Devcon 1

Hi, That is a fantastic build, thanks for sharing it. Love the thinking behind it. John

Wow. What a fantastic piece of work... if I could produce something half as good I'd be happy. The figures capture the film representation stunningly. Great job !!!

Hi Mark. Great job you've done there.. Apologies for not commenting earlier. Given me some ideas for next winters project. John

That's terrific. The tracks Look excellent.

It's looking great Soeren, I only intended to have a go at my first and only proper tank build as a deviation from my aircraft stuff but watching builds like this have me hooked. I can hear a Cheiftain calling me right now. Looking forward to further progress on this one.

Hi kev and others, Things I learnt from this one. Q59 and Q13 lube pipes best fitted when most of the hull fitted out as location vague in guide. All shocks painted unfitted and put in later to make it easier to paint I will fit a blind nut in the hull to enable a paintstick/base attachment point R31 fitted later to ease painting I'll make the rear hull part a symmetrical cut next time I found it easier to glue engine brackets T6 to the hull floor and not the motor To get the right angle of R12 I taped it's vessel to the engine Q42 and Q41 fitted at final assembly to get alignment right I think R35 is shown wrong and needs flipping over to fit properly The rad components were painted separately then assembled Holes drilled in rear hull sides to accept this shackles I'll try and find a way of better spacing the track links as they are too close All the components for the turret basket and gun painted before assembly The elevation bellows U34 was hard to position but ended up nearly vertical I had to break and reglue the back of L1 to allow the gun to elevate/depress Gun mantlet and barrel fitted after painting Anything else I remember I'll add Final pics to come when I have more time

Excellent start, I will be following this avidly as this kit is on my "want" list.

That looks great, the interior finish just looks so crisp and neat. A question, do you leave those internal colours just as they were painted or do you go over the colour layer with some kind of matt, gloss or other clear finish. I ask this as I suspect I've got a nasty habit , caught from aircraft, of covering everything in some kind of sealing coat and I'm not sure it's healthy and tends to make things go soft if that makes sense.

Also forgot to add I did have a practice on some spare bits from the scrap box before the real thing.

Hi Mark. After marking out I used a drill to make a daisy chain cut and just dragged the drill sideways to complete the break. The rough edge was sanded back with a small abrasive drum in a Dremel type tool. Final finish was some very fine abrasive paper wrapped round a bit of dowel. I thought it would be a bind but once started it was straightforward. I just had to think ahead about how the cut would tie in with internal and external structures. Hope that helps.

Thanks guys, don't be afraid to get started on it Kev it's a great kit and I'd love to see another one being built. There are a couple of patchy parts in the instructions where a little head scratching was required but I've made a mental note in preparation for the build of the early turret version which I'll start soon together with a few tweaks to painting and colours. I'll pop the items which might help on here later.

Thanks everyone. Pheeew, the rear removable section does work. I did make an error in misspositioning some towing cable connectors which fouled on the exhaust castings so had to reposition them. Just finishing a plain wooden base and then it will be completed.

Nearly done, some odds and sods to be fitted like cables, tools, exhausts, grilles and hatches etc. Then the cut edges need painting but the end is in sight.

Thanks for the feedback all, a little advice if possible. Before I splash out on some filters, I've never used them before but I'm keen to try the technique. But are there any other ways to create a blended less harsh look to the camouflage paint without buying more stuff. I've seen lots of difference methods but I'm getting a bit bamboozled by the whole process. Just curious what you good people here use that works, I have a reasonable range of materials in stock and the model has its cammo finish done in Mig Ammo acrylics with nothing else done to it as yet. Thanks John

That looks very very good. The colours and shading are excellent.