Miniart M3 Stuart Conversion Painted The Old-Fashioned Way

[REMEAAC]

I have been modelling for over 50 years and have a huge stash of rare and sought after kits, reference material and accessories. I’m an old-fashioned, scratch-building, make-do-and-mend type of guy and never build a kit straight out of the box.

 

I have built hundreds of models in that time, many of which are unpainted and in shoe boxes waiting for the time I can get round to painting them (somehow that time never materialises!).

 

The last time I painted a model must have been over 40 years ago (a 1/35 Tamiya KV-1if my memory serves me well) but I have kept up with the changing modelling styles over the past decades through reading magazines, books and the internet and enjoyed the massive contributions to the hobby that all modellers and manufacturers have made.

I own several airbrushes but I have neither had the time nor the space to use them to their advantage and they remain tucked up in their boxes unused, along with the three air compressors that I have acquired. Anyway, I think hand painting by brush lends an intimacy and a familiarity to any modelling subject and brings a real sense of satisfaction if done well. 

 

I prefer to do copious amounts of research for every subject that I build and build specifically to a particular vehicle (if I can find enough information on them) in a particular setting. If a subject is hard to research, then artistic licence comes into play for the areas where information is sparse, without losing historical or contextual integrity.

Such a subject is the M3 Stuart Early Version Recce. Sure, there are a few photos but there appears to be very limited reference to it.

 

Using the excellent Miniart M3 Stuart Honey, Dick Taylor’s Warpaint - Colours and Markings of British Army Vehicles 1903-2003: Volume 1 and a photo I acquired from the Maple Leaf website, I set about a simple conversion followed by my first paint job for 42 years. I decided to experiment with a variety of techniques old (very) and new, acrylic and enamel paints, weathering powders, pencils etc. What you see is entirely brush painted, I hasten to add. 

 

Hope you enjoy…

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 5 by REMEAAC
Photos not showing

[Bullbasket]

Uh! I think that you forgot to post the photos.

 

John.

[REMEAAC]

I thought I had John. Used the URL uploader. Obviously to no effect!

[Bullbasket]

Which photo hosting site are you using?

[szeregowy]

This may get handy 

 

[REMEAAC]

Am using Flickr. Am I using the URL uploader wrongly on this site? Seems easy enough to me.

[szeregowy]

15 minutes ago, REMEAAC said:

Am using Flickr. Am I using the URL uploader wrongly on this site? Seems easy enough to me.

I use Flickr as well.

Open a photo that you wish to share and then in the bottom right corner click on the arrow, make sure you're on the 'share' tab, copy the link and then paste it in your post.

[REMEAAC]

Thank you. I'll give it a go!

[szeregowy]

Flickr link should look like this

 

https://flic.kr/p/******** where stars will be a random chain of letters and numbers. BM will then automatically convert that link and photo will be added to your post

[REMEAAC]

Thank you so much for your help. Think I've cracked it now. Hope you enjoy the pics.

[ColonelKrypton]

Very nicely done.

 

cheers, Graham

 

[Keeff]

If that's the first paint job in 42 years, it doesn't show and you have some serious skills! 

 

The vehicle looks great and is superbly finished .... 

 

Keith ☺️ 

[REMEAAC]

Thanks Keith, it's taken a bit of time. I think the whole thing from start to finish took about 100 hrs. Shows that you never lose the skills so diligently learned.

[szeregowy]

Lovely finish, does not look like brush painted at all.

[Wayne B]

Fabulous finish and weathering, made all the more impressive that it’s done by brush. Stowage looks great too. Looking forward to seeing your next completion. Hopefully we don’t have to wait another 40 years 😋.

[Milan Mynar]

Excellent work.

[Stef N.]

Lovely job. Nice conversation and great paintwork. 👍👍👍

[PatrikF]

That looks great 👍 you captured it perfectly

[Armorrich]

I like it a lot!! Never saw this configuration but it looks really cool and your treatment is excellent all around. Extremely well done.  

 

Cheers...Rich 

[Gogser1]

That’s fantastic! Beautiful piece of work.

[providence]

Great model, I love your paintjob and weathering !

 

Regards

 

Providence