Bertie McBoatface Posted October 24, 2021 Author Share Posted October 24, 2021 When will this little itty bitty assembly phase end? Today evidently. That's my sprue box and it's finally empty. All the pieces are in play. Most are stuck to something. Many need paint. Some need primer and paint. After the primer panting, and sticking together of the rest of them, there will be a lot more painting. Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. but it is, perhaps, [all together now] the end of the beginning! And the man who made that speech was instrumental in the development of the weapon I'm moddelling, so that's a pleasant confluence. Oh, all right! There are still these sprues to deal with, but you know what I mean. The tracks are easy and the figures are, well, different. This is what it's all been reduced to. All set for a major airbrushing session as soon as I have the energy. I'm hoping tomorrow. Here's a question. How do I mask that? White inside and brown outside will be something of a challenge! Here's a few snaps which offer a suggestion of what it's going to look like at the end. And inside... I'm getting quite excited about this now. 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vytautas Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 You are a real threat to the models! Now they must all be afraid of you... So, to prevent the models don't run away in horror from you, it is better not to show them what you did to their brother... But the tank looks just great and very interesting. The painted model, when both the outer and inner colors are visible, should look fantastic Vytautas 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted October 25, 2021 Author Share Posted October 25, 2021 I managed to do the priming touch ups today. Once the brown plastic has gone everything looks so much better. 'Unified' as Uncle Nightshift always says. The roof was the biggest part needing the most touching up and I actually sprayed the whole thing again, it wont take long to restore what interior finish was in there. There seemed to be acres of it needing paint and because I had to be careful around the good parts, it took a long time; more than an hour and a half! Masking was out of the question but the primer is close to the interior colour once it's been dirtied up so a little overspray won't have caused much damage. It looks like I'm repainting the detached gun though! My medium sized fragments took a long time to spray. they were very difficult shapes to hold in tweezers, especially when the tweezers were sticky with primer build up. I stopped regularly to clean tools and airbrush tip but Stynylrez sticks to everything so well, you cant blame it for sticking to those too. I wasn't able to spray the smaller frags because the pressure blew them all over the place. Not many pieces left to attach now [Incidenally, the letter T on my lapop is failing. So if you are confused by any of my typos, try menally insering a t as your first guess.] My airbrush is wearing out too. I think the damage to the chrome started when I used to use enamels and cleaned it with neat xylene. I've had the airbrush for well over 10 years, so maybe it's time for a new one. "Yippee!" and "Oh hell, more expense!" After the long dog walk which is coming up next, I'll be back to the booth, which I must photograph for you, to apply the inside colour again, and maybe most of the outside too. Much of the khaki will have to be brushed on. I've long lost the skill to conventionally brush large areas so that will be a fun challenge. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted October 25, 2021 Author Share Posted October 25, 2021 18 hours ago, vytautas said: You are a real threat to the models! Now they must all be afraid of you... So, to prevent the models don't run away in horror from you, it is better not to show them what you did to their brother... But the tank looks just great and very interesting. The painted model, when both the outer and inner colors are visible, should look fantastic Vytautas Thank you my friend. Yes, I do seem to hurt my models! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted October 25, 2021 Author Share Posted October 25, 2021 No more spraying today. I walked too far with my dog and since we were circling a big lake, couldn't cut it short. Consequently, I'm wrecked. I did take some photos of my pat pending spray bay though and they might be useful to you. The business end. It's a cheap storage box from Wilcos. I chose it because the sides slope inwards quite a lot and I imagine this helps the airflow. When I had a square cardboard box in the same sort of arrangement I got more stagnation/deposition in the corners. The fan is a 240V kitchen extractor and has never exploded in 15 years, for half of which I was using enamels. The fan is offset left because I'm right handed and tend to spray towards that side of the box. Six inch flexible hose. If I'm spraying Vallejo which is so non-toxic you can spread it on toast and eat it (Not really. Don't do that.) and it's cold outside, I sometimes just leave the hose parked down there. Usually though... ...it goes out of the window. The translucent box gives a good even light from the window and the overhead lights but i use the anglepoise to give me a strong directional light so I can tell how wet I'm spraying. You've got to be able to see reflections if the paint is wet enough to level out. This little helix just adds a bit more turbulence to whatever the fan is doing to the airflow. All the paint is dry by this point and most drops into the corrugations of the hose as dust, the finer particles go out of the window with any fumes and vapours. I don't bother with a filter. I just can't see the need when everything goes out of the first floor window. I strongly commend this system. It's effective, cheap, safe. The one thing it isn't is easy to store. The balance is awful and the hose is a right old pain. Despite that, it's still lots better than having your snot coming in camouflage colours and your lungs full of acrylic (plastic). Conveniently the anglepoise covers the working desk area as well. I'm not spraying tonight but I will fettle a few of these. Each track link has three sprue attachments and four corners to sand down and then I'll distress the 'bars' with a swipe of 240 grit to simulate wear. A pleasant task while watching a movie as it's mostly going to be done by touch. 