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M4A1 “Goldie” Normandy 1944 - Eduard/Tasca 1/35 - Finished -


PlaStix

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3 hours ago, PlaStix said:
6 hours ago, wimbledon99 said:

Very nice Stix! Do you still use a brush on such large parts?

Thank you Nigel. Yes. - still done with Humbrol flat brushes and very thinned paint. This one is about three layers of paint in most places. I find, if I'm careful, most Humbrol and Revell paints brush very nicely these days. However there are some more recent batches of Humbrol paints which are quite oily and difficult to apply evenly.

 

Kudos to you Stix. That's even more impressive given the surface area!! :clap:

 

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13 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Nice colour Stix, I used the force when I fitted lifting handles even the tasca kit didn't have locating points.

Thank you Ozzy. Yes I do like Humbrol’s Olive Drab. I like the colour itself but also the current batch I've got goes on really well. It's almost as good as some of Revell's better acrylics. And it's odd there's no location points for the handles - if not pins and holes some manufacturers have some flat spots ready.

 

13 hours ago, Hewy said:

Stix I've zoomed in and as usual there is no sign at all that its been brush painted,  an absolute inspiration, like badder said earlier,  perfect, building, pe,  painting, its a thumbs up from me. 

Glynn 

You are way too kind Glynn. I had a few things in my favour with this painting - as I said to Ozzy - the current batch of Humbrol's Olive Drab applies really well, the brushes I used are currently at that ‘sweet spot' stage where they arn't new but the bristles are not spreading at all, they are not too firm and not too soft - the plastic is nice to paint on, there aren’t too many features to paint around - and the light when I took the photos wasn’t showing some of the imperfections in the paint! There are some!

 

11 hours ago, stevej60 said:

Great with some colour on Stix,lovely painting.

Thank you Steve. It's a shame to paint over some of the nice PE but it had to be done.

 

10 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

Remarkable.....I'd be pleased to lay down a base that smooth & even with my airbrush.  :coolio:

Practice and luck this time around! 

 

10 hours ago, wimbledon99 said:

 

Kudos to you Stix. That's even more impressive given the surface area!! :clap:

 

Thank you again Nigel.

 

Right - I mentioned to Badder (above) that I'd done some work on the running gear yesterday. All the parts below were painted and had the start of the weathering applied while on the sprues and now, apart from some touching up here and there they are ready to be assembled:

38973789614_7e6503b821_b.jpg

 

There's also some small rubber sections to fit inside which I’m assuming means the suspension might be slightly workable.

 

More later I hope.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

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On 14/01/2018 at 11:57, Ozzy said:

They all look nice and regimented Stix, the little sponge bits fit really well and everything moves nicely.

Thank you for the information Ozzy - I was a bit bemused by the spongy rubber bits to start with. I'll hopefully get around to building up these suspension units next weekend.

 

Couple of extra photos from the weekend - close up of the wheels, sprockets and idlers:

38792388595_fa4a053091_b.jpg

 

Suspension mounting brackets:

38792389255_ed10586d61_b.jpg

 

And a few to show the base weathering I have started to apply on the lower hull. First, after the Olive Drab painting, everything was given a very thinned wash of Revell's Aqua Gunship Grey. Then, once dry I went around all the detail (raised or recessed) with thinned Revell's Aqua Anthracite which I applied with a very fine brush. When this was dry I started to give everything a dry-brushing with a lightened version of the base coat which also included a touch of matt yellow and Humbrol Army Green - this is to try and emphasise the details:

39690024161_3eecf7a17c_b.jpg

 

39690024781_8324fff5c9_b.jpg

 

38792385375_f73967c717_b.jpg

The front on this last photo hasn't had the Anthracite targeted wash yet or the dry-brushing applied nor has the underside of the sponsons.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

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1 hour ago, beefy66 said:

Looking great Stix

I can never understand how you manage to get such a great finish with a hairy stick

beefy

Thank you Beefy.

Lots of watching YouTube painting videos, lots of practice, very thinned (hopefully good quality, well mixed) paint, flat brushes, a good surface to paint on and, most importantly, lots of luck!

I've mentioned it before but, when I get chance, I will make a video showing how I do the painting. I don't have a video camera so I've either got to find a way to set up my iPad to film what I do or borrow a camera.

