Every Vally Shall Be Exalted - The Valentine Tank Family Vol.1 - Finished

[Bertie McBoatface]

 

I haven't been a fan of photo etch - until now!  Even with the insufficiently cleaned up attachment pip and the excess superglue, I have to say this exhaust heatshield has converted me. And it really wasn't too difficult either. I used AK's ridiculously expensive black superglue but it is good stuff. You can see where you have placed (dripped) it, it sets fast and is supposedly slightly flexible so it doesn't fail in use. I haven't had a failure with it yet - so far so good. I tried to get the effect of an exhaust that's only been used for a few days: discoloured but not rusty.

 

 

I need practice with wood. This isn't a toolbox, incidentally, I have discovered that it's a pair of jacking pads for jacking up the tank on soft or sloping ground. I feel a bit silly fitting this but not the jack but I wanted the colour contrast as a point of interest and at the time I thought it was a toolbox. D'oh. I really should read the references before I do anything else!

 

 

See how the enamel drybrushing has brought out the cast texture, and see how it enhances the effect of my failure to clean the turret roof sprue attachments in that slot. This is invisible to the naked eye. The macro camera is a vicious teacher!

 

 

I painted the tyred this morning but notice the little slips of the paintbrush. They ARE visible to the eye, very visible because we instantly notice 'not quite round' things. While out with the dog, I had an idea how to fix this problem.

 

 

I simply drybrushed the rims again and suddenly all was round. I also drybrushed the tyres themselves giving me a textured finish and a highlight on the tyre shoulder which I like. Even tyres aren't all one colour all over. I've also varied the colour of each tyre a little by using two colours on a wet palette, and varying the blend with each wheel it's one of those subtle things that you can't consciously see but somehow, it makes a difference. (Or I might just be losing the plot again?) 

 

 

This little fellow has been mounted like a moth in a cabinet, for painting purposes.

 

         

 

And so have these two beauties. I hate to waste a priming session as it's such a devil of a job cleaning out the airbrush after primer. I have promised myself a tin of Tamiya primer for small jobs like this just as soon as my remittance arrives.

 

And that's all for the day, I'd like to get on with airbrushing but I had a warming hot chocolate and Crabbies after tea and I no longer trust myself with heavy machinery.

 

[vytautas]

All looks really good, especially exhaust with photo-etch!

 

Vytautas

[echen]

Great tyres, along with all the rest. No wonder you're tyred!

 

Edited January 1, 2022 by echen

[Carius]

Great work so far Bertie, the construction of the track is a very monotonous and tedious job, but it's worth it without a doubt.

 

Happy New Year,

Cesar

[Bertie McBoatface]

14 hours ago, vytautas said:

All looks really good, especially exhaust with photo-etch!

 

Vytautas

 

Thank you, Vytautas. I'm very happy with the photo-etch. I think it's the first time I ever made it work for me. It's so delicate in my clumsy fingers!

 

12 hours ago, echen said:

Great tyres, along with all the rest. No wonder you're tyred!

 

 

Thanks Echen. I think it will be finished this week, then I can have a rest. 

 

10 hours ago, Carius said:

Great work so far Bertie, the construction of the track is a very monotonous and tedious job, but it's worth it without a doubt.

 

Happy New Year,

Cesar

 

I agree with you, Cesar. In my armour modelling the tracks have often been difficult to enjoy. Sometimes they are tedious and sometimes they scare me because they won't fit or break in my fingers. This time, assembly went so well that I started to enjoy it. I am still a bit nervous about fitting them to the tank though. I think they might be too loose, but there's nothing I can do about that. We shall see...

 

[Maginot]

Craftsmanship, Bertissimo; patient, meticulous, progressive. Very good modelling.

 

Quote

it's a pair of jacking pads for jacking up the tank on soft or sloping ground

 

Wow! I carry wooden jacking pads in my little 4x4 for the same purpose. My work monitoring shorebirds and neophema parrots sometimes requires me to penetrate sandy or wetland territory along dodgy tracks in remote and inaccessible country. Connection!

 

How on Earth did you get the edges of the black tyres on the road wheels so sharply defined? Skilled brushwork? Yes, PE can be a pain in the derriere and is overdone in many applications imho, but it really works well for some stuff. The ground-breaking AK Black Widow flexible and sandable CA? Love to try some for filling jobs, but of course it's out of stock at my local suppliers down here in the Never Never, supply constraints being the blight of an island economy, even though this island is the size and complexity of a continent. Still, shouldn't complain, consumerism is a curse.

[Bertie McBoatface]

On 1/2/2022 at 12:23 PM, Maginot said:

Craftsmanship, Bertissimo; patient, meticulous, progressive. Very good modelling.

