The_Lancaster

Nice trio! I like the splash of colour on the engine decks

Hey All, This is Tamiya's T-55 Engima. Somewhat iconic in its day during desert storm, you can still see at least five preserved examples worldwide, including one that I've been luckily enough to get up close and personal with at the Bovington Tank Museum. The outlandish look of the vehicle and the lack of definitive details surrounding it certainly means this T-55 variant lives up to its name, and inspired me to build one for myself. The kit was built out of the box. I painted the vehicle in Tamiya Deck Tan and then chipped it back with Humbrol 155, before using oils, pigments and thinned down acrylic filters to weather and dust the vehicle. Additionally, I used quite a bit of raw umber and burnt sienna oils to create the streaking effects. Thanks for looking! Sam

Great overall composition and presentation! Really gives off a great atmosphere! Excellent piece of modelling there!

My word! That is very, very nice!

Hey all, So right off the bat, I know this isn't an IS-3M, I figured out the Egyptian's only used that variant after laying down the base coat. By then though, I was commited in my mind so just take this with a pinch of artistic license! The kit itself is self-explanatory for Tamiya, its a 90's kit but still holds up well today. My only minor gripe is that this is part of Tamiya's era of leaving the areas above the track open, though with the width and hefty nature of the track I didn't close the gaps as the track would cover it. The kit is built entirely out of the box. I painted the model using Tamiya Xf-55 Deck Tan, as I had read that the Epyptians used British Light Stone for their earlier stuff, and I liked the light tone. I then took a fine brush and Humbrol 155 Olive Drab and spent a good hour and a half chipping the vehicle. As the old saying goes 'No chip is too small!' I applied a thick home made wash of van-dyke brown oils mixed with white oils and thinned with white spirit. Once semi-dry I took the excess off and left the grime built up over the recessed areas. I then took a pin wash to the rest of the vehicle. I additionally used the wash mix, thinned further and misted over the vehicle with my airbrush to create a dusty look. For this vehicle I wanted to accentuate the 'blobby' look of it which for me is a classic design of the early Cold War Period. To achieve this, I left off the .50 and I had the vehicle buttoned up to show off the relatively smooth and flowing lines around the turret. I also didn't use any stowage on this vehicle, as the Egyptians for some reason travelled lightly looking at references. I think it has something to do maybe with all the internal stowage and lockers built into the skirts on Soviet late/post-war vehicles. The markings were sprayed on, and take strong influence from the Egyptian markings of the period, though I couldn't say if they were 100% accurate. As stated earlier, the vehicle's the wrong variant for those used by Egypt, so this vehicle more or less represents an inspired view of what the Egyptian's were using at the time. Thanks for looking, Sam

That is a very nice looking CH-34, I like the back story too, very poignant.

Nice job! The engine looks great

What a beauty! Thats a brilliant looking leopard. The painting and weathering are spot-on, they complement each other well!

Hey all, This is what apparently appears to be my 6th Sherman this year if my calculations are correct. I need a hobby... The Tamiya Sherman needs no introduction, its probably one of those kits that most have built. I built mine with the addition of two plastic card inserts under the sponson areas overhanging the track, as Tamiya left them open on this release. I additionally took my dremel to the turret to beat it up a bit and create some casting textures. I used a set from Star Decals to depict a Sherman Tank from the 746th Tank Battalion, which at the time was attached to the 4th Infantry Divison and came ashore with the division shortly before midday on the 6th June. I painted the model with Mr. Colour Olive Drab (1), and then used a mix of oils, pigments, and AK Interactive Mud Textures to create a vehicle that had been weathered by a mix of churning up the chalky/sandy beachfront areas as well as the generally bad weather that blighted the early days of the campaign. In this way I tried to create the effect of an active vehicle in relatively grimey enivronments, whilst the wear and tear (such as the chipping) was subdued under this layer as a nod towards what wouldve been generated during exercises in England prior to the invasion. The stowage as always is from the spares box, I tend to keep a ready supply of stowage available, notably eBay can sometimes come up trumps with random items in resin that sellers will box up as a mix of random bits for you to sort through and do as you please. With the stowage on this occasion, I tried to keep the front glacis clear through more of personal choice, whereby I could show off the large star on the bow. This was mainly due to the blood, sweat and tears that went into trying to get it to settle over the 3-piece transmission cover as I didn't particularly want to put all that effort in just to cover it up! Thanks for looking! Sam

Looks spot on mate! I especially like your camo. The foliage is a really nice touch too!

