Valentine Mk.IX.

[Bullbasket]

Wayne, that is probably the best looking set of tracks that I've seen on here. Very realistic and I'm glad that you persevered with them. Good work.

 

John.

[diablo rsv]

38 minutes ago, Bullbasket said:

Wayne, that is probably the best looking set of tracks that I've seen on here. Very realistic and I'm glad that you persevered with them. Good work.

 

John.

 

Thanks John, that's high praise indeed.

Did you see my question to you further up the thread re the Accurate Armour Charioteer?

 

Wayne

[Bullbasket]

58 minutes ago, diablo rsv said:

Did you see my question to you further up the thread re the Accurate Armour Charioteer?

Talking of your stash John @Bullbasket, I believe you have a love of the Comet family. I am thinking of getting the Accurate Armour Charioteer conversion. I know the new Airfix kit would be a better bases for a conversion but I think the AA one has parts to correct the hull.

I just wondered if you had built it, have it or seen it and if you have an opinion of it's quality.

 

Oops! Sorry Wayne. I meant to reply, but I was getting a load of those "Are you still on that blankety blank Britmodeller?"queries from 'er indoors, and promptly forgot. The short answer is, no, I have never built the AA Charioteer, but it is tempting. Also, I'm assuming that it was a typo, but the Charioteer wasn't based on the Comet. It was the Cromwell. Ironically though, what I do have in my stash, is a 1/48th scale conversion, by Greg Beuchler for the Charioteer. I've had it a couple of years, but I will get round to it one day. I'd like to do it as an Egyptian version. BTW. When you say that AA does some parts to correct the hull, if you mean the engine deck, be careful. I bought their engine deck for the Mk.lVF, and it was identical to the Tamiya engine deck, ie, the panel lines were in the wrong place. It represents a A -C version.

HTH's.

 

John.

[diablo rsv]

14 hours ago, Andy J said:

Well worth the effort Wayne those tracks look awesome 👌 👏 👍

 

14 hours ago, Dads203 said:

Another fantastic build in the process mate, great attention to detail and a very tidy build Wayne 

 

12 hours ago, vytautas said:

 Seconded. Definitely looks like real, heavy steel.

 

Vytautas

Thanks guys. I think they will be alright especially with some weathering added.

 

Wayne.

[diablo rsv]

45 minutes ago, Bullbasket said:

Talking of your stash John @Bullbasket, I believe you have a love of the Comet family. I am thinking of getting the Accurate Armour Charioteer conversion. I know the new Airfix kit would be a better bases for a conversion but I think the AA one has parts to correct the hull.

I just wondered if you had built it, have it or seen it and if you have an opinion of it's quality.

 

Oops! Sorry Wayne. I meant to reply, but I was getting a load of those "Are you still on that blankety blank Britmodeller?"queries from 'er indoors, and promptly forgot. The short answer is, no, I have never built the AA Charioteer, but it is tempting. Also, I'm assuming that it was a typo, but the Charioteer wasn't based on the Comet. It was the Cromwell. Ironically though, what I do have in my stash, is a 1/48th scale conversion, by Greg Beuchler for the Charioteer. I've had it a couple of years, but I will get round to it one day. I'd like to do it as an Egyptian version. BTW. When you say that AA does some parts to correct the hull, if you mean the engine deck, be careful. I bought their engine deck for the Mk.lVF, and it was identical to the Tamiya engine deck, ie, the panel lines were in the wrong place. It represents a A -C version.

HTH's.

 

John.

 

Thanks John.

Yes I did mean Cromwell, I had just been viewing a Comet build in RFI.

I will check their deck but it's difficult to tell from the photos on their website. Maybe I will wait for the Airfix Cromwell as I know that has the correct deck.

Wayne.

[diablo rsv]

Just arrived from China. Having had a quick look in the box it looks to be an excellent kit.

 

 

I may get to finish a Crusader this year after all.

 

Wayne

[Bullbasket]

1 hour ago, diablo rsv said:

I may get to finish a Crusader this year after all.

 

Nice. I look forward to that WIP. 

BTW. If you did use the Tamiya Cromwell to convert to a Charioteer, it's dead easy to alter the engine deck.

 

John.

[diablo rsv]

I have been asked a few times about the techniques I use on my models, so I thought I would go into a bit more detail on this WIP. I know most of us have our way of doing things but it may be of some help to new or less experienced modellers.

I started the painting, after giving the model a wipe down with some IPA, by priming with Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500 black. I prefer black in most cases as it helps add some depth to the details and shadow areas. 

