How long does it take to build a 1/72 scale jeep?
shouldnt take long right? after all it's a puny little thing barely 2 inches long...
i started this about 1/5 months ago...and this is the current progress pics...
it's based on the academy 1/72scale ww2 ground vehicle set...
i must say there really isnt any good jeep available out there in 1/72 scale, especially when it comes to wheels...
the best wheels for the jeep i've seen in 1/72 scale is from a diecast jeep by cararama...it's cheap (2 sterling pounds) and has some really good details, definitely looks better than any plastic jeep...biggest drawback is the front grill which is just a decal
so i'm making copies of the wheels for my jeep...
the next biggest hurdle are the jerricans! again...nothing really decent in 1/72 scale except maybe for the ones from academy's truck which i cant find in any LHS here in singapore...
anyone know of a good aftermarket jerrican?

Wow! You got a much better model going here than I made - especially the Vickers guns. Where did you get them?

Airfix makes a great little Jeep kit in 72nd scale. The wheels are great.

I havn't seen anything better in Jeep kits in 72nd scale.

Tim:
the vickers gun are modified from a couple of modern tank mounted MG's (i believe the same ones you get on the M1 abrams, not the .50 cal MG); i just cut off the mount and shortened them from the back a bit...then added the bits of plastic you see in the photos...the metal MG's are from Continental Model Suppy Co which i picked up when i was in Euromilitaire 2004...

hey, can i see photos of your jeep?

Jeff:
the airfix jeep is definitely better than anything i've seen out there...specially the tires and hub, though i feel they look a bit too thin...plus the front grille had the circular sign which will be hard to remove...actually, the academy front grille has the wrong number of slats so i had to make a new one from plastic sheet (that was hard!)
anyway i got the airfix jeep after i started on this project...so i am saving that for a future project...

hej
your Jeep is looking god.
here is a photo of the Vickers/mount.



And a YHEEEAAA for you. I have my own Willy's jeep and one of the things i always see on models of the jeep.
is that the gear "stick" is in the wrong place. yours is rigth, 1 gear, two wheel drive and high gear.

Michael

thanks for the vickers mount photo thunderbolt...

i was wondering how the sas would use that pair of vickers MG, would the passenger stand up on his seat and shoot behind, or would he stand in the cargo area and shoot forward?
was there ever a 3rd crew on the jeep?

currently building the crew figures for the jeep and managed to pick up some casting supplies last weekend...hope to post up some updates soon

hej
it is not standard for a sas jeep to have a gun mount there, it will be at the rear of the jeep (no back seat) if they had it on the jeep. they did bring a lot of "stuff" on the jeep.
if it was on the rear, was it usede for aircrafts. the two vickers at the front do not go 360.

michael

more updates on my build, this time i've:
1.) built the mounts for the vickers and browning MG(not in photo)...i had some concerns about the strenght of these small parts so I made sure to have as large a surface area to glue and drilled holes into the body so i can insert metal pins in...will try to show this in the future...
2.) i've started building the figures for the jeep...the legs you see in the photo are chopped up from old esci hard plastic british dessert rats figures...if you closely at the photo, i've drawn (in red) what the upper body pose is going to be...the white blobs are 'blue' tack to hold the legs in the right pose while the glue dries...

- the vignette idea is that the jeep is racing across the dessert with some german aircraft in hot pursuit (aircraft wont be part of the dio)...the passenger has turned around to use the vickers MG against the pursuing aircraft! (i hope he doesnt fall off)



still a long way to go...i'll need to sort out casting those jerricans next!

hi Sony

it looks good. it tells a story and there is a lot of action in the setup of the jeep.
keep the updates comming.
michael

here's the latest update of the build...
took a while to cast those jerricans, but i think it was worth it...
i took a break from doing this...
but i'm back this week and hopefully i can add the last bits of accessories before i prime it...

enjoy

Love the idea of the passenger using the vickers MG. Cant wait to see more progress pics!

Outstanding work Sonny, especially at such a small scale. And all that scratch building - Nice.

Keep them coming, can’t wait to see this finished.

N E O

ah finally!
i've reached a point on the build where enough is enough, time to move on to priming and painting...
here's the latest picture of the jeep:


i've sculpted duffel bags on the side, added straps, a shovel from roco minitanks, punched some brass sheet for the sand channels...



i really have to learn to take better photos...

I wouldn't bother too much about the photos' when you can make models like this! Fantastic work!

