Today I popped up to the Gloucester show with Brian for a mooch round, being about an hour away it's not too far and a pleasant drive. As usual the show is held at the Churchdown community centre and as usual the first hall is jam packed with traders and club stands. So much so that there was barely 2 ft between each row of tables. Not good when you are trying to look around and avoid the sweaty backpack brigade!
However the other two halls used have loads of space, I don't know why they cram everything into the first hall when the other two are almost empty! It's been the same set up every year I've gone and it's probably why we don't display there, too much chance of an accident happening. However there where some nice models on display and plenty to open the wallet from the traders.
This year there seemed to be a vast amount of under the table sales from the clubs attending so most people were looking under the tables instead of what was displayed on them! Very hard to negotiate the already cramped alley ways when people are rummaging through boxes on their hands and knees. The models which caught my eye were a fine collection of 1/48th Airfix modern British armour and I spent some time talking to the builder and really admired his work. His Warrior was particularly well done.
Here's a selection of the models on display
And here's Brian paying homage to some Soviet cold war armour!
Over the last couple of days I've been working on getting the figures cleaned up and primed. I've also made a start on the MP figure painting wise. The vest was sprayed with vallejo air florescent orange first then a couple of thin coats of Iraqi sand, 332 were used for the base of the jacket. For the lightweight trousers I used vallejo 328 with a touch of black.
Once I had a good undercoat I began painting the DPM pattern using 823 for the green and 984 with a touch of black and red for the brown. These colours are bright as the waterproof jacket or "crisp packet" as it was called has much brighter colours than the standard DPM.
I then went back over the jacket touching up with Iraqi sand and adding a few small details. The shirt and scarf were painted using 830 and 924. A little bit of shading was added to the trousers then a light dry brush to add some highlights to the creases.
Advise has been sought regarding making my own custom decals and I have now sussed this out thanks to Luigi over on MHISC forum. As a bonus I have also discovered that I can produce my own vehicle registration numbers! So a whole new aspect of the hobby has now opened up for me. Who said modelling's boring? certainly not for me.
So a fun packed weekend of modelling is in the off as the weather here in the UK is forecast to be bloody horrible. I'm off to IPMS Gloucester's annual show on Sunday with my partner in crime Brian S. We are going as punters so no Stonehenge Modellers display until IPMS Salisbury's show at the end of the month.
I've now got the paint on the models and used tamiya field grey for the main colour. It's more a green than grey and I find it an excellent colour for modern British armour. As per my usual method I added lighter shades using tamiya flesh mixed with the base colour. It's heavier on the chieftain as that's going to receive the most weathering. The black was hand painted to replicate the hard edged pattern seen on the real vehicles. I used vallejo black and dark rubber for this. Lastly a dark brown was sprayed on the tanks undersides ready for further weathering later on.
I've made a start on the bronco kit after dribbling over the sprunes which are stunning by the way. The kit is full of fine detail and even finer parts but for me that makes it even more fun. The engine and chassis are very nicely done and I especially like the details on the wheels. Bronco give you the option for front wheels straight ahead, turning left or turning right and include all the relevant parts to position the wheels as you wish. A nice touch and something other manufacturers should take note of.
The Chieftain and Landrover have now been primed using ammo from MIG grey primer. It's really gone down well and has made the details pop out nicely. Before priming I added some tamiya diorama textured paint mixed with static grass to the lower hull. This gives me a good base for further mud and gunk later on.
I've also selected my next victim for the bench, Bronco's British airborne jeep and six pounder gun. This is a superb kit with everything you need in the box including the figures. Looking forwards to this one as it's another tiny model but packed with detail.
I've been working on an old set of cromwell figures for the model, they are I think the only ones with the old bone dome style helmet. They could be out of production which is a shame as they are very useful for vehicles of the 70's & 80's period. I changed the arms on two of them and added a hornet head. They suit the model very well and I like the driver figure, especially with his squaddie "tash".
For the MP I've used another really old figure this time from verlinden. Some magic sculpt was used to add the hi vis vest and map pocket on his lightweight trousers. Again a hornet head will be used on this one.
Although I'm not feeling myself at the moment and am decidedly under the weather I've managed to get the construction of the model finished. The commanders MG had some etched parts added and the all important missing handle fitted then the turret front had some mr surfacer added for a little bit of texture. The side skirt brackets were scratched in the end as the kit items bore no resemblance to the real things. I then fitted the front mud flaps and tackled the tracks.
I just love building fruil metal tracks they require minimal clean up and assemble so easily. There is a bit of sag on the top runs at the moment as the return rollers are not fitted yet. I think the build came out well, just what I was aiming for and it really lifts the model to the next level. So a wash and then primer, can't wait!
