Thank you, Pasi! I look forward to seeing your Jagdtiger in it’s full regalia.

Nice work in progress GaZ

Regards!
Rodolfo

Hi All

I will be building Asuka's 1/35 Firefly, with Aber's gun and Fruil tracks. I will base it around the photograph of the Coldstream Guards Firefly at Namur, Belgium on Christmas day 1944.

I was going to build an M18, but realised a better candidate had just dropped in my lap! In late July I received the RFM M4A3E8 Sherman to review ( here) and it is perfect for the Blitzkrieg. I've done some assembly, but those indy-link tracks may take until the December deadline to build - all 1000 parts of them. I've back-dated it with the early exhaust deflector and the mantlet cover fittings (but no canvas) and will do it as one of the March/April arrivals. I'll assume the review stands as my "starting" pic...

Hi,
With your kind permission, I'm in with still sizzling M4A3 (76) W from Meng.
I'm planning to go with OTB build with boxart markings of Thunderbolt VI under Lt. Col. C. Abrams from 37th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored Division during Bastogne raid in December 1944.

I hope my troublesome eyesight will allow finishing successfully this model.

My Sturmtiger at the mo:






Thanks for looking!

Gaz

And another Tiger variant:

Gosh, with all these Tigers showing up I think it's time to get some Shermans onto the field!

My RFM E8 is almost ready for paint, if it ever stops raining long enough for me to rattle-can prime it in the shed. The hatches are so nice that I had to leave them open, so to fill the void I added a crew from MiniArt and Tamiya figs. (These may or may not get painted by the deadline, but the tank itself will!) Stowage is a mix of stuff, and much of it is still loose or (in the case of the C-Rats boxes from Hudson & Allen) still to be made, but doesn't need to go on until the painting is done. Tracks are yet to be built, and may take some time...

No photos in this update - just a grumble. I threw some paint on my Sherman, glossed it, and added the stars RFM provided. But they skimped on bumper codes, registration numbers, and shipping stencils to jazz up the sides, so I grabbed the decal sheet from the Academy Battle of the Bulge Sherman that has all these goodies - only to find Academy printed their decals on inch-thick vinyl sheet! OK, maybe that's an exaggeration, but the lousy things did not bend and were impervious to even the most aggressive fluid on my bench - Walthers Solvaset. After an evening of failure I picked the lousy decals off and cleaned up, so my tank must have had all its shipping markings wiped off or oversprayed by an enthusiastic private in the Motor Pool! Period photos show many tanks with no bumper codes or other markings besides the white stars, so it's ok, but just not as visually interesting as I'd like...

Now back to assembling those endless tracks!

Pardon my intrusion into your campaign; but I noticed you guys haven't submitted an award ribbon yet. I believe your campaign leader is MIA. Who's going to take one for the team and be named campaign leader?

If someone has a ribbon selected please post it so I can add it to your campaign.

Hi Richard,

I'd be willing to hold John's place for him, and sort a ribbon. Does becoming Acting Campaign Leader come with the power to extend the deadline so I can finish those lousy 1000-piece RFM tracks?

John, I hope all is well with you. I'm only minding the shop for you, so please do let me know when you are back!

Tom

it looks like it’s already set for December 31st...

Yes, but which year?

(I'll crack on and get 'em done in time...)

I could not squeeze this one in my schedule, but maybe I can contribute by way of the ribbon?

Traditionally the ribbon for these builds has a central lightning bolt theme. Keeping in with the tradition may I suggest the Brandenberg Gate complete with 6 pillars (Blitz 6) and lightning flash?



or

Let me know which one you guys decide on and I'll get it uploaded.

I started my build a while back but never posted any work. I was split between two kits...a SU-85 and a M4a3. Since this is the conclusion of the Blitz Campaign series, I thought about doing both and adding a British AFv as well. I decided to build both the SU-85 and Sherman, see how they went, then decide how to proceed afterwards. I photographed the work as I went. I finished up the SU-85 and then put off uploading WIP until I forgot about it.

So here we go...

The kit is CyberHobby's Su-85m (#9152). It's a nice kit, no-nonsense and easy to build. Comes with Magic Tracks, which to me the T34 MTs are some of the easiest indie tracks out there. It also comes with a bonus Soviet Infantry equipment set for all your Soviet Equipment set needs.


The build is pretty straight-forward. I started with the wheels and suspension. I tend to pre-paint the lower hull and road-wheels. I also went ahead and added the upper hull to the lower hull.



Upper hull details added. The kit does come with parts intended for the SU100, so keep an eye on the parts callouts. If memory serves, the external fuel tanks are easy to mix up. The instructions have them misnumbered at one point.



Tracks added.


Ready for paint.


Painted. I used a general dark green for the base and then a light shade second coat. I like my Soviet armor to have a degree of color variation from vehicle to vehicle. I also prefer them to be bland and featureless. So you won't see a great deal of fancy paint and shading on them by me.


So base coat, drybrushing, and some light weathering. No markings...I tend to not use markings on Soviet AFVs. The crew is Tamiya's set and I borrowed from another build and will probably become permanent crew. There's actually a driver in place, though he's a bit tricky to see.







I'll call this one done. Thanks for the campaign and thanks for picking up this campaign series.

Hey Alex,

That's an impressive Tiger-killer! Don't forget to upload a couple of pics to the Campaign gallery here on Armorama to qualify for the ribbon.

Thanks Pete - my vote is for the first one!

Here is my entry for the campaign.

And a current view were its at for the moment.

Hi Kelly, good choice! Looking forward to seeing how you camo the beast.

My own entry is getting more colourful, so time for a progress shot! Still some way to go, especially with those tracks...



How's everyone else getting on?

Tom, I am still trying to decide on paint scheme. its hard because i have these other build going on at the same time and its causing me the same thoughts.

I actually plan on starting about five other builds by the end of the year.

but the one for this campaign will start getting its primer going on starting today.

Fellas, joining in with a Tamiya IS-2. Built one a few years back and been wanting to build another.







Running gear done, this kit did come with an Aber etch set, though I'll only be using some of it.

Just a bit more progress


First time trying damaged fenders, picked up some brass sheet and brass foil.

That IS-2 is looking good! Are those indy-link tracks part of the kit, or an AM set?