Eventhough its arhetorical question .... Its not the length of time that should be counted, but the quality of the end product. You´ve done amazing work for this scale, no matter how long it took.
Love all the detail ... brilliant. Cant wait to see it painted!

whew, cant believe its almost been a year since my last update to this build...well i managed to get off my bum and paint the figs - finally:


trying to get some momentum for that one last big push to finish the jeep, I recently purchased a set of lens extenders allowing me to convert my Nikon D-80 kit lens into a macro shooting lens, here's a sample pic:


I'm loving this piece of new equipment and i'm all excited to finish the jeep since i know i'd be able to take decent if not good photos of it...
but to be honest, i've been hesitant to paint the jeep as i'm still trying to improve my painting skills on other models, i've also got a little base prepared for the jeep...ah its all starting to come together...only a mere 2 years and 1 month since I first started this project.

now lets see if i can finish it by the end of this year!

WOW. Sonny you have excelled yourself here mate!
This is tremendous finicky work. I love the fact that the SAS jeeps were so crammed for their long sorties into the desert, and yours really reflects this. The only query I have is that the driver looks as though he has thrown the jeep into a tight evasive turn, whereas the wheels don't reflect this? This could add a (more) dynamic feel to the scene especially with a wheel of two lifted off the ground with the violent turn... Just a thought...
What are your plans for the baser itself?
I have always wanted to build a desert scene that has a dry creek bed full of cracked ground, but for now am firmy entrenched within Europe...
Grat stuff
Brad

Thanks 'honeycut',

I'm glad you're able to read the 'tight evasive' turn on the pose of the driver. The base is going to be a small squarish piece of desert real estate. It will depict the jeep coming off the crest of a sand dune, front wheels of the ground. At the moment I havent adjusted the front axles to show the turning wheels but will definitely do so.
Will try to post pics soon.

cheers,
Sonny

well, we are waiting

Thanks for waiting. I'm currently on a much needed 2 week break from my day job and I've been itching to finish this jeep. Well it has been 3 years hasnt it! There's a local competition in nov so I'm gonna finish this baby in time for that. Without further ado, here's a bunch of updates:

Mocked up on the base:


Paint in stages:


This is still a work in progress but the end is definitely in sight. Had to do a bit color correcting in photoshop on those painting stage photos as I took them at different times of day and different camera settings.
The jeep is currently in the wash stage, and it looks kinda garish in the photo. Feels like its too dark and I'm debating myself if I should drybrush on top or not, the real thing doesnt look as contrasty as the photo. In any case I think a final dusting will tone down the harshness of the wash.

Next step will be some fine chipping, possibly drybrushing (selective). Then I'll add the wheels, re-work the base, add the figs and guns and additional stowage and sun compass on the dash. After that, its a matter of mounting on the base and dusting with pigments.

Looks great. Nice to see someone else takes a while to get things finished!

So I decided to go with drybrushing.
First I mixed a coat of pale light yellowish oil paint that was just slightly brighter than the basecoat (which can hardly be seen under wash by now). This was drybrushed onto most of the flat surfaces to lift up the color and cover the messy bits of wash color. I was careful not to cover the nooks and seams where I wanted the wash to show through. This coat effectively blended the paintwork together and immediately the model started to look better.
Next I mixed some more white into the previous color, this gave me tan color with slight tinge of yellow. I used this to highlight the edges and corners to really defined the shape of the model.

Here's the result:



I am quite pleased with it. Next step chipping. I'll probably spray on a dullcoat first. Gonna use Vallejo Acrylics for the chipping. I'll post more pics tomorrow. Only 2 days left on my break.

Beautiful job mate - its looking sooooo good now the paints going on .............

cheers
Brent

Sonny,

Teriffic!!! Great job on the scratch building and figures. Like how you have turned this post into a step by step tutorial. This is the kind of stuff that really helps everyone out here to build better models the next time around. Sonny you are an artist and as an artist you just go ahead and work at your own pace - no rush! Sure is worth the wait to see your stuff. Detailed to the max!

-Eddy

Thank you Brent, I've always admired your models, so its a great feeling to receive a compliment from you.

Thank you Eddy, you're making me blush!


Really close to the finish line now. I chipped the jeep and added the wheels. I also worked on the base and placed the figures on (not yet glued).



I think I overdid the chipping and the result is not as subtle as Sven's 222/250 which I really like. But I decided to keep moving forward, might come back and tone down the chipping with some more drybrushing to blend it together.

I had some problems with getting the right color for the groundwork. I have a conceptual dilemma regarding the pose of the jeep on the diorama. I wanted to show the jeep flying off a sand dune, which is what I have right now, but I also like the idea of the jeep swerving to avoid incoming fire from enemy aircraft. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but thinking about it now, seem like its a physical impossibility. Bracing myself for incoming critics

I am also toying with the idea of adding dust clouds trailing from the wheels plus the shell burst that the driver is trying to avoid by swerving. Hmmm, I'll have to do tests to see if I can pull it off convincingly.

As a final note, I've been toying with my camera's white balance settings and shooting next to a window at different times of day. So the color of the jeeps varies a lot from photo to photo. I'll get it right for the final shots.