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Was this the Bovington exhibit?

Very nice indeed!

I've told you a billion times not to exaggerate!

What! and ruin all your good work?

@noelh Try right click - open in new tab?

I used to paint eyes on 1/35th figures. a) my eyesight was a lot better then b) my hand was a lot steadier c) they weren't eyes painted to the exacting standards seen here. Just white across the eye area, a small black spot/streak across the eyelids to cross the white area where the pupil would be and then flesh colour to cover in round them.

Same here in Southampton. Not quite the same population but 1 shop out in a suburb that has quite limited kit stock - mainly concentrates on model railways.

Don't we just love painting Tiger I wheels - there's just so many of them!

@sardaukar I am going to try disc cam by hairy stick on my JP IV though. I think discs will be easier than square pixels. (See the Hasegawa JP IV in my signature below.)

I hope the tracks fit better on your Red Dragon Tiger I than my Revell Tiger Is. They are link and length with reasonable detail but they don't fit the front sprocket. The sprocket teeth are quite pronounced but there are no corresponding holes under the links to fit the sprocket teeth! The sprocket teeth need to be removed where the links touch the rims on the outer edge. The inner edge fitting is fine. A real nightmare if you leave the teeth in place as I tried to do....................

I was looking at pixels for a Revell Ukrainian T-80 in 1/72 but bottled it - it's going to be overall green...................

I agree. With limited budget and storage 1/72 is ideal for me. I find Revell varies greatly. (Compare their Tiger Is and their Panzer IIIs.) IBG and Zvezda seem to have good detail even if I'm not up to checking detail accuracy they look good if built and painted well. @Seahawk and @Yg Models and all you other 1/72 builders, keep up the good work!

I noticed the other day that there was a significant step in the offside track where it drops from the sprocket to the first roadwheel. I think it arrived when I "repaired" the track after it responded to gravity and a short length parted company with the rest. I stuck it back on but, it seems, not very well. Fortunately it came off successfully. And, after a few attempts, went back on again a little more tidily. The underside is still a little uneven but some "mud" in the gaps will hide it reasonably well. Looks a bit better now, maybe?

I've built the kit so far in separate units for painting purposes. A start on the running gear with base colour on the wheels and tracks. The tyres will be last before weathering. Before that I plan to add some bare track colour where the wheels would rub and along the edges where the sprockets would wear the paint away. Penultimate step will be brown/black/khaki mottling and dry earth/talcum powder to simulate mud deposits around the edges.

Great Stirling. I remember building one as a lad - many years ago; probably when they first came out. If I was a time traveller like your good self I could go back and retrieve it for display here!

Tremendous work. It has been an education watching this develop. Lots of ideas to try later.

Might the driver then bang his fingers on the windscreen?

I don't normally build modern armour but current events inspired me to start this quick-build. It'll be a T-80 BV with the "Z" markings all but erased and blue/yellow panels fore and aft to ensure recognition as being under new management in tribute to President Zelenskys' finest.

I think I'll thin them down a bit. They look like armour plate off the sprue! I've been having fun with the rest of the kit too. Some of the parts, like the turret top and bottom don't fit very well. Other parts are microscopic - like the ERA panels and their mounts. But the turret cleaned up reasonably.... The tracks were either a) a link short both sides, or b) someone put them together wrong. But they went together after a fashion with a cardboard fill across a rear sprocket top that will be hidden anyway. The ERA got on board too - eventually........ So it's all beginning to come together.

I've started a Revell T-80 BV. I'm wondering what the flaps between the front track runs are made of on the actual vehicle. (I know they're plastic on the kit.) Are they armour plate to protect the lower front by triggering shaped-charge AT projectiles or heavy rubber like the rear side skirts appear to be?

Great build! Like the excellent paintwork, weathering and all the fine detail. Who are the gentlemen depicted on the inner surfaces of the fins?

Sooty exhaust staining around the tailpipes and on the rear fenders - maybe?

Very thought provoking. Historically I bought the "correct" Humbrol colours and painted as I would a tank or a truck. This method looks much more artistic and creative. I wonder if it will translate into 1/72.................................

Looks like a still from a contemporary newsreel!

Those tracks look quite a work-up but they'll look great fitted to the road wheels, especially over an uneven base.