Damon, I've been following this build from the start and only realized tonight you were the builder. The model looks great so far. Just a few comments.
1. I'm not 100% sure but the air valve/spring in your airbrush may be damaged by using high pressure (higher than 30 psi).
2. In future, you can detail your guns a little more, some drilling and counter sinking can go a long way.
3. I sent some Lav pics for you.

Damon,

It could be the pictures but the paint finish looks grainy. It could mean the paint is drying in the air before it hits the kit. It could be from too much air pressure or not thin enough. I have had this problem at times as well on a plane kit which is much less forgiving then armor. I would check on the forum for air brushing Q&A for additional solutions.

I hand paint my road wheel tires then mount the wheels just a matter of preference I guess.

Tom

Kurt and Thomas;
Yes been having some airbrush issues lately and am trying to get them sorted out. I think that is causing the grainy look at least on the turret. Been using Tamiya paints with dentaured iso as thinner and it might need to be thinned more. I am still no expert airbrusher and do most of my figures by hand (maybe this is why I never finish any of the models I start?) Thanks for the kudos, although I would say that I am not deserving. I just got some lube for the airbrush and a sonic cleaner so I am going to strip them this weekend and clean and lube and see if that helps too. BTW, my friend just returned with the spray booth all wired up and it is amazing!! Dude totally took care of me. Gotta love friends who are handy. All for now, late and I need to get some sleep. Cheers.

Ok, my buddy Alexi totally styled me out the other day and managed to get the blower hooked up for the spray booth in NO TIME at all. Got it back Wed night and this in now no longer the "ghetto" spray booth. This thing is the seriously sick, pimped out spray booth, to be the envy of all! (Don't be jealous boys)

Photos are below, but I wanted to mention the extras my boy hooked me up with (no I do not normally talk like this, but I am a little geeked out right now so excuse the use of colourful diction). Firstly he added some extra cleats to the back and side walls as I had no more small scrap laying around, thank you. Next he cut out a spot for the blower and then preceded to bolt half of it in, the sucking part, and half of it on the outside, the blowing part, so that it has a better fit and seal, thank you. Next he wired the light to the same switch as the blower so that when you flip the switch both come on AND you can still have the blower without the light if you want, thank you (although in retrospect it might have been better to have the light be able to come on w/o the blower for photo shooting. . .no worries). Then he cut out a notch for the light cord as it was getting caught on the right side of the booth when you opened and closed the lid, thank you. And to top it all off he added four outlets that are wired with the blower and switch so that I can mount extra lights for a photo booth, and or add more items to the already over loaded circuits in my garage, sweet.
Ok here are the photos, and did I mention that the blower only cost me $28 including shipping AND it was BRAND NEW? Ok enough boasting. Cheers.









If I am adding this up correctly the total bill for this is:
Wood Scrap from another project (all wood cost me like $50? max and this was the leftover) $0.00
Handles c.$3.00
Light c$18.00
Blower $28.00
Paint for inside $5.00
Friends time to make it awesome 3 beers (granted they were GOOD beers)
Total $60.00 give or take $5. I'd say that is pretty good. what about you?

No time to build this weekend as work and unexpected house guests kept me from the bench. Have been working on the track for the last week or so since the last "real" post. I am currently in the process of distressing the tracks much like the road wheels that I did in the very beginning. After looking through Makoto Takaishi's Perfect Panzer I and II I noticed that even he did not distress the road wheels and rubber track pads. I have already made my point about this so I won't bother with ranting about it here too. While I may not be geeking out about the exact mm size of the thread for the antenna tie downs I am pretty fervent about making a weathered vehicle look "weathered" all over. "nuff said.
Once I get these done to a level of satisfaction I will post pictures and describe how I did this, not that I am really under the impression that none of you know or care or that I am any well spring of some new technique. So there you go, now back to it. Cheers.

Bad day at work so I took my frustrations out on the tracks tonight. Like the road wheels issue I have my opinions about how rubber tacks should look. So I began by attacking them with an exacto blade. Initially I began by "chipping" at the track pads to simulate "chips" and "chunks". After realizing that this might be a bit heavy handed I started to chip away at the track pads using a stippling/stabbing motion just hitting the edge of the track pads. While this may not make sense the results were pretty good, from what I can tell. After the tracks are painted will be the real test to see if it works.I am feeling pretty confident about this approach although it is VERY time consuming/boring/tiring. I was forced to stop every 5 min or so as my hand would get cramped from holding the blade so tightly. Here are the pics if there is anyone still following this train wreck. Cheers.

