“The FV603 Saracen is a six-wheeled armoured personnel carrier designed and produced by Alvis from 1952 to 1976… The Saracen became a recognisable vehicle as a result of its part in the Troubles’ Operation Banner in Northern Ireland…” [1]

This is a 3D printed 1/35 scale model bought off a company on Ebay. They seem to be out of business now, which is the second time this has happened after my completing a 3D model! The lesson seems to be that if you see something like this and want it, you need to grab it whilst you can. Either that or buy the print files, if available, and you can get it printed at your leisure…

As with other 3D models of my experience, what you gain in extremely easy assembly you lose in some oversized or simplified parts, plus the usual “layer” texture from the printing process, which requires some filling and sanding.

Once completed, I sprayed it with AK Interactive Real Colours “Bronze Green” (RC931) – many photos show the vehicle in this colour, as compared with the later NATO Green/Black scheme. The number plates were selected from a Saracen decal set by Accurate Armour. It is not based on any real vehicle that I could find – in general, I found it hard to find pictures of this vehicle in British Army service, outside of Northern Ireland.

Other paints – acrylic and oil – were used as shown in the pictures. As for dirt and mud, I decided to present this in a messier appearance than a vehicle of similar age I did previously (the Humber Pig). So, I applied quite of lot of light and darker pigments, followed by some oil paint to vary the colours. It looks a bit more stark in the pictures than in the flesh. I imagined it having driven through a muddy and wet landscape, with plenty of spray – much like some of the pictures in the “Real Weathering” book [2] – an excellent reference.

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvis_Saracen
2. Dick Taylor and Andy Brend, Real Weathering, MMP Books, 2023.