I wasn't sure of the scale as with today's kits and technology used in the finishing process, a picture can be so misleading.

Oh, and it is such a crap-shoot with getting those obscure brands but you seem to do very well with them so I think I'll look out for a few. Don't think I'll make a habit with 'em but a few of them would be cool to play with during the build.







~ Jeff

@Jeff T., Thanks. She still has some work coming her way though.

@Robert B., I know it's clean. As I put in my post my main goal was to get it put together and basically done. I'll probably pick it back up in a month or so and do some dry brushing and washes before I upload a final image to the campaign gallery.

I am making good progress on My Sheridan build.I have the lower hull done(with out roadwheels)and will be starting the upper hull shortly.As soon as the gallery issues are squared away,I will post some pics.Jeff T.

@ Jeff I know exacly what you mean. When you see some of the Macro shots figure painters come up with you get the idea they painted a 1:1 replica instead of something 5 cm high.
And believe me.. chasing down the obscure and exotic is addictive. Once you got one you want two... and then you learn about another weird but nice looking vehicle. etc etc. And before you know it you ended up with a stash full of the obscure and exotic.

@ Alex
Sorry mate I probably misunderstood your guiding text with the pictures. Wasn't aware that weathering was another one of the following steps on hold for now. Some people like their tanks clean.

@ Jeff T
Looking forward to your Sheridan mate.

@Robert B, No problem. I am just taking a break before finishing it up.

No rain but extreme heat so a little painting was accomplished today.

That and on my 1/16th Panther too.








~ Jeff

Tried to upload this last week and just as I finished the site transfer started, woo hoo. So, here we go again. I started this project when I was 16 in 1986 (yes, really), before I had enough commonsense to know better. Armed with only some Xerox copies and one or two Tank Magazines that showed the Mk II, I attempted to make the "all new" Merkava Mk II before anyone else . . . yeah.

So I felt that this one would be appropriate for this campaign as it has been a project looming over me for too many years. Started the resurrection of this kit a few months ago. Here is the recap.

This is what started the whole project way back when:




Here is where I picked up the project back in April:














Here is where things have progressed to:












I have added the non skid with white glue and embossing powder, which having to do over again I would do something else. The white glue when diluted does not provide good adherence and tends to be prone to flaking when dry. The liquid cement tends to try quickly but is really sticky and can melt the embossing powder granules, so maybe hairspray next time?

The additional front road wheel was made from a cast of the Academy kits wheel assembly. My goal for this project originally was to scratch build the whole thing as there were no aftermarkets available back in the day and no other kit other than the original Tamiya. I am trying to keep that theme and do most of the conversions myself without the use of aftermarket products.

The road wheels are sprayed with tire black and the base colour which is going to be a greyish-green concrete colour, which, from my photos of the era, seem to be the colour of the vehicles that I am trying to represent. I still need to make the side skirts as the previous ones that I made years ago are not quite accurate, some parts might be salvageable.

Fun campaign and looking forward to seeing this and many of yours completed soon. Cheers.

Love the work on your Merk!! The anti- skid looks good, very random

Mines stalled on the b/c armor..guess that why I shelved it before.

I just uploaded a ribbon for our campaign, hope everyone likes it.

Jeff

Hi Damon,

Nice work.

Some progress on the Churchill



Al

Hi Robert

neat

I "ve gotten washes and some dry brushing done on the interior of my 251.
I can't seem to locate my steering wheel though, at the moment.

Damon.....great work on the Merkava.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Regards, Ian

@Robert (Faust)- excellent work on the Steyr especially the weathering
@Alan (Alan L) - the detailing and the interior look great on the Churchill. Can't wait to see more
@Damon (didgeboy) - considering the age of the kit, you're certainly making good progress
@Jeff B (heliman)- the ribbon certainly gets my vote

Here is my progress so far:

After a base coat of olive drab, the tank is sprayed in yellow green, and lightly shaded with a mixture of buff. Last night it received a dark wash, and hopefully in the next few days, decals will be applied.





Below are a couple of shots of the diorama base





Regards

Please Dude!!! it's not a tank!

Sorry it's the Arty Sgt Major in me. it is in fact a self-propelled Gun.

It is looking great though look forward to seeing it done with some weathering.

@ Mojo72: The SPG looks great. Its a shame its not available as a clasic kit. It has sort of a WW1 feel to it.

Here’s my project for this campaign. I built this Tamiya M4 Sherman about 11 – 12 years ago. The sludge wash I put on it was really too heavy and made it come out really dark. I didn’t go any further with it and put it in storage.

Now my idea is to mix a very thin olive drab color and over spray the model hopefully using the dark wash as a pre shade.

@ Damon
Allthough modern armor is not my cup of tea I always appreciate scratchwork. Great job on that Merkava. These tanks always have a bit of a scifi feeling to them.

@ Alan
Great job on that engine so far. Coming together really nicely.

@ Muhammad
That is a cool looking vehicle and you have painted it very well. Love that shade of yellowish green. Will work brilliantly when you are going to weather it.
Forgive me my ignorance if I ask the following question but what is it? When I first saw the pictures I thought it was a warhammer tank with that huge barrel on top but when I saw the trailer I guessed it must be a 1:35 vehicle.
The dio base is already looking pretty cool. Well designed will make for a very attractive endresult.

