PlaStix Posted November 3, 2015 Author Share Posted November 3, 2015 Taking shape nicely Stix That's a big area for a brush. Don't know how you do it but can't wait to see it Thank you Nigel. Brushes - now here's the thing......... I must admit, when I'd started to get the hull together, I did think it was rather large for just brush painting - plus it's mixed media with plastic, metal and rubber - so I have purchased some Humbrol spray cans........... just in case I chicken out of getting my largest flat brushes out! I am leaning towards just spraying it all at the moment. We will see..... Hi Stix, thanks for the lesson in tank nomenclature. I think if I do eventually get one of these I would go for the easy option on the tracks, 108 parts per side sounds a bit masochistic to me. That dictionary I had for breakfast worked well. Regards John Hi John. Yes had to get a dictionary out to translate your post! There's Glacis Plates, Sponsons, Torsion bars, etc. etc., as well as mantlets! - it is a whole new language to learn! When I purchased these track links off snapper_city I hadn't realised quite how long they were going to take to put together. The problem is the ejection pin marks, of which there are 4 on each link, take some time to remove. The tracks will look better than the ones supplied with the kit but will take some time before they are ready. If you do fancy having a go at a tank, some of Tamiya's 1/48 tanks are supposed to be a dream to put together - the 1/48 New Tamiya Panzerkampfwagen 38(t) Ausf.E/F I made a while a go, certainly was a pleasant build. If you want a go at larger scale tank kits then Tamiya's 1/35 are also supposed to be very good too. I'm sure some of the real tank experts here on Britmodeller would be able to offer some advice as to what are the best kits. Kind regards, Stix 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper_city Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 Thank you Nigel. When I purchased these track links off snapper_city I hadn't realised quite how long they were going to take to put together. The problem is the ejection pin marks, of which there are 4 on each link, take some time to remove. The tracks will look better than the ones supplied with the kit but will take some time before they are ready. I take no responsibility in this issue. Ha. Individual links can be very tedious but like you say they look a million times better. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted November 3, 2015 Author Share Posted November 3, 2015 I take no responsibility in this issue. Ha. Typical! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 If you do fancy having a go at a tank, some of Tamiya's 1/48 tanks are supposed to be a dream to put together - the 1/48 New Tamiya Panzerkampfwagen 38(t) Ausf.E/F[/size] I made a while a go, certainly was a pleasant build. If you want a go at larger scale tank kits then Tamiya's 1/35 are also supposed to be very good too. I'm sure some of the real tank experts here on Britmodeller would be able to offer some advice as to what are the best kits. Kind regards, Stix I have been looking at tank kits actually. I think 1/48 might be a little small for my sausage like fingers, but as you say the Tamiya 1/35 range looks good and some of them are very reasonably priced. I have put the AFV Club Centurion on my Christmas wish list to SWMBO who will not buy me any more aeroplanes, but said " I'll think about it " when I told her it was a tank. Oh well on verra ( we will see ) as we say in these parts. If that plan doesn't work I might go for the Tamiya M-60 A1 Blazer, which is another one I like the look of. Cheers John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper_city Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 Tamiya armour is a great place to start as they are not too taxing. Hobbyboss and meng are good also. Dragon I don't find too bad but avoid afv club and even more fiddly bronco. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted November 4, 2015 Author Share Posted November 4, 2015 I have been looking at tank kits actually. I think 1/48 might be a little small for my sausage like fingers, but as you say the Tamiya 1/35 range looks good and some of them are very reasonably priced. I have put the AFV Club Centurion on my Christmas wish list to SWMBO who will not buy me any more aeroplanes, but said " I'll think about it " when I told her it was a tank. Oh well on verra ( we will see ) as we say in these parts. If that plan doesn't work I might go for the Tamiya M-60 A1 Blazer, which is another one I like the look of. Cheers John Hi John. I'd definitely pull up a seat to watch if you decide to build a tank. I know your attention to detail would transfer well from your aircraft builds. This Centrurion kit is basically very good and it's nice it comes with a metal barrel and some etch. On the other hand it is quite fiddly in places. Some of the parts - for example two of the fastners for the turret stowage boxes - have to be added as separate items and they are both smaller than anything I think I've added to even a 1/72 kit!!! I did a quick search for the M-60 kit and found this which may or may