Thought it was time to post some pictures again. Been busy at work lately and havent been in as much as usaul. Continuing on with Hellcat ... On the home straighht now, just some final touches like headlights, vision slots, belts, etc to tidy up and finish.
Previous installment can be seen at these links
Academy Hellcat - interior
Academy Hellcat - part 2
Its the Academy hellcat straight from the box including all the stowage. the figure is from resination (US self-propelled gun crewman at rest), with the head from hornet. The head on the figure was quite poor .. detail wise. The helmet is from italeri and straps from AA belts set.
As usual, all comments and critic are more than welcome. Don´t hold back!!

I have noticed that in several of your photos a dusty effect. Can you describe what colors you apply and the setting on the airbrush that permits this very effective technique. Looks great and I would love to emulate.
thanks
DJ

I think that the only criticism that I could make here is that if I was a crewman I wouldn't be too happy about those jerricans behind my head!
Other than that it's a beautifully made model, the base, the weathering and the crewman all fit together to make a complete scene.

Frank:

Wow (as usual). It's UOM time for you in my opinion. There are just so many things on this little scene that are so well done, i.e. the fig, crew storage (especially the ruck sacks and crate), canvas hood on the mantlet, and the little base scenery---all just top shelf.

Only question I would have would be concerning the road wheels. Are they rubber rimmed? - if so should they show some black underneath the weathering? --- I don't know the answer Frank, I'm just asking here

The only other thing I might suggest for you consideration would be one more thinned dark pin wash around the fender/sand guards and brackets to make them visually pop a little more, (maybe on the molded on brackets near the turret top edge also).

Another gorgeous piece from your modeling bench Frank. We'll probably never meet in this life, but in the next can you try to bring these beauties with ya???

Congrats on a super build.

Steve

ps: what paint color are you using on the rucksacks hanging off the turret -- they look great!

Thanks for your comments guys!! Much appreciated.
The dust effect is made by an overspray of tamiya buff, light grey and white, thinned quite heavily. More lower down than up top. Its sprayed from a distance and not too heavily ... well I have bordered on the too heavy for my liking as it has started to take away detail. Some of the points WWH has made come to mind. I like the wash and dry brush method but im trying to make it less obvious. After the future coat, I washed with black oils and dry brushed with lighter base and then a very feint silver/metal mix. With the preshading .. it looked more like a collection of painting tricks than natural. So I added a few filters. Now it looked really well.
After dull coating and then the dusting spray ... much of the effects levelled out. The detail looks slightly sharper in reality. I have a lot of bright lights when photographing. So Steve the washes and drybrushing are there. So are the rubber rims of black .. (check the part 2 link) . The dusting with tamiya is a great effect .... but I have still to master it. I guess I need to half do it ... then it will be OK .... hopefully this explains both of your questions. So less is more ( this rule should be written on the inside opf every kit box).
You´re right about those jerry cans Dave. I painted up all the OOB accessories and just stuck them where i could get them placed. Thats something I will have to take more care of in future.
If tomorrow is a good day, Ill take some pictures outside and hopefully the detail will be seen clearer. Cheers guys!!

Many thanks, I can only experiment. Marvelous effect

I stole/borrowed this tip from Steve Zaloga. I love his finishing on vehicles and when reading his articles he always adds a dusting effect using thinned tamiya buff. I just add a little grey and white to be different (and I think dust is more grey than yellow).

That figure is great, the facial shading is wonderful. Nice build!

Oh - this is RRB - so - I don't the base is big enough, and I would like a stained base instead of a painted base #:-)

Looking very nice so far Frank. This is one of my favorite TDs.
The only thing I wish you did, (I understand the OOB build) is replace the kit's headlight guards.
I know you still have several items to paint, just don't forget to paint those "skull bumpers" around the turret. I've seen them in black, khaki, leather, and OD green. Most common I believe is black.
Looking forward to seeing it finished.

Thanks again guys.
I´ll need to practise my staining skills as this has totally let down the vignette! #:-)
Actaully this is not painted. Its a cheap plastic foto frame that has a nice oval shape and is a glossy black. A local hardware shop has a range of them ranging in size from what would be suitable for a 1/35 figure up to about twice this size. This one cost about $3 and I think makes a perfect base. I filled up to frame level with polystyrene to keep it light.


Good call Ken ... actually I forgot about these ... and I wasnt sure what they were either. The instruction say they should be painted in khaki. Thanks.

Awesome work once again. I have been watching your M18 from your 1st posting. Considering the fact this was a partially assembeled kit when you got it, you did some really amazing work ! Great to see how you made out.

Your gorund work and figure came out real well too ! I'm trying to get myself one of those US crewmen (Resin Nation) from MMP, but he's OOS at the moment.

Cheers !!

Alpen

wow u did a really nice job on this M-18.
I CANT WAIT TO START mine soon