She is really looking good, Pawel. Good job.

Hello everybody!

Cap'n - and how do you like the build?

Gamera, TigerII - thanks a lot for your kind words, they mean a lot to me!

And I have everything nice and smooth now:

As you can see I added some lugs on the rear - where the fuel can holder and pioneer tool rack would bolt to, but