Lots of awesome builds maybe next time I can’t build a tank in 30 days lol....

Piers: She looks good! I've thought about replacing handles with wire but so far haven't done it except for the ones I lose. 

Did you use plastic sheet or index cards to mask off the windows? I can't tell from the photos. 

Looking really good, Piers! And I like the idea of the metal handles too.

I have to figure out how to make a good jig that will make the handles as nice as those you have!

The brown camo is down. Still need to mask it and spray the black camo.

Well, masked for the black camo last week and sprayed it yesterday. Forgot to take some photos after I took the masking off. I went and sprayed the gloss finish on for the decals so I really don't want to handle the model till it's good and dry. Will try to get the photos with all the paint up soon.

@Cliff,

I'm looking forward to seeing the camo complete. 

@lost,

LOL! I see what you mean about the handles. Great job re-creating what you need!

Ok, quick update, I have completed the tracks, primed the upper, lower and turret. I'm trying the black and white technique. The black has been shot, the white will go on today, and then I'll get a base coat of the IDF sand color. 

I'm using Mission Models paints for the first time. And somewhere here on the forums, I read that you should not use much thinner for prepping the paint for an air brush. But, so far I have had to thin more than I do with enamels. Granted this has only been with the black paint. And this is not a complaint, but, and observation. So far, this paint has layed down very nicely.

I'll get some pick posted latertoday, or tomorrow. 

I'm making some progress on the Merkava! 

The kit supplied some very well engineered templates for the tracks, which made assembly easy. 

I just put the first coat of MM Gunmetal on them.

And here is my rendition of the black and white technique.

I should get the first coat of IDF sand on tonight.

More to come!

Piers: Those rebuilt door handles look about a zillion times better than the originals. Great work there!

Bruce: Nice work there too. Gotta love those track link templates, it's a huge advantage. I still hate the fiddly bit track links but the templates make them so much easier to work with. Great job there on the pre-shading, going to look great with the base coat on. 

The Abrams is painted, decaling now- all eight of them. Will get some photos up soon.

Just a quick update. The IDF Sand has been sprayed. Now that I've got a good idea of how to use these Mission Model paints, I am liking them quite a bit!

Currently cleaning the guns and spare tracks for paint. Then I'll have some detail painting of the tools on the turrent. I hope to start weathering by the end of this week.

Bruce: That looks terrific! The pre-shading came though so well! 

Bruce, the preshading has come out really well - great modulation.

I have done no preshading on the Bushmaster - I will mess it up after painting...

But I have done the tan, green and black Auscam. I have used blue tack for masking, it was really sticky and a pain to get off but worked out okay.

It's under here somewhere...

Next decals, then the weathering starts...

Some very nice work going on here guys.

Piers, love the camo on that.

Piers: That looks fantastic! 

Slow moving here, I finished up the tracks and the road wheels. Went to put them on last night and the friggin' skirts on the right side simply do not fit. I think I said before they didn't want to fit correctly when I tack glued them in place to paint the camo but I hoped with some work they'd fit better when I put them on for good. But nope, not sure if one of the sections is slighty warped or too big or small. And I had no issues with the left side skirts, going to put them in place this weekend. Will take photos when all the running gear, skirts, etc are in place.  

Grumble the right side skirt still didn't fit perfectly but well enough I think I'm going to leave it and move on. 

She's pretty much together, still need to add a few small details. The semi-gloss is on her and I started applying a pin wash, lotsa details to pick out. There are some flaws in the camo but I think I'm going to leave them and move on. Dunno if I'll be done by the end-date or not- I shouldn't overshoot by a week or two though. 

@lostagain,

Great job on the camo pattern! I'm looking forward to seeing how you weather this one.

@Cliff,

To me it looks like the skirt fits quite well. The camo pattern looks really good. And I'm like you, I hope I can get this one done by Sep 1st.

Bruce: Thanks! If you look closely it is a little crooked and about a mm gap in some places between the hull and the skirt. Still you have to look carefully to see it, I just want her done at this point so I don't think I'm going to keep fiddling with it. 

Looking nice there Gamera, coming on really well.

Thats coming on really well Piers. Nice work on the decal for the spare tire and i like the stowage.

Thanks guys! 

