After some crazy nights battling the cold at work I have a day off!!
What better things to do than catch up on sleep, and paint the Goat.
I started out making my first (but not last) wheel mask. I only had one of those plastic circle things from when my boy was in grade school, but it worked nice enough that I'm going to order a new metal one with more circle size options.

This is not one of the better ones, but once I figured out how to hold the knife I got great results.

Then I had one of those everything went my way moments. I wasn't happy with the Tamiya Olive Green XF-58, so I tossed in a little Tamiya NATO Green XF-67 that lightened it up just enough and gave it a little hint of yellow. PERFECT!!

I thinned that with some 90% Isopropyl alcohol. I usually use 70% and I use the 90 for cleaning my airbrush and paint pot, but I accidentally switched the two. I'm going to use the 90% for now on, it just seemed to spray so much better.





Once I give it a coat of Future it's going to darken a little, and I think that'll make it dead on.

Anyhow I have to work tomorrow night and all weekend, but then I'm off for seven straight days so I'll get a bunch done on this and maybe get the base started on my other dio.
Thanks for looking and have a great year.

Thanks for showing the in progress build...looking great. This and the ambulance version are 2 kits on my 2 buy list, but will use them as mil surplus for zombie/apocalypse dioramas.

Thanks.
I thought this would be a cool kit to use for the same thing. Let me know when you start so I can follow your build.

I've been enjoying this build so much that I ordered another one to use as a dio that will match a story that I was told.

This morning I had some time on my hands, so I decided to lay down the decals.

All the decals went on fairly easy. The US Marine decal on the trailer didn't flash, it's just the Micro Sol hasn't set up all the way.


Now these will have more than enough time to set up, I'm working 3 16's and an 8, so I won't have much time to move on until next week.
Thanks for looking.

The Grand-kids headed home yesterday, so today was ham and split pea soup and flat coat day.
I used a mix of Future and FX-21 unthinned sprayed at about 15Psi at about 2" away.




Now I have a few 16 hour work days coming up so the flat will have more than enough time to cure.
I also picked up some pink foam-board to start making the landscaping, but I think I'm going to add a Jeep and a few more men to this dio and maybe a split rail fence for interest.

Well one of the guys I work for asked if I could switch shifts with him so I ended up off today!! With the temp being 15 for the high I decided to do a little work on the Goat.
I started out by dusting all the cargo. Next I added the headlights, mirrors, windshield, and the tools on the tailgate.
Then I added chin straps on the drivers helmet. I put in the seats, and shift levers. So I had to drop the driver in to see what he looked like, and then I threw the tires on and cargo in the back to see how everything is going to look.



I painted the reflectors XF-16 Flat Aluminium then X-27 Clear Red. I think it's perfect for reflectors.


So now I am done with this until I get the Jeep done so when I make the mud I can do both of them at the same time, and the mud will match.
Thanks for looking.

It's been a few weeks since I was able to work on this build, I was waiting on two kits to come from over seas. The good thing is I was able to give my work area a good cleaning and I got everything a little more organized.

With seven more people to do I wanted to get started as soon as possible.
The Master Kit is nice to work with. There's a little flash to deal with, but the detail is worth the work.
Here's the number 1 person ready for paint.


Here's the number two person.


With seven people to do and of very small additional pieces I've decided to orginize everything with paint mixing cups.

I marked the cups with a Sharpe marker so I don't forget what goes with what.

Thanks for looking.

Looking forward to seeing this one done.

What figures are you putting with it?

Master Box US Soldiers Patrolling Vietnam. With the uniform and equipment being mostly the same as in the early 80's I think I'll be able to get away with it.

Last night my other kit finally came, so I'll be able to get a move on painting all the men at one time so they all kind of match.


I spent about three hours down stairs today.