not be useful: http://www.missing-lynx.com/articles/modern/jcm60/jcm60.htm Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 Looking good Stix,it looks like a beautifully detailed kit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted November 6, 2015 Author Share Posted November 6, 2015 Hi Steve. It really is a well detailed kit but it's just a bit hit and miss in places with regards locating of parts and some of the parts are very, very small. I am looking forward to, hopefully, working on it tomorrow though. Kind regards, Stix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 (edited) This morning I began by working on things I've been putting off doing because they looked, from the instructions, quite delicate in terms of what they'd be once finished. If I had made them and fitted them in the order the instructions suggest I know I would have broken them while working on the stages afterwards. First off I began with the fitting of the mesh on the stowage framework that will be attached behind the turret: Before adding the framework above I finished adding more parts to the top of the turret: Then, once the glue had set on these, I fixed on the stowage framework: Next up: very small handles! As I mentioned earlier in the thread - I've left these until very late because I know I would have squashed these flat many times by now - they're in the bag here: A closer look: One of the handles!: One in place - they are quite tricky to clean up too - being so small: When I'd got this far I decided it was better to stop rather than get to a point when I'd start messing them up: Comments and suggestions welcome. More tomorrow I hope. Kind regards, Stix Edited November 7, 2015 by PlaStix 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Blimey those are small, if I do get one of these I will have to get a stronger pair of glasses/magnifier. I think you're right to stop there and restart later. They look to be about the same size as some of the parts on a 1/32 P&W R2800 I built for a Corsair I did it in four stages. Is the mesh on the stowage basket etched or plastic? Keep calm and carry on. Cheers John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper_city Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 On mine I'm fabricating them out of wire for the very reason they are too delicate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share Posted November 9, 2015 (edited) Blimey those are small, if I do get one of these I will have to get a stronger pair of glasses/magnifier. I think you're right to stop there and restart later. They look to be about the same size as some of the parts on a 1/32 P&W R2800 I built for a Corsair I did it in four stages. Is the mesh on the stowage basket etched or plastic? Keep calm and carry on. Cheers John Hi John. I wear glasses for most things but for modelling I often find, because I am very short sighted, that I'm looking over the top of my glasses. With the handles I gave up on the glasses altogether!! Anyway, as you'll see below, all the handles are now on - only one tried to get eaten by the carpet monster, but when it flicked off the cutting mat I was so close to it that it re-bounded off my eyebrow back onto the mat! The upright internal mesh is PE but the black external mesh is sort of nylon netting. Seems to work okay but is again quite fiddly to fit. On mine I'm fabricating them out of wire for the very reason they are too delicate. I think that is probably a better idea. I had made a decision, before I started, that I would make this tank as much OOB as I could - apart from the mantlet cover (and tracks ) obviously but they are both from AFV Club. I'm still having problems with Flickr on my iPad so Sunday's update is a day late. On Saturday I borrowed Mrs PlaStix's laptop to get the photos off. First job was to finish off fitting the remaining handles: This second row went on a lot quicker simply because there's fewer of them! Plus there's one more on the back unit: Then I added the etched mount and additional bits for the machine gun: Followed by the ammo box which I had to add the handle onto - the original was sort of disfigured: At this point I was planning on going out to the shed to get the base coat of rattle-can Humbrol matt Olive Drab sprayed on but it started to rain quite heavily so I thought I carry on working on some of the smaller parts that still need to be added - but after the main parts are painted and dry. Most of the time was taken with cleaning up seam lines and general sanding and filing: As you can see from the photo I also began work on the searchlight. I have to say the Revell acrylic silver paint was quite difficult to apply onto the clear plastic parts - the material they are made from didn't seem to like water based paint very much. Luckily, because I was painting the back of the plastic, I could build it up quite thickly without it spoiling the appearance. I'm now glad I decided to spray the main colour for the tank because, as you can see, AFV Club design quite a few parts with clear plastic that needs some painting. And that is where I finished on Sunday morning. During the afternoon though, it seemed to brighten up around our way, so I managed to get some time in the shed and got quite a bit of spray painting done. Unfortunately, by the time the paint was dry, it was getting quite dark so I apologise about the quality of the photos: I always worry when I'm spraying anything but I think that generally looks okay. There's a few bits here and there that need a bit of tidying up but generally that should provide a reasonable base for the weathering and detailing. More next weekend I hope. