Saladin Weathering

I've now started adding the weathering and for this I used MIG productions neutral wash. I thinned it slightly as I wanted to preserve the sand colour and not darken it too much. Basically I used this more like a pin wash but it's given the model a nice accumulation of dust and deepened any recesses and details. Further weathering will be done using tamiya buff and pigments only. 

Back With The Achzarit

Whilst waiting for stuff to dry on the sally I've been adding some filters and pin washes to the Achzarit. I used a mix of wilder filters and oil pin washes to bring out all the recessed details on the hull. The tow ropes then had a very thinned wash of vallejo black to tone down the silver and add some oily deposits. After a blast of matt varnish and a day or so to dry I've now added all the shiny bits and removed the masks from the periscopes.

As you can see no stowage has been added just some straps as I didn't want to hide the shape or features of the model in the end.

The next step will be pigments to finish this one off I think.

Yet Another Grand Day Out

Yes we have been at it again, spreading fear and boredom to all those poor sods who overhear us waffle on about all things military and plastic. This time we popped down to Blandford to the Royal Signals Museum. This is a very nice museum indeed filled as you would expect with everything "signals" related from the earliest forms of communication right up to the high tech methods used today. it also covered almost every conflict the British army has been involved in which is quite a few! The displays were really good with very clear descriptions and histories of the pieces displayed.

 Brian was particularly pleased to see so many typewriters on display! I think it brought a tear to his eyes and he had that wistful look about him whilst reminiscing some of his exploits which included some horrendous wounds sustained in the line of duty. One particular story about a nasty paper cut was particularly harrowing!  

He also tried to chat up a WRAC but as usual he bored her to death! 

I was pleased to discover yet another Land rover 1 tonner, this time fitted out for radios. No matter where I go lately I see em everywhere! And the Dorchester command was very interesting. They also had a Land rover pink panther which was very nice with correct period kit hanging off it. Seeing this I was reminded of the old tamiya kit I built many moons ago. I may just have to re-visit that kit now.

After a cuppa in the museum cafe we then enjoyed a very nice pub lunch after a blast down the country lanes with the top down on Brian's car, and yes it was freezing! The museum is well worth a visit if you are in the area.    

Saladin Decals & Detail Painting

Decals are now on and all the detail painting has been done. I've also been mucking about with the figures and finally sorted out their positions in the turret. 

Saladin Turret Painted

The turret has now had it's camo applied and I'm now starting to pick out all the details. I'm rather pleased with the tones used as they match perfectly the references I have for an Aden vehicle. I'm also going to add a small bit of chipping mostly around the hatches and stowage bins.

Dragon Saladin Mk 2 Paintwork

Over the last couple of days I've been going through my paints and working out what would be suitable. I eventually went for gunze H36 dark green which I think works perfectly for post war bronze green. For the stone colour I went for gunze H313 yellow with a drop of white added. For the wheels I used tamiya XF 58 rubber black which is a superb tyre colour especially for larger wheels.

I first sprayed the green then when that was dry masked off using silly putty and tape. The stone tone went on after this. Once all the masking came off I then touched up where needed. As you can see I have not added any of my usual tonal variations to the base colours on this one, rather I will rely on weathering later on. 

You will also see that the colours are gloss, that's how they come out of the bottle but I will be matting this down later. Although bronze green was a gloss colour I think that if it was left gloss the model would look unrealistic so Matt varnish will be used.

Saladin In Primer & Achzarit

The Saladin has now had a primer coat and is now curing for a couple of days which is handy as I can sort out some suitable colours for it. 

Work on the Achzarit has taken a bit of a beating whilst I've been busy on the sally can but I have now managed to place the reg numbers on the model! I should be starting the weathering on this next week.