9 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted October 26, 2021 Author Share Posted October 26, 2021 18 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said: The painted model, when both the outer and inner colors are visible, should look fantastic Both colours are on. Kinda. Sorta. The outside is really at the undercoating stage but there's little point doing more spraying until the main structural joints are glues and that comes after a couple of sessions of setail painting the inside. I'm delighted by the minimal amount of overspray I committed, considering that it was all freehand - these shapes are just not suitable for masking. I discovered new skills in fine, close up spraying. It's made me think I could finally have a reasonable chance at Luftwaffe wave camouflage. Thin paint, patience and the paint lever limiter of my airbrush seem to be the three vital factors. That's it for today. I get so wrapped up in the airbrushing process that I forget to take pictures, not that there's much that makes a good photo in a piece of plastic changing colour, usually from grey to another grey. Things should get more interesting soon when the detailing gets underway. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pig of the Week Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 Really coming together now isn't it.. I bet the neighbours wonder what you're up to with weird tubes hanging out of the window and sinister plastic boxes attached, they probably think you're making crystal meth or something.. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted October 29, 2021 Author Share Posted October 29, 2021 I've had to take a few days off but fear not, I will be back with another exciting episode after the beak. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maginot Posted October 29, 2021 Share Posted October 29, 2021 So neat and organised, a contrast to the chaos of the wreck. Your spray booth has got me thinking... pending patent permitting of course. An elegant solution for those of us with limited space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murdo Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 There is just so much cracking work and cracking thought and cracking detail here that your build is just... um.. Cracking! um, sorry. Loving this! The blether is good too. I seriously hope this turns out better than you expected! And, I think it will! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted October 30, 2021 Author Share Posted October 30, 2021 21 hours ago, Maginot said: So neat and organised, a contrast to the chaos of the wreck. Your spray booth has got me thinking... pending patent permitting of course. An elegant solution for those of us with limited space. Thanks but I'd only take a photo like that when it is neat and tidy. 🤷♂️ If I were to do the spray-bay again, I'd bring the fan body within the box and fit a quick disconnect on the hose connection. Then when not in use I could put the hose in the box which would stand flat on its back on the floor. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted October 30, 2021 Author Share Posted October 30, 2021 On 10/30/2021 at 1:14 AM, Murdo said: There is just so much cracking work and cracking thought and cracking detail here that your build is just... um.. Cracking! um, sorry. Loving this! The blether is good too. I seriously hope this turns out better than you expected! And, I think it will! Thank you. I'm cracking too. 😜 I posted this on my other WIP last night. You may have noticed that from posting two or three updates A DAY, I've calmed down and actually taken a day and a half off. (Apart from some PM business). It suddenly struck me that 2000 posts in 100 days was not entirely a good thing. Especially as many of them take me an hour or two to compose. I'm well known for going to extremes and I've been extremely into Britmodeller for the last three months and especially in the last two weeks since the Vulcan project joined the already quite intensive Mk V Tank thread. It's the 'best fun evah!' but I think I could easily become a social media addict. I've been neglecting my sleep; staying up late and not napping after lunch as is my wont. It ain't good fellers. So, I'm going to limit my BM time a little. Who knows, I might even get some more actual moddelling done that way. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted October 30, 2021 Author Share Posted October 30, 2021 Tonight after tea I turned my attention back to the MkV and a jolly good movie, which I listened to most intently but hardly saw. Detail painting suggests a lot of colours and blending of colours and not wanting them drying out in case I need to go back to a previous colour and not wasting time putting more paint out of the bottles every few minutes. So a wet palette is the thing I use. I built this mechanism after painting the pieces with Vallejo acrylics and drying them instantly with a hair-drier. That's two tips from my time painting Warhammer monsters. The painting isn't finished yet. I was struggling to do the painting of that area because I couldn't be sure what was going to be visible and what else was going to be needed in there, to make the scene look right. I decided to move the assembling on a bit, even at the risk of complicating the painting. It's that particular compromise that's been a theme of this build right from the beginning. Same as the other side really. And speaking of the other side, I assembled the sponson over there for the same reason. Chips and splashes and debris will need to be all over the thing and I can't do that in separate assemblies. It remains to be seen whether I can do that in this larger lump! This and the previous photo really remind me of warships of the period. Anyone been on HMS Belfast? No wonder they wanted to call them landships or Land Ironclads as HG Wells named them. I'm getting there. I've been looking at the model for so long while it slowly grew that I hadn't realised how well the plan is working out until I just saw this picture on my laptop. I also think I'm going to be able to leave the roof removeable! Without the gubbins inside, it looks spacious. Believe me, it was anything but. And more than two hours after I began, the paints are still workable. Oops, it's past nine o'clock. I must go before I turn into a white mouse. 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maginot Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 Looking very good indeed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edjbartos Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 It's looking really good, very nice detailed work you have done here, this will look smashing when finished... Ed 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted October 31, 2021 Author Share Posted October 31, 2021 23 hours ago, Maginot said: Looking very good indeed. 