Still working on getting the track sufficiently "weathered" to suit my tastes. Upon the suggestion of someone here I DID decide to bore out the ends of the MG's yesterday. This is something that I always thought about doing as a young modeller, but had no idea that a thing such as a "pin vice" even existed. Now that I have been the proud owner of one for almost twenty years, figured, why not? So add that to the small list of accomplishments on this build. woo, hoo.
Have a few detail bits that I added, mostly the stowage bins handles, as I mentioned that I did not want to break them off. Final assembly will be next then one final paint coat followed by the weathering and decals and detail painting, not necessarily in that order. Any one still paying attention? Cheers.

Still here.......
I've been in the same mode, spending time in ways other than modeling, and getting side-tracked, but (not to high-jack) I did "finish" this:

So I feel a little better......
Hang in there, Damon, it'll come together. I also like what you're doing with the track pads. I've seen pics of in-service Magachs with the rubber almost completely gone.

Grate work, love the paint booth.

The chipping looks good - something a lot of guys overlook. I've done it on AFV Club track because it, like yours, is styrene. One suggestion, in your third photo, all of the "jab" marks are aligned the same. Vary the orientation of your blade so they're not all in the same line.

Ok, quick update. Firstly thank you Caveman and Skipp for the kudos, much appreciated, especially for you lot (I've seen what you guys have done and am much impressed). So, somehow, someway I must have angered the modelling gods because disaster has struck twice now. Yes, twice.
The first came when I was adding the storage box handles onto the kit. Well that went flawlessly. Until I came back a day later to find that two or three had not fixed properly and needed to be reglued. Grabbing my handy tweezers I went to work and glued all of them back on snugly. Except for one. As I was (you already know where this is heading don't you?) holding it with the tweezers getting the glue onto the kit the sound of my worst nightmares rang out all too clearly. . . "plink". The dreaded sound of the tweezer ends coming together quickly. Which meant my part had flown off into the garage somewhere, never to be seen again. . . .crud.
So I puttied over this and chalked it up to "wear and tear" on the vehicle and never looked back. Big mistake. When the modelling gods are trying to get your attention, you had better listen. Weather they required some burnt offering or something, I'll never know. But I will find out soon enough, as they soon demanded a sacrifice. Which they got in short order.
Having been trying to fiddle with the track layout on this kit for the past week, I finally came up with, what I thought might be a good solution to making sure that everything would line up correctly, tape. Tape the tracks onto the maksing tape in the correct placement and wrap that around the final drive and wheels. Well, not so much so I left it sort of taped together on the workbench. Onto other things. So while glueing the rear hatch stuff onto my LAV C2 yesterday, my hand slipped and knocked over a bottle of liquid glue, which luckily was only about 1/4 full. I quickly uprighted the bottle but one long length of track became the sacrifice. The glue attacked it, and while it is not pretty, I think it is salvageable. The paint that was on was stripped and the plastic took on a "shiny" kind of look that I am not so confident about, we'll see though.
So I need to make some kind of offering to the modelling gods, so if anyone had a suggestion, I am happy to entertain it .
I was able to take the new spray booth for a run yesterday and happy to report, no fumes at all. That thing REALLY sucks! I got the touch ups done on the upper hull and turret and once the tracks are sorted out, detail pant and final assembly. Will post pics later in the day. Cheers.

Sorry to hear about the glue mishap. Also feeding the carpet monster with small pieces of plastic is always a pain. Something I had heard about with spray booths don't use them while the furnace is going they might draw in the CO. I had heard about a fellow modeller who got sick that way.

AFV makes M60 track both chevron and pad styles. I have some for my M60 when i get the time. I bought 2 sets of chevron style for the M103 that Accurate Armor promised but hasn't released.

Tom

Thomas, I will check on the M60 tracks. I am trying to make the ones I have work but it is not the easiest thing to do. I am hoping that tomorrow will bring me the time to work on it. Cheers.

