Manage to finish the bulk of the weathering. First I applied the filters using oils and then faded with oils using white, yellow ochre, raw umber and burnt sienna. Next I added a pin wash using sepia, I like the contrast the darker sepia gives instead of raw umber. Finally I sprayed Testor's Dullcote clear laquer. Next step will be to give a light dust coat with the airbrush and then a dusting with pigments. I'm not sure if I should go with the red earthy colour or light dust colour. Any ideas will be welcome.

Hi

If I was to go with a pigment, the earthy red would be your best bet.

Hope that helps.

Great build so far Brett. Very interesting little vehicle, and looks like a nice OOB build. I don´t think the etch looks too bad.

Latest update. The Ontos is 95% finished. I'll add some small touches and a little more pigment. As you can see I've went with the reddish earth. First, I did a little chipping, nothing traumatic. I made a mixture of Tamiya enamel flat brown with raw umber artist oil and applied using a split toothpick and brush. After, I did a little silvering using a 2B pencil. Then I sprayed a very dilute coat of red earth made by mixing some Tamiya orange with red brown mainly focusing on the lower hull. This was very close in colour to MIG's Vietnam Earth pigment. I applied the pigment mixing it with lighter fluid since this doesn't leave tidal marks and from a safety point of view you don't breathe in the pigment dust (I always use a dust mask). I painted the tracks with the same diluted red earth colour followed with some drybrushing with Gunze Lacquer Iron then pigment. One more thing before I forget, I tied down the track at the back between the third and fourth wheel to make it sit more naturally.

Well that's it for now. Next step is to paint the figures and make some small diorama
Sorry about the quality of the photos. When it is all finished, I'll take the time to set up proper lighting.

Great work, Brett! I may have to add the kit to my stash.

Very nice....good job with the VN earth

Rounds Complete!!

That looks like one mean mother, glad I'm not on the receiving end. All that for a good price, must have one also. Your paint job came out real nice, looks the part from my refferance. I take it with the dust and all it will be out in the field fighting off the V.C.? Any one know if they were used for convoy duty?

Hi Brett , great job , well done .

Super job, Brett. I hope that I can do even a small part as nice as you've done.

I hope that you don't mind, but I'm adding this for those that want to 'guild the lily'. I also posted this at Missing Lynx.


With the release of the Academy Ontos kit, which is lovely, here are some added details for those interested.
The information comes from inspection of the 'Ontos Crewman' site. It is well worth the effort. The quality of the photos is mixed, but they are interesting. To those who haven't visited the site, here is a link:

http://ontos.homestead.com/main.html


1. Antennas. There are two styles noted.

Close together, as seen here in the first pictureby Dennis Marquet:

http://ontosa.homestead.com/dmar.html

Also here taken in Hawaii before movement to Viet Nam. Lynn Terry photo, numbers four and six:

http://ontosd.homestead.com/lt1.html

Compare with the antennas spaced apart: Photo number two, Bruce Beebe photographs:

http://ontosb.homestead.com/bb2.html

Kent photo, 1968:

http://ontosf.homestead.com/samp.html

At Khe Sahn, Dennis Richardson photos, number three:

http://ontosa.homestead.com/drich.html

The Academy appears to provide the mounts but not the antennas for the latter version.

Some Ontos had the wading exhaust extension:

Lynn Terry photos, in Okinawa, before movement to SVn, last one on the bottom:

http://ontosf.homestead.com/lt3a.html

And at at Chu Lai, first and third photos:

http://ontosd.homestead.com/lt6a.html

At Hue, Tet, 1968, Brian Ross Photo:

http://ontosa.homestead.com/sam3.html

Sometimes they carried RR the cleaning rod. First photo, rod on the left side, landing at Da Nang, 1965:

http://ontosa.homestead.com/sam3.html

Using the rod, photo number three:

http://ontos.homestead.com/c22.html


Tank ID letter/numbers could be yellow, white or light gray. I have seen units from both AT Bats with either white/gray or yellow vehicle ID codes.
Light Gray:

http://ontosf.homestead.com/austin1.html

Nickname on the back of the commander's copula hatch, ID code unknown:

http://ontosa.homestead.com/msph5.html

Best wishes,
Grant

Man. that is one ugly "Thing", and I just got to get me one.

Sounds like it has its challenges, but congrats to Academy for thinking outside the square.

I'm inspired to build one!

This one seems to be the first Ontos from Academy on Armorama Thank you for sharing your work with us. I have to get 2 of this...By the way, does Academy give 2 insigna markings or just one??

Great build Brett and see you soon

Just a thought, but the new USMC figures from Bravo6 would look great with this. You can see them over on Historicus Forma under the news heading.
Excellent build, by the way!
Joe.

