38t Decals, Washes & Weathering

The little beastie has now had the decals added and the weathering done. I used a couple of very light washes made from oils then went back over the model with a darker thicker pin wash. Not too heavy though as I did not want to alter the base colour too much. A little oil dot fading was next then the wooden tool handles received some oils too.

  
A few days are now needed for the oils to cure which is not a bad thing really as it's Christmas and then I can get a matt varnish on and start on the pigments.

38t Chipping

Almost finished the chipping on the model now using a fine brush and sponge and my favourite chipping paint vallejo German camo black brown. Just the exhausts and track links to do then a gloss coat and decals. The decals just consist of the national insignia and a turret number in red on each side.

Bugger! It's Christmas Again

Well it's that time of the year again where we look back on the year gone by and look forwards to what the new has in store for us. I certainly have been taking stock of this years events and must say 2013 has been a unmitigated disaster for me. After loosing Buck in March it's not got any better what with my heart attack and loosing my work dog too.

However on the blog and modelling front it's been a good year. I have managed to finish eight models this year which is double my output in 2012. The blog too has seen a massive increase in visitors and followers and I'd like to thank all of you who have taken the time to read my ramblings and leave such nice comments.
I hope you have enjoyed the blog as much as I have writing it. Next year will hopefully be as productive and I have got some interesting builds planned including a couple of resin kits, something I don't build that often.

It's also been a great year for the fledgling Stonehenge Modellers, aka Myself and Brian Stoddart. We've had a blast attending lots of shows both as exhibitors and punters. We have also really enjoyed talking to lots of people at shows and sharing ideas and hints & tips. Next year should be fun too with hopefully a trip to a show in Belgium planned for October. That gives Brian plenty of time to build some new models!

So a very happy Christmas to all I hope you have a great time and a great new year. Finally as is tradition here's a picture of my beloved Dita in festive attire yet again!

Airbrush Full Steam Ahead!

The part arrived for my airbrush yesterday so today was full steam ahead on the bench. The 38t received a coat of tamiya dark yellow & white then a lighter mix was sprayed in the centre of panels to give some depth. I was going to paint a tri-colour scheme but went for a single colour in the end after seeing an interesting scheme on the net.  The vehicle I'm going to depict is from the Ukrainian steepe in 1942 and sported just a single colour.

The figures have also been matt varnished after finishing off the faces and adding some decals from tamiya's ever useful insignia set. One other reason for the single colour is because I like the contrast between the figures and the tank.

The valentine's also had a matt coat and I'm pleased to say all of the previous weathering is still visible.

 
So busy on the bench at the moment and with Christmas just around the corner I better crack on as I suspect I may have a model or two under the tree this year!

38t Figure Painting

While I wait for the airbrush part to arrive I have made a start on painting the 38t & valentine figures. The panzer crew are first up and instead of painting straight black this time I have started with a base coat of black & flesh base. I then added shadows with pure black and then highlights with increasing amounts of flesh added to the base mix.  The result has more depth and looks slightly faded too.

They still need some more work and the flesh areas finished off but overall I'm pleased with these. The valentine figure has had the jerkin painted with oils and is now set aside for that to dry before the rest of the uniform can be painted.

So not a bad weekends work especially as the weather here has been foul, high winds and driving rain. Not the sort of weather to be sorting out the garden!

Valentine Weathering

As I'm buggered until the washer arrives for the airbrush I have been cracking on with the Valentine. A mix of pin washes, oil dot fading and dry brushing has been applied and this has helped show off all those lovely bolts. It's now pretty much ready for a matt coat. The figure has also been started and I painted his leather jerkin vallejo leather belt. I will then use oils to paint it later.

 

Hitler Discovers He's Used the Wrong AK Interactive Wash

This is hilarious! just had to post it!

Of Primer, Airbrush Parts, Work & Transit Boxes

Well the 38t is now in primer as are the figures and the tracks have been primed with Vallejo panzer aces tracks primer. I also primed a nice Alpine figure for the valentine. Once I'd primed I decided it was high time to clean the airbrush so duly stripped it down only to find that the PTFE needle packing washer was missing! Wondered why it wasn't spraying right, Oh I use a Iwata TR2, so £8.00 lighter in the pocket a new ones on the way.

How can such a small part be so expensive? never mind can't do without it I suppose. That carpet monster has expensive tastes. I did find a rather patriotic transit box however for the Abram's impending trip to America. Looks good I think! nothing like flying the flag. I've lined the box with some foam so it won't move whilst in transit. Just need the name plate to arrive now and it can get secured in the box.

Finally today was my first day back at work albeit on reduced hours but it's a positive start! I'm sure I'll be itching to get back on shift after a couple of weeks doing "admin"

38t Figures

I have now found a couple of figures in the depths of the spares box, I think they are from a tamiya stug kit (can't imagine where that's got to) and they fit the vehicle nicely. I changed the heads for resin items and added a small neck scarf to the chap in the cupola.

38t Tracks & Valentine Update

Spent a happy 4 hours yesterday assembling the fruilmodel tracks for the 38t. I find them far easier to assemble than plastic tracks for some reason. Also they can stand a bit of handling unlike the plastic variety. The model is now ready for a wash before primer and main painting.

Good news too on the valentine front. I have actually managed to get some decals on! Thanks to Tim for the spare decals and Tony Lee for the suggestion to use microscale liquid decal film I can now finally get back on track with this one. I applied two coats of the film to the decals and then allowed to dry for 24 hours. The decals this time around performed as they should so happy days. The next time I use AFV club decals I will be using this on them again. Saves a lot of headaches.