Ok, been a while, sorry for the absence (although you might have appreciated it, who knows. . . .) been busy with work and life. So I received the new tracks, but have not opened them. I think I am going to try to forge ahead with the OOB build and make it work, who knows, maybe this will morph into a track changing dio. . . no promises, though.
I have been loathe to attempt the tracks lately as I have just not had the patience to do it. The last time I tried, I got really fed up and had to pack up everything for a few days, even the LAV C2 build. I feel that I am now in a better place mentally (I am sure that there is some room for debate here. . .) and am hoping that I can make some time this week to forge ahead. If anyone has some really good tips on making these things work and go together easily, I am all ears. Likewise to any suggestions on stress relief, other than shooting guns and smashing stuff.
On the bright side I ordered some really nice detail brushes from a friend and she tells me that they are in today and being unpacked, so that is a bonus. maybe this will inspire me to get some figures set up for that track changing idea. . . .hmmmm, Cheers.

So, I have begun working on the track again and am hoping that this time is a better go round than last. I am using the Testors liquid cement (awful stuff! The smell is enough to make you sick, feeling a bit nauseous right now), but it does allow you more time to work the curves as it were. Here are some shots:





You can see the distress on the tracks pretty well here. This was a test on this kit so no bashing on how "uniform" it looks, my first time doing this and working with this kind of track. I am used to the Tamiya "rubber band" type from the 80's (no old guy jokes either).
Work and summer heat has been keeping me from doing any work for the last few weeks, but I am hopeful that I will get back into it on a regular basis, any way its good for my sanity right now. , , , ,
So, that is it for now, hope there is still someone paying attention besides me. Cheers.

You are a brave man to use those tracks but good on you. I like the way you have stressed them, good work.

Paul.

Paul;
Coming from you that means a lot. Cheers.

Quick update. So some of the glue did not set and I had to re-glue last night. I am assuming that I am not going to have anymore time this weekend until Monday and that is highly suspect as well. . . .will post news as it happens. Cheers.

So I seem to be making two steps forward and one step back on these tracks.I get a section glued and then when I try to add the next the first one falls apart. Incredibly frustrating. The testors liquid glue sucks by the way, does not leave much glue markings or melt seams but it does not hold really well either. I am learning how to be more patient so I guess that is the silver lining. . . . .

I am posting some pics to show what little progress there is. To be honest I think building is the only thing keeping me sane right now. Having even an hour at night to do this is keeping me calm as work is just awful right now. Anyway here is the pics. Cheers.

Quick update. I have had very little time this week to work on anything other than work and sleep. I did manage to get some time last Monday to work on the tracks and again on Tuesday (?) night, but that is it. I checked my work yesterday morning after letting it sit for a few days and I think we have some success! I managed to get the tracks properly lined up with the teeth in the drive sprocket and a run over the top of the return rollers and just starting to get onto the idler wheel up front. The next step is to add the two links at the bottom of the angled run at the back that will connect the bottom run to the track already laid onto the drive sprocket. Then back to the idler wheel and down and connect the whole lot. I will try to snap some shots tonight and put them up.
Just a note, I have not distressed the bottom run of track as it will not be seen if it is touching the ground, right? So, call me lazy, I call it smart use of time management. So there.

Now if I can just figure out how I am going to paint this once it is on the kit. . . .

It's looking good. I'm surprised the Testors isn't working well for you. I specifically recommended it to someone a few months ago for the very same thing. How new is the bottle?
It may be my imagination, but I always feel like a brand new bottle is more potent than an older one that's been opened a lot.
If you happen to have a Scott air pak lying aroung your house you can always try MEK.

Nice build. I too am using the kit tracks. I'm building a M60A1 from a Esci parts kit and an Academy M60A1 for the parts I'm missing. I also intend to use the mine roller from the Academy kit, when it gets here. I may have missed this, but what color and brand paint are you using? Sorry. I don't mean to hijack your thread. That is quite an excellent build.

liquid glue works best when applied to surfaces that dont have any paint on them: thats probably is whats giving you problems

Skipp, bottle is "new" as in I just bought it in June and only recently began to use it but I have no idea how long in was on the shelf before I took it home.

Matt, no worries, post some pics of yours would love to see how everyone else's looks, I always think my stuff sucks. Paint is my own mix of Tamiya Buff and Grey I think? It was the colour that was suggested either here on on IDF in scale and I think it is pretty spot on.

Jon, agreed although my other liquid glue bonds just about anything and quickly and it does not stink up the joint. Bondene or something like that. . .

Cheers gents.

Ok here are the pics, sorry if they are not the best but that is how it goes sometimes. Looking forward to getting some more done in the am. Cheers.

love this build post, exceptional attention to detail and lots of fun pics to see the steps come together. always been a fan of the blazer so it is great to see one getting so much care. keep her rolling. cheers, bd.