This is a collection of stowage to choose from, I'll decide how much of it gets used as I go. Also need to build a frying pan, some wine bottles, drinking mugs and some other personal stuff like a book or magazine, ration packs etc. I'll most likely use the MG34 sitting on a rolled tarp on the windscreen armoured cover. Not sure about the other German guns but I think an MP44 or MP40 would make a good trophy that would be stowed securely by the crewmember who got it. The bows for the canvas cover will be stowed in the side racks.



These are the bits I did yesterday, a .50 cal spare barrel, a rope, wire coil, and filled in the back of the spare tyre as the scene I'm going to put it on may make the underneath of the bumper area visible and you can see through the holes in the top so I wanted it to be a complete wheel and tyre. The other bit is a cut down jerrycan with carry handles added. Used as a portable brazier where you just throw in some diesel and wood, light it and put the pan over the top. So it will need to be blackened and a little rusted.






And this is the current state of the vehicle. Waiting on me making some templates for the stars ( didn't like my first attempt so going to do a proper one instead of just a "she'll be right" quickie.

Photos are a little bright as she's a hot, sunny one here today.















It's already looking a whole lot better than it did a week or so ago.

Dean, interesting build! Looking forward to the final result. The paint seems a bit heavy in some places though.

Have one of these M21 in the stash, was thinking about selling it on e-bay but you made me change my mind...

Cheerio!

Yeah I used a can of regular spraypaint for the undercoat, first time I've tried that and it ended up being a lot thicker than I would have liked - meaning I was a bit heavy handed due to being used to needing a lot more passes with the airbrush to get the desired coverage but live and learn, next time I'll be a little less enthusiastic.

There's a few spots I want to sand back and redo before the final coat goes on, areas like the tops of the stowage strap points along the side ( I want to give them some depth anyway so they look less like moulded on lumps and more like tie downs ), drivers side door top and the tool box on the righthand side are the worst.

I'll also clear excess paint out of the .50cal cooling jacket holes and muzzle as well as the mortar tube inner before I paint those.

If I get time tomorrow I'll deal to those so that I can get the final coat on Saturday morning and leave it till Monday to harden before I do the white stars.

I think the kit has great potential, especially as it's the only one around. If I had done this from a new kit I would hve changed a lot more including replacing the running gear with resin ones and removing the ladder mounts as I believe those weren't actually on the production version. Not to mention using a better .50cal with an RB barrel, replacing the dash and gear levers and a few other things I deemed not worth the effort on the rebuild.

Last update for a few days. Underside has been given a darker coat, upper has been cleaned up and given a couple of coats of varying shades of OD. Still needs a final coat of a few lightened shades in spots and then an overall filter coat.

Light is a bit bright so might not be as easy to see in the photos as in the flesh. I'll get the other coats done on Monday then try to get some phots taken in more neutral light.

Just a couple of minor updates, mainly as I've been playing around with my camera settings to figure out how to do close-ups and also to test out a new DIY photo-box.

This is after all the shading work is done. Photos are a little dark, I think I either need brighter lights or thinner filter paper on the box.



These are a few closeups ( the colour isn't that bright a green IRL ).









Next up is to drybrush a little more precise shading, paint the markings on, add a protective clear coat and then start on the overall washes.

Finally got back to it today after a major numpty moment on Friday whilst trying to squeeze in a quick filter job. Had just sprayed it when I got sidetracked by my 12 year old asking about the airbrush and then asking if I could paint her diorama with it ( she's building a 1/35 scale horse paddock ).

So I dutifully gave it a quick once over with the leftover paint to give it a few highlights only to realise that the airbrush had blown all the loose scenics grass off it ... and guess where most of it landed ?

So spent most of yesterday cleaning that off with fine sandpaper and today finally got the base paintwork done.

I still need to fine tune the photobox so I can get some decent true to life photos ( and I really need to get a better background colour ).













So tomorrow will be adding the markings and then I can start detailing it before coming back to the weathering.

Finally got the stars painted on and applied an overall filter of dark green.

Used a template to spray the stars on but wasn't happy with the finished result so redid them by hand which didn't come out as well as I liked but as little of them will be visible once stowage is added I decided to leave them be.





Next up is an overall wash but that might be a few days away as the humidity and weather here isn't suited to spray painting and I need to get a clear gloss coat on it next.

In the meantime back to working on the stowage.

