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A bit of a change for me as this doesn't have tracks or a big stick out in front that goes BANG! I've been toying with the idea of getting one of these for some time now, so while I was at Telford this year, I decided to buy one. It's an excellent kit with some very delicate parts. Built straight from the box, it makes up into a nice little model, but I don't do OOTB, so the knives, razor saws, files and drill bits were got out. One thing that does let it down a bit are the wheels, or to be more accurate, the tyres. The tread pattern is very poor, so I have ordered a new set from Hussar. There are many detailing sets available for the Tilly, some to me, a waste of money as it's fairly easy to scratch build some of those parts. Archer decals do a set of decals for the dash board, but Tamiya already include these in the kit. So why pay twice? But one part that none of them do are the three vents on each side of the bonnet. Tamiya mould them as solid items and it looks to be difficult to hollow them out without doing some damage to the rest of the bonnet, so they may end up just being painted black. Right, so it's straight into it without the preamble of photos of sprues (basically because I forgot to take any before I started removing parts). I made a start on the chassis. The front and rear bumpers mountings are quite delicate. The engine is a little gem, needing only a few extra bits and pieces such as piping and wiring. This kit lends itself well to being built in sections. This is the cargo section. I've removed the tie down hooks from the side with a chisel blade. The part that received the largest amount of work was the tilt. First job was to cut out the forward part and clean it up. Then I added three frame hoops which I bent to shape using brass rod, making sure that they were trimmed to the correct length so that the tilt would sit correctly on top of the cargo section. I shaved off the moulded on tie downs and drilled five holes ready to add some string later on in the build. Thanks for looking. John.

TIGER I (Early) TAMIYA 1/35th Eduard PE grill set. Friul Tracks. SCRATCH-BUILT MAYBACH HL210 ENGINE. HALFORD'S RATTLE CAN GREY PLASTIC PRIMER. MIG 'LATE GERMAN CAMOUFLAGE SET' LIGHT DUNKELGELB. ASSORTED DALER ROWNEY ACRYLIC INKS. HUMBROL DARK EARTH WEATHERING POWDER. WATER AND STIFF BRUSHES (FOR RUBBING BACK) SIGMA MICRON ARCHIVAL ACRYLIC INK PENS (SEPIA COLOURED, FOR CHIPPING) WINSOR AND NEWTON GLOSS AND MATT ACRYLIC VARNISHES. So here, at last, is my finished Tiger I (Fruhe) with the scratch-built engine that took so long to make that I had to abandon scratch-building the cooling fans. And even then I ended up running out of time in the TIGER GB. Nevertheless, I did enter this into the TIGER GB Gallery in a 'looks finished' state, 6 mins before the deadline. It was soundly, and deservedly beaten in the poll! I subsequently spent the next month and a half getting it into the state that I had actually envisaged at the outset, although I had to give up on opening up the cooling fan bay for technical reasons. (Either Tamiya's fault, or the Tiger's designers,but you can't open the fan bay cover without removing the air hoses, and their connectors, from the filter units.) Anyway, here's a load of photos. I'll be happy to answer any questions and I welcome any criticisms! BTW, THE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN UNDER ARTIFICIAL LIGHT AND THEREFORE THE WHITENESS HAS BEEN LOST. I WILL TAKE SOME PHOTOS IN NATURAL LIGHT TOMORROW AND POST THEM HERE ABOUTS. I won't be adding mud to the tracks until the Tiger's dio is ready. I 'moved' the tow cable because I originally intended to open up the cooling fan cover underneath. Now, it's simply moved aside so that the no one trips over it while working on and around the engine. When I decided to show the Tiger's engine, it required that I open up the engine cover, obviously. I quickly discovered that this was not possible as the escape hatch hinge and the rearmost of the spare track links fouled the engine cover. Hmmmm. But then a period photo provided by @Robert Stuart showed that this was the case in real life. The turret HAD to be turned to THIS angle and the rearmost spare track-link had to be removed in order that the engine cover could be opened. What clever design by the 'perfectionist' Germans! I am calling this finished, but it will get mud/debris on the tracks when the dio is ready. It's for this reason that I'm not too worried about any colour discrepencies between the various patches of mud on the Tiger. The mud of the dio will dictate the colour of the mud on the Tiger. On the whole, I'm fairly happy with the Tiger. There are things I could have done better. Feel free to criticise! TFL Badder

