There are a lot of really nicely done armored cars in this campaign. Peter, I really like the work you are doing on the Otter. I had been thinking about buying the kit and now I most likely will. For my entry into this campaign I will be making the ICM Panhard 178 Command Car.



I started it back on the 14th of April. Being that I model mostly Vietnam War subjects, I originally bought the kit when Squadron had them on sale for about $15.00 during one of their flash sales. I remember reading where the French had a few in French IndoChina, but after i got the kit I found out that the version that was in IndoChina was the 178B version with a different turret. So this is just going to be an out of the box build for me. Since I am working on other projects, I am not going to do the interior so I can get this done quickly. Perhaps is an aftermarket turret for an IndoChina version comes out in the future, I might make another one.

This is how far I have gotten as of today:





















I should be able to prime the lower portion tomorrow. This has been a pretty easy and quick build.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers,
James

Looking great Jesper. Fingers crossed that your decals work out the way you want them

James. More French armoured cars... never can get too many. Notice a bit of filler needed but overall it looks like the kit is not too bad a build.

Hi, James! Bypassing the interior gave you a flash start. Good to see another Panhard! Some nice detail she has!

Cheers!
Gabriel

Hey Peter,

I think the only reason I had to use a bit of filler was because I was putting this together too quickly. I think if I took my time matching the parts up before gluing there would not have been a gap. Still, it isn't bad for not having built very many armor kits. This kit is a pretty good one.

Cheers,
James

Hello Gabriel,

Yes, bypassing the interior is making this build go quicker than I would have thought. The Panhard kits are pretty nice.

I made some progress on mine.

Well, there was very little wind outside today, so it was a good day for primer, base coat, and dullcote.

Before anyone points out that there is a tree growing in the middle of the armored car (Holy Crap! There is a tree growing in the middle of this armored car!), I am using it to hold the model while painting. I would have used a rod or dowel (some guys in the model club I was a part of when at Fort Sill showed me to do that - to use a dowel or rod, not a tree), but I did not have any around, and the pencil I tried to use would not stick, so I glued this tree in the middle of the interior. I will just break it off when I am done.

Here are the photos. If they are a bit blurry it is because I am holding the tree while taking the picture with my other hand.

Here it is primed with black...











After the primer had dried, I used a can of Tamiya TS-5 Olive Drab for the base color...











It covered fairly well. After it dried, I attempted a camo pattern, but it did not turn out like I was wanting it to, so before I got to a point where I would have ruined the paint job, I stopped and painted over the spot with the Tamiya OD paint. In hindsight I should have tried out the camo on the undercarriage, but I started on the side. Once the fixed section dried, I started drybrushing the model to bring out the details. I also tried to highlight some spots by drybrushing as well. An airbrush would probably be better for that, but since mine is in a box somewhere in a storage container, I will have to make due with regular paint brushes. While drybrushing, I broke off the rear view mirror. Luckily, it did not go flying off into oblivion, so I can attach it after the model is completed.













For the drybrushing, I first used Scale 75 War Front Olivegrun Green SW-01, followed by Vallejo 70.881 Yellow Green, and then highlighted with Vallejo 70978 Dark Yellow. I think it turned out halfway decent. I then sprayed the model with a coat of dullcote so I could put the decals on.

The decals for the hull consist of only two decals of registration numbers - one on the front and one on the rear. I cut them flush with the border of the decals and applied them. I then hit them with a shot of dullcote.







I usually use dry transfers rather than decals, but these turned out pretty good for me. I think cutting flush with the borders helped.

Now to get that turret finished so I can get that painted, too.

Thanks for looking.
Cheers,
James

My completed Skoda. Unfortunately I have lost two of the gun barrels.

Linus, she looks great. Ive never seen this AC before.

Bob

Very Nice job on the Turtle Linus. Hope you find the barrels. If Not Aber does a set in brass which might help.
1/35 ABER 35L-171 3 GUN BARREL TIPS for GERMAN MG 08


Nice garden feature James.

Last time I saw a tree in an AFV it was in a Matilda wreck in a paddock here in Australia.

I think the paint finish turned out very well.

The Skoda looks good Linus!

Peter, I did some landscaping work and removed the tree


Here's an update with the beginnings of the weathering process. I want to keep the weathering pretty subtle as this model will be depicting a vehicle that has pretty much stuck to the roads.

Here it is with the tree removed and some dirt and mud splatter applied.

















