Hi,

Made good progress in the last several days. Went for the first camo on the painting guide, though I'm not too sure whether white borders were done on Jagdpanthers (or other period German AFVs for that matter). Have to do some touch ups, then move on with weathering. Have started on the base as well. Will post pics as I go along.

Cheers,

Tat

@firstcircle - I absolutely recall Captain Pike but from your pictures I'd say your officer has minimal resemblance to him and might even by some be considered Teutonically handsome. You've done a beautiful job in painting those figures and it appears the base and Puma are progressing well. I'd hoped to have more pictures of the M40 progress and even put a lick of paint on the interior but alas, the last few interior parts have proved a challenge to install. You're hand painting idea has actually even crossed my mind. Good luck with further progress.

@tatbaqui - Tat, you have done an astounding job on camouflaging your small scale creation. A big thank you for showing your method and the steps involved to achieve the very dramatic colour scheme. Everyone so far is setting the standard quite high for the rest of us to try to emulate. Hopefully these fine builds don't scare any enlistees away.

Cheers,
Jan

And finally I have started In the meantime most of the chassis of the Diamond T tractor has been built, and the diorama groundplate had it's first coat of Revell's Dark Earth.

Thanks Jan. Nearly gave up on this camo -- but with trembling, stubby hands pressed on. Always got reminded of what you said earlier, "...this kit is bigger than 1/144"
I got the inspiration from my grandniece when I saw her doing wriggly creatures in clay. Agree with you on the quality of builds being shown here. I myself would like to achieve that same pavement finish Matthew (@firstcircle) has shown. Again thanks for leading this campaign. All the best to the builds. Cheers -- Tat

Hi Guys
I've managed to finish another campaign build!!,inspired by the builds here I had to finish it
This really took me back to my happy carefree days of modelling!
well here it is



OOB ,the decals were touch and go as the first 3 attempts failed,even with Microscale decal film.
Mostly Tamiya acrylics,the base was airbrushed ,but the tanks were hand painted,washes from pro modeller and a few MIG pigs to finish.
Many thanks for a fantastic campaign idea Jan,I might have awoke a passion for brail scale tanks!!!
Cheers
Andy


P.S the exhuast pipes look too orange in the pics.....read crap camera,poor light and an even worst photographer!!!

@Tat - I believe the statement I made was something to the effect that 1/76 scale was virtually double the size of 1/144. It's positively HUGE!

@Andy(Torchy) - Darn it, is there no end to these high quality masterpieces. Seriously, your diorama/vignette turned out fabulously. With the exception of something to indicate scale or super close-up pictures the completed builds so far could easily pass for a larger scale. Andy, could you post a picture taken from the back of the Char B looking forward toward the Renault?

@Everyone - So as not to fall too far behind I have started to download pictures of the finished builds. If everyone could post at least three pictures from different angles of their completed builds we can have the makings of a great feature. I'd like to use three pictures from each entrant for this feature. At present the six complete builds account for 17 pictures. This is not part of the rules and is in no way mandatory but is a request to even out the pictures in the proposed future feature.

Cheers,
Jan

That M19 looks really cool, have never seen one of these before.

The French tanks look great Andy! I remember those form the old days...

Keep 'em coming lads!

Cheers!
Stefan

Hello
Have sprayed mine with the base colour Olive Drab. Will now overspray with a lighter mix to add some variation to the colour.
Will take some more pic's soon.

Shaun

Well, I've finally made minimal progress. The turret right side forward panel or plate needed some attention with putty. The fit was pretty poor and some of the storage on the back required filling too. The turret left back also had a rather gapping hole and as it's hard to get at I trimmed up a piece of styrene and glued that in place.

Maybe I should have painted the suspension before putting the tracks on but with all the breakage I experienced I didn't want to fiddle with the tracks again. As the side skirts cover most of the wheels I resorted to brush painting the area. The painting takes forever as I have to use a small brush to get into all the nooks and crannies and maintain the detail. Just the tools on the hull back and the stuff around the turret hatch left to put on. Picture of where I am at the moment.



Regards,
AJ

Lots of great builds so far!! I haven't even started yet. Here is my dilemma:



I hope to start on something by the end of this weekend.....

Wow! Great dilemma! I would go for the M16, haven't seen that around yet.

Cheers!
Stefan

@muddyfields - Shaun, I am sure that I speak for all when I say we can't wait to see some progress pictures.

@weathering_one - Thanks for sharing your update pictures, AJ. It gives all of us something to look at and I'm sure inspires the stragglers to get moving. Despite your problems with the kit it appears you are making progress. I must also add that the Challenger in some ways appears to have some nice moulding details. Are you considering hand painting the entire tank?

@dutchboyinohio - WOW, what a dilemma you must be in. Here's my votes for what to build:



To those who haven't started yet, I suggest that you don't leave things until the last week or moment. From what I and others have experienced these Matchbox kits can have hidden gremlins that might need to be resolved. Best building luck to all!

