2020.3.13 UPDATE:The ‘Jeb Stuart’ Almost Became a Ghost

Folks,

If you don’t get the reference in my title, there, you might need to give this link a quick read.  Otherwise, a good part of the following story might not make much sense 😉

OUTSTANDING ORDERS

As of the time I write this, there are two SdKfz 251 Ausf D’s (with their Panzergrenadiers) still running around the shop.  I hope to knock them out by Monday, but we’ll see.

NEW RELEASES

So, there I was: having just gotten the old ‘Jeb Stuart’ (TMD) running again, I was all set to continue working on the new releases for this week.  Then it happened!  The new releases from last week opened a break in my lines and the enemy (orders) came pouring through.  There were two Tiger tanks (dealer orders), five 251 Ausf D half-tracks complete with their accompanying panzergrenadiers (large individual orders) and a flood of Volkstrum infiltrators (smaller orders).

The first thing we did was to mow down a half dozen Volkstrum infiltrators.  Then we knocked out the two Tigers (yeah, I know the Jeb Stuart is an M3A1, but, hey!  This is the comics 🙂 ).  By the time the first Tiger was KOed, we had to run from several 251 D’s.  But we took out three of them early on, which let us kill the last Tiger by Wednesday night.  Thursday, we took out some more Volkstrum infiltrators, then started stalking the last two 251 D’s.  As of this moment, we have them both cornered and expect to knock them out by Monday.  We had hoped to do it today, but we had to turn to deal with a swarm of last minute Volkstrum who were trying to keep us from getting to the 251’s.  But, all-in-all, I think it was a pretty good fight — especially for a single M3A1 Stuart.

Now, if you followed all of that, congratz!  Youre crazier than I am. LOL

ON THE BENCH

As I just said, nothing new got done this week.  I was too busy fighting off Tigers, 251 Ds and Volkstrum infiltrators.

KARL VAN SWEDEN

I have not spoken with Karl — yet.  But I hope to talk to him before the day is over.

NEW PATTERN MAKERS ON THE HORIZON

I am still waiting for the mail from Europe.  While I wait, I need to correct a mistake.  Gunnar Baumer is not a new pattern maker to TMD.  He is the talent behind our worn Centurion road wheel set.  So, the moment his new masters arrive, I’ll take pictures and post teasers on our Face Book page.  Then put them under rubber and get things turned around so I can get clean castings back to Gunnar for his build, and new releases available for those of you who want them.

THE SHOP

The shop is doing very well.  I still need to post the last of the 1/48 aircraft stuff along with a bunch of decals on EBay, but I need to make time for that.  Once that stuff is done, I can finish with the storage drawers and finally get the last of the sub-masters stored.  After that, I’ll focus on replacing some aging equipment.

THE OFFICE

I didn’t do too much in the office this week.  I did well to keep up with the shop and new products.  I’ll try to get a bit more done on that front later this month, but it is still on the near horizon.

THAT IS ALL

OK, that’s all I have for now.  So, until next time, stay safe and try to build something (preferably something using TMD resin).

Joe