Dave Eyles
Havant, Hampshire, England
“This classic Tamiya offering stands up well through the years for its ease of construction and its ‘joy to build’ factor,” says Dave of the 1/35 scale SAS jeep. Still, he added all he could. A few examples: He made a new gear stick from .020-inch styrene rod and fashioned a canvas gate for it from Milliput two-part epoxy putty; he replaced the kit’s jerry cans with Italeri parts, and tied them down with graphic-tape straps and Verlinden photo-etched buckles; installed a machine gun from the Tamiya U.S. Weapons Set, building a mount for it from styrene rod and strip; and formed backpacks and other soft stowage with Milliput. He distressed the finish by painting a base coat of Humbrol olive drab, applying a coat of hairspray, then a coat of Tamiya dark yellow lightened with a little Tamiya buff on high-traffic areas. Then he selectively scrubbed with Scotch Brite pads, sanding sticks, and an old toothbrush, all dampened with water, to lift the overcoat and reveal the green below. Washes with raw umber and yellow ochre artist’s oils and Humbrol pale stone helped replicate desert dust; bits of olive drab dabbed on with a chunk of foam represented paint chips.