@AJB - The first set of pictures with the NATO black were really something but the second set with the posed real and model are fantastic. The fact that you did them freehand is amazing. I have tried something similar with my PzH 2000 finishing and while difficult it appears to have worked.

@Maurice - The tracks on the StuG are glued and there was little choice in the matter. They are link and length and the modifications to them and the suspension components did not allow for any other options. The tracks on the SU are actually moulded with all the wheels as one piece. As to how I'll paint them; with GREAT care.

@jaypee - An excellent start to your portee. Even at this point the base looks nicely detailed. I salute your ingenuity.

@Korpse - Neil, I fear that you might have contracted a case of Rivetcountitis. Your attention to detail is phenomenal and I could see you having no problem fashioning a suitable interior if you so desired. At this rate your going to approach museum quality.

@eremzet - After the Matchbox campaign firstcircle and Dangeroo assisted me in creating an Armorama Feature of all the campaign entries. It was quite a laborious task due to all the images that had to be gathered and processed. After seeing the results the Kitmaker executive have asked that the leaders of all campaigns attempt to turn the campaign images into a photo FEATURE. I will detail this more below.

I forget who asked but my StuG is an old ESCI kit. It originally came with rubber band tracks which over the years have gone missing. Sometime during it's life either ESCI or Italeri modified the mould and added the link and length tracks. In the process they changed the way the rear hull plate attaches to the sides so the parts from the older and newer versions are not compatible. Thus my jumping through hoops to get something to work.

Braille Battlefield Campaign Feature

This topic has been brought up by our member, Radek. Despite all the work that it entails it has always been my intention to create a feature of the campaign after its conclusion. It is still rather early but you may find me asking for volunteers to assist in the project when the time comes.

While everyone should post at least one finished picture in the official campaign gallery I would ask that those that complete a build post three pictures in this thread. A minimum of 800 X 600 pixels is desired and the pictures should be from three different angles. I'll remind everyone from time to time as the campaign progresses.

As of this writing I have grabbed three photos from this thread from each completed build. The TX-40, Matador and AB-42 are now archived for the feature. Just a reminder that each completion member should place one photo in the official campaign gallery located HERE.

I'll post a new chart pertaining to photo status and a temporary gallery in due course.

Cheers,
A Writers Cramped tread_geek

Jan - it is very nice to hear that. I think that in the end we will have a wonderful gallery as the documentary of this grat project!!!

Now some photos from me. First Flak and its sled for Opel Blitz:






And my tiny CV33 from Abisinian war:





@ Korpse - the detailing looks superb and I now how annoying is to add so much rivets. I had to do this with my ADGZ from ACE. Good work with detailing!

@ AJB - the second pack of photos looks much better. Now the colors looks more accurate for sure and I can relize that everything is great!

made a bit of progress on the portee base. Most of the larger details done.


Hope I've got the length right! or else the gun will have to be displayed half embarked.

Excellent work everyone.

@radek I love your weathered style radek, any tips that I could copy?

@weathering_one your earlier pics look a fine colour match. plus in the photo it is not daylight but flouro which will give a blue cast to it.

@korpse. Rivets!!!! Argh!!! I may need some on the portee base. How will they look under paint. I thought of making rivet with an indent and washing black or will that just look wrong?

@ John-Paul I use various technics of weathering: Flak is painted with hair laquer technic (grey base (Tamiya) -> HL -> gloss (floor polish liquid) -> sanbraun (Lifecolor) -> sandgelb (Lifecolor)), and the sleds are weathered with artistic oils (deck tan (Tamiya) -> tensocrome burnt brown (Lifecolor) -> HL -> sandgelb (Lifecolor) -> artistic oils).

Your detailing work is amazing. I love scratch projects. They are a really great inspiration and real "school of modelling".

Great looking weathering, Radek. The Flak looks fantastic - especially considering the scale.

Nice progress on the Abrams, AJB. The camouflage looks right, the small differences are really not noticeable unless you have the two pictures next to eachother.

Looking forward to see more.

Here's my first attempt to upload photos of my Faun Elefant and PzH 2000 entries... [Edit: I obviously got the photo-linking wrong, I'll paste links for now and see if I can edit the photos in tomorrow (it's getting late!!)]

