Detailed Photos of Challenger 2 Deserted Canvas Skirts?

[Curt B]

Hi Everyone,

 

I am getting the new Rye Field Challenger 2 TES Megatron, and I'm thrilled!  However, I have a few of the Tamiya Challenger 2 Desertized kits, plus a lot of aftermarket photo etch detailing.  Several years ago, I built, out of the box, my first Tamiya Deserized Challenger 2, and it turned out okay, but I realized, even back then, that while Tamiya did a decent job of modeling the canvas 'dust cover' skirts, under the hard side skirts, when you look at photos of the real canvas skirts, you can see how simplified Tamiya's plastic molded version really is; the Tamiya plastic versions that show them being very consistent in look, almost metallic in rigidity, and I want my upcoming version to really looks like gathered canvas 'fabric', like the real thing.  There are some photos that allow you to see some of the detail of these canvas skirts, including the holes and wires that hold the canvas in place, but I haven't yet found a really good set of photos to use to make some scratch built canvas skirts, including making those skirts look like real canvas, and appropriately 'gathered' fabric, etc.  Most of the photos I have seen are from an almost fully front angle, and, ideally, I'd like photos of fully side views of these skirts.   I'm really hoping someone has good, close-up photos of those skirts to use as subjects for this scratch building I plan to do, and be able add all the detailed nuances of these skirts, which I know are going to be a huge challenge to do in 1/35 scale!

 

Also, I've been pondering how best to make those canvas skirts.  I've had reasonable success making very thin, rolled out 'green stuff' epoxy putty, that I've used to make tarpaulins, and I"m thinking may be ideal as these canvas skirts.  It's been my experience that once you roll out this epoxy thin enough, the resulting 'sheet' of epoxy remains flexible, foldable, etc.  Another option I'm considering is tissue paper and VMS Paper Shaper to create the 'canvas', but this may the more difficult option to create a realistic look.  

 

Any help anyone can give me would be hugely appreciated!

[John Tapsell]

Personally, my first option would be to thin the kit parts down from behind and manipulate them with your fingers (and distress them with a knife blade if you want a more ragged look). You've not lost anything if it doesn't work because you can still replace them with an alternative solution.

 

John

[Kingsman]

Another alternative would be to replace the kit parts with lead foil.  Use the kit parts as a template, then cut away the kit parts leaving a small lip to attach the foil to

[Curt B]

I like both ideas for creating better looking canvas skirts.  Many thanks.  I am, however, still looking for close-up, detailed photos of the skits so I can make sure I"m creating them with as great a fidelity as possible.

[M3talpig]

This might help link

 

And for the canvas skirts i would recommend this https://www.scalemodelshop.co.uk/product/green-power-ak-interactive-ak8208  you can roll it out as thin as balloon rubber and its so easy to work with...there out of stock at the mo but i'm sure a quickgoogle and youwill find it somewhere. 

[Dads203]

For the Green Stuff putty, this is better value, these guys manufacture the stuff and you get almost a metre, it’s really really good stuff. 

 

https://sylcreate.com/product/green-stuff-reel-90cm/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6Y_unsLm6gIVh63tCh1Sdw1DEAQYASABEgL2uvD_BwE

[M3talpig]

39 minutes ago, Dads203 said:

For the Green Stuff putty, this is better value, these guys manufacture the stuff and you get almost a metre, it’s really really good stuff. 

 

You awesome chap you ...use this stuff a lot was getting fed up with tiny amounts...thanks

[British Army Platforms]

Hope you have found the images you are looking for. If not, Id suggest posting the question in the armour stream to attract more attention, rather than in a topic like this. Hope this helps. 

 

Have you started your TES yet?