Syrian T34 / D30

 This was my first RFM kit that I started last year.  Nice details, a bit fidley but went together well. 

There was a bit of photoetch.  I replaced the handles with copper wire.

You might recognize that this T-34 would seem to be backward. With the turret removed, the gun needed to be placed on the front glacis plate yes, the gun is backward when in motion. This is a 122MM Howitzer. 

Surprisingly, there was no interior detail provided though you can clearly see inside. I decided to throw in some tarps and ammo cases for the main gun. 

Vince B.  1-18-21

Magach 7C

 

This is another Academy kit. Its nearly the same as the Magach 6B but with the upgraded armor plating on the turret.

There are some discrepancies / errors in part identification in the instructions and some difficult options to interpret. See my notes from the Magach 6B series reports. Gather books and photos to determine which options suit you best. 

I like stuffing the turret basket with lots of stowage. A few details I did add were the solenoid and cables for the 50 cal on the mantlet and the tie down chains for the tow cables. The banners were made from wine bottle label foil. Straps are made from masking tape.

Since taking these photos I have added the antennae and painted the head and tail lights. 

I painted and masked the white stripes on the barrel. ALl done with enamels and weathered with oils. I did some sponge chipping and rubbing of worn areas.

Vince B.  1-10-21

SU-76M

This is the Tamiya 1/35 scale kit which I built from the box for our contest in Nov. Afterward, I decided to put into some groundwork.

As you can imagine, being a newer Tamiya kit, the fit on everything was perfect. Even the figures went together well and fit into the proper place in the vehicle.

The model was painted with enamels and weathered with oils.  Pigments were added for the exhaust system. I did the chipping with sponge. 

I used various tree and groundwork products to make the hedgerow.  The fence was made from coffee stirrers.

 Vince B.  1-8-21

Rat Patrol

I know some of you are fans of the 60's TV show.. 'The Rat Patrol'. This was a for fun project proposed by a friend of mine who still watches the re-runs. It forced me to watch old episodes on U Tube to study details, errors and inconsistencies from show to show.

I did my best to reproduce the consistent details and depict the generic scene of the jeep powering over a sand dune. The jeep itself was a combination of Tamiya and Italeri parts sprues. These seemed to be the same kit but I didn't have either as a complete set. It didn't matter as I had to compile lots of extra stowage to throw in.

The main challenge was to cut and paste the figures available in my spares to fit and modify the details as best I could... like making the hat from putty.

The details of the jeeps changed from episode to episode and sometimes even the model of the jeep changed, as seen in differences in the grill and headlights etc. This can be attributed to repairs or motor pool availability. Some of the details were due to actual filming restrictions as to do the stunts they performed, required that the windshield be secured or it would get busted up too often as well as cause glare from the glass. Also the drivers mirror was often removed for similar reasons.

This was a lot of fun and will probably be sent to my friend who proposed the challenge. 

Vince B.  1-4-21

 

SdKfz 251 / 1

 

This is the 1/48 scale Tamiya Half Track kit. As expected all fitting was great. If you were to build out of the box, its a weekend build.

I found it interesting that the two figures provided with the kit came without accessories. The instructions referred you to parts from the figure accessory set.

I outfitted both of the figures as well as the interior of the stowage bins and benches. I added the brackets for the riffle racks from styrene strips. I use this masking tape for straps and wire strands for wire. 

I used various snow and ice effect products from Tamiya and Green Stuff both on the ground work and on the vehicle. 

Vince B.  1-3-21

M9 Armored Combat Earthmover (ACE)

 

This is the 1/35 scale Takom kit I built for the club January Engineering Vehicle.

The kit was well designed to provide various posing options for the suspension and the dozer blades. I chose to have it digging into rubble.

The kit includes individual track links so it is easy to pose in uneven groundwork.

This is a one man vehicle. The entire chassis other than the drivers compartment is engine and gearing of the high torque components.

This was a pretty smooth build without any real fit problems. You do need to decide in advance how you are going to pose the vehicle so you can select the correct placement for the options.

Vince B. 1-1-21

SdKfz 234/4

Well, Happy NewYear. This is the first of many posts to come in the next few weeks as I review my near completed projects and finish up any missing details.

This is an old Italeri kit. Not much to it. Its painted with enamels and weathered with oils. 

I did some minor scratching and wear with sponge dabbing. Its hard to see in 1/72 scale.

 I did add some Preiser personal stowage and a bucket. 

Very little interior, but you cant see it anyway, so no great loss. 

