I've now painted the 1 tonne using tamiya colours for the green. Again XF 65 & flat flesh being my weapons of choice. For the canvas I finished off adding more flesh to my previous mix which gave a nice pale colour. A mix of vallejo black and dark rubber painted using a brush sorted out the vehicles camo.
Detail painting such as it is was next and then a bit of chipping using suitable vallejo colours went on next. Finally the decals went on over a gloss coat. I punched out the bridging disc using some old yellow decals and hand painted the airborne Pegasus. The gun received a very small amount of chipping then the details were picked out. Hopefully today I can get the washes and filters onto both models.
The AMX has also had the decals added and here I deviated slightly from the kit suggestion and marked mine up as No7 using my refs as a guide. I like the colourful markings on this very much.
So that wraps up a busy month at the bench, I'm hoping to get these two finished ready for the On Track show in Folkestone at the end of February.
A busy weekend at the bench for a change starting with the figures for the 1 tonne & 105 gun. Using various vallejo colours I painted each figure in turn & varied the camouflage shades whilst painting. These are just great fun to paint as really it's the effect you are looking for rather than 100% detail.
You should also remember that when viewed from a normal distance and without the aid of magnifiers or extreme macro photography the overall appearance of the figures especially in this scale should be subtle and not harsh. The 1 tonne & gun also received some attention in the form of a coat of primer after masking the windows.
Next the male tank also had a blast of primer which has really popped all those rivets & bolts out. I'm really looking forwards to painting this.
And finally I repaired the AMX adding some more chain and fixing the commanders external sight using some lead wire. I just hope they all stay in place now! I also gave the model a shot of gloss in preparation for decals and weathering.
So a very productive and enjoyable weekend well spent at the bench I think.
After tidying up the bench following the AMX spraying session last night I was at a loose end so had a quick sift through the stash, ( it sits conveniently under my bench) and pulled out an Airfix 1/76th Land rover 1 tonne & JB models 105mm light gun. Looking in the boxes I realised I had a set of Elhiem crew figures for the gun, something I'd forgotten about.
Anyway a light bulb moment took hold of me and I thought what the hell let's build it! I mean the AMX is curing and the male tank is drying after a wash, sure I could have got on with the figures for those two but where's the fun in that? So a couple of enjoyable hours last night and most of this afternoon saw me finish both off!
OK the kit is a bit chunky in places and there's some missing details but that's not the point. Besides these are 1/76th scale for fucks sake, who goes to model shows with a magnifying glass? I did add a few embellishments mostly on the 1 tonne and made up some spent rounds & ammo boxes for the gun but mostly enjoyed myself.
I can probably finish this off in a week or two so it's a nice little aside project which will fill the gaps during the other two builds. It's just a pity that no 1/35th light gun is available in plastic or resin at the moment. I'm not holding my breath that one ever gets made so this will have to do.
Finally got my arse in gear and sprayed the camo for the AMX today. I used tamiya XF-74 for the green and then a mix of tamiya buff, white & gunze light grey for the sand. Painting was a long process due to all the sticky out bits & I managed to break one of the external sights and loose two of the chains on the smoke dischargers. Bloody annoying as the chains were a right pain to get right.
I think I can scratch a replacement sight and I do still have some fine chain so nothing too disastrous I suppose. The model will be left for a few days so the paint cures fully before making any repairs and detail painting.
Well what can I say? Yet again a tamiya kit that flies together and is a pleasure to build. I've only added a brass handle, some missing bolts around the drivers area and replaced the kit cotton wire with better copper wire. And that as they say is that!
I've been working on the male tank over the last couple of days, only a few snatched sessions at the bench but progress has been swift and pain free. I'm not using the motor but have used the metal sprockets front and back for ease of assembly.
Detail as you would expect is amazing as is ease of assembly. The tracks in particular are a joy to build and just click together. This is something tamiya really excel at. I've made a couple of improvements being a brass handle on the fuel tank cover and I've removed the two small hatches on the rear hull top. These are present on the Bovington Mk IV but were not actually on the tanks during WW1. It's thought they were post WW1 additions.
I've finally got some primer on the AMX so will leave it to cure for a couple of days whilst I sort out the main colours. Takom only give you AMMO colour notes on their painting guide so I will have to do a bit of research to get the proper colour matches. Saying that the only colour I'm not sure about is an alternative to AMMO yellow grey as I'll use gunze olive drab for the green.
Also in keeping with my policy of two builds I've chosen the Tamiya British MkIV male tank as my next project. I've got a nice Stalingrad figure to go with it as well as a heap of flimsy cans for the base I plan for this. Perhaps another figure will be added but we will see. I've noted a few improvements that will be made but there is nothing major to do on this kit, just build and enjoy.
Today I've sorted out the base and mounted the model in place. Nothing fancy just some short static grass and a few grass clumps. I was going to add a bush or two but they swamped the layout so a plain bit of groundwork worked best. I've really enjoyed working on this little stug, it's tamiya so builds itself almost and even in 1/48th there is plenty of detail to appreciate and work with.
Here's the final build pictures.
