Saving a Churchill MkVII from the bin.

[Badder]

I'm having trouble with the faces of the tank crew..... grrrrrr..... The problem being that there are some damned good modelers out there who make my figures faces look like jelly babies. I've had to remove paint and start them over again several times, but I'm determined to GET THEM RIGHT. BTW this kit's commander figure has to be in the 'campest' pose ever! Talk about 'I'm a little tea-pot short and stout...'

I've also got the farmer, the infantry man, and 'captain' to worry about.....(that come with the kit) plus the 5 infantry soldiers from the other kit I purchased.

Then, earlier today, I popped to my local model shop in order to purchase some paints, plastic card and glues for the forthcoming diorama, and spotted a 1/35th kit of British WWII 'tank riders' which just happened to appear on the shelves by coincidence.

Brilliant! But now I've got a total of 16 figures to worry about! lol.

In my youth, we didn't have all these small companies producing all these kits. For me, back then, it was Tamiya that ruled and all other major manufacturers were second best. So, this is my first foray into the world of alternatives. The tank rider kit is by MiniArt and features 5 infantry in relaxed and realistic poses. The figures in the kit are more detailed than the older Tamiya figures, but there are some quite heavy mold lines and bits of flash here and there. However, these won't be too much trouble and so long as I get the faces painted well the extra work will be well worth it.

Anyway, here are the 3 kits that will help to fill out my diorama, though I may or may not use everything.

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Sprues. Top: Tamiya BSA motorcycle and Military Police set.

Middle: MiniArt British tank riders, NW Europe.

Bottom: Tamiya British Infantry on patrol.

The Tamiya Infantry on patrol kit includes 3 sprues - 1 for the figures and 2 identical sprues with all their equipment on. As there are only 5 figures, that means that there's a complete set of equipment left over. This will be added to the tank's stowage.

Edited October 10, 2015 by Badder

[Badder]

My idea for the diorama....

The tank - with riders and following infantry - has driven along a narrow track and has arrived at a fork in the road where they are stopped by Military Police. The MPs are explaining that the track to the right is blocked by a broken down tank, and are consulting a map and suggesting an alternate route. Meanwhile a 'liberated' local farmer comes up and starts handing out bottles of wine.

I want to try to recreate a tiny bit of the 'Bocage' terrain, with a narrow and deepset track bordered by tall thick hedgerows, and a water-filled ditch.

This might be difficult to cram in on the base board I have, so to there will be a lot of sketching and planning things out on paper and creating mock ups out of odds and ends and bits of card before I get round to actual construction.

[phildagreek]

Remember wartime squaddies would be filthy & cammed up. Not to much detail visible. Over flesh on the faces try a thin wash of black to highlight features. Keep it simple.

[Badder]

Figures update...

The MiniArt tank riders are nowhere near as good as I had hoped! I've spent several hours scraping off seam lines and fitting legs to bodies. Why they have to hollow out the tops of each leg/waist part is beyond me. There's very little plastic left for good glue contact between each leg/waist and the fit between them and each torso is generally bad, requiring either filing or filling, or both!

Also, disappointingly, the poses of 2 of the figures, pictured top left and bottom right on the box, just aren't suited to the rear deck of a Churchill tank... not unless I add some seriously large pieces of stowage for them to sit on!

And finally, for now, the troop's helmets are plain and not sporting netting and camouflage as depicted in the box artwork.

Still... work progresses.

Edited October 10, 2015 by Badder

[Blitz23]

I love it very nice weathering. Looking forward to see the outcome.

[Badder]

Whilst waiting for some paint to dry on my tank riders, I thought I'd start work on the BSA motorcycle. It's a lovely little kit, with very very few mold lines... those that are there are very fine and needed very little work to remove. The kit goes together well, and the spokes/spars/framework of the bike are acceptably thin without being too fragile. Before I knew it, it was 3/4's done and only needs a few more parts added, a bit of touching up and weathering. I've used Tamiya acrylics for the base coats but intend to seal these and then do the weathering with enamels.

BTW, I've found that Galeria's Acrylic Matt Varnish (purchased from The Range and a snip at around 7 quid for 250ml) is absolutely superb. It requires no thinning for the airbrush, sprays well and dulls down even the glossiest surface to a very flat matt.

Pics to follow tonight.

Edited October 12, 2015 by Badder

[DogTeeth]

Considering we're you were and were you now are, you've done a top job. Thanks for the tip aswell 👍

[Badder]

[Badder]

Okay, none of the figures above are finished, but I've put them in place to see how they 'fit'. It's pure chance that I fixed 2 tarpaulins to the tank, and that 2 of the tank riders sit perfectly on them. , also by chance. It makes sense that they would sit on them rather than bare metal! The 3rd rider also sits perfectly on the scratch-built wooden chest with his feet resting nicely on the shovel/sledgehammer handles. Bearing in mind that I wasn't intending to add tank riders, let alone find any such kit in my local model shop, this has all worked out rather well. I might adjust the pose of the 4th and 5th tank riders, in an attempt to get them to fit the tank as well.

