PACHYDERM PACKS A PUNCH. FINISHED?PHOTO HEAVY p22

[Badder]

Ooooooooooooooh! 

I am loving my new air brush

 

I purchased a Hardy and Steenbeck Evolution CRplus 2 in 1 airbrush back in May, (I think it was)

It replaced my ancient Aztek (a bona fide Mk I pile of poo) which gave up the ghost during the very first AFV STGB, that being the M3/M4 STGB.

The Evolution came too late for that build though, as I had already got my Sherman whitewashed and weathered by that point.

I did use the Evolution for my Willys Jeep, but with that being so tiny, the airbrush didn't get much of an airing. (nice pun)

 

So this Nashorn is the first opportunity I've had to use the Evolution in anger.

 

And it's a beauty.

 

I was going to mask off the fighting compartment and spray the exterior, to be on the safe side,  but it turned out that the Evolution is easily capable of spraying right along the tops of the side panels without spraying over the edge and into the interior.

 

I used water-thinned Tamiya X-59 (desert yellow) sprayed at low pressure with a 0.2mm needle and have applied just the two ultra-thin coats so far, starting with the underside of the hull and 'spiralling around and up the Nashorn  in one direction, and then spiralling around and down the Nashorn in the opposite direction to catch the leeward sides previously missed.

During this time, I took a break - having reached the upper hull - to take the 'painted half-way up' photos below.

Note that I did actually clean the exterior of all the crud it had accumulated prior to spraying.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos of the Nashorn with upper hull base-coated to follow immediately.

 

 

TFL

Badder

 

Edited January 5, 2019 by Badder

[Badder]

I prayed right along that top edge of the side panels with no overspray into the fighting compartment itself. I will be chickening out on the narrow armour plates either side of the gun aperture though!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's almost a shame to whitewash this Nashorn, because I'd love to show this in one of the later 3 colour camo schemes. 

 

 

TFL

Badder

[Ozzy]

Nice going Badder, looks to have covered all surfaces nicely. It's good it stayed to the edges, you've done a top job in the fighting compartment.

[Badder]

34 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Nice going Badder, looks to have covered all surfaces nicely. It's good it stayed to the edges, you've done a top job in the fighting compartment.

It's a funny thing Clive, but when I finished chipping that interior I really thought I'd overdone it. But every time I look at it now, I think, 'where's all the chipping gone?'

It's almost as if it's faded away to nothing.

So, either I've gotten used to it and it isn't in fact 'pverdone' or, it has faded!

 

Happy new year

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

 

 

[Badder]

I've had to give up on the Kaizen workable tracks, purely because of availability issues. I really do like them, but I'm going to have a go at the Friuls. I figure if I can cope with the boredom doing those, I can cope with any brands in the future.

 

Also, I've come across an issue with the Daler Rowney acrylic inks, which I've not come across before. I love the stuff and find them great for brush and airbrush - until I tried painting the 88mm shells as an experiment. (I have Tamiya Brass 88mm shells ordered) The 'Bell Bronze' which I had purchsed especially for this project, is pearlescent (something I hadn't noticed on the label) and it transpires that it is definitely NOT suitable for airbrushing. It clogged my 0.2mm nozzle up almost instantly. After much soaking, rinsing, shoving paint brush bristles up the inside, I finally resorted to filing a sewing needle into a 'reamer' and shoved that up there instead. The gunk eventually came out of the nozzle tip, like thick toothpaste.

Lesson learnt. And thankfully my nozzle is undamaged.

 

 

 

Tomorrow (meaning later today) I will get the wheels painted and start on the chassis and suspension which will all end up rather muddy.

 

Happy New Year to all,

 

Badder

Edited January 1, 2019 by Badder

[Ozzy]

Happy new year Badder,

 

Not my favourite job in blocking my airbrush, the tracks I brought are good they are a lot easier than friuls. I had done both sides in about 30 minutes.

[Hewy]

Splendid, I did notice those kaizen tracks weren't readily available in Europe, do panda do any for yours badder, 

[Badder]

18 minutes ago, Hewy said:

Splendid, I did notice those kaizen tracks weren't readily available in Europe, do panda do any for yours badder, 

Happy new year Glynn.

The Kaizens are made in Hong Kong (IIRC) and, given the history, you'd have thought there'd be some good trading ties, but no. Whilst they seem to be readily available in the US, I could only find one stockist in the UK. (Historex) and they had very few kits in stock.

I've not looked at the Panda tracks, TBH, settling for the Friuls as the 'most quoted' choice.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

42 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Happy new year Badder,

 

Not my favourite job in blocking my airbrush, the tracks I brought are good they are a lot easier than friuls. I had done both sides in about 30 minutes.

