Time to ditch the wingy things and armour up! First AFV WIP - Academy M3 Grant 1:35

[Ozzy]

Nice going Clive, I like your PE stowadge rack I've got some in a Dragon desert Sherman. Now I've got some visual reference, to use when I have a go myself later in the year.

[clive_t]

2 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Nice going Clive, I like your PE stowadge rack I've got some in a Dragon desert Sherman. Now I've got some visual reference, to use when I have a go myself later in the year.

Cheers Ozzy, the boxes were probably the easiest bits to make. One bit of kit you might find very useful is a bending tool, to ensure that the bits that need folding do so in a uniform way. I am fortunate enough to have a set of bending bars from my other hobby (model railways) which achieve much the same thing. When it goes well it's very rewarding

[Ozzy]

51 minutes ago, clive_t said:

Cheers Ozzy, the boxes were probably the easiest bits to make. One bit of kit you might find very useful is a bending tool, to ensure that the bits that need folding do so in a uniform way. I am fortunate enough to have a set of bending bars from my other hobby (model railways) which achieve much the same thing. When it goes well it's very rewarding

Got to agree, I got on for farther's day a few years ago. I have found it invaluable, with some of the builds I've done with it over the years. 

 

[clive_t]

Managed some modest progress today. The PE on the rear of the hull is more or less complete. I gave it a quick dry-fit with the tools (minus the towing cable as I need to rework that):

 

 

Another issue with PE bits looking out of scale. The protective framework around the headlamps:

 

 

I have some very thin styrene sheet, so some strips of that ought to make for a better alternative without too much work.

 

Incidentally, the headlamps are now a fetching shade of purple because of the Maskol that will hopefully protect them from the ravages of the painting stage when I get to that point.

 

Thanks for watching, your comments are most welcome as ever

[Ozzy]

Those tools and straps look nice Clive.

[clive_t]

25 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Those tools and straps look nice Clive.

Cheers Ozzy, very tricky to put on but they do look the part. Hopefully with some paint on they'll really stand out.

[Bullbasket]

Looking good Clive. Personally, I wouldn't change the headlamp brush guards. They look fine to me.

 

John.

[Gremlin56]

I agree with John here Clive, the headlight guards look fine to me.

[Hewy]

Those tools look the biz clive, very nice

[clive_t]

On 8/16/2017 at 9:45 AM, Bullbasket said:

Looking good Clive. Personally, I wouldn't change the headlamp brush guards. They look fine to me.

 

John.

 

On 8/17/2017 at 5:59 AM, Gremlin56 said:

I agree with John here Clive, the headlight guards look fine to me.

 

16 hours ago, Hewy said:

Those tools look the biz clive, very nice

Thanks all, for your comments.

 

I think the issue I have with the headlamp guards as supplied in the Eduard kit is that they sit too tall. All the reference photos I have which show these items, show the top of the guard in quite close proximity to the top of the headlamp - for example:

 

THE BRITISH ARMY IN NORTH AFRICA 1942. © IWM (E 18982)IWM Non Commercial Licence

 

I would hazard a guess that the gap is about an inch, 25mm. Scaling that down would make the gap less than a millimetre.

 

This morning I tried to modify the existing PE part by cutting the folded feet off each end and introducing a new foot by folding the remaining ends, thereby reducing the height. Not perfect, but to my eye at least they look a bit better:

 

 

It is my intention to hang some tin hats over the front of the headlamps - as this appears to have been quite common practice in several of the reference photos - thereby obscuring the shoddy workmanship of the mangled new feet.

 

You may have also noticed I managed to attach the side rails. Here's the other side:

 

 

Getting near the end of the PE saga, thankfully. Although, the hand rails above the side doors were fashioned from some thin wire:

 

 

A bit of filler was needed as the holes for the plastic rails were bigger than the diameter of the wire used. No matter, that will get smoothed down tomorrow, hopefully.

 

With that, it was time to start dry-fitting the various hatch doors, pistol ports etc in preparation for another spray with the primer - mainly for the benefit of all that vast expanse of PE:

 

 

Oops, almost forgot - one last bit of PE, the stowage basket for flimsies and jerrycans:

 

 

So, with a bit of luck and a favourable breeze tomorrow, I should get this thing fully primed and ready for its first proper covering of paint.

 

Thanks for watching!

 

 

 

[Ozzy]

Looking very nice Clive, nealy there.

[clive_t]

9 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Looking very nice Clive, nealy there.