Very nice build, this kit is on my list. You had a question about the jerry cans. It depends on what type of lid the can has as to what it was intended to hold. A screw in cap was for oil or fuel. if the cap was large and hinged it as for water. Jeeps always carried gas in their cans and were usually labeled MOGAS. Not a good Idea to put gas or diesel fuel in your engine. My tank carried one can of 30 weight oil one of 10 and 2 water cans. The water cans were lined in a cream colored enamel.

Tom

Do not how I missed this but a killer job on the kit.

Nice clean build and great weathering all over.

Congrats and I think I will get this kit.

Now where is the dang kit of the M-42 Duster at

Thanks all for the comments. I haven't posted anything for some time due to work.

I made a mistake before. I said there were decals for only one Ontos, but there are two, not much different though.

I've made some progress in making a diorama for the Ontos. I'll list the steps as follows:

1. Made a simple top down plan on paper
2. Glued two sheets of styrofoam board together (total 2cm)
3. Cut the styrofoam with a hot wire cutter
4. Carved the road and terrain with box cutters

Next steps will be to coat the base with modelling paste addind rocks and sand and pressing in the soldiers and items.

Any thoughts on the layout or adding items welcome. Thinking of adding some jerrycans. There will be a small tree on the opposite side.

Hi
Looks like you had a job on your hands building this.
Great finish & love the paint job.
Cant wait to see the diorama that your making finished.
Well Done

Shaun

From Simon Dunstan's "Vietnam Tracks" book (a must have IMHO) :
"Ontos was initially used in road convoys, but because of its hazardous backblast on firing its value to the column was limited. This shortcoming was compounded by several accidental discharges while on convoy escort with disastrous effect to the vehicle directly ahead. These accidents were caused by the firing cable, sear and trigger working improperly, either separately or together. If the firing cable was adjusted too tightly, vehicle vibration could cause the firing mechanism to release. Thes accidental firings caused restrictions to be placed on the vehicle, limiting its value as a support weapon."

HTH
Frenchy

thank you for sharing your build!
I saw this in a FSM issue and was more then intrigued by it.
Looks like this might be my first attempt at an armor model!
Great resource links in this thread too!

For everyone interested in this model, you could also check issue 25 ( nov/dec 2005) of AFV Modeller. Inside is a short history of the "Ontos", lots of pics and an article by David Parker about puting together the only kit available at that time, the Hobbyfan kit. Funny note, "Ontos" is the greek word for "thing".

One of these days I'll catch up to all the kits I want, including this one. I also just caught that LionMarc has the aluminum barrels for the Academy Ontos.

http://www.afv-news.com/2010/04/lionmarc-m40a1-barrels/


- Jeff

finally rememberd to take a tape measure with me when I went down south by that Ontos. It does not set level depending on how you look at it. If you measure from the bottom lip of the fenders to the ground there is about 1.5" of slant in it. But if you measure the bar that couples the whole suspension together the figures are much greater. Right at six inches of slant! (measured at the C/L of the first road wheel and the last road wheel. This track I measured has the complete drive train in it and was actually driven into position before have the doors and access covers tach welded closed. There also may well be a difference between the top barrels and the bottom barrels in the rear unless the bottom ones are captured in somekind of a cast housing. The barrels are pretty strait (once again this track has two different barrels on it). One pair has a slight bell mouth at the muzzel, while the other four have a distinct flange at the muzzel. The bell mouth pair also have recessed rifeling (about 1/2"). Lastly there is a 4.5" rubber pad in the center of each cleat of the track. The track is also different that the kit in a few ways I might add here. There is also a drive lug that goes thru the rubber band track. It seems to be rubber as well, and is a green color.
gary

Another update. Had a few days of work and tried to complete as much as possible. I'll break down the following steps easily:

1. Added some wooden spars to the bottom of the base so it sits a little of the ground.
2. Coated it in G-Coat Earth, a textured modelling paste. added rocks and my groundwork blend which is fine dirt, used coffee grounds, blended leave litter, blended fine roots and twigs, small stones and some dried out thyme leaves. Finally, added some grass.
3. Used diluted Tamiya acrylics for first coat.
4. Sprayed on second coat
5. Added a wash of sepia oil paint and sprayed a fine final coat
6. Dry brushed the grass, buff, flat green then lime green.
7. Added Mini-Natuur grass tufts.
8. Added MIG's Vietnam Earth pigment all over base.
9. Glued accessories into place weathered with pigment

That's it for the moment. There are a several more accessories to put into place, a little more weathering, the figures and some extra foliage.

Hopefully, I'll get it complete by Saturday - fingers crossed.

Hi
This is coming along very nicely.
The base is looking great.

Shaun

I really like the base. The tufts of grass look especially real.

Finally got round to finishing the Ontos. Hope you like it.
Comments welcome.