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I thought that I was being clever buying this for its size/cost ratio as something to practise on, but I see that I'm not the first to have this idea! I'm just going for a quick build so that I have something to try things like hairspray chipping on, and it certainly goes together quickly. Two empty sprues on day 1 must be a record for me. I have at least closed up the underside of the hull to stop daylight showing through the engine deck grilles. I've seen someone else on here stick a picture of the radiators and engine under the grilles, so I might try something similar. Up until now my son has only seen my Panzer I/II/III builds, so he was immediately impressed and declared it 'the best one', it certainly is imposing compared to them (but I still prefer the silly little ones). I built one of these 40 years ago and remember it being the first kit that I was really pleased with afterwards, so we'll see how this goes. I'll give it to him when it's finished because it doesn't fit in with anything else - the gun barrel alone is the same length as a Panzer I. Wasn't going to do a WIP, but I might have some questions for you all when I get my hairspray out

My entry is Meng's 1/35 Renault FT-17 Light Tank (Cast Turret). Plan is to finish it as a tank that saw service in 1940, to sit along side my Tamiya B1. Looks a cracking little kit, includes a interior & engine.

Hello everyone, After building allied armour most of this year, I'm back on the other side. This is my version of uparmoured Panzer II Ausf C, belonging to 8th company, II battalion, Panzer Regiment 8, 15t Panzer Division, as photographed during Operation Sonnenblume, sometimes during April or May 1941. It's Dragon kit No. 6432. This kit is simply fantastic! There are just minor issues, the biggest one being that they forgot to include rear smoke grenade rack (actually they included the wrong one), so I had to use aftermarket version. Other than that it's just minor issues and it can be built very nicely straight from the box. Kit includes magic tracks, which are my favorite indy tracks. They are so easy to build. Oh, and of course, building instructions are a disaster, but that's quite common with Dragon kits of this period. I used some AM parts: E.T. Models detailing set (which includes smoke grenade rack), AFV Club jerry cans, Aber aerial, Value Gear stowage, and Archer Fine Transfers decals. There was some scratch building involved, mainly to make jerrycan and spare track holders. It's primed with Mr. Surfacer 1500, and painted with Mission Models RAL 7021 as a base color and Gunze Mr Hobby Aqueous Hobby Color H402 as final RAL 8000 camouflage color (my favorite version of RAL 8000). Initial batch of 15 Panzer Division tanks were not field painted. They were painted in Italy before being shipped to North Africa, so they were painted quite neatly (compared to 21st Panzer Division tanks for example). Details are pained mostly with Gunze Metal Colors and Vallejo Model Color. And here are some details: Weathering is Mig's nature effects and pigments. And here's the real thing: There are some inaccuracies in my build. For example, inside of the turret company marking '8' should be white, rear tail light should be convoy light and not the early version that I used, there should be two segments of spare tracks in the front, etc. But, as always, you notice some of these stuff too late. I left first two road wheels and Notek light Dunkelgau. They do look darker on the photo, but this is just a guess I did this just to make some variety. Let's say its repaired battle damage Hope you will like it and all the feedback is very welcome. Cheers, Nenad

My entry for this GB is going to be a Sherman V DD shortly after d day with the screens removed. It’s an older resicast kit and I’m going to replace the tracks with some aftermarket ones. Just need to source some decals for the turret numbers. And box contents. shoukd be a fun little build.