Piers: That looks good! Not sure if  the camo would come out different on the canvas cover though, it might be fine as is.

Dunno if I'll meet the end date or not. I worked Sat. and then got yesterday off but ended up spending it on family stuff. Still I am so close. Just finished the pin washes and think I'll skip any dot filtering. Whats left:

1). Finish painting and add tow cables to turret.

2). Spray with matte finish. 

3). Remove masking from clear parts. 

4). Add any mud/dirt and I'm done. 

The base is about half done, and I didn't like the figures so I went back and repainted the base colour to their uniforms. I found a really good internet article on painting the digital camo that I'm using to get the camo right. Ordered a little more junk to fill out the turret bustle rack. But all in all the tank itself is almost done, I don't think Clemens will ding me for turning it in as finished and adding the base, figures, storage, etc later. 

@Piers,

I really like what you did with the storage! It will really dress up this build.

I finally finished painting the road wheels and tracks, I'll get some pictures posted later. I don't believe I'll be done by the first, although, another week should do it. 

Bruce: Sounds good, looking forward to the photos. 

Here's a quick update.

I sprayed a coat of future on the lower hull and road wheel/sprokets. I'm going to let them cure for another day before I start weathering. 

If you can see in the background, I used a Quickwheel mask to paint these wheels, which I really like.

And here are the tracks after I used Winsor & Newton oil colors, which only gave them a redish tint. 

This was my first time using these artisan colors and I will attempt perfecting this technique at another time. So, I decided to mix some pigments with a touch of 70% alcohol and water to get a more thick type wash I guess you would call it. 

I'm looking for a brownish red color, and I guess I will have to slightly brushed off the tracks to get the access wash off. Then I use another sand color pigment to finish them off.

More to come.

Bruce: Looks good!!! And good luck with getting the tracks where you want them. 

PS: Going to run over the deadline now. I went to paint the PE screens for the engine deck and the paint clogged the holes. It always does this. Does anyone have any tips??? Anyhow they're soaking in thinner to get the excess paint off now. 

Gamera

Bruce: Looks good!!! And good luck with getting the tracks where you want them. 

 

PS: Going to run over the deadline now. I went to paint the PE screens for the engine deck and the paint clogged the holes. It always does this. Does anyone have any tips??? Anyhow they're soaking in thinner to get the excess paint off now. 

 

Thanks, Cliff!

You didn't say if you are spraying or hand brushing? If hand brushing, I will ususally add a couple drops of thinner to the paint to make it spread over the screen better, without too much build up. If that make sense? But, I usually do this with enamels. I haven't had a chance with acrylics yet.

Well normally I spray Model Master acrylic. This time I decided maybe if I primed it I'd get better results so I hit it with two-three coats of Tamiya spray can primer. Most of the screens worked out great but a few got blobs stuck in the mesh. Like an idiot I lost my temper and shoved the whole thing in some thinner to remove the primer. I should have cut off the parts that went bad and kept the good ones. I'm thinking of using the MM acrylic with more thinner this time- hopefully it won't run too bad. Haven't tried of brushing yet, maybe that would work better?  

Again like a stupid-head I should have took some photos- didn't think - just shoved it in the thinner... 

Bruce,

That is coming along nicely, good to hear your technique for the tracks, still learning to do them better.

Cliff,

That is frustrating, I would have thought spraying thin and slowly building up (I don't do either) would work.

Look forward to seeing some finished models - including my own...

I sprayed and stripped it twice over the weekend and got still blobs of paint in the mesh. With the turret turned straight ahead you can't see the engine deck at all so I said 'the blazes with it' and went ahead and used them as is on the third attempt. Just annoying since one day I'm going to build something where they do show. 

Anyway I did get a bunch of work done on the crew figures. The digital camo is a pain to paint. I think it looks good enough though. And a bunch of work done on the base. Hopefully I'm not far from done. Looking forward to seeing more from you guys! 

Since you insist Cliff, here is a little bit more.

The windows are in, and pigments have been applied liberally. They are sticking better to the non-slip sections and not so well to the sides, just like the real thing. A bit let down by the AK enamel pigment fixer, as it seems to clump up the pigment into balls rather than leaving a film. Got some on the wheels as well. and a bit more stowage on top. A bit busy this week with a job application, hopefully more on the weekend...