Vince B. 1-1-21

 

British Sherman ARV

This is my entry in the club's Engineering Build.  I started with the Cyberhobby Sherman M4A4 tank kit. To convert it into an ARV, I used the Legend conversion kit, which consists of a lot of resin parts and a lot of photoetch. The figures are from the Miniart British Tank Crew. The jerry cans are from an AFV Club set and are tied down with a heavy thread I found at Hobby Lobby. Insignias were sourced from Accurate Armor and Archer. One antenna base is scratch built and one is an aftermarket 3D print. Antennas are fiber optic line. Stowage behind roof hatch is from Value Gear.

The Cyberhobby kit assembles beautifully. The Legend set is pretty good but the resin has heavy lugs on some of the parts. Reference photos of the real thing are also helpful in placing items, although there are pretty good photos with the set. I had to scratch build parts of the interior just in case one could see in through the open hatch, around the figures.

Light weathering was done with oils and powders. My photos didn't show them to be muddy, just dusty, with little rust. I also darkened the the jerry can tie down aftertaking these photos.

Despite cursing a few of the parts in the Legend transkit, this was a really fun build.

Greatest Tank Name Ever?

 

Click Here for the story on how the tank got its name.

1/72 Merkava Mk IV

 This is the 1/72 Merkava Mk IV by HobbyBoss built for our "Speed Build". It is box stock (of course) and painted with Velejo paints in the "black basing" method. It was primered in flat black, and then painted with Model Air paint that had extra thinner added. The color is called Hemp and is what Valejo recommend for modern IDF armor. A very nice little kit.

Armor for Halloween

 I know this is a little late, but I only just came across the photos. Costumes for your armored vehicle on Halloween. 

First is a Taiwanese APC desguised as a crain. This is apparently so that the vehicle might survice a Red Chinese invasion.

The second is an Idaho National Guard Humvee dressed up as a T-72 tank during training exorcises.

Possible modeling subjects? The APC is doable, but you may need to know how to sew to do the Humvee.

IDF Magach 6B

 Academy's kit, with additions of a Legends Conversion set and home made .50 cal solenoid power control.  It is painted Sanai Grey,made with 50/50 of Tamiya XF-49 Khaki and XF-66 Light Gray.  Then some heavy weathering in the panel lines.

We are under construction. 
The kit parts are in yellow and the Legends conversion set is in gray.Add caption.

The model's construction is now complete.

Primed and panel lines shaded, ready for painting and completion.

And now some shots of the completed magach 6B!

Both Vince and Werner built similar kits and posted their results on this site some time ago.It willbe great when we can all get together "live" and get these 3 builds together for a fun discussion.

First Jon Baker Memorial Group Build -- and my Sturmtiger

My Sturmtiger won first place in our recent Baker contest at our Sept meeting.  There were 12 entries, one of which was virtual.  There were some terrific builds on the table, and I am honored that my club picket my kit as the winner.

The contest rules specified something from Baker, a figure and a base.

The Sturmtiger (380 mm assault mortar) is a Tamiya kit from Jon's estate, it was missing most of the road wheels and suspension, treads, figure, decals.  I called Tamiya USA and ordered the missing parts and they were here within a week.  The extra mortar shells on the ground are Tamiya and were in the box.  The 2 repairmen, tools and ladder are also Tamiya, and the two are working on the engine.  And then there is the engine and radiators.  The commander figure watching from the ground is a Dragon figure.

Most of the ground work came from John Ford's estate, too.

This photo shows the completed interior and light before attaching the turret to the hull and painting, weathering etc.  

Too bad the radiator compartments had to be closed up. 

Bolivian Vickers E Mk A

 This is the 1/35 Mirage kit of the Vickers E Mk A tank. I've painted it as one used by Bolivia in the Chaco war against Paraguay in the early 1930s.

 

In the few photos I could find (only one in color), the camoflage is barely decernible, but I knew it started as yellow/brown/green. Also in the photos, the tanks never looked too beat up, just faded and dusty, so that was the effect I went for. To achieve the faded look, I first painted the entire tank Tamiya buff. The green and brown were created by starting with buff and then adding color until it was just visible as green or brown and not buff. Those colors were airbrushed through homemade paper templates, to keep overspray to a minimum.

 

Weathering was done with white & ocher dot wash and then a burnt sienna pin wash. This was followed by a wash of AK Dust Effects and then Mig North African Dust pigments fixed with oderless mineral spirits. The pigments seem a liitle large, almost like rocks, not dust. The overall effect is just about what I wanted to achieve, but there should probably be more pigment on the lower hull sides (inside trackloop).

 

The base is the first time I've used a static grass applicator. First layer went down OK, but kind of messed up with second attempt. Also, too monotone and too close to the ground color (Velejo Desert Sand Earth Texture paste). I wanted a dry grass look, but...