FT-17 Update & A Happy New Year!

I've finally got some bench time in and have now added some chipping to the tank then sprayed with gloss ready for decals & weathering. The figure has also had some paint chucked at it and I've painted the jacket with oils. A little bit of highlighting needs to be added to this. The face has also been started.

As this is my last post of the year I'd like to wish everyone a very happy new year, may all your modelling ( and real life) dreams be fulfilled over the coming year !

Festive Greetings & A New Addition

Well it's Christmas again and time to look back on the year, which to me seemed to fly by! On the modelling front it's been a very good year for both building and acquiring new kits for the stash. Perhaps too many new kits this year but with so many "must haves" coming out at the moment it's pretty hard to resist! Build wise I've really enjoyed the variety and also getting back to modern armour has really boosted my modelling enjoyment.

Stonehenge modellers have also had a great year and we have really enjoyed all the shows we have attended especially meeting up with friends old & new. The highlight of the year must be our Belgian trip, something we will definitely be doing again next year if only for the beer! 

The blog has also been working well with an average of over 3000 page views a month plus a steady stream of new followers. I do try to post regularly and bring you interesting subjects and info which I think makes all the difference to both seasoned and novice modellers alike. It's also great to receive so many nice comments and emails from people who have seen the blog. I have some more great builds planned for 2015 so I hope you will enjoy seeing them take shape.

On to the new addition and we have now given a home to a mature moggie called Wilkie. He's 6 years old and has been a stray but is very affectionate and loves people. He came to us from Bath cats protection who I must say where excellent and very thorough. He's only been home a couple of days but is already making himself comfy and is settling in well. The missus loves him already especially as he likes a fuss so much! As you can see he's rather a handsome devil.

   

Finally as is tradition a couple of pics of Dita in some sort of festive clothing, not much of it but that's not a bad thing!

  

FT-17 Camo & Figure

It's been hard to get any bench time in at the moment but I have now managed to get the camo painted on the tank. I used vallejo colours and hand painted the scheme. The figure has also arrived and very nice it is too with very little clean up and nice crisp details. It also comes with two heads so you have a choice. I'm definately going with the rather smart beret wearing moustachioed head as he just looks so French.  

FT-17 Basework & Dragonfly cockpit

Today I've been adding a little bit more to the FT-17 base in the form of some posts and barbed wire. The posts are just coffee stirrers & the barbed wire is verlinden etched stuff. Must say thanks to Brian who popped over yesterday for some modelling related chat and dropped off some he had spare.
I think it gives the base that little bit more interest and should look good once painted up. A coat of primer and the base is now all ready for it's eventual main colours.

The Dragonfly cockpit has now had a bit of pin wash added then dry brushed and finally matt varnished. I just need to pick out the belt buckles then I can close up the fuselage halves.

FT-17 main colour & Stug progress

The FT-17 has now had it's main colour coat and for this I used a mix of tamiya desert yellow & buff. I will be going back over the model with straight buff heavily thinned just to lighten the shade slightly and create some highlights.

The base is next and I have added some MIG wet mud mixture to enhance the texture on the base and cover the sides. I love this stuff it's very easy to produce excellent mud effects and get that churned up earth look. It also helps to blend the sandbags & planks to the base. Although it looks like a deformed chocolate cake now! Thanks to Brian I now also have some barbed wire so a few posts will be added on the base so I can festoon them with wire.

The stug has also had a bit of attention in the form of a matt coat. Quite pleased with the fading and colour variation on this so far. I'll let it dry for a few days then attack with pigments.

FT-17, Dragonfly & That Stug B

A rather busy one this but hey I'm in the zone at the moment so here goes. First up is the FT-17 now all primed up. As you can see the primer really pops all those rivets. 

The Dragonfly next and again this has been primed and now sprayed with the base colours. I used Gunze H317 for the cockpit, side walls and seats. The exhausts were sprayed with Allclad jet exhaust & the front intake fans chrome. I've also glued the wings together and am now working my way around them sanding down the seams. Next up will be some detail painting and washes for the cockpit assemblies.

And lastly that occasional shelf queen that is the Tamiya stug B. After loosing interest in the build and loosing a flipping  hatch I put this yet again in the pile of doom. However after a bit of a clean up on the bench and a bit of a search for the missing hatch I bit the bullet and got the plastic card out and made up a new one. Primed & painted I can now progress again with this build. I'll add a couple more filters I think using the Wilder stuff to see how it looks as I'm not that happy with the weathering at the moment.  

I reckon that lot should keep me busy until Christmas!

Bugle Call Show Bath 23rd November

Today saw Stonehenge Modellers attend our last show of the year. After a quick drive down the road from my house we set up in record time and then enjoyed the obligatory bacon buttie before the show opened to the public. We were quite busy for the first couple of hours but then by noon it went completely dead. It seemed that in the afternoon there were very few visitors.
This year saw no competition being hosted and I wonder if this was a factor. However to be fair this year I have noticed that a lot of shows seem to be struggling to attract the crowds of visitors that were so prevalent a few years back. Perhaps it's because there are so many shows now here in the UK. A case of saturation point perhaps?

Anyway we did enjoy the day however and it was great to meet new people and old friends alike. Also there were some real quality models on display by the various clubs in attendance. Here's a selection of the models on display.