Well, I think that I'm at the point that I'll call this build finished. For me it was quite an exercise in patience and learning new things. For those interested you can find my build log here.

First up are a few pictures with a plain background and using macro filters on my camera.









The next pictures were taken by my SWMBO while I was at work. She's an avid gardener and used various natural items from the backyard to create a sort of diorama or vignette. While the previous pictures were taken indoors these are taken outside with natural light.















Thanks for looking!

Cheers,
Jan

Just stumbled onto this. Don't you usually post in the Braille forum? I like how you've made it look used but without overdoing it. The dio pictures are an interesting experiment but in the one picture it looks like it's sinking into the gravel. And it would have been nice if your SWMBO had made troughs from where the tires would have run. Very nice build of an interesting vehicle. Thanks for sharing.

Best,
AJ

Hi Jan,

I followed the link from braille forum to here. I was a little puzzled by the acronym SWMBO, I googled it and found it was 'She Who Must Be Obeyed'. LOL, nice one.

The build is seen better in these photos, very nice. The outside diorama seemed to work well, I will give it a try (we are actually having sunny days here in the U.K.!).

Keep up the good work, all the best,

Paul

Jan,

It's been a while since I could get the chance to view and visit my favorite model site and found your build log over on the Braille forum and like Paul followed it over to here. I think that you did a super job on this one. I like the camouflage. What airbrush are you using? And what paints and thinners with what air pressure are you shooting the kit with? Great job on the photos! I especially like the settings in both yours and your wife's photos.

-Eddy

@Paul - Thank you for your comments and I am glad that you found the photos pleasing. We've experimented some with outdoor photos (weather permitting) and have found that a bright overcast day results in the best pictures. We believe that that is because the light in general, under those conditions, is more uniform. Too sunny and you end up with harsh shadows.

@Eddy - Nosey fellow, aren't you! Wnat me to divulge all the trade secrets. Seriously though, in order of the questions asked:

-Base colour NATO Green and black pre-shading were done using a single action, siphon feed Paasche Model H airbrush at 25 PSI. The NATO black and red brown were sprayed using an Iwata Eclipse HP-CS.

-All paints used were Tamiya and I also used that brand's thinner. The thinner is unique as it also contains an "extender" in it's formulation. The extender makes the paint more "watery" and less prone to dry in the air before hitting the model. Airbrush pressure for the camo was 12 - 15 PSI.

-All colours had approximately 10% to 15% white added to compensate for scale effect. It's pretty much a case of mix until it looks right.

Cheers,
Jan

Jan,

Thanks for the reply it is much appreciated. I just happen to have the same Paasche Model H airbrush and am very happy with it. I also have a Testors Aztec 470 airbrush that I haven't had the opportunity to use yet. And I have been thinking about acquiring an Iwata airbrush put don't know which model to purchase? I've seen so many good camouflage schemes painted using an Iwata airbrush on this site that I am convinced I need one for myself . . . now just need to work on the skills to use it to it's best advantage

Thanks for sharing your trade secrets! Now I need to noisy my way back to the model workbench and do some plastic.

-Eddy

Hi Jan,

Interesting to read that you use Tamyia paint and thinners, I do as well and since switching exclusively to using their product for airbrushing I have not had a bad experience. I didn't realise that the thinners worked like that and that fact explains why it is easy to use their paints, I find that several thin coats is the way forward. I also paint hard edge camo with a brush and Tamyia paint thinned 50/50 with their thinners and it works just fine, with no brush marks.

Thanks for sharing your 'secrets', all the best,

Paul

Paul,

Glad to help or confirm any observations. It was actually my SWMBO who was using the Tamiya paint and discovered the retarder aspect of their thinner. She was doing a decorative project and was thoroughly complaining about the horrible coverage straight out of the bottle. I read somewhere that you should use their thinner to get rid of brush strokes. I told her and she tried it and found a two to one ratio of paint to thinner worked the best for her project. Personally I find that the ratio can change from bottle to bottle. The older bottles take a bit more thinner, the newer ones a bit less.

Cheers,
Jan