Tamiya 1/35th NASHORN Pachyderm packs a punch First off, a HUGE thank you to @Ozzy whom, for reasons known only to himself, thought to gift this Nashorn to me. He did say, however, that he remembered the birth, life and untimely death of my previous Nashorn, and 'felt sorry for me'. I'm paraphrasing there, and putting words into his mouth, but hey, that's the gist of it. Humbled by his generoustiy and thoughtfulness, I have delved into my stash and am donating a boxed Tamiya 1/35th Cromwell to his Models for Heroes work. Prologue. I originally entered this GB, intending to have a second go at a Nashorn, with full PE, but I discovered that the price of said model had risen by 30 percent in the past 2 years, from over 30 quid, to over 40 quid, and the full PE has increased in cost as well, taking the total to over 100 quid! That was too rich for me. I decided then, to fall back on Tamiya's Golden Oldie, StuGIV and uprgade this with PE and PE zimmerit - a lot of PE, but still a fraction of the cost of the full-beans Nashorn. Ozzy's kind gift though, has ressurrected the Nashorn, and, after much deliberation and studying of the interweb, I have realised that the full beans PE isn't worth the money anyway. There are no PE parts for the gun itself, and really, the only 'worthwhile' parts are for the ammo boxes. And the racks inside those boxes are (in my experience) a bit of a pig to make. The kit's gun barrel is pretty good, requiring only minimal 'de-lousing' and is nice and straight, so I won't bother with a metal replacement. The tracks are pretty good too, so I won't be bothering with an upgrade there either. This Nashorn then, will be OOB. In honour of my previous NASHORN, RIP (Rest In Pieces) I shall be sticking with the winter camo. This time, however, I will NOT be using hairspray 'juice' and bicarb for snow effects. 'Tis this, I believe, combined with a final rinse in warm water, that caused the orginal to begin to fall apart in my hands, and prompted the 'absolute' falling apart due to sudden, repeated, and violent impacts against the hot water tap. Finally, 'Pachyderm' is a term most often associated with elephants, but it does encompass any thick-skinned, hoofed mammal, including elephants, hippopotamusessesses, and rhinoceri. 'Nashorn' (for those who don't know) is German for 'Giraffe'. No. Really. It's not. Good luck to all in the GB, and even if you don't get to finish on time (I may well be one such person) PLEASE DO STILL VOTE! Badder

NASHORN TAMIYA 1/35th FRIULMODEL 'WINTERKETTEN' TRACKS. TAMIYA BRASS 88mm SHELLS FOR KING TIGER PZ IV STGB ENTRY 'PACHYDERM PACKS A PUNCH' The WIP *(Be warned, it's quite long!) can be found here: This is my second attempt at a Nashorn - the first having reached a similar stage, but then deciding to fall apart whilst I was rinsing bicarb/hair lacquer 'snow' off the thing! Whereas previously I've used chipping fluid to aid the chipping, fading and general worn appearance of the whitewash, here I've used nowt - the whitewash consisting of many, many layers of white acrylic ink which were each 'rubbed back' with a dry, damp, or sometimes wet, stiff brush. Here, I also had a bash at AM tracks - primarily because there was the option for Winterketten - the wider tracks making the Nashorn look even more beastly than the usual narrow ones. I was slightly apprehensive about forking out that amount of dosh for tracks that apparently drive some people insane with boredom, but once I had sussed out my methodology for joining the links, the initial slow progress was overcome and construction not only accelerated, but became very easy. In fact, I constructed the tracks whilst watching TV. Nassy isn't finished here BTW. I refrained from adding mud and snow in anything other than a token measure, because I plan for it to feature in a diorama, and until the mud colour and consistency is sorted for the diorama, I can't add any to Nassy. There are also a few bits of kit and stowage that I want to add, and of course, the crew figures. Whilst the crew figures were completed to some 'reasonable standard' for the gallery photos, I ended up not using those photos. BTW, the photos were posted to the gallery with 5 mins until the deadline, and were taken under fluorescent light. Oddly, some of the camo colours haven't been picked up by the lens (the greens especially) I will take photos in daylight and post them here at a future date. Oh, and there's errant snowflakes stuck to Nassy here and there - snowflakes that should have been brushed off after I tipped out a 'bed' for the Nassy to sit on for photographic purposes. That snow can be seen in the last group of shots with the crew in place. With snow and crew - all temporarily added for photographic purposes. The crew were rushed to meet the deadline - hence the commander's glossy yellow/orange hand. Still - better than having a 'pointy-finger[ man...... ahem...... TFL Better photos to follow at some point. Rearguards, Badder ps. A final big thanks to @Ozzy for the 'swap'.

