Russian BMR-3M

I am big sucker for cool box art, Russian stuff and engineering vehicles.  So when this one hit the market I was doomed.  I picked it up from a Chinese vendor on the net for about $50 and I splurged on an Ammo by Mig paint set (Modern Russian Camo Colors) and off I went.

Although being a high part count kit (1,300 pieces) many are associated with the tracks.  It comes with a fret of photo etch for the grills and some rubber like hoses for the external fuel tanks.  The kit has its roots in Meng's T-90 model, so there are a bunch of pieces not used.

 

 

I spent two weekends assembling hull, turret and mine roller and then a third entire weekend on the tracks.. I think they are the most frustrating component of any model I have every built.  Needless to say, I only installed the parts of the tracks that are visible outside of the fender skirts.

 

 

I think my freehand camo scheme came out OK.  As I've stated before I always mess up something  This time I used a clear satin coat in lieu of a gloss clear coat prior to applying and oil wash.  Rather than allowing the wash to run into all the recessed area, the satin coat kind of absorbed the wash and the finish turned out splotchy

 



  

 After taking the photos I realize it probably could use some more weathering and highlights.  My problem is I got a few other projects call at me from the bench and I've already spent more time on this one than usual.  I'm calling it done and moving on to my entry for the club's 2nd Banana contest in February.

Thanks for looking - George

1/48 Sturmtiger

This is the 1/48 scale Sturmtiger from AFV Club. It was built box stock except for he addition of the ring for handling shells (rocket-propelled projectiles), the cable in the loading winch, and Tamiya stick-on Zimmerit. The ring came from the jewellery department of a craft store and the cable is some thread. Neither part is supplied with the kit. The decals are from my scrap box as, again, none are supplied with the kit.

The camo is airbrushed Tamiya green and brown (I forget which exactly) over Vallejo German Dark Yellow primer.

Nice fun, easy kit to build.

QUICKWAY CRANE

My father operated a Quickway crane while serving with the 291st Combat Engineer Battalion from 1943 - 1945.  He was assigned to a pontoon bridge company within the battalion.  His rig was dubbed "Madie" after my mother (Madeline).  This specific crane was destroyed by artillery at Remagen in March of '45
 
I always wanted to build a 1/35 model of his truck mounted crane and finally last year I ran out of patience waiting for a kit of it , dove off the deep end and tried my hand a kit-bashing/scratch building one.
 
I started with a bunch of pictures, the Hobby Boss White 666 Cargo Truck kit and a bunch of Evergreen Styrene for everything else.

I began with the boom and crane cab.  Dimension came from a single line scale drawing I found on the net.  The cab went together fairly easily, but I think I built 4 different booms before I got it kinda close.

 

In my usual manner I imploded when it came to painting.  I painted, stripped and repainted the darn thing 2 or 3 times (I can't remember cause I think I blacked out during this phase).  Although I'm an armor guy, I sure do hate olive drab paint schemes.

The rigging and the block took some time to get sort of right, but in the end it resembles my Dad's vehicle pretty well.  The interior is finished out with a engine, radiator and cable drums with guards. 

I had a fun time researching and building it and want to do another when my skills improve more.  Mostly I like it because I think of my Dad every time I glance at it out of the corner of my eye.  He passed in 1989, but I sometimes think he is sitting in the cab on the shelf in my hobby room watching me struggle with the darn MENG individual link tracks (man those T-90 ones suck)

Thanks for allowing me to post this - George

My 1/35 Trumpeter "KRUG-a" SA-4.  I spent about 80 hours over June and July this year  building this beast.  After a coat of Tamiya grey primer from a rattle can, I used AMMO by Mig acrylics and Tamiya chrome/silver on the missiles.  I added a figure from TAHK for scale

 I was really pleased with the tracks.  Although individual links, they come off the spruce well and snap together easily.  I think they got the sag look going pretty good

 

As usual, at about 75% complete I messed up.  I was trying to use different shades of Alclad on the missiles and the blue tack painter's tape I was using to mask off panels was too strong and pulled off a bunch of paint and primer.   I stripped the missiles and just went with the old standby Tamiya chrome/silver. 

Overall I enjoyed building and painting the kit.  It only has a little bit of photo-etch (grills) so I'm thinking it would be a "Vince Approved" kit.  I am still learning the whole weathering technique.  I got along way to go with that aspect, along with my photographic skills.

 

Thanks for allowing me to post here.  - George







LVT (A) 1

OK.  I promise this is the last completed kit for the year. I started this one in Jan and had a very specific look in mind. This is the old Italeri kit. A few pointers for anyone wanting to build this.
Step one: Throw out the hard rubber tracks and get Fruilisimo replacements.  I Did Not do this.  I struggled through as they kept breaking.  With many staples and sewed up seems, this is the big reason for doing it on the beach.

