robgizlu Posted January 4 Posted January 4 Whilst waiting for Resolution Hobbies to (re)launch the Colourcoats range to finish my Humber Mk IV, I thought I'd start this kit build - stealing odd minutes over the Festive break amidst the Domestic duties. My understanding that this Mk2 Scimitar/Spartan hybrid arose from a theatre requirement iin Afghanistan around the 2010s. My belief is that UK has donated some if not all to Ukraine. Some were used on SPTA for training after Afghanistan withdrawl and my build will feature one such vehicle. Photos of these vehicles as a whole class are few and far between. I was impressed by @f matthews build of the Gecko variant without the slat armour: The intention is to continue this build around that of HMS Euryalus - Dido Class Cruiser over on Maritime. Construction of the suspension is routine - Gecko provide very nicely moulded parts The main wheels come in 2 parts with 2 further separate tyres - fit is snug I get bored with suspensions so can never resist beginning some other part of the model. The top hull comes as a one piece moulding and very nice it is too. Modular armour is added... And then back to the running gear More soon - Thanks for looking Rob 20
Keeff Posted January 4 Posted January 4 I quite like the look of this kit, so will follow along .... The detail looks crisp and clean. Keith ☺️ 1
Stef N. Posted January 4 Posted January 4 Looks very interesting. Good luck with the build, Rob. 👍👍 1
Hamden Posted January 4 Posted January 4 Good luck with this one Rob, a friend of mine built this one and found the slat/bar armour a pita! Will follow with interest Roger 1
Bullbasket Posted January 4 Posted January 4 That's a great looking kit Rob. I can see why you've been tempted away from the maritime side for yet another AFV. I could be persuaded to get one of these. What is the bar armour made from, etch or plastic? John. 1
f matthews Posted January 4 Posted January 4 I'll be watching this one for sure! The Gecko kit was a fun build 1
Milan Mynar Posted January 5 Posted January 5 This vehicle with the slat armor looks very interesting and unusual. 1
robgizlu Posted January 5 Author Posted January 5 Thanks for the Comments and Likes Fellas. 21 hours ago, Hamden said: Good luck with this one Rob, a friend of mine built this one and found the slat/bar armour a pita! Will follow with interest Roger it's a distinct possiblility Roger! One of the issues is order of painting. Fitting the Slat armour unpainted will mean getting to the tracks is very difficult. Current thinking is to build without the armour - paint - paint the slat armour off-modl and then fix together at the end?? 21 hours ago, Gondor44 said: I hope you don't mind my following this build Gondor Good to have you aboard 21 hours ago, Bullbasket said: That's a great looking kit Rob. I can see why you've been tempted away from the maritime side for yet another AFV. I could be persuaded to get one of these. What is the bar armour made from, etch or plastic? John. Hi John - the truth is Armour was my metier before those damned ships came along - you want to be careful - the same could happen to You! The slat armour is plastic. I actually have a Nagmachon with etch slat armour that seems pretty intimidatting though clearly provides a more realistic scale outcome. For that matter I have several IDF kits that given present circumstance I'm not certain I'll ever start. And to cap a;; =I'm not certain anyone has produced etch slat for this yet. I'll attempt to sand the flat bars down as much as possible - c'est la vie. 15 hours ago, f matthews said: I'll be watching this one for sure! The Gecko kit was a fun build I loved yours - great looking model. Thanks again All - more soon Rob 2
Bullbasket Posted January 5 Posted January 5 1 hour ago, robgizlu said: Hi John - the truth is Armour was my metier before those damned ships came along - you want to be careful - the same could happen to You! The slat armour is plastic. I actually have a Nagmachon with etch slat armour that seems pretty intimidatting though clearly provides a more realistic scale outcome. For that matter I have several IDF kits that given present circumstance I'm not certain I'll ever start. And to cap a;; =I'm not certain anyone has produced etch slat for this yet. I'll attempt to sand the flat bars down as much as possible - c'est la vie. No, I don't think that it will happen to me. I've already made a couple of moves. First model railways, then when that got too expensive, aircraft. I built them for more than 30 years until I caught the AFV bug. It's not terminal, but it is incurable! Thanks for the info on the bar armour. I picked up another two IDF kits at Telford. One is Trumpeter's Ti.67 (Tiran 5), and the other is the IDF Power Truck form AK. I think that one of these will be my next build. Good luck with the sanding. John. 1