TAMIYA 1/35th WILLYS MB JEEP OOB COMPONENT FOR DIORAMA 'PIT STOP' TO COMPLIMENT SHERMAN M4A3E8 FEATURED IN RFI 'FACE OFF'. This was one of those 'spur of the moment' purchases from Hobbycraft whilst popping in to buy a single pot of acrylic paint. I had seen it on the shelf during previous visits and almost bought it then, purely for the figure and the small amount of stowage/tools/weapons that came with the kit. I had thought that they might be useful additions to my Sherman Easy Eight. In the end I didn't buy it then because actually they weren't that relevant to my Sherman. However, I later came to realise that the Jeep itself would make a good companion for said Sherman in the forthcoming diorama 'Pit Stop'. I am still considering other larger vehicles as components for that diorama, but for now, I am happy with the Jeep. We shall see.... The kit instructions suggest 5 versions of the Jeep, most notably one of the 7th Armoured Division 814th Tank Destroyer Battalion, Reconnaissance Company No.22, which was present in Belgium in Jan '45. My Sherman is based on one which was present in the Bastogne area (Belgium) at that same time. Whether the Sherman and Jeep could have met in real life isn't something I've researched, but I'm pretending that they did. Whilst my Sherman is sporting worn winter camo, I doubted that the Jeep would have been given a whitewash and so stuck to the OD. The finished model here is shown OOB, but I will be adding some more stowage - and will be applying mud and snow when the time comes to plonk it in the diorama. The model was painted using Tamiya Acrylics thinned with water, for both brush and airbrush, AND Daler Rowney Acrylic Inks, either neat or again watered down. Humbrol Dark Earth Weathering Powder was also employed, again watered down for washes, but was sometimes mixed with the Inks to achieve differing colours/tones. The powder was also used dry to create 'leather/canvas' effects on the seat covers IT MIGHT BE INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT NO ENAMELS WERE USED AT ALL ON THIS MODEL.... a first for me! Also, no varnishes were used to seal layers or aid the application of washes. Gloss varnish WAS used in places to give the model a wet appearance, but mostly a 'shiny/wet' effect was achieved by polishing the paint surfaces with a stiff dry brush. Any futher 'wet effects' will be added at the diorama stage. PHOTOS: please note that there are many more to add, but I'm having serious Interupternet issues and it's taking an age to upload them to my hosting site, and yes, I know I haven't fitted the steering wheel! One last thing... I always pondered the purpose of the upright 'girders' stuck on the front bumpers of some Jeeps. Having read the instruction sheet, I now know. If you don't know, and want a 'heads up' just ask. It has something to do with pianos. TFL Badder

PLEASE VISIT PAGE 3 FOR THE 'FINAL' FINAL PHOTOS. TAMIYA 1/35th M4A3E8 'EASY EIGHT' (lastest tooling) With scratchbuilt armour upgrade. STGB entry: 'FACE OFF' I had intended making this OOB, but @Sgt.Squarehead supplied some rather interesting photos of WWII Shermans, one of which took my fancy. This was an 'Easy Eight' with added frontal and turret 'cheek' armour. The added frontal armour consisted of almost an entire glacis, removed from a presumably 'knocked out' Sherman and bolted/welded on top of the Easy Eight's own glacis. This vehicle was present in the Bastogne region in January 45, and showed signs of having previously been whitewashed. I'd never done a 'conversion' before, but quite liked the idea. This vehicle would be an ideal start then as I thought it would be a fairly easy to replicate, simply slicing the glacis from the kit, and slipping plasticard underneath. However, carefull inspection of the photos showed that the 'donor' glacis wasn't a simple 'cut and paste' job. It had necessarily been cut inwards of its full width and the lifting rings, headlights and horn had all been repositioned slightly. Indeed, the driver's headlight had been removed (or possibly had been severely damaged by enemy fire or some accident) Anyway, only the mangled brush guard remained. So, I couldn't just slice the glacis from the kit and use that. I 'd have to do some mods to it. And then I thought that was way too much work, and risky, so best to scratch the new glacis instead, using plasticard. The cheek armour would be fairly straightforward. I was not intending to do a precise copy of this Sherman then, but something based loosely on it. And I really fancied showing this Sherman with full, but worn, winter camo. I've been meaning to do a winter diorama for ages now, and this seemed the perfect opportunity. I'd previously scratchbuilt a ruined building - which WAS going to appear in my 'Ever Evolving Diorama' - and thought this would be ideal for the winter dio. Unfortunately, I ran out of time and didn't even start the diorama. I DID use it as a backdrop for some of the Gallery entries though. So here it is, with worn winter camo. Be aware that this is not finished. I intend to add stowage to the turret rails, replace the tow cable and replace the figures. It will aslo be getting more mud/grass and snow when placed in the diorama. This was a much harder build than I thought it would be, with many trials and errors along the way, but I am reasonably happy with the added armour. It's a shame I never had time to add all of the stowage, or get the figures to the higher standard that I now aspire to, but I am very pleased with the worn winter camo and mud/grass effects. Thanks to all those who inspired me throughout the GB. Now don't forget to vote! I've already cast my vote, and no, it wasn't for my own model! There's some crackers in there and in my eyes, 3 masterpieces! It's a shame we only get one vote each. TFL Badder

