SimonL

Thanks Keith - and yes. Thought it appropriate as it was the kit he came in! Thanks John, much appreciated. Thanks Andy - glad you enjoyed it. I certainly did (mostly). Thanks. I tend to be a bit heavy handed, so I’m making a concerted effort this year not to overdo it (unless of course it’s called for!) Thanks. Yes it’s a bit toasty at the moment. It’s 8 in the morning and already mid-20s. Bit of relief tomorrow is forecasted though.

That looks great. I may have missed it, but how did you do the tow cable - looks very effective.

And started. The plastic is pretty hard, but seems to work well with my usual cements. The hull is a flat pack affair that went really quick with no dramas. Academy have engineered it such that everything lines up well. This however is not so good - rather deep injector marks on the rear faces of the sprockets. Greenstuff should sort that out. Idlers were straightforward. Adding the axles and suspension was so easy - this is quite a change from the Bronco Chaffee! In no time at all, here was where I was at (sprocket and idlers are dry fitted). While that dried I started on the top of the hull which required some large got pieces to be added. I used some Mr Hobby Cement I had buried at the back of the draw - worked well for these big flat surfaces. Ran some Tamiya Extra Thin Cement along the edges to finish. So far so good.

Nice work! Love the camouflage netting and the weathering.

My first project for 2024, the Bronco Chaffee Light Tank in British service. Finished out of the box in the markings of “Chieftain”, C Squadron, 5th Reconnaissance Regiment RAC, 5th Infantry Division, Germany 1946. Brush painted with Vallejo paints and weathered using the same company’s model washes. Intent was to have it used but not abused. Prototypical Bronco - lots of little pieces with not so easy to follow instructions, but actually pretty fun to build (must be getting used to them). Build thread can be found here: Ventured out into the heat of the front yard (38 Celsius and it’s only 10:30 in the morning) to take some photos. Feedback welcome!

Lovely neat job.

Thanks @edjbartos @Maddoxx77 very much appreciated. Try and get some decent photos done tomorrow.

Good to hear @Longbow - I hope to make a start this coming weekend.

Thanks for all the positive feedback. he does get around, doesn’t he?

Ah, actually…. To be fair this was the kit that tea-drinking man came with. And thanks for the kind comments. Thanks John, very much appreciated. Thanks! The marker wasn’t my idea (I think it was @Bullbasket who suggested it to me on a previous build), but the Tamiya clear gloss trick came to me after I stuck myself to something with it 🤣. Thanks. I’m calling this finished. I’ll post a proper RFI at the weekend, but here are some tasters.

Looks fabulous - great finish

That looks great!

I like your optimism Keith 🤣

With the Chaffee just about done, time for the second project of the year. Something a bit different, although keeping with a theme of light tanks, I am sipping my toe in to German armour for the first time. Inspired by @Milan Mynar‘s build of the Academy Panzer II Ausf F “North Africa, a little while ago: I’m going to have a go at building the same one as captured by US troops in North Africa 1943. This was meant to be my Christmas holiday project, but it got sidetracked by the Ferret. From the look of the plastic in the box (see Milan’s build for sprue shots), it will be a fun build. If anyone knows of issues I need to look out for, let me know!

This is close to being finished. Weathering was with Vallejo Model Washes. Intending to go for a used, but not abused, appearance. To start with a pinwash of a mix of Grey and Dark Grey (rather neater than i generally tend to be). This was followed by an all over wash of Khaki Green; Which was then followed by a matt coat of Green Stuff World Maxx Matt. This was all done in relatively short order, just waiting for each prior coat to be touch dry. I find them that each successive coat sort of blends with the prior one and it appears to avoid major issues with tide marks. I the left this to dry more thoroughly before a targeted wash of European Dust, heavier on the tracks and running gear, more dilute on the main body of the tank. This also helped dull down the markings a bit. At this stage I’ve also added the “glass” to the drivers windscreen, which was just a push fit. I first just ran a permanent marker along the edges of the glass before carefully squeezing it in. The clear parts for the commanders cupola were not a great fit, so instead I opted for using some Humbrol Clearfix that I had almost forgotten I had. The aerial is some copper wire. For the headlight I used a Molotow Chrome marker to sort the reflector. The front transparent part was “glued” in plaza with Tamiya X22 clear. This is what it looks like from the back. Tea-drinking man looks happy that his ride is almost ready. Just a few minor touch ups to be sorted.

Thanks @Longbow. The gloss surface helps, but they are also rather good. Thin, with little carrier film and of course all going onto nice flat surfaces.

That looks great - can only echo what others have said about the pin wash and weathering. Really coming to life now!

Well it’s beginning to cool down now - three days above 40 C with night time temperatures not getting down to much below 25 C by daybreak. Ugh! 🥵. So no progress in the evenings this week. Managed to get the gloss coat on (my usual floor polish) and the very limited number of decals sorted on the main hull. Also fitted the lockers on the fenders. I realised that I hadn’t fitted the spotlight in the turret - but a close look at the photo of the real thing it looks like it wasn’t fitted. Just the tower (?) the light was fitted to, so that was easy to fix. Just a few minor paint touch ups and it will be time for weathering. I want to keep that restrained as this is a post-war (just) tank, so I suspect I should not go to town on it. (No rust will be seen 😉).

Great work, well done!

That looks great. Like the subtle mud splashes!

A masterclass John!

Wonderful work!

I wondered why my notifications went nuts! Many thanks. Thanks Roger Thanks! Decals first though. Weekend job - we are having another heatwave here in Perth over the next few days. Thanks Ed. Happy how they finally turned out, despite the (self induced) palaver.

Nice work. Hope you are recovering well from the lurgy.

Looking great - albeit ominous in its black primer!