Hobbyboss 1/35th Sd.Kfz 254 Tracked Scout Car

On to the next project and yes it's another Hobbyboss kit, this time something slightly more complex. The Sd.Kfz 254 is a vehicle I have always though extremely quirky so obviously it has to have a place on my bench! I believe that a resin kit was produced many years ago but at the time it was well out of my league due to the high cost involved.

The actual size of the model is tiny so it's right up my street!

Construction starts with the wheels which are simple to build up. Here I deviated from the instructions and glued the main hull components together as I wanted to ensure a proper fit. I had to add a small shim of plastic to the rear hull section as there was a slight gap. The hull parts have some very nice weld details too.

P-47D Thunderbolt Done!

Well my first model in some months is now finished. In the end I liked the clean look so did not add too much wear and tear. The build has been a lot of fun even though the kit is quite simple the end result is very pleasing.

Bolt From The Blue

Well I must say the thunderbolt has been an absolute joy to build and paint. Last night saw the decals go on and today I added a small bit of staining using thinned tamiya smoke as well as a panel wash using pro modellers dark weathering wash. Next a coat of matt varnish and I have now started to add some weathering in the form of pigments.

All that's needed now to finish her off is some light chipping and a re paint of the canopy as my first attempt was not very tidy! I also need to paint the navigation lights.

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As you can see in the pictures the panel wash has shown off all the lovely panel lines and subtle details, I really think it's the biz.

Thunderbolt Progress & A Weekend Away!

The main painting is now completed on the Thunderbolt, I went over the grey areas with a slightly lightened mix of the base coat to help pop out the panels. The invasion strips and the red portions came out better than expected and really set off the model.

I have also been away for a long weekend to Bruges,Belgium and a great time was had by all with plenty of beer and chocolate consumed! As luck would have it the festival of the golden tree was taking place during the weekend and we witnessed a fabulous parade on Sunday afternoon. I even found two model shops which was a bonus!

Thumping Thunderbolt!

I'm pleased to say progress has been very swift on the thunderbolt, so quick in fact that I am now at the painting stage! My plan to drill out the machine gun barrels failed due to the very soft nature of the plastic so I used some of my dwindling supply of minimecca tubing. Looks just the job. I did not bother in the end to add brake lines to the undercarriage.

Paint wise I went for tamiya colours which are XF82 RAF ocean grey, XF81 RAF dark green and for the undersides XF20 medium grey. I have also sprayed D day invasion stripes and a red nose and tail on the model. I need to do a bit more work on the camo at the moment probably by going back over with a lighter mix of the grey on the upper surfaces as at the moment it looks far to clean!

Hobbyboss 1/48th P-47D

As promised work has started on the P-47 and I must say it's a nice looking kit. It only has 44 parts, a one piece canopy and the main wheel struts are integrated with the undercarriage doors. Also the engine detail is moulded in the nose section. Even though this is a simple kit the detail is very nice with some very well rendered panel lines and rivet detail. Of course the purists will not be happy but for a quick and trouble free build you could do a lot worse.

The cockpit is a very easy build and it locates very positively inside the fuselage, a word of caution if you test fit the fuselage halves together they locate VERY well indeed and are a devil to get apart again! The only additions I plan to make are some seat belts for the cockpit, brake cables on the undercarriage and drill out the main gun barrels.

Back In The Mood To Model

After a couple of months with no entries to the blog I am now feeling in the mood to model again. After returning from holiday I felt very much under the weather and had no enthusiasm to do any modelling, so I have been getting on with some essential jobs around the old homestead as well as getting back into the swing of work again! 4 weeks off and it was a shock to the system to be back on 12 hour shifts I can tell you!

Anyway today saw me potter off to the annual IPMS Avon show at Yate near Bristol. This is the first model show I have attended since probably March this year. It was a superb show, plenty of excellent models on display and plenty of mouth watering models to purchase from the various traders. Two kits grabbed my attention and my wallet, a hobbyboss 1/48th P-47D and Sd.Kfz 254 in 1/35th scale.

So to ease myself gently into things I think I will build the Thunderbolt first as it is a very simple kit to build with a low parts count and nothing too complicated to assemble.