RichardW

Blimey its nearly two months since I have updated this, which shows I guess that life gets in the way... Between Covid and and vaccine program there is no time for anything else! However, I managed a small amount of building and base priming the other night so hopefully I can get some time and the model mojo back! Great inspiration to keep going on this site Thanks all for a bit of sanity!!!

I like the suggestion even more... Squaddies and confusion!! I was never in the army but my Dad was for quite a long time. He had a simple mantra... - A good squaddie never looks back... I got away with a lot quoting that back to him...

Hmmm.... now there is a suggestion! That could look really good, the gun on those things was massive and it was a wide tank! I'm going to think about that, it may be better than the Matilda...

Hi, Thanks, the plan is to have something on the back, kind of mid-pull so to have the ramps down and the jacks in use etc. I was going to improvise and make use of something I already have here, but seeing as this is taking while I'm switching and going to use the normal family exasperation around what I want for Christmas (who knows...) to ask for a 1/35 Matilda and potentially stick that on the back...

As predicted life has got well in the way of this over the last couple of weeks... I have managed a bit more assembly and I'm going to start a bit of basic painting this week. The truck is much more fiddly than the trailer, some of the bits are tiny and as the plastic is quite soft I have had the odd disaster getting the parts off of the sprue! Its nothing that hasn't been able to be repaired but still a bit of a pain. A couple more pictures below... Some chassis sub-assembly stuff: Chassis to date: Ready for painting:

Haven't posted on here for a while as life has kind of got in the way of modelling... However, over the weekend, between life and getting the house puppy ready... What have I agreed to!! I have managed to do a bit of basic building. There are plenty of better pictures of mine and as with the trailer there are plenty of bits of the kit that are fiddly! Engine: Engine and radiator, not joined as I'll paint them first: Chassis starting the build up: Its my annual work conference this week and next, which is new entirely virtual venture, which will no doubt stop play a bit... Hopefully I can get a little bit more done!

Thanks for the comments, Its certainly an interesting learning curve getting this together! Got the the end of the trailer for now... Going to move on to the tractor and get that built up and then finish the trailer with rigging etc when its all together as one. I've roughed it up with the wheels as is for now, but I may still try and get some different ones. I have used some very light oil wash just to give an impression of a roughed up surface. Now back to building...!

Yes the wheels are a bit of horror... In the instructions there are two tyre options. The first one is sort of straight through tyre tread and the second an off set type of tread which is what I have gone for. The first option would show and approximation of the tyres in the photo but even then it doesn't look like them. I think giving the two options for the tread is why the wheels are built in the way they are, e.g. a bit rubbish in the kit! I think when its all put together they will look pretty hidden, but I may also look at aftermarket ones if they look rubbish...

Excellent! Good news, yours is looking really good! Where did you get the radiator from? I haven't actually checked if my kit has the old one in it, I assume so....! Richard

Doing it with the wheels on would be a task...!! Having got more than a little bit obsessed with the US election and the CNN interactive maps in particular, I didn't really get much done this weekend... I have made a start at trying to show some wear on the trailer before clearing it is prep for some very minor wash effects. Couple of pics of progress: Wheels waiting of go on: Extra wooden planks and some wear effect (attempt) on the trailer deck: Ramps and deck with a bit of wear effect: Wheels, not fitted yet but doing a test check: Soon to stop on this for a bit and move onto the tractor unit. When this is finished I'll have the trailer set up with the winches pulling a vehicle onto it so can set the jacks an ramps etc until I can see how it all sits on the ground... I'm really enjoying this but its going to be a long project...

That is brilliant!!

The PE looks fine to me, its a tank, I doubt there are any in use that are not a bit knocked about! I really don't like PE, you have done a better job than I do with it!

This is great and really good research! Tigers are epic things although as it turned out there were not lots of them and they could be temperamental! As an aside there is a great podcast which has a lot of tiger content, whilst being about ww2 more generally, called 'We have ways of making you talk'. Def worth a listen.

Looks really good, you have done a brilliant job on the wooden floors, they look spot on. Its a pretty big thing all together and loaded up. No idea where I'll actually put mine when its done....

Managed to get some paint on the trailer over the weekend. Its a bit of a mission with the airbrush because there are a more than a few hidden areas... I started by putting down some random brown areas and also to pick up the wood... The moved on to coat of desert yellow to serve as the main base coat Followed by some green added as camo. I roughly followed the pattern on the instructions but just free-handed it with the airbrush: Final bit was to do some work bring it together and working on the wood a bit. I will be doing some aging an weathering but I think need to be careful with how far to go. Most of the pictures I have seen of vehicles from North Africa show them to be very dusty but not especially dirty and obviously not rusty! So I think its important to be a bit delicate... I'm pretty pleased with where it is so far: The wood effect has been done with pencil and as first time try I think its gone ok. I've also very lightly sanded where the tank tracks would be winched up, it hasn't quite shown in the pictures mind you. Next step is clear coat it before some very low level dust oil washes and try a bit of chipping and then fix the wheels. I'll then leave this for now and move to the tractor. I am not going to rig it until I know exactly how the ramps sit with it all coupled up... Thanks for the comments etc, it certainly helps with the motivation! Richard

Trailer is now just about built... There are still some smaller bit to be added but it ready to start painting now. I have had some more PE traumas, I really hate the stuff, to me its useful for some things but in the main I can't help thinking that plastic parts would have been just as good... Anyway some pictures, before priming and initial painting begins. Underneath storage box: Underside done for now... Ramps on the back of the trailer: Ready to paint: Painting can now begin...

