finished is a big word, but close to it is more true. i need to give it a flat coat, and while taking hte pictures seen some things i didnt like about the paint ,so 1 or two re-touches on the figures. the british infantry is still in progress and will be done shortly, comments are greatly apreaciated and if possible i would love to have advice on weathering
enjoy*o*

Frank

Francois, you allready pointed out that it all needs a flat coat. What paint do you use, this looks like gloss paint in the pic's?
Few points to look into.

The inside of the hatches (turret) was painted the same color as the outside of the vehicle, so as not to stand out to much when they were opened.
The tracks look very shiny, silvery. Try painting them in gunmetal, and then drybrush lightly with a silvery color. I use Boltgun Metal from the Warhammer series.
The infantry soldier is pointing his gun into the ground. I would try to reposition either the rifle or the arm to raise the rifle. Also his Ammo pouches are in the wrong place. They would be attached with the lower part of the pouch to the belt, covering the upper pockets of the jacket.

Advice on weathering, well, you can go as easy or wild as you like, depending on how you will display your model. In a dio, a vignette or on it's own. It should then blend in with the groundwork and general surroundings. But as a general rule any model improves if you ligthty spray a thin coat of something like buff or Desert Yellow along the lower part of the model and a little more over the glacis plate, to give a dusty appearance. Drybrushing those colors will bring out the surface details and give the model a nice 'texture', which makes it look less 'toylike'
Ther are a lot of articels relating to weathering on this site, under features or in the forums, best to do a google on the left, to help you along.
Some inspiration


He I like what you did with the driver behind the visor!
It's looking good sofar, and with some weathering it will look even better

Cheers
Henk

thanks for the comments henk, il fix the ammo pouches tonight, and re-paint the hatch, i didnt know bout that what about the leather thing with a black strap? i guessed it was some sort of leather seat there were no indications

its not the paints that make it look glossy, its because i used tamiya ts clear spraycan before addign the decals, thats also why the tracks look glossy, actualy they look a little glossy in real life also, so could anyone help out on how to drybrush?

one last thing about the figure, i want to leave the rifle pointing down, because of the dio iam building using some brits on patrol from tam. the soldier will be pointing towards a mine that is "popping" out from the ground... lots of things to do about the upcoming dio!

Frank

Hi Francois, all good advice from Henk.

I have just purchased that kit myself, how did you find it for fit?

Looking forward to seeing it when its finished

hey russ, the fit was actualy pretty good... the only places i had troubles with the fit were in hte first 3 steps were you build the front, but the seems are well hid by the other parts once the assembly is over so no problem there. also, i recomend following the steps properlly i had a hard time with the tracks because i glued the idler and the drie sprocket in placeso i had to push the tracks in and use the poly caps lol, found out they were usefull when it was nearly to late

as you can see the problem i had dotn show much at the end overal id say its a very nice kit but the pics dont give it the credit it deserves because in real life its a lot nice

Frank

Hoo-ah!

I love the Churchill but have not built one yet. I currently have one on the "to build" stack, and I hope it comes out as nice as yours.

Slap that flat-coat on it and it will look a whole lot better.

Looking good. A noticed a few stuff that might need to be fixed.
1.) You might actually want to paint the tank the original base coat. Therefore it wont be so glossy.
2.) Paint the rubber tires of the wheels black, or grey.
3.) Weather, and wash thoroughly.
4.) Repaint all the gloss, or spray with a dull coat.

Other than that, excellent job. and keep us posted with your next project!

There are no rubber tyres on the Churchill!! all those small bogies are all-steel !!

A flat coat, a dark wash and some weathering, and you'll have a nice Churchill there. Take note of the points raised already and it'll be just fine.

BTW - the leather pad on the inside of the hatches is to stop the crew from knocking themselves out when the tank travels over rough ground!

Francois

Nice job there - I am working on the same Churchill now and you have certainly done a better job than I have on the seams beside the main gum mantlet.

The only thing I can see is a bit of a seam at the muzzle with perhaps a bit of flash still just inside the barrel.

How were your tracks? One of mine has torn slightly and this is the first time I have ever had this happen with the Tamiya rubber bands.

Brian

tracks were fine, nothing special with them, regular vinyl tracks :-) isnt worht buying after market ones if there are out there because you only see half of them





dave, what color should i wash it?, also, iam happy my guess about the pad being leather was right lol



hasnt nothing to do with the flash lol, its jsut like that, crooked, doesnt show as much in real life

iam aslo no one sugested me putting the antenas yet lol!
Frank

thanks for the feedback guys

For washes on armour I use a mix of 85% white spirit to 15% raw umber oil paint, over the entire model (others prefer to use localised washes).When this is completely dry an almost dry brush with a lighter shade of the original colour is dragged over the model, This highlights the detail and makes it stand out. I am sure that others have written articles that explain this process far better than me! (anyone provide a link here?)

Dave, I have read those articles and you made alot more sense in explaining the weathering process. That helped me alot. To late I just finished painting my sherman yesterday. Maybe ill start over?!

Hi Francois. So far, so good. The single worst part of this kit is the joints on the turret front and, these, you have covered perfectly. The gloss isnt a problem ... its just ready for the weathering now. As already suggested, washes and dry brushing will bring this up to the next level. All that "beautiful" ugly detail will stand out nicely.
I did exactly as mentioned above, and then went over again with a gunmetal dry brush, very lightly, to give it the metal look. This was also done heavier over the road wheels and springs as they were metal and weathered more! Below is mines so far. Final weathering will be added when I get the figures and base ready!

In the first pic there is something about the eyes of the crew that bug me. The one in the lighter shirt seems to have unaligned eyeballs or something.

Can't wait to see more pics after the flatcoat

Ciao Frank,
Congratulations. It looks great! Just follow the excellent suggestions, and you will have a great looking tank and crew. Good job!
Ciao for now
Rob

well it was my first time bothering with hair and eyes with figures so perfectness will come with time and practice.

dave thanks for the wash info, il buy some oils and try it out, i used acrylics before

il be posting some more, iam i na hurry to go, later and thanks everyone, its encouraging to recive your feed back even if there critrical i love them
Frank

3442, you dont need to buy oils actually. Just take some raw umber enamel paint 1 part paint and 4 parts thinner. This worked out for me very good, ill post the pics once its done drying.

Dont be afraid to wash though. I was at first but who cares, you have to get better somehow, and guess what? It worked for me the first time I tried it! Thank you Dave Cox. Your info really helped me out as much as it helped everyone out!

lmfao, harrison, it took me douzens of tries to think it looked good, and once i thought it was okay realized it wasnt well done! :-) :-) ive jsut been getting the hang of it lately so i am a little scared but who cares? il give it a try, i trust your tips.

thanks again guys, il be getting the flat finish someday lol, right now the project is on pause once i finish the infantry figure i want to start my b-17 soon il be writing a review about it.

thanks again guys, great to have your feed back,
by hte way, frank, thast an awsome looking churchill!
the other frank

Nice job Frank, keep us posted and thanks for the heads up on the gun mantlet.

Are they the kit tracks?