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix Edited November 9, 2015 by PlaStix 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 That's brought everything together a treat Stix, did you use a rattle can or have you invested in an airbrush? Looking forward to seeing you work your magic on the paintwork/weathering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted November 10, 2015 Author Share Posted November 10, 2015 That's brought everything together a treat Stix, did you use a rattle can or have you invested in an airbrush? Looking forward to seeing you work your magic on the paintwork/weathering. Hi Sarge. Only a rattle can (or 3) for the painting. Spraying paint is not my favourite thing so I'm not investing in an airbrush yet. As I've mentioned before I haven't got anywhere suitable to use one anyway.And yep - weathering next! Kind regards, Stix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshanks Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 Looking good...... Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted November 11, 2015 Author Share Posted November 11, 2015 Looking good...... Kev Thank you Kev. I have to say I am a bit happier now the base coat of paint is on. One reason being I'm always nervous about spraying kits and secondly - probably because it is a bit of a mixed media build - it did look a bit disjointed - especially around the turret. Kind regards, Stix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wimbledon99 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 "I always worry when I'm spraying anything but I think that generally looks okay." Looks wonderful Stix The netting and etch are superb! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted November 14, 2015 Author Share Posted November 14, 2015 Thank you Nigel! I started work this morning weathering the wheels, etc. while all the parts are still on the sprues. It takes sooooo much longer in 1/35! I've done an overall wash of Revell's Gunship Grey followed by some targeted washes of Revell's Anthracite. I then started some dry-brushing with a lightened version of the base colour. Hopefully I'll get some more done and photos posted tomorrow. Kind regards, Stix 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted November 15, 2015 Author Share Posted November 15, 2015 (edited) This morning carried on from yesterday with more work on the wheels. This is how everything looked after spraying them with a base coat of rattlecan Humbrol 155:Then after some washes and dry-brushing they looked like this:Next up I added some other stains including oil and added some gunmetal highlights to some worn areas:As you can see in the the photo above I also tried the fit of one of the tires:The fit isn't to bad - some people have found them a bit loose.I did, however, find that they looked way too clean and so I decided some dry-brushing is needed:A close up:They still need more work but I will do that before gluing the tires on.This afternoon I also managed to get some paint on some of the smaller pieces that are yet to be added but it was too dark to take any photos.Comments and suggestions welcome.Kind regards,Stix Edited November 17, 2015 by PlaStix 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted November 17, 2015 Author Share Posted November 17, 2015 Not a proper update but I figured it was of note that I am now exactly half way through making the second set of tracks!: These are not the most interesting part of making this kit!!! Kind regards, Stix 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wimbledon99 Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Not a proper update but I figured it was of note that I am now exactly half way through making the second set of tracks!: These are not the most interesting part of making this kit!!! Kind regards, Stix Probably the most tedious though Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper_city Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 It will all be worth it in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 amazing job so far stix, looking great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted November 18, 2015 Author Share Posted November 18, 2015 Probably the most tedious though Stix Yep! It will all be worth it in the end. Hope so! amazing job so far stix, looking great Thank you Wolwe. Looking forward to the weekend when I can get some more done on this. I may be able to get some more done on the tracks before then. Kind regards, Stix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Coming together a treat Stix,great work as usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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