Sal, I like your efforts so far, but I could suggest Dull Cote or some other matte finish to the figures, so they don't shine so much. That and some way to straighten the cables on the loading crane, to give them apparent weight.
...and I'm sincere-- not a Packers fan, actually a displaced Bears fan from the Windy City.
Cheers!
Sean H.

Gentlemen-
I see a lot of great work here, which keeps me motivated. What was supposed to be a simple diversionary build, turned out to be my first serious shot at scratch-detailing a tank to a good degree. In earlier builds I had the chance to take advantage of AM detail sets, but with AMX-30 AUF1 there is little to be had. After searching the net I found a lot of detail shots and the sensational build of Richard Marchand, who certainly chose a much more precise approach. IMHO, His model must be named as the ultimate approach to that kit. Quite certainly there are some dimensional discrepancies from the original, but I did my fair best to follow his footsteps.
So within these last weeks I actually finished the turret detailing last night.








Next will be the barrel before turning to the main body. I hope you enjoy the pics as much as I did the detailing. I will be grateful for tips from the more knowledgeable guys, who certainly roam these pages.
Have a nice Sunday!

Cheers,
Guido

PS: I can't believe it's been more than a month since I started...that means I have put more than 60 hours into that build already!!! Yikes! I hope I can finish that build before the campaign shuts down!

I'm really enjoying building this classic Tamiya kit! It fits together so well! This mainly OOB build is turning into a nice spirit-lifter.
I had spoken too soon in my last post-- the running gear doesn't really block the hull, so I can install it before painting, so here's a photo of that. I let the glue set on a glass pane to verify the wheels were all flat to the surface...

The only minor problem I have is that the fender skirts aren't optional, so I had to do some cutting to match prototype photos. Then I used a large file to round off the outside of the fender edges, and I thinned the forward edges to better replicate the thinner fender metal...

Note that the upper hull has inset parts in order to separate this M8 Howitzer Motor Carrier with the wider open turret from the M5 Stuart light tank with the smaller closed turret, using most of the same kit parts.
Having a blast here. Cheers, all!
-Sean H.

pretty darned impressive, Guido!

Agreed, loverly craftsmanship.

regards

My update - two main sub assemblies, at which point i decided to do basic painting, washes, and dry-brushing. Still need to replace some grab handles i broke off, do detail painting, marry the gun to the carriage, and put on shovels and other minor details.

My build is going slow due to work and other interruptions but wanted to show the completed left leg with all its PE. I had some issues with fingers knocking off the PE parts. Finally changed over from superglue to Gator Acrylic Glue as it has the flexibility to keep the PE in in place when my fingers hit them.

Sean thanks for the complements nice progress dont fear the boogies.
The Dull coat was still to come and the cables on the crane are pretty mush stuck in that position, instructions were not to clear on the rigging That why the 1 figure has his hand up and the crane operator is sweating saying what will I do now

I added some more mud to the treads and the Dull Coat

Bruce gave me an idea for the track marks and I made some


But I think its time that I call this finished, learn from my mistakes and move on to the next diorama project @ the Military Railroad Campaign

Nice progress by everyone
@ Guido, is that a lot of scratch building or is the kit 2 different colors
@ Michael, WOW lots of P/E for an artillery piece looks good, Gator Acrylic Glue better than Superglue I may have to give that a try
These photos were taken outside in natural light I will try to get a better 1 for the gallery

Hello.

Bit of a late start but I'm going to build the Tamiya Centaur kit #35232. It's equiped with a 95mm howitzer and provided indirect fire support so hopefully it qualifies for the build criteria.



So far it's going together better then any kit I've ever made (knock on wood). Our first kid is expected in May so I expect this may be my only build for the year.

Cheers,


Jeff

Hi Sal,

Great work on a mighty kit.

Guido and Vance and Michael, nice work folks.

Al

Hello! This one looks like a ton of fun. Would this be ok to use?? I guess it is technically 1/32 scale. - steve

Verlinden Union Cannon

is it too late to join this campain?

Sal: Nice build with a pleasant surprise of the ammo schlepper. Too bad about the cables, but like you said; learn and move on!

Happy Modelling, -zon

Thanks for the complements guys
@Both Jeff and Steve, yes both kits qualify looking forward to your builds
@ Ruben plenty of time left to join in the fun, what is your planed build

i'm thinking of building an AFVclub long tom, thanks for asking, i'm new and this will be my first blog.

Hello again! I'm just wondering if anyone will be entering (or has ever built) an Atomic Cannon:





This one is at Fort Riley, KS. You can kind of see me standing right in front of it in the first shot. I figured it fits into this campaign rather well, and is really awesome to see upclose!

Hi Folks

I just noticed this campaign...like Ruben I would like to join in the fun and if it is ok I will enlist. I would be building the Revell 1/72 210mm Morser 18. I have the M R Modellbau resin and metal barrel set for it as well. As soon as I have enlisted I will post the pictures of the kit and after market to start. I have been reading all the posts and it looks a really exciting group build, so I look forward to being part of it.

All the best,

Paul

@ Steve-O, I remember butchering that kit as a kid and that about all i remember of it, will you be building 1 here
@ Paul, welcome to the campaign looking forward to seeing your progress

Great choice Steve-O.
Will it be the "vintage" Adams kit, one of the re-issues, or some other scale altogether?
Have a great weekend all.
Jim

So taking advantage of campaign regulation no;4 I would like to enter an English Electric Blue Water SSGM, mounted on the FV13135(Truck,launcher-transporter,SSGW,No;1,3-ton,4x4,Bedford RLHC)and despite the name a rather elegant British missile system of the late 1950's,designed to replace the cumbersome and often inaccurate Corporal. It consisted of 6 men,two Landrovers and the Bedford and delivered between 1-10 kilotons of instant sunshine up to 80 km away.



I had heard of three units built but only ever found any evidence of two, 05BS49, seen here, is the proof of concept prototype and sales demonstrator most often seen.A man could shave using those door panels.
Again so here is the regulation start-up shot.This mornings Times,and an Accurate Armour Bedford RL. I have included a Tamiya Land Rover in-case I decide to do the FV10849 Series II computer vehicle to complete the set.



regards

Look forward to developemnts of this one an interesting subject.

Al

My apologies, in tidying up my Photobucket account I accidently deleted my start-up photo. He it is again.

This will be a great one to watch! I have many times pondered buying AA kit, but was always set aback by their prices. I hope you'll give us in-detail accounts of you tackling that kit!
Cheers,
Guido

Sal and Jim,

Unfortunately, I do not have the money, time or shelf space to take on an atomic cannon in model form

Instead, I have pulled this guy out of my stash! I'm not all that experienced with resin, but I love visiting old civil war forts so this one should be fun (and able to fit on a shelf).

Good one, steve-o!
I am looking forward to that. Those old guns are pretty special. I hope you send us lots of pics!

Come to speak of it. I shot me this little one rediculously cheap on the infamous auction site: The Pit Road IJA 28 cm Howitzer from the Russian Japanese War. Full injection molded kit in 1/35.




It was in the mail today and - WOW - what a great kit. If old siege/fortress artillery is your thing and you have chance to get one: This is your kit. It's superbly molded, well engineered, has a crew complement and great (though Japanese only) booklet with lots of pictures inside.
This one is definitely recommended. I'll hope to put a review togther by the weekend.

Unfortunately this one comes way too late for this campaign, but I certainly hope for sequel.

Cheers,
Guido