Phil Lewis Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 After thoroughly enjoying the Crusader build and with a few hours to kill.. oh who am I kidding? I went and did it again, looking through the stash and found this blast from the past recently purchased along with a nice set of AFV Club workable tracks. After a few hours Saturday night and Sunday evening (after I got back from the Coventry and Warks show) we have this. Lower hull painted base coat of Olive Green (Tamiya XF-58), wheels and suspension assembled and painted (not necessarily in that order) Running Gear all in place (sans tracks at the moment) Wheels all turn (except drive sprockets which Tamiya decided should be glued for some reason ) Fixed a little see through issue Upper hull mostly together and resting on chassis to show how it looks Sorry for the delay in posting and the lack of process pictures but I sometimes get rather absorbed in the task and before I know it I've completed several assembly steps and there's no pictures of how I got there. Anyhoo thanks for looking all Comments and suggestions always welcome. Cheers Phil 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancisGL Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 Nice Little boy!!!, a whole classic... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Lewis Posted June 29, 2016 Author Share Posted June 29, 2016 Turret assembled. Leaving off the hatch covers and anti aircraft MG until painting all done. I shall have the hatches open and the provided figure in the suggested pose with forearms on the rim. Probably need a bit of filler in some of the seams, won't need much though. Gun barrels hollowed out and cooling holes in MG's opened up, a bit wonky but an improvement over the moulded raised circles as originally supplied. Lights, light guards, guns, grab handles and antenna base also added to upper hull. A slightly closer view showing the cleaned up MG's Everything dry assembled to check fit. Taking shape. A bit of filler here and there and then paint the base coat. Then we'll move on to murdering the working tracks Thanks for looking Phil 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 (edited) "Like a mighty cannon ball he seems to fly". Great work Phil. John. Edited June 29, 2016 by The Spadgent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Lewis Posted June 30, 2016 Author Share Posted June 30, 2016 Base coat of Tamiya XF-58 Olive Green applied to upper hull and outside of turret. A light drybrush of Vallejo Steel to provide initial paint wear effect. Underside of upper hull also painted. Turret interior painted XF-2 Matt White A bit of face painting.. These are the kit vinyl tracks, they might just be ok if I can paint them well enough Commander painted up. Tracks Painted with base coat of Vallejo Panzer Aces Track Primer, drybrushed with Vallejo Steel and then the rubber pads painted with Tamiya XF-85 Rubber Black. I reckon they'll look good when weathered. I may keep the AFV Club workable tracks for another project. Decals applied and overcoated with Tamiya Flat Clear. White stripes on mantlet were painted by hand. Sorry for the blurred images Man in a hatch I actually applied the decals on a matt clear coat and they didn't silver Shovel temporarily fitted to back Loosely assembled to show progress prior to weathering. I'm planning on a lightly used look rather than a heavily weathered, muddy, gone through hell look. And that's the progress made today. Thanks for looking Comments and suggestions always welcome. Please feel free to point out any glaring errors you might spot, it's a learning process for me and if nobody tells I won't learn anything Cheers Phil 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer Vor!!! Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 I like this tank but i allways want to paint eyes and a smile on the gun mantlet - ---------------------it reminds me of Thomas the tank engine face Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philp Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 Looking good so far. The main issue with the tracks is the track pin locations. They should be connecting the pads, not just on the pads. I had planned to convert this kit into the version used in Tunisia but when the Academy kits came out I grabbed several of them to do. Always loved the Stuart, probably because of the old Haunted Tank comics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Lewis Posted June 30, 2016 Author Share Posted June 30, 2016 Looking good so far. The main issue with the tracks is the track pin locations. They should be connecting the pads, not just on the pads. I had planned to convert this kit into the version used in Tunisia but when the Academy kits came out I grabbed several of them to do. Always loved the Stuart, probably because of the old Haunted Tank comics. Thank you I hadn't spotted that. Obvious when it's pointed out. AFV Club tracks it is then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayons Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 Nice work thus far. That cupola looks mighty uncomfortable. I wouldn't want to be sitting up top going over