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OLD Dragon 1/35 Sherman Firefly 1c Hybrid #9037 (teaching an old dog new tricks)


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Hi Badder,

If you shoot back a page I posted a picture of what I used. It's a brown coloured bandage that I bought off evilbay.

Essentially to fix it I just wrapped it round the barrel and dabbed at it with watered down PVA (approx 50/50 water to glue) and whilst it was setting teased it around a bit with a cocktail stick (tooth pick in the USA). The hessian strips were small strips of Tamiya tape. Let the glue harden a touch then start putting the strips on with tweezers working them in and out of holes in the netting etc to give a more realistic look then let the glue harden completely and paint!

Hope this helps.

Ben.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi all,

quick update! very close to finishing now (with the exception of the base). I will get this finished this year!

Just need to weather the running gear and tracks and do some streaking and fuel stains on the upper hull then its done and on to base work which shouldn't take too long.

Any way here we are.....

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That's all for now folks.

As ever thanks for following along.

C&c always welcome.

Ben.

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Aye up Ben

Proper job that mate. Great weathering. I seem to have problems with weathering these days and a few of my builds have stalled because of it. Might have to read thru your thread again to pick up some tips.

Regards

Steve

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How do steve,

to be honest mate it's just MIG pigments, i sprinkle them on then rub them in with an old naff brush. Once they look good to me i just load up the airbrush with MIG pigment thinners and on a very low PSI just mist the model until the pigments are damp then leave to dry.

simple!

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Ok!

So, calling this one 99.9% done! All she needs is a bit of graphite rubbing onto to raised cleats of the tracks and she's ready to go to Allan.

This is my first proper attempt at ground work so go easy lol!

I started by filling a deep photo frame with Hombase ready mixed tile grout that was a beige colour. I then sprinkled it with modelling sand and stones and left it to dry. Took almost 5 days to fully set! Anyway I used my finger to carve out a furrow/ditch whilst it was semi set.

Once dry I sprayed the base with Tamiya red brown and then flat earth, I then drybrushed the whole thing with Tamiya buff.

After that I cut a section off one of MIG productions scenic matts. This one being pine forrest base. These were cut to shape into the corners and infront of the hedge then superglued in place.

I can't reccomend these enough, they look great and make the task so much quicker, especially for people with less time such as me, having to juggle 2 young children and shift work.

Next up it was out to the garden and I cut a few odds and ends of branches from the privet bushes and stuck them into the groudwork to make the framework of the hedge. This was then sprayed tamiya flat earth and then I shredded up some rubberised horse hair and stuck that over the top and in and out of the hedge framework.

Behind this I drilled a hole and mounted the tree so as it hung over the bush slightly but didnt encroach on to the road.

Next I sprinkled some laser cut oak leaves under the bush to simulate dry leaf litter and sprinkled some onto the track and into the ditch. These were fiked with AK interactives sand and gravel fixer.

After that I used pigments to enhance the groundwork slightly, I used european earth and brick dust, again from MIG.

The problem I had though was that where the grass matting met the road it came to too much of an abrupt end and you could see the matt underneath the grass. I solved this by sticking down some green static grass tufts all along the road edges by the ditch and hedge and this blended it all in nicely. Problem was they were a really vibrant green!

I solved this with the next step. I heavily airbrushed the grass edges by the road in Flat earth, this blended them in to the road by simulating dirt and dust that you get by the side of any road or track. I then did the same to the rest of the grass and the hedge to tie in all of the colours and take the artificial sheen off the grass.

I had planned on adding foliage to the hedge but i quite like the dead, tangled look of it.

Any way, thats pretty much it. As i said this is my first shot at groundwork so go easy!

When the tank is 100% done i'll move it to RFI.

Cheers all.

Ben.

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So there we have it.

It's been almost a year since starting the kit and whilst it's had it's problems i've really enjoyed the build. It's actually required some modelling skill for once instead of being a shake and bake it. With that in mind, would i recommend Dragons old sherman firefly? Well yes I would actually. The kit has flaws, some pretty bad, but, I hope i've shown that these can be overcome, creatively and easily with a bit of thought and patience. After all, what would be scale modelling if it was all so simple? Certainly not as fun!

Thanks to everyone for chipping in here and there with your kind comments and of course for following along.

Ben :)

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Hi, Ben.

I would say you've come up trumps with this one (I am well aware that - in some parts of the UK - "trumps" has an unfortunate meaning, but I think folks will get my drift). You made a great job of a difficult kit and it's a real credit to you, my friend...

It's been great following your progress.

Cheers.

Chris.

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That be roite graaaand that be. Can I ask about your shrubberies? What did you use to make the tree and bushes? Don't bother answering that. I really should learn to read. lol

Edited by Badder
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Must admit the tree was bought off evilbay.

Trees are far beyond my skill. However, it's not cheating is it? After all Mozart composed beautiful music but he damn sure never built his own piano!

The hedge is my own work though. It's made from rubberised horse hair.

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Job done chaps!

RFI link here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234993491-old-dragon-sherman-firefly-mk1c-hybrid-9037/

Thanks again to everyone who followed along, it's been a long but pleasurable experience.

Onto Tamiya's brand new M4A3E8 next!

Cheers,

Ben.

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