Here is my contribution to the GB, the ARL 44 heavy tank in 1/35 scale by Amusing Hobby. The ARL 44 has quite an interesting developmental history, the origins of it design started in 1943 as a tracked snow blower for the German Kriegsmarinem. French engineers secretly designed the parts with the duel intention of them also being using in a future tank design though. In late 1944 most of France had been liberated & work started in earnest on the ARL 44 with the hopes that it would be ready in time to take part in the invasion of Germany (Allied HQ at the time were expecting the Germans to put up more of a fight & that the war would take longer then it actually did). The first prototype was ready in 1946 & was fitted with the 76mm gun from the Sherman tank. It was quickly decided that this weapon was to small for use in modern combat so production was put on hold while & a new larger turret with a 90mm gun was designed. The new weapon took several years to develop but was finally completed in 1949, production continued with 60 tanks built in total. They didn't live very long though, in 1954 they were removed from service & replaced by the M47 Patton, most were scraped & some where used on target ranges. The kit comes with only four sprues, two of which are copies. The rest of the kits contains a single large upper hull, metal barrel, bag of individual workable tracks & a set of decals (there is some string to use as a tow rope too but I'm not using that). Close up of the upper hull, which is quite detailed & surprisingly sturdy. To add some colour to the kit I got AK's new modern French paint set. This is their new 3rd Gen paint that they have been advertising a lot recently, I'm curious to see if it's any better then their "old" paint. The part count of the kit is low & a dont see anything that will cause any issues, so looks like it will be a relatively quick build (famous last words ). It's become obligatory for me to add some 3D printed parts to every model I make though, which will add some time. For this one I'm thinking of printing the alternative ACL 1 turret used on the first prototype, I'll build the model first though & then see how much time is left & If I still feel like it

Just a placeholder for now. Grand unboxing later.

ICM 1/35 ZiL-131 KshM in Chernobyl 1986 Kit: ICM 1/35 Chernobyl #1 Radiation monitoring station (ZiL-131 KshM) (#35901) Scale: 1/35 Paints: Vallejo Model Air Aftermarket: Balaton Models resin wheels Weathering: Vallejo, Ammo Mig, AK Been a year in the making, finally finished this. The Chernobyl box came with the nice background and some extra stuff such as a guard post and several figures. Partial WIP can be found here:

Hi folks, After just completing my StuG for the Panzer III group build, whilst also in the process of being halfway through my entry for the A4 Skyhawk GB, I thought why not join in the fun for another GB I think this is a great topic for a GB and it offers such a vast array of options and choices. I had a few options in the stash that I considered, but in the end I decided to go for the following (cue obligatory box art shots): I thought this would make for an ideal entry to the GB - not a complex or taxing build but plenty of detail none the less for such a small kit - it's also something a little bit different from some of the usual subjects. So here's what you get in the box: Incudes vinyl tyres for one option as well as styrene tyres for another and also includes a pre-cut mask set for all the windows which is a fantastic little addition. There's also a very small PE fret (not pictured) for the number plates. Next, as you can see here - the clear parts look to be crystal clear... …and lastly here's a close up shot of the main body: The only curious thing I've noticed about the kit so far, is that there is absolutely no reference to any paint callouts except for the main body colour of the car on the rear of the box. There are no colour callouts in the instructions for any of the other exterior parts and nothing at all for the interior (very strange) So if anyone out there happens to be an expert on these little cars and can shed any light on the colours then your expertise would be greatly received. So that's it for now folks - looking forward to making a start on this at the weekend and looking forward to seeing what everyone else will be offering up for their builds. Good luck everyone - should be a good one!! Best wishes Kris

Hi folks, just starting on my next build, which is Miniart's T34-85 Egyptian tank. This looks to be an absolutely stunning kit, which only came out the end of last year, there is so much detail, hopefully I can do it justice. As is typical with Miniart with the amount of detail that you have, it comes at a cost with the amount of parts in the kit (no problem for me as I enjoy the building). You have no fewer than 82 sprues plus photo etch and decals. Looks like they give you decals for some shells and some instrument panels as well, which is nice. On checking the parts I only found one breakage which is on a thick bracket so no problems there, surprisingly all the really thin parts are intact. You have the option of choosing from 5 different versions to build, the one that I am going to do is the same as the box art which is the Egyptian Armed Force. Six Day War. Summer 1967. Just to get the thread going I have started preparing the parts for the base. Photo shows the early stages, lots more to include here. The parts are just placed on, not glued as the baseplate is white and all the other parts are supposed to be grey blue, I'm just waiting for paints to arrive from supplier then will crack on. The only additions that I need to get for the model are tow ropes from Eureka XXL. That's all for now, will be back when the base construction is done. All the best and thanks and for looking in.... Ed

