Signing up with one of these


Should be nice & quick and will make me learn winter camo and some snow.

Looks like a fun build

Took care of the lower hull and wheels tonight. All primed and ready for paint. So far so good.

What great builds here! I hesitate to join in with my more modest effort but will just the same. I have a Tamiya Churchill that I have wanted to build for some years. I had in mind building a Korean War version and had seen some pictures of them there. I found some AM decals for a Korean tank and a few weeks ago started in

Before I got too far along I noticed in the research material that the Crocodile models used in Korea as gun tanks can't be built with this Tamiya kit. OK, this one will be a WW2 model and a Crocodile kit was swapped with a pal.

The next blunder I made was to mistake Tamiya "British Green" for the Tamiya "Dark Green" needed for this tank. I had not intended to build a 1960s F1 racing tank but that is what it looked like!

It has now been repainted and it waiting for gloss & decals.

Here are some pics of the racing Churchill:





I have to admit that I was tempted to paint a yellow racing stripe and to paint the wheels yellow . . .

The paint job alone has got to add another 2-3kph to the max speed....

This is especially funny as the Churchill would have been in the running for the slowest tank of WW2. One of the books mentioned the early versions managed 18 mph and the later versions with added armor only got up to 13 mph.

Hi guys,

My entrance for the campaign will be a Sd.Kfz.222.

As you can see I keep several kits in one box and in order to do so I keep most of the pieces cut from the sprue but without any clean up done.



Since they ask for the original box I looked for the original box which right now I use to keep my oil paints.



Best regards,
Angel

Howdy Y'all
I'm just about done with the construction phase. I dry fitted the parts and I'm worried there's going to be a nasty gap or two trying to attach the body to the chassis. Everything is looking very simplified so I hope it comes out looking decent.

Take care,
Don "Lakota"

Some sub assemblies, machine gun, main gun holder and smoke screen units.



Main gun and commanders cupola.

Good, I've been searching for an excuse to get their Matilda kit (again) to replace the one I have (which is now broken )

Hi everyone! I am finally getting an update posted. My build was slowed down by an unexpected bathroom and kitchen remodel (thank God for homeowners insurance!) but I managed to get some work done recently. The hull is 95% complete, all running gear and wheels are primed black. Took some time to get the resin stowage/cargo to fit properly especially around the Jerry cans but I think it looks alright. I am also still very novice with photo etch but am slowly getting better. Here are pics of the hull. I work the next three days but hope to prime with black soon. This is the M-51 Supersherman hull as of today. and comments are welcome. Any tips are very welcome!

Howdy Brian
You've got a nice build going on so far. Is the photo-etch included in the kit? The extra stowage looks great. Do have anything to put between the rear tarp and the rear hull to hide the gap? If not, don't worry; everything is looking good.
Take care,
Don "Lakota"

Hi Lakots!
Concerning the gap, I believe there is a space present between the hull and folding stowage bin on the real M-51. I will check references, if not I have a bunch of resin stowage to spread around the deck. In the photos of M-51s during the 6 Days War they are COVERED in stowage/cargo so I will probably add a bunch more stuff. The photo etch is an add on from Legend Productions and honestly I really don't know if it was worth it. I'm glad I got it to improve my skills but between work, the remodel, two young kids, and the wife... it was just frustrating! I think it will be worth it in the end though. I feel 80%+ of the photo etch parts are replacing plastic kit parts that look just fine. Thanks for commenting! Hope your build is going well. Really looking forward to watching everyone's build progress. There are some really nice builds going on!

Hull put together and turret done as well.

Main paint is on now for the detail work.

looking good

Painting, detail work and decals all done. Added some mud on the main hull. Some washes and dry brushing to add to that then it's on to the tracks. (If they ever come in from on order)

Brian,
I feel your pain. I'm a kitchen table builder myself due to the kids and wife. I'm trying to sell a lot of my models to downsize and to tell the truth, the out of box builds using the latest Tamiya kits are just fine for me.
Keep on building.
Don "Lakota"

Monte,

i am really digging the camo colors. Looks sharp.

I love waiting for parts

Monte, That JDF tank is looking great. I can't wait to see it after you finish your washes and dry brushing. What tracks did you order? You did a great job applying the cammo pattern. My next tank is an AMX 30B2 for the Fighting Frogs campaign and it will be my first AFV with a cammo pattern, all the others have been green! Hope I can get my pattern to look that good.
I will have an update soon on my M51. I managed to find a little time for modelling over the last couple days.

Thanks Stephen

Bryan, I ordered a set of Model Kasten tracks for it. They're the only game in town if you want after market tracks. And even they were a pain in the butt to find. I was going to keep the whole tank OOB, sort of for an old nostalgic feeling, but the tracks are just horrible so also went on and used actual wire for the tow cable. Other than that the rest of the kit is stock.

I see a lot of "actual wire" sets available online for specific models but then I was at Home Depot the other day and noticed picture hanging wire looked a lot like small scale cable. Is this what people are using in place of the kit "string" or kit specific sets which seem expensive for what they are? Or is there another economical product that resembles real cable that people are using, maybe a braided lead wire?
I am waiting on some tracks for my Panzer III L. from MasterClub right now. Any experience with this manufacturer? Read some good reviews.
Tank looks great!
Bryan

You got it Bryan. Picture hanging wire, guitar strings (metal of course)or in lots of cases I use wire from old electronics that are being thrown out. I just save a bunch of different gauge wire and just strip the coating off as I need it. And since most of that is already braided you can break that down to make earphone and mic cables for figures and use others to wire radios.

Well i am done with my Tamiya Tige I Late Northern Italy. I need way more practice on painting flesh but i am getting there. This was a long journey for me and i am very please with the finished project. First time with photoetch and I like it. Had a great time and cant wait to see more finished projects.

PIC HEAVY BTW

Well done Stephen. I love the tank crew sitting around the tank BS'ing. Who's figures are they?