Still a few pieces to add to the motorcycle, then touch-up and weathering to do, but I'm quite pleased with it so far.

The lighting wasn't good for photos... colours and contrast are poor, but hey ho.

Edited October 12, 2015 by Badder

[SJLR_1]

Looking good!!

[Badder]

Bike nearly finished. Just the panniers and handlebars to add and a final weathering. Oh, and a strut to fit on the frame... I will have to make that from stretched sprue because the kit part pinged out of my tweezers and could be anywhere in the living room, and possibly exists as nowt but fumes if it landed in the grate of the open fire!

As for the tank riders, I will be continuing with them this afternoon. I have found several more positions where they might be seated realistically on the tank.

I am having second thoughts about my original idea for the diorama 'scenario'. The Military Policeman's pose and uniform just don't appeal to me. He looks a bit silly. I think I'll use him for spares and just use the motorcycle courier. I have a new idea for him, but won't reveal it until the diorama is near completion.

Pics of today's progress to follow....

[Badder]

[Badder]

The enlarged photos of the bike above showed up a few areas of glue residue that I hadn't noticed on the actual model. Grrrr.. I definitely need better lighting! But the bike has been finished since the photos were taken. Tank riders and crew to do next.

Edited October 17, 2015 by Badder

[Badder]

Thoughts so far.... Whilst the MiniArt figures are set in good poses, the actual figures are on the whole, poor in detail, the faces and hands being especially bad. That's no excuse for my mistake painting however. I have the figures nearly finished... with just their rifles and some more work on their faces to do. The bike rider is next to complete. Photos, hopefully a bit later.

[Badder]

Progress has been okay on the tank riders. I've just got a strap to add to one of their rifles before fixing and final painting. I'm still having trouble with faces... impatience being my biggest fault! They aren't satisfactory in my opinion, I know I can do better, but then I think that you need a good 'face' to begin with and these MiniArt tank riders aren't the best. Still, they are better than the ones I did for the Somewhere near Villers Bocage Diorama. I've added camouflage to their helmets (Cyano and dried parsley/herbs) Tank crew are coming along steadily, as is the farmer, and the motorcycle courier. I will defo post photos tonight.

Edited October 22, 2015 by Badder

[Badder]

As you can see, the hands are awful. And I've only just realised... why didn't I think of using dried herbs for the tank's camouflage net? Methinks another raid of the wife's spice rack is due!

Thanks for looking, and any tips/comments positive or negative welcome!

Update....

I've tidied-up ONE of the tank riders hands. Not sure I can do much about the rest, short of amputating them and replacing them. Meanwhile, I am re-modelling a 4th tank rider from the waist down, chopping, slicing and altering his pose so that he too will fit the tank. Out with the Milliput.... and while messing around with that I decided to remodelled the bike rider. The bottom of his tunic is supposed to drape over his left thigh and rest over the petrol tank, but instead it juts out in mid-air. I've sliced that off and replaced it.

Edited October 24, 2015 by Badder

[Badder]

Farmer figure finished. Whether he ends up in the diorama or not, I haven't yet decided. Courier was nearly finished and then I messed him up when I didn't allow a coat of varnish to dry properly before applying a wash. So off with all the old paint and start again! This morning I scoured the hedgerow opposite our house, looking for some suitably gnarly twigs and branches to be used in the making of trees and shrubs for the diorama. Ivy is always a safe bet, with all the little suckers/roots and feelers, so I have a bag of that now sat drying out beside the fire. I read somewhere that one modeller zaps all his plant life in a microwave to kill any pests, fungus etc. I'm not sure if that's 'standard' procedure. I'm thinking maybe it's a bit over the top?

Pics to follow tonight.

[IanC]

Nice little project. I like the blokes on the back.

As for weathering, the tank looks good but don't be shy of spraying some very thin coats of earth, sand or buff over the whole thing. Most people go to town on artistic streaks, chipping and rust effects whereas in reality everything would be plastered in an almost monotone dust layer, with edges rubbed clean by boots and hands.

Looking forward to seeing this completed.

Ian

[Badder]

Nice little project. I like the blokes on the back.

As for weathering, the tank looks good but don't be shy of spraying some very thin coats of earth, sand or buff over the whole thing. Most people go to town on artistic streaks, chipping and rust effects whereas in reality everything would be plastered in an almost monotone dust layer, with edges rubbed clean by boots and hands.

Looking forward to seeing this completed.

