Model Mate Posted February 22, 2023 Posted February 22, 2023 And it’s done! After just over a year, a lot of plastic card, a Costa’s-worth of coffee stirrers and millions of tiny rivet balls I’ve finally decided that my Mk 1 Gun carrier is finished. It was a great fun project and I learned a lot. Everything is scratchbuilt apart from most of the figures. The large chap with the leather jerkin was scratchbuilt (well, his legs, arms and torso were) but the others are cheap knock-off resin figures. I tried to replicate a photo of “Darlington” cresting a small ridge while the top brass look on. I’m happy that I’ve pretty much captured the look although I shied away from covering the whole vehicle with quite as much kit as is shown in the photo. Painting was done using mainly Tamiya paints, with weathering being mostly oil paints with a little clay wash and a dab of pastel dust. I constructed it so that the upper hull can be removed to show the interior off. Things I’d like to improve next time…. Figures; there’s always room for improvement there. I’m very slowly getting better, but there still seems to be miles to go. Groundwork; this was my first attempt at painting grass and earth on a black-primed base and I’m not 100% convinced that this is better than using coloured static grass. I might try a hybrid approach next time. Foliage; my little bush is a bit sad, and the (real) cow parsley I used to represent real cow parsley isn’t particularly convincing I don’t think. Thanks to everyone who followed and provided brilliant advice, feedback and support during this extended build. The (12 page) WIP can be found here….. Mk1 gun carrier scratchbuild - Work in Progress - Armour - Britmodeller.com 53 2
echen Posted February 22, 2023 Posted February 22, 2023 Absolutely awesome. Great skill demonstrated in construction, painting and weathering!
Bullbasket Posted February 22, 2023 Posted February 22, 2023 Oh Mate, where do I start? That is absolutely superb. The model itself, the clutter around it, the base. Everything is brilliant. And those figures are first class. Fantastic work. John.
Keeff Posted February 22, 2023 Posted February 22, 2023 That is amazing! 👌 Well worth the time and effort when the end result looks like that Keith 😁
Rob Pulham Posted February 22, 2023 Posted February 22, 2023 You very quickly run out of superlatives with this one. Superb doesn't quite do it justice!
Dancona Posted February 22, 2023 Posted February 22, 2023 A jaw dropping piece of scratchbuilding, simply beautiful !!
NIK122 Posted February 22, 2023 Posted February 22, 2023 Congratulations on finishing this mammoth build. All of the above! Fantastic stuff 😎
RichieW Posted February 22, 2023 Posted February 22, 2023 Magnificent! Everywhere I look in the photos I see incredible details beautifully executed. This is so inspiring. Richie
FrancisGL Posted February 22, 2023 Posted February 22, 2023 Hi Modelmate, Museum-quality work, worthy of being in one without a doubt, you should make sure that this is the case in the future, as it is worthy of lasting for those who will come after. Cheers and TC Francis.👍
Pete Robin Posted February 22, 2023 Posted February 22, 2023 I reckon that your outstanding model will be up there for "Best in Show". I've been backwards and forwards, enlarged and scrutinised and each time I've seen something else that evinced another Wow! Just brilliant. Regards, Pete
supersonic Posted February 22, 2023 Posted February 22, 2023 What a fine example of Model Art, wonderful! Hans
vytautas Posted February 22, 2023 Posted February 22, 2023 Same here, agree with all the others, a top job! Vytautas
ColonelKrypton Posted February 22, 2023 Posted February 22, 2023 "Like" just doesn't do it - were is that "Wow!" button when you need it ? Three figures on the ground watching the proceedings, another sitting up high and two inside doing the grunt work one of which is holding one of the chains. All in all it tells a wonderful story and there is a seemingly never ending layer upon layer of detail to be discovered and seen. Fabulous is the word that springs to mind. What's next? cheers, Graham
Geo1966 Posted February 23, 2023 Posted February 23, 2023 Fantastic result and great to see this mammoth project finished. I have followed the WIP over the last year and found it very informative and educational. Scratch building is still beyond me but it has been great to watch you turn bits and bobs into this great build. Ones suggestion, maybe you should include a photo of the original "Darlington" so others can see just how close this is to the real thing. George
Model Mate Posted February 23, 2023 Author Posted February 23, 2023 Thanks to everyone for the wonderful feedback! As suggested by George, here is the original photo of "Darlington"....
ErikT Posted February 23, 2023 Posted February 23, 2023 Sometimes I hate going on this site, because people like you make me feel like my projects are mediocre at best! Astounding work! The effort and attention to detail have paid off hugely. I read through your build thread and I agree that the tank museum would likely be interested in this piece. Very unusual subject and incredibly well executed.
Muchmirth Posted February 23, 2023 Posted February 23, 2023 ….just were do you start with this, to even think you made all this! Yeah next level stuff really. Ambitious to say the least but you’ve pulled it off. I’m going to go over the wip, as I followed your one from before and found it really informative. All the best, Paul.
IanC Posted February 23, 2023 Posted February 23, 2023 Sublime. I just love those two rather haughty officers: 'Self-propelled artillery? It'll never catch on..' 2
dnl42 Posted February 23, 2023 Posted February 23, 2023 (edited) Brilliant work! Truly. 3 hours ago, IanC said: 'Self-propelled artillery? It'll never catch on..' As I looked at this, I wondered why that leap was not taken for this vehicle. Seems like a case of so close yet so far. Edited February 23, 2023 by dnl42 Typo fixed, 'leap was /not/ taken'
Model Mate Posted February 23, 2023 Author Posted February 23, 2023 Yes, it does raise a few questions…. I can understand the perceived need; big, heavy guns needing a team of horses to tow that get stuck in the mud, so the motor carriage comes to the rescue. Sounds like a good idea to me, and I don’t think these vehicles were so unreliable that going back to horses was necessarily a better idea, but for whatever reason it seems their original purpose was short lived. There were two types of gun they could carry - the huge, long barrelled 60 pounder and the 6” howitzer (the one I did). The 60 pounder had to be dismounted and reassembled in order to fire, so in that role it was very much just a gun carrier, but the howitzer could be fired whilst mounted, so a true self-propelled gun - an idea before it’s time maybe(?) 1
Bandsaw Steve Posted February 24, 2023 Posted February 24, 2023 A very technically difficult subject to scratchbuild, beautifully handled. This is an outstanding piece of work and one of my all-time favourite Britmodeller builds! 👍👍👍
Homer Posted February 24, 2023 Posted February 24, 2023 Congratulations on a fantastic piece of modelling, looks great 👍.
Stef N. Posted February 24, 2023 Posted February 24, 2023 Marvelous model. Marvelous diorama. Very well done. 👏
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