 

 

Wow! I carry wooden jacking pads in my little 4x4 for the same purpose. My work monitoring shorebirds and neophema parrots sometimes requires me to penetrate sandy or wetland territory along dodgy tracks in remote and inaccessible country. Connection!

 

How on Earth did you get the edges of the black tyres on the road wheels so sharply defined? Skilled brushwork? Yes, PE can be a pain in the derriere and is overdone in many applications imho, but it really works well for some stuff. The ground-breaking AK Black Widow flexible and sandable CA? Love to try some for filling jobs, but of course it's out of stock at my local suppliers down here in the Never Never, supply constraints being the blight of an island economy, even though this island is the size and complexity of a continent. Still, shouldn't complain, consumerism is a curse.

 

Thanks, Maginot. You know, until I followed the link to the parrots, I thought you lived in the Netherlands (Never Lands?). Silly me.

 

Brush painting the roadwheel tyres, (and idler tyre too, they are interchangeable on the real thing) was an interesting experiment for me. I decided to improve my brushes recently and was recommended to try Rosemary and Co, an artist's supplier in UK. They do a free, old fashioned paper catalogue and boy, did I need it. Their range is extensive; brushes in all sorts of shapes, lengths and materials. A neat feature of the catalogue is that the brush heads are pictured life size so you know exactly what you are getting. Well, I ordered a sample brush from half a dozen varieties and I've been waiting for a repetitive painting task so that I could compare them in action. Some were a little soft for this fine lining but will be great for blending, some were too pointy for the wider parts of the tyres but will be excellent for really fine detailing. And then I struck gold for this particular job. A brush with a big enough belly to do half a tyre without refilling, with a fine enough tip to get close to the moulded rim, and enough spring that I could feel the groove as well as see it. The brush was from their Shiraz synthetics range, size 1 pointed round, but that's just my preferred brush for this particular application. I'll be ordering a few more of them in different sizes when I've tested all of my samples. I really enjoy using the best quality tools that I can afford and I think rosemaryandco.com will be my painting tools from now on. They are surprisingly affordable and I have no connection with the company. Lol.

 

I used very thinned Vallejo acrylic paint, German Grey, and drew it around the rims, letting capillary action take it the last tenth of a millimetre. With the Shiraz, that gave me perfect rims and then I went back over the wider parts of the tyre. The wheels were of course mounted on cocktail sticks which I held in my left hand which was jammed firmly against the edge of the desk. The brush was held, by the ferrule, in my right hand also jammed against the desk. The little finger of my right hand was lifted to lightly touch some part of my left hand. This is important because it allows the hands to automatically know where they are in relation to each other - they will then tremble in synch with each other and you don't even have to be aware of it. Then I slowly rotated the cocktail stick and draw the brush along the rim groove.

 

The other brushes which weren't quite right for this job, did leave me with a few errors to clean up and this is where the drybrushing technique that I described above made it so easy to correct my slips. 

 

My drybrushing brush, which I've used for maybe twenty years, suffered because I forgot to clean it for 24 hours. I've never done that before, obviously, and the paint was fully hardened. The brush was well beyond the help offered by brush cleaning soaps or white spirits. I was slightly heartbroken and decided to try oven cleaner, which I know removes enamel from plastic without damage.

 

 

It doesn't work on paintbrushes though! Well, it did remove the paint, I suppose.

 

(I may be able to use this Kevin Keegan of a paintbrush for certain weathering effects so it's not quite dead yet. Just a little unwell.)

 

 

 

 

 

[Maginot]

Quote

I may be able to use this Kevin Keegan of a paintbrush for certain weathering effects so it's not quite dead yet.

 

I laughed so hard at your comment that I'm in excruciating pain... cos I copped a rib injury from a fall while surveying woodland birds last week. Go the reds! I've been a Liverpool fan since well before Alec Lindsay scored that fantastic disallowed FA Cup goal in the 73-4 final. I might be a neutralised Skip, but I know on which side my toast is buttered. Yes, well... the Never Never strictly defined is the Australian Outback, which hardly describes where I live, but arguably represents my state of mind.

[ColonelKrypton]

On 12/29/2021 at 3:29 PM, Bertie Psmith said:

 

 

This was my palette. I worked dark into light from the shadows to the highlights, blending the next paint into the almost empty paint cup to give a graduated effect. I may have graduated too much actually and lost some contrast. I didn't go all the way to white. I've still got drybrushing and then pinpoint highlighting to do so I'll need the brightest greys for that.

 

What a good idea.