The lighting isn't very good and doesn't pick out the colours. I only have energy saving bulbs in the house lol. The whole tank does have thin coats of earth colours all over it, as if it has been through wet and muddy conditions, but has now dried out. As you say, the edges rubbed clean by hands, boots etc. Because the crew are in shirt-sleeves the weather must be dry and warm, I want it to look dusty with dried mud rather than wet and I think I have achieved that effect. I may add some more when I decide on the diorama. I am tending towards a sunny day in early autumn, with some of the trees and shrubs leaved with greens, golds, yellows, oranges and reds. Apparently the hedgerows of france/belgium were riddled with apple trees, so I fancy a go at portraying windfall apples all along the track.

[Wolwe82]

Thats just amazing job Badder!! I Love the accumulated dust and dirt in the corners and the shiny edges, which would get "polished" how the crew is going up and down there and such.. amazing.

Also i do not know if someone answered you, you have asked in the beginning for something to use for sealing the powders and pigments. I m using white spirit for it (artistic one made by Windsor, there are some white spirits which you can buy in laquere shops and such, cheap, big packs, but these are way more agressive, so carefully! the artistic white spirit is great ), you can also use tamiya X-20A (acrylic thinner). I m else spraying these over the area with airbrush (on very low pressure so the airflow does not affect the pigments) or i dip the brush into the white spirit generously and softly touch the surface on one spot and the surface soaks the white spirit thanks the capillary action.

And i did read on some artistic forum, the beer can also be used for it! Though i have never tried it, it always ends with me drinking the beer and kit taking the white spirit... :D

Edited October 27, 2015 by Wolwe82

[Badder]

Thanks Wolwe.

I realised that my airbrush was set at too high a pressure and was spreading the weathering powder about. I am still learning! At the moment I am using acrylics AND enamels, sealing alternate layers with matt acrylic varnish. I really prefer enamels for washes and dry brushing. I can't get acrylics to behave the same way. Would it be better to seal coats with satin acrylic varnish then use matt for the last coat?

[Wolwe82]

i m also using enamel washes though i m using acrylics for drybrushing (vallejo and agama only, tamiya acrylics dry way too fast for drybrushing) so i have to also use the varnishes for sealing the work. For me, the satin acrylic varnish works better - you can use oil paints for fading/filters over it much easier than with matt varnish (the "rough" matt surface sometimes makes it hard to remove the overdone weathering, while gloss varnish does not let the following weathering to adhere well - the only exception is pin wash, where the gloss varnish is best, but satin is not bad either). But make sure you shake the bottle well. Also, not all satin varnishes are working the same way to me apparently.. For me, best satin (and matt) varnish is the Microscale varnish. You can dilute it with pure water or add a drop of alcohol for better flow and it ll make smooth finish, dry quite fast too. And no white patches.. Vallejo matt and satin varnish sometimes makes white patches to me and does not matter how long i shake the bottles...

[Badder]

i m also using enamel washes though i m using acrylics for drybrushing (vallejo and agama only, tamiya acrylics dry way too fast for drybrushing) so i have to also use the varnishes for sealing the work. For me, the satin acrylic varnish works better - you can use oil paints for fading/filters over it much easier than with matt varnish (the "rough" matt surface sometimes makes it hard to remove the overdone weathering, while gloss varnish does not let the following weathering to adhere well - the only exception is pin wash, where the gloss varnish is best, but satin is not bad either). But make sure you shake the bottle well. Also, not all satin varnishes are working the same way to me apparently.. For me, best satin (and matt) varnish is the Microscale varnish. You can dilute it with pure water or add a drop of alcohol for better flow and it ll make smooth finish, dry quite fast too. And no white patches.. Vallejo matt and satin varnish sometimes makes white patches to me and does not matter how long i shake the bottles...

Thanks again.... I was muddling along, trying things out, experimenting, learning from my mistakes. I had a feeling acrylic satin varnish might work better when enamel washes are going to go on next. Like you say, matt varnish seems to soak up enamel wash rather than let it flow into the crevices. In future I will use satin varnish. I haven't tried oil paints yet, but will definitely give them a go.

Your work, is really good. I'm not into aircraft modelling as I don't see a good way to exhibit them other than on a plinth! I suppose I am biased because as a kid I had them hanging from the ceiling on string, and you could never really see them! But I had a look at your Mustang and it's a beauty.

Anyway, thanks again.

Bed time for me.

Edited October 27, 2015 by Badder

[Wolwe82]

i m happy you like my work, but i can recommend you some realy great modellers (as i m learning from these and trying to learn a bit of their mastery ) you can check blogs of Mig Jimmenez or Adam Wilder or Jamie Haggo (and many many others) and ofcourse there is a lot of inspiration around on BM, FB and such Good luck and i m going to watch your progress here with interest

[Badder]

Can anyone tell me if British tank crews ever painted names on their tanks by hand, or were the names already allocated and stenciled on at the factory?

Edited November 1, 2015 by Badder