After a blast of gloss the decals, all five of them, are now on. I'll now add some chrome paint for the lights and side reflectors before getting some filters and washes on the model. The tracks have also been given a coat of black primer before some oily steel is sprayed on. The rear lights will not be seen as I'll add some putty or tape to simulate hessian covers which I've seen in some references.
The detail painting is now all done and there is not much of it to do either. I've also removed the masking from all the periscopes as I find the longer you leave it on the harder it is getting it off cleanly. So the model should have a gloss coat in the next couple of days.
With a bit of refining and tightening up of the camo I've now also painted the slat armour up. Next will be detail painting before a gloss coat.
The initial camo pattern is now on the model. I used tamiya XF 68 Nato brown lightened with flat white followed by XF 85 rubber black and white. The painting guide on the instructions is not quite correct so using references I adjusted it to a more correct pattern. I will now go back over the model using all three colours to refine and tighten up the pattern then spray the bar armour and periscopes to match the pattern.
Just finished spraying the first colour on using tamiya XF 67 NATO green with a healthy dollop of XF 15 flat flesh. As you might know tamiya changed the tones of some of their colours some time ago and NATO green was one of these. The new paint is considerably darker than the original and because a gloss coat & weathering tends to darken the overall paint tones even more I opted to lighten it with flat flesh.
Also looking at references the Pumas seen to sport quite a light tone of green and brown compared to earlier Bundeswehr vehicles, very similar to Italian three colour schemes. Again references show these vehicles are kept pretty tidy so no paint chipping or real wear is evident so no paint fading or chipping will be needed later on. Just a few scuff marks along the hull sides with a light green paint will do.
Primer on today and due to the many nooks & crannies I went with Mr finishing surfacer black thinned with leveling thinner. This went down beautifully and has really popped many fine details on the model as well as the subtle anti slip on the upper hull. Next will be NATO green which I will lighten with plenty of tamiya flat flesh.
Finished up the construction yesterday with the final bits & pieces added to the hull plus a few extra bolt heads here & there. So it now needs a wash before primer and paint which I'm really looking forward to.
Almost finished adding all the hull parts now and have built up the rear bar armour so it can be removed for painting. Yes it looks on the thick side but I can live with it as the alternative is expensive and tricky etch. I have also found that the kit plastic really does not like CA and have had to rough up both mating surfaces for a good bond.
As you can guess there are loads of periscopes to deal with but again luckily they can be added after painting. With just a few more parts, a few bolt heads and a couple of tweaks to add it won't be long before this beast is in primer.
The turret is now all done and here I decided not to add the IR jammer above the sight so detailed up the mount with plastic card and lead wire. I then covered the four sensors around the turret as per my refs. The smoke dischargers are quite soft on detail and need a fair bit of clean up but once in place look acceptable. Finally a cover was made up using lead foil for the gun assembly as this is very noticable in reference pictures of the real vehicle.
Work continues on the model with more work on the turret. Some improvements to the cabling to the gun barrel are an easy addition but lifts it up nicely. I will be covering the MUSS sensors on the sides of the turret later as I won't be adding the MUSS jammer that is mounted above the panoramic sight. Talking of which this will be left in three parts and assembled after painting.
A rare treat in the form of a Stonehenge Modellers' jolly boys outing to a relatively new museum today. Myself & Brian made the short hop to Worthy Down just outside of Winchester to visit the RLC museum. This museum opened in 2021 and I must say it's a very nice looking building which also incorporates the main reception for the camp. Located outside the wire there is plenty of parking and it's easy to get to. It's also free admission which in this day and age is a rare thing.
Once inside the museum is relatively small, similar in size to the REME museum but there are a lot of exhibits and very good displays. However as usual the lighting is on the dark side. Something I've found to be the norm with a lot of museums, perhaps it's to try and convey an atmosphere but I do find that it does sometimes hinder good photography and enjoyment of exhibits.
Saying that most of the displays are well lit especially those in cabinets and the information is clear and easy to read. The displays flow very well from the beginnings of logistics right up to the modern day. As the RLC is the largest corps in the British army and came into being 1993 and was then made up from the Royal Engineers, Royal Corps of Transport, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Royal Pioneer Corps & the Army Catering Corps they have done a very good job of capturing the interesting history of the RLC's forebears.
After the visit it was then off to Stockbridge for a pub lunch & a walk along the high street before heading home.