THIS RFI HAS BEEN UPDATED, REPLACING THE PHOTO LINKS TO PHOTOBUCKET. THERE ARE A FEW EXTRA PHOTOS. Here's my diorama entitled 'Lost in France', featuring the Churchill MkVII featured in the feature 'Saving a Churchill MkVII from the bin' WiP feature. I have REALLY enjoyed making this one! It's only my 2nd model and diorama since returning to modelling after a 35 year absence. Many positive comments, advice and tips have helped me improve along the way. Thank you all for your support, and thanks for looking! EDIT: 03/02/16 I have re-worked the bridge and added some more detail shots at the end of the topic. I hope you enjoy the pics and as always, comments positive and negative are welcome! Badder. PS, the aforementioned bucket appears at the end.

I've just purchased this kit and it now resides in my stash, but I'm really looking forward to building it. I searched the forums and have perused 7 pages but I can't find a single thread for the Tamiya kit, only Takom, Academy, DML etc, Can someone with more patience provide a link for me? There MUST be at least one Tamiya 1/35th King Tiger in here somewhere! Thanks, Badder

I'm calling this finished, although more work will be done on it when it's sited in its dio. I was toying with the idea of giving it a winter camo, but anyone who saw my last attempts with the Nashorn will understand my decision not to go ahead with it. However, I suspect my dio will feature the Sherman in the first stages of having its winter camo applied by a crewman or two. The Sherman is 1/35th Tamiya, with scratch sponsons (why Tamiya never rectified this glaring omission is beyond me) Also included some Tamiya stowage from their US Tank Crew set (which will also feature in the dio) The frontal armour enhancement was made from Barbeque sticks and spare track links, tied up with cotton. Rear stowage secured with cotton, back-pack straps made from cut-offs from PE sprue and all bags are secured to a cotton line. I also added a 'plank' of wood at the rear of the turret, thinking that crew would make use of the two 'bars' sticking out of the back and make a 'shelf'. Graphite dust used to colour steel tools and give a worn sheen here and there. Clear green used for periscope glass although in reality these were untinted glass. The eagle eyed amongst you will notice that the M2 machine gun on the turret is seated backwards in its mount. I did this because the gun will not depress beyond the horizontal when seated correctly, and would not be able to shoot at targets at close to mid-range (or anywhere below the horizontal) This is because the ammo box is fouled by the mount itself. Mounted 'incorrectly' the gun can depress below the horizontal and can in fact be 'dropped' almost vertically down over the back of the turret. I have seen photos from WWII where M2's were 'stowed' in such positions. Yes, there's bits of fluff here and there and a bit of touching-up to do. Anyway, all comments welcome and encouraged. TFL Badder

Not usually a fan of Soviet armour but there's something about Tamiya's new SU-76M I found appealing. This is a straight OOB build. I used Xtracrylix Russian Tank Green for the overall colour and this was weathered with filters & washes. The figures were painted with Humbrol enamels, and yes, the commander does have a remarkable likeness to Vladimir Puttin! image hosting 5mb upload pic greenshot adult image adult photo sharing photo hosting 20mb image hosting imgupload Thanks for looking

This is Tamiya's new kit of the Jagdpanzer IV L/70 (V) Lang. Built virtually OOB. Painted with Tamiya acrylics, and Humbrol enamels. I given the lower half a "Wet Look", as I'm planning to put it on a diorama. The working sight function seized up when a cote of paint was applied, otherwise the kit goes together with no problems at all. free uploader adult photo sharing gif uploader image hosting 15mb host image free photo hosting free photo hosting image url online photo storage images upload images hosting Thanks for looking

