Colin,
Watching this build has reminded me how much I wanted an M10. I had planned on getting the AFV Club kit, but have just ordered this one for Tamiya. I'd imagine there will be an advance PE set out soon for it.

Paul H

After the Leopard 2 tracks I needed to mellow out for a bit by working on something easy, so back to this furry woodland creature. I finished off the details of the lower hull with the exception of the ice cleats/grousers - I will put those on after the base coat, and the tools on the rear panel, haven't decided yet if I will paint those separate or not.

Then on to the turret, first the breech assembly of the 3 inch cannon. The only modification I made was to drill out the gunners eyepiece, the flat molding just didn't look right. In retrospect a waste of time as the gunner will pretty much hide in when he is in place.


Then the turret details. There are actually quite a few ejection pin marks on the inside of the turret and the turret ring, some of which are in fairly difficult places to reach. Most will be visible as this is an open topped turret, so be sure to clean them up before adding all the detail bits!

Majority of the internal detail is done except for seats, ammo and a Thompson SMG.

Everything falls into place so easily that it is tempting to push on and button everything up, but I will take a break from assembly at this stage to paint the interior of the turret before joining the two halves together as it will be just too cramped to do it justive when assembled.

Nice progress so far, Colin.
I got this kit a month or so back to build after I finish another project. I am really looking forward to it since I have a photo of one I want to depict.

The breech assembly and turret internals have been painted and the turret halves joined together.




Only a little bit of filler was needed.

The turret is completed with the mantlet and barrel,counterweights, lifting lugs, tarp supports and M2 .50cal. The barrel is molded in one piece and only some minor seam cleanup is required. The counterweights need a bit of filling and sanding, and the M2 detail while crisp, is only adequate and there are some ejection pin marks to clean up.


The tracks are single piece, vinyl-like flexible plastic that can be joined with regular model glue (I used Tamiya Extra-Thin). Detail is good and they fit snugly. I made a new tow cable out of copper wire to replace the length of string supplied with the kit. Apart from some minor cleanup and filling, it is ready for the paint booth.





I will start on the crewmen now as well. Overall, this builds up very nicely into a good good looking model with very few issues encountered. There are a lot of opportunities for a/m bits to add some extra detail, such as a turned barrel, PE details, sandbag armour, tracks, stowage and other accessories.

Have you built any of the other M-10s as a comparison? This one looks like the basis for a really nice project.

PH

No, this is my first one so I can't compare it to the other offerings out there. I think it has a lot of potential but the added cost of a/m may be off putting.

Great kit. I will order this one. Thank you for sharing

Colin,
Impressive build! I'm surprised that the M2 .50 cal is so...erm...so, so. It's not an over detailed weapon (Cleaned them plenty of times) but that one could use a few PE replacements.

Cheers,

Gaz

Hey Gaz, I checked the sprue for the Ma Deuce, it is dated 1998 with Tamiya kit No. 35228 - their old M8 Greyhound kit. Damn near 20 year old casting in a brand new kit. Disappointing.

Nice progress Colin. Good to hear that the tracks can be glued -- and using extra thin! Recently picked one up, I plan to have it as entry for an upcoming campaign. Cheers, Tat

They did the same thing with the recent E8... but the rest of the kit more than makes up for it.
For my upcoming M10 project, however, I will be going aftermarket on the MG.

Those brass .30 and .50 cal replacements look so good I've flagged all my unbuilt US tanks (and Saladin!) for replacements.

Along with any DS tracks. Spend too much time on these models to risk disintegrating crawlers! Time to bite the bullet. (I'll sell from the stash if I have to but high time to do it right!)

Tamiya are fun, but they sure take shortcuts these days! I have the Vietnam 'Mutt' - with added headlight lenses on a new sprue - in frickin' GREEN plastic - NOT clear!

Painting in progress, primer:

Pre-shading:

Base OD:

Modulation, OD with some buff & white added:

That's coming along beautifully!

It;s looking great!
I have a question 'though (in no way a criticism of the build). What is the purpose of that ridiculous socket on the floor?
Is it covered by the drivers compartment?

Again, great job!

Gord

Thanks all!

