My build is nearly complete














Just a few bits to do.

Pete

Barrel work done - a fair amount of modification was done to the barrel and last two "jackets" and the breech. Barrel is glued to the carriage and propped up to fully dry. After that its the shield, axles, hydraulics, primer, and paint.

Mike

Almost ready for primer.......



Mike

Mike

Peter, nice build. Nice to see some gloss metallic paint for a change.

Mike, great job on the gun so far. The metal barrel is a real Improvement.

Pete - Your Falcon is sure familiar to me. They were very popular when I was coming up and with the small V-8 could really go. Its great to see one looking as nice as yours.

Mike - I have this kit too and am enjoying watching your progress. The metal barrel looks terrific.

My own Trumpy project has not even started yet as I have been busy with projects in other forums. With the end in sight I had better get a move on!

Hi Mike,

Sorry for the late reply - been hectic with work lately.

I was an FCO [Fire Control Officer] for a G5 regiment in the SADF/SANDF (National service and then reserves). My regiment later transitioned to the G6 SPG/H after I finished my stint in the Reserve Forces.

The G5 was developed in the early years of the Angolan conflict because the D30 outranged the G2 (old 5.5) used by the [then] SADF.

Your build is looking really good - keep up the good work sir!

Regards,
Kobus

Thanks Paul a few bits to finish and its done. The paint is Aclad II bottle green candy. Nice to paint with and it glosses up nice.

Pete

Hi Peter,

That Candy Green really shines - looks beautiful on the Falcon.

Any other secrets to getting such a high gloss finish?

Regards,
Kobus

Kobus, funny you should mention the G6.

Mike

Hi Mike,

Saw the announcement here on Armorama (Thanks Hisham). There goes the budget

The question is how soon can I get my hands on one

Looking forward to seeing the kit in 'real life'

Regards,
Kobus

A little progress on my M1A1HA. The main colors are on. Still some corrections to make before I do detail painting and weathering.

More to follow

Hi buddy it is down to a low pressure on the gun, I spray at really low pressure with aclad and just give it a little polish once its dry with normal car polish.

Thanks

Pete

Hi Peter,

Thank you for the feedback - much appreciated. When you say low pressure would 10 - 12 psi qualify?

Regards,
Kobus

D-30's got new clothes.




Mike

Sal,

Very nice build of the Waffentrager. I would not want to be a crew member on that beast. I trained on the M551 Sheridan with a 152mm gun launcher on a 17-ton chassis and did it give you a "ride" when firing a conventional round. The Waffentrager has that huge gun on a light, short chassis with minimal recoil......hang on, baby

Again, nice build

I have completed my builds for two other campaigns, received the Fruil track set for the NBFZ and started the rebuild. I am missing to suspension parts and one large hatch. They must be hiding behind some of the furniture. While deciding how to scratch build replacement parts and realizing that this campaign runs thru 1 September and not 1 August, I will start another Trumpy build. This one will be the 1/700 USS Saratoga (1936). I need some variety after 4-1/2 armor builds!
I have purchased the Starfighter decal set for the 1936 Saratoga air group , additional aircraft and a PE set and all have arrived. I have started with the air group.....photos will follow when I completed of those tiny airplanes.

Saratoga air group at the paint shop

I wish Trumpeter had used opaque plastic, white would be best but light grey would work, instead of clear plastic to cast the planes. It might work for 1/350 carrier planes, but for small airplanes in 1/700 there is not enough glass in the canopies/windscreens to benefit from clear plastic. Acrylic don't stick well to clear plastic without a primer coat.

The Saratoga in 1/700 should be fun. Those planes are going to be very tiny!

I have more or less decided on a KV-1 Model 1941 in 1/35. It was on hand and I had some very appealing Archer's Dry Transfers to use.

What aircraft did the Saratoga carry in 1936? Did they still have any of the F4Bs?

Paul,

VF-6B, Saratoga's fighter squadron had just swapped their F4Bs for F3F-3s in 1936. The other squadrons are equipped as follows:
VF-2B - BFC-2
VS-2B - SBU-1
VT-2B - TG-2, a licensed copy of the Martin T4M. Something new I learned researching this build, Saratoga had the only carrier torpedo squadron in 1936 among all US carriers then in service.

The air group will also have an F2F-1 (personal ride of the Commander Aircraft Battle Force, whose flag was on the Sara), along with two F3F-1s and an SBU-1. Additionally, the Sara carried four "utility aircraft" consisting of 2xO3U-1, 1xSOC-1, and 1xJF-1 Duck. I will substitute two SBU-1s for the O3U-1s, but don't have anything to represent either the SOC or the JF-1. A Duck would be cool to have on the carrier deck.

The Starfighter decal sheet provides markings for ALL 83 aircraft carried by the Saratoga in 1936, to include the colored belly bands and other markings not provided for on the Trumpeter decal sheet.

Started decaling the first F3F-3 and had to take a break after two lower wing stars. The Trumpeter decals just do not want to release from the backing paper. Tore two in the process. At least I have two sets of major decals for all the planes.

I'm currently reading WAKE ISLAND PILOT and found out that VMK-11 was still equiped with F3Fs until just weeks before Pearl Harbor. They had only a week to get used to the Wildcats before being sent to Wake. They went into combat having never fired the guns on the F4F.

I read somewhere else that the F4Fs were still in training squadrons into 1942.

I thought I had better get a start on my Trumpy project. After some thought the KV-1 model 1941 in 1/35 got the nod. An appealing set of Archer Dry transfers put this kit over center. Also on hand is a set of MasterClub resin tracks that I am curious to try. I love my Fruils but will give these a shot.

Work started last night and I made good progress until one of the little bump stops disappeared mysteriously. One second it was in my hand being sanded and the next second it had slipped into oblivion. I glued the rest of them into position and will leave the blank space in the center where it will be less obvious.

Some pics are below. The tracks shown are a set of Fruils being finished for the North Korean T-34/85 project and a cute little T-18 that just had to be built just as soon as it came home from the hobby shop.

I see you have the upper hull and lower hulled joined together. Did you paint them this way? I have seen several folks here on Armorama that more or less build the whole model and then paint it. I'm baffled by this. I build sub assemblies and only join them together after the paint & weathering steps are completed. I do not understand how the areas behind things like wheels & tracks can get paint properly if built all together.

When I start a build I spend a lot of time planning the build and reorganizing the steps with paint and finish in mind. Building the whole thing would save a lot of time if the results are just as nice.

Can you give me any tips on this?

Peter,

Great paint on your Ford Falcon. I remember seeing Falcons as a kid in Southern California. There were a lot of teenagers driving them with mag wheels and smoking tires I wasn't one of them as I wasn't old enough to drive back then