BTW Who do I need to talk to to get the title changed from M81 to M21 ?

PM one of the staff members on the listing of modellers on-line below.

Coming along nicely. The star on the hood is also sprayed?

Don't know for sure, but to change the title you'd probably have to contact the moderator of the forum.

Cheers!
Stef

Yup, I printed out and cut templates for the markings. Unfortunately the templates were one use only and in hindsight I should have given them another couple of coats but they'll do.

Finished scratchbuilding the last of the personal gear today. Now just have to paint it all.

Still have things like packs, tarps, camo net, etc to make as well as adding slings to the weapons.

The personal gear etc so far ( weapons, jerry cans, cooking gear etc ).

Weapons have been detailed by adding bits like cocking handles, reshaping stocks, thinning trigger guards ( and the M3A1 stock ) and hollowing out the muzzle - Hollowing out the muzzle on 1/35 scale M1 Carbines was a fun experience



M1919A4 with rebuilt front end as the Tamiya one is too thin. So I cut it off, added a metal inner barrel and built a cooling jacket for around it ( I can see a small spot that needs fixing up before painting ). Also added a trigger and hollowed out the muzzle. Ammo tin has been detailed to look more like the real thing.



MP40 that has had the butt piece replaced with a wire one, rear sight added, see through front sight added and cocking handle added. This will be attached to a small suitcase mounted as stowage.



Converted jerry can used as a cooker. Has been thinned out internally and had handles added.



Skillet ( shallow frying pan ) that will be stored inside the jerry can cooker.



Large cooking pot that will be attached to the outside of the jerry can cooker.



Large wine bottle ( Magnum ) with its cork. This will need to be coloured green and have a lable added.



Two small wine bottles which will also need colouring and labels as well as the .50cal ammo tin they will be sitting in.





Three cups that will be with the wine bottles.



Cloth covered Bible with a rosary used as a bookmark. The smallest and hardest of all these bits was getting the beads on the rosary ( which are hard to see in the photo as they are currently clear ).



And the most fun to build, one of the crew's guitar. Seeing it in close up I can see the strings need tightening up. It's not that obvious on the piece itself but might look at pulling them free one by one and pulling them a little tighter.



So next up is making the rolled stowage and packs etc. That'll just leave a chain and a few little bits like binoculas etc to add.

I'll get back to weathering the M21 itself once the weather improves. In the meantime this is keeping me busy.

Nice bits and pieces there! They should look great once painted and on the M21 (not that they don't look good already...). Like a circus caravan! How did you do the bottles?

Cheers!
Stef

I'm planning to set it in a Spring '45 setting so I figure by then the crew would have been in Western Europe for 9 months so would have accumulated a few personal items as well as carrying all the gear they would normally need so there will be a fair bit of stowage.

The bottles were made by stretching the inner part of an empty ballpoint pen. the magnum from a regular one, the small bottles from the cheaper pens which tend to have smaller tubes. You do them just like stretched sprue. The corks were then just tapered bits of sprue pushed in and cut to about 2mm long then gently heated till the end melted into a blob.

I'll paint the inside of them with a well thinned green to give the "glass" colour, then a darker green to show the liquid level then add a silver wraping around the neck and print out some small labels to glue on.

I,ve enjoyed following this so far you have excellent skill and shared some good techniques ,thanyou

Thanks Paul. I should probably explain the making of a few parts but I never think of it. Spent yesterday making rolled stowage, a suitcase and some boxes of C-Rats so will try and get photos of those up later today, in the meantime the weather is good so going to go and get a coat of future on in readiness for the overall washes.

Rolled stowage for on the front. It still needs the straps finished with buckles etc. The box is a C Rations box made from evergreen strips. I'll most likely have to print out some decals for the writing on it once it's painted.





The filter applied has given the white stars a greenish tinge so I've decided to give them a light sand back, remask them again and respray them.

And a small battered storage box made from an old Italeri box found in the spares bin with the top built up around the edges, hasp and staples added and the inside thinned down so that it could be bent and twisted in places to show damage to the leading corner of both the top and bottom.



It's been glued in the open position as it willhave an Bazooka stored across it.



I'll be detailing the rolled stowage today with buckles etc as well as finishing off the suitcase and respraying the stars.

Your work continues to be absolutely incredible! Thanks again for showing it and inspiring me.

Semper Fi,
Dave

Hi David, thanks for the kind words.

