Tim R-T-C

I routinely have up to four projects active at once, it allows the opportunity to move between them when one needs to be left to dry etc. I find it is also good for motivation, when a project is starting to drag, work on another for a while then go back and often you have fresh impetus to push through.

Uttery insane (both you and the model) Setting new standards in modeling.

Both Emma and I completed our builds (even if mine was just the base!). Good fun as always and love seeing all the very varied contributions.

And my own Blitzbuild Originally began life as an M60A1 tank on a vignette base inspired by Uncle Night Shift - unfortunately delays to the tank meant my Blitzbuild this Christmas was this lovely 1/144 1980s German industrial estate vignette base. Completed in around 12 hours over the four days (much of which was spent on the tank!). See the thread for tank pics and construction details. Merry Christmas one and all.

So I have decided to just complete the base for the Blitzbuild. Further research showed the tank should be in a four colour scheme and I may even need to buy some paints, so I will put this on hold - but hopefully finish before the end of the year. After adding static grass, I made the fencing using tulle and stuck down the wall segment. Finally I painted up the two small boys and placed them by the fence and called it complete for now. I will post this to the armour RFI when the tank is finally complete. Thanks for reading and see you all at the next Blitzbuild 😁

Built by my wife Emma Jane using the Great Escape timings. Its a Rubicon 1/56 BTR-60PB in DDR colours. A good fun build despite some fiddly features like the grabrails and some 'assistance' from the cat...

A final push tonight to fit the vinyl tyres and the markings And all is done. A fun build and I am amazed at myself for completing it in such a short timescale. I will probably varnish when I get a chance and add some weathering for a diorama, but it is complete for now.

Wow, incredible job and endurance work given the difficulties encountered. You've inspired me to have a shot at another of the 534s in my stash. Welcome to the wonderful world of 144th 😁 - feel free to ask any questions for recommendations.

Today saw our lovely modelling table Turned into a dining room table... And partially back again. This is the beginning of our annual sort of the great accumulation of stuff that somehow just draws itself to the table and never leaves. So it will be a light setup for the next few days before a big sort next weekend. The backing to my version of the vignette base is a concrete wall - for which I used a double thickness thin cork offcut, painted with texture paint and a light grey colouring. Then with reference to an unsourced photo I found online of 1980s München graffiti, I added a tag I later added some pigment to fade it slightly and a little grime on the bottom to represent moss rising up from the grassy area below. Meanwhile I painted the tank in a green drab although I think it looks too light. Further research suggests I might need a multicoloured scheme for this subject. Three more hours clocked up. One final push tomorrow night, I think I am going to focus on getting the base finished within the GB and try and finish tank and figures before the end of the year...

Thank you for nice comments about the build and festive jumper 😁 Yet another fantastic Rubicon build. I definitely feel they would be durable for wargame use and I do love all the different variants included in each boxing. Clocked up two hours this evening, fitting a variety of fiddly handles and joining the body up. I closed up all the hatches as I couldn't decide on a particular diorama setting yet, I'm tempted to get another to make as a commander vehicle with figures on and around it. Painted up, using an Ak 3rd Gen, brush painted and went on very smoothly. 2 hours clocked up tonight. Hopefully decals and light weathering tomorrow will finish her up within the timescale. Did get a visit from the quality inspector who seemed happy with progress.

Good work so far 😁

Fantastic work.

I really like this build. Would look great as a regular untimed build, the four hour timespan is just amazing. Has given me lots of inspiration to do a similar project.

After a very pleasant day of wining and dining, I managed to squeeze an hour's work in before the arrival of relatives. I always like figures on my vignettes, it adds scale and life to a scene. This will be no different, so firstly some Bundeswehr soldiers who will be marching past on their way to their part of the exercise. 3d printed from Panzer-Shop.nl Then some crew for the tank. In this scene the crew will be awaiting their morning orders so are not fully kitted up yet. I don't have any specific 1980s tank crew figures, so I found some Red Ball Express drivers at rest from eBay seller 3djson who are wearing knitted caps and drinking coffee, who seemed well suited. I also extracted some Preiser model railway figures - these are 1/160 - but I will be using a couple of children only, so the scale difference shouldn't be problematic. I added primer to all of these, the etch part of the tank and the metal rods on the base. Hopefully a proper session tonight will get a lot more progress.

