I really like that Hummer, Scott. Very nice details - especially considering the scale.

Nice Mirage so far, Ian. Looking forward to see more.

I have now received the missing links for my tracks for my Super Sherman courtesy of a fellow modeller at this site. Modeller to modeller support when it is best! My build is now progressing although slowly....

More to follow soon.

A little progress on the Sherman. Most of the details are painted. Next are a few touch ups and then the decals and wethering. The tracks are being done seperately but will of course go on before final weathering.

More to follow.

Thank you for the positive feed back guys, much appreciated.

Jseper, Your Sherman is coming along very nicely well done so far.

The figure I am going to used with the humvee has just arrived in the post, I am going to mount both the humvee and the figure on a base.


By sudzonic at 2012-02-04


By sudzonic at 2012-02-04

I am thinking the small diorama will look something like this? I have given the figure a quick paint I will do some more washes and some dry brushing on it before it is finished.



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So, I have been delinquent in posting any pics, I was hoping to do just the final photos, but am going to go ahead and post where I am at. So . . . started this project LAST February and am nearing completion
Here are few photos from the build progress with some current photos at the very end. Cheers.

BTW am TOTALLY amazed at how fast some of you build. Really.













Needs more oil touch ups then seal, flat and dusting once all the components are glued together. If anyone has a lead on good aftermarket IDF tow cables, please let me know, looking for some replacements as I have broken one of the cable ends. . . .Cheers.

Damon, your M60A1 is coming out great. Nice touch with all the chipping on the road wheels. Weathering looks so realistic. Is that mostly pre-shading for the panel lines, or post shading with a slightly darker wash (as I prefer to do it)?

Scott, love your Humvee. Outstanding to say the least.

Joel; thanks for the kind words. Just doing washes for now, I have not figured out how to pre shade yet, but maybe on the next one, we'll see. Cheers.

Here's the Merk with the non-skid surface application and base coat.

Great M60, Damon. You are doing a great job on an aged kit. I think I might add that kit to my collection. It seems to have decent details and a very low price tag.
How does it go together?
Did you add any aftermarket item to your kit?

The Mirage III is progressing well. Testors Chrome was used for the NMF and this was in turn treated with Hawkeye's buffing powders. However, the fit of the windscreen was dreadful so a Heller one will be used instead. The Heller one fit perfectly. Well, it's Superbowl time.

Regards, Ian

Great looking M-60 Damon!

Jesper and Ian;
Thanks guys for the kind words. The fit of the kit is pretty good most items go on well and there is only a few areas where it needs work and or some extra detail. The only non OOB items I used were the commanders MG mount and I will probably add some after market cables as I have just ruined one. . . . Really admiring the work all of you are doing here and again how quickly you all are doing it. Cheers.

Kerry;
What are you using for the non skid on the merkava? And what process are you using to put it on? Looks really nice and realistic. Cheers.

Thank you,

I tried using Future acrylic floor wax and brushed it onto each panel. I then took an old brush that I had cut down and dipped it in some baking soda and lightly tapped over the wet panels. I did this 2-3 panels at a time, blowing off the excess as I went. I think it looks pretty realistic and am happy with the results. I am following an article that Sven-Ake Grufstedt did. He explains how he layers and uses the "cloud technique". I too have never pre-shaded before so this is my first attempt at it. I really like the M-60 as well, it is very well done. My only thought is that the oleos in the suspension would be bare of paint and shiny from their travel during movement. Thanks again for your comment.

"My only thought is that the oleos in the suspension would be bare of paint and shiny from their travel during movement."

you are gonna have to excuse me on this one but I have no clue what an oleos is, but would love to find out.

I am planning on doing the chipping and drybrushing once the oils have dried thoroughly and i have knocked everything down with a good coat of flat clear. So if there is any "bare metal" that would be showing I can still add that in in the near future.
But I am really excited to learn something new, so please let me know what those are, the only definition I could find on line was for the fake oil stuff they use in margarine. Cheers.

Kerry can you share that link you were talking about? I would love to read up on that process, sounds pretty easy and interesting and the results speak for themselves, very nice.

Ian, your NMF looks fantastic. Love those panel lines.

Joel

Oops! Sorry Damon! I hang out with a lot of airplane guys. An oleo is a gas-filled strut or shock absorber that now I'm guessing are pretty much found on planes. But the area in question was the part of the shock absorbers on the suspension (4th picture). Not really a big deal unless you show it. Then it could be the difference between earning a gold vs silver in an AMPS show.

Here is a link to Sven's 72nd Merkava III and the techniques he used to paint it. I'm sure it will work on larger scale models as well.

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2006/12/stuff_grufstedt_merkava.htm

Anyway, I think your 60 is looking great! I'm looking forward to seeing it after chipping and dry-brushing.

These are what he is talking about. The part that slides in and out of the upper part of the shock. With continual motion, they tend to be quite polished.

OK, that is what I thought was meant but had never heard that term before, yes those will be spanked up with some silver as will the center guides on the track.Those will probably get some oil and dusting as well.
Thank you for posting that link, looks like an interesting method that I will need to try sometime soon. I am hoping to get to the rest of the weathering soon. Heading to a show this weekend in Seattle but there will be no armor there. On the bright side I get to spend the weekend with my daughter and models, and maybe she can pick up a new kit too. Cheers.

Update:
Now that I have written this I have gone back and looked at the books and photos I have and none seem to show them polished. Granted the pics are not the representative of the area in detail but they seem to all be caked in dust and or mud. Now I know from experience that these do get polished, but my thought right now is to put some shine on and then seriously dampen it down with dusting. I am happy to entertain other suggestions, comments and thoughts on this. Kerry, thank you for pointing this out, this seemingly little detail is a very interesting dilemma to solve. This is what I love about these forums. Cheers.

In the same vein as those shocks, the area where the wheels run on a metal track can also get polished although you probably only see this is a very clean environment. I noticed it with pictures of an STRV103 (runnable) at a museum. I think the pictures were in a book by Wings and Wheels Publications.

Nice NMF on the Mirage, Ian. Looks great!

I have made some more progress on my Super Sherman. The decals and tracks are now on. The tracks were a difficult operation but in the end they came on OK.

Next is the weathering. More to follow

Finally finished up the bogies, wheels and painted them Model Master Israeli Armor Sand Gray. Painted all the tires, them when I went to mount them, I was one tire short! Couldn't find it anywhere. Honestly, I'm not even sure I had the correct number of tires to start with, but since I didn't bother to count them, I'm guessing I somehow managed to loose it. Ended up having to make a new tire out of sheet plastic. Took a lot longer then I thought it would, but you really can't notice any difference in the picture. And yes it's on the side I photographed.

I also managed to forget that the Oleo is a piston, and should be painted natural metal, so I'm going to have to repaint them.

At least I'm finally making some progress. It's going to be close to finish in time, but that's my goal.

Looking great. I only hope my turns out half as good.

Joel

Joel;
If you seriously made a road wheel out of sheet I am totally blown away! I seriously cannot see any difference in those, that is some great work. I love that it has taken me a year to get to where I am on the blazer and you guys are just a month in and already almost done. wow. Cheers.