These vehicles would have arrived in North Africa in their UK scheme and then they were given their local theatre base coat. In this case, at the date of manufacture, the UK colour would have most likely have been Khaki Green No3. I had a little MRP Khaki No3 left over so I used that on the bottom of the hull. The highlight areas were given a coat of white, the idea is to give a little variation in the paint but in reality by the time the top coat is applied along with washes and weathering I don't think it will make much difference.

 

 

Around December 1942, following a new General order for vehicles in North Africa/Middle East, the base colour of Light Stone No.61 was to be replaced with Desert Pink No.Z.I. The new disruptive colour would be Dark Green No.PFI. although if unavailable, Black, Very Dark Brown or Slate could be used, applied in the pattern as laid down in diagrams issued by the Camouflage Directorate. Depending on availability of paints some vehicles would still be in their Light Stone base colour. So you can see how difficult it is to tell what colour a particular vehicle might be just by looking at period photos. I have decided to go with the Pink/ Dark green as I wanted an example of that scheme in my collection.

The MRP paints match the colour swatches in the  @Mike Starmer  books almost perfectly. I want to show a little wear and tear on this build so after the pink was applied I masked off the middle wheels and  sprayed on a couple of coats of hairspray that I had decanted into a jar.

 

 

The green was put down after giving the hairspray 10 minutes to dry. Once the green had dried I brushed on some water and started chipping the green with a cotton wool bud. As MRP is a lacquer paint it takes a little work to get the paint to start to come off but that also allows a lot more control over the amount of paint being removed.

 

 

Once dry I applied a pin wash around the details. I prefer to make my own washes with oil paints and odourless thinners. I have never really had much success with the premade ones. Oil paints are so versatile, they can be thinned to different consistencies to make filters, washes, rain streaking effects, oil stains, grease etc, or used neat for oil dot rendering, creating wood effects and more. My preference is for the Winsor & Newton Artists' oil colour range. Don't be tempted to buy their Winton range as they are meant for students and the pigments in them are coarser than the more expensive range. They may seem expensive but they last for years and you would save on buying all of those premade products.

 

  

Those are probably all the colours you would need. I would recommend Lamp black over Ivory Black though.

The Mig thinner is no longer available but the Abteilung odourless thinners are the same. 

I keep mixed up washes in contact lens cases and they keep usable for some time. I try to pick a colour that complements the base colour and in this case I used Burnt Umber with a little black added.

 

 

Once applied the washes are left to dry off for a little while before excess is whipped off with a cotton wool bud dampened with neat thinners. Some blending can be done with a paint brush. The beauty of using oils is that they remain workable for a long time so effects can be adjusted a while after application. The downside of them is that they can take a long time to dry and depending on how they applied are best left at least over night to dry before working on the model. 

It's difficult to capture the effects in photos but they are quit subtle any way.

 

 

  

 

Once the washes had dried I sprayed on a coat Mr.Color GX113 flat clear. I thinned it with Mr.Leveling thinner which takes out a little of the flatness. If you want a totally flat finish use their Rapid thinners instead.

Finally before fitting the tracks I simulated some wear on the teeth of the drive sprocket with some grey paint and graphite powder. I also brush painted the tyres with Tamiya's Rubber Black with a little white added.

 

 

Finally the tracks were added. They were still giving me trouble by falling apart but now that they are fitted and when they are weathered I think they will be passable, just.

 

 

Next will be the track guards but I probably need to make a decision on how I am going to weather this one. As this vehicle had operated in Tunisia it could be quite dirty or just dusty.

 

Wayne

 

[vytautas]

Looks great, and thanks, Wayne for the comprehensive tutorial 👍

For the oil paint to dry faster and to be matte, excess of the linseed oil can be removed. This can be done by squeezing the paint onto the cardboard and waiting half an hour. The cardboard absorbs excess linseed oil.

 

Vytautas

[Bullbasket]

100% of the running gear looks very good Wayne, especially the worn teeth of the sprockets.

 

John.

[Dads203]

Awesome work Wayne, really shaping up into another quality build fella. 

[Andy J]

3 hours ago, diablo rsv said:

I have been asked a few times about the techniques I use on my models, so I thought I would go into a bit more detail on this WIP. I know most of us have our way of doing things but it may be of some help to new or less experienced modellers.

I started the painting, after giving the model a wipe down with some IPA, by priming with Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500 black. I prefer black in most cases as it helps add some depth to the details and shadow areas. 

These vehicles would have arrived in North Africa in their UK scheme and then they were given their local theatre base coat. In this case, at the date of manufacture, the UK colour would have most likely have been Khaki Green No3. I had a little MRP Khaki No3 left over so I used that on the bottom of the hull. The highlight areas were given a coat of white, the idea is to give a little variation in the paint but in reality by the time the top coat is applied along with washes and weathering I don't think it will make much difference.

