So almost finished -

I painted the tools, the guns and mounts, added some mud splash and road dust. Also added the mirrors. The only things I have not done yet are the antennas and touch up one or two finger marks.

I took these photos outside quickly to try better light?







I tried to get a pic level against an ASLAV but there is no room on the diroama to put a Bushy and the ASLAVs are glued down.. This is best I can do.




So other than try take some better pics or whatever, Im pretty much doen with this project. I will write a summary in next day or two about the kit, and hopefully start a list of corrections and fixes.

All comments welcome including criticism (makes me try harder) as well as observations. Please consider this was as close to an OOB build as possible and other than the guns I think I did that justice. A build of discovery to see how welel this kit goes together.. the next one I build will be quite different firstly because it will be Army, and secondly I will have it ,loaded with back packs and stores , crows weapon mount , dukes, etc etc..

Adam

Adam,

WOW with a capital W. I followed with awe your recent diorama build and again I am astounded by your work. Like many others I have received my email from SMA and have placed my order. At last years ADF show at Williamtown I got to climb over and through an RAAF Bushmaster that had been driven down from Amberly, photoing like mad in preperation for this kits release.

If your ever interested I have an accurate armour LCT4 in my stash crying to be built - but I guess the commute might be a bit of a stretch!!

Watching your work makes me push myself to try new and varied techniques, keep up the great work!!

Andrew.

I'm just going to make my bushy out of the pure enjoyment of building a kit as a hobby, yeh there's a couple things that I had in my bushy, but not going to go over the top on it, my bushy will be unique as I have all the reference photos of wear I had things, stored things etc.....Little things thst no one knows about but me!!!!

Blog it!!! please

Jon,
Now that Bronco have brought out their 25 pounder I have just about have the full decl load, Fireflys, Churchills, Cromwells & the odd Matador just really need some appropriate R.N. figures or something suitable to convert and then we are good to go!!

regards,

Andrew H

Hey mate, been following this one with a lot of interest, have two of these myself. Great work, now I know what im up for, and hopefully can do a half decent job, using your experience,s as a guide to get it right.
Cheers Andrew

Cheers Andrew,

Good luck with your builds and lets hope to see some pics eh

I was thinking about toying with the idea of either compiling a list of all the known corrections for this kit, and posting it here , or, starting up my own web page specifically aimed at the Australian modern vehicles in kit form and the relevant corrections ,with some kind of forum and photo library... dedicated to accurizing ASLAV, Abrams, Leopard, M113 variants, Bushmaster, etc vehicles that carry the Auscam markings. Be alot of work and would need alot of access to private photo collections... but possible. some kind of printable checklist for each version of vehicle which you could mark off the corrections as you built it....

ANyways food for thought.

In the meanwhile.. lol.. the Bushmaster I built here won peoples choice for Armour at the SAPMA comp last weekend. not bad, but didnt rank in the technical judged categories ..(was in same class as my 3 ASLAVS which got 1st and third)..

More to follow..

Adam

Does the Mouse House website have a lot of this sort of data ?

Yes it does, but not the way oi would present ot or as specific as I would be.

For example I would want to list every single modification to correct the vehicle out of the box.. followed by all the modifications required to accurize the model to a particular reference. Not just list the modifications related to the kits that are available. Alot of modifications are simple overlooked ones such as replacing grab handles or relocating details, also there is no ready reference online about markings and also no ready reference about configurations.. only pics provided in forums. .. it would be massive amount of work and would be constantly needing upgrading and rely heavily of input from the public, And it would definitely cross boundaries with other sites, but as a not for profit site and one which doesnt market its own stuff (so no bias) should also imply a good level of impartiality that is needed for reviews and corrections to local made kits.

Anyways Im just dreaming a bit and it probably will never happen.. just food for thought.. sometimes you have to provide the spark for something to happen or it never will.

Adam

Hey Adam,

One hell of a nice Bushmaster!! Really awesome paint job. Did you also have a hard time understanding the manual?
I wondering wich paints you have used for the camouflage pattern?

Cheers Remi

Really nice built! but i think the camo is too vague (dont know how to say it in english) other words, too much overspray in my opninion.
but great job on the weathering etc

That is one very nice BM
I finished my kit a couple of weeks back though when I say finished I havent put a call sign on it as I will wait until my next big job is done which will involve no modeling for some time, one minor point and I hate to tell you as your work is excellent is that the rear hatches shoul be vertical when in the open position other than that it looks great.
Cheers cuny12

hello all thanks for the comments

@ Remi, The instructions certainly have confusing steps - especially where some parts are actually located (no locating pin or hole etc). So I found them difficult , but they were laid out in a logical sequence. The paints I used are the Mouse house Ozcam paint set - see this link for website http://www.mheaust.com.au/MHE/Paint/MAP1.htm

@ i agree wholly that there is too much overspray. I screwed up basically when I did the first dudt coat - the paint was not thin enough and the air pressure in the airbrush not high enough and it came out thicker and spottier than anticipated ! and I was pretty much stuck with it. i would not do it that heavy again - even for afghan cars. As for the vague camo, I had a problem with my airbrush nozzle not going fine enough ( ineed a new one) and couldnt get a good tight feather between the camo pattern colours - but the overspray dust conceals that alot. Once again something to be addressed later.

@ Cuny12, you sent me running for my references with the open hatch being vertical. And I guess your right. I was pretty sure I checked that when I built it and had photos of it flat but cant find them now. ANd when I look closely at the hinge on some walkaround blogs, the hinge looks like it doesnt go past vertical anyways! unlike the aslav one with the multi step hinge pin. Good pick up but i guess i wont be fixing it as the weathereing underneath will be way of contrast to the rest.. Put that one down to a leaning mistake.

I took it to the SAPMA model competition and it got peoples choice for armoured vehicles. Didnt place but I didnt really expect it too, its a sloppy job up close , trust me.

Adam

Hey Adam,

Thanks for the info on the matter! I have orderd the enamels just now. To bad it will have to wait for about another 4 months before I can get to it!

Cheers

Remi

oooooooh please dont call them enamels... they certainly do not behave like normal "enamels". They do not thin with "enamel thinner" and they dry fast like acrylic - very fast! they are fantastic paints for their authentic colour - but please test them before using on your airbrush. You will need "multipurpose thinners" to clean and thin these. I bought my "multipurpose thinners" (also known as genereal purpose thinners) from an auto detailing shop in the paint repair section, 1 liter for about $10 Australian. Thats the best advice I can give for those paints - use multipurpose thinners!

Good luck,

Adam

Hey Adam,

I will have a look in to it when I return from the West-Indies!

Cheers Remi

By the looks of the RAAF Roundel on the side of this one i'd say it's the same vehicle... The "skippy in a circle" is the RAAF logo, for it to be Army it should just be the skippy (in either Red or Black)

Cool build Adam! It was good to be able to read it from start to finish.