Hi all,

Final stage of my Firefly, apart from a few tweaks (headlights, rearlights.. and a few tools and some stowage - which is ordered- ) I think I'm there. Dragon kit with Archer Dry Transfers, Accurate Armour tracks ( Cheers Joe ) and some Top Brass PE.


The colour green looks a bit vivid in some pics, this because I had to use the flash to get into the shadows for some detail...

All comments and observations are most welcome.













Cheers
Henk

Hi Henk- turned out very nicely after all the trauma! Funny the way the colours can look completely different with a camera flash.

One thing though - the shovel on the rear deck is the 1937 pattern 'Digwell' which had been replaced by D-Day with the standardised Spear and Jackson 'Trenchmaster'... :-) :-)
(that's supposed to be a joke! Cheers Bear )
MC

Thanks David,

a tanker will be in the loaders hatch, but that's another part of the rocky ride that this model has been. I bought a Resicast three figure set some time ago, " British Tank Crew, Winter Dress" ( pixiesuits). These are half figures, very nice sculpt and expresion, but alas, the do not fit the Firefly... . Bodies to short...
So i'm either converting a figure from the spares box, or I'll sculpt a reasonable pair of legs..

He MC,

The Bear has not yet responded.. does this mean he can't find another mistake.... surely not.. :-) :-) .

Cheers
Henk

Be sure to do something with those headlights. Paint the silver or replace them with mv lenses

hello there henk

just orded some of there tracks for my sherman,are they any good?



karl

Hi-
I have the same resicast set for the same purpose and found the same problem. Even a figure with legs allows for a fair amount of turret interior to be seen- I've had to slap a bit of gear around the turret wall by the commander's hatch and a knocked together gun breech (not accurate by any stretch) to fill up a bit of space.
Yet another 'why didn't I think of that sooner' !

Bear? Hibernating?

MC

Hi Karl,

Accurate Armour tracks are great, but do have a bit of flash inbetween the endconectors. It's only thing and cleans up easy. Beats cutting indy links of sprue any day... I find the easiest way of getting them on the tank is as follows

Clean flash
Paint
Glue three sections together.
Position the three piece on the top run, observing the direction of the track..
Glue the track to the return rollers/ springs.
Warm the track, I use steam from the kettle, and when softening, bend around the sprocket and idler untill mating with the roadwheels.
Use forth length to cut to length and fit it to the bottom run.

Weather..

I will be buying Accurate Armour tracks for my next Pzr IV project again.

Cheers
Henk

looks really good Henk.

I think the tracks are particularly outstanding - can you describe how you did them?

Thanks Sean,

The tracks are easy, I first paint them in a metal base colour, in this instance Gunmetal with a bit of medium grey to 'calm down' the brightness. After that I gave the whole track a wash of Burnt Umber oilpaint. Then I made a runny paste of rust coloured pigments, and brushed that quite liberaly all over the tracks. At this point panic may set in as the effect looks to have severly backfired... . The trick is to leave the mess to dry well, and to brush off the excess with a stiff brush. This will leave a build up of the pigments in the nooks and crannies exactly where you want it. At this stage the tracks look like the have spend three months out in the rain.. :-) . Final step is to use brown and yellow pigments to tone down the colour of the track. I brush them on dry, using quite a bit of pressure.

Cheers
Henk

Henk,

I really like your weathering. Is that a fingerprint below and to the left of "Carole" in the 2nd and 3rd pic? It also looks like a print to the right of the vehicle # in the 5th pic.

hi Mike,

No, they are not fingerprints, but the faint outlines from the glue area where I had the additional armour plates attached before I realised that 'Carole' did not have them.... . Likewise I had to remove the shell ejection port from the turret, after I had painted the thing... Research first, then build.. :-)

Cheers
Henk

Henk ...looks like you've done a great job on Carol...now paint the lights and try to integrate that spot into the weathering a bit more ...maybe a light dusting with some tamiya Buff color would help..

Good job sir

Rick

nice job weathering...looks really dirty...

Looks good so far....
the final weathering should pull it all together Henk.