In order to get everything lined up properly I had to start out by assembling the MUTT. I went as far as putting the seats together, and I glued the dash to the hood. I didn't glue either of these in I'll do that after paint. I glued the steering wheel to the steering column with white glue so it can be removed.
Now I started cleaning and putting together the crew. There's not a whole lot of cleaning needed, so this went fairly quick. I set the driver in the seat, and glued his arm to his body and the steering wheel. Now when this dried I was able to remove him and the wheel so down the road it'll line up perfectly. The other two went together quick, and before you know it I had to go back upstairs.
Here's a few pictures of where I am now.
The gap between the body and the hood assembly will be gone when it's glued in.






The big gun can still tilt so it'll glue up nicely.
Honestly I think this is the best fitting, least flash kit I've ever done.

Thanks for looking.

Say what you want about Tamiya kits,you can always be assured they will fit together very very well.

I've always had good luck with Tamiya kits, but this one is by far the best I've ever worked with.

Very cool builds Mark , impressive work man !!!

Thanks I'm having a good time with it so far.
This is my on week, but I'm almost done and I'm looking forward to working on the men this weekend.

Had a few hours today so I was able to clean up last two soldiers. I still need to do some filling, and I want the one to be holding a canteen.

I'm hoping to have everything ready to paint after this weekend.

Lots of good stuff here and nice progress. Say what you want about Tamiya,they may not always have the best in details but the kits always fit together like no other company !
J

J you sure aren't kidding, this kit almost fell together.

Today I got everything ready for paint, and was wondering if anyone else's work table looks this way before paint.


I used white glue to hold the helmets to the cut skewers, and numbered the heads so I don't get them confused like I did the last build.


Foam tape for all the men.


I skewered the wheels so I have something to hold.


Then I fired up the sprayer and started by giving the men and helmets a base coat.


Then I did the ammo cans and do dads with the same color.
Then I shot the MUTT with Buff.


Now I've started the hand painting by painting the hands on the men. I got three of them done before the dogs told me it was time to come upstairs and feed them.



Tomorrow I'd like to get started on painting the camo on the men.

Well I would have never thought it'd take as long as it did to cover that green with flesh. So much for camo today.

I did get the wheels done, but even they took a lot longer than expected.



Here's a better picture of the MUTT. I did a little detail painting and added the radio.

About the time I finished painting the underside of the MUTT my mutts wanted to go out.
As you can see they are a serious ball of fire. I figured this would be a good time to call it a day and do something else for a while.

I am very happy with the way the wheels came out. What I'm not sure about is how to strap the backs to the MUTT. I think I'll run them through the D rings on the bumper, but I'm not sure if they'd be hooked under the dash or what. Any help here would be appreciated.


Next it's time to try doing jungle camo. I'm happy with the effect, just six more to go. I also painted the duty belt and straps to give them highlights and a more realistic color.

That's all for now.

A quick update for today.
I finished painting the driver and one soldier.

Two more soldiers done today, I'll pick up on this after I'm done with my long work stretch.

Well I finally got all my soldiers supporting the best rendition of Jungle camo I could muster.
Next I have to dress them out. Today I picked up some pink foam board so I can start getting serious about the landscaping.

Look at how baggy the uniform is on my gunner. What a difference between the Master Box and the TAMIYA people.

I had some extra time tonight, so I started painting all the packs for the soldiers.
Is there anyone else out there that does it this way?

It gives me a way to hold them while I paint, and I'm able to keep everything in order.

Still not being able to switch from working nights to being off and sleeping nights I was up all night. Not wanting to wake the house I headed back down stairs and worked on the men.


Time to do some touch ups and let it all dry. Then I can finally do my clear coating and get down to business.

I was able to give everything a clear coat, and wash over the past week or so.



I'll flat coat everything next week, then dust and start my diorama base.

Very ambitious project ! Reminds me of the time period I was in the Army.
J

Thanks Jerry
I was in the Navy from 83 to 87.
Last night I was able to get a flat coat on everything. My Son was amazed at how flat coating the men brings them to life.

He was working his new SLR.
After they headed home I grimed up the Gama Goat and Mutt. Now they are starting to look good. I glued the cargo into the bed, and attached the crew into the MUTT.
Last thing I added helmet straps and got them painted. I still need to adjust them but I think they look good.




I'm going to start working on the base tonight.