I have a couple of projects planned for this year which might make suitable models for a painting demonstration.

Kind regards,

Stix

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On 15/01/2018 at 15:55, Bullbasket said:

What Beefy said........in spades. Lovely job.

John.

Thank you John.

 

On 15/01/2018 at 16:00, Hewy said:

Yes super job stix, I'll be in the audience for tutorial video.

Thank you and I'll try and sort out video as soon as I get chance.

 

On 15/01/2018 at 18:40, fatfingers said:

Aye up Stix,

Smashing job with the paint work. Look forward to seeing your hairy stick tutorial video if you do one B)

Regards,

Steve

Thank you Steve and yes I will try and get one done soon. I'm wondering if I might do it for my Type 10 build.

 

On 15/01/2018 at 23:15, wimbledon99 said:

Coming along very nicely Stix. Cant wait for that video!!  :popcorn:   :popcorn: 

Thank you Nigel........so no pressure then!! :frantic:;)

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

 

 

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Bit of a late update. I was hoping to do some photo updates over the weekend but I didn't get chance. I have done a fair bit and made some progress.

First off I decided I wanted to get all the suspension/wheel units assembled. The first photo is included to show how the three small rubber pads fit into the void at the top of the inside:

39799316911_636d5140cb_b.jpg

- this provides some spring-back to make the suspension workable. I'm not too certain how long these will remain workable but we'll see.

 

These are all the units glued together - it wasn't a quick job:

39089264384_96f2660f2b_b.jpg

 

Then, of course, I had to try a quick test fit on the lower hull:

39767470472_e80b279e8a_b.jpg

 

39089262574_3cde21445d_b.jpg

 

38900454485_d7703d0798_b.jpg

 

25926749948_c4735c788c_b.jpg

 

Next up I continued the base weathering on the upper hull (previously it had been given an overall thinned wash of Revell's Gunship grey) - this consisted of a very thinned Revell Anthracite wash around all the detail before an overall dry-brushing with a lightened version of the base coat which also includes some yellow and army green:

25926748528_d551ff1622_b.jpg

 

39767471192_4ec3279c3f_b.jpg

 

25926749378_58ec0a794e_b.jpg

 

25926748188_92aafe0648_b.jpg

 

25926746868_3fb8aef0e1_b.jpg

 

That was most of Saturday's work. Next up on the hull I'm going to weather the sides of the lower hull before I attach the suspension units.

 

Yesterday I decided I wanted to get some of the PE out of the way on the pioneer tools:

39782922432_753e0f2137_b.jpg

It was a bit fiddly at times but most of it is now done.

 

There was also PE to be fitted on the hatches:

39782921622_42af2f4172_b.jpg

 

39782921992_cac1945871_b.jpg

 

Also yesterday I started work on the .50 Cal and PE ammo box:

24949791917_0024c26beb_b.jpg

 

So it was a fairly productive weekend. Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

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Hi Stix,

Nice bogies. I like the idea of the rubber suspension pads. I doubt you'll be pushing your model through your garden playing war though!

The dry brushing has really brought out the details. Derrrrrr stating the bleedin' obvious. Lovely work on the PE too. I'm wondering whether to bother with PE'ing my tools. Maybe Ill just do those bits which are extra to the kit, rather than replacing bits entirely.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

 

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5 hours ago, Badder said:

Hi Stix,

Nice bogies. I like the idea of the rubber suspension pads. I doubt you'll be pushing your model through your garden playing war though!

The dry brushing has really brought out the details. Derrrrrr stating the bleedin' obvious. Lovely work on the PE too. I'm wondering whether to bother with PE'ing my tools. Maybe Ill just do those bits which are extra to the kit, rather than replacing bits entirely.

Rearguards,

Badder

Hi Badder and thank you.  You never know I may want to play with my Sherman in the garden at some point!

With PE I often check to see if what it's replacing is actually better and sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. I don't just use regardless. If you don't think it's going to really improve on the plastic and it's going to take a lot of effort then don't use it.

