently only about 20 known to exist.

Operators

Belgium
Canada
Czechoslovakia
Denmark
France
Greece
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
South Africa
United Kingdom
Indonesia - Inherited from the Netherlands.

Variants

Mk I.
Mk II - improved transmission and raised armour over steering wheel.

Specs

Humber Scout Car
Type	Armoured scout car
Production history
Manufacturer	Humber
Specifications
Mass	2.4 tonnes
Length	3.83 m
Width	1.87 m
Height	2.13 m
Crew	2

Armour	up to 14 mm
Main armament	One or two 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Bren mgs
Engine	6-cyl. petrol 87 hp (65 kW)
Power/weight	25.6 hp/tonne
Suspension	4 x 4 wheeled
Operational range	320 km
Maximum speed	100 km/h

The kit

I built this project using the excellent Humber Scout Car Mk.I Bronco kit (# CB-35009), from 2007.

The Bronco box art kit is based on photos from the excellent film
"A Bridge Too Far", starring Michael Caine.

Michael Caine (as Lieutenant-Colonel J.O.E. Vandeleur)
in his Humber Scout Car, in
the war movie "A Bridge Too Far" (1977).

The kit is excellent, very well injected. My kit came with a figure of the commander made of polyurethane resin, as well as a good PE sheet and great decal options, but with vinyl tires.

Kit parts

The "Michael Caine" is well cast in polyurethane resin,
with good detail and no bubbles...

The decal sheet is excellent, with 6 marking options: 1 post-war Danish, 4 WWII British and one post-war marking, namely:

Hæren - 3 Gardehusarregimentet - Royal Danish Army - 1950
3 Gardehusarregimentet
1st Guards AD - 1945
11th AD, 29 Arm. Brig., 3RTR, RHQ "CEREBRAL" - 1945
2nd AFV Driving & Maintenance School - Lulworth - 1943
54th AT Reg., 78 Inf. Div. - 1944
C Sqn., 4th Hussars - Malayan Emergency - 1950

Decal sheet

Vinyl tire

PE sheet

The hull tub is well injected, with few problems... The pin marks
will be covered by other parts and a small adjustment
is necessary in the engine firewall (red arrow).

The chassis being built, with internal details being adjusted...

Front suspension and front transmission

The cockpit showing its external details...

Front axle alignment: a fundamental detail!!!

Our little beast can't stay crooked!!!

A dry-run with the cockpit, testing the fit!!
Notice the rear suspension and axle in position...

Internal details...I'll leave some hatches open to allow
a view of the kit's excellent interior.

The car is very beautiful!!

Painting and detailing of the interior...
front right details. Notice the radio.

Painting and detailing of the interior...
Left details. Notice the ammo drums and .45 Thompson MG.

Painting and detailing of the interior...
roof details. Notice the machine gun remote control, similar to
that of a bicycle handlebar, in the middle.

Closing the casemate...

Notice the hatches...

While researching our brave warrior, I noticed the front brake lines, made of flexible tubes ringed with metal. I decided to reproduce this detail in our model...

The Devil is in the details!!!

We will use a thin copper wire as the "tube" and extra-thin copper wires as the annular metal protection. Using a utility knife handle as support...

We will wind the extra-fine wire onto the copper wire
by turning the handle of the knife.

Schematic diagram...

And brake lines installed in their respective positions...

Very good indeed!!! Left front view

Righjt front view.
Notice the lockers of the hatches, in PE, in position (blue arrows)

The kit features a very well detailed engine, fuel tank and cooling system, but I chose not to leave the engine hatches open for aesthetic reasons. Therefore, these details will not be added. The engine will be reserved for future scratch projects.

Engine, fuel tank and cooling system very well detailed.

Engine hood closed.

Protecting open areas with toilet paper for external painting...

Applying shades of green from the base color...
left front view

Applying shades of green from the base color...
right front view

For our little girl, I chose the markings and colors of the Black Bulls: the glorious 11th Armored Division, fighting around Lubeck, Germany, in early May 1945. As always, I like to make a color and marking guide for my project.

Panzerserra Colrs & Markings Guide
Humber Scout Car Mk.I

After two or three coats of Pledge, to avoid silvering,
I applied the decals as indicated.
front left view

Decals - front right view

Decals - rear view

Starting the wash and weathering

Right view

Rear view

Top view

.303 Bren light machine gun, with
curve ammo magazine

Belly details...

And after a discreet weathering, with you Humber Scout Car Mk.I CEREBRAL, from 11th Armoured Division, 29th Armoured Brigade, 3rd Royal Tank Regiment, fighting in the vicinity of Lubeck, Germany, in early May, 1945.