I've now sorted the thermal blankets & netting for the model and am very pleased with the result. Again using the post in notes for templates it's actually very easy to do. I fixed the netting to the notes and then the hull using deluxe materials glue & glaze. It's perfect for this and makes for an easy time gluing the sheets on. The upper hull is almost done after adding some missing details and enhancing other areas. The hose in particular was just a plain moulding, however it should be ribbed so some fine copper wire was just wrapped around the kit part. Looks much better I think. The commanders housing is next with the gun mount and front shield to do. Here I may replace the kit GPMG with a live resin item.
I've continued with the thermal blankets/netting and have just finished off the hull top. So I only have the roof hatches & commanders hatch to cover. I'm very pleased with the result as it looks suitably in scale and was very easy to make up and fit.
The pace of the build has slowed down slightly as it's now time to tackle all the add on armour. Starting at the front all the parts are nicely done and the fit is good as well. There is only some slight clean up needed on some of the slats. I also wired up the smoke dischargers and headlights using lead wire and added some bolts here and there. the whole front section can be kept separate for painting as well. The two front jammers also had missing bolts added and the drivers side one & front camera have been wired up using lead as well. From the start I wanted to add the missing thermal blankets with netting as most if not all 432's had them fitted. So as a trial I started on the rear jammer gubbins box and used post it notes as templates then covered each one with netting. I'm using some netting from Tetra models and unlike most netting you can get which is paper this is made out of a fabric of some kind. It even has a slight texture which close up looks very convincing. Once all the sections had been done I glued them to the box and used tamiya tape for edges on some areas. I then used a pair of tweezers to lift up the netting. I think the effect is excellent and should look even better once painted.
Here's the model after a really enjoyable session at the bench. I'm romping along with this at the moment, it's that easy to build. As usual with the smaller vehicles in the Takom range a jig is supplied to aid assembly of the tracks and this works extremely well. The tracks do need a fair bit of clean up but once assembled look very good I think. In fact I think the whole suspension and wheels looks bloody good. I've also started enhancing and adding any details missing and have stippled Mr surfacer on the exhaust as well. I particularly like the rear hull bins, they are made up of five parts but the fit is excellent. The tankograd FV432 variants book has been a great reference as well and is well worth the price just for Bulldog references.
Continuing my British armour theme this year my next project is going to be this cracking kit form Takom.
It looks to be a pretty standard build with only a few improvements & additions possibly needed. I've also got the tankograd FV452 variants book to help me add anything else that may be missing. I'm already thinking of a suitable display and am leaning towards a street corner scene with just one figure in the gun turret. Should be a fun build & will be starting over the weekend.
With the ASLAV done I can now focus on the chieftain and have now sorted out all the glazing and lights. For the rear lights I used a couple of pre coloured lenses as the kit ones are a devil to get off the sprue due to very thick runners. I also used two clear lenses for the side lights at the front. The rest are from the kit with the IR lenses painted black on the inner faces. All the masking was carefully removed from the periscopes and the wipers picked out with green and black followed by a touch of Klear here and there to restore the glazing to the correct sheen. The next step will be some severe mud applications to the lower hull & wheels, building up a nice muddy finish.
The project is now completed after knocking up a base for it. For this I firstly added some plaster then fine sand. Once that had cured I tried out some AK light & dark crackle effects to simulate a dried out river bed or desert environment. This was my first go using it and I think the resulting cracked earth effect looks very good indeed. The thicker the layer you apply the bigger and wider the cracking will be. Once that had also dried I sprayed the base with a suitable base colour then added pigments using the same tone I used on the model. Finally some parched grass clumps and an Aussie badge went onto the base. This has been another enjoyable build not least because it's so different but also because of that wonderful camo scheme. I even enjoyed sorting out the figures too.
Work has slowed down on the bench lately due to the cracking weather we have had here in the UK and the increased consumption of gin based refreshing drinks! However I have now almost finished adding the pigments to the model and have fixed the figures and other bits too. There are only a few bits to finish off then I'll get on with the base ground work.