 

2 hours ago, beefy66 said:

That 50 Cal looks very nice as do all the other PE looking great so far Stix 

beefy 

Thank you very much beefy.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 22/01/2018 at 21:05, Hewy said:

Looks pretty damn perfect from where I'm sitting, awsome skills 

Glynn 

Waaaayyy too kind Glynn!! Thank you.

 

On 22/01/2018 at 21:11, wimbledon99 said:

Looking rather splendid Stix. The depth of colour you achieve with the various washes and dry brushing is amazing  :worthy:

Thank you Nigel - to be fair I've been lucky with the methods I've learnt from far better modellers here on Britmodeller. Not using an airbrush means I have to find ways to do similar things to what can be achieved with an airbrush. Washes and dry-brushing are two of my go-to methods.

 

On 22/01/2018 at 21:32, Sgt.Squarehead said:

Staggered by that finish (as usual), just remarkable.  :o

Way too kind Sarge. Thank you.

 

On 26/01/2018 at 15:08, Ozzy said:

Just catching up Stix, she's coming along nicely you've done a fantastic job with the PE.

Thank you very much Ozzy. I was considering only using a couple of bits but ended up using pretty much all the parts required for 'Goldie'. Not been too bad to do actually.

 

Okay - not much progress last weekend but I have done some work today. First job was weathering and getting some mud on the sides of the lower hull before I attach the running gear:

40060295171_777ddd86a1_b.jpg

 

26186900778_319977ffe1_b.jpg

This time I have tried using Vallejo's Mud product - Thick European Mud. Not sure about it yet but I like the fact that it has 'material' in it which looks a bit like it replicates small twigs and grasses. I'll need to do some more work on these areas once the running gear is in place.

 

Speaking of which - it is all now on:

26186899988_4cc77b2b83_b.jpg

 

39161734685_3ae0767324_b.jpg

 

I have also been painting up the tools and .50 cal.:

26186901148_f4a5178a87_b.jpg

 

The vision blocks have been fitted on the hatches:

39161736605_5e0063f458_b.jpg

I have used the clear ones but it was difficult to photograph them.

 

Vision blocks have been added to the turret:

39161735905_b0ef8ea099_b.jpg

 

And finally I have glued the barrel into the mantlet:

39161733805_5a96a1a086_b.jpg

 

Hopefully I will get some more done tomorrow.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

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This all looks completely and utterly amazing! The work on the .50 cal is superb. I have some etch to do on my .50 cal on the Achilles, got a lot to live up to!

What colour(s) did you use for the gun and the tools. Very familiar with dry-brushing from doing lots of wargame stuff years ago, but your work is top notch.

 

:goodjob:

 

Davey.

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5 minutes ago, DaveyGair said:

This all looks completely and utterly amazing! The work on the .50 cal is superb. I have some etch to do on my .50 cal on the Achilles, got a lot to live up to!

What colour(s) did you use for the gun and the tools. Very familiar with dry-brushing from doing lots of wargame stuff years ago, but your work is top notch.

 

:goodjob:

 

Davey.

Hi @DaveyGair. Thank you very much for your comments. I was quite pleased with the .50 cal - it's a nice moulding from Tasca and paints up well - there wasn't too much etch for it but it adds nicely to the appearance.

The colours I use for the tools/guns are as follows:

All the tools and the .50 cal were first given a couple of layers of thinned Revell's Anthracite.

All metal areas - including the .50 cal: Once dry these areas were dry-brushed with Humbrol's Gunmetal.

Wooden areas: These first have a couple of thinned coats of Humbrol's Wood applied. Once dry I used very thinned Revell's Rust to paint the wood grain - this gives it a slightly redder hue.

All the tool clamps: Thinned Humbrol Olive Drab (155 - same as main colour for the tank) which were then dry-brushed with the lighter version of the base coat which has a touch of yellow and Army green added.

All the straps: Thinned Revell's Leather and dry-brushed with Humbrol's Desert Yellow. Buckles were given a thin wash of Revell's Aluminium.

The ammo was painted with Revell's Brass and Copper.

Hope that helps - please let me know if you'd like any more information.

17 minutes ago, fatfingers said:

Aye up Stix.

Thats all looking rather splendid. Great work on the tools! :coolio:

Regards.

Steve

Thank you very much Steve. 

 

Kind regards,

Stix

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