Hi Joe!
Looking great so far! Very nice work!
Let me know (via email) when you wanted the color mixes for your driver figure, as I see you're getting close...
Keep us up-to-date on this one!
Rod

Hey Rod!
How you doing, my friend? The end of the build process is in sight but I'm having difficulty getting the driver to fit & look "natural". I've chopped the left leg at the knee & the right leg at the knee & thigh but he still doesn't sit properly. I think I need to sand down the back of his flak jacket to get a better fit on the seat. I think that way he'll look like he is sitting in it rather than on it, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, I will keep you updated & I'll be in touch.
Nice hearing from you again, by the way.
Joe.

Hi Joe,
I received your email, and will be sending you mixes today as soon as the kids go to school.

Rod

What's the drill for cleaning the model before painting? How do I clean all the dust, grease & fingerprints off?
Joe.

Hi fellas,
Am I right to submerge the model in warm water with a mild detergent to clean the model?
How long should I leave the model in the water & should I use a brush to help clean the model?
I'm a little concerned about using a brush as I might break some of the delicate detail off.
Any advice would be most helpful here.
Thanks guys.
Joe.

I personally don't worry about washing them. All I do is blow off the dust and paint away. I have never had an issue with paint adhereing or anything like that.

Hey Joe,
I use my airbrush, or compressed air in a can to blow everything off, and if needed, use isopropyl alcohol and a cotton bud to clean any fingerprints.
Good luck with it,
Rod

Hi fellas,
Thanks for your help here.
Okay, seeing that I've used several different mediums to build the model like injection moulded plastic, resin & photo-etch brass would I need to lay down a primer coat before painting? If so, are there special types of primer for resin & PE that I would need to use?
All help is greatly appreciated guys.
Joe.

Hi Joe fantastic work mate! You will need to prime it, due to the photo etch and resin the best primer to use is Halford's grey primer it's an acrylic so it won't eat your model I know a lot of modellers who swear by it. HTH

Jaymes

It's matter of preference. I don't prime either and have no issues with painting.

Okay, now I need your help & advice on what paints & what colours to use on the model. What colours & mixes should I use for the base colour? Then lowlights & highlights. Dry brushing, etc, etc.
Also, what colours should I use for the tyres & exhaust pipe?
Seriously, I need as much advice as possible for this question as this is the step that will make or break the model!
Thanks fellas.
Joe.

I use exclusively Testors Model Master Enamels for the base coat. For Vietnam OD green (which is darker than WWII OD), I use Dark Green, FS 34079. For tires, Flat Black. Exhuast gets painted with the rest of the vehicle in dark green, then drybrushed with a rusty color during weathering.

For weathering, it depends on the environment and your tastes. If in the red clay delta region, I use a wash of a red-brown and then a drybrush of the same, and a lighter tan drybrush for the mud. It also depends how muddy/dirty you want it. Take a look at some of the tutorials here in the Features section to see how it can be weathered.

Joe,
Tamiya came out with XF-74 JGSDF Olive Drab, which is amazingly a dead on match for US Vietnam era tanks & vehicles. As Gino said, the color was darker & slightly greener than OD from WWII. If you like painting with Tamiya paints, you CAN NOT go wrong with this!

Rod

Thanks Gino & Rod,
I've found some Tamiya XF-74 JGSDF OD on ebay. I've never used Tamiya paints before. Is there an issue with them? Do some modellers not like Tamiya acrylics?
Joe.

Joe: This build is looking ace mate, I'm already seeing visions of it all painted and weathered

As for the Tamiya paints, they are great! I don't know of a modeler who doesn't like them, some just prefer other brands such as Vallejo and Gunze. As far as I know they are issue-free, I'm pretty darn sure you'll like the Tamiya colors

Hi Jerry,
Thanks for your words of encouragement. If I apply the Tamiya XF-74 as a base coat what do I have to do next? I mean you are talking to painting virgin. Never really done it before so I'll need to be talked through this painting process bit by bit.
I thank you all for your patience.
Joe.

Hi fellas,
Just a quick question for reference on a future M35 truck build.
I've noticed on many photos of the M35 series trucks that the headlight configuration is "upside down" compared to the AFV Club kit part. I understand that when a winch was fitted the headlights were moved to the top nearer to the hood but when not fitted the headlights were in the lower position.
I'd like to build a truck without the winch so I'll need to convert the kit part to suit. My question is does the grill cover stay the same on either version or will I need to convert this kit part, too?
Thanks guys.
Joe.

The winch was not really a factor with light placement. From low to high lights was a change in the production design at some point. Also, the winch is a kit and it can be added or removed. So, you can see high lights w/o a winch as well as low lights w/winch and vice versa. Either is correct. The grill doesn't change in either case.

Low lights w/ and w/o winch:



High lights w/ and w/o winch.

Just to complete Gino's reply (from David Doyle's post in the "Most frequent truck" thread) :
The low-mounted position of the headlights was the norm on non-winch trucks in the Standard Nomenclature List series G-742 (M35A2) trucks up to about 1969-1970, when all trucks in this family, both winch and non-winch, went to the high mounted position.

HTH

Frenchy

Okay, thanks for putting me straight on the headlights question Gino. Much appreciated.
Joe.

Sorry for the delay but time is limited at the moment what with one thing & another. I'll soon be finishing up building a couple of figures for the crew so expect more pics in the next couple of days.
In the meantime, I'm thinking about getting the cargo together & need a little advice. I have various boxes like C Ration boxes, beer boxes, cigarette boxes, etc, etc, from companies like Mec Models & Real Model, for example & I'd like to know how you would put them together. Some are made of card whereas others are made from paper. Now I'm guessing I'd have to cut them out very carefully & fold them into shape but would you put anything inside like a piece of plastic, say, so that they keep their shape?
Any advice on the trucks cargo would be really helpful. I'd like to hear your thoughts.
Thanks fellas.
Joe.

Joe,
I have used basa wood inside some of mine. You just glue them together with elmer's glue. Both Real Models and Mec Models have some good boxes. Hope this help. Looking foward to your next update and pictures. Did you ever hear ffom AFV?
Tom

Hi Tom,
Thanks for the advice. I'll see if I can pick some balsa wood up in the morning.
And no, I didn't hear from AFV Club.
Joe.

Joe,
No problem good luck with the boxes.
Tom

I'm starting to put the cargo together now & I need some advice. I've been carefully cutting out the boxes & using balsa wood to fill them with (Tom, thanks for the great tip).
I have a couple of questions that may have been touched on in another thread but I just need it to be confimed here.
How many pallets can fit onto the bed of an M35 truck?
How was the load stacked? Was there a pallet for C Rats; a pallet for beer; a pallet for ammo, etc, etc? If so, how was each pallet loaded? I understand that there were several menus of C Rats so were the rations varied on each pallet or were they all the same menus? Likewise beer: did you get a pallet of Budweiser; a pallet of Miller, a pallet of Hamms, etc, or did each pallet have various brands on them? Were thay mixed?
What about smallarms ammo? Lets say .50cal, for arguments sake. Were the cans transported in their wooden shipping crates or was each crate broken down & the cans loaded individually?
I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. Have I missed anything?
I'd appreciate all the help you can give me on this one because I want to get this bit right. I'd love to hear from the people who were actually there & saw how it was done firsthand.
Thanks fellas.
Joe.