9 hours ago, edjbartos said: It's looking really good, very nice detailed work you have done here, this will look smashing when finished... Ed Thanks guys. It looks better already with that simplest and most satisfying technique, a burnt umber oil wash to darken our shadows and make our nuts stand out. [I was just about to post some pictures but they have all over exposed and any subtlety is burnt right out of them, sorry. I'll catch you up with the visuals next time.] EDIT: I couldn't leave the customers unsatisfied. Next I think comes some highlighting, chipping, tactical markings, touch ups. Not necessarily in that order. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simmerit Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 Just now, Bertie Psmith said: Thanks guys. It looks better now with that simplest and most satisfying technique, a burnt umber oil wash to darken our shadows and make our nuts stand out. [I was just about to post some pictures but they have all over exposed and any subtlety is burnt right out of them, sorry. I'll catch you up with the visuals next time.] and there's nothing like making your nuts stand out! I'll get me coat.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted October 31, 2021 Author Share Posted October 31, 2021 7 minutes ago, simmerit said: and there's nothing like making your nuts stand out! I'll get me coat.... That's probably for the best as I sort of already told that joke... Hehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted November 1, 2021 Author Share Posted November 1, 2021 16 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said: Next I think comes some highlighting, chipping, tactical markings, touch ups. Not necessarily in that order. It's good to have a plan but I stuck it together instead. I did a lot of chipping inside but suddenly I was so bored with messing about piecemeal fashion that sticking it all together was the only thing to do. The roof is still removable but the rest is solid. Tracks are the next big thing. They are the 'clip-together-fall-apart' type so painting them before fitting them isn't really going to work. I think I have a plan though... I cleaned up the 182 links while watching Al Murray's standup on Prime. Neither occupation made me smile much. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted November 1, 2021 Author Share Posted November 1, 2021 Brief update. I assemble the tracks, run a strong cement into the joints and set a timer for 15 minutes. The timer is vital! After that time the track is soft enough to bend around the tank but strong enough not to fall apart when you do. It's also dry on the surface so it probably wont stick to the tank prematurely. Ta-dah!. I'm doing it in two sections so I can paint it easily and so that I can get it off the tank to do so. I hate tracks, they make me very anxious. I'm glad that's almost over. Phew! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted November 2, 2021 Author Share Posted November 2, 2021 It worked! This is the track from the undamaged side. It's actually two sections but they stayed clipped together when I took it off the tank last thing last night. The fit was very tight and the inside of this track is pretty much invisible so I'll probably leave that alone. If I put too much paint in there I don't think I'd be able to get it back into place. This is from the damaged side. It's been broken at the top and a few feet of track has slid off the front end to rest on the ground. This one will need both sides painting of course. I took some quick photos of the inside now that I've done the chipping and/or bloodstains. You can decide for yourselves whether it's red oxide primer or Type O. There's still a lot of painting and debris to be added. That's the fatal entrance hole. Driver and machine gunner didn't make it. Looking aft towards the fan housing. The sponson with the gun. Note the engine starting handle in the foreground. The engine with the access doors blown away. Top of the engine. Inside the exploded sponson. Same again. I'm pleased but with reservations. Then again, there's a long way to go yet. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted November 2, 2021 Author Share Posted November 2, 2021 I was walking the dog today and came across a scene which would have look fabulous with a busted tank in it. There's a farm road with a deep and wide ditch/valley to one side and a field on the other. It's at the top of a hill so the tank might have been clobbered as it skylined itself and then slipped into the ditch. There's a tree to balance all the flatnesses. I imagined a communal grave in the field with a burial party of four soldiers about to go home for tea. I can easily imagine the scene but making it is a complete unknown to me. This is learning by doing. Too big? Too small? I thought it was ok for size at this point. I started carving away with my hotwire foam cutter. It's a lot harder than I anticipated. I couldn't translate the shape in my mind into 3D. Now the tank looks too small to me. However, this is the better of the two possible mistakes as it's easier to saw a bit off than add more terrain at the end. No. I'm definitely unhappy with this. I want a steeper hill and a deeper ditch so that the tank is heeled over at least 30 degrees. I can't do much until the wood glue holding the three slices of foam has hardened. Then I think I'll have a go with a cigarette lighter, one of my favourite tools. I am now pretty sure that this base is too big and overwhelms the tank but I'll do the cropping at a later stage when it's looking more like ground and less like a Star Trek planet (Series One). I've also got the debris from the sponson to find a home for. It's been interesting working this far ahead of myself. I'm hoping that I'll have some ideas during the next few days/weeks about what to do next. Lol. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazy Modeller Posted November 2, 2021 Share Posted November 2, 2021 This is an enormous post. Must see it slowly, but I think you're doing a wonderful work there... ps: I have almost the same number of scalpel blades as you have! 🤣 Cheers LM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted November 2, 2021 Author Share Posted November 2, 2021 13 minutes ago, Lazy Modeller said: This is an enormous post. Must see it slowly, but I think you're doing a wonderful work there... ps: I have almost the same number of scalpel blades as you have! 🤣 Cheers LM Thank you. You will see that my desk is as tidy as yours! lol Oh that is just my ready-to-use scalpel blade storage. The packing cases are in the attic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazy Modeller Posted November 2, 2021 Share Posted November 2, 2021 I also buy them in 100 cases in pharmacy cause they're cheaper, in model stores its a robbery! Cheers LM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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