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So, having completed the Filthy Landrover and Dirty Sherman, I'm about to start on my next learning journey build, the AFV Club FV107 Scimitar. This is also a first venture into the brand, which looking at builds here, should be OK. Taking the learning from the previous two, I've decided to go basic ...... no damage, no thick application of mud (despite the recent delivery of some Ammo mud effects stuff) and no aerials made from wire. As it's based on a vehicle used in the desert, I've done a bit of research (unlike the last time!) and; by the looks of it, the desert colour was applied over the standard green, although if anyone knows different, I'll happily take some guidance. Based on this, my plan is to go NATO green, apply chipping fluid in the areas that seem to get most wear and then apply the desert colour so I can work on getting that 'scrubbed' look, but without going overboard. A appears to be tradition, I've pictured the sprues ..... they look crisp and not too much flash. There are a lot ejector pin marks, but none that I can see will need attention at the moment. Make yourself a brew, pull up a chair ...... here goes!! 20230127_213345 by Ran Domstuff, on Flickr 20230127_213647 by Ran Domstuff, on Flickr 20230127_213659 by Ran Domstuff, on Flickr 20230127_213726 by Ran Domstuff, on Flickr Thanks for looking Keith 😁

I've been fascinated by tanks since I was just a little boy. Big, loud and menacing beasts...the exact sort of things that appeal to little boys. When I was elementary school-age, circa the late 1950s, early '60s, our hometown had a National Guard unit with a tank. It was parked beside their building and I loved seeing it as we drove past. I imagine it might've been an M47 or perhaps M48, heck maybe even an old M26. Whatever it was, it was a marvel to me back then! I started building scale models as an adult around 1986 or '87. And since then, I've only built two tank scale models. I enjoyed building both, and actually did enter them in an Austin,Texas model contest (still a "one time" experience for me), luckily placing both tanks in third place in their respective categories. Beginner's luck I call it. My two tanks I hate masking aircraft canopies. It's the part of the process I dread the most; the mere fact that there are no canopies to mask on a tank...well, that is a huge plus in the armor column for me! Lately, I have become somewhat stalled on a Bf-109E build (yeah. I came to the masking stage...) and thought I would take "the road less traveled" for a change. And, now I'm having a ball going down that path! I started Tamiya's ancient M41 Walker Bulldog in 1/35, of course. I've only spent a handful of hours, spread out over a couple weeks, thus far, but I believe I'm getting close to laying on some final paint. I've done a bit of scratch-building, adding some features that Tamiya chose to leave off. I would like to show my progress here however, and thereby gain access to all the great info here at BM. Well, the road wheels are painted and sealed, awaiting some weathering. I also painted the rubber portion of the return rollers. The odd bits and pieces have been added to the front and rear hulls: Most M41 Bulldogs featured a canvas mantlet cover that is bolted to the turret top and sides. I've attempted to replicate this with tissue soaked in CVA. I've seen photos of these covers that show some variation and of course, a lot of wear and tear. I futzed around this for quite a while, making several attempts, finally calling it done (and good enuf!). I tried to replicate the attachment parts with plastic rod and thin strips of aluminum. After they are glued to the tank, I'd like to place a Grandt Line bolt-head on each "tab". Heh, heh, that may be a bridge too far for my meager skills but I'm game to give it a try! I've still got some small details to add around the cut-out for the gunner's sight, and of course some touch-up once the final paint goes on. Here's how the attachment parts look, and a pic with some practice paint on: Tamiya left off the two lifting rings found on the glacis plate. I've routed out a slot for some rings made from flattened copper wire. I hope to set the rings in the slot with some thick CA. The real rings were attached with six huge weld beads so I hope I can get close to that appearance. M41s have two storage boxes mounted on the sponsons but Tamiya failed to add the stiffening ribs stamped into the sides of the boxes. I've tried to replicate that effect by gluing small strips if stretched-sprue to the sides. The vertical ribs on the front boxes were oddly arrayed and that was difficult for me to recreate. I believe they will look okay when finally "tweaked" though. Port side before paint: Starboard too: With some "practice paint": Also seen in the above pic is the auxiliary muffler for the tank generator. Originally, these were mounted over the right-side rear main muffler but excessive heat in that location led to refitting the aux. muffler to the right front fender. I'm building my Bulldog as a tank issued to the Army of Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). ARVN forces were the ones who used the M41 most in combat, seeing some success against soviet PT-76 and T54 tanks of the NVA. I've seen ARVN Bulldogs with aux. mufflers in both locations; there are great diagrams of both mountings in the Squadron Walk Around book on the M41 and I chose the rear, original location to scratch build. I found an old, model car exhaust collector that worked well in replicating the muffler. Some aluminum tubing provided the tail-pipe and plastic stock made the mounts, with furnace tape straps and clamps on the flexible pipe connecting it to the engine deck. Here are some pics of the process: And here's the muffler with some "practice paint": I've been looking at several photos of ARVN Bulldogs for ideas and inspiration. Here are a couple: In the above pic, I see a great idea for speeding up the build...just wrap the M2 in canvas! And a couple pics with the three main pieces assembled for a trial viewing thus far: Hey everyone, thanks for staying with me so far! I hope to have more progress to post soon, and I'm always happy to receive constructive criticism and advice. I am pretty much still a novice armor builder and on my third try. So, with that, adieu for now! Links of interest: https://mikesresearch.com/2019/03/24/m41-walker-bulldog/ https://www.historynet.com/m-41-walker-bulldog-tank/ https://man.fas.org/dod-101/sys/land/m41.htm