 

Up till now I have been putting a spot of the paint that is in the bottle on the lid so that I could see what was in each without having to lift it up to have a look. But I think that from now on I will put a white sticky label on the bottle tops and follow your example and label each one appropriately.  I will one step further and put a spot of actual paint on the label as well. 

 

cheers, Graham 

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

2 hours ago, ColonelKrypton said:

 

What a good idea.

 

Up till now I have been putting a spot of the paint that is in the bottle on the lid so that I could see what was in each without having to lift it up to have a look. But I think that from now on I will put a white sticky label on the bottle tops and follow your example and label each one appropriately.  I will one step further and put a spot of actual paint on the label as well. 

 

cheers, Graham 

 

 

What a good idea.

[Bertie McBoatface]

I painted the tracks today.

 

 

First with a bit of dust and muck. These are new tracks that have been out to the testing ground a few times and been hosed off immediately afterwards. 

 

 

I used these, first applying a wet coat of very watered down Dust I, with flow improver to get it into the crevices. Then the other colours were dabbed and splattered onto the wet surface and allowed to blend themselves in.

 

 

This is the best way to explain how I worked it. 🙂

 

I dried them with a hair-drier on low, working the tracks as they dries so that they wouldn't seize up.

 

 

Then I drybrushed some Humbrol steel onto the rubbing surfaces, inside and out and as they dried, polished them with a paper towel. 

 

The whole process took about half an hour. I found it quite difficult to be so restrained, in keeping with the prototype's probable condition early in its life. They would have looked after it for sure because as well as a development tool, it was demonstrator, a sample, a sales pitch.

 

Not much done today but I'm pleased with even a little step forward. I'm now confident that I'll finish this first Vally before the F/A-18 GB starts next weekend. In fact I'm so confident that I'll most likely slack off and fail to do so. 🤨

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

                  

 

The tank and wheels have received their satin varnish and Alfie is looking a bit better under primer. Being just a young chap he's about the size of a 1/72 adult figure. Please don't expect much from my paintwork!

[diablo rsv]

 

This is coming along very nicely Bertie, those tracks look excellent.

 

On 27/12/2021 at 16:45, Bertie Psmith said:

Humbrol enamel Steel in the modelcolour range has graphite in it and the paint can be polished as it dries.

 

I dug out my old Humbrol paints and found these.

 

I presume they are what you mean. I  used to use them on my aircraft builds for gun barrels,  at the time I didn't build armour so never thought to try them on tracks but looking at yours I think I will give them a go.

 

Wayne

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

59 minutes ago, diablo rsv said:

 

This is coming along very nicely Bertie, those tracks look excellent.

 

 

I dug out my old Humbrol paints and found these.

 

I presume they are what you mean. I  used to use them on my aircraft builds for gun barrels,  at the time I didn't build armour so never thought to try them on tracks but looking at yours I think I will give them a go.

 

Wayne

 

THREE tinlets! You are a rich man.

 

And yes, Metal Cote, not Modelcolor.

[Bertie McBoatface]

The wheels are on my waggon and Alfie is rolling along. 

 

[opus999]

I love Alfie... I think he's the perfect accessory for the Vally.  

[JeroenS]

Excellent work Bertie. I shall remember your tip of drybrushing the rims to get them round again after painting the tyres. I use Vallejo paint for rims and tyres as well because it covers well even when thinned. But sometime it's just not all the way round. Then you get a sort of touch up rim, touch up tyre sequence... 

[PlaStix]

Hi Bertie. Happy New Year. Great to see more progress. It seems to be progressing beautifully.

Kind regards, 

Stix

[Bertie McBoatface]

3 hours ago, opus999 said:

I love Alfie... I think he's the perfect accessory for the Vally.  

Thanks. The painting is a bit rough and ready but from a normal distance he’s quite convincing.

[Bertie McBoatface]

1 hour ago, JeroenS said:

Excellent work Bertie. I shall remember your tip of drybrushing the rims to get them round again after painting the tyres. I use Vallejo paint for rims and tyres as well because it covers well even when thinned. But sometime it's just not all the way round. Then you get a sort of touch up rim, touch up tyre sequence... 

 

Glad it helps. I know that bouncing touch up sequence very well!

 

13 minutes ago, PlaStix said:

Hi Bertie. Happy New Year. Great to see more progress. It seems to be progressing beautifully.

Kind regards, 

Stix

 

It seemed to be, yes. But we all knew something had to go wrong in the last reel to ratchet up the drama. It’s not quite like the end of The Usual Suspects but my Keyser Söze has showed up. 
 

The tracks don’t fit. 
 

 

[Jasper dog]

Wonderful!

Not just excellent modelling, tracks for one, but great info and tips re brushes etc.

