Glorious Mud Part 2

I'm now back working on the Chieftain and have started adding the pigments. I've used a shed load of these plus thinners, pigment fixer, wet effects fluid and a black wash to get the various tones similar to my reference pictures. I was looking for a wet outer rim to some of the wheels and a dryer inner area. By combining the various mediums I think I've got pretty close to the real thing. The upper surfaces have had a more restrained application of pigments as I don't want to totally cover the main colours.  

The pictures show that the chieftains are absolutely covered in mud, even the turrets but I'm going for somewhere in between. I've now started adding some oil leaks to a few of the wheel hubs and fuel staining to the engine deck. And I've also painted up a few laser cut leaves to add to the deck and other areas were they might collect. 

Bronco Airborne Jeep, A Little Progress

I've been playing with the Jeep again over the last day or so and have now got the major parts together. Some of the parts are insanely small and take some time to fit and to be honest it's a bit of a chore. Also parts placement is quite vague at times so you need to check before committing to glue. My hat's off to Bronco for the choice of model but sometimes you wonder why they insist on providing parts you can only see and try and clean up with a microscope! Anyway shouldn't moan as this is an occasional build at the moment while my main efforts are concentrated on the Chieftain build.

Followers Of The Blog

Today I'm sad to say I have had to remove the "followers" section of the blog due to some weird activity and supposed "followers" who's interests are definitely not modelling. As I could not edit or remove said persons I took the step of removing that section all together. Quite frankly I'm pretty disgusted and alarmed that I can't remove these sick bastards from my followers list.

Matt Varnish & Shiny Bits

The models have now had a selection of earth tones sprayed on the lower portions and a matt varnish too. I've then picked out all the gloss elements such as the lights and vision blocks and added the glazing to the land rover. Next up will be a bit of a pigment fest! Still a way to go on this project as I still have a base to sort out and build however it's all going as planned and I'm actually taking my time! 

Stonehenge modellers will be at the IPMS Salisbury show next Saturday so I may take this along to display as a WIP. So if you are there do drop by our tables and say hello.

Glorious Mud!

The models have now had a further application of oils this time using the dot method. This has added some more streaking and variation in tones. I've also attacked the Chieftain with more mud building it up in the road wheels. For this I used MIG Europe wet mud, my first go with this and I must say it's very easy to use and gives a great texture when applied. I used an old brush to smear it into the wheels for that compacted look. It also covered up any poly hubs that have split. 

Chipping, Washes, Filters & Kit

First up is the chieftain and here I added some light chipping over the model using brush and sponge. I concentrated on the stowage bins and areas of high wear. The land rover only had a whiff of chipping and that was mostly kept to the doors. No rust here as the body work is aluminium. That's been followed by some pin washes and a fist filter using MIG P405. 

The turret baskets have had the stowage sorted out and I've added some magic sculpt tarps in the bottom of the baskets and whilst still curing pressed in the bits of kit that will sit on top of these. Not much to do here now just finish up the painting and add a few decals. All the vision blocks have also been painted using citadel mithril silver as a base then vallejo 800 gunmetal blue as the main scope colour. I find it's easier to paint these now instead of later when I matt the model down as any touch ups I have to do now blend in better later on.

One thing I have noticed is that a couple of  poly wheel hubs have split! not a biggie on this build as I can disguise them with mud but it would be a problem if I wanted a cleaner finish. I did debate about casting some resin replacements at the start of the build and now wish I had. I think it's due to the age of the kit.

Castoff Models Exciting New Releases

Castoff models are now offering the old Cromwell models conversions for Warrior Wrap 2 and Challenger 2 TES "megatron" plus the full kit of the 432 Bulldog. Terry at Castoff tells me that he now has the master moulds for these and hopes to get more in the near future. There will be more versions of the 432 a Challenger CRRAV and ferrets. This is excellent news as for years the Cromwell kits and conversions have been notoriously difficult to obtain, now under the Castoff label they should be more readily and reliably available which can only be a good thing as the originals where extremely well cast and researched.

I for one have lusted after these kits for years but have never been able to get my grubby paws on them so my hats off to Terry for making these available. I've straight away ordered the Wrap & Chally 2 conversions and I can't wait to see what's in the boxes. A full review will be posted once I calm down!  To say I'm excited is an understatement. Here are the pictures of the items taken from Castoff's website and the web link.

Castoff Models

And here's the real thing