A bit more building over the weekend. Reckon another evening of putting stuff together and then its time to start priming and painting bits in modular format. The kit is really enjoyable but I am finding it a bit fiddly in places, its more about making parts fit, its not terrible but I do think there is a bit of filling to be done in places. One thing I am surprised about is how square it appears to be sitting. When I first felt the parts I thought it may end up a bit flimsy but a it goes together it strengthens pretty well. More pictures Wheel bogie onto the chassis: Loading ramps coming together: Front goose neck of the trailer coming together. This took quite a lot of manipulating (and glue!) to begin to sit right... Also, on the neck there are some tiny PE parts that look a bit rubbish really... They are making some chassis bracing parts but are too thin and triangular when they should be rectangle! Plus, I'm not a fan of PE at all. So I am going to remove those and make some more substantial pieces in plastic and piece them in. I found the picture below that shows the braces to be much more substantial: Slowly making progress...

Thanks all, I think it turned out OK, lots that can be improved but the main thing is that it was fun to build. I think the figures in part photograph better than they actually are! I'm on to another one now... No figures but as a kit much more fiddly... And, I think its going to take a while to get anywhere near finished.

That looks really good, chipping is not something I have done before but that is really effective. Are you are painting this in a modular way and then piecing it together before weathering etc? Both the trailer and the truck seem to have quite a lot of hidden detail so its balance, which I am pondering, when to stop building and start painting!!?

I think that looks really good, especially after the break! I'm in the same position as you having got back into things after a similar break... Things have moved on somewhat and its great fun catching up on the missing 3 decades... Richard

Thanks all, I did a bit more last night, although not that much. As has been said, its a good kit and not too fiddly except (for me) the photo-etch bits! I am really not a fan of them and always seem to make a mess of them... Never mind! So last night a bit of PE and then built up the wheels. I am not sure if I am going to use them or buy some resin ones. They haven't turned out terribly but I think aftermarket ones may be better. Some pictures: Getting this stuff fixed was a complete hassle and a little bit of trimming is required yet... Wheels... Each ones comes in three parts, the two outer edges and a centre rim: Wheel bogies: Hopefully I can get some more building later. I am also starting to think about how to paint this, I think certainly for the base coats it will be easier in its component parts. Normally I would build the whole thing up and then start the painting but I think that may be a huge faff looking at he detail parts that go on later...

This is great, I'm building this kit at the moment albeit I'm a long way behind... Great to see it going together! Richard

I have made a start on this... Decided to start with the trailer and then work across to the cab, plenty of parts needed to get the trailer togther: First impression of the kit is pretty good. The plastic itself is really quite thin, so I suspect there could be issues with distortion later on and trying the keep the thing square. So far so good, despite the overall thinness everything seems to go together Ok, and as I have been gluing bits it is starting to feel more robust, certainly more so that I thought it would. Its certainly fiddly in places, there are already a couple of bits that I have made that I'll probably have to go back to, break apart and put back together... Overall OK. Some pictures below, not sure they are that exciting and certainly don't show just how long it took to put together! Wheels hopefully tonight, there are lot of them and each one is made of three parts so no doubt that will take all available time...

Having finished by Churchill Tank I'm about to start what I think will be a much bigger and longer project... Having followed a number of Scammell builds on here, I decided to have a go and bought this: Looks to be a great kit, with a lot of detail... I particularly like the detail sheets that come with it showing colour schemes. Having them laid out as they are is really useful as it compliments the mainly black and white pictures that are on net: I have been doing a bit of research on the vehicles themselves and it seems that there are differences between the base pioneer and the set up that was used as a tank transporter. The chassis was beefed up to allow more crew space on the transporter and it had bigger wheels which I guess is to take the weight but also give more ground clearance under load. Also, the transporter itself was really difficult to de-mount in the field so they stayed largely as transporters all the time. I can't imagine that made them the most versatile vehicles in battle. I wanted to stick something on the back of it and seeing as I have had the Tamiya tractor and 25 pounder kit under my desk for ages I have decide to use a bit of poetic licence and have that a vehicle / rig being recovered by the transporter. I'm going to assume that given that they were about the transporters could have been pressed into use for a number of different tasks... I am not sure yet what order this lot will be built in or indeed how fast it will be... Work is quite hectic at the moment. But I'll document what I do and will be looking for any hints, tips or general encouragement / motivation as I work through my many mistakes!!!

Thanks for your comments. I agree on the figures, the seams seem to pop out more in the pictures and certainly need a sand down. I also think I need to invest in new glasses and a magnifying glass!! The intervening 30-40 years since making these as a kid and now have not been kind!! Plenty to try out on the next ones!