Terry1954 Posted January 5 Posted January 5 Great subject choice Rob, I'll tag along as I have the Operation Cabrit version from Gecko (British Army in Estonia). Will be good to watch how it builds. I've also got the 1/72 version by Fore Hobbies, which I'm currently building. A neat little jobbie for sure: Looking forward to seeing this come together in expert hands! Terry 6 2
robgizlu Posted January 5 Author Posted January 5 Thanks Terry - others speak the truth!! The detail on that Forehobby kit is astonishing!!! Rob 2
f matthews Posted January 5 Posted January 5 (edited) 1 hour ago, Terry1954 said: Great subject choice Rob, I'll tag along as I have the Operation Cabrit version from Gecko (British Army in Estonia). Will be good to watch how it builds. I've also got the 1/72 version by Fore Hobbies, which I'm currently building. A neat little jobbie for sure: Looking forward to seeing this come together in expert hands! Terry I'm in mid-build on this one too-great little kit! I'm a little further than this, but haven't done much since last summer-I need to finish mine up! Here it is with the Gecko kit: Edited January 5 by f matthews 9
neil5208 Posted January 5 Posted January 5 4 hours ago, robgizlu said: it's a distinct possiblility Roger! One of the issues is order of painting. Fitting the Slat armour unpainted will mean getting to the tracks is very difficult. Current thinking is to build without the armour - paint - paint the slat armour off-modl and then fix together at the end?? Hi Rob The bar armour was fitted in theatre by the REME fitters and vehicle crews and was usually a slightly brighter shade of tan. 1 1
PeteH1969 Posted January 6 Posted January 6 20 hours ago, f matthews said: I'm in mid-build on this one too-great little kit! I'm a little further than this, but haven't done much since last summer-I need to finish mine up! Here it is with the Gecko kit: 6
robgizlu Posted January 6 Author Posted January 6 On 1/5/2025 at 6:35 PM, neil5208 said: Hi Rob The bar armour was fitted in theatre by the REME fitters and vehicle crews and was usually a slightly brighter shade of tan. Thanks for that Neil. Looking at pics of them on Salisbury Plain they appear the same colour though this would be post-withdrawl and they might have been repainted. The vehicle will have crew - if only to give a sense of scale as it's a comparatively small armour piece. Modern British figures remain pretty thin on the ground - even thinner now that AA has gone. So it's out with the Miniart figures and on with the Red Zebra heads. The head will need to have some earphones fitted later This will mean attempting MTP camo. There's not really a good tutorial that I can find so again, more on this later. The other consideration is that the driver figure will need to be "planted" within the model early on before the hull is joined to the running gear, as this needs to happen before attaching all the supports for the bar armour. As there is no interior and not much will be visible anyway, accordingly ........ The working plan will be to paint figure without the head - Stick figure down adjusting height so that he can see over, then glue hull down to bottom hull/running gear. Then cover with cotton wool whilst spraying and add head when all painting is done - well that's the theory anyway Next order of business is the tracks and I know you all know - the diagrams show them fitted wrongways in the instructions They come as part "link and length tracks with 14 separate pieces each side to accomodate the drive and roller wheels. They needed some clean up at the link ends from the sprue but fitting and "sit" was painless I presume that Gecko will actually release a Spartan or other sub-types - it would be extremely rude not to......... Next up is priming engine grills and interior and painting (or trying to ) MTP - yum yum More soon - Thanks for looking Rob 17
Hamden Posted January 7 Posted January 7 Very nice progress Rob, coming together very quickly Roger 1
Milan Mynar Posted January 7 Posted January 7 Nice progress, the model looks like it would be easy to assemble. 1
SimonL Posted January 8 Posted January 8 Very nice clean build. I was given the Op Cabrit boxing for Christmas, so this is helpful. 2
