Sowbona my brothas and sistas,

So, with less than 2 months of this campaign left, how are we all doing?
Don't forget, the official SiyaAfrika campaign thread can be found HERE.


From my side, I started my Whippet 2 nights ago. The PE is proving rather fiddly, and I'll be going to my GP later to have the PE intake grills surgically removed from my right forefinger..... just kidding... :-) :-) Seriously though, the intake grill are proving to be a real dog. It's taken me 2 evenings to complete 1.... there are still 5 to go... The kit's no DML Pz VI either.... it required quite a bit of dry fitting, sanding, etc.... but I'm sure we'll get there...

That is all for now... how y'all doing?

Tjers
Rudi

Loads of stuff lately, so I haven't really started. I hope to get going on my Saab J 29 Tunnan in Congo colours tonight.

On my way home from work, I'm planning to buy a frame to use as the base for my small dio.

Cheers!

Very slow on my Selous Scout.

Rudi, I've got two items on the go for this campaign. The Mirage F-1AZ is now finally ready for paint.

The pitot has broken off more times than I care to remember. :-)

Looking for forward to seeing the final result, Eric.

Thanks again for the "care package"

I managed to get throught the lower hull of the Whippet this weekend... hopefully be painting by Easter weekend

Hi Rudi,

I made a 180 degree turn and finnally picked the subject I liked most.

The tank:
It's a Renault TSF (télégraphie sans fil), a signalling tank based on the FT17 develloped during WW1 by the French as alternative for postdoves.
The turret had to make room for a rectangular kazemat that give room to the signaller. Production began at 1917 with at least a total ammount of 188.

The Renault TSF tank I'm planning to build took part of the 1925 Spanish counterforce in Marokko against Abdel Karim (or Abd el-Krim) who leaded the 1921 uprising of Berbers against the Spanish rulers in North Africa. Abdel Karim knew to defeat the Spanish at Anoual after some bloody fights in Marokko. In 1924 he even forced the Spanish to redraw themself to the coastline.
In 1925 there was a combined French and Spanish counterforce against him and Abdel Karim had to surrender in 1926.

Thats finnaly it! Now I get my glue and get started :-)

Hi Paul,

That's fantastic! Looking forward to seeing it!

Hey there Polarbear and Neo,

Better get cracking lads (says the guy who only started this weekend :-) :-) ), 25 May is around the corner! LOL


Rudi

Rudi, the package was a pleasure. Hope there was something in there you could do something with. Did that magazine article on the Whippet help any?

I'm just stuck at the moment on the AZ with the colour scheme. The AZ wore so many that I like, well maybe it kitted out as a 'Dark Mirage' :-)

OK, here's the ONLY ref picture I could find of the Ft17 TSF in the "colours" used in Marokko!!!

I was puzzled by the colours mentioned by the kit's manual (green and grey for a Marokkan dessert?), but on Cardmodel I found an "example" of the TSF using the same colours used.
So, I guess the mentioned colours are right indeed and this must be the right colourscheme as far as I can find. (BTW; nice site if you like card models!)



And, finally, I'm really started building (at last):




How's the rest doing???

Paul

Looks like a great start Paul. Which kit is this?

Rudi

p.s. my Whippet is assembled and primed.... now for the hardwork... :-)

Hey Rudi!

It's the RPM kit 35068.
Do you have any pictures of the whippet in progress?

Paul

Hi Paul,

Is that the same FT17 kit that MightyRhinox used for the Spanish groupbuild? What's your opinion of the kit?

Is this the colour scheme you are planning on doing?



I took a photo before priming, and one post priming/dirt application. Next step is preshading/dirt sealing. Will post shortly...
I guess I should add that this is my first "serious" armour model. I'm following the "Bannerman method" of Armour painting/weathering which I found in an old edition of Military Modelling.

Rudi

Hey Rudi,

Yep, that's the colour scheme I'm after; grey and green...

Are you gonna tell us more about the "Bannerman method"??? Sounds proffesional!

Paul

Hi Paul,

Here are some progress shots:




The next step is preshading...

LOL, I just call it the Bannerman method... but in fact he just used techniques other guys have done before... if I remember I'll post the abbreviated version here tonight

Nice work Rudi!
Is it the famous Emhar kit?
What did you used for the dust?

Paul

Hi Paul,

It's more like the infamous Emhar Whippet :-) :-)

For the dirt texturing I first applied liquid poly to selected (and random) spots on the lower hull and track boxes, and sprinkled some fine modelling ground cover over it (the loose bits were lightly tapped off). I then applied liberal amounts of Tamiya Thinner 22A to the lower hull and track boxes. MIG pigments were then lightly blown onto the wet areas.

The next step will be the application of 2-3 light coats of flat black. This serves 2 purposes. Firstly to seal the dirt texturing, and secondly to provide preshading. Thereafter the base coat will be applied, and then the "real" weathering starts.

I'll try to take pics after each step to share with you all

Sowbona (whatever that means)!

I have started my build! I opted for one of the Saab B17 A light bombers that Sweden exported to Ethiopia (along with a whole lot of officers etc). This meant the creation of the Imperial Ethiopian Airforce. I might do a diorama with Emperor Heile Selassie and Count von Rosen on an inspection tour in 1946!