I like rare pieces of technology. I want to build a model of an unusual French car. The 1915 CUIRASSE AUBRIOT-GABET project was based on a Filtz tractor chassis powered by an electric motor. The power supply is via a cable that runs the machine and as it progresses. The craft is armed with a 37mm cannon in turret and served by two men. The vulnerability of the system obviously causes the abandonment of the project. Information taken from here -https://bloodofkittens.com/wargaminghub/2017/05/02/scratchbuild-log-part-1-1915-curiasse-fortin-aubriot-gabet/ http://www.puttyandpaint.com/projects/10770

My entry to the GB is the Bronco Staghound Mk III. I have always quite liked the Staghound, but I think this is my favorite as it has a Crusader turret (not sure that is correct, but it definitely looks like one). The Staghound armoured car was conceived in the US at the start of WW2, based on a British specification which required a wheeled reconnaissance vehicle with a high level of protection, therefore armour plated, well armed, and highly mobile. The Chevrolet design proposed a large armoured car which, following an extended programme of assessment and testing, went into production in late 1942, too late to be sent to British forces engaged in North Africa. Allied forces were to receive the Staghound in the Spring of 1943 and they were used in the Italian campaign by British and Polish armies In spite of the impressive performance of this vehicle it was not adopted by the US army and so the 3,000 units produced were used solely by British and Commonwealth forces. The figure is a resin one from eBay. A British soldier with a Sten gun (will take a better picture later). Will have to have a look in the spares box for a vehicle commander. I am currently double booked as I am in the Meteor GB also, so progress maybe a bit limited to start with. George

In 2020 I built the 1/35 Dragon Conqueror Mk. II MBT. I also started on a accompanying figure - the British Soldier, 1960s 1980s Wearing Parka from Firing Line, but didn't finished it - until now. I hope you will like it. Let's roll some pictures: Genesys: And finaly in his 'natural' habitat: I tried to use the practice of black basecoting with white sprayed from above, but couldn't seem to get the hang of it so resorted to shading, drybrushing, more shading etc. Cheers Hans J

Evening everyone, well it's a Saturday night so it must be time to finish another one. This is the Meng 1.35 Merkava Mk.3d Late LIC. Having just done the Namer I quite fancied another Meng kit, and since I've already got the paints, the Merkava was an obvious one. The quality of the kit is excellent, the relief of the moulded ball and chain (unlike HobbyBoss' that will die on the shelf of doom) was quickly tempered by the lack of anti slip texture on the hull. This I thought was an odd omission since the Namer had it and the gorgeous photo album included in the kit shows just how noticeable it is. I didn't quite like the idea of building it without so I had a quick look around and found VMS' hull texture. It's pretty simple to use it's just like those awful kids glitter pictures you have to put on the fridge (6 weeks maximum). It's by no means perfect but I'm quite chuffed with how this has turned out. Unfortunately it did get dropped at one point so the aerial mounts on the hull are somewhere in a hoover bag now. All Brush painted with AK Acrylic IDF Modern Grey, AK's Nato black (a first for me using Lacquer) and weathered with the Tamiya Sand and Flat earth stick (which thanks to the texture really wasn't easy. Thanks for looking.

This will be my GB entry. A random Friday night eBay purchase from a few years ago. It comes with a 1977 mini catalogue, so it has been sat in a box for over 40 years, waiting to fulfil its purpose. Still bagged, so hopefully it's all there. No instructions but there's a set on Scalemates. The catalogue includes a range of 1/9 scale motorbikes and a Kubelwagen. Out of curiosity I had a peek on eBay and my wallet started crying, This will be my first ESCI kit. I don't know much about them so I'm looking forward to finding out.