 

 

Around December 1942, following a new General order for vehicles in North Africa/Middle East, the base colour of Light Stone No.61 was to be replaced with Desert Pink No.Z.I. The new disruptive colour would be Dark Green No.PFI. although if unavailable, Black, Very Dark Brown or Slate could be used, applied in the pattern as laid down in diagrams issued by the Camouflage Directorate. Depending on availability of paints some vehicles would still be in their Light Stone base colour. So you can see how difficult it is to tell what colour a particular vehicle might be just by looking at period photos. I have decided to go with the Pink/ Dark green as I wanted an example of that scheme in my collection.

The MRP paints match the colour swatches in the  @Mike Starmer  books almost perfectly. I want to show a little wear and tear on this build so after the pink was applied I masked off the middle wheels and  sprayed on a couple of coats of hairspray that I had decanted into a jar.

 

 

The green was put down after giving the hairspray 10 minutes to dry. Once the green had dried I brushed on some water and started chipping the green with a cotton wool bud. As MRP is a lacquer paint it takes a little work to get the paint to start to come off but that also allows a lot more control over the amount of paint being removed.

 

 

Once dry I applied a pin wash around the details. I prefer to make my own washes with oil paints and odourless thinners. I have never really had much success with the premade ones. Oil paints are so versatile, they can be thinned to different consistencies to make filters, washes, rain streaking effects, oil stains, grease etc, or used neat for oil dot rendering, creating wood effects and more. My preference is for the Winsor & Newton Artists' oil colour range. Don't be tempted to buy their Winton range as they are meant for students and the pigments in them are coarser than the more expensive range. They may seem expensive but they last for years and you would save on buying all of those premade products.

 

  

Those are probably all the colours you would need. I would recommend Lamp black over Ivory Black though.

The Mig thinner is no longer available but the Abteilung odourless thinners are the same. 

I keep mixed up washes in contact lens cases and they keep usable for some time. I try to pick a colour that complements the base colour and in this case I used Burnt Umber with a little black added.

 

 

Once applied the washes are left to dry off for a little while before excess is whipped off with a cotton wool bud dampened with neat thinners. Some blending can be done with a paint brush. The beauty of using oils is that they remain workable for a long time so effects can be adjusted a while after application. The downside of them is that they can take a long time to dry and depending on how they applied are best left at least over night to dry before working on the model. 

It's difficult to capture the effects in photos but they are quit subtle any way.

 

 

  

 

Once the washes had dried I sprayed on a coat Mr.Color GX113 flat clear. I thinned it with Mr.Leveling thinner which takes out a little of the flatness. If you want a totally flat finish use their Rapid thinners instead.

Finally before fitting the tracks I simulated some wear on the teeth of the drive sprocket with some grey paint and graphite powder. I also brush painted the tyres with Tamiya's Rubber Black with a little white added.

 

 

Finally the tracks were added. They were still giving me trouble by falling apart but now that they are fitted and when they are weathered I think they will be passable, just.

 

 

Next will be the track guards but I probably need to make a decision on how I am going to weather this one. As this vehicle had operated in Tunisia it could be quite dirty or just dusty.

 

Wayne

 

Keep the tips coming Wayne my graphite sticks arrived today and I'm looking forward to trying them out on my current and future builds 🙂👍

[Hamden]

 

Stunning work on those tracks in fact the whole suspension/hull is superb

 

   Stay safe           Roger

[diablo rsv]

5 hours ago, vytautas said:

Looks great, and thanks, Wayne for the comprehensive tutorial 👍

For the oil paint to dry faster and to be matte, excess of the linseed oil can be removed. This can be done by squeezing the paint onto the cardboard and waiting half an hour. The cardboard absorbs excess linseed oil.

 

Vytautas

Thanks Vytautas,

I do leach the linseed oil out when I am using them neat, to be honest though, I hadn't thought of doing that for washes. It also depends on the finish I want, sometimes I like the satin sheen.

Wayne

[diablo rsv]

5 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

100% of the running gear looks very good Wayne, especially the worn teeth of the sprockets.

 

John.

 

5 hours ago, Dads203 said:

Awesome work Wayne, really shaping up into another quality build fella. 

 

12 minutes ago, Hamden said:

 

Stunning work on those tracks in fact the whole suspension/hull is superb

 

   Stay safe           Roger

Thanks guys.

