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Airfix 1:12 Shaun the Sheep Tractor


BrianI

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Being on annual leave this week but feeling a little overwhelmed with my Airfix 1:12 Blower Bentley build http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234968416-airfix-112-1930-45-litre-bentley I thought I'd visit a different local ish model shop and see what I could see to tickle my fancy.

So I took a trip through to Marionville Models in Edinburgh for a wee browse.

Saw an Airfix Shaun the Sheep "Shaun Timmy Bitzer and Tractor" kit sitting in a dark corner of a shelf looking unloved and reduced in price to £19.99

Couldn't resist it, so I snapped it up as it'll be a nice relaxing fun build for my week off. Shame the weather forecast is wet for the rest of the week... :winkgrin:

Anyway, some obligatory box and sprue shots:

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Quite a nicely printed glossy instruction booklet, with a good section in the end about weathering:

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Should be a really fun build, and I'm planning on doing this as a "speed build" over the next few days, rather than at my usual pace of a few months!

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OK, so I've not done as much as I'd have hoped.

Anyway, that's all the parts for Shaun, Timmy and Bitzer primed including Bitzers right arm which pinged off the tweezers and is temporarily hidden by the laminate flooring monster.

Hopefully I'll find Bitzers arm, if not it should be easy enough to make one out of milliput, then I'll get on with getting the characters painted. Now, I had considered getting flocking powder for the "wool" on Shaun and Timmy. However the craft shop I tried only had embossing powder. In anycase perhaps just painting Shaun and Timmy as they are will give a more "realistic" plasticene look?

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Baaaah!

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Edited by BrianI
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I am looking forward to seeing your progress with this, I would like to make one for my grandson ( fine excuse for myself ! )

:partytime:

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A great choice for a 'relaxing fun build' but as you can tell from my avatar I am a tad biased :winkgrin:

I think this tractor is the same as the one that stars in the epic climax of 'Shaun the Sheep - The Movie' which is in cinemas this week.

Will be following your build with much interest.

Michael

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Hit a bit of a problem when it comes to getting some paint on. Can't seem to get those little pots of Airfix paint to "work". They are like curdled milk in the jar, thinning them with water makes them thin enough to paint, but the paint just doesn't stick well!

Tried to thin the paints down a bit more to run them through the air brush, even worse! To get them thin enough to go through the airbrush they are too watery to have any colour :-/

So i'm going to try using my tried and trusted Tamiya paints, although I'll need to experiment to mix up a correct shade of tamiya gloss yellow & orange to give the correct golden lab colour for Bitzer!

So out with the fairy power spray this evening!

Edited by BrianI
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I built one of these a while back, and of course I wish i'd saved it so I could do a better job using what I've learned since ...

I remember being a bit surprised (and more than a bit intimidated by) the information on detailing in the manual, I just went with a basic wash or two & added a bit of OO railway flock to the mix to the bucket.

I also remember not getting on at all well with the Humbrol acrylic paints (though I did like the "free" brushes) - brush painting they seemed to separate in use, weren't good at levelling, or at sticking - I'm not sure what the term is (galling?) but the paint would lift up & roll into little balls & leave a gritty finish. I also tried "proper" pots later, and had the same problem with levelling and a new one of inexplicable pockmarks from bubbles bursting. I don't know if it was technique, surface prep, formulation, or possible poor storage, but I think that was the moment I decided to go 100% Tamiya X/XF.

Speaking of that, I have a some leftovers from the paint I mixed & a note that it was equal parts XF-18 Medium Blue & XF-8 Flat Blue - TBH it's nothing like that shown in the manual (far too "Wedgewood" for a start) but for me it was about getting somewhere closer to what I was seeing on my TV screen at the time. Like I said, what I've learned since ...

:)

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Ahh, I'm getting some progress now!

I'd been having airbrush issues with the humbrol paint with the 0.2mm needle on my H&S ultra airbrush. Swapping the needle and nozzle for a 0.4mm one, and the humbrol paint sprays a lot better. So that's Bitzer all nice and Labrador yellow now!

Going to paint the rest of the kit using the tried and tested Tamiya paints. Just about to start Shaun and Timmy!

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Well, my supposed speed build is going at a snails pace at the moment!

However I have got Bitzer nearly finished, just his eyeballs to paint. I've also got hold of some white flocking powder for the wooly bodies of Shaun and Timmy. Not even started assembling the tractor yet!

Hopefully i'll get my finger out and get on with this build!

I have found that those little tester pots of humbrol paints brush well if I add a couple of drops of flow improver and a couple of drops of pledge multi surface wax (aka klear)

Edited by BrianI
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 5 weeks later...

Speed build? :banghead:

Well, just and update, been busy with work and other stuff, and lost my modelling mojo again.

Anyway, the flocking powder didn't really work particularly well, it came off easily when handling Timmy and Shaun. I've gone back to using the trusty embossing powder sprinkled on a coat of pva glue.

Looks pretty good once dried and painted white, with matt varnish on top.

Pics to follow

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As promised, here is the pic of Bitzer, Timmy and Shaun!

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So much for my rapid speed build, 2 months and all I've done is Bitzer, Timmy and Shaun! :weep:

Anyway, I've got the tractor chassis and other parts primed. I had planned on keeping them bare blue plastic, but for some reason paint doesn't seem to take to it very well. So should be easier to prime them, the airbrush them with tamiya paints. Although Tamiya Gloss blue looks a little too dark compared to the box art....

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  • 1 month later...

At long last, almost finished! Perhaps over egged the weathering?

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Just a diorama base with flocking railway scenery grass to fettle, then I can safely call this enjoyable kit done.

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A quickly thrown together diorama base using a tesco value A4 certificate frame.
Carefully removed the glass, added an a4 bit of poster board. Wellied on some PVA glue, then some railway summer grass flocking.

Sealed it with hairspray, then secured the tractor by tying it to the base using 11lb fishing line,
securing it on the rear of the base through small holes either side of the axles.

Bitzer secured by drilling small holes on the pads of his feet, glue in off cuts of paperclip then securing him using these glued into drilled holes in the base.

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:speak_cool:

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