Whiterook

This was a model built a few years back, which was a 1/35 scale, FORT kit which I had bought at an estate sale many moons ago. Produced between 1942-1944, the ZIS-42's main function was to trail heavy guns and provide transportation of various cargoes in areas without roads. I loved the utilitarian look of this little vehicle and it's what drew me to purchase it. The vehicle screams 'rough going' on snowy and swampy roads, to me. The kit was old as the hills, though! But what really turned this into one of my favorite builds was, the application and use of my first try at whitewash!!! I used the old 'hairspray' technique, which was really pushing the envelope for me at the time. But once I got going with it, I found it was actually pretty quick to pick up the technique. Some accessories were added, in the form of some barrels, Jerry cans, scratch-built tire chains to hold the upgraded scractbuilt skis, and a scratch-built Nazi flag. The idea of the flag was not only to add a little color 'pop' to the piece, but also a theme of the Russians having used the flag to wipe up oil from the drums! It was a great build! Note the undercoat peeking through the chipped paint! The original color looked so off, but I knew the weathering I'd do would change it drastically, which it did, and I think it contrasts nicely with the dirty whitewash. Another new thing on this kit for me was the use of fake snow.... bought a professional diorama product for that, which worked wonderfully. A little tricky to use but, the effect is marvelous. On the following picture, note the truck bed rails...I carved them down for wear, and scratched them up to portray the heavy utilitarian use these half-tracks bore... The flag was made with paper shop towel material, as I recall. Hand painted. The skis came with the kit, but they were open-topped and unrealistic. I scratcbuilt tops, as well as the chains. Thanks for taking a peek!

Thanks, guys! It's a great looking vehicle, and I loved trying new things with it. I just wish it had a better driver-figure. If I were to do the kit over, I'd likely try a camouflage pattern on it, rather than a straight color.

It was an interesting kit to build, and a great start in figuring out my entry into serious weathering attempts. Thanks for checking it out!!!

The netting was made from cheesecloth, which was shaped with a mixture of white glue (Elmer's) and water, spread over the kit framing in the bed. The ramps were solid, so I drilled them out with a pin-vice, in a fashion that is slightly messy, as perhaps done in the field. The windshield was dirtied up to show heavy sand. The chain in the front, was made from wrist braclet jewelry. The medical and storage bags were a bad attempt at shaped clay and straps from tape....kinda a failed attempt The gun ramps had a solid surface, but I thought they'd look better with holes for traction. This was the first time I tried to 'dust up' a windshield.

Bedford QL Gun Portee, 1/35 Scale This is my Bedford QL Gun Portee, 1/35 Scale TOMY model depicting a British Armed Forces vehicle in the North African Campaign of WWII. It was built January 25, 2009 - February 22, 2009, for a Build contest. The model was also entered in a local IPMS show in West Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, at the Wings & Wheels of Western Massachusetts annual model show, in which it won an Honorable Mention ribbon (my first ever modeling award). Of note on the kit: It was bought at an estate sale of this little old dude who'd passed away, and had model kit boxes piled high in every room and basement of his house, of which I walked out with the purchase of 2 lawn and leaf bag's worth of kits! This kits' box was open, but all parts still on sprue. The only thing missing were the decals....hence, all insignia and symbols were hand painted as best as possible. The kit was quite old, but a lot of fun to build. Scratchbuilt were: The medical and gear bags, out of clay and tape (not the best result but, it was a decent enough first try); The tow chain made from some trinket jewelry lids bracelet; The camo netting, made of white glue infused cheese cloth, hand-painted; The windshield was missing, so I made one out of scrap clear plastic laying around the homestead; and the gun ramps were drilled out with a pin vice. The kit tested my skills in many ways, and was completely hand-painted (I wasn't using airbrushes yet, at that time) This was my first real attempt at weathering.... The driver ended up being taken out of the kit, as it was just horribly cast, but the rest of the kit was pretty well made. It was bought at an estate sale many years back and was missing the decals (and IIRC, the windshield, which I scratch built) so the *decals* are hand painted. a cool part that came with this kit was the artillery piece. The camo netting was done with cheesecloth and whiteglue; the chain on the front was added from buying a cheap piece of jewelry at a department store. I made an attempt at scratchbuilding Medic Bags, with limited success. Additionally, I drilled holes in the gun piece ramps to give them a bit more of an authentic feel.

OK, took a couple pics of the camera pod...thanks for the nudge!

Thanks! I'll have to take a closer peek at the canons and see if the effect is correct. Drilling a bit deeper could be doable. I didn't think of drop tanks! ...cool idea!!! And agreed on the camera canopy and telling a story with the build! I very much appreciate the feedback!

Thanks!!! Much appreciated. The background material is actually a very large bolt of felt....black with sparkles embedded. I bought it as a table covering for when I play space ship miniatures wargames (I've been developing a space fleet combat miniatures game...my own rules book; and I have a BUNCH of Battlestar Galactica miniatures (pewter and resin, hand painted) of fighters, Raptors, Cylon Raider, and lots of Capital Ships, Cruisers, Destroyers, etc. See here for a full thread on all the pieces (...this is from my wargaming forum). You know, perhaps that was part of the original series, now that you say it. I can't recall....and maybe that's where the seed came from! I recently picked up the entire series (DVD) at a flea market for very cheap, so I now have a reason to pop them in the DVR!!!

Thanks! I've been working on developing my wash techniques, in particular. I wouldn't normally go this grungy, but I thought it held t the storyline in my head. I was worried at build conclusion that I scratched her up a little too much, though... but ended up happy with it. I'd done a U.S. Marines RF-4B Phantom jet, which I used a chalk wash, and it came out wonderfully. This kit was the first where I tried mediums like oils, water miscible oils, and turpentine. I was happy with it but, the judge is still out on how much I'd want to pull that trick out of the magicians hat. (Comfort-level thing)

Oh my gosh, you're right! Seriously, I have no idea why I missed something as crucial as that....dang, LOL. I'll take a picture of it soonest and post it (edited the post above). Thank you for pointing that out.

Hi Ricardo603! What I meant by 'pay it forward' is: When you gift your time or possessions to others, you 'pay it forward'. Your building your kits for your sister was paying forward, by giving her the model; and then, it was paid forward again by the kits being donated to the museum. Your sister and the museum benefited by your kindness in building the model and donating it forward like that 😉

Thanks, Jan! Yes, I'll certainly post build pics I have left. I was one of those unfortunate fools that had my stiff on PhotoBucket (picture storage/sharing service), but when they went with charging a rather high price for the service, I had to cut ties. My build pics were unfortunately not managed well by myself, in not keeping adequate backups. Arg! I did manage to rescue a few from various flashdrives. Some unfortunately converted to thumbnails, and I have no idea why or how that happened, and have not been able to figure out how to get them full sized again without sever pixelation. Regardless, I'll get what I have posted; and take new finished photos of the models I have left (I tend to donate models to others).

Thanks for the welcome all! Much appreciated.

Great builds! Love the Sherman crew capturing their foes!

Those are awesome....love the diorama base on the second one. Wonderful way to pay it forward, too!