Unfortunately sometimes I can be my own worst enemy. Today while looking into the tiedown straps for the side stowage I found not only some excellent photos of the straps but also of the Bootman Loops they attach to on the sides of the vehicle, so now I've decided I'm not happy with the moulded on blobs so this evening it will be out with the dremel to try and grind them off, hopefully only leaving a small paintless spot where they were that the new ones will inhabit so that a touch up of the paint with a small brush will be all that is necessary.

Time for the evening updates.

Replaced the moulded blobs on the sides with better looking Bootman Loops. Will prime them by hand tomorrow then give them a quick catch-up spray. There's now five each side and four at the back ( two each side of the door ). These are sufficient for the four straps I'll be making for each side ( plus one for the right rear and two for the left rear ).







Buckles added to the straps on the rolled stowage.





Finished the suitcase ( it still needs a bit of a clean-up to get rid of excess glue and tidy up a few rough spots ).





And this is what it will look like when stowed on the side with a trophy MP40 attached.



Also finished tidying up the frying pan and added Mr Surfacer to give it a cast iron look.



And working on enlarging the rosary beads a little. Once hardened I'll tidy them up to be a bit more spherical.



Next up is to start painting the stowage then when I get bored with that I can take a break and go back to the M21 and do some of the detail painting and complete the weathering.

Awesome job!
If I didn't already have a stash of unbuilt kits, I'd be opening up my own little "chop shop." I've got some dioramas that fell off a shelf that are in dire need of repair. Thanks for the inspiration.
Randy

Yeah I have a dual vehicle diorama earmarked for a makeover after I knocked it off a shelf and managed to knock a few bits off and break a barrel. But that's one is behind a few others on the "do next" list.

Well due to an unfortunate setback in so much as my compressor deciding to make funny sputtering noises and issue forth smoke I'm having to put the vehicle aside and work on other aspects of the build.

Luckily the compressor is still under warrantee so went off today to be fixed but no idea how long that is going to take.

So spent the last couple of days finishing off the small parts of personal gear and then it will be on to the figures.

These are a few bits just done :

Bazooka, two canteens, a couple of bags and a helmet on a duffle bag.



The old tamiya Bazooka has been drilled right through with a 2mm drill so you can now see through it and had the shoulder bit and guard scratchbuilt. It still needs tidying up and the wire frame at the rear for the firing terminals added.



The guitar has had the strings tidied up and the body thickened as i thought it looked a bit thin. The plans I used said 76mm which translates to a fraction over 2mm but it just looked too thin so is now 2.8mm thick.



The BAR has had a two piece sling with clips added, currently it all works but I'll glue it all into it's final position before painting it.



The M19A4 Browning tidied up a bit and undercoated to see if anything else needs cleaning up ( I reckon the bipod needs a bit of attention ).



Slings on the M1 and M2 carbines. These still need the slide buckles added.





A couple of small packs with straps etc added for attaching to the side rail. There's a few other small packs like this still to do as well.



Helmet with straps added and sitting on top of a duffle bag ( I'm planning on having one of the crewmen in a t-shirt and hatless and another in those little wollen cap things the yanks wore ).



The stowage box that will be mounted on the left side.



A couple of canteens that have been a real POA to do. Both have the wire belt mount things added on the back, both have had small "chains" added for the caps and one has had the cap removed so it is hanging down. I figure for a crew sitting in a cramped vehicle it would make sense to remove excess webgear to stop it getting in the way.



That's pretty much it for the personal gear other than finishing the M1 slings and doing the slings for the Thompsons as well as a few more bags and a couple of C-Rat cans.

So until my compressor comes back I'll have to make do with painting all the little add-ons and working on resculpting the crew to how I want them. It came with the original four crewmen and in the box this came in were another 20-30 US figures from various Tamiya kits so I'll be making do with those and putty to redo them how I want them plus maybe raiding some heads etc from the parts bin as needed.

The M21 apparently had a crew of six so I'll be doing the driver in place, three on the mortar, the vehicle commander outside the righthand door and the sixth member outside using binoculas. But that's getting ahead of myself.

Your fine motor skills are most intimidating. I really like those carbines and the BAR.

Dave

Well you can never overstate the value of a good freestanding magnifying glass, good lighting and sharp blades.

I just wish I was better at soldering cause then I could do finer stuff in metal rather than plastic.