OK, fellas. It's time to put my models where my mouth is...

Submitted for your approval, my Yahoo gallery of stuff. The dio has been on the Web for a couple years now, and I posted the Crab pics for D.J. (210Cav) Judge. The M4A3(105), late M10 and an M12. The howitzer tank is Tamiya with a whole bunch of corrections, add-ons and swapped parts; the M10 is a bash of Academy kits with quite a bit of additions and corrections; the M12 is pretty much box-stock with added details. All three models are destined for bases and dios -- here you see them raw.

I welcome all comments and questions. The M10 and M4A3(105) both earned bronze medals in the advanced class of the Kansas City AMPS contest yesterday. I have the judges' comment sheets and would like to compare their notes with yours.

To go to the link by clicking "MY SELECTED LINK" at the bottom of this window.

Bob, they look great! Really nice job paint jobs on all them. I can't wait to dig into my M12 now.
Just one note: This is one of those details that is not seen too easily until you take a photo. The lower hulls on all vehicles could use more weathering to match the rest of the vehicles. Inside areas of the bogie units too. These areas are easy to miss, but show up in pics.
Very nice workmanship on all though. :-)

All very nice with the subtle weathering. Im not close to being a judge so Ill keep it short. I like. How did you get the weathering effect on the blood hound so perfect? :-)

Looks great Bob.. I really like the paintjob of the sandbags on the M10.. can you describe how you did that?

Ken -- You're absolutely right about the weathering. I did a quicky job the night before the contest and it probably cost be at least a silver. I need to bring some of that dust into the M10 turret, too. FYI, that's Model Master olive drab rattle-can, with pastels for weathering. Oil spot washes and graphite were applied where necessary.

TUNA -- The sandbags are Milliputt standard grade (yellow-green). I mixed it well, rolled it out about the diameter of a pencil, then snipped off indivisual "bags" with an old exacto and stacked them on the front hull. When I had enough, I added little seam lines around each bag with the tip of my exacto, and (after waiting about an hour) added a bit of texture by pressing an old hankerchief into the bags. When that was done, I jabbed a few small, ragged holes with my knife, applied a dab of superglue to each hole, and sprinkled on some fine kitty litter dust and shook off the excess. The next night, I hit them with an oil wash over the natural color of the dry Milliputt (you can see where I got a bit sloppy and stained the hull paint).. The oil wash is just a dab of ivory black, a dab of burnt sienna and fill the boittle with mineral spirits, mixed well. I use the same for a spot wash on panel lines where grease and grime would settle. When dry, I dusted it with pastels.

PvtP -- That hound is self-weathering. He just lays on the couch all day long gathering dust.

Hi Bob. Really nice models you have there! All looking well. Have to agree with Kencelot about the weathering ... photos sure do show it up.
I love the GMC fuel truck. Is this 1/35? What conversion set have you used? I wouldnt mind one of these my self!

That GMC fuel tanker is the CMK conversion set on a Tamiya deuce-and-a-half. It was relatively inexpensive ($17) and is a drop-fit for the Tamiya kit. All those resin jerry cans come with the kit and are really nicely cast. The only thing I didn't like about it was that the spare tire holder was incorrect in the kit (it looks like a box). I swiped the correct parts from an Italeri water truck kit. The kit includes photoetch mud flaps and other detail parts, as well as a decal sheet that matches markings I have seen in photos of a restored truck.

I got a good one, but I've heard others have gotten some with casting problems, FYI. The kit is CMK #3019 "GMC CCKW 353 1/35 Fuel Tank"

Bob--many thanks! Great shots of your superb workmanship. I wish that the manufacturers of these very (very) expensive after market products would spend more time with explanations and illustrations. They do not. So, with that profound statement ringing in my deaf ears, I downloaded your photos and will use them. May I do as well as you.
thanks again
DJ

Okay - I'll run the Gauntlet first. I don't mean to be offensive...

On the '105:

Did the Judges point out the large fingerprint on the right side of the Hull on the '105?

The Sight Vane appears to have a glue ball at the base where it sits on the Turret - but that also could be an artifact of the photo process. Same with the rear 3/4 leftside view at the joint between the antenna and the antenna mount. Could also be silver pricks for wear and tear I'm seeing in both models...

Did they question why the Road Wheels (rubber) is a different color from the rubber track links - both on the track run and in the storage rack?

Did they mark the color difference inside the handles on the .50cal MG - or is that a photo artifact too?

On the M10:

Did they comment about the three fingerprints on the right side of the Hull around the antenna mount?

Did they ding you for areas between and underneath the sandbags that appear unpainted?