Hi Clive,

Yeah, there are some good tracks out there if you know where to look. I think those 'easy metal tracks' look pretty good with their fold-over tab rather than pins.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[Badder]

To the wheels then, which I cleared of the (minimal) seam lines and gate marks whilst watching Columbo on TV.

 

I've sprayed these with the same MIG dunkelgelb as was used for the interior of the fighting compartment. I'd used desert yellow for everything else just to save wasting the MIG. The desert yellow will either be whitewashed over, covered in mud, or in some other way changed.

 

And here you can see why I didn't attach the wheel hubs prior to painting. Had I done that, then I would have been limited to sticking the cocktails sticks in the one side, which makes painting the tyres a bit more awkward than needs be,

 

 

TFL

Badder

Edited January 1, 2019 by Badder

[Hewy]

I'm plucking up the courage to give my kit ones a a go, at lest try them for a few links at least😳

[Badder]

43 minutes ago, Hewy said:

I'm plucking up the courage to give my kit ones a a go, at lest try them for a few links at least😳

Well, I wish you luck Glynn. Maybe a nip of Whisky to settle your nerves?

 

Rearguards

Badder

[Badder]

In the previous photos I had only sprayed the wheels front and rear. I hadn't gone down into the gaps between them. There's no need to spray the inner faces of the outer wheels as they are not visible without the use of an endoscope.  Only the inside of the inner wheel need be painted, and so I use a loaded brush, simply holding it to the inner face of the wheel and rotating it on its stick.

 

With those inner faces done, I will give the tyres a rub down to remove overspray and then paint them.

 

 

TFL

Badder

 

 

 

 

[PlaStix]

Excellent progress Badder. Good to see you are onto the running gear. Looking good all round.

Kind regards,

Stix

[Badder]

I was unable to get any work done this afternoon as the in-laws were around. TUT

But I did get all of the tyres painted before beddy byes.

I say 'painted' but I actually drew on the inner and outer faces using a 1mm Rotring Isograph pen loaded with Daler Rowney Black Acrylic Ink.

The nib of the pen was rested up against each wheel rim whilst the wheel was rotated.

 

Yes, I KNOW that the outside of the rims should be dark yellow and not black like mine now are, but wet muddy washes will be applied and no one but a pedant will search for the 'error'.

 

After the tyre faces were done, the running surfaces of each pair of tyres were painted simultaneously with a  cross-ways held brush.

 

The job was very quick. The results aren't perfect, but that's fine, because they don't need to be.

 

 

All that mattered to me was that the tyres should be black and opposing inward faces of the wheel hubs should be seen to be dark yellow.

 

A lot of this work will get covered up. I'm going for a partially whitewashed hull and whitewashed wheel hubs, all soaking wet and muddy. The winterketten should .

make a good bed for mud effects.

 

 

So, the next job will be to get wheel hubs on and the wheels and hull whitewashed - then begin the muddification process.

 

 

TFL

Badder

 

Edited January 2, 2019 by Badder

[Badder]

THAT'S NEAT, THAT'S NEAT, THAT'S NEAT, THAT'S NEAT, I REALLY LOVE YOUR TIGER FEET.....

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS (Except for the chocs). AND STAGE 1 of muddying up.

 

 

TFL

Badder

 

 

[PlaStix]

“Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud, There’s nothing quite like it for .....er.........co....vering the bottom of your tank SPG?!”

Edited January 3, 2019 by PlaStix
For the pedantic among us!

[Badder]

6 hours ago, PlaStix said:

“Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud, There’s nothing quite like it for .....er.........co....vering the bottom of your tank?!”

Sorry to be pedantic, but its a SPG.

 

[Badder]

These arrived today, from CBS Hobbies Ltd.

 

 

 

The instruction sheet is quite amusing.

s

 

 

So guess what I will be doing for the rest of today, and probably tomorrow and the weekend?

 

TFL

Badder

[Badder]

But here's how far I've got with the mud:

Obviously, the photo above was take immediately after application. I let this dry, as I did for the mud elsewhere.

 

 

Once dry, I started 'rubbing back' the mud with a broad, stiff brush.

 

 

The photo above was 'flashed' and it accentuated the orange colour. Below is the true colour.

 

I will probably take breaks from the track construction and do some more effects. As well as more work on the mud, I intend to work on the base coat on the underside and sides of the hull, and the suspension units - dry brushing dunkengelb over the orangey yellow.

 

 

TFL

Badder

 

 

[Badder]

So, how did I get on with my first attempt at assembling Friuls?

