Early M50, based on late M4.

[Kingsman]

Phew!  I was worried that I had made my M4A4T-based early M50 WIP too dark and perhaps a bit too green, but we seem to have ended up in about the same place.

[Bullbasket]

7 hours ago, Kingsman said:

Phew!  I was worried that I had made my M4A4T-based early M50 WIP too dark and perhaps a bit too green, but we seem to have ended up in about the same place.

It's a difficult colour to achieve when mixing your own. I think that I should have used just a tad more brown in the mix, but not much. The Vellejo (or is it Mig??) bottle of IDF Green, is slightly lighter, but I think that the tone is about right when compared with the colour profiles in Dr. Robert's book. And to me, being a bit lighter is OK when you think of the effect of the Middle East sun on the paintwork.

 

John.

[Bullbasket]

So after spending the last few days on the Armoured Car GB, I thought that I ought to do some work on this one. The tracks are from the Tamiya M4A3 (T54E1's), and they were sprayed with an equal mix of Tamiya black and brown, thinned 50/50. When dry, they were dusted with the European Dust on the insides, and then the steel chevrons rubbed with an HB pencil. I would have much rather used Panda Plastics tracks. They workout about $25 a set, but I'm not going to pay as much again for P&P.

 

Still need to add some dust to the outsides of the tracks and rub a pencil over the guide teeth.

Exhaust deflector in place. Although I have one of the 3D printed ones from Shapeways, I used the Dragon one from their M4A1 (76mm) kit as it has better fixing points on it.

 

Another painting session coming up when I'll be finishing the wooden parts on the pioneer tools and the gun barrel cleaning rods, as well as the exhaust deflector.

Back soon.

 

John.

[FrancisGL]

Hi John,

It looks very good, perhaps the photo is a bit dark to appreciate the tone and detail of the color, but it is not finished yet. Eager to see the end, will you put it in a small base?...

Cheers and TC

Francis.👍

[Bullbasket]

15 hours ago, FrancisGL said:

Hi John,

It looks very good, perhaps the photo is a bit dark to appreciate the tone and detail of the color, but it is not finished yet. Eager to see the end, will you put it in a small base?...

Cheers and TC

Francis.👍

Many thanks for your comments Francis. The model is quite dark, but I'll just have to live with that. Yes, I hope to have it mounted on a suitable "Negev desert" style base once it's finished.

 

John.

[Bullbasket]

OK, so it's the final painting jobs. I painted the exhaust deflector with the same Tamiya mix that I'd used for the all over spray job, and it was amazing the difference in the shades. The deflector came out much lighter, but once the black pigment has been applied to represent the exhaust stain, it won't notice. Plus I just noticed that the cleaning rods haven't been given the oil paint treatment.

 

The rims of the wheels and the guide teeth of the tracks were rubbed with a soft pencil to give that worn metal look. Dust added to the tracks and road wheels.

The wooden handles of the pioneer tools had already been painted with a cream acrylic paint, and now they were given a coat of burnt umber oil paint, and then this was wiped off with a brush dipped in thinners.

 

 

 

Aerials added using .31mm nickel silver wire, and the insulator painted with burnt sienna oil paint. I painted the glass vision blocks in the commander's hatch with a mix of Tamiya semi gloss black and clear blue thinned down with Tamiya thinner.

 

Inside of the turret painted matt black so as not to show up too much as an empty void.

 

 

Finally, unless I think of something else, the two crew members were glued in place, along with the .50cal MG, which still has some detail painting to be done, plus a decal to be added.

 

As you've probably gathered, I quite like the IDF M50. So much so that I will be looking out for a couple of kits at the Telford show next weekend to do the M4A1 and Composite/Hybrid versions, plus there's still the HVSS one to do.

So this is done now and once I've finished the small base for it, and painted the crews rucksacks which are hanging from the turret rail, and added some straps to them, I'll be putting it in the RFI section. Thanks to everyone who has liked or commented along the way.

 

John.

 

[Hamden]

 

A great result as always John, superb workmanship with outstanding attention to the smallest detail.

Looking forward to the next adventure now, beer and popcorn on order!

 

     Stay safe          Roger

[SimonL]

Lovely work John, your attention to detail is awesome.

[StuartH]

You've been busy! Looks fantastic and a superb job all round. Love all the details and the darkish tones in the paintwork have come out very well indeed 👏

[Bullbasket]

On 06/11/2022 at 12:55, Hamden said:

 

A great result as always John, superb workmanship with outstanding attention to the smallest detail.

Looking forward to the next adventure now, beer and popcorn on order!

 

     Stay safe          Roger

Many thanks Roger. I won't be starting anything new until I get back from Telford in about three weeks time. And I've got to finish the A/C in the GB first.

 

14 hours ago, SimonL said:

Lovely work John, your attention to detail is awesome.

Thanks a lot Simon. Appreciate it.

 

14 hours ago, StuartH said:

You've been busy! Looks fantastic and a superb job all round. Love all the details and the darkish tones in the paintwork have come out very well indeed 👏

Thanks Stuart. Yes, I have been motoring a bit with this as I want to take it to Telford. It's finished, but I still have a base to make for it (oh! and cut the grass). Fingers crossed.

 

John.

[FrancisGL]

Hi John,

It has turned out very well despite all the problems, even in the absence of the small and very last details.

Cheers and TC

Francis.👍

[edjbartos]

That's smashing John, It really is, I particularly do like the way you have done the paintwork, It's nicely faded, just looks great. 

 

Ed

[Bullbasket]

22 hours ago, FrancisGL said:

Hi John,

It has turned out very well despite all the problems, even in the absence of the small and very last details.

Cheers and TC

Francis.👍

Thanks Francis. You're input is always appreciated. I'm going to give the Shermans a rest for a while and have a go at something else, depending on what happens in the "Bun Fight".

17 hours ago, edjbartos said:

That's smashing John, It really is, I particularly do like the way you have done the paintwork, It's nicely faded, just looks great. 

 

Ed

Hi Ed, and thanks for your comments. It's a bit like dragging it back from the jaws of death, as I really considered propelling it against a wall at one point. I think that it has turned out OK in the end.

 

John.