Tuesday 31 October 2017

G6 Rhino Decals & Detail Painting

The decals are now on the model, all four of them! Took me about a minute to add them. I've also completed the detail painting on the model and again there is not much to worry about. So it will be onto the weathering over the next few days.






Sunday 29 October 2017

G6 Rhino Camo Painting

I've finally finished the laborious task of painting the camouflage on the model. I first thought of spraying & masking but in the end decided to hand paint the camo as the thought of all that masking sent shivers down my spine! 
Mind you painting the pattern by hand was equally time consuming and it was not helped by takom's poor painting guide. Firstly it's tiny and very difficult to work out the placement of the different colours and secondly the pattern just does not look right. So using a mixture of my reference pictures and the guide I managed to sort out a decent pattern.

I used vallejo 70837 US field drab for the brown & 70889 US olive drab for the green. I've seen the brown on the real thing very reddish brown and also very light brown so went for the lighter shade. The turret stowage box was sprayed a reddish brown and the lower portion of the barrel was sprayed german grey. This is a feature very apparent in all the pictures I've seen and I suspect it's to do with the barrel recoil on firing. The models also had a coat of gloss ready for further detail painting.

It's a big bugger to paint so I took my time and painted the pattern in bite sized sittings. 





Sunday 22 October 2017

Trumpeter AVGP Husky

The model has now had most of the detail painting done and a little light chipping. It's also had a gloss coat & the decals added. Once they have dried I'll add a bit more wear to the model before pin washes & filters. 






Saturday 21 October 2017

G6 Rhino Paint Time

The rhino received it's first colour last night and I started with a mix of tamiya XF 57 buff & white. Not much of this base colour will actually be seen on the finished model but I thought it would be easier to get this on now rather than later. Lots of masking will be needed once I start to add the other two colours. 



Friday 20 October 2017

AVGP Husky Paint

The husky has now had it's paint work done. I used tamiya XF 67 NATO green with XF 57 buff & XF 15 flat flesh added in various ratios to add some highlight to the colour. I'll let it cure for a couple of days and get on with the rhino paint work.



  

Thursday 19 October 2017

Plenty Of Primer

I've now sprayed the Husky & Rhino with primer. A long job especially on the Rhino but well worth the effort. I'm going to start spraying the main colours on the Husky today I think and then can start on the Rhino over the weekend.





Monday 16 October 2017

IPMS Belgium Plastic & Steel Show Report

I've just returned after a superb weekend at the show, tired but happy and with some nice new additions to the stash. Friday followed the now familiar format of an early start from my house to Brian's with loading of his models followed by sausage & bacon rolls & coffee before our departure. Now that the M3 road works have finished progress to the M25 was swift and trouble free. The M25 was slightly snarled up but that's normal, however we managed to get an earlier crossing on the euro tunnel which was a nice bonus.

This enabled us to have a nice long pit stop once in Belgium & here Brian decided the sensible thing to do was get a beer down his neck!



After a very nice lunch it was onto the venue and a quick set up before checking in at our hotel for the weekend. I then finally managed to get a well earned beer myself! The weather by the way was brilliant, more like summer than autumn & in fact it was very warm all weekend. No need for coats or fleeces this year. 




Saturday was as ever a great day with absolutely loads of stunning models to admire and traders to help empty your wallet. This year there were even more exhibitors and more are expected to attend next year. I made my first purchase even before the show had officially opened. One panda models M1 early kit swiftly disappeared underneath our display tables! 

Again it was great to meet up with some of you who follow my blog and friends from forums past & new. It was really great to meet up with Paul & Guy, a shame you had to leave early Guy but perhaps next year we can have a few beers? Paul travelled all the way from Germany via train, a very long journey but he entered some models in the competitions and came away with some awards so well done mate! He was staying at the same hotel as us so we all had a few beers that night & a really good laugh. 

It was also great to finally meet up with Marc Mercier who has given me loads of help whenever I make a Belgian army vehicle. Top bloke all round Marc and I hope to see you again next year. Sunday was also a busy day with lots still to see and people to talk to. 

























































































So a big thank you to IPMS Belgium for the invite and for running such a friendly, relaxed and fantastic show. We always have a great time and look forwards to seeing you all again next year.

Here's some pictures of a very empty euro tunnel terminal this morning, again we were lucky to get an earlier crossing back to Blighty than originally booked.





And finally my new additions!