Hello friends,
The inside of the turret is painted white now, washes and a little chipping were added to (hopefully) give it a more realistic look. Also brown washes and a pinwash on the exterior of the turret were done, and a couple of color washes for depth of the paint...not finished yet of course, but we battle on (different sorts of chipping, and of course later ! DUST).

The interior of the upper hull is also done. The exterior of it isn't done yet but washes etc were already added.

Two bad pics, sorry for that :




G.

She's really coming along nicely Your doing a great job Bob

Very nice, inspirational. Thanks for posting the build, makes me want to try another Stuart.

I have this one i just need the PE set i love the way yours is looking cant wait to see it done

Bob, I do the best I can, but my airbrush let me down (leak in the body of my Aztek !), so I'll have to buy another one (not an Aztek anymore for sure). Tx ! G.

Eric, It means something to me when people say I inspired them. It's an Academy kit, and yes it was great fun to build it and more : no fitting problems at all.
!!! I must say that corrections have to be made to create an historical correct vehicle (I did it by using Eduard's pe set for Academy). But even then some things are still not the way they're supposed to be. The handles on the two fuel tanks as mentioned above in this topic for example. I didn't find clear reference stuff to make them myself so I "skipped" these to avoid incorrect handles. Tx ! G.

Ron, run to the shop and buy the pe set because it's big fun to build it. I hope to see your Stuart soon ! G.
Two pics :

Aww man! That's the duck's guts, Guy!
A great job in progress...
One thing I noticed which was on the box art and the archive photo is the .30cal poking out of the front left forward-facing hull angle. Was this mentioned in the instructions? It seems to vary from one reference photo to the other, with some having the square cover in place, some circular, and some blank...
Cheers
Brad

Hi Bradley J, that's correct, I've studied many pics of the M3A1and the square as well as the circular cover were possible, and of course also the .30 on both left and right side !
I have choosen for the square cover. In the drawings the choice had to be made by the builder. Tx for your reply. G.

New and better pics guys :












Now it's time to paint the equipment of the tank, and the .30...

G.

how did you do the blanket my man

Well my man, the blanket was made of Milliput Standard and painted with acrylics (Revell).
I used a bottle to roll the milliput by adding chalk powder to avoid sticking. Hope I answered your question Jimmy. G.

Hi Guy,

Outstanding build, I really like what you've done so far, by far one of the best looking M3A1's I've seen. Love the attention to detail and the interior looks cool. It will be a gem when you get finsihed.

Cheers

Al

Hello Alan, thank you for the reply ! I have the impression that the M3A1 in the American version is less popular among us, modelers. The Honey from the British troops is in a way more interesting because of the use of camo. That's why I wanted to make an American Stuart. I like the extra fuel gallons too. I've found good reference pics to make those rubberised handles, so one of the following jobs is to replicate four of them. And then...adding ! Always a risky thing ! I'll paint them before I glue them in place.
Oh yes, almost forgot this to say, the turret basket is practically ready. The cannon has to be painted now. Pics follow shortly. G.

Fellow modelers,
I have practically finished the turret basket of my tank. The cannon is OD now, a few more layers to go. And then weathering...





G. Cu soon !

Guy-- great work, the weathering is fantastic. Keep it up!
DJ

It is coming along nicely.You do great work. Bob

Encouraging words ! Thanks guys !
Today I've moreless glued together my turret, basket, cannon, front armor plate (barrel).
The base colors are painted on, so now I can start again weathering etc...

Pics are not great, but it's the idea that counts :




Still so much to do...

Hello friends, next pic shows actual situation :


G.

Hello friends, I continued painting the lower hull in its base color, OD. Now it looks a bit more uniform. Added more dust washes...

Pics :
















Cu later ! G.

Friends,
New update, lower hull started :
- oil paint burnt umber wash overall,
- oil paint black and burnt umber wash more local,
- the first of many dust washes.

Of course still a hell of a lot to do but we battle on !




G.

Hi Guy , coming along great!! Did you paint the rubber on the road wheels on the tank and if so how difficult was it? When you finish with this one are you planning another build? If so I look forward to it. Bob

Hello Bob, thank you for the encouraging words, I appreciate them and...I need them too.
Painting the road wheels attached to the lower hull section is not as difficult as I thought it was. Usually I paint them separately and on top of a tooth pick. A friend of mine on Benelux Kitmaker who loves to build Sherman tanks, paints his road wheels when put in place, and I just wanted to see if I could do it the same way.
But I did not glue them, so they are workable. I painted the rubber in acrylic mat black, thinned with 90 % water, diluted to let the paint find its way around the steel of the wheels. I repeted this three times to cover entirely the surface. This way of working was very easy because it was the running paint that did the job. Then I drybrushed with a mix of mat black and mat white, to make the damage in the rubber more visible (I carved the rubber to add reality).
For the weathering (still in progress) I do the usual stuff.

I have more future projects planned, but I will only start one. Problem : I just can't decide !
- Bronco Comet Tank 1/35,
- Tristar 20mm Flak with Waffen SS crew 1/35,
- Dragon Panther (Normandy) 1/35,
- Tristar Marder III...

But now I want to finish this Stuart, placed on a small diorama with a Tunesian house section, and a couple of figures.

I hope I gave you a clear answer about the wheels my friend.
Next update coming up soon.
I still have to finish the gear of the Stuart too, and the .30, and a lot more...

G.

Just discovered this thread now and I'm glad I did. You've done a superb job with Academy's Stuart. I'd love it if you could explain how you achieved the weathered appearance. Both in side and out. I'm especially taken with how natural the dust looks on the exterior.

Very well done Guy.

-Matt

Guy , you have explained it clearly and thank you for the reply I'll give it a try when I decide to pick a tank from the stash Thanks again and keep up the good work Bob

Hello Matt,
I tried to give it a dusty appearance by using oil washes in different tones of desert sand colors.
For the wash mixtures I used white, yellow ocre and burnt umber and yes...thinner. I started very transparent, and tried to create variations in the tones. I also tried to build up the dust by adding more paint around the raised areas. Each time a layer was dry, I rubbed the panels with a stiff (short hairs) brush, to make the OD appear again in places.

Bob, at your service !

New update :
Today I started chipping the rear deck and the left fuel gallon. I Painted the wood, metal parts, the tie downs etc...
This picture shows when I started the spilled oil and fuel...


This is how it looks now (not finished yet) :


G.

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll give that a try on my next piece of armour.

-Matt