Now to paint the tools. I have the wheels and tires ready to weather and attach. I also have the turret build and the glue drying so I can get that primed and painted. It is coming along...

Thanks for looking.
Cheers,
James

Hey, I get the whole tree thing. On my last couple of projects, I've taken to super gluing bamboo cocktail sticks to unseen parts of small bits so I can hold them while I paint. So what's a tree but a bunch of sticks still stuck together?

Your car's looking good.

Found out I had some kind of German 8 wheeled armored car in the stash like one I was admiring earlier in the thread. Left over from my son's days of modeling at home. Kool, I think, looks like it's all there. But the entire drivetrain is missing. I guess at this point, it just a large collection of spare parts.

Haven't touched this thing in like forever so I figured I needed to get busy before campaign is over. Small updates. The top hull is not glued down yet hence the gaps. I do fear however there may be small gaps on left side rear hull and air intakes that may require filling.

Thanks, Mark. I am happy with how it is turning out.


I got the wheels on and lightly weathered. They are straight, but some of the photos make them look off.





















I also got to work on the turret. I primed it with flat black, then sprayed it with Tamiya TS-5 Olive Drab. Once dry, I drybrushed with three different colors to get to this point. I just sprayed Dullcote on it and will put on the final decals tomorrow.













Well, that's all for today's progress. Thanks for looking.

Cheers,
James

Hope you got local Council permission for the tree lopping James - over here it is a big fine if you don't! Weathering is looking great. The overall coulouring and finish is pretty sweet.

Doug, glad you could get back to her. That will be a nice addition to 'The Lot'.

Shhhh, Peter! Don't tell them I got rid of the tree...

I am calling this done!

After putting the turret on the vehicle, I painted the main gun black and then rubbed a pencil on it. I painted some black around the muzzle to look like powder residue. I then started chipping the paint by using a brush to put some nicks here and there and make the armored car look used. I think this turned out fairly well for a quick build. The only thing I might do it darken the main gun, but in real life it doesn't look quite as bright as in these pictures, so I may not. I'll just have to see.

Next thing will be to put it on a base once I decide if I want to do ground work or not.

































That was a pretty fun and quick build that allowed me to try various techniques and build up my skill level. One more armor model under my belt and many more to go...

Thanks for looking.
Cheers,
James

Looks sensational James. A build to be really proud of.

Thanks for joining in, I had fun watching this one progress.

A little more progress on my Puma. Decal camouflage is on. I will let it dry overnight, then I need to trim it and make it settle perfectly with decal setter.

More to follow

You really love that 'hiding in a vineyard' camo don't you Jesper?

Yeah, it is really cool! Also I am really practicing working with decal camouflage. So many cool options for the more complex German and sci-if camouflages once I learn to master this.

More to follow soon

Aloha All,

Jesper: did you print those decals yourself? Very interesting pattern. You are developing quite a string of different camouflages.

I've decided to jump in on this campaign after picking up the JGSDF Light Armored Vehicle in 1/48th scale from Tamiya. For some reason I find this vehicle an interesting form. I love the front end. Maybe it is because the local SWAT team has a similar looking vehicle.

The kit builds pretty quickly and in two evenings I've gotten it ready for paint.








The construction of the wheels is pretty cool. They are all plastic and end up with just a small seam at the last join.










There are markings and certain options for 3 separate vehicles/units. I will be combining two of them to get both the smoke grenade launchers and the machine gun at the turret.

Happy Modeling,
-Zon

Very cool Zon. That appears to be a very nice kit. Can't wait to see it with paint.

Guys I leave for OS with SWMBO on Saturday, so will be offline for a few weeks. Please keep working and show the progress, and forgive my lack of response. I'll be looking forward to seeing more when I get back and doing some more on the Otter. Painting the interior at the moment but not a lot to see yet.

Some more progress on my Puma conversion. More to follow.

The assembly of the staghound is finished. I've applied a layer of alclad white primer:

Magach3-2

Magach3-3

Magach3-4

Jesper,

Loving the camo, don't see that pattern every day.

Mark

Franck,

The two tone priming will make the base coat look more natural as if it has sitting out in the weather. Nice start.

Mark

Well I finished the Sd.Kfz 222 Leicher from Tamiya. This is my first wheeled vehicle. I was a nice build but of course I had to make it tougher by loosing and breaking a few pieces. I covered it with MIG dust and sand in the hope that it would look like it traveled a long way across the desert. Still need more practice.

Anyway here are a few photos.

Mark