PzH 2000 sub-assemblies and proof of date
http://gallery.kitmaker.net/showphoto.php/photo/349307

Faun Elefant sub-assemblies
http://gallery.kitmaker.net/showphoto.php/photo/349300

Both sub-assemblies plus the extra PzH 2000 parts (additional Faun parts are still in the box in the attic)
]http://gallery.kitmaker.net/showphoto.php/photo/349299


A 'dry run'
http://gallery.kitmaker.net/showphoto.php/photo/349303

How on earth could I forget to paint the interior before gluing the cab together? The windscreen scratches are only visible using flash (I hope)
http://gallery.kitmaker.net/showphoto.php/photo/349308

And this is what the campaign is all about... dust on the roof (not much, but then it's been stored in a sealed display cabinet)...
http://gallery.kitmaker.net/showphoto.php/photo/349304

I've uploaded some more photos of a few other unfinished braille scale kits to my profile (including an OOTB Emhar Whippet - did I read that someone else is building one of these). Having been truly astounded by the incredible quality of some of the work I've seen within this campaign and elsewhere in Armorama I must admit that I feel like I'm exhibitting a poorly executed paint by number picture in the Louvre!! Ah well... be it ever so humble and all that...

John, maybe the following image will assist you of posting pictures in this thread.



This will work for all Kitmaker sites and your personal gallery space. You can see that it works.











If you have any further questions about the picture process, please feel free to ask.

From what I see, you still have a fair amount of work to do.

Cheers,
Jan

Sincere thanks for the timely advice, a second attempt to post the photos...

PzH 2000 sub-assemblies and proof of date:


Faun Elefant sub-assemblies:


A 'dry run':


The unpainted interior (dohh!!):


A bit of tell-tale dust on the roof:


I must remember to put sticky kids toothpaste on the weekend shopping list

So sue me, I like getting carried away!

John's Wippet:







Just concentrate on one or two builds. The whole idea of a Campaign is to hopefully learn new things, get assistance and most importantly, have some fun.

Cheers,
Jan

EDIT: P.S. - I see that you've got it!

Very nice Faun and PzH 2000, John. Looking forward to see them with some colour on.

I have now made a bit of progress on my UM models T-34/76. It is a astonishing kit so far. The link and length tracks are beautifully made and fit very well. The tracks go great around the rear wheels without bending. Very nice to have the "stiff plate" look of the T-34 tracks in this scale.

The kit has a large number of parts (165+) and features great details including rubber tires and PE engine screen etc.

Although I am not even finished with the first one, there is no doubt I have to get a second one and build it as a burned out hulk taking advantage of the loose tires. This way it is easy to make burnt of tires.

More to follow

Thanks to everyone who commented on my pictures. The inspiration and encouragement of everyone here really helps to motivate me.

@naimbrain, it looks like you have quite a bit of work cut out for yourself. That truck looks to be insane and the Pzh tracks must be a chore.

@SGTJKJ, that really looks like quite a kit with all those parts. I'm not a big fan of those L&L tracks but I must admit that they really look nice.

I've been a little slow doing anything on the Abrams. I've started the detail painting and have been looking at a lot of pictures to see what else needs to be done. There are a few areas, like the main sight doors, that need to be touched up. I have also taken a lot of pictures trying to find a good setting to show the camouflage better but the Nato brown just doesn't want to show up. I might have lightened it too much so I'll try re-spraying it with a less lightened colour.





Regards,
AJ

@Jesper - You certainly aren't wasting any time. I have to agree with AJ, the tracks look quite good, as does the kit in general. THere are a few Dragon kits with decidedly less parts.

@AJB - Coming along nicely. I have an old ESCI M1 with the 105 mm gun that is crying out to be part of this campaign. However, until the self-propelled guns are finished, it and others will have to wait.

Got some work done on the StuG. Not monumental but the suspension was time consuming. It's still nowhere near finished but it is progress. Used a 10 X ) brush to do the basic rubber on the wheels. Next up will be cleaning it up and then the weathering can start. The tracks had a base colour applied and two sets of washes to start "conditioning" them. Just a light coating of Desert Yellow on the body to look for flaws. The upper and lower body are just dry fitted.

I may leave the original skirt supports even though they are rather thick. Their attachment points and such would require what at this point I feel might be too much work. The skirts themselves are kind of interesting in that the edges taper to a thinner thickness. Have to see if the illusion will hold after attachment and painting.





Cheers,
Jan

Hard to keep up with this campaign, at least while still making progress on your own build.

John, intrigued by the Faun - this was a type of truck I'd never heard of until recently, when I read an article about a tank transporter from 1940, and at first I thought that was the vehicle you were doing, but I see it is a modern vehicle, and huge for a 1/72 scale kit.

Jaypee, I'm a bit worried by how neat your scratching looks, compared to mine - very professional looking; I feel like I'm just bodging my way through.

AJB, have you tried taking photos outdoors? I know there's probably not a lot of light in Denmark at this time of year, but if the sun's out, you might find the colours show up better; indoor lighting does tend to be either yellowing (incandescent bulbs) or bluing (fluorescent bulbs).