Thanks Ozzy, yes I am hoping to have it finished in the next couple of weeks - by no means a certainty

 

It's amazing what you find out when researching a model. The side rails, for example, although extensively used for dangling bits of kit from, were actually fitted for a specific purpose - to support a fake outer 'lorry skin', making the tank look like a lorry from distance - or indeed from above:

 

THE BRITISH ARMY IN NORTH AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST 1942. © IWM (E 13380)IWM Non Commercial Licence

 

THE BRITISH ARMY IN NORTH AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST 1942. © IWM (E 13376)IWM Non Commercial Licence

 

THE BRITISH ARMY IN NORTH AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST 1942. © IWM (E 13379)IWM Non Commercial Licence

 

This was apparently all part of a massive deception, which went by the name of Operation Bertram.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bertram

 

Very interesting.

[Ozzy]

Nice pictures Clive, are you going to do any truck camouflage?

[FrancisGL]

I want to see how it will look with a coat of paint, certainly better, as homogenize all the work with different materials ...

Cheers Clive  

[Kris B]

Thise photos are amazing. I would never guess what was the side rails for. I fought for hanging the crew stuff. 

Good progress Clive. 

[clive_t]

4 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Nice pictures Clive, are you going to do any truck camouflage?

Thanks Ozzy, it's an interesting idea but not in the time I have left. Maybe at some stage in the future.

 

50 minutes ago, Kris B said:

Thise photos are amazing. I would never guess what was the side rails for. I fought for hanging the crew stuff. 

Good progress Clive. 

It's an aspect of the North Africa campaign that isn't often talked about - or modelled, I guess - but the various deception activities played a big part in the eventual downfall of Rommel. His attempt to take the ridge at Alam Halfa, for example, got off to a disasterous start on 30th August 1942 as he was fed false information about the actual whereabouts of the Quattara Depression - a vast expanse of soft sand, almost impassable to wheeled vehicles, and difficult to negotiate even for tracked vehicles. His army ended up taking much longer to cover the ground, and thereby taking more losses from aerial attacks and shelling. He eventually had to withdraw after 6 days due to shortages of fuel, water etc. That was the first battle which Rommel failed to win.

 

2 hours ago, FrancisGL said:

I want to see how it will look with a coat of paint, certainly better, as homogenize all the work with different materials ...

Cheers Clive  

Thanks Francis! Here, at your request, is how it looks right now:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry for the image overload!

[Bullbasket]

That's brought it all nicely together. Plain finish or disruptive pattern?

 

John.

[clive_t]

15 minutes ago, Bullbasket said:

That's brought it all nicely together. Plain finish or disruptive pattern?

 

John.

Thanks John, yes I am quite pleased with how it's turned out now. As far as finish is concerned I am torn, to be honest. I think a disruptive pattern would look good if I could be confident of doing it well. However the fear of lousing it up is now very real. I'll see how I get on with the plain sandy brown cover first (I have some Tamiya XF-59 to use for this) - I also have XF-49 as the camo pattern colour just in case I find the courage, confidence, and a generous slice of good fortune to do it.

 

[Bullbasket]

4 hours ago, clive_t said:

Thanks John, yes I am quite pleased with how it's turned out now. As far as finish is concerned I am torn, to be honest. I think a disruptive pattern would look good if I could be confident of doing it well. However the fear of lousing it up is now very real. I'll see how I get on with the plain sandy brown cover first (I have some Tamiya XF-59 to use for this) - I also have XF-49 as the camo pattern colour just in case I find the courage, confidence, and a generous slice of good fortune to do it.

You could always try this one Clive.

 

John.

[clive_t]

Thanks for sharing John. Sad to say, not a snowball's chance in hell of my pulling that kind of scheme off!

 

I need to ask, were the flimsies part of the kit, or were they sold separately, or did you make them?

[Bullbasket]

2 hours ago, clive_t said:

I need to ask, were the flimsies part of the kit, or were they sold separately, or did you make them?

Wow! now you're really asking something. I built this about 7 or 8 years ago. I have trouble remembering what I had for dinner tonight! But I have a feeling that it was part of the kit. I think that I might have the instructions somewhere so I'll have a look tomorrow and see if I can clarify.

 

John.

[razzie43]

 @Bullbasket  (same here,then my wife tells me all the time i allready saw that movie!)

 

Nice interior clive...