[diablo rsv]

3 hours ago, Andy J said:

Keep the tips coming Wayne my graphite sticks arrived today and I'm looking forward to trying them out on my current and future builds 🙂👍

 

I will try Andy, 

With the graphite you can't apply washes or varnishes over it. Thinners will remove it and varnish will take away the sheen. I will usually give another application at the end of the build after the weathering.

I hope I don't cost you too much with these tips. 

Wayne.

[Andy J]

26 minutes ago, diablo rsv said:

 

I will try Andy, 

With the graphite you can't apply washes or varnishes over it. Thinners will remove it and varnish will take away the sheen. I will usually give another application at the end of the build after the weathering.

I hope I don't cost you too much with these tips. 

Wayne.

They weren't expensive Wayne and three different shades as well 3B 6B and 9B i already have plans for them 🙂👍

[diablo rsv]

11 minutes ago, Andy J said:

They weren't expensive Wayne and three different shades as well 3B 6B and 9B i already have plans for them 🙂👍

I should probably have pointed out that I use the non water soluble type.

 

[Andy J]

26 minutes ago, diablo rsv said:

I should probably have pointed out that I use the non water soluble type.

 

Oh and i forgot to mention I've brought both types and just had a quick play with them and they work great 👍 

[diablo rsv]

I haven't made my mind up yet on how to proceed on the weathering and as it won't be too difficult to apply at the end I pressed on with the track guards.

These particular vehicles had an extension fitted to the front of the track guards, as you can see on the photo at the beginning of this thread, these extensions would usually get damaged and on this vehicle the extension on the right hand side has been removed and even some of the side skirt has been cut away, presumably to stop it fouling the track.

To replicate this I used the plastic parts as templates and replaced them with some brass sheet. 

 

 

A retaining strip was added  to the guard extension from plastic strip and some rivets were added. The rivets on the side skirt were smaller than my smallest punch so I drilled some holes and inserted some stretched sprue.

 

 

The track guards were then fitted to the model, with some difficulty due to a bit of warping, and I proceeded with fitting the rest of the parts to the hull.

At the rear there is a flimsy rack. I left out the cans to ease painting. The plastic grab handles were replaced with ones made from copper wire. Fitted either side on the track guards are what I presume to be smoke dischargers and these had some lead wire added. They were a little fiddly to get in the right position and looking at the photo the right hand one needs adjusting.

 

 

The auxiliary fuel tank is quite prominent on this tank. Bronco added some lovely rivet detail to it but unfortunately, as it is in two halves, it is impossible to clean up the seam line without destroying some of them. So following the same procedure as above, I set about replacing them with stretched sprue.

 

  

 

Then next problem was of my own making. I stupidly fitted the mounting brackets to the tank the wrong way round. Not noticing until the next day, when the glue had set, meant that when I tried to remove them they fell apart. My limited scratch building skills were somewhat tested in trying to recreate replacements. I decided the only way to do it was to cut some brass strip and bend them to shape using a template. Five hours later I managed to get some usable supports that held the fuel tank in the correct position. As it happens I actually prefer them to the plastic originals.

 

 

The next issue was Bronco's. They provide the front sidelight guards in photo etch but they were too small and didn't fit over the plastic lights.

 

 

With brass sheet coming to the rescue again, I made some replacement ones. Another couple of hours gone.😠

 

 

Photo-etch has never been my favourite medium and there is a fair bit on this kit. I get that it adds details that are difficult to replicate in plastic but some of these pieces are soo tiny.

The exhaust is all very nicely detailed with a etched straps and a mesh guard. It's a little awkward to get it all to sit right but it looks great in the end.

 

 

 

It's a shame though that you can't see any of it when the top guard is fitted. I'm not entirely sure if it's even there on the original. Another couple of hours gone. 

The exhaust guard and tank are just placed in position for now so I can remove them for painting. You can also see that I have replaced the handles on the fuel tank.

 

That's pretty much it for the hull, just some tools and the headlights to add after painting.

 

 

Next up will be the turret.

 

Wayne

 

[Andy J]

Great work Wayne the parts you've created look really good and the damage to the fenders is excellent 👏 👍 👌 

[edjbartos]

Lovely work Wayne, It's nice to see a detailed build as you have done because you can always learn new things from other people, so keep them going on, I'm really enjoying what you have done so far...

 

Ed

[vytautas]

Nice work on PE details, looks great 👍
Very nice detailing, they will add a lot of realism to the model!

 

Vytautas

[Bullbasket]

Some excellent work that you've done there Wayne. The PE looks great, but for me, the best bit is the mangled front track guard. Nice work.

 

John.

[Geo1966]

Fantastic work Wayne.

 

A question...................When you say "lead Wire" is that Tin lead soldering wire? Also what thickness do you use please?

 

George