This is Tamiya's Mid Production Tiger I. I added a set of resin Zimmerit by ATAK. It is very thin resin that is just attached to the kit in the required places. The set has a replacement mantlet and escape hatch that are a straight swop for the kit parts. I've never used this product before, but I can recommend it very highly! I used Tamiya acrylic to paint the tank. The turret numbers are painted on. The figure is from Tamiya's Panther G and is painted with Humbrol enamels. I replace the tow rope with brass wire and to give the tank an autumnal look, I added some paper leaves from Plus Models. how to screen capture free screenshot software free photo hosting image hosting gif image uploading site take a screenshot how to screenshot on windows uploading images image hosting 10mb limit photo sharing Thank you for looking

This is Tamiya's old Stug IV. I replaced the kit's armoured skirts with thinner ones made from plastic card and replaced the tools with better detailed items from the spares box. The tracks are the kit's rubber band ones. Tamiya acrylics were used for the paint scheme, and the mud is weathering pigments mixed with PVA. The figure is a Dragon one, also from the spares box. image uploading site upload gambar pic host photo uploading websites image hosting adult free picture upload click image upload adult picture hosting Thanks for looking

To Tamiya's wonderful Jagdpanther I added a metal barrel, some metal tracks, and a set of etched side skirts, I also replaced the kits plastic tow cables with picture wire. The camouflage scheme was done with Tamiya acrylics and weathering was achieved with various filters and washes with chips and scrapes applied. The figure is from the kit, painted with Humbrol enamels and I used Tamiya's uniform badges decals. image hosting 15mb how to screenshot on windows 7 image url upload photos image hosting no sign up upload pics image hosting 30 mb image hosting photo hosting image url img host Thanks for looking

Tamiya's old Krupp Protze, built OOB and loaded down with supplies. It is planned to go along side my Tiger on a diorama I have planned. Tamiya acrylics were used for the base colour, with various airbrushed tones of buff to give it a dusty look. upload gambar free photo hosting photo sharing websites image hosting over 5mb upload gif from url upload image online images hosting screen shot on pc Thanks for looking

This Tamiya's old kit built OOB. I used it to try out a different weathering method. After spraying the model all over with Tamiya acrylic dark green, I applied progressively lighter cotes of heavily thinned enamel buff, almost as if they were filters/washes. Once these had dried, I used a broad flat brush, dampened with white spirits, in vertical strokes to streak, blend and remove the thin cotes of buff. I got a result that looks like a dusty tank that's been rained on to give it a streaked, dusty finish. A raw umber oil pin wash deepened details, and a graphite pencil in selected areas, gave a worn finish. upload pictures online screenshot tool gif uploader upload jpg adult photo sharing take a screenshot Thanks for looking

How do chaps, Thought it was about time I got back in to the saddle and did a build. I built the original PzIII.L version some years ago and was really impressed how it went together. It dates from 1993 and still stacks up really well (and better in some instances ) against todays kits. Etch parts and alu barrel that come with the kit. These also come with the StuG III A/B kit that Tamiya produce (on my to buy list) Lower hull with axles fitted. Etch grill fitted. Exhaust and heat plate? fitted to rear hull. Upper hull started. No problems here. Spaced armour fitted to the hull front. This was a bit fiddly to fit and needed some jiggling about to sit straight. Hull top sat on the lower hull, just to see how it looks The kit is just falling together so far. More to follow soon, Regards, Steve

This is Tamiya's new Nashorn. I replaced the kits vinyl tracks with a set of Dragon's Magic Tracks left over from a PZ IV, but the rest is all OOB. Its a lovely kit, just falls together with plenty of detail. I was a bit disappointed with the crew, their poses are good, but they just don't seem as sharp as Tamyia's usual stanadard for figures I painted the model with Humbrol enamels, starting with the three colour camouflage scheme over which I applied random splotches of masking fluid, before airbrushing a misty cote of matt white before I started thw weathering,and I had a great time with the weathering! The snow is baking soda, held in place with hair spray. free image upload picture hosting upload gif from url upload a gif image hosting over 10mb free image hosting img hosting how to print screen on pc click image upload uploading pictures hosting images image hosting without registration Thanks for looking

This is virtually out of the box. I added the jerry can and storage rack and made an air identification flag from masking tape and decals. The figure came form Tamiya's European issue of the Kubelwagen, I just added a helmet rather than his field cap. I used Humbrol enamels and used filters, washes and chipping to weather the model. I dusted the model by adding some drops buff to Humbrol's matt varnish and misting over the lower half and around the sides, top and insides. take screen shot prntscr image hosting no sign up screen shot on a pc image hosting tinypic Thanks for looking.