A that dry brush technique is spledid 

i wanna see the end of this nice project u made here

[FrancisGL]

19 hours ago, clive_t said:

Thanks John, yes I am quite pleased with how it's turned out now. As far as finish is concerned I am torn, to be honest. I think a disruptive pattern would look good if I could be confident of doing it well. However the fear of lousing it up is now very real. I'll see how I get on with the plain sandy brown cover first (I have some Tamiya XF-59 to use for this) - I also have XF-49 as the camo pattern colour just in case I find the courage, confidence, and a generous slice of good fortune to do it.

 

 

I understand perfectly, after all that arduous assembly (in your case it is totally true because it is not OOB obviously ... lol), there is the temptation to do something "special". As the counter-camo in this case, but, being complicated, at least for me, there is a serious risk of ruining the kit.

 

For my own experience, I say, if a finish is the one you like, if you do not in principle, when you spend some time, you will not be able to stop thinking about what you had to do, and then, and it will be even more difficult, because you already have a "few layers" of paint and weathering ...

On the other hand, it already looks great with its base layer ...

Cheers Clive 

[Bullbasket]

Hi Clive,

Well, the nurse has increased my medication and beaten me about the head with a blunt object and it's jogged my memory a little. I found the instructions for the Grant and no, the flimsies and the cage weren't included in the original kit, although when I looked at the profile for the painting instructions, strangely they have drawn it in (just to confuse me). I've still got the original etched sheet by Eduard for the Grant and lo and behold, that was where it came from. I'm fairly certain now that the flimsies themselves came from the Accurate Armour set.

I think that my initial confusion came about because I'd mixed up the Grant with the Tasca El Alamein Sherman ll. That did have the flimsies and the etched brass cage for them.

With regards to colour schemes. IMO, I think that a one colour paint scheme is more difficult to pull off successfully than a two colour one. You've got to work harder at it to avoid that monochrome appearance.

 

John.

 

 

 

[clive_t]

19 hours ago, razzie43 said:

 @Bullbasket  (same here,then my wife tells me all the time i allready saw that movie!)

 

Nice interior clive...

A that dry brush technique is spledid 

i wanna see the end of this nice project u made here

Thanks Razzie, hopefully not long to wait now, hopefully I will get a good run at it next weekend.

9 hours ago, FrancisGL said:

 

I understand perfectly, after all that arduous assembly (in your case it is totally true because it is not OOB obviously ... lol), there is the temptation to do something "special". As the counter-camo in this case, but, being complicated, at least for me, there is a serious risk of ruining the kit.

 

For my own experience, I say, if a finish is the one you like, if you do not in principle, when you spend some time, you will not be able to stop thinking about what you had to do, and then, and it will be even more difficult, because you already have a "few layers" of paint and weathering ...

On the other hand, it already looks great with its base layer ...

Cheers Clive 

I get what you mean, I have to be careful that I don't compromise the finish with just because of my self-imposed deadline of September 1st. I need to remember it's more important to be faithful to the overall vision of what I am seeking to achieve than the target date. That date will come, and even if the diorama - or any part of it - isn't complete, that won't stop me pausing to reflect on the events of that day, 1942.

5 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

Hi Clive,

Well, the nurse has increased my medication and beaten me about the head with a blunt object and it's jogged my memory a little. I found the instructions for the Grant and no, the flimsies and the cage weren't included in the original kit, although when I looked at the profile for the painting instructions, strangely they have drawn it in (just to confuse me). I've still got the original etched sheet by Eduard for the Grant and lo and behold, that was where it came from. I'm fairly certain now that the flimsies themselves came from the Accurate Armour set.

I think that my initial confusion came about because I'd mixed up the Grant with the Tasca El Alamein Sherman ll. That did have the flimsies and the etched brass cage for them.

With regards to colour schemes. IMO, I think that a one colour paint scheme is more difficult to pull off successfully than a two colour one. You've got to work harder at it to avoid that monochrome appearance.

 

John.

thanks John. I think my preference would be for a two-tone scheme, although trying to determine what is the 'correct' scheme for this period is proving somewhat difficult. I guess that given the rapid turn of events, the chance to paint every vehicle in a uniform way would have been too much of a luxury, so there may well have been quite a broad variation of schemes, colours etc. One thing I hope to do is try something for a rust technique that I have used with moderate success before on my large scale railway wagon stock. I need to try it though on a piece of scrap plastic similarly coloured to the desert sand I've used for the primer on the tank, to see if it's going to look right. If it does, I'll apply that before the first proper coat.