 

Great work, as has already been said, Alfie really sets it off beautifully. 

 

Atb

Darryl 

[Bertie McBoatface]

6 hours ago, Jasper dog said:

Wonderful!

Not just excellent modelling, tracks for one, but great info and tips re brushes etc.

 

Great work, as has already been said, Alfie really sets it off beautifully. 

 

Atb

Darryl 

 

Thank you Jasper. I couldn't possibly have painted Alfie without those new brushes. I won't say it was easy but having the best tools for the job certainly made painting him a lot more pleasant.

[Lazy Modeller]

Wash the brush gently using a little bit of natural soap and warm water but not to hot.

And then use some reconditioning wax/soap and it will become like new...almost. I use Magic Gel for Brushes from Abteilung 502, but they're almost the same...

Cheers

LM

[Bertie McBoatface]

On 12/27/2021 at 6:49 PM, Bertie Psmith said:

I couldn't photograph the fitting process because I only have two hands (and forepaws, but the dog tells me she's not allowed on the desktop - which is true actually.) I'd built two links less than Bronco recommended but I still had to take a link out. 

 

Do you remember reading that? Well, I was being an idiot. A double idiot actually.

 

FIRST IDIOCY: I should have made the track a few links LONGER, not shorter because the painting process would have been easier if I didn't have to go right to the very end. Also the links are very easy to split and if I'd had a longer length painted, when I took off the spare links at the point of fitting the tracks to the tank, the mating surfaces would have been conveniently paint free.

 

SECOND IDIOCY: I tried the tracks for size with the wheels insecure. They were just resting on their axles and wobbling about so I actually cut the track a link TOO SHORT. And then I painted and weathered it using seven different paints. 

 

So last thing, last night with the wheels all glued down, I tried the track again and found that it wouldn't meet! Horrors! Amazingly, despite having had a few snorters during the evening (or perhaps because of being slightly tipsy), I didn't try to fix it but went to bed instead and let my subconscious work on the problem overnight.

 

Inserting another link would be a moment's work but matching the paintwork would have been impossible. I could easily have explained the different coloured link to viewers as a replacement for a broken one, but I'd have known and every time I looked at this Vally I wouldn't have seen Alfie or the successfully  scratchbuilt fenders. No, all I would have been able to see would have been the link, screaming "J'accuse!" at me forever. 

 

And then, overnight, I remembered a curious little aside in ITV. During the Tunisian campaign, the frantic pursuit of the DAK along the top of Africa, the poor old Vallys were wearing out their tracks. Not this original type but the later, more robust ones. As the tracks wore and became loose, the idler wheel was moved slightly forward to take up the slack. When the limit of the adjustment was reached, the track would be shortened by throwing away a link from each side and running the idler all the way aft and starting again. But eventually the tracks were proper knackered and slopping about, jamming momentarily, flapping around and every jerk was transferred to the idler wheel axle shaft - which then sheared or seized and became useless. Was the tank disabled by this? Not the Vally.

 

There was provision for a procedure called 'half-tracking' the Vally by shortening the track even more and missing out the idler altogether. In really desperate cases, such as when the front bogie was disabled, by a mine perhaps, the track could be routed over the sprocket, the rear two return rollers and the rear bogie only. The tank would have been a swine to steer accurately but it could still move under it's own power. What were we saying about the reliability of the Vally? 

 

I figure these two techniques would have been tested out at Vickers first, and early on, when they were having so much trouble with the early fragile tracks. Therefore I have made a virtue out of a necessity and shown my prototype in the process of demonstrating both of the half-tracking techniques at the time of the fictitious 'Bring the Kids to Work Day'.

 

 

This is a detail from the Vally instructional book showing the two methods

 

 

 

 

 

The only snag is that the front bogie on the right hand side isn't touching the ground anymore, and I can shut my eyes to that. In both cases the tracks fitted amazingly well and the joints were made with ease and just a tiny bit of brute force. 

 

Phew! Big sigh of relief from me and crisis over. I'm still on track to finish before the weekend.

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

24 minutes ago, Lazy Modeller said:

Wash the brush gently using a little bit of natural soap and warm water but not to hot.

And then use some reconditioning wax/soap and it will become like new...almost. I use Magic Gel for Brushes from Abteilung 502, but they're almost the same...

Cheers

LM

 

I have used Chroma's Jo Sonja Brush Soap and Conditioner for years now. There are dozens of equivalents and most will last you for ages. Buy some and use it every time at the end of a painting session., people and we can save a million squirrels and sables and nylon-beasts every year.

 

When I was a technician in an art department I used a good quality conditioning shampoo made for people which wasn't as good but was a lot cheaper.