 

Well, not too bad, actually, although it took me ages to get the first five track links together, what with my nerve damaged fingers, I was all thumbs. At that point I discovered that I'd failed to push a pin all the way through the end link and had glued it in, thinking that I had. Whilst not something to worry about, I tried to remove the pin and ended up damaging the link. So I cut it off and replaced it.

After that I found a tiny drill bit (way too small for even my smallest Pin Vise,) which I mounted on a length of heated sprue. Once cooled, it proved a handy tool, and that, combined with a refinement in ergonomic assembly-methodology, helped speed things up no end. I've not done a huge amount though, distracted as I was by human beings, felines, and appliances elecrical entertainment for the purpose of.

 

43 links then, and no 'ice sprags' as yet.

The detail is rather nice, and even better on the other side., despite the missing ice sprags.

 

 

Oh, and I needn't have worried; the tracks fit Tamiya's drive sprockets better than Tamiya's rubber bands do!

 

Hopefully I will have one set of tracks finished by tomorrow night.

 

TFL

Badder

Edited January 4, 2019 by Badder

[bigfoot]

Coming along nicely Badder. The interior has come out looking very nice indeed. The friuls are lovely, but do take a bit of patience. I gave myself a blister on my thumb and finger from drilling out a whole pack in one sitting recently for my hetzer! They do give a nice finish.

mud effects are coming along well. Looking forward to seeing how your whitewash comes out, especially after the finish you got on your m4.

[Hewy]

 They look to fit very well,   but It'll be a shame to cover up those nice tracks with mud

[PlaStix]

Hi Badder. Those Fruil tracks look rather good. I've only ever used plastic replacement tracks in the past but I might have to have a go with a set of some Fruil tracks at some point. They should look good under the paint. 

Kind regards,

Stix

[Badder]

7 hours ago, bigfoot said:

Coming along nicely Badder. The interior has come out looking very nice indeed. The friuls are lovely, but do take a bit of patience. I gave myself a blister on my thumb and finger from drilling out a whole pack in one sitting recently for my hetzer! They do give a nice finish. 

mud effects are coming along well. Looking forward to seeing how your whitewash comes out, especially after the finish you got on your m4.

Hi Bigfoot,

Thanks. I'm looking forward to the gun being in place because it really alters the atmosphere of the fighting compartment.

As for the friuls, I've not had to do much drilling - I think I've drilled 4 out of the 43. More often than not I shove the drill through thej oined links just to line them up.

 

4 hours ago, Hewy said:

 They look to fit very well,   but It'll be a shame to cover up those nice tracks with mud

Hi Glynn,

Yeah, they are almost gorgeous. I'm going to go easier on the mud than I would have done if I used the rubber bands. The ground will be  melting snow with mud and puddles, so I can show the tracks as having been washed clean in places.

 

55 minutes ago, PlaStix said:

Hi Badder. Those Fruil tracks look rather good. I've only ever used plastic replacement tracks in the past but I might have to have a go with a set of some Fruil tracks at some point. They should look good under the paint. 

Kind regards,

Stix

Hi Stix,

I've only ever used rubber bands, so whatever i used it would be a big improvement. I know there are a few easier 'systems' for making tracks - the Kaisens and Easy Metal Links being two that I like - but I've been able to construct the Friuls whilst watching TV, so it's  not a demanding job. 

 

 

 

Thanks for your comments chaps, I hope I can deliver something that is on a parr with each of yours!

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[FrancisGL]

Hi Badder,

That envy, your new AB seems an excellent machine, and the result you're getting seems to be worth the expense.
For my part I have a pair of AB-300 (of the Chinese) with 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 mm needle, and so far I have done very well, although recently, the 1st that I bought, although with some replacement, is not That was before, so I decided to buy something new, and without doing a beastly expense.
I saw one that was even cheaper than these AB-300, (€ 26), and with a 0.3 mm needle, including hose and full 0.2 mm set, it's a Fengda FE-180K (obviously Chinese), and with retention back to adjust what moves the needle, very useful for accurate shots, plus a lower front regulator for the amount of air ...
The 1st feature that I really liked, I saw it only in the ABs of H & S, but at what price ....
The difference with the AB-300 is substantial, the better, only that it is more difficult to clean.
That is why, if you think you have a "battle horse" AB, I would say it is a good option, and thus reserve "the jewel in the crown", for delicate works ....

 

The view of the more or less complete vehicle gives a pretty good idea of how everything is going, that layer of yellow is making it look different.

The mud layer is ... incredible ... so dirty ... when it's finished it's going to look very real, I think.

In the end, I see that you have opted for the Friuls, and for what you mention, it has been a perfect choice, like the look and lace that I see in the pictures...

Cheers Badder