scoopey

Remember to bang head against wall a number of times as it's a complete #%#::#- in 1/72 to brush paint lol! Still the turret is bigger than a Matilda I

Finally done and now in Ready for Inspection but here's one picture

At last I finally completed this offering from Unimodel

After a coat of varnish I added the decals....nightmare, they are individual numbers... Everyone seems to adding whitewash wear so I thought I'd have a crack before the next layer of varnish and some sort weathering.

And now for the camo.. I realised that the white blue scheme suggested was wrong after numerous forums mentioned it so it became white brown.. I also dared myself to add the criss cross lines...... Its definitely a bit rough but perhaps when done in the field it was not that perfect. Either way its a paint scheme I never want to do again... Seriously, I mean it, this is the first and last...the BT-5 is going to be $%%$% green and the T-28 all over white!!!

Time to reassemble the tracks but first of all need to clean the paint off the axles! Now to grab all the wheels and tracks Got to insert the drive and idlers into the tracks first They have only been pushed into place as I may have to play with them whilst I attach them to the hull like so I'll add the remaining wheels now and glue to the top of the tracks down. I've also painted the inside of the engine vents 4BO green or in this case a good match Vallejo 70.890

White painting nearly done...I know technically that it should be green on white but I'm still getting used to how the paint is applied. I'm brush only....!

First coat of primer. I hate the white stuff...actually I hate doing winter tanks lol!

Its been a bit "bumpy" in parts, one of those case of "if I had a second one I'd do that differently. I do have a 5 and a 7 also. About the one thing not mentioned in my build is that I had to add a false floor in the engine bay. I inserted it in through the turret ring last night. Stops seeing daylight from front to back...

Almost ready for a wash and then the paint shop!

Oh boy the b*****d moment arrived...the tracks. Some are individual, some are in groups. To make matters worse I'd assembled the arms for the idlers too high so I had to break them off and super glue them lower, since the tracks jammed up against the track guard front top. (I added a note to the first picture to serve as a warning for others following). I based my track assembly on tutorials used for 1/35 scale takes, assembling them on masking tape and using a steel rule to keep them straight. All the wheels are loose at this point BTW. Another good tip - make sure the sprocket wheel and idler rotate easily. You can even join the tracks as a loop as there is a nice amount of give. Here is the model so far with the tracks and wheels all separate units (one sneeze and it will collapse like a clown car). I've left it like this now so that the tracks can dry properly. After painting everything I'll need to tack down the top run seeing as they are springing up!

Here's some of the more challenging parts - headlights! There are no holes no lugs nothing- you just have to glue them to bare plastic and hope you get them in the right location... Not perfect, me thinks as I have the dreaded "Model Maker's Percfection Complex", the one where you get something nearly right and cock around with it until its worse than when you started off! Also at the front end are two brass towing hooks - these were easier than the headlights to fit...at least they had a slot.

Essentially the problem is the track guards fit to the side of the frames but at the front should be flush with the inside edge....took me three attempts to get that sorted I had tried the CKIO t-26 with its etched brass parts but the wheel assemblies were horrible fits so i abandoned it!

Yes Unimodel or UM seem good to me...they do the BT-5, BT-7 as well. You are correct in the Vickers derivatives! They are by Mirage and I trashed a couple due to the fact the track guards are a poor fit. I'll be doing a separate posting on the T-26 And how to fix the issue.

Some more pics after I added some of the photo etched stuff. The rear vent cover is not stuck down (until I painted) and the second photo has it removed.

I too am an old modeller returning since 1/16 does not allow and spare space lol! On the subject of tracks, unless a trackguard hides the top (Airfix Churchill Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!) then I do the joint at the bottom and add a wire staple. Zvedza takes a most unusual approach and use tags in the middle of the tracks and at the ends. A pair of road wheels with a hidden pin then locks the ends together and pulls down the tracks floating above the road wheels.

I found the nightmare - the gun barrel bent and nearly snapped when cleaning the end and the way it fits was fiddly. I don't know why I just don't glue the suckers rather than try and have them moving after all when you paint them it tends to gum up the works! Still I got a BT5 and BT7 to perfect it!

Nice, I got a 1/72 Airfix Cromwell to build...actually I got two, the second one I'm converting to a Centaur, with bits from Dan Taylor Modelworks

I got one of those to build, interested to see how it looks....

Just thought I'd post this here. Some models can have etched brass and horrible fits - having got annoyed with one of those, I decided to start this and it is a really nice model. Most parts fit quite well and it is just one of those types of kit that are just "nice" to put together. No major issues...so far! *****IMPORTANT NOTE***** Only learned this later- The front idler and leading road wheel arms are linked. Make sure that once the idler is in place there is a good gap between it and the track guard. If not the track will end up wedged between the idler and track guard

This was an alternate design to my plastruct Czech Hedgehog. The plans need printing on thick card. There are two files, the plans and the instructions https://1drv.ms/b/s!Ah2oEuZZ6FZUj22NSKroyXmZE04Q?e=FlggJN https://1drv.ms/b/s!Ah2oEuZZ6FZUj29xUWN-SLrd7aop?e=bYEQEA

Thought I'd share this home brew Czech Hedgehog design I created a few years back. All you need is some plastruct, plasticard and liquid poly and is good to go! https://1drv.ms/b/s!Ah2oEuZZ6FZUj24BF8vVyhazMhsK?e=Xusjr6

No worries, I liked the hull fitting anyhows, hence I ordered it. I figured if the frames were made in resin then they would snap very easily lol! Even Airfix simplified their Bridge Layer and the decking is the wrong pattern for a WW2 vehicle. I have figured out how I might go about it.

Yes that helps. Though it's not the later model I cannot see them changing the track guard attachments. Besides Mirage do an early version of the T26 similar to this and no doubt it has the same chassis since the Vickers 6-ton tank has the same parts and that was an earlier design. The overall part fit in the kit must be a compromise. As there are common parts but different upper sections, cutting a recess in the track guards would work for some models of T26/ Vickers Light tank but not for others, and it would be expensive making a separate die for each one...my only problem is that its going to be a pain to nibble off a 1/2 mm edge to get a flush fit with the side frames at the front!

The white and blue colours were used in a IBG BT-2 tank kit and a a CKIO T-26C tank. Maybe they are/were an older all winter camouflage that simply got left on the tanks at the outbreak of war...