Hi guys - now that the gallery is up and running again, I can provide a bit of an update! Jim and Darren, thanks for all the hard work to get this up and running!

You'll see a few pics of prepaint, and a few after - the latter were taken on the way out the door to work, so, sorry about the mediocre quality. This build is turning out to be pretty fun.

The Academy kit is very basic - on one hand, that sort of hurts because to build it as is, would result in a modest completed product - but, the absence of many details, allow for all sorts of opportunities for modifications -

Please take a look:









and the following, right before paint:



The following have the base paint, and a few details painted - no weathering and all dryfit:







And there you have it, shaping up - and, still a long way to go.

thanks for checking it out -

Nick

These new vehicles in the Army are so freekin complicated and yet you crank out this stuff like you were building a snap tite kit. Kudos!

Hi Nick!

As always, I love all the Styrene scratch-building and AM work! Glad to see the Stickframe Factory hasn’t lost any momentum with the recent inter-web issues … my thanks go out to Jim and Darren as well.

So here’s another one of my dumb questions … What I’m guessing is rolled-up camo on the top edges of the cab … would these rolls be pre-attached to the vehicle’s top lip or merely stowed there? The reason I ask … if attached, they seem to be rolled in the wrong direction. Regardless, they look great!

—mike

Hi Jerry - ha! Sort of like you belting out figures! Piece of cake... Ha - yea, just relocate this elbow, add two pockets, cut off the right hand and add a different one....I have no clue how you do it!

Mike....C-R-A-P! You're right - if they're (supposed to be) rolled up, forget it. I don't have my laptop tonight so I can't look at pics. If, this is the case, clearly they're rolled up and then strapped to the roof for storage....I've got a couple of pics of them pulled out and of them rolled up - I'll post in a couple days...

Thanks for your comments -
Nick

Gents - the good news is I've finished GMV number 1 - and am pretty pleased with the results - there are a few things I'll still adjust, and a few others that could be better, but, its largely done! the less good news is I have little time, so only a quick post of pics and not many words!

Have a look:





















and there you have it! I like this truck! now - two more to go! cheers and thanks for taking a look!

NIck

Hi Nick,
That looks fantastic! — another very cool addition to the stable! And as always, I love those daylight photo updates!

—mike

Hi Mike - thanks, this truck turned out to be a pretty fun build. A dio will indeed follow this. There are still more trucks to get built, then figures, which are tough for me to do well, and then a dio for all of this to be planted in. The photo at the beginning of this post shows the M1083 resupplying the GMV's on a straight trail, in a field. I'm planning something like this but have some changes in mind. In the photo, there is a wall in the distance, which I may bring closer to the trail. Next, another photo shows some topography and rocks on the trail. I might add this too. I just don't know yet.

Thanks for having a look
Nick

Lots and lots of nice work there! These new gun trucks are so changed from the days when I was in charge of 5 of them. Only the basic bones are the same. Very sturdy vehicles.
J

Hello - in an effort to do something other than styrene and PE, I decided to make a few figures. They are coming along. They don't represent a single manufacturer, instead a variety of them. There is one guy whose torso and head is from Legend, and you'll see a couple of Hornet heads. The bodies include a mix and match of those that come in Italieri kits and other scraps from the junk box.

Each one has strengths and problems. In fact this AM I pulled the arm off the guy with the water container - Mike reminded me that well, he doesn't look right as is....which reminded me of the tips our old friend Romain provided - yep -if it looks bad, fix it -

Ok - only one pic:



thanks
NIck

They look good and will fit right in as far as their gear,etc. I agree though,the guy with the 20mm ammo box has a growth spurt problem with his right arm.
J

Hi Jerry - yeah...figures, not my strength. Nonetheless, I went to work on the guy on the left with the water tank. I pulled off his left arm. Next, cut it into three places and reworked the shoulder socket - the arm was not meant to hang down when it was cast. So I added some wedges/shims to adjust the angle to hang downward. Next, glued it all back together, installed and repainted it. The posture/form is better, but, you have nothing at all to worry about - no one would mistake him for one of yours!!!!

Fortunately the uniform paint worked fine. Arm painting looked bad. I almost decided I could live with the bad paint job...nah, off came the paint, then paint it again! The first thin layer is on and drying - more to go.

As for his right arm, well, it's a Verlinden - you're right, it looks big...maybe it's just too big? I've read before these can be over scale, maybe it is. That, I will live with. I don't want to pull it off and carve it down, I think that is a recipe for ruining the arm!

Thanks for your comments -
Nick

great work!

have you read the book yet? I really wish they had printed the pics in the book in color

Nick,
I have wrestled with scale and anatomy problems ever since I started doing the figs back in the Lincoln administration.
If you are on FB go to my home page. This is not a plug or self promotion . I advise this because I found some really awesome and extremely useful tutorials for figure dimensions,etc. There are three on there now and I will keep looking. These really helped me and they are sort of like "figure dimensions for dummies". The fog may clear a little,I know it did for me.
J

HI Matt - thanks - yes, I've ordered the paperback - it's taking a long time to get here! But, I've got plenty to do. I hope that I can read the book before this is done - thanks for the comment and checking in.

