SaintsPhil

Another interesting AFV build!

Interesting I'd looked at the Dragon Shermans and wondered what they were like...

I'll watch this one with interest!

Thanks Tom, it might not be apparent in the pictures but the rear portion of the is masked off as it's 'metal' underneather, as per your artwork, including the first panel rear of the burner, I quite liked that touch.

Looking good, I'm tempted by one of these too...

Welcome! If you can't get Klear, then try a product called quickshine, available from Lakeland stores http://www.lakeland.co.uk/20286/Quick-Shine-Floor-Finish Does the same job. For Matt finish, or satin as you prefer, look for this range http://www.artstore.co.uk/winsor-and-newton-galeria-acrylic-matt-varnish-75ml-c-335-p-3367 You can buy it from The Range stores or hobby craft I think, they also have the flow improver in the same range of products which is a god send for acrylic paint! Phil

Stunning work on the building!

Thanks all, looks a bit stark currently but I'm going to tone it down!

Update time! Thanks to Tom I have a correct profile so painting can begin! First of all the whole topside got a coat of AKAN BS Grey/Green, then white tak worms were applied in my 'artists interpretation' of the Camo pattern. Then the BS black green and BS beige (XF-78) we're applied. There's was a fair bit of discussion during the Mig-21 GB about the correct shade of beige (only us modellers could do this!) I found Tamiya XF-78 to be pretty close, even after it darkens once gloss coated. As usual I missed a bit, not realising the Camo goes down over the forward airbrakes so I'll need to paint those separately... I'm going to gloss coat the top side then spray the underside. Might seem the wrong way round but I use Zero paint as my BS light admiralty grey which has great coverage and will easily go over even the dark green. Thanks for looking Phil

I'll follow this one, I'd looked at this kit I want another nice simple tamiya kit to follow the cromwell, glad to hear it goes together well!

A very handy thread, as I have one of these on the way and plan to start immediately! It is a shame that there is so much variability in the quality of new toolings, I have a part built KH jag on the shelf which was abysmal fit wise, compared to the Eduard Mig-21 I'm currently building, worst part is the Jag cost twice that of the mig!! At least this kit has a slightly more palatable price tag. Are you going completely OOB with this one?

Equally if you can find some cheap ones then AV mounts would reduce the vibration

I've never tried this but could you make it a little enclosure and sound proof it? Thinking a box with a lid lined with egg boxes or similar that would dampen the sound. I guess you need to leave enough room for airflow so it doesn't over heat though! I find most of the noise with mine is it rattling other things on the desk not the compressor!

Great finish, really enjoyed watching your build

Next update, gloss coat then decals I was pleasantly surprised by the Tamiya decals, they responded well to boiling water and decal set and sol. While they dry I decided to have a crack at making some mud... I found a recipe online that consisted of Step 1 A good mix And stipple on One thing I did find is that it dries quite a bit lighter than the colour in the pot You don't get very long to work either as it dries quickly, a bit of water does revive it a bit... What do you think? I was pretty pleased with the results. Phil

That is a lot of plastic, maybe you need to try this idea... http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234976977-space-saver/

Did it to me too from my iPhone..

Cheers Dan, I watched your build for inspiration, you got a nice realistic finish. I'm Going to experiment with making mud then I'll probably give up and buy some!! Thanks for the tips it all helps the learning process!

Thanks chaps With the dedicated 'mud' products about I have to admit I found the picture in this bottle very misleading as it implied it was one of those. I'm sure I will find a use for it, interesting idea to spray it I'd not thought of that..I'm sure I can use it to change the colour of whatever I use a base mud in places or something. I had also seen videos of people doing an 'upside down' version of streaking to make mud splatter going up the sides of fenders etc...

Thanks chaps, it is a really nice kit, hopefully I can do it justice... Speaking of which, base colour is on I followed a mix of vallejo suggested in another thread for the SCC15, given I don't really know what it's supposed to look like it looks ok to me! As you can see in the second shot it went a touch washed out in a few places, I don't spray vallejo much so my ratios were obviously a touch off. I'm not going to worry as it'll be ok for a base to weather on. Before I gloss coat for decals I wanted to try out some weathering products I got for this build. So apparently according to the bottle you can get effects similar to this Which is interesting as the contents appears just to be thinned enamel paint... A quick test on the underside.. Obviously still wet but I can't see how, from this bottle alone, you can get the effect in the picture! Very misleading I think, for £4.50 a bottle for essentially thinned brown enamel I'm not sure I'll invest in many more of these! Instead I'm going to try to make my own mud, based on some YouTube videos I've seen! Phil

It is a lovely kit with great detail OOB, I did buy the eduard etch set for it but I only used the grilles as the rest is supurflus really, which is handy as my dog intercepted the etch when it arrived and gave it a bit of a chewing!!

Update time! Well I bought this kit because the reputation is that it builds it's self, turned my back for 5 mins and not only that but it's primed too... Since these snaps I've also base coated with my attempt at SCC15.. Phil

That's a great idea with the screws, I'm going to try that one, looking good, can't wait to see the weathering progress

I'm not convinced it was to scale, it was built for 1/72 scale harriers but was perhaps only 3-4ft long...

Brilliant, that has bought back memories of the HMS Ark royal my granddad made me, probably about the same sort of time, or maybe a year or too later, thanks for sharing.