One of the reasons I chose this subject is that I need to practice my skills with NMF! I will do a Congo Saab 29 Tunnan in the future, i promise!

I definitely hope that I'll finish my project in time. I'm overloaded with work at the moment + I'm going to leave for a visit in the US on the 18th of May + I'm running my own campaign now (the Suez one!). - Btw, we could use some more participants in that campaign. Officially it is an aircraft campaign, but we need ground targets!!!. If you like desert armour and/or 50's aircraft, and if you're in to history, then check this link out!

Cheers!

Yes, it's based on the same hull. Looking at his thread about the kit I read he states it "second worst kit". I understand why; it's a hard kit to build and it asks a lot of skill to put everything in the right place.
It's not a kit to build simply from the manual; referene pictures are a must (luckely there are allready 3 on the box!). And the tracks... well... we'll just wait and see...
But RPM kits are indeed not comparable with Tamiya or Dragon; I would say it comes close the Emhar's kits :-)


On the other hand, if you can build it, you can build anything :-) :-)
I like to build these kind of models that challenge you, and finish them (the only model I could not finish was AER's T-20 KOMMOMOLETS. It had egg formed wheels and seperated tracks that could not been cut out of the racks at all. But it's on my wanted list for another round: I bought new tracks from TOM Modellbau for the kit. Now to find the kit itself again...)




Yes please!

Paul

Hey Polar Bear,

Sounds like a great entry! But what's NMF ?
Looking forward to it!
And the SAAB... ah well, I was allready going to ask TAROK to run a SECOND SIYA AFRICA: I found some interesting sites about the bush-war...

What about it Tarok? You got us interested for your continent... :-)


People, Polar Bears Suez campaign is indeed a nice one! Check it out!!!!

Paul

Hi all,

Okay... so how we all doing? Only 2 weeks to go, folks.




Then I feel your pain, brother! :-) And indeed, if you can build an Emhar or a RPM kit... then you can surely build anything! LOL :-)

I've managed to borrow a compressor to get over the horrible experience of using those compressed air cans... so here are the results:

These first 4 pics are of the Whippet preshaded using thinned Tamiya Flat Black. I went for a ratio of about 40 paint : 60 thinners.







These next 2 are after the basecoat of Vallejo Model Air Dark Earth has been applied. 2 coats were applied. This was my first experience with spraying AV Model Air, and I must say.... what a pleasure! Straight from the bottle to the AB's cup and onto the model. No mucking about with thinners.... my kinda paint! :-)




Sorry about the dark pics...

National marking are next... the area was masked off last night and hopefully I'll get to spraying them tonight - SWMBO depending... :-)

Later
Rudi

007 wrote:

NMF = Natural Metal Finish



Here's my Saab B 17A under construction. I want the aircraft to be all shiny and polished, since I'm planning a diorama portraying emperor Haile Selassie's inspection round upon delivery from Sweden in November 1947. I'm not sure that I'll finish the diorama in time, but the plane should be finished within the next couple of days.

Cheers!

That's becomming a great looking plane PolarBear!
Thanks for explaining NMF for me! Now I also know why Emperor Haile Selassie's must use his sunglasses during his inspection!!

Well, here some pictures of my work on my "lemon-plastic" modelkit








The radio's (sorry for blurry picture)

Ok folks, here is my entry to the SiyaAfrica campaign!



This is one of the first Saab B 17A light bombers (albeit used as an allround aircraft) that were delivered from Sweden to Ethiopia in 1947. This delivery signified the creation of the modern Imperial Ethiopian Air Force. The day these aircraft were inspected in Bishufto by the Emporor Haile Selassie, i.e. the 13th of November 1947, is considered as the birthday of the IEAF.



A total number of 46 aircraft were delivered. The B 17 was performing well in the Ethiopian conditions, and was used for more than 25 years.



In addition to the aircraft, the Swedes helped to build up the organisation, train the pilots etc. There were more than 70 Swedes in different functions. The Commender-in-chief of the IEAF was - of course - the Emperor, but under him Swedish officers were in charge of the airforce. This close cooperation continued in to the 1960's.



The kit is the Marivox Saab 17 in 1/72, OOB and painted with Alclad II. As I've indicated previously, I wanted it to be all polished and shiny, since I am going to build a diorama portraying an inspection by the Emperor Haile Selassie and General Christian Nilsson in November 1947. Since I am leaving for vacation in two days, I will have to complete the diorama after this campaign is over.

Thanks for a nice campaign, Tarok! If any of you wish to continue to build desert armour, you know where to go!


Cheers!

Rudi, if all goes well tomorrow I should be done. Just finished the Klear coat in preparation for the decals.

I really like Mirage F-1AZ in the final 3-tone scheme, but with the Hi-Viz Springbok and not the eagle markings. To this end there was only one F-1AZ that flew with this combination and that I could therefore replicate, namely 220.

Almost finished....
but beeing ill at the moment, I'm slow on my work...
Just only weathering ande decaling...

Hope to finish in time!