Hi Jerry - unhappily, I don't have FB, so I'm out of luck. That said, I've copied many images of the figures you often show in WIP.

The guy with the sunglasses received lots of changes to his lower torso/upper legs, and I wound up adding on pockets and flaps to his pants with lead foil, and they look pretty good. I'm working on getting better at these figs.

As mentioned above, I made some modification and I think these two guys look better - they're not glued in place yet - please have a look:

Before the figs, these are the two trucks together:



Now, with figs:







so, they're coming along.

Thanks for having a look

Nick

Hello -

just a quick lunchtime update - sorry in advance for the just ok photos -

First, you can see guy 3 - he will not wind up on this GMV, but another. You'll get the idea of what he'll be doing though:







And, another Academy GMV underway. There seem to be a couple of ways to do these, either conversion kit or scratch. In effort to not spend a fortune, I'm going with a blend of scratch and extras and not a kit (I always keep an eye out for stuff on sale that I speculate that I might be able to use eventually). Having just finished the version above, I have a pretty good idea of how to do a few more.

Please take a look:







To mix the build up a bit, I'm using an alt location for the spare and jack. I've got to say, the ammo box holder on the roof proved to be a PITA to build! Keeping parts aligned, stuck together etc - weird huh? not the most complicated thing I've ever built, but it did not want to go together! too bad - it did!

thanks for checking it out - back to the real job!

cheers
Nick

At this pace I have to ask. Do you ever sleep??
J

Sleep, meh? It's overrated! All I need is work, jet lag and something to build - works every time (haha) thx, Jerry

Cheers
Nick

Very nice indeed!

Is that simple, you get a "good" kit, some AM and white stuff...

Nothing so hard to do...

Nick, you are a very skilled modeller man! When I tryied to do something white just get some cuts on my fingers!

Gongrats man! Fantastic work as allways!

Marco

Hello - another lunch time update, and sorry to say, with more not good pictures.

Marcos, and Marco, thanks for the comments! yes, quite a handful these little kits. and yes, in addition to cutting up my fingers, I've drilled into my index finger with #68 and #72 drill bits more times than I can count!

Below, some images of nearly, but not finished GMV #2. It needs a bit more crispness - I "dusted" the wheels - I think I'm going to give them a pin wash though and pop-out the details a bit better.

Anyway, here we go:













ok - there you have them. I can see a few things that need repair/repainting - fine. I'll add the antenna.

Matt, the book Roughneck Nine-One finally arrived! so I'm reading it on the bus on the way to work. So far, very interesting read - hitting the nuts and bolts about the unit and it's training - interestingly mentions the use of quads, but so far, not the M1083 or M1078....I hope I come across at least one of the two!

Now, one more of these GMVs to do!

thanks for having a look

Nick

Awesome work again. I still can't get over how fast you are while still maintaining the high level of quality.
J

Hi Jerry, thanks for checking in and the comments. As for the speed of the build, I think that is directly proportional to work related stress. Model building is for me, one heck of a good way to get refocused, or unfocused! Between my own interest and the influence of our friend Romain, (and btw, the work of many others, like you!) I try to keep a relatively similar level of execution and hopefully quality. I keep my "internal" Romain set on while building! Ha! That is, if it looks wrong or clearly bad, I think of a "certain European model builder" letting me know so! And, telling me I'd better fix it!

Getting into the book Roughneck Nine-One is also informing this process - yes, I will indeed add a total of two more GMVs...why not? The modestly priced Academy trucks allow this, and the unit used four. The book makes constant reference to the GMV, and at the point I'm at in reading, they haven't yet entered the battle. Particularly interesting for this build was the training in the trucks. The author also notes the remarkable abundance of supplies these trucks were/are equipped with. I don't think I'll do justice to the actual trucks, but I hope to represent their spirit - each had far more than I can afford to build, especially times four!

To keep this interesting I might try for operable steering on the next two. What the heck? I've never tried that on an HMMWV before.

Cheers
Nick

Hello, no pictures today, but I do have an update. I finished reading Roughneck Nine-One. It is a good, and fast read. In addition to now understanding the story better, I also found a couple of direct references to the FMTV - specifically, the vehicle in the second picture of the log. Whew! I was getting nervous about that. The characterization of the truck makes me think mine is pretty close - apparently big, and like something out of Mad Max! Perfect!

In addition to providing general resupply, the trucks were key to the battle by offering up more Javelin missiles (funny story about how they were "collected"!) , which were critical to the success of the events. In addition, there was reference to oversized .50 cal ammo cases, carrying 300 rather than 100 rounds. Hence, the bigger than normal cases. The trucks re supplied many javelins - a lot of missile scratch building seems to be in my future! While quads we're mentioned in the book, they apparently played little or no role in the event, as they were not mentioned - so, I don't need to add them! I will though, go ahead and build four GMVs.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Nick

We had access to some of those gig-ass ammo cans in Desert Storm but decided against them as they made the 50cal too unwieldy to aim properly.
J

Hi Nick ,

wohow man i love the way you build and painted those figures and vehicles .... fantastic ,really . I'm looking forward to see more...

Cheers ,
Kurt