So for my second build I’m going to build an Erhardt from the papercraft model on Landships 2 but in 1/35 rather than 1/43 and from plastic not paper. The papercraft model. Next step to scale it up by 12%.

This is CSM's new version of their 1/35 Lanchester AC that was released in its original form a year or so ago. The updated kit represents the modified Lanchesters that were used during the Russian civil war, featuring a new rear deck with revised fenders, and the addition of a 37mm Hotchkiss gun in the turret. Aside from the new Russian specific parts, the rest of the kit is the same as the previous version, but with the welcome addition of clear lenses for the headlights, something that was missing from the first release. In common with the original release, this version went together with no issues, and was a lot of fun to build and paint. Speaking of paint, CSM are refreshingly honest about the lack of contemporary info regarding the exact colour of these armoured cars. They suggest British Moss Green or Service Khaki as the most likely colour, and I went with AMMO Moss Green for this build, albeit with a lot of additional shading, fading and colour glazes. Thanks for looking Andy

Hi All, Diving head first into my first large scale model. In this case, it Academy's lovely 1/35th scale AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter. I love the AH-1 series of helicopters, and really dig this particular variant (as well as the OG Vietnam War era AH-1G). I've picked up just about everything made for this model, so let's see if I can make it work. The box art; The aftermarket goodies; First thing to accomplish, and the most involved aspect as far as integrating an aftermarket set was preparing the forward fuselage for the Legend Productions AH-1Z avionics and ammunition bays. I drilled holes around the perimeter of the molded in bay access doors, then used a craft saw to removed the doors. Various sanding sticks and files were used to removed the remnants of the doors up to the door panel lines and clean up the opening. Here's the bays loosely fitted into place. I will permanently glue them into place once the bays are painted and the forward fuselage is assembled. Thanks to @Greg W for helping me get these fitted into place. His knowledge on how to tackle installing resin sets of this type was greatly appreciated. Here's the tail boom with some photoetch screens and Flying Leathernecks FMV antenna fairing fitted in place; Thanks for looking!

Hi All, so here is my M10 Achilles, 75th Anti Tank Regiment, 11th Armoured Division, North West Europe 1944 Honestly, this was a complete joy to build, and as anyone knows, that's usually how Tamiya Kits go. Pretty much did this all out the box, bar the stowage and jerry cans. The Stowage was from someone on eBay, honestly really good and detailed, along with some Tamiya Jerry cans. The straps over the Jerry Cans are made out of Tamiya tape and painted. But Ollie, its not in Olive Drab or SCC15! Ha! Yes I know, I had a toss up between SCC15 and SCC2, and chose SCC2 as I think I needed a break from Green 😂 and honestly, I think it looks amazing in SCC2, I hope you agree! That being said, I know it may not be totally historically accurate, but I hope somewhere in 1943, at least 1 or 2 Achilles were painted this colour! (We can only hope!) I'm yet to add the figures, which will be coming soon. It's one muddy Achilles. My goal for this was to test some weathering techniques and eventually add this to a Diorama. A muddy countryside, hull down next to a farmhouse. The rest of the photos are below, id love to have some feedback on it, so feel free to comment! I'm aware that the rope for the stowage is a little to thick. Unsure of my next build, but I'm sure to actually update you guys on it in the other section. (Maybe the Comet? Or a Cromwell?) Enjoy all and thank you! 🤟👍

Well, it's the second of 2023 finished ..... the over-weathered 'Dirty Sherman'! A couple of bits ... Aerials - cut the plastic ones off the base, drilled and fitted a length of silver wire for more realism Tow cable - scratch made from silver wire with the eyes bound to the main cable with separate wire My 'Notes to self' ... 1. Test fit everything, then file, shave, test fit again (and again and again) before shoehorning it in or on! 2. Don't try to be smart and try adding shell damage this soon ... master the basics first! 3. Spend time learning subtle weathering first 4. Go easy on those muddy pigments .... tanks get muddy, but seriously! 🙄 (He writes after ordering another load of mud stuff! 😳) So here it is .... please be gentle! 😬 Sherman front by Ran Domstuff, on Flickr Sherman front by Ran Domstuff, on Flickr Sherman 1 by Ran Domstuff, on Flickr [/url]Sherman side 1 by Ran Domstuff, on Flickr Sherman side 2 by Ran Domstuff, on Flickr Sherman rear by Ran Domstuff, on Flickr Sherman 1 by Ran Domstuff, on Flickr Sherman top by Ran Domstuff, on Flickr Thank you for looking .. Keith 😁

