Back to the Beast

I am actually going to put this one on a base so it's easier to transport. Can't face things breaking off the bugger. Whilst sorting through my spares box the other day I came across an old tamiya Kettenkrad plus trailer which I built but never used back in the mists of time.

The spark of inspiration went off in my head and I thought that it would be great to display this next to the geschutzwagen to show the sheer size of the thing and tell a story. So with a few figures as well I intend to show a maintenance party looking at the monster and thinking "where do we start?" Stripped the kettenkrad of old paint and proceeded to add some details using the wings and wheels book on the subject.



Here is the completed detailing using scrap bits and brass rod.

Marvellous Midget

Well the sub is now finished, very very pleased with how it turned out.

Distressed Midget

Weathering the sub calls for some restraint as it is so small so I started by adding some chipping and scrapes using some very fine sponge and a fine brush. A wash of paynes grey followed next to give some depth. Once this had dried fully I started adding streaks and stains using burnt sienna and light grey oils. I got to the stage where I thought any more would be too much and stopped. Very pleased with the effects so far.
I will be having quite a bit of time to model at the moment having torn my cartilage in my knee whilst training with my dog. Very painful but at least I have something to keep me busy!

Midget Madness

As I have got as far as I possibly can with the Geschutzwagen and whilst waiting for the tracks to arrive I thought I would go completely off on a tangent and have a go at this maritime modelling lark. I picked the ICM U-boat type XXVIIB Seehund (late) up at the recent Poole Vikings show basically because I liked the box art and thought it would be a fun project to build and to see if I could approach the build from an armour modellers perspective.



The first thing about this kit is it's tiny! It has been a very long time since I have built anything this small. Consisting of only 40 parts it went toghter in an evening. I added some detail to it such as the hinge to the hatch and some tiny brass bolt heads from an old etched set. The dome on the hatch is moulded in solid plastic on the kit but on the real thing it is a glass dome. To replicate this I cut off the kit dome and will replace it with a AFV domed light lens, looks just right.





The torpedoes had some wire added to the tips.



After a good wash and blast of primer I sprayed the sub with some xtracrylix gunship grey the went back over again with a lighted mix using neutral grey to add some contrast. The torpedo's where painted in tamiya NATO black, a darkened mix of gunship grey and silber RLM01, this is again an xtracrylix paint. The look is quite subtle as I didn't want to go too overboard!

Chips Dust and Matt

Lots more done lately, the end may be in sight! chipping added with a fine brush and sponge using vallejo colours then some streaking and staining using oils. After a matt coat I used various shades of MIG pigments for a nice dusty look. The wheels all had the contact surfaces painted using games workshop boltgun metal. The barrel has been re sprayed yellow and green which I feel works better with the overall finish of the model.

The gun carriage and mounting has had a dry brush of oils to pop out the details too. The tracks are the only part of the kit I have had trouble with. Just cannot get any paint to stick on the buggers! not had this problem with trumpeter tracks before but they have well and truly beaten me! I am going to use some fruil metal tracks which at least will take paint and have better detail.

Slapping More Paint On

I have been plodding on with the Geschutzwagen slowly but surely. All the red oxide areas received a succession of Vallejo colours applied with a sponge to intone many small chips and colour tones. I then added some colour modulation to some of the parts for a more varied range of colours. Next was a bit of streaking using oils and a pin wash in selected places. Lastly all the red oxide areas where brushed with various tones of MIG washes.

I then tackled the camo on the external surfaces, my idea was to add a camo scheme that would replicate tree boughs and hedgerows as I did not want to revert to strips on this model. The paint used was an old pot of Tamiya JA green XF13. The camo was sprayed free hand and came out very well. I am calling this my "oak leaf scheme" as it reminds me of oak leaves. This was totally unintentional the scheme just evolved that way!

Painting the monster

Today I have mostly been painting! The model was primed with Tamiya grey primer and I managed to use up a whole new can of the stuff on the model. This evening I have started to add the base colours. I am going for a red oxide primer and dark yellow finish with possibly some green mottling on the exterior surfaces.

For the red oxide I mixed up Tamiya colours, these being X7 red, X8 lemon yellow and XF1 flat black to a nice primer colour. This has a slight sheen to it as the red and yellow are gloss colours. The wheels where sprayed first and as you can see I have left the rear of the wheels in primer colour. My reasoning being late in the war they would have not bothered with painting the inner faces the final colour.

next some of the wheels got a blast of XF60 dark yellow and the gun barrel and mounting received a coat of XF63 german grey. All these colours will subsequently receive darker and lighter shades to add shadows and high lights. I may spray the sprockets german grey just to add a bit more interest to the running gear and to break up the mass of primer colour.

Building a monster!

Here is the latest project, Trumpeter's Geschutzwagen Tiger fur 17cm Kanone 72. It's 1/35th scale and is huge. The only additions so far are a few bolts from plastic a metal barrel and superb muzzle from RB models and an application of Mr Surfacer 500 on the hull to replicate the steel texture.
As this was a xmas present from the wife I thought it was high time to build it, plus it frees up quite a large space under the bench!

More Commission work finished

I have now finished my latest commission work a couple of Italeri Dodge ambulances. Nice and simple builds with interesting colour schemes. The winter whitewash version is particularly nice however I am not sure if this would have actually been seen.