Not hanging about at all I've been working on this during the final stages of the leopard. It's the old but reasonable tamiya marder 1A2, when I say old the date stamp in the hull is 1977! However this particular kit has a new sprue with the milan and associated parts included and glueable plastic tracks. I also have an eduard etch set and RB barrel to improve things. The kit is basically sound with some areas needing work but a good replica can be produced with a small amount of care. Already I've started improvements and got it on it's wheels. My plan for finishing this one will be a heavily scrimmed up vehicle with plenty of mud. This means I can happily add the wheels and tracks before painting which will enable me to get the side skirts fitted before the main paintwork goes on. As most of the lower hull is hidden by these a good splodge of mud etc around the running gear and a spray of earth tones should be all I need to do. Oh and a lot of pigments!
I've now finished the project after spraying a very thin mix of tamiya buff around the lower hull followed by a fine application of VMS pigments. The exhausts where stained using VMS soot pigment too. Finally the base was dry brushed with a light grey to pick out the raised surface of the concrete. I've enjoyed this project immensely and learnt a few new methods and tricks along the way. The revell kit is pretty good even though there are some flaws and over simplifications but with a few extras and some work it really does scrub up well. I must say a massive thank you to Marc Mercier for all his help before and during the build, After all I was building his tank! I hope I've done a half decent job Marc. So next stop for this model is Belgium in a couple of weeks and I'm really looking forward to seeing how this goes down with my Belgian friends.
Here's the leopard after an overnight curing and all the glazing done. Really pleased with the final colour of the model and extremely pleased with how the paint fading came out. I'll leave the matt coat to cure for another day then add a very small amount of thinned tamiya buff and pigments to finish off. As ever VMS varnish HD did the business.
Not much done recently due to other tasks at casa smudge but I've finally got the matt coat on today and started weathering the base. I should have this all wrapped up by the end of the weekend.
The model has now had a light filter followed by a couple of darker pin washes to pick out the details. Next will be some streaking I think. I've also added some concrete to the base and for a different look tamped down the still wet mixture with the edge of a long ruler. This has resulted in a rougher texture which should show up better after some weathering.
I've now added the call sign boards to the turret using some decals I discovered after another rummage through my spare decals. They had to be over painted with yellow due to the decals being white. The numbers are not quite the same style or font as the originals but I could not find anything else suitable so I hope you forgive me for that! But they do add even more colour and interest to the model and having the simplified call sign number on the rear box adds even more interest I think. I've also been mulling over the final display of the model and have decided to not add any crew. My plan is to display it on a hard standing, possibly tarmac or concrete with a pallet containing the spare fruil tracks I have. Well that's the plan at the moment!
I've now added some extremely subtle chipping on the model, It's actually hard to see it in the pictures but it's there. I used Vallejo 336 Afrika Korps tank crew which worked nicely. I won't be adding any dark rust type chipping on this though as they seem to have been very well maintained during their long service with the Belgian army. Some padlocks have also been added to the stowage bins and I've made up some call sign boards for the sides of the stowage basket. Brian has helped me out here and hopefully has some suitable decals I can use. I've also constructed the bones of the base using an Ikea picture frame and foam board. So it should shortly be getting some washes & filters all going well.
After a few attempts I'm reasonably happy with the cobra heads that I've painted on the turret. The commanders side one was the most tricky for some reason and they are not exactly the same. They are close enough to the real thing however and from a distance look OK. They certainly add even more colour and interest to the model. Now I only have the call sign boards on the stowage bin to sort out.
I've now done most of the detail painting followed by a gloss using Klear. Once dry, which didn't take long I went ahead and added the decals. These came from the excellent Daco productions Belgian vehicle set and even had the correct unit shield for the turret. The front number plate decal was mounted on a thin strip of plastic card then once all done it was fixed to the mud guard as per my references. My next task is to paint the "cobra" call sign marking on the turret by hand. I've already had a practice and think I can paint it without too much trouble, fingers crossed!