robgizlu Posted January 8 Author Posted January 8 Thanks Fellas Managed to find even more time to progress this. Whilst there is nothing wrong with the Gecko engine and ventilation grills Scorpion Miniature Models do a replecement set that are more authentic And here's a comparison.... I always "blacken" the plastic kit grill beds before laying the etch on, which I also "blacken" with primer, including the tracks here as well The side armour is nearly all now attached Not much of the interior will be seen, photos of Spartan interiors seem to show similar colours to that of 432s, so very crudely colours were sprayed... And with the hull needing sealing up soon - it came time to have a go at "MTP - Multi-Terrain Pattern" the camo dress design that British armed forces have adopted wholesale since approx 2010. You all know what it looks like. It's notable in appearing lighter or darker according to the light conditions and the makers Pincroft desribe 7 basic colours... https://pincroft.co.uk/2020/12/22/what-is-multi-terrain-pattern/ In fact the print shades often overlie to create somewhat more. I've started with the following Vallejo Model Color shades that I nornally use to paint figures And have some shorts in MTP that helps decipher I began with the base layer mixing equal parts Khaki and Grey green - see pic I always use a dab of Tamiya Flat Clear whilst mixing as this gives a Matt appearance and avoids that "shininess" that you so often see on figures (the figure is wet in the photo I then built up the 2 brown colours of US Tan 70874 and German medium Brown 70826 so that browns occupy about 33% of the coverage - tryin gto use patches and swirls in a horizontal direction. I then switched to the 2 greens beginnig with Panzer Aces 318 US army tank crew once again trying ti add swirls. I then mixed the US Army tankcrew with the US Dark Green 70893 about 50/50 always mixing with that dab of Tamiya Flat. Once that was all done - I appied the chocolat streaks that are quite prominent. I normally dilute Vallejo MC with distilled water but on this occasion used i near neat froom the bottle (mixing of course with Tamiya flat) The single trick then was to apply the paint with an accupuncture needle that has been cut across. Over on maritime the use of acupuncture needles to apply CA glue etc is common place - I happen to use Altra 0.25 x40mm easily obtainable from Ebay - you'll be surprised how useful they are! The attempt is to create the thinnest streaks you can - certainly thinner than is easily accomplished even with a Windsor & nexton 7 series miniatures brush. Next up is the light colour that some portray as white bit on my shorts is a sand colour. Once again the aiim is to apply and "steak" with the acupuncture needle so as to obtain the thinnest lines possible. I'm aiming for the best possible accuracy spending as little time as possible - I am NOT a figure painter I'm happyish with the result, this was in effect a practice exercise as 95% will be hidden within the hull. i think the base layer was too dark - in future I'll just be using Khaki 70988 alone I might tone it all down with a wash. So before this post ends - let me share with you the news that Colourcoat paints are resurrected under the new company RESOLUTION HOBBIES Resolutionhobbies.com which has been set up by our fellow modeller on this site @beefy66 - Keith Richardson Great news for us Naval modellers particularly but Colourcoats also appear as excellent Armour and Aircraft colours. I was initially sceptical when I first used them - they being Enamels and all that!! WRONG - they spray beautifully and if you use the Colourcoats thinners dry nearly as quickly as acrylics. They have been my "Go-to" paints in recent years for Naval and AFV subjects. This model will be finished in their "Gulf Armour Sand" or Light Stone. And as proof here's the result of successful Beta-test ordering and delivery Bestest New year present I could have hoped for Thanks for looking Rob 14
Bullbasket Posted January 8 Posted January 8 This build is moving very quickly, and is shaping up very well. Nice work with the pattern on the cammo suits Rob. John. 1
APA Posted January 8 Posted January 8 Great work Rob 👏 uniform is top notch. Loving the build with the added details. Can't go wrong with a Gecko with added bling 😉👍 Andrew 1
Keeff Posted January 8 Posted January 8 This is looking very good .... sterling work from you! The figure looks good too, especially the camo .... tricky paintwork made to look effortless... Keith ☺️ 1
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