Notice the wads of seaweed drug along the tracks.  You guessed it, hiding the staples or threads. It does provide a good effect with the turbulence of the vehicle rising onto the beach, tearing up the sand and dragging junk along with it.

 The water is DAP Clear Silicone Caulking. Takes a few days to dry enough to rub some grey / white paint to simulate the foam and waves.

 Since I couldn't have action of the LVT coming out of the water without figures, I cobbled up a few to fit.  Bits and pieces of mismatched soldiers.

While writing this up, I realized I forgot the antenna.  I will get that added now.

Vince B. 12-6-17

Syrian SU-100

This is the cheap Zvezda kit. I used the few details I knew to convert the Russian end of WWII Tank into what was used by the Syrians in the early 1960s before the Israelis blew them all out.

 The Syrians removed some of the stowage tie bars and added a tool / parts box on the front side.

 I used the STAR decals sheet for the markings. I couldn't tell you what it says.

 This old ZVEZDA kit is not of the newer quality, just reboxed..

Vince B 12-2-17

AML 90

This is the Takom 1/35 scale AML-90 kit. Pretty straight from the box. This is completion #30 for this year.

A few things to be careful of.  This nice armored car was used by Israel, Jordan Egypt, Lebanon etc.  Research which version you are going to build first as thee are some dependent options such as the rear stowage rack, type of mussel breach, spare tire, etc.

The kit comes with real rubber tires. The pioneer tools look great as individual components.

Added some resin stowage bits. 

Be careful of the mirrors.  As with all of these, they tend to break easily when handling. I managed to carefully add a mirror shine.

Vince B. 11-24-17

Panther A

This is the 1/72 scale Dragon kit. Get out the tweezers if you are going to tackle this one.

I did need to add a few details.  There were no spare track links given but would be typical hanging from the rear deck of a Panther. There was also no commanders machine gun provided.

Must have stowage.  I used  some personal equipment from a Preiser set.

AND added the necessary bucket on every German WWII tank. Be careful of the liable rubberized tracks. They are fragile and snap easily under stretching.

Painted with standard ModelMaster enamels an weathered with oils,

Vince B 11-23

Panzer IV Arabian

When  starting this Panzer IV (old ESCI kit) I wanted to do something different and was also looking at the new Dragon kits from their '6 Day War' series. I liked the idea of some minor conversions to make it an Arabian.


Since this was in 1/72 scale and I had an old Trumpeter Russian T-72 kit that was going to be parted, I thought this would be a good place to start.  I took the parts for the turret machine gun and found a part to use as a mount.

I also found photos of added tool and parts boxes mounted on the old Panzer IVs.

This will be much more fun in 1/35 scale so will be on my shopping list with Dragon.

Vince B 10-29-17

Sturm Morser

This is the AMUSING Hobby kit.  Another theoretical German Armor piece. This is a large mortar tube mounted on a modified 38(t) chassis.  Technically this design has some issues. Since this is a Mortar, the large shell would have to be dropped into the tube after the trajectory was set. This would require a scaffold and crane to be set up to lift the shell and manually drop into the tube.

Now onto the kit. AMUSING is pretty good on detail, in some areas (individual tracks) they are too detailed. Each link is 1.5 parts. The links are intended to be workable, as the ends are made that way, but in adding the crossbar, you end up gluing the hinge portion together, so I did this as length and link.

The kit provides a great looking shell and a well done crate.  As you can see, there is no way these could be carried on the mobile mortar.

Of course the kit comes with a very detailed Photo Etch set for the screen and the side skirts. I decided that the skirts were torn off, though I did make them, having to bend tiny parts to form the angled attachments.  After all the work I put into the track I wanted them visible.

 I chose an oddball winter camo scheme. Whitewash faded over a dark gray green base coat. An of course, chipping and rusting. I added some basic personal gear to the side sheet, some plastic and some resin components.

Vince B 10-28

Iraqi BMP-2

This was a quick build, purchased the kit from Keith last meeting. Old Dragon kit.  Built out of the box, though the kit includes a conversion set from making the BMP to a 2E including Mine Ploughs.  I left those off to adapt to a standard Iraqi BMP 2.

This wont make it to any shows next year as it is for a client who will probably make a Christmas Present to himself.

Vince B 10-22-18

1/144 Morser Karl Gerat

Yes, this is 1/144 scale Dragon Kit.  Yes, I actually somehow completed this with tweezers.

 Fortunately, there was no Photoetch.

Vince B. 10-2-17