Tamiya's release of the SD.Kfz.250 as Rommel's Half Track dates back a few years. Even so its not that bad a little kit. I replaced some items, such as the Notek light, pioneer tools and jerry cans with better detailed ones from the spares box and tweaked some details, such as weld seems to bring the detail up to newer levels, but it is a great stand alone kit. The tracks are link and length and go together very nicely. I used Humbrol enamels and weathered the machine with filters, washers, and chipping. A pale buff was lightly misted over the model to give it a dusty look. picture sharing screenshot utility screen shot image upload no ads screen capture program Thanks for looking

Tamiya's Horch is a very well detailed kit, for its time. The chassis has loads of detail, and it features some nice touches including a choice of stowed or opened cover with side glazing. When compared to similar models released more recently however, some of the detail is as refined as we find in newer kits. Eduard have a small, but fairly comprehensive etched set for the model that refines the kit's details, and provides items missed off by Tamiya. Progress so far: Etch replacements for the head lamp mounts and Notek light have been added and a better detailed road horn has replaced the kit's one. The bumper has had moulded on parts replaced with finer etched parts. The kit's width indicators are pretty crude so I replaced them with ones made from steel tubing and porcelain beads from a water filter. image hosting Some interior parts have been added, I've still to tackle the ejector pin marks on the inner surface. print screen I have replaced the kit's folded hood with one made from tissue paper soaked in diluted PVA. Also Eduard's set recommends redoing the rear doors, and they also include all the required fixtures and fittings. screen shot capture The Eduard set provides the cover for the rear cargo compartment with the hatches and tool box. The tool box needs the strengthening ribs embossing, which is easily done with a ball point pen. screen shot on pc They also include a replacement windscreen, and they supply clear acetate for the glass. You can see the kit part alongside the replacement part. click image upload Thanks for looking.

Tamiya re-released their old 8 wheel armoured car as an Afrika Korps vehicle with new plastic parts (including two new figures), some etched bits and a turned aluminium barrel. I added a more detailed brass barrel, some more etched parts from Eduard and a set of resin wheels from Royal Models. Other bits came from the spares box. I used Humbrol enamels and the markings are from the kit. pc screen shot image hosting no sign up screen shot capture picture share image hosting free no registration screen shot tool Thanks for looking.

I built Tamiya's awesome Dragon Wagon straight out of the box except that I just detailed the armoured covers hold back latches with some scrap card, and I replaced the M2 .50 cal with one from Accademy. The kit comes with etched parts and chrome plated light reflector dishes. Also included is chain, cord, and vinyl pipes. The model was painted with Tamiya acrylics and Humbrol enamels. I deliberately went for a mis match of olive drabb between the tractor and trailer to suggest a bringing together of different units. Weathering was a done with washes and filters and pin washes with Raw Umber oil paint. The dried on mud was achieved by stippling on Humbrol model putty thinned with liquid poly. The Sherman came off my shelf of shame. I'd started it for an Ardennes project. It is the Tamiya kit with a partial resin interior. Thanks for looking.

Tamiya's LRDG has been around for a fair few years but it is a lovely kit. I replaced the vinyl tyres with resin ones and used Eduard's etch set to refine some details. The driver is from the kit and the guy in the back is from Master Box's LRDG figure set. I replaced the kit's Lewis gun with one from Master Box, who also provided the Vickers, SMLE and Thompson. The rest of the stowage is either included in the kit, or from my spares box. I mixed the colours using Humbrol enamels and weathered the truck with various filters and washes. Thanks for looking.

What can I say about Tamiya's new Matilda that hasn't already be said? Not a lot really! It is just an excellent kit, the detail is fantastic, you just need to look at the insulating material on the exhaust pipes leading into the silencer to appreciate the level of detail Tamiya have incorperated. When I first got the model I compared it to their old version, no comparison! Just looking at the smoke dischargers shows what a quantum leap the new kit is. On the new model the bolt action on the firing mechanism is so fine it looks like you could work the bolt. The old kit doesn't even feature the detail. I painted the Caunter scheme using Tamiya acrylics and I used loads of Mig pigments to weather the lady, to give her a dusty look. The tracks, moulded in hard plastic, were rubbed with pencil graphite to give them a shiny steel finish. Washes and chipping added to the weathered, batterd look. Thanks for looking.