Gordon, about the only thing I can think of that the socket is for would be a motorized version. At the rear end there are some moldings that look suspiciously like they could hold batteries, but I really couldn't say.

Recent (i.e. the last 6-7 years or so) Tamiya hull tubs have the hex nut boss on the floor in case you want to drill through and attach it to a base with a mounting screw.

Ah, thanks Roy!

Starting on preliminary weathering now. I have had some requests to detail how I do my weathering so I will attempt a bit of an SBS here. I work almost exclusively with oils now for my weathering, I find the range of colours and the blending attributes add a great deal of depth to the paint job on top of the colour modulation and preshading already done. I will start off with some base streaking that I do before even putting on decals/accessories as it is easier to do this before all the bits are on. First thing is to get my colour palette set up.

I try to select colours that will compliment the base colour, so in addition to the usual black, grey, and various browns, I also pick yellows, blues and greens. The selection is different for a German vehicle done in base dunkelgelb. I also have a variety of brushes ready for initial application, rough blending and final blending. It is bascially an oil dot filter but I use it more as a streak filter. The oils are applied sparingly in vertical streaks, basically in the direction of gravity flow and then
blended in. Here you can see on the right side of the radiator the colours I applied and on the left side after preliminary blending:

The trick is to make sure your blending brush is almost dry, dry it off on paper towel after barely dipping it into the mineral spirit, turpenoid or whatever you are using. I use downward strokes (or quick up/down strokes if space permits) to draw the colours down. After preliminary blending, I switch to a softer blending brush, again almost dry and continue to work the colours together until I get a nice subtle range of streaks:

and I start blending, again using primarily vertical strokes.

As I go I will see how it is turning out and will add additional dots/streaks of colour as I see fit. With oils, especially blacks, you don't need a lot to achieve this effect. Apply too much and you will overpower the base colour, but the beauty of oils is that you have a long working time and can remove much of the excess.

On to the sides of the lower hull. Much easier to do these before the upper hull is in place. Again I start off with application of streaks of the primary colours with a fine brush, again, you only need a little! I try to follow the pre-shading and shadows,

and I start blending, again using primarily vertical strokes. In retrospect, this would have been made a lot easier if I had left the bogie assemblies off!

and after the soft blending brush:

I want a bit stronger streaking effect so back I go with some grey, black, and browns...


Until I get to this:

I will continue on with the rest of the hull like this. When done, I will let it dry for a day or two before adding a layer of matte, Future and the decals. Some of the streaking may seem a bit extreme but it will be toned down as the weathering progresses. Hope this is informative! Please let me know if you want me to continue with the SBS approach.

Yikes!
If Tamiya is sacrificing detail for toy like features this is a throwback to the bad old days.
Does look great 'though but disappointing not to have any driver station detail.
Gord

Hi Colin,
I've been a lurker on this build as this is our club's group build for this year. Thanks for all of your tips & hints ALSO, your patience in answering everybody's questions!
I for one would like you to continue your SBS weathering method. I'm always interested in different techniques in all phases of our hobby. You're going to end up with a great looking Wolverine. Any thoughts about a diorama?
Thanks again !
Tom

Thanks for the feedback Tom! I will continue with the SBS, I have learned so much on this forum and other online sources I figure I should give some back. With regards to a diorama, between this and my Leopard build, I haven't really given that any thought yet, I will have to start thinking about that.

Here's the transmission cover after streaking:

And one side of the hull. You can achieve very subtle effects with oils which I really like.


Cheers

This build is coming along NICELY Colin! I like how your doing the waethering. It seems a lil esaier than some other weathering technics.
I do have 1 questioned on your pre-shading. What size needle you used and what PSI setting?

Thanks,
John

Nice painting Colin!

@Gord: Please read my explanation about the hex nut bosses on the hull tub floors. This isn't a concession to toylike features. Those bosses are hidden and will be unused by 98% of modelers.

Thanks guys! John, I use a Badger Sotar 2020 with the fine needle (0.20 mm), set at 10-13 psi. I thin the paint (Tamiya Flat Black) about 50/50 or 40/60 with isopropyl alcohol, it seems to flow better than with regular thinner. I have also done the Regular thinner with a few drops or retarder.