Those Jerry cans turned out to be one of my favourite bits! Turns out having collected and painted them as I went, it was by accident to find out I’d painted them all slightly different shades. Glad you like them too! thanks for all your comments guys! Sam

Absolutely stunning, I’ve been just staring agog at these photos for a while now. I don’t think I’ve seen a better lightning anywhere. It’s models like these that I can only hope to aspire towards in my own creations

Hey all, This is Tamiya's new(ish) M4A3E8 in its first iteration as the variant in use towards the end of the Second World War. The kit was built out of the box save for the decals and stowage, which came from Star Decals and the Spares Box respectively. The Model was painted with Mr. Colour Olive Drab (1), before being drybrushed, and then weathered with a mix of oil paints, Tamiya Acrylics and Vallejo Mud effect. The figure is included in the kit, and whilst its been seen almost everywhere now, I still think he's in a fantastic pose and Tamiya figures are some of the best in injection molding IMHO, especially with the new releases. I painted him using Tamiya Acrylics and Humbrol Enamels. Thanks for looking, Sam

Another great build there! Looks very much the part, the rivets really give it a visual interest

Very nice! Especially the stowage, really gives it a good look. I’ve always liked the Staghound, it’s a beast of an armoured car.

Absolutely! I can’t help but feel the whole hype-building approach just runs away with itself and whatever Airfix has in mind never quite meets the expectations the hype has built. This way is quite refreshing, I hope they continue. I would even push as far to say, why don’t they ditch the large January announcement and just trickle feed us new releases throughout the year? Might be much more palatable and keep us interested all year round

Wow! Well done airfix, great subject choice!

Thanks everyone for your kind words. Airfix I believe have boxed a number of Academy kits I think to get the ball rolling with their armour range, but they’re slowly bringing in their own new tool kits as well! Sam

I could recommend Mark 1 models, who cater for a wide range of ww2 subjects, but @Adam Poultneywould be your man for 1/144 subjects! Sam

Those are some really nice figures! Some of these older kits really do stand up over time

Hey All, This is Airfix's boxing of Academy's M36 Jackson which even though is from I believe the late eighties-early nineties, is still a very nice kit all things considered. I built the model out of the box and painted it with a mix of Mr. Colour, Tamiya Acrylic, Tamiya Enamel and Humbrol Enamel. I chose Mr. Colour No.12 Olive Drab (1) for the main coat of paint. I used a mix of decals and photo-etch stencils in order to create the markings. I then used oils and thinned down tamiya acrylics to weather the vehicle along with Vallejo mud textures coloured with enamel paints. The stowage is from mainly the spares bin, and is a mix from Blackdog Models, Tamiya as well as individual sets bought off eBay. I also used milliput to create the allied air identifcation patch. The model was matte varnished to seal it with Xtraenamel Matte Varnish Thanks for looking, Sam

That’s really rather nice! It’s good to see a jeep with the canvas cover up, gives it a whole different feel. Well done!

What a double edged sword! On the one hand, we still have access to very unique modelling subjects otherwise unkitted anywhere else. On the other hand, oh my aching wallet... In all seriousness though, I'm really happy to see this, I would've thought this would go the same way as Verlinden and never been seen again. Some of their subjects, albeit expensive, are literally the only ones available. Sam

Thanks for your kind comments guys, much appreciated! Sam

Hey All, This is Asuka's Sherman III, built as a vehicle from A Sqn, East Riding Yeomanry as part of the 27th Armoured Brigade as seen during the Normandy Campaign. I used a Star Decals set to get the correct markings, and used Resicast's lower-half of the deep wading gear, to depict a vehicle that had dropped the gear but the lower halves still remained on the engine deck and over the exhausts. I also added a one piece set of smoke grenade dischargers which were 3D printed and found on eBay. I painted the model using Humbrol 155 Olive Drab, a somewhat controversial colourshade as it apparently doesn't replicate the original Olive Drab from the factory nor SCC 15, the British Shade. Despite this however I like the shade on my model and in my minds eye gives off the right feel for me. Ultimately it might not be to everyone's taste but I'm sure theres more going on in the world to worry about than Olive Drab shades. I painted what remained of the deep wading gear a deeper shade of green to accentuate that the gear was painted a deeper shade of green than the base colour of the vehicle. As well as this, I used unthinned black enamel paint brush-painted on to depict remnants of the sealant that was applied around certain fittings covered with canvas. The Stowage is all from various generic sets painted seperately, then built up on the model in layers to replicate the way in which the crew wouldve piled stuff on, I later strapped it all down with masking tape cut into thin strips and painted, though in hindsight I should've probably gone with a deeper shade of the colour I was using as it almost looks unpainted when on the model. The vehicle was weathered with oils and vallejo mud effects. I later ran over the metallic parts with a pencil to create more than just a matte black effect. Thanks for looking! Sam