@ Marc.
Looking forward to the pics. Did you find the steeringwheel? Always annoying when a piece gets MIA.

@ John
Nice built color is indeed a bit too dark but nothing you cannot fix with a bit of respraying.

I got an update as well. As the most important and cheapest part to get my Airbrush in working order again was not in stock I have to wait two more weeks. Really weird that 1 rubber ring is so important for the workings which means I won't be spraying anytime soon and some of my projects for this campaign are on a hold. So I went to one of those bargain shops and bought me a very cheap picture frame. Made a builtup with styrofoam and framed that with styrene.


Added some scenery details like a fence and telegraph pole from Mirage. A tree root. And a goat from Masterbox' Domestic animals set


Then with some spackle for filling the seams between plaster/gypsum boards I layd down a nice thick layer. Sprinkled some birdcage sand over it. Pressed the vehicle in it and with a tire from the scrapbox made ruts


Next up. The appearance of figures. I must have built this set 2 or 3 times through the years. I love it and it is in my opinion one of the best old timey dragon sets. Wehrmacht Infantry Barbarossa 1941. Good details good faces, nice poses.


You might notice I placed the front and back figure with one foot outside the dio. I wanted to create the idea that they were just passing through the scene as part of a longer column.


Aside from these four figures another three will appear as well as the crew of the Steyr stopping for a break during the march. Which will make it the crowdiest dio I ever made 7 figures... 8 if you count the goat

Robert...Man,that looks nice,the figures walking off the base was a great idea.It gives a hint of motion to the scene.Way to bring one back from the almost dead Jeff T.

No Rob, i didn't find the steering wheel yet. It is holding up production.

@ Jeff T
Thanks for the compliments. Yeah you are right with this almost like a phoenix rising from the ashes. But somehow to me a model is never finished untill it is on a base with some figures. At first wanted only three of the barbarossa figures in that corner but then I thought up the idea of walking through the scene and it worked pretty well giving indeed the idea of movement exactly as I envisioned it.

@ Marc
That is indeed annoying. Hope you will find it back soon.

@Ian(ArtyG37B) - I had a feeling I messed something up when writing the sentences. Doh. Thanks for correcting the description

@Naseby - I totally agree. If I'm not mistaken Italeri did release a Vietnam version many moons ago which is now OOP. However, from time to time you may come across one on Ebay

@Robert(Faust) - this kit is Italeri's M110 A2 203mm Self Propelled Gun which I have slightly modified for a Vietnam version. The cargo trailer is part of Tamiya's M151A2, and yes you're right, these are in 1:35th. Anyway, looking forward to see your completed diorama

Regards

Hi Everyone,

I decided to get one of the models that have been languishing in my 'Hall of Shame' for a long time done. I chose the Trumpeter Jagdpanther, this was originally intended as a wargame piece and as such was build OOB except for the Revell tracks, I can't get on with the Trumpeter Vinyl ones. I also used a RB metal barrel as well. I thought I would use the model as a test piece for two new products from Games Workshop, their new 'Texture', Stirland Mud and their new 'Shade', Agrax Earthshade (formerly Devlan Mud, don't you just love these whacky names, they must have a department devoted to thinking them up.). The 'Texture' is basically a pot of 'mud' it is like mud, can be put on like mud, it can be built up and dries rock hard. It is designed for the bases of their figures, because, apparently, the younger modellers can't wait for the PVA glue to dry to get on with finishing and playing with their figures - bless em! I have to say that it works really well and is a good colour for a basic mud, they have other colours and all can be intermixed, I will be investigating this further. I would say it is a lot cheaper than pigment powders as a pot is £2.20 here in the UK and will do many models. Well worth a look. The 'Shade' is a new formulation of their old 'Washes' and has better flow properties apparently. I can honestly say it is an improvement and gives a nice finish around detail. Anyway here are the pictures and you can decide for yourselves....

The model as I had left it languishing in a drawer...




The two products I was testing out...



Mud!!



I applied the 'mud' around the lower side-skirts, on the running gear, rear hull and front hull.





I applied the 'shade' all over the vehicle as a wash...








Well that's it for now, I will be doing some localised pin washes and then dry brush everything to bring out the detail. The next thing will be to paint all the details and tracks, then some weathering and that will be it finished. I will be interested in your opinions for these two products, I am pleased with them, especially the 'mud'.

All the best,

Paul

Paul, Judging by the pictures, I'd say the 2 products look really good. I really like the shade for a wash.

A little progress on this one. I found a few seams that needed filled and scraped. I also removed the dry transfer stars that where on the sides of the turret by scrapping them with a No 11 blade and then buffing out the area with some steel wool.

Because of the repairs, my over spray coat had to be a little thicker than I originally wanted it to be to cover up the reworked areas. But this is fine since it’s all in fun anyway.

The paint has a deferent sheen where the stars were located, but I’m more than confident this will disappear as I apply the many layers of weathering.

Got the Future applied and decals on today. Markings are typical of a Sherman from the 7Th Armored Division around Aug of 44. Now the fun stuff begins.