There's another fingerprint on the leftside of the Turret too...

Did anyone call out that you should have painted the external Fire Extinguisher "handles" red? I wouldn't have necessarily nit-picked that, but I noticed the detail...

In this first pass I saw more things that I liked than I chose to mention in answer to your post. I particularly like the distressed wood effect on your M10's "Tommy Gun" - that is a nice modeling touch and shows some deft painting skills there.

Don't get mad at me!

Gunnie

Gunnie -- no offense taken, I asked for it and you gave it.

I also noticed things (artifacts?) in the photos as you did that don't seem to show on the model in normal light. I think it may have to do with the flash on the camera.

The color differences in the rubber also seems to be enhanced in these photos. I did paint them with slightly different colors (roadwheels done with enamel, tracks done with acrylic), but it is not terribly noticable under incandescent light. These models were the first on which I used the new Tamiya tracks and after reading horror stories about paint attacking the stuff they were made of, I tried to do them with acrylics -- not my preferred way of doing things. I was afraid my normal track weatehring method would destroy them. I'm going to have to do some experimenting.

The fingerprints were "applied" post-contest. Those pastels are pretty touchy. And I guess my hands got a bit sweaty with excitement that I actually had borrowed a camera to take a few digital pics. I normally handle 'em with a cotton glove if they are weathered with pastels.

I flat out missed the fire-extinguisher handle -- apparently the judges did, too. My bad, cuz I knew about that and didn't take care of it.

See? That wasn't so bad. I'm a big boy with a thick skin.

D.J. -- If you need any more info on that Crab, I'd be happy to scan or copy some of my references for you. I know how difficult it is with aftermarket kit instructions -- or lack thereof -- sometimes. Let me know what you need.

Hi
nice dio , I like it.
what is the ambulance? Tamya or Italeri? or other?
Regards

The ambulance and jeeps in the dio are all Italeri. The M10 in the dio is a kit-bash of Italeri lower hull and suspension, scratchbuilt upper hull and interior, and Minicraft turret with lots of scratch details.

Great Dio, I do like the figures' poses. Which reference did you use for the M-10?

D.J. -- If you need any more info on that Crab, I'd be happy to scan or copy some of my
references for you. I know how difficult it is with aftermarket kit instructions -- or lack
thereof -- sometimes. Let me know what you need.

Bob--- definitely need the information. What is easier for you to transmit e-mail or fax?
thanks
DJ

Hi Bob. Well I could tell Gunnie has some veteran judging experience. I agree with his finds, but I also have to say that overall your work is very good. Judging buy your talent & nice weathering skill's and ' good eye" for detail, you definitely sold yourself short of getting a silver. Had you allowed yourself more time to getting this done, I KNOW you would have gotten that SILVER. ........ By the way, I was SHOCKED to hear about the bad turn out at AMPS KC !!!!!!!!!!!!!. There was a post at WW2 Model Maker from "Panzer " Mrosko saying there was only 41 entries. I really felt bad for the dude who organized the show. Anyhow, I look forward to seeing your future diorama's. Keep up the good work and keep us posted.

Speaking of selling one self short, I'm doing just that ! AMPS East is next month and I'm spending way to much time online in the forums, when I should be spending my time working on my diorama & 120mm figure.

- ralph

DJ: Check your PM

Ralph:
I haven't read Mrosko's post yet, but officially we had 27 modelers and 62 entries. No figures at all, except in dios.

I'm not sure what went wrong, because we have historically had a better turn-out. I understand there was a contest the same day in Texas that may have pulled some of our normal visitors. Our vendors were fantastic! We had Michigan Discount Hobbies, CRM out of St. Louis, Formations (with those beautiful new M4A1 kits!), Sprue Brothers, Mrosko and others. Chris might be a little POed that he didn't sell more -- I don't really know. I ran out of money in about 15 minutes. Also won four raffle prizes with only six tickets!

Next year KC AMPS is taking the show on the road -- to Fort Knox! Those who follow AMPS politics know what this is all about. I hope it all turns out good, cuz we may have taken a bath on this last contest. I know it will be difficult for some of our folks to make the trip east, but this is a major push to show a viable show site to move the AMPS Nationals west at least every once and a while. We'll see ...

Savage: The original M10 was built using Hunnicutt's Sherman as primary reference, plus some copies out of Japanese model mags and AFV G-2. The newer M10 benefitted from the pages on the AFV Interiors website.

Bob--received your message. Provided information. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Many thanks
DJ

Bob--please see my latest PM to you with new fax number.
thanks
DJ