ScanmanDan

I was at the hobby shop the other day and saw that they had a whole new range of artist pastels by Pan Pastel on sale. They looked quite interesting being very finely ground and in a wide range of colours. I thought I'd pick up a few just for fun because you know, birthday money burning a hole in my pocket. Looking around the workshop I spied a potential test mule in an older build that hasn't had much love in years and years. I built this KV -1 about ten years ago and while I was quite pleased with the way it came out back in the day I was always concerned that the finish was too dark overall once I weathered it. So what have ya got to lose? Shazam !!! The pastels are very fine and seem to have some binder in them as they stick pretty well to the flat finish. So much so that I haven't used any binder on them like I usually do with ground castles. To be honest they act a bit like makeup or the Tamiya pastel but quite a bit finer than the Tamya product. I little goes a long way and I had only three colours to play with. Light green, a very light yellow and a very light fleshy brown colour. They aren't going to change they way I finish my models but for certain specific effects they do seem to work very well. Thanks for looking in on the old girl.

Thanks Adrian! Davi - Yes, going outside in natural light would work. But for me too things work against doing it. One is I have no natural horizon to work with living in a beautifully hilly and green suburb. and two is I'm terminally lazy. Going outside is too much work, and either too cold and wet or hot and windy. I like just being able to go to the display cabinet and pull out some models and props/background boards and pose my scene. Working inside lets me control all the light too as I usually do my photos late at night after work. That said I have seen heaps of neat photos of dioramas taken outside with natural backgrounds and they do look cool.

Progress; Lots of little things to tidy up and then finish painting the figure. Coming together pretty well. This and the new M5 Stuart are neat little kits. I hope Tamiya adds some more US kits to the line up soon. Thanks for looking in. Dan

Progress; Decals are from STAR decals just to be different. It is so great to have someone making nice aftermarket decals for 1/48 scale armour. With this all done the lower hull is almost finished. Took a bit longer than I had planed but that's because of all of the stowage. I think it came out pretty good and I learned a lot which will be useful in the future. Now I just need to get on to painting the turret stowage. Thanks for looking in. Dan

A full fun day at the bench painting details. Progress; I'm getting somewhere.

Thank you John, I do hope I can make the paint job work. Progress; This is the lower hull pretty much painted with a few bits of weathering to add once the upper hull and turret get to this stage. Upper works in basic green. A long way to go before I can get decals on this, so many little bits of stowage to paint. Slow going but still interesting and I think it's coming together. I hope you like it. Dan

Progress; That's it for construction and priming. One last once over for boo-boos then on to the painting. I threw everything I know how to do at this one and I'm pretty pleased with the results. Let's see if I can some green on her. Dan

Today's progress; Getting there just a few more additions to the turret then on to painting. Only time will tell if I mess up the paint job. Having fun just the same.

Progress; Not happy with the air recognition panel. I'll try and make one out of Tamiya epoxy putty and see if I can make it thinner. I still need to do a big tarp on the turret front which I'll do after I finish with the turret stowage. It's starting to get there though. Thanks for stopping by.

Um, actually Pete I did leave both grills clear of stowage. There’s a gap between the rolled camo net and the tarp and bedrolls on the back deck. A small bit is covered on the right side but not that much. Of more concern to me is how I’m going to convincingly tie all this down. I’ve looked at lots of photos many with tons more heaped on the back of these buggies. Securing stowage is equal parts Tetris and BoyScout knot/rope training. oh and before you mention it I have stills I took from archive movies of the standing fuel can on the back deck of one of these little beasties tearing down the road. All is well, and you can rest easy.

A bit more progress; Just roughing in the stowage. A lot more to do but basic construction is finished. This kit has got to have the easiest length and link tracks to put on ever. I'm having a blast doing this little guy. Thanks for looking in.

Progress on the hull and starting on the stowage; Tamiya putty for the tarp and sandbags. ( First time doing sandbags. I found them harder than I thought to do. This is the best of three tries I have done.) I hope everyone is having a great weekend. Dan

Wonderful work. Inspirational model building. I very much enjoyed your build and your diorama came out great. I wish you had shared more photos from closer to the figures eye level. Your placement of figures and vehicles lends to some neat/dynamic photo angles. I hope you don't mind but I cropped one of your photos to show what I mean. That's a great scene you've made there. Well done! What do you have planed next? I'm looking forward to what you come up with. Thanks for sharing.

Chipping away at it. Overall, Turret interior painted and assembled. Starting on getting the upper hull in shape. Starting to add the PE screws, next will be the sandshield brackets and two little brackets that hang under the rear hull side. The vehicle I'm basing mine on is this one. One of the few photos I've seen with all or most of the grousers mounted on the tracks. The Hauler set has replacement turret brackets in PE so other than the hassle it should be easy? Anyone know how many links between grousers? I want to say 8-9 but can't really tell. I thought it would make the model a bit different. You could do more with what this kit but I'm pretty happy with how it looks. The trick for me will be keep out any overspray later in the painting process. But she's still a lot of fun and I'm making headway.

As I had all of the ingredients in the drawer and after having such a good time building the new 1/48 M5 Stuart I thought I would have a crack. Bought the kit as soon as it came out and slowly picked up the Hauler set and Star decals as they came out. I will use bits and pieces as needed to tart up the girl a bit as she has it 'all on show' so to speak. Funny that I've already spent more time on getting this far than I did on all of the construction on the Stuart. All the Hauler stuff is good and fits pretty well. The screens are a drop fit onto the kit parts, I just used a ball cutter. in the Dremel on the kit screens to add a bit more relief. Heaps easier than opening up the hull by chain drilling and they add a tiny bit. I will go back and dent them and maybe poke a little hole/tear to add a bit of zing. The kit ones are pretty cool as is. Added all the grab irons from florist wire and used some of the Hauler resin bits. Tried smash moulding for the periscope covers and that worked a treat! Need to practice more to get the hang of it but quick and works well. I'm most happy with adding the cocking leaver and return spring on the breach as the gun looks a bit bare without it. Now it's on to primer and painting the interior so that I can try and assemble this lot into the tiny turret. Having fun so far. Thanks for looking in. Dan