AaronKSJ Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 Afternoon All! This'll be my first tank build in a GB Not built any tracked things in 1/48 before, but was curious to have a play with some of the solid link n lock tracks that Tamiya now have rather than the rubber bands. First impressions, tracks look great but don't like the smaller scale. Maybe it'll grow on me! This also seems like a good test bed to try out some AK rust and streaking pencils I bought impulsively recently. Aaron 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 Nice one Aaron, I know very little about tanks but have more than a passing interest in the Sherman Firefly for some reason, do you know how an Easy 8 compares to a Firefly? Welcome to the GB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronKSJ Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 My knowledge on tanks is very lacking! I had thought the Firefly was just the name given to the one used by the British. So now curious, just done a quick search and it sounds like there was a slightly larger gun and the hull machine gun was removed. Aaron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete F Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 The Firefly mounted a 17 pounder which was better at armour piecing than the 76mm on the Easy Eight. However the 76mm was better with HE. The 17 pounder was not designed for turret mounting so it was very cumbersome. So much so that I believe most gunners were left handed as the gun was to all intents and purposes upside-down. I'm not certain of this as it was told to me a long time ago - happy to be corrected. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronKSJ Posted May 11, 2020 Author Share Posted May 11, 2020 Spent a few hours on Friday and Saturday working away on this. Starting to look like a tank now All the road wheels and tracks have been tied up, just a few smaller parts (mainly the tools and machine gun) that need sorting out now. I'm going to paint the road wheels separately to start with. I do really like the fact that Tamiya have included some weights for the Sherman. But I'll be saving these as they'll be more useful as nose weights in either my B-25 or A-20 that I've got stashed away. Not likely to get much more done on this this week, so till next weekend. Thanks for looking Aaron 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronKSJ Posted May 17, 2020 Author Share Posted May 17, 2020 Bit more progress from Friday and Saturday night. There are some pin marks which look like they've be visible on the lower track, although the road wheels may help to obscure them a bit. Filled the marks with Mr Surfacer 500 and then swiped with a cotton bud soaked in levelling thinners after 20 mins. After spraying some primer last night, they'll need more work!w Everything has been primed and added some pre-shading Not sure how effective the pre-shading will be and there isn't a lot of contrast between the colours. I'll see how it looks after some olive drab, can post shade as well if I'm still not happy with it. Aaron 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronKSJ Posted May 19, 2020 Author Share Posted May 19, 2020 I've been working pretty steadily on this for the past two days and it's come along nicely. Was given a spray with Tamiya XF-62. Tracks painted rubber black and then a thick black wash was applied to get them to close to how I wanted them. Started to pick out some of the equipment in black. Finished all the road wheels and rollers! Huzzah The rubber on all the wheelie bits was painted a very dark grey that I mixed up using acrylics. Used some of the Mig dark brown wash for green vehicles (A.Mig-5) Here's some progress shots: Majority of the wheels were painted on cocktail sticks before gluing on The tracks fought me a little bit. For the first one I following Tamiyas directions and ended up with a slight gap when it came to them joining up. For the second track worked slightly differently so that should there be a gap it was at the rear bottom road wheel. And yes there was still another slight gap. Couldn't figure out what I did wrong. It's not noticeable unless you go searching for it. I did (and would recommend) working quickly when gluing the tracks. Glued the top piece into place making sure the drive sprocket teeth click into place. Particular care is needed at the front section where the track meets the first road wheel as the solid section of track (consisting of 4 links) needs to be slight raised away from the road wheel by the single link piece to get things to align nicely. Hopefully that will make sense if you are building the kit and looking at the instructions! Going to leave this now for a day or two for the enamel wash to dry (I noticed the finger prints and buffed them off) Aaron 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 Well done for the wheels. I recently built an Airfix Warrior in 1/48 and wasn't sure if it was best to paint the road wheels before or after assembly. I went for 'after ' but reckon it would have been easier to do it as you describe. Looking good with the preshading. Colin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronKSJ Posted May 23, 2020 Author Share Posted May 23, 2020 Morning All Thanks @Colin W, I usually go for the cocktail stick approach with roadwheels. I've got a Panther lined up for my next tank build and already dreading the wheels! Hull bits have been painted up. They'll get some oil treatment once the decals are done and it's been given a Klear coat. I was getting no where with the tow cable. Tamiya supply some thread to attach to the loops at each end. So had a go at making my first cable. Used 3 strands and then twisted them around to get this And all painted up and stuck in place Late last night got the decals on and at some point this morning it'll get another Klear coat. Next up weathering Aaron 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronKSJ Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share Posted June 1, 2020 Weathering.... I got to play around with the rust and streak set from AK Interactive, previously the first time I'd used one of these pencils with was the smoke one on the Spitfire Vb Trop I recently completed. It wasn't the best learning experience. Had a bit more success with them this time around. Also the first time trying out the summer dust set from Mig Ammo. The dust enamel wash didn't go well, as it reacted with the flat coat in some spots and also didn't thin it enough so had to try and scrub it off afterwards to tone down the colour. Did use some Mig pigment fixer in places. Mainly around the front where I added the fixer into some of the corners and then scrubbed in either dust or dark earth pigments. Can't remember if I've mentioned earlier but there's also some splattered oils in places around the road wheels / front / back. The tracks have been slightly attacked on their high spots with an artists dark graphite pencil to show some metal. What I've picked up using these new bits for weather should be helpful on my next tank - Das Werks 1/35 Panther. Excited to build my first none Tamiya tank kit. Might stick a WIP for it over in the tanky section. Thanks for following, now some pics.... 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 Lovely job Aaron, subtly weathered. Don't forget to put it in the gallery at the appropriate time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronKSJ Posted June 11, 2020 Author Share Posted June 11, 2020 Thanks @Wez I managed to nab the second slot in the gallery 😊 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 Very nice Aaron. Congratulations! Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaastav Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 Great tank. Very nice 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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