Cheers,
Jan

I've found a few gremlins just trying to align the multi-faceted hull of the German armored car. There's a lot to be said for the US's flat armor!

BTW, if any of you Matchbox fans saw a kit in one of my photos that you just have to have, let me know, I'll probably part with some of these kits.

Ok guys, I decided to start with the Comet (40072). Not much to it really, and in my excitement to get started I forgot to take some real before pictures, so here are some in progess ones:

Box Cover and Back:





In progress shots:





The base, two parts only (base and tree). I put a basecoat on it and some initial highlights, as well as a small puddle which of course can't be seen once the Comet goes on the base Still got some highlighting, washing, and detail painting to do.



Parts left:



And of course no Matchbox kit build would be complete without one major headache. I give you: the tracks:



I spent about 2.5 hours on this kit so far .... fun build, lots of good memories.

Jan, I will probably do a lot more painting by brush than with an airbrush. My airbrush equipment is quite basic or crude and my skills in it's use extremely limited..

dutchboyinohio, I wish I could have found a Comet. It looks more appropriate to my skill levels. I spent the better part of three hours just trying to get one track on (and breaking suspension pieces).

In the last few days I stumbled along and made more progress. The biggest pain was filling in more areas where gaps had existed because of poor fit. I tried Testors putty but it was a pain because it shrinks and then I tried Squadron putty but it spreads quite poorly. I think that this particular kit was cursed as while trying to mix the Squadron putty in it's tube by kneading it the back of the tube burst and the contents oozed all over my work area. The good thing is that the turret is finally built and all assembly should be done today.

In the pictures below you can see the one remaining area with the white putty that needs a bit of cleaning up. I believe it's a searchlight box and it had quite a nasty gap to be filled. I noticed in pictures that there is a door that covers a sight on the commanders cupola so I used some scrap plastic to add some missing detail. The ribs or whatever they are appera a bit on the thick side in the pictures but I'll try to sand them down to a more appropriate size.





To who ever is also going to build this beast, you are in for "loads" of FUN!

Regards,
AJ

Nice progress on your Comet, Mark. Nobody will see the puddle, but YOU will know it is there looking good underneth the Comet.

Will you change the running gear to fit the base or keep it as it is?

Thanks Jesper! Haven't decided on the running gear yet although I imagine I'll probably keep it as is. It'll be hard enough already to get the tracks to fit!

Hi folks,

After a couple of weeks struggling I managed to finish off the Churchill AVRE. As you can see on the pics I allowed myself some 'artistic' freedom and inserted the commander from a matchbox Humber Scout Car in the cuppola of the Churchill...hope you all don't mind?

For the rigging I used the only wire that was available to me...as you can see it was too thick and was a pain in the b*tt to apply.

Anyway..here are the pictures:







gr.

(S)Martin

@dutchboinohio - Mark, the before pictures are not mandatory but thanks for posting the in progress ones. I am sure that these may help other members see what they might run into. Man, those tracks look scary!

@weathering_one - Congratulations on achieving a completed turret despite all your difficulties. Hang in there as you are in the home stretch now. We appreciate your in progress pictures and potential warnings about this kit.

@Smartin - Very nice job on the AVRE. I can't believe how you and Stefan managed the rigging. You may be proving that it's possible but I am sure most of us would dread tackling it. Our master chart has been updated to reflect your completion and the pictures added to the future feature database. The crew figure is a very nice added touch and totally within the spirit of the rules.

That's now six completed vehicles with 2 AVRE, 2 Chaffee. 1 Puma, and 1 Firefly. We've got more than enough bridging equipment but require more vehicles to make use of those bridges.

Cheers,
Jan

Strewth that rigging looks a pain to work with. All in all though a nice build.

I have progressed a little further but not much as I am trying to complete other builds. Once those are done, the M40 will be tackled with gusto!

@Martin: nice AVRE. I've got that one in my stash too, sure looks more tempting every time I see one.

@Jan: don't forget to add my Comet to the scorecard

Hey don't forget the B1 and the Renault! Now that would be a cool combination, a Renault passing over a Churchill Bridge...

Nice looking Churchill Martin! Never thought about the planks being wood, but I guess mine were just painted with the rest of the tank... I thought about adding a wooden base too, but then I wanted to keep the Matchbox spirit to it.

Cheers!
Stefan

Probably a wise move, Mark. The Matchbox running gear can be problematic at most times.

Looking forward to see more.

Not got any further with my Priest build - been concentrating on other projects.

Time to get on with it. When's the deadline to complete?

Not to worry too much but you better not procrastinate. We are not quite two months into the campaign so you have over two months left. Terminal date for the campaign is May 15/10. From what I am seeing with some builds you may require all that time.

Chart was updated today to reflect current status of builds. Thanks to those that keep me on my toes.

Cheers,
Jan