I've not posted any during build pictures of this, but completed it at last .... and the first of 2023! This is an out of box build, so nothing special and it's one being used to hone my techniques. I have taken some time on the canvas to try to make it realistic looking, it does have some highlights along the edges and where the support hoops would be aswell as some subtle shading. Weathered using mostly splashes. Thoughts? 20230121_140407 by Ran Domstuff, on Flickr 20230121_140345 by Ran Domstuff, on Flickr 20230121_140418 by Ran Domstuff, on Flickr 20230121_140430 by Ran Domstuff, on Flickr Thanks for looking! Keith 😁

My first planned entry is ICMs 1/35 Model T RNAS Armoured Car. This will be the third version ICMs Model T I have built. They are great little kits. Previous build were; Model T 1917 Ambulance Model T 1917 LCP

The best way of introducing this is to show what the box looks like: It looks a teeny-tiny bit like: Even the Suyata logo is a rip-off. This seems to be what Suyata do, because they also produce kits with very similar boxart to Takom and the Suyata logo miraculously changes to look like a Takom one (no pictures, but you get the idea). The box is big enough, and contains a lot of air: Here's the kit: What I bought it for was the 90s video game / angular / 3D model figures, because I quite liked the look of them. Although they might end up a bit rubbish. We shall see. I should never have bought this, I know. I feel like an alcoholic confessing all in front of an AA meeting.

Hi Pals, This model is well known by many, it is quite simple, with some factory problems, but they can be solved with some skill. I had read about it before, and since I thought I could fix it, I also bought it at a discount time. I remember that the structure of the hull, being asymmetrical and complex in shape, I had some problem fitting it into place, I think I had to "sculpt" some joint, although not what it was...sorry, in case it was useful. .. Another well-known thing is the "union" of the tracks, which although they are easy to finish, they have not measured the length they should have well, and there is a space of approximately one link that must be filled... I saw that other modelers cut a link in half, and it was just right... I tried to cut two, so that the loss of width would be less noticeable... As an improvement I tried making the grip straps for the tools out of masking tape. Another problem with the kit is that the decals, although beautiful, are extremely thick...and that even with the fixing liquids, it was impossible not to notice that they "protruded"...incredible for a brand like " TAKOM"... despite everything, several layers of product and varnish, did the job... The stars and the yellow band, I did try with a mask and tape, to airbrush them, because the quality was just as bad, but the surface was not smooth as with the numerals... I think that after several tests they turned out well... The idea was to make a used vehicle, but one that has not seen real combat, since the paint options offered by the kit are from training schools, except the Soviet one, but since I wanted an American vehicle that I have very few, hence the chose. I added a fiber antenna and that's it.... There are some photos with his "little brother" an M3 Stuart, which he had already done before (and published in the forum in case someone is interested in seeing it, I add a link WIP and RTI), and that seemed appropriate, since they are from the same period and same user, for comparison... RECCE FORCE, M3A1 STUART 1/35 ITALERI https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235074828-recce-force-m3a1-stuart-135-italeri/ Thanks for watching as always. Cheers and TC Francis.👍 SOME PICS ON DETAIL: BROTHERS IN ARMS:

Hi all, In between the frustrating steps of my other projects, I've decided to start something a little more easy going. I picked up Takom's M-46 and Jeep combo, a few days ago. Bother kits have been previously released separately. I don't think there is anything new here. The patton has the fantastic Korean War tiger markings, and the jeep can also be built as a USMC Korean War vehicle. The choice was simple. My thoughts on Takom kits, shift. Some of the early ones were extremely frustrating, but the more recent releases are like Tamiya+. The kits are well engineered and comparatively easy to build, like Tamiya. The + comes from all the small details that are all right there. So anyway. Here we go. First the chassis and engine of the jeep. Admittedly, I started this a few nights ago, but I'm just now getting around to posting. It looks fairly intricate, but the assembly was very simple. And here are the first steps of the patton. After wrestling with the suspension on Miniart's T-44, this was like a dream. After taking this photo, I finished the other side. This all took maybe an hour or so.

Hello there, comrades. With your indulgence (I didn't vote last year), I'd like to join the fun with this little beauty. Certainly fits the bill; it's a car that's armoured 🤓 This is my first attempt at a groupbuild. I'm hoping that joining you will motivate me to complete this project within a reasonable time for a change. Today, the day that stops a nation is underway, when the chaff burners compete for the Melbourne Cup. A couple will fall over on the wet track and be shot, women wear fascinators, everyone splashes money around and most get Brahms and Liszt. Unaccountably, it's a public holiday! But it's chucking down with rain and we've just had a violent hail storm. What better day to stay indoors, avoid the soggy hullabaloo and start a new project? Here's how my dear friend Enviroman marked the dreadful day on his kitchen calendar a couple of years back...

