Takom Iranian Chieftain Build In Print

For those of you interested my Takom Iranian Chieftain appears in the June issue of Military Illustrated Modeller this month. You'll find a full build up article plus plenty of pictures if you are so inclined.

So that's two months with articles published & I must say I'm pretty chuffed! I just hope that they inform and inspire others to have a go or learn something new to try.

AS90 Decals

 Decals are now all done and here I used the kit ones for the Bowman model, slightly changing the reg number. For the BATUS model I had to use some spare decals which I cobbled together for the tac markings then finished off with kit decals for the reg numbers and union flag. All settled down nicely with daco medium decal solution.

AS90 Detail Painting & Gloss

After a few days painting all the small details and painting the black camo pattern the models have now been gloss varnished and are ready to receive decals. Once that's done some very light wear will be added before the washes and filters go on.

AS90 Further Improvments

I had resigned myself to not having the loader station machine guns fitted due to the over scale and oversimplified items provided in the kits. However most of my references do show that this is normally fitted so I decided that I'd better sort out some replacements. A quick email to Accurate Armour and a nice email back from Derek Hansen confirmed that they would happily provide me with a couple from their AS90 update sets for a reasonable price. 

The guns arrived quickly and I've now cleaned them up and fitted a couple of carry handles. They are much better than the kit items and will make a big difference to the final look of the models. Of course I could have scratch built the mounts and used some aftermarket machine guns but I wanted a quick and easy fix. Plus I'm basically lazy! 

So now I can tackle the rather big task of painting up all the road wheels and detail parts.

Trumpeter AS90 Paint On

Over the last couple of days I've been having a bit of a spray fest getting the main colours on both models. The Bowman vehicle was the easy one to paint needing just a single colour which as usual is tamiya XF-65 field grey. This was then faded using tamiya XF-15 flat flesh added to the colour. Later I'll paint the black disruptive pattern by hand as they almost always have a hard edge to this.

The Clansman vehicle was a bit more involved. I started by spraying some of the bins flat black then masked these off. Next the main colour was sprayed on using a good coat of tamiya XF-78 wooden deck tan then faded by adding tamiya XF-57 buff & white. Next the green was sprayed on using field grey. This needs lots of patience as I didn't use any masks but instead sprayed the pattern freehand. I then faded this and went back over with the tan colour to tidy up the edges of the pattern. All the wheels got a coat of black then their respective colours.

It's all looking very bright and light at the moment but once the gloss varnish goes on it will darken down a lot. 

Stash Additions & The Next Build

With the continuing breaking strain of a wet kit-kat I've crumbled and added yet another kit to the stash. Yeap it's another cracker from Takom and yet another french vehicle. 

A look in the box reveals a very well detailed kit which will certainly see the bench in short order.

Also in an effort to try and build my stash before I snuff it or go senile here's the latest kit to hit the bench, Tiger models Panhard VBL. It's a great little kit packed with detail in a small package. just the job and a nice change of pace having wheels instead of tracks.

Trumpeter AS-90 Turret Stowage Bin

It's been a few days since the models had their primer coat so today I've worked on adding some stowage to the turret roof bins. I used good old tissue and a water & wood glue mix to soak the tissue then rolled each one to shape. I've also added a bit of bandage to one of the bins. Later on during the build I'll add more camo netting and some strapping.The fuel and water cans are accurate armour items. 

Chieftain Base Completed

Well I've now finished off the base after adding some initial pigments then placing all the rubbish onto the base. It's quite difficult to get a random look to this and some thought needs to be put into each item and it's placement. All the large items had a weathering with pigments before fixing to the base. Once all the smaller items had been glued they too had a light dusting of pigments to tie them in with the base.

Small pieces of paper were then soaked in white glue & water then added to the base. I think the final result gives a good interpretation of the war torn middle east and it also sets off the Chieftain perfectly. I'll definitely be having a go at more rubbish themed bases in the future as I have a few models that would work well with this kind of base.

Chieftain Base, More Rubbish!

Here's all the rubbish elements all ready for the base. I made up a few cartons and boxes as well as some cigarette packets using some dio art stuff & stuff I've printed out at home. Crisp packets are painted foil too. The base has also had a coat of tamiya buff and the fence has been attacked with various rust colours and a sponge. the next step will be to add some pigments then start adding the rubbish.