Myself and Brian popped over to Lacock yesterday for the annual "Lacock at war" show and a very nice day it was too. There was plenty of interesting vehicles to see and other items to admire as well as a good mix of re-enactment groups present. Brian even got to grips with some SLR's, sterling sub machine guns and browning 9mm pistols, re visiting his youth and warrior like career! Just don't ask him about the paperclips or dangerous typewriter ribbons!
I particularly enjoyed the dingo scout car which was beautifully restored and an interesting BAOR VW beetle which had a very interesting history. Also there were two very nice ferret scout cars which I thought looked superb. The show is reasonably compact and possibly due to the location vehicles are limited to wheeled only but there is still plenty to keep you interested. The best thing is entrance is free.
It's also a good opportunity to have a wander around the historic village, slightly bizarre as it is seeing German troops and home guard soldiers enjoying the scenery and having a pint in one of the pubs. Talking of which we also enjoyed a spot of lunch and a pint which was very pleasant. The show is usually held around the same time in August each year and is well worth a visit.
The cent has had some restrained chipping added using a fine brush and sponge. I used my usual Vallejo German camo black brown for this. Most of the wear is around areas of heavy traffic and the exhaust shields. Here I also used Vallejo panzer aces dark rust, light rust & yellowish rust. Next will be a round of washes, filters and oil fading.
The figure for the M47 is now almost done with just the flesh areas , beret & boots to paint. I added some oil stains to the overalls as well for that authentic maintenance look!
Whilst the spray booth & airbrush were out I went ahead and primed the model today. I've used a lighter shade of primer as the model will get some pre-shading before the main colour goes on. I've also started painting the figure and have blocked in his overalls.
The gloss coat went on first thing this morning so this afternoon I added the decals such as they are. I'm now making a start on some chipping concentrating on areas of obvious wear such as the exhausts and shields. I will be keeping the chipping to a minimum so as not to loose the main colour.
I've almost finished the detail painting on the model with just the exhausts to paint before a gloss coat. The mantlet cover has really popped now that it's painted and looks superb. I'm also pleased with the tarps on the turret which look just right. I did add a little more highlight to the paintwork before painting the details and concentrated this on the top upper surfaces of the model.
It's all going nicely at the moment so I'm hoping to have this finished by the end of August.
The figures are now all done bar adding a little bit of pigments for dust on boots etc. I'll add that once the figures go onto the model. I can now get cracking on with the tank.
Well it's been a busy time for me both around the house and at the bench. The figures have slowly taken shape with some painting and I now only have two to finish off. I have been using various vallejo paints and have tried to vary the uniforms for some variety. During this period the IDF were using a mixture of old British, American, French and their own uniforms so some mixing of uniforms and styles helps me out on this project.
For instance the tank helmets used were either the old WW2 American style as seen here, French copies or IDF manufactured versions. Indeed they also used newer American helmets for crews of say M48. I'm very pleased with how they have come out and I think they will look great once installed on the model. Hopefully I'll finish them off tonight which means I can then get back to the model for some further highlighting.
Finally got my arse in gear and sprayed the model today. I used a mix of tamiya XF-57 buff, XF-59 desert yellow, XF-2 flat white & XF-23 light blue. I then went back over the model with a bit more white added to the basic mix and sprayed highlights. I may add more lighter tones later on but I need to let the paint dry first so I can see where it's at.
Very pleased with the colour looks just right to me. Now I've got all those figures to start on!
