darson

Great looking cockpit Neil, it was really worth the effort. You are correct with Tamiya paints, they really are only suitable for an airbrush. Also, for handling tiny bits of PE I use a toothpick with a very small piece of Blu Tack on the end. Just enough to pick up the parts but not enough to stick them to the toothpick. Cheers

I use isoproyl alcohol which I buy for a couple of dollars a bottle in the hardware store.

Great video, thanks Spence

My vote would go for the Eclipse CS, I have one along with the .5mm nozzle, needle etc and it's brilliant.

Looks great Steve, I did the Crusader Mk.II a while ago in a desert scheme and was pretty happy with how it turned out.

Hi Rodders A couple of things I used on my TAM Mk.V Chieftain were: Castoff Models Chieftain M.V Upgrade Chieftain Tweaks List Accurate Armour Chieftain 120mm L11 Barrel The Castoff stuff was very nice although you do get more resin (at more cost) in the Accurate Armour upgrade. However coupled with the replacement gun barrel you can turn out a real winner for not much cash. Cheers

Great job there Mish that looks simply stunning. It sure gives me some motivation to get moving with my build. A couple of quick questions what color did you use for Sinai grey and what did you use for the aerials? Cheers

Looks great Mish it's really coming together nicely, tank kits always look complete when the running gear and the tracks are on don't they? Cheers

Tony I love the way that PE has come out for the skirting, it's so easy to make a hash of that (well for me anyway). Great idea with the train tracks, a mate of mine did that a couple of years ago with a Panther and it looked great. Cheers

Ian she looks fantastic, I can't wait to see some paint on. By the way what scheme are you going for? Cheers

Mish the T80 tracks that are used on the M-51 are steel faced rubber blocks with inner surfaces that are rubber as well. I only know this because I asked a similar question for my Tamiya M-51 that I built a couple of months ago. Although as you can see from the link that Tony posted once they get a layer of dust on them you really can't tell steel from rubber. Cheers

Hi Tony I have both the Tasca & Dragon Firefly kits and I would have to put the Tasca above the DML in terms of "buildability". It's the little details like the British aerial mount on the Tasca is a finely molded styrene item where the DML piece is a combo of PE and styrene. Tasca kits are not exactly cheap but it's definitely a case of you get what you paid for. Cheers

The Shermy's coming along a treat Mish and those tracks (while boring to build) look fantastic. Cheers

Sorry for the lack of updates peeps but I took the family down the coast for a winter holiday and haven't been able to spend as much time on the bench as I would like. Progress to date, well the lower hull is pretty much completed with the exception of a few bibs and bobs, but it's not glued together yet as I want to paint the insides black before I go any further. This is because the commanders hatch on the turret will be posed open and I'd rather someone peering in see black nothingness than bare styrene. Anyway the kit is a gem to build and has all the detail you could possibly want, the weakpoint if it has one would be the tracks which are the rubber band type but glueable with normal Tamiya extra thin. Any comments good or bad gratefully accepted as always. Cheers

Great looking work David, particularly considering what you started with

Ian that looks like some great work there on the turret and the tracks, certainly worth all the work you've put in. The tracks may have been fiddly but they sure look the part, which is one of the weak points with the Tasca Shermy I'm building, the tracks are nice but their still rubber band. Cheers

Hi all, My entry for this build will be the 1/35 Tasca Sherman II Direct Vision hull that was in operation with C Sqd., 9th Queen’s Royal Lancers, 2nd Armoured Brigade, 1 Armoured Division, El Alamein, October 1942. There are a couple of other Sherman II DVs in the build so I'll be looking forward to how everybody's kits turn out. This is a photo of the vehicle I will be modeling which quite handily is one of the decal options in the Tasca kit. This machine was one of the shipment of M4A1 cast hull petrol engined and M4A2 welded hull diesel engined Shermans that Roosevelt directed away from the US 1st AD to British forces in North Africa following the loss of Tobruk in June 1942. A couple of things you can see from this vehicle are that it doesn't have a regulation paint job in that it doesn't folow the official pattern and there is no white counter shading under the barrel. The suspension has also been left in it's original US Olive Drab color (not Dark Green as the Tasca instructions state). There is also a lot of wear and tear on the front glacis where the hasty paint job appears to be blistering and chipping back down to OD. The kit itself is already started but I've checked with Mish and Mike and they are happy that it's less that 25% complete Progress so far Many sprues to go Hope to post some more pics soon.

Hey there Andrew, it can't be any worse than the Lightning with the warped wings you managed to fix up can it? Cheers Darren

Have a look at either the Wolfpack Design or Aires cockpit for the F-22A While your looking I would also recommend from the same two manufacturers the F-22 engine nozzle set and if you are feeling like going to town grab the Aires wheel bay SAC undercarriage and Wolfpack wheels. If your budget is tight I would say go for an after market front office first as this is a real eye catcher on the F-22. Cheers

That's a wonderful job Roman, it's hard to believe it's 72nd scale.

My sentiments exactly and once again a beautiful job so far Mike, I'll be following this one with keen interest, so keep the updates coming please.

Wow that's a really nice subtle weathering job you've done on the fron office Mike, care to give a bit of a run through of your technique? Cheers

Great Mike that's exactly what I wanted to hear, I'll take the old credit card for a walk on the interweb tonight. I wasn't having a dig at Airfix but I do like to know a kits strong and weaker points. Also, couldn't give a toss about the nose, that level of accuracy means nothing to me.

Let's be honest, that happens to most kits from almost every manufacturer. Whether it's shape, cost, detail, fit or whatever, everybody loves to dump on other brands.

Jennings that really reads as damning with faint praise to me, what are some of the workman like and basic areas you are referring too? I was going to pick up one of these kits but I'm not so sure now.