Jesper, that tank track looks like it's about to plough through my monitor screen!!

So, some progress on the Maultier:

The chassis lengthened and strengthened:


The lower rear side plates of the body added:

(Needs a bit of filling and sanding.)

The underneath of the chassis virtually complete. Rear axle has a couple of plates to which the idlers are offset; this rod is mounted to the chassis with some plastic "tubular steel" rod. The bogies are attached to some cross members mounted on some additional lengths of Plastruct H section strip. Very much shortened drive shaft to sprockets, and those differentials, or whatever they are,
are made from the tops of oil drums from the TX40 (you see Jan, they are getting used ). I suspect the sprockets probably weren't mounted on the leaf springs, but it was an easy way to mount the drive axle from the original Airfix Blitz. Like I said above, it all looks a bit messy - lots of cement chucked about.



Top view of the chassis, plus bodywork:


Now letting the newly cemented panels and filler set before getting to work with the abrasives, then I think I'll mount the bodywork on the chassis before fabricating the track guards and side lockers. Then it's on to surface detailing before the fun really starts with the 24 rail rocket launcher. . . Here is a pic of one mounted on a Somua half-track (I think this link is allowed:)

Hi Matthew,

That is a really impressive build and I think that your kitbash for the suspension is spot on. I made the Roden Maultier earlier this year and took some photos of the build, you might find this one interesting for comparison purposes.



Anyway keep up the good work, I am following this build with interest.

All the best,

Paul

What a great builts and construction photos! This is a great piece of work here.
And I still paint my Flakblitz.

Opel's bed itself:




And three "modules" joint together::





Rest of weathering will be done after connection with frame and suspension.

These are turning into a real collection of little gems guys, can't wait to get started with my entry(ies)!

Neil: You have got to be certifiable to be making and installing those little rivets! My clumsy fingers would probably absorb half of them and I'd never be able to get them in place

Radek: That is one very sweet piece you have there, you're painting really does a great job of bringing out the details!

Well gentlemen, all those great builds inspired me to get sidetracked from my current builds for the 1/48 scale and Sherman campaigns. You're really bad influence, people! So I started on my Matchbox T34 and it looks like I will get a bit more involved than I had anticipated. First things first, the pre build pic:



Started with the base and then trimmed off the mud guards on one side. Replacing them with metal foil (from IKEA tea candles) proved easier than I thought, once you get the hang of it. Next of course the left side... I will also replace the gas tanks with scratched items but that is another story to be told.



To be continued!

Cheers!
Stefan

Some really great build going on here guys, my builds are taking a bit of a back seat just now till i get caught up on some other campaign builds.

John I built that monster a while back even in 1/72 its a big model I would like to do it in 1/35 but i do not have the space for it..

Stephan:


What a brilliant idea, my wife burns the IKEA candles for England, I now have a continuous source of soft metal for mudguards! Excellent stuff, but I have to say couldn't Matchbox have chosen some better colours for the kit.

All the best,

Paul

Firstly a big thanks to all for the positive comments on the Elefant, and a particular thanks to First Circle for the toothpaste masking tip... brilliant!! I checked out your WW1 Male tank, the hand casted track plates are absolutely incredible (and perhaps suggest that you are certifiable... in a nice way)!!

Weathering one - I think I'm just beginning to realise how much work I'm facing. My builds tend to stall at the painting stage when faced with camo finishes. I've had an airbrush and compressor sat virtually unused for a year while I pluck up courage to learn how to use them and this is why I chose these two kits to finish - to force me into taking the plunge and learning a new skill. Thing is, the Elefant and PzH2000 aren't the right kits to risk making beginners mistakes on (way too many hours work already invested in them) so I'll probably try to brush up (scuse the pun) my skills on a few other simpler kits before I tackle the PzH2000 followed by the Elefant. Luckily I've got a shameful number of almost finished kits waiting for some camo, so I've plenty to practice on. Re your (excellent) paint job, does the NATO brown look right to the eye? If so I'd say don't go changing it for the sake of the photos. Can you get your hands on a copy of photoshop, if so you should be able to re-balance the colour (especially if you shoot in raw format).

Eremzet - your paint finish is stunning!! Congratulations!!

Stefan - I recently built the T34 kit (Revell re-release) and I'm really interested to know if your planning to use alternative tracks. I found the kit tracks looked rather heavy and were originally too long. I dunked then in boiling water to shrink them, but slightly over tighted one and managed to break a wheel when trying to stretch it into place. I've tried re-cementing or supergluing the wheel, but where it's weakened it keeps re-breaking. If you can recommend alternative tracks it would solve a problem for me, and save me the bother of having to reinforce the axle with a steel pin. Very nostalgic to see the white and blue kit again, I built at least a couple of those as a lad!