Fascinating project

Looking forward to seeing this. I love the Manchuko air force scheme. Just an FYI, the roundels should align with the rivet line, not the upper wing. Not sure if that affects the Ki-43, but was an issue on some other Manchuko types.

Even comes boxed with little sticks for self-flagellation as the kit is so easy it doesn't satisfy Calvinist Christmas principles...

Really useful technique for the wings, going to have to tackle another one of these again after seeing this build.

The following is being posted on behalf of my better half, Emma, fellow modeller and a regular exhibitor on the IPMS UK show circuit, but not a fan of writing prose and working out forums. Seasons greetings to everyone, this is the first time I have ever tried a Blitz(en)build - but after a Snowball I decided it would be fun to give it a try. Got a busy Christmas few days with my mother coming to stay, so definitely invoking the Great Escape ruling on timings. The kit is by Rubicon Models in their usual 1/56 scale (28mm wargame scale). I love these models as they have a varied output, its really handy scale for diorama building and they have a very friendly presence and community here in the UK who made me feel very welcome. Although their earlier kits were quite basic, primarily for wargamers, the newer output is as detailed as any dedicated display kit. Assembly is relatively straight forward but there are a lot of parts and lots of variants in the box, so careful reading is required. This boxing is part of their Vietnam War series, but the decal sheet includes numerous European operators, so I'm going to make an East German version as we had an interesting trip to the former DDR last year. It will hopefully be in a suitable vignette in the future but I will need to source some suitable figures. I clocked up an hour of assembly on Christmas Eve before other jobs called. Hopefully I will make a better job of the paintwork than when trying to ice these cookies 😀

So got back rather later than planned, didn't get to resume building until 6pm, so its going to probably be the Great Escape option for this build and lets see what happens! I painted and panel lined the base to show the gaps and cracks nicely. Then affixed it to the canvas board backing - masked off a roughly 8cm square and filled the rest with terrain paste. I cracked open the M60 next. The U-star kits are rather strange - highly detailed plastic with a little etch sheet too, but without any decals or paint guide. They are from Taiwan and not regularly available in the UK - I picked this up at Telford this year for all of £3. On some previous models I have drilled out a hatch or two, but the odd shaped hatches on the M60 would make this a lot more work. Took a break to make some snowballs and what has become a Christmas Eve tradition - a meal comprised entirely of starters from the supermarket Christmas aisle! It is definitely a fiddly build, with the parts on the turret side, particularly small and hard to affix. But by 10pm however she was complete, alas with morning duties calling, I had to retire for the night. Not before adding some metal posts to the drying mud however, for a fence and painting a small strip of cork for a concrete wall. So with 4 hours, 20 minutes used so far, hopefully I will get to sneak some more time in over the next few days 😁

With that expression, has he just seen you lift this kit off the wall too...?

Neat little project, looking forward to this one

Wow, definitely a vintage project!

Started at 1130 GMT Got a family meal this afternoon, so made a start on the concrete slabs so hopefully they will be dry for this afternoon when doing the main assembly. Used a fine cork sheet, cut to the final size shape, then at an angle and scored to represent concrete slabs. Painted with Tamiya pavement texture. Clocked up 20 minutes, in case I need to call in the Great Escape option!

Operation Reforger was the US Army's plan to deliver forces from bases in the US into Western Europe to counter the mass Soviet Invasion they anticipated. Exercise Reforger was an annual wargame based on this principle - rapidly conveying US soliders to depots of armour located mostly in West Germany for maneuvers. I will be looking to replicate one of the M60A1 tanks used in this operation, in a small vignette inspired by this recent Uncle Night Shift video Except my base is a mere 10cm square since the tank is 144th scale. I did pre-empt this build slightly by preordering a name plate from www.nameitplates.co.uk If you are wondering what the giant P-40 is up to - while putting current projects away to make desk space for this build I found my first ever Blitzenbuild project - an Aldi special P-40 I will be starting shortly and my current aim is to complete the project in a pure 24 hours - although this will largely depend on drying time for the scenic paints...