rough terrain, end up with bruised ribs for your troubles. Australian convertible version, 7.4l super charged engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Lewis Posted July 1, 2016 Author Share Posted July 1, 2016 Love the supercharged convertible Stuart chassis Spent the first part of the evening wrangling the AFV Club tracks (rather like herding cats) whereupon I struck upon the idea of prepainting them on the sprues (first with Vallejo Track Primer followed by Tamiya Rubber Black on the blocks and Vallejo Steel on the teeth) which added a little thickness to the pins providing a much more positive fit. Thus after a full evenings work (with a small break for 2 slices of pizza) I got one side done They do look rather nice once wrestled into place though That's enough for now, I'm off to bed Thanks for looking As ever, comments, suggestions and observations always welcome. Cheers Phil 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philp Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 They definitely look better than the Tamiya ones though I have yet to try the single link ones. Have a Revell 72nd scale Abrams and it has link and length tracks and that is still holding me up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancisGL Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 NIce progress for now, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Lewis Posted July 2, 2016 Author Share Posted July 2, 2016 Left side tracks completed and Upper hull glued to lower. It is now ready for weathering. Tanks for looking Phil 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancisGL Posted July 3, 2016 Share Posted July 3, 2016 NIce base for work,,, cheers Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwinism Posted July 3, 2016 Share Posted July 3, 2016 Great choice of model. I remember wanting this kit when I was a kid - didn't realise how small it was though. Keep up the great work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted July 3, 2016 Share Posted July 3, 2016 Looks awesome. Great work kid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Lewis Posted July 3, 2016 Author Share Posted July 3, 2016 Thanks for the kind comments all. Haven't made any progress today as was at the Staffordshire Moorlands model show with the club. Normal service should be resumed tomorrow. Phil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 Great work on the Stuart, those tracks make a stunning difference! Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Lewis Posted July 10, 2016 Author Share Posted July 10, 2016 (edited) After a sudded rush of activity, weathering is now complete. Mixture of Flory Grime,Sand and Light washes used. Initially too heavy so I cleaned most of it off (must have been Spadgent's brown trousers influence) after which I was much happier with it. Assorted loose bits added, commanders hatch doors, commander, aerial etc. Used AK interactive Engine Oil glossy finish enamel in places where oil might drip such as suspension and also used around what I believe to be fuel filler caps. So Here it is. RFI to follow when I take some nicer pictures but here it is as C Company, 1st Battalion, 13th Armoured Regiment, 1st Armoured Division, Tunisia Late 1942 ooops, missed some pictures Fuel stains around fillers (?) Whaddya want? I plan to do a diorama with a figure in front of the tank talking up to the commander Thanks for looking, All the positive comments and observations truly appreciated. Phil Edited July 10, 2016 by Phil Lewis 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 Stunning Stuart very nice work! Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancisGL Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 I really like you running the tank.Could you please tell me as you did the dust and materials you used to it ?. Cheers Phil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Lewis Posted July 10, 2016 Author Share Posted July 10, 2016 I really like you running the tank. Could you please tell me as you did the dust and materials you used to it ?. Cheers Phil I used Flory water-based clay washes. In this case I used Grime, Sand and Light washes. You apply them to a semi-gloss clear coated surface and let them dry. You then reactivate them using tap water and can wash as much or as little off as you like. Soft cloths and cotton buds can be used to get additional streaking effects. I also refreshed the worn paint effect with a drybrush of Vallejo Steel, excellent stuff Phil 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawel Szczudlyk Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 Really nice one. Like your weathering style. Not to much a little bit of dust here and there. To be honest i want one now. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 Gulp. I just added one of these to the stash. great finish Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celt Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 The Americans love to go overboard with machine guns on their tanks. Great job on the M3, I like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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