Foxbat Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 (edited) In the end it came down to this one or an attempt at the Sd.Kfz 232 (8 Rad) and this one was nearest the top of the pile. Life is built on such vagiaries, that's what makes it such fun The box. There has to be one, and here it is. I've attemptedto rip off the price sticker but it was obviously applied with a generous helping of extra thin 😕 Suspect it was another NE Model Centre purchase - their close proximity and near permnent 20% off deal makes interweb shopping pointless unless they don't have what I want in stock. There are 3 sprues - something I only discovered when one of the figures made a bid for freedom on the way back to solitary. I know the one piece track/wheel set up has attracted more than a little aprobrium amongst reviewers but they weren't blitz building so we can safely ignore them. I shall also be using decals. Once again they are from Toro which experience tells me means they look great but they are very thin, very hard to get off the backing paper, and the ones that don't tear will fold themselves into some 4 dimensional origami which is impossible to retrieve. On the other hand, they cover subjects I want to build, and nobody else does. This is a vehicle from 10 Pułk Dragonów zmotoryzowanych, which was the armoured infantry component of 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade in Holland, autumn 1944. I chose this one instead of the simple one on their other sheet because it has a huge bit of grafitti up the side for me to screw up. Phew. After all that I'm going for a lie down. Battle will commence tomorrow morning. Good luck chaps Andy Edited May 25, 2020 by Foxbat 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted May 24, 2020 Author Share Posted May 24, 2020 Got off to a much later start than intended. Guess the last few sleepless nights caught up with me - honestly, they pick their time 😕 Phone is propped against the first coffee of the day - that's proper dedication, starting building before I'd even properly woken up. 50 minutes in and the track units are panited. I'm firmly in the 'tracks are manganese steel so not silver' camp these days and I've found my favourite mix for representing this is a Vallejo Game colour Tinny Tin (analagous to Games Workshop's Tin Bitz) which is a nice dark brown metallic with just a touch of gold covered in my very favourite Sepia ink. The ink is drying in this pic, so time for breakfast. Breakfast wraps. Each contains a Cumberland sausage, a fried egg and a generous dash of that ketchup. It's wonderful stuff - the rest of the breakfast is just an excuse for throwing the sauce down me neck 🤣 More coffee too, got to have more coffee. It's a custom or an old charter or something. Right, enough waffle (mmm, waffles), back to work. Catch you with another update in a bit. Andy 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted May 24, 2020 Author Share Posted May 24, 2020 Got the suspension units added to the wheels and started work on the interior. All shiny, as the Hataka SCC15 I spladhed all over is still wet. Green dry, time for some shading. Black green ink on the green bits. Some random brown then some sepia ink on the seat pads. Time for my coffee while it dries. I've brought the big clock off the mantlepiece for company. 4 hours 15 elapsed time, but only 2 of that is at the bench. No worries. loads of time left... (watch that one come back to bite me on the bum with a vengeance) All the excitement has proved too much for my lovely assistant. I'll let him catch some Zzz's while I have my coffee in peace Andy 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 Great start, and love both the clock and and the sleeping potential kit breaking domestic terrorist, which i see has his own cushion ! Just be careful keep you eye on him hes not to be trusted if our kitten is anything to go by cheers Pat 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 Cool clock. Model is great too, I like the leather seats with the wash. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted May 24, 2020 Author Share Posted May 24, 2020 (edited) I'm still making progress, but not as much or as quickly as I'd like. This may be a physically small model, but being open topped, EVERYTHING is on show. The size also means that painting and weathering as I build is the only way I can get into all the crooks and nannies so the paint effects are consistent and that is taking so much time. Ach well, it'll be worth it in the end I'm sure. A quick shot of the front end while you can still see it. I've added some highlights to the seat pads then doused everything in sepia ink again to tone it down and give it a nice overall olive feel. Never mind accuracy, this is art baby I've built, painted and added the engine cover to the middle of the load area. How small do you have to be exactly to ride in the back of one of these? It's already cramped and there's a load more stuff got to go in yet. Rear axle and diff added,and the another copious helping of ink spattered hither and yon. I'm going to forget what real painting is like soon at this rate. Finally for now, the rear plate added and she's also standing on her own wee tracks. You can see in this shot how the various washes, dry brushings, fingerprints and random splashes while I was doing something else are all coming together to make it look suitably used but not quite ready for the scrappy. Then I'm going to put workshop fresh decals over it and I'll have to try and do it all again Andy Struggling with time and technology Edited May 24, 2020 by Foxbat 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted May 24, 2020 Author Share Posted May 24, 2020 As expected hubris has come and given me a sharp kick in the shins while his mate karma was tweaking my nose. I'm calling it a night there, just over 11.5 hours in. If I do the same tomorrow I'll be finished no problem. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnson Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 Great stuff Andy. Good thread and build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 It has a good weathered look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted May 25, 2020 Author Share Posted May 25, 2020 Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends... The big hand is on breakfast, the small hand is on the president so it must be time for part 2. Andy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 Looks great with its ink washes. I'm not a cat fan generally (garden full of nesting birds at the moment including blackbird, wren and robins) but I did go "aaaah" when I saw your cat... Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted May 25, 2020 Author Share Posted May 25, 2020 Thank you, my painting style is based on figure painting and war games sized vehicles so I think 1/48 is as big as I can go without having to re-learn everything. The cat wasn't originally my idea, but now I've got him I couldn't be without him. I've another on the way from the same breeder. She's only 9 days old, and I just got a photo of her this morning with her eyes open for the first time 😻 Andy Soppy get and proud of it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted May 25, 2020 Author Share Posted May 25, 2020 More progress. I've started adding all the storage lockers and boxes that absolutely couldn't have been added any earlier in the build. A steady hand, tweezers and infinite patience were required. Alas, I only had one of those in stock but I carried on regardless. Just had to show off the transmission and exhausts. They got the full treatment but it occurs to me that this is probably the first and last time anyone will see them, so a bit of a wasted effort in the middle of a blitz build. Oh well... The next stage of the instructions covered a few fiddly sub assemblies. Here they are built and waiting for paint. Now with added green, apart from the radio. That got a heavy dry brush with light grey then a wash withblack ink so only the highest grey bits still showed. It looks quite effective, especially in real life where it's in focus. I've also gloss varnished the panels where the markings are going. I'll add them next so that any weathering I apply to the final parts goes over them too so they look like the were applied at the depot before Private Vładek drove through every puddle in Holland. Lunch break. It's not 1973 so no 'oops. I'm finishing last night's pizza and garlic bread. And finally for now, since she got a mention earlier, say hello to Eir [1]. My new kitten, another Norwegian Forest Cat. She's nine days old and this is the photo I got this morning of her with her eyes just opened. Andy [1] Eir is the Norse goddess of healing. I work in clinical trials, and we could all do with a bit of good health with this corona carry on so her name kind of chose itself 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted May 25, 2020 Author Share Posted May 25, 2020 What I need at this stage in the game is something fiddly and vaguely pointless to spend an inordinate amount of time on. I know - 1/48 weapons. Here are the two bren guns all painted and ready to mount. There's two Lee Enfields and a Thompson too all similarly painted. I should have just left them off, it would be entirely plausible that the crew took their personal weapons when they left the vehicle, but they're done now and I enjoyed it. Completed the detail painting on those fiddly sub-assemblies. A chore but it's done now. The decals proved to be every bit as problematic as I was expecting. The big ones at the front lulled me into a false sense of security by behaving until I was working on the side panel. Then the '54' moved and cracked up when I tried to move it back. The registration number on the side is my second go at it. This one didn't break up as much as the first one. I'm a number short now, but there's some convenient stowage to cover the gap. I've resorted to doing a couple of decals, slatherig them in decal solution then matt varnishing. I can't hold my breath longer than that and if I breath while they're still wet they shatter 😢 Just having a slice of cake and some juice while I gird my loins to try and decal the other side. It has the same markings as you can see here, plus the huge piece of grafitti that prompted me to try this scheme in the first place. I think I'll do the standard markings, add another coat of gloss then add the final decal. Wish me luck. Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted May 25, 2020 Author Share Posted May 25, 2020 Aaaarrrgggh!!!!!! Five decals I had to add. The first four have all shattered. Managed to cobble one together and replace another from the Tamiya sheet, but I'm REALLY not happy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted May 25, 2020 Author Share Posted May 25, 2020 And that's five of five. The whole reason for doing that scheme rendered pointless. What a waste of time, effort and money Toro decals are. I'll finish the carrier, but I'll always know 😭😭😭 Andy Hacked off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG X Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 Tamiya Decals - rubbish as a rule... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted May 25, 2020 Author Share Posted May 25, 2020 33 minutes ago, BIG X said: Tamiya Decals - rubbish as a rule... They usually are but this time the one Tamiya one I've used was fine. Nine out of 13 Toro ones partially or completely broke up though. That's about average for them, having struggled through schemes from two different sets now. Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted May 25, 2020 Author Share Posted May 25, 2020 A few details to add round the front end - headlights and such but I can see the finish from here and it will be done in time. Not done how I wanted but life is full of little challenges like that. Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted May 25, 2020 Author Share Posted May 25, 2020 I was just reading about neolithic Orkney, as you do, and one of the photos on the Wiki site caught me eye. Six degrees of seperation, this is the Gordon Highlandres in Universal Carriers amongst the standing stones at the Ring of Brodgar in 1941. Universal Carriers They really do get everywhere Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted May 25, 2020 Author Share Posted May 25, 2020 Calling it done. There's a lot of tidying and additions I could still do but I only have half an hour left. One pic here, more in the gallery. Hopefully the paint will have dried by the time you look at those ones. Andy 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinxman Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 That looks great - I might have to get one of these Tamiya kits for the next Blitzbuild.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted May 25, 2020 Author Share Posted May 25, 2020 17 minutes ago, Jinxman said: That looks great - I might have to get one of these Tamiya kits for the next Blitzbuild.. Thank you Go for a tank or armoured car in a single coloured scheme if you do - they're bigger but they're an easier build (2 boxes and some tracks/wheels, no interior) and MUCH easier to paint. Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 Nice one! Sorry to hear about the decals. And I went “Ahhhh” again over the kitten. Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnson Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 That really is very nice, superb weathering and detail (rifles - need a close up!) Cheers, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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