by Bill Human

“We don't think the Jerry's have many of them,” said Maj. Hendricks, “but if you do run into one of them, be bloody careful! They're fast, maneuverable as hell, and carry a lot of firepower for a recon vehicle. In fact, the Germans primarily use the Lynx for infantry fire support. When the gliders hit the ground in Dover, as part of their blasted Operation Sea Lion, all too many of these damned things came sprinting out!”

All though “Sea Lion” had been delayed nearly 3 years, until after Germany's development and use of the Atomic Bomb and America's withdrawal from the war, the Germans landed with an impressive and battle-hardened invasion force. Rumors had circulated for years of so called Nazi “super weapons”: jets, rocket planes, and even a 1,000 ton rolling fortress called Maus, but one of the most devastating was also one of the smallest: the Lynx.

Armed with a Panzerfaust, MG-42, 20mm chin gun, and a 20mm “special”, they carried ample means to run amok throughout the English countryside and behind enemy lines. The “special” referred to a cut down 20mm cannon mounted on the side, which usually was loaded with buckshot, White Phosphorous or HE rounds. An unusual feature was Zimmermit on the turret. Although not needed on open ground, the Lynx was susceptible to magnetic charges when used in urban areas, mainly from second and third floor windows.

The “Lynx” is an AMT/ERTL Snap kit ATST from Toys-R-Us with a little modification mainly to its “hips” to get the stance I wanted. The armament was mainly taken from a German armored car kit and the Panzerfaust from a German infantry set by Tamiya. The anti-mine putty on the sides serves a double purpose. It adds some nice visual detail but mainly was added to cover the absurd seam and horribly detailed side armor that came on the kit. The German officer if from Tamiyas German Tank crew, with mix and match arms.

The unfortunate Jeep is from the OLD Tamiya British SAS version. It was actually the second one I purchased. The first was Tamiyas, most excellent NEW Willys Jeep, but after opening it and inspect the beauty of that kit, there was no way I could hack it up with my dremel! The Jeep's weapons are from the Tamiya Universal carrier kit and from Dragons US Heavy Weapons Teams Kit.

The bodies of the Jeep crew are form many different sources. I would find a pose similar to what I needed, and would then chop it into bits! The different sections of legs were then reattached with small inserts of floral wire so I could bend them to suitable poses. After I found a pose I liked, putty would be applied and sanded to shape.

One further note on the Jeep crewman; I'm well aware of what high velocity machine gun rounds and, God forbid, 20mm rounds will do to bodies. However, I wanted this to be somewhat tasteful and free of gore. To quote the book of Paine, “Bright splotches of red all over your Diorama will quickly mark you as a tasteless amateur.” Just wouldn't do to have heads, guts, and legs blown all over!

The fence is cut from some scrap wood I found and chopped up. The base is a section of urethane foam cut and dremeled to shape. The stone wall is from stones collected on a local beach and mortared together with a mixture of Elmer's glue water and baking soda. The burned wood is…well, burned wood, and the base is Celluclay.

Image: Hapless Jeep

Image: Looming Lynx

Image: Lynx, left side

Image: Right/front, close

Image: Further away

Image: Front view

Image: From the driver's seat

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