I had some good news on the Elefant, when I shone a torch through the windscreen I could see that I actually had painted the interior before sealing the cab. I could've sworn I hadn't but there you go. I also thought I'd attached the tractor wheels without cleaning up the seams, but once again on closer inspection I found that they were just held in place by a tight dry fit. They've now been removed and stroked with a file to lose the join line. I'll leave them off for now to give better painting access to the underside.

Good luck to all and happy building!

Cheers
John

My, oh my, what action with this campaign. In 24 hours we have had 3 new enlistees. A hearty welcome to drew_youngman, minas-ithil and SteveW. With the new additions this brings us up to 44 members. I have also updated the master chart with the current changes in status of people and builds.



@Dangeroo Stefan, as with the Borg this campaign will assimilate you and any resistance is futile. I knew that many would find it impossible to resist at least a small start after they see the marvellous early completions so far.

Cheers,
Jan

What a fabulous picture that brings to mind - and you called me certifiable!!

Hello all

A lot happens over a few days in this campaign, and its most enjoyable to see !

Thanks for all the comments on the Panhard's rivets. They are not as hard as they might seem. Its more a learnt technique than sweat.

@weathering_one; the paint job looks better each time you post a picture, its a now a near match for the real thing.

@radek; that flak gun and mounting look like the real deal, your build and the chipping are way cool. The CV33 is also looking great. You could leave it as it is, but I bet it will look even better when its finished

@jaypee; Great scratch building skills on the portee. Rivets would be easy by comparison with what you are doing !
I've sometimes thought of drilling small holes to represent rivets, except they have been needed in prominent places where it would be too noticeable. Its up to you, you could do it that way. It might look OK on the portee base, especially if its somewhere that would be in shade in natural light.
Archer make 1/72 rivet decal sheets, where the rivets are slightly upraised and in rows for easy use. I've never used them, but for a really big rivet job I definitely would.
The stretch sprue method is fairly easy and costs nothing.. If you give it a go dont use liquid cement, use brush on liquid superglue or flat clear acrylic to fix them and use a toothpick or 000 paint brush to pick up and position them.

@naimbrain - nice build, just the paint job to go !

@tread_geek: the Whippet is really looking the part. I like how you 'rusted' the tracks, and the Stug looks better each update

@jesper: neat clean looking build on the T-34 (I like UM kits)

@firstcircle: that is a very ambitious scratch build you have embarked on ! And your progress shots indicate this is going to be a first rate build. Looking forward to seeing more


an update on the panhard

As I opened the drivers viewing ports, I painted the interior off white, and added a driver. No other interior detail has been added as won't be seen (you can barely see the drivers head)

I also trawled my reference books and the web for pictures of this vehicle, and quite a few war time pictures can be found of these in german use with rail wheels attached.

As a result I have made some aerial mounts on the back deck from wire and spare brass etch, as well as making a cover for where the aerial cable enters into the vehicle, with the other end attached to the 'bedframe' antenna.

I sanded the bedframe antenna all over as it looked a little heavy. I've tried to make it look a little leaner, to the point that it was starting to break, so its as lean as it can get. The turret can still swivel under it, but is still a little tight.

I also replaced the semi circle brace on the tripod mount for the aerial on the turret with wire, as the kit one was way too thick compared to the real one. I also added 2 headlights from the spares box, as I found pics on the web of the real things with headlights mounted the same (and without blackout covers)

I scratch built the rear mudguard original aerial mount cover (none in the kit) and was not moulded onto the guard, and just need to add 4 rivets to both it and the front mud guard and its ready for paint

cheers
Neil

John, thank you for noticing my attempt and you are correct in being cautious. Even at this scale it seems like it might be a quick job it actually took quite a long time to get it correct. I practiced on paper and cardboard with inexpensive hobby acrylics before attempting on the model. Even then I had not taken into account the issues with a three dimensional object. Had I noticed it earlier I might have tried firstcircle's toothpaste masking. Then again I'd need to practice it first before trying it.

I can see that your two vehicles must have taken ages just to assemble. I would try a Pzh 2000 but I am not ready for the big truck.




Thank you Neil. I just hope that I remember everything that I have done.

Your armoured car is looking fantastic and with all the extra effort you have put in it's almost like a totally different kit. Thank goodness these new vehicles don't have or require rivets. I sure it would drive me crazy!

Regards,
AJ

@Korpse give me your e-mail - I have some photos of this type of Panhard on my HD. Maybe You have it, but if not they may be interesting for You. Pretty good references for detailing and painting.