My very first Tamiya and my very first 1/35, this kit has a very close link to my family. My grandad drove Chieftains at the same time in the same place and in the same regiment - and a close family friend fixed them. So I tried my hand at it. The kit is excellent, maybe the best I've ever done. No flash and all the parts fitted flush, I would recommend. Everything apart from the barrel. It's wonky, and it wouldn't sit right without the first piece having a massive gap, so I'm gonna have to live with it. If you it's have any advice I'd love to hear it. Tamiya gets top marks from a newbie builder, and it sits well on my shelf

Hi all This is my attempt at the 'older' Tamiya Panzer IV Ausf.D, out of the box, using the kit decals for the late variant in the N. Afrika scheme. Painted with mostly Vallejo and Citadel colours with some Humbrol powders. Not sure how well the pics show up the weathering, but it's definitely there.. This is my first tracked AFV in modern times - and it probably shows

Inspired by Viper-30's Snow-Trac, I'm doing a Wombat portee in a Land Rover. I've been wanting to do this for a while but never found a 1/35 Wombat before. It's going to be a version that was in Berlin, so I may include the oddity of a SA80 and Wombat in the same build. I arrived in Berlin in 1990 and our Rovers were black and green and I saw a demo where they had boards tied to the side painted in a brick pattern which I'm hoping to recreate. The Wombat is from Scorpion Miniatures 9 (no surprise) and the Rover from Italeri. Unfortunately the Wombat came missing a piece, but a quick email and Michael immediately replied and promised it in the next post. Mistakes happen. Nothing important, only the upper cradle! This is only my second resin kit - the last one took 40 years to complete so hopefully this won't take as long. I used my Dremel to cut the sprue done to size and a sanding wheel to take them down to size. It worked really well with even part No 4, which he warns you about being fragile, came off in one piece. I won't go into details about the build as I don't want to steal Viper-30's thunder. I do wish it came with the portee wheels which come with the Snow-Trac but I'll have to bluff the bracket. Maybe a suggestion would be to sell them as an extra. The build from start to finish took a couple of hours. The Land Rover was mostly OOB but I couldn't help myself but add some details. The kit showed it's age but, being a Land Rover, the bad fit actually makes it more realistic. As I'm doing an open top I had to deal with ejection marks everywhere. I've left off the centre seat, doors, and windscreen. I don't remember ever seeing a centre seat in a military Land Rover, so I added the tool-box lid and three latches for that, the battery box, and fuel tank. I may use the third seat and fit it in the back. As I'm leaving off the doors, I sawed off the hinges to fill the gaps in the frame. I spend more time on the dash as it's open top. I added the lights dial and plate it sits on, the map reading light, the "air-con" handles, heater vents, and the heater selector handle (just visible in the right). I used extra-thin glue and a stiff brush to give it some texture. I used a strip of plastic card to fill the gap left behind it due to the lack of the windshield. I'm going to use a buckshee extinguisher and bracket to fit between the seats, instead of the bizarre looking thing that came with the kit. To do list: Seat belts Portee wheel brackets and straps Bluff the 4-wheel drive plate behind the gear-lever. Boards with brick pattern. The paint job will be straight IRR green and black, although the interior will be closer to bronze green. Although I've seen pictures of Berlin cammo Rovers, ours were green and black, as were our Foxes. Bill

Seems to be a run of large scale builds again. My hull for my 1/72 Leander HMNZS Waikato (see other build thread) is taking a bit longer than I expected when ordering due to demand (everyone staying home and model building I guess) and even when dispatched will take 4-5 weeks to get here so in the mean time I have decided to dive into the 1/35 Vosper I have sitting here. I intend to build as MTB 82 as she appeared in the Med Feb 1943. I while ago I picked up the Italeri Breda 20/65 mod. 35 gun to be able to add the Breda to the fore deck. Today I familiarised myself with the parts and started assembly, drilled out deck holes and started sub assemblies. Note nothing apart from hull fittings is glued in place yet. Next step will be to putty, fill, sand all of these piece then move on to next stage of assembly prior to some priming. Alas I do not have an airbrush so may need to use rattle cans for this build.