I've not posted any during build pictures of this, but completed it at last .... and the first of 2023! This is an out of box build, so nothing special and it's one being used to hone my techniques. I have taken some time on the canvas to try to make it realistic looking, it does have some highlights along the edges and where the support hoops would be aswell as some subtle shading. Weathered using mostly splashes. Thoughts? 20230121_140407 by Ran Domstuff, on Flickr 20230121_140345 by Ran Domstuff, on Flickr 20230121_140418 by Ran Domstuff, on Flickr 20230121_140430 by Ran Domstuff, on Flickr Thanks for looking! Keith 😁

Hi folks, Looking forward to this GB - it will be nice to have this running alongside my Meteor GB entry so I can go back and forward between the two. So here's my entry - something a bit more unusual - the Soviet BA-10 Armoured Car from Hobby Boss. I don't think there's one in the running so far (although I think I've spotted a BA-6) 👍 So, obligatory box art and sprue pics below: I haven't decided on which of the paint schemes I'd like to do yet, although I do know it will be one of the Soviet schemes and not the German one. Please let me know if anyone has a preference and I could always go with the general consensus 👍 Good luck to everyone with their builds - looks like it's going to be a really interesting GB and looking forward to seeing the results in the gallery at the end Best wishes Kris

Welcome to my build. I thought this would be a decent build for a group build, nice small armoured car but then I looked at the contents! Lots of parts, full interior detailing and a fair whack of PE. We shall see how far I get with this one! Kit is Gecko Models 1/35 sawn off Daimler armoured car. Box is nice and full, lots of good detail in it. This will be the first Gecko models kit I’ve built and I’m hoping for a fun build as I’ve got my eye on their LCA that’s being launched soon. kit box: contents: Comprehensive instructions. Look at all that PE!: Wish me luck!

For so many reasons I can’t resist this one. Almost but not quite the first prototype British tank, which its development led to Mother which in turn led to the MKI heavy tank and the rest as they say is history.

I mentioned in my Panther tank build thread that I had obtained one of these cheap via eBay recently. I was on a group zoom meeting last night and while listening to the goings on I started to idly take parts of the sprues and clean them up. That said aside from the 3 crew members there are only about 10 parts in the whole kit. Having bid on and won the kit I did some online research and managed to find a couple of really good photos and some line drawings which gave me quite a bit of detail. I started to assemble it this morning and although basic with the detail Emhar did get quite a bit of it right. As always thought there are things to add and others to improve upon. First the wheels. Emhar managed to mould the spokes the wrong way around with the wide bit of the spokes facing the axle end. The only way that I could think of to improve this was to add some sips of 0.8mm half round styrene section to each spoke either side and because the centre hubs were lacking too I added disks of styrene to each hub. These are still working in progress. The kit is made from a light grey plastic and pretty much all of the added detail is white styrene making it really difficult to photograph. Next I moved on to the gun itself where I started by drilling out the barrel. Next I added oval foot plates to the stirrup foot rests on either side of the shield. The drawing I have shows what looks like canvas covered seats either side. Probably little more than bags of hay or straw, so I shaped a couple of pieces of styrene and covered them in lens tissue to simulate canvas bags/covers. I removed the moulded breach lever because Emar had moulded it in the middle of the breach but photos show it as being on the left hand side. I added an elevation screw from an offcut of 10ba screw with a slice of tube to simulate the adjustments nut/handle. On the rear of the carriage I added the reinforcement plate and some rivets made from punched foil and brace bars from 0.7mm brass rod. There are still some details to add before painting and this is proving to be very good value entertainment for the £10 inc. postage that I have in it.

Well now, I've been desperate to get started on my Miniart Panzer III Ausf B for weeks, so I'm really pleased to finally be starting this little Opel Kadett car. I don't know what happened either! I think @Phil1960 and his Citroen are to blame, alongside my fear of tackling any of the 'full interior' tank kits that I can't resist buying. So my first 'full interior' will be a few seats, a steering wheel, and a few pedals. It looks to be a fun little thing to build, let's hope I get to step 20 - glueing the roof on and sealing up the interior - without too much anguish It doesn't look very sporty. 129 parts according to the box. Some of it looks very fragile, and lots of potential crookedness if the panels don't go together well. There's a nice little engine that I might need to show off. The front axle looks too narrow on this picture. We shall see! I hate rubber tyres, so I've got these. They're meant for an ICM kit but I'm hoping that they fit OK.

I'm posting the work I completed earlier this year. This is Tamiya KV-2 kit, and I made additional accessories and bases. Thank you