Bullbasket

Very nice build and a great paint /weathering job. I like the way the the plates are not hanging neatly. It looks more realistic that way. John.

Very nice Cromwell. It looks as though it's been to Berlin and back again. John.

Thanks to you both for the comments. John.

Awww shhhesh! I'm going to miss tuning into your saga Badder. It was like Mrs Dale's Diary....."I've been worried about Jim lately". Anyone under the age of 70 is going to wonder wtf I'm babbling on about. John.

Thanks Jim. BTW. Got any more pythons going spare? The bl**dy rodents are back again. Spent a pleasant couple of hours listening to one rearranging his bedroom behind the plaster boards. Either that, or it was in it's death throws from eating the poison. Hopefully, the latter. John.

That's very nice of you to say so. Thanks a lot. John.

Many thanks for the comments. It's difficult to interpret b&w photos. I'm still not sure whether it should be black or green. Give Hornet Heads a go. You won't be disappointed. John.

Necessity is the mother of invention. Nice work with those steps. They look excellent. John.

Very impressive. It was bad enough doing those fuel pipes in 1/35th on my Tiran, but 1/72nd!! Nice one. John.

So did I, and I've been model building for 65 years.....and I'm still learning. Welcome aboard. John.

Thanks Pete. Chris Meddings does a couple of sheets covering several different British armoured regiments. John.

Some will disagree with me, but I find Tamiya paints great for spraying, but crap for brush painting. If you try to go back over it before it dries, it tends to lift it off. As it's now dry, you can go back over it with the base colour. When it's dry, then you can start the chipping again. You can either use a brush or as a lot of people do, a piece of sponge. Either case, you don't want a lot on it and you need to apply it with a dabbing motion. Try it out on an old model if you have one, and then once you'e happy with the results, try it on the M5. I find that the best paint to use for chipping is artist's oils, and the colour that I use is raw umber. HTH's. John.

Nice colourful Mk.lV. It makes a nice change from the usual plain green. John.

The build was first class, and the finish is too. Nice one. John.

Nice looking Tiger Pete, and I like the figures. John.

Thanks Chris. Yes it is green. I'm not sure but it might be G3. I've no idea which one I used for it though, but it wasn't Tamiya, as I brush painted it. I think that I followed the kits instructions with regards to the colour, but looking at a couple of books that I have which feature this tank, I'm not sure if it should be green or black. This tank is on Bison decal sheet and they state OD, but I'm sceptical of that. John.

'Evening Stix. Many thanks for the kind remarks. There are so many things that I like about the Tasca kits, not least of which is the superb .50 cal. mg. John.

He could be sneezing........or even yawning, having just woken up. Hence, no earphones and mike. Thanks for the comments. John.

Thanks Badder. Hornet heads make a world of difference and that's the best face that I've ever done. I've never got near it since. If I remember rightly, the cap badge came from an etched set from Inside the Armour. John.

Thanks both, for the comments. John.

Thanks Ant. Certainly from the point of view of the kit, I would definitely agree. These are probably the best Sherman kits on the market. John.

This is another one of my builds from a few years ago, but for me, it was a bit different in so far as it was built Out of the Box........well almost. It's Tasca's Sherman ll, and it was a fairly recent release when I got hold of it. It's a great kit and even though I built it OOTB, if I was to do it again, I would use etched brass for things such as the headlamp brush guards, as although they are thinner than other manufacturers efforts, they are still a bit on the thick side. If memory serves me right, the decals are the ones in the kit and are for a tank of the 9th Lancers at El Alamein in 1942. The figure is from the kit I believe, with one of the excellent Hornet heads. I originally painted his side cap red, but it was pointed out to me by somebody in the know that it should be khaki. I hope you like it. John.

Bare in mind that I'm just a simple "pongo" and don't know much about floaty things on the water, but why would the size of the carrier have anything to do with it? Would not the length of the catapult be similar? John.

Home straight. Once all of the joints were rubbed down, I added the small details such as the lugs on three faces, which are the outer parts of the internal traversing mechanism for the turret. These were made from slithers of sprue, about 3mm diameter, topped of with a bolt head. Seven of the eight faces needed a bolt head adding to the middle of the lower edge. A periscope was positioned at the front of the roof and I took this from one left over from an M5 Stuart kit. One last job to do was to make the ring that is on the roof of the A/C, which the turret sits within. I did this by first cutting a disc from 1mm card, the size of the circle. I then cut a length of pewter foil, 1.5mm wide and wrapped this around the circumference of the disc, super gluing the ends together. This was then placed over the exact spot on the A/C roof and tacked to it with super glue gel. Once it was set, I removed the disc and ran some thin super glue thin all the way round. After attaching the tow hook to the rear plate, I turned my attention to the spare wheel. When I bought the wheels for this build, I didn't buy a spare, as that would have meant buying another complete set, so I decided to do something with one of the kit wheels. After gluing the two halves together and rubbing the joint down, I cut a circle from thin card, about 1.5mm wide, using an Olfa P Cutter. It took several attempts to get it right. This was then glued within the inner rim of the wheel and then I added an inflation valve and the 18 bolt heads missing from the kits wheels. On the Type 4, the method of securing it to the vehicle appears to be simply mounting it on a spigot and holding it in place with a small plate and a nut. The Israelis used a lot of British equipment in 1948, and most, if not all of these Scout Cars carried the No.19 radio sets. The aerials were mounted in a number of positions, one of these being the rear sloping plate on a bracket, which I made from scrap etched brass, bent to shape and super glued in place, followed by the A set aerial base from the Cromwell kit. Also added here are the two British pattern sand channels, which are etched brass from Hauler. Just a few jobs now to finish off. These Scout Cars frequently had their bumpers replaced, an additional one added to the existing one or just left as they were. I went with replacement. A new bumper was made up from three strips of 10thou card, made into a channel and then fixed in place at the front. The two brackets in the kit which fit onto the top had to be adapted, and once done, they were glued in place, along with the towing hooks. The Israelis removed the right hand headlights and the brush guards. On the roof above the driver is a horse shoe shaped vent, similar to the ones seen between the hatches on a Sherman. I was going to use one from a Sherman kit, but it's too big, so I made one from two layers of 10thou card. Finally, (unless I find something else to add), there are a few bolt heads around the edge of the sandwich armour which I punched out using a hexagonal punch. I added the second MG.34 before putting it aside for a while to see if it was really finished. I could add some stowage, but the jury is still out on that. I don't think that I will tinker with it any more, so now it's a case of giving it a wash and then tomorrow a primer coat. Thanks for looking. John.

Yes, I have to agree with you. Totally OTT. But I have to admire his sense of humour......£150??? John.