Kit - Zvezda Paint - All Tamiya acylics Decals - Spares Extras - DEF Models kit-specific resin mantlet and aluminium barrel. So here' my first ever Zvezda kit which I started about six weeks ago, and other than some cursing around the link & length tracks which seem a half-link or link too long... it went together very easily in just three sessions. I mixed my own version of 4BO green using various Tamiya greens, yellows and possibly some witchcraft. I gave it two coats of Tamiya Clear, decals, then a third coat of clear and left the whole thing to cure and went on holiday ! When it made-it back to the bench, I decanted some cheap hairspray into my airbrush and applied two medium coats about 20mins apart. Left it again for about 45mins in the New Zealand sunshine and then applied a mottle of Tamiya 'Buff', 'Deck Tan' and Flat White. Another break for around 20mins then started the chipping process especially on the top of the casement and engine deck which would have got a lot of wear from the crew and probably wouldn't have received too much in the way of 'winter white' anyways. The rest of the paint effects are simple Panel / Pin washes, an overall dirty brown wash and finally some streaking, all with Windsor & Newton oils. To finish I mixed a cocktail of various MIG pastels and dark washes to get a rich black brown mud at the lowest points and a lighter but still earthy brown tone higher up. I deliberately left-off the spare tracks usually mounted on the front hull as well as the snow cleats from the right side (all will be used when I build a T34 / 76 later this year). Only stowage is a couple of tarps from lead foil, a rucksack on the aerial pot and a 'liberated' German jack. Love the final look of this project one of those rare times that what you get at the end of the process is precisely what you envisioned when you bought the kit in the first-place. Please feel free to make any comments, ask any questions or hurl any abuse. Have a great weekend, all. Very best from NZ. Ian.

OK so I'll be building this oldie, first made in 1974... I managed to pick it up in a local hobby shop recently (well not very local to me these days but there's the internet and I thought in these uncertain times local shops could do with some support). Price paid (hope we don't have to include postage!)... Looking forward to building it - shouldn't be too complicated, no decals or PE to worry about and I have fond memories of building a couple of Tamiya Ford M151 Mutt kits as a kid (newer toolings though). I'll post the sprue shots, etc. once I get started (planning to try finish or at least move along my Unarmed GB entry first).

Here's the twin-turret Polish 7TP tank with the design copied from the Vickers Mark E. Bought for £7 from super-hobby.com in Poland in January just for this GB. I've got the single turret version as well, so might go for broke and build both. Panzer III moves in for an easy kill:

My latest project with figures in preparation for a North Africa diorama. Modified and unmodified Miniart figures. One more figure to come when built.

Finally completed this one. WIP can be found here: I picked the old Heller kit up at a Euromilitaire show some years ago. I think I paid around £5. It's not a bad old kit but required some work, especially around the hull sides and turret areas, to get a half decent job. I'm especially pleased with the canvas area between the turret halves. This was made from milliput, and numerous small plastic fasteners using scrap card and minute bolt heads obtained from MAFVA. Paint was mostly Vallejo, which was a first for me, and I was very pleased with the results. I picked up a tip from @CedB and used some W&N Acrylic flow improver, and it transformed these paints for me, as well as other Acrylics I use. Thanks Ced! Washes, chips and general weathering was done with enamels and oils. The tracks are Takom, a track set bought especially for this project. Decals are a mixture of Heller and Takom (I have two Takom AMX-13's in the stash). The 7.62 MAG was from the Takom kit, but the support and brackets for this were scratch built. I'm fairly pleased with the results as this is only my third 1/35 AFV built in the last couple of years, after a 40 year gap!. General shots first in the pictures below, followed by detail shots, and finally a couple with it's current shelf mate! Comments and questions welcome. Some close up details: And finally a couple of shots with the shelf mate, my M41DK Thanks for looking. Terry

I recently finished up the new Border Model Crusader III. This is one of my favorite tanks and it was quite a fun build, plus it was quite a departure from all of the drab green vehicles that I've been painting lately. The tracks are Friulmodel and the stowage is from Legend Productions, Panzer Art, and Value Gear, along with scratch tarps. It was painted with a mix of Tamiya, AK Real Color, and MRP paints, and weathered with Mig Productions and Ammo by Mig enamels. Comments and criticism welcomed as always!

First up, something a bit different. A Soviet Aerosan RF-8, basically a snowmobile mated with an airboat. Purchased from Amazon for £8.25 just before Christmas. The good news is that it has just started raining. Means I can't mow the lawn so I can make a start.

Hi Everyone This is the Hobby Boss 1/35 GMC with 40mm Bofors. It was built straight from the box and it went together real easy. It’s not a bad kit for the price but I’m not sure how accurate it is compared to the real thing as some of the detailing appears to be on the heavy side. Not my best effort to date but it turned out ok. Regards Trace

Hi all, sorry if I have not been too active on here as I was busy. However, I did make this T-72A from Trumpeter in Indian Army colours. Comments and critique welcome. Pre-weathering Post weathering:

I like T-34’s and I like “different”, so this ticked two boxes for me. The spaced armour T-34’s were trailed in 1943 by the Soviets, but it was found that although the additional armour provided better protection, it was found to be largely ineffective against German 75mm and 88mm armour piercing ammunition, so the project was shelved. The kit. Overall a good model, which comes with PE and a metal barrel. Also a nice touch is the wooden box that it comes in. Saying that I did have a few problems: 1. The suspension is moveable with springs included which is a nice touch, but I found the “workable” tracks quite fragile in places (i.e. they kept falling apart) so I ended up having to glue the tracks and then the suspension. 2. The spaced armour is a bit of a pain. I didn’t help myself here as I primed the model before applying it. Saying that it doesn’t seem to line up to the mounting points on the turret and there are no locations at all on the hull. 3. A word to the wise. If you do build this and use the spaced armour, remember to fill the holes for the grab handles on the hull sides before applying it. I only spotted this after painting, so it was a bit of a bodge to fill them in. Maybe my problems were down to my lack of experience, as this is only about my 10th model since returning to the hobby after a nearly 40 year break. Probably over weathered for the reality of the situation, but I couldn’t help myself. Anyway, overall I enjoyed making this and feel I am starting to make sum progress with my modelling. I am even reasonably happy with the figure, which is something I thought I would never say! Thanks for looking, George

Here is a Stryker in desert colors rather than the normal green. needs decals and some weathering yet.

After a bit of research (Wikipedia) I decided to do something more on the modern end and use the Walker Bulldog from my stash. New Zealand acquired 10 in 1960 and they were used up till the early 1980s. The kit is the old Tamiya kit, which has roots back to 1964, so almost as old as the NZ service of the vehicle and pre-dates me! This will be the second time I've built this kit, the first was in my youth and it was the first 1/35 armour kit I built and I remember it going together quickly and impressively, lets see what 30 years of rose tinted glasses does! Even back then I questioned the box art - why they decided to picture the back of the tank, with the gun barrel sat on the (open) travel lock I'll never know. The kit itself is pretty basic, given the age - the suspension pre-moulded to the lower hull and lots of holes for Tamiya's dubious attempts to motorise the kits in the past. (I wonder if they ever worked?) Still that should mean it goes together quickly! The 2 sets of instructions are one in Japanese and one in English, but otherwise identical. The only aftermarket stuff I'm planning to use will be an AFV mantlet cover (the kit instructions tell you to scratch build one from a polythene bag!) Hopefully that will fit without too much fettling. I'm not planning on using any other after-market stuff, it's still a relatively cheap kit - metal link tracks would be over twice the cost of the kit! For markings I've found a few references - there's some walkaround photos of one of the tanks here - at it's retirement home (Australian Tank Museum), though apparently it may have been repainted. I found some useful info here about modifications, markings and a camo pattern, including a few photos - I'll be attempting this rather than an all over olive drab or deep bronze green. Given it's a pretty niche subject there aren't any after-market decals available but I have some ink-jet printer decal paper so will have a go with that - luckily being a tank the markings are small, few and far between, only issue could be the white number 2, but I can either paint that and add the decal over the top or I have a sheet of just white decal film somewhere in my bits, I can cut a small bit out as an underneath layer - obviously my home printer doesn't come with white as an ink colour!