Italian Puma On It's Wheels

The puma is now complete after some light final weathering with tamiya flat earth & buff on the lower sections and wheels. I purposely kept it subtle as I didn't want to swamp this with mud & crud for a change. I then added all the loose parts and fixed the figure in place. 

The base is again a small tamiya item with AK terrain tarmac and a bit of VMS smart mud for an earth verge. This will be tackled next with a selection of washes and pigments, very similar to the road I did on the humvee build.

Tamiya 1/48th Elefant Finished

Just finished off the project with some static grass added to the base then sprayed a suitable colour before finishing off with pigments. I've thoroughly enjoyed this one, you really can't beat these 1/48th kits for ease of building and detail.

Elefant, 432 & Feathered Visitors

I've finally got round to adding the pigments to the elefant & as ever VMS pigments, binders and universal weathering carrier all played a part. I made up a gloppy mixture first and worked this into the tracks and wheels then once dry rubbed off the access. Then dry pigments were used to finish it all off. I've also been sorting the base out and again VMS smart mud was my weapon of choice.

The 432 is now in primer so I should be starting the paint work next week.

And finally over the last few weeks I've noticed some goldfinches in the garden, we don't usually see them much and only fleetingly so I was keen to encourage them to hang around. So I bought some niger seeds and a feeder & put it up in the garden this afternoon. After about an hour the first finch found the feeder and we've been enjoying watching quite a few feed since then.

They are one of my favourite birds as they look splendid and have the most beautiful song. I remember whilst I was a dog handler seeing great flocks of them in the summer feeding on the teasels that grew around the edges of the fields where I was stationed so to get them visiting the garden is really nice.

FV432 peak Turret Construction Complete

I've now finished the building phase after sorting out the scopes on the turret. I used thin plastic strip to give them some definition. Not the best but way better than the originals. The takom gimpy barrel has also been adapted with a thin metal tube on the end, again much better than the original blob of resin.  

The issues with the accurate armour conversion almost made me put it back in the box but I'm glad I persevered. I've now got a very different looking trojan and it's one I've always wanted to model. The takom kit on the other hand is a real pleasure to build and the details are crisp and accurate. 

You can do loads with the takom kit as a base but you need to know your timeframe and have plenty of decent references. The tankograd book FV432 No 9014 was a big help here as well as my personal references. 

FV432 Peak Turret Almost Done!

Well the build is nearly finished with just a few bits to add to the hull and the scopes and new machine gun barrel on the turret to sort out. The kit really doesn't take long to build when you don't add the interior.

Takom FV432 Wheels & Tracks

The wheels and tracks have now been built up and some wear added to the track pads with my mini drill and round burr. Set at low speed the burr chews off just enough to suggest wear nicely. Likewise nicks and rips were added to the rubber on the wheels with a sharp blade. 
Lots to clean up on the tracks however with ejector marks on the inner faces but being link & length tracks this didn't take much time. Once assembled they look pretty good, no need for aftermarket replacements if care is taken during assembly. 

Takom 432 Hull Top & Puma Lights & Scopes

I've now fitted the hull roof to the takom lower hull & the fit was pretty good. It was a bit of a pain gluing as it's a big part and CA needs to be used but I got there in the end. I have also added some plastic strip to the roof edges as this is quite noticeable on the real thing but not that well done on the kit. It's something I noticed during the bulldog build but didn't fix due to the extra armour fitted. 

It's a simple fix but will enhance the look of the model. The engine deck screens fit fine with only a bit of sanding needed on the opening for a snug fit.

The puma has now had all the masking removed from the scopes and all the lights painted up & some lenses fitted to the front. I also added four insanely tiny and fiddly PE light guards which took ages to get in place.

Takom FV432 Peak Turret

I've now started work on this project and have begun with the conversion set from accurate armour. Firstly I'll give you a bit of a heads up regarding the takom kit. Straight from the box you can build a very good replica of a vehicle that had undergone an overhaul from 1998 to 2001 and covers the period up to the reworking of the engine & gearbox under the bulldog program. For vehicles before 1998 a few changes need to be made. These are pretty minor and I'll point them out during my build. 

On to the conversion and my first task was to remove the new hull roof from the pour runner and fill a few pin holes. Placed next to the takom kit you can see straight away that there are no brackets for the camo pole tubes and the rear roof hatch is bigger to accommodate the roof adaptor plate. The adaptor plate needs a bit of clean up and mine is warped slightly but once glued in place it should be fine.

The peak turret needs lots of clean up and defining of details as it's quite soft. I had to fill a couple of areas to replace missing areas of the turret as well. The turret hatch in mine was a total cluster fuck, the top of the hatch was rounded and too short so again I had to fill with putty and superglue to try and get the correct profile.
 It now actually fills the turret opening correctly but doesn't quite sit flush, not a good start. The interior of the hatch is also not good so I'm thinking a closed hatch later on.

The turret periscopes are bloody atrocious and need some major work to look half decent. The main scope, No4, is particularly bad so I'll try re working it or scratching a new one. Surely it would be easy to make masters with recesses for the glass instead of casting them as solid lumps? 
I have not shown it here but likewise the GPMG barrel for the turret is a waste of resin. It's just a miss shaped blob with bugger all definition. Luckily I can use a spare barrel from the stash.

Finally the last major part is a revised exhaust pipe, nice idea but the end cap is cast closed and the part is warped in the middle. better to use the takom one I think and chuck this bugger in the bin.

As you can tell I'm not overly impressed with this conversion set, OK it only cost me £20 but if you bought it from accurate armour it would set you back £32 & that's before postage. I think the only really new parts in this are the hull top and the decals. Although looking at the hull top it looks a lot like a re worked takom item. Everything else has probably come from their 432 kits & the saxon apc with peak turret. This really shows due to the mold degradation and the age of those kits. 

BUT again this is the only game in town so if you want a peak turret 432 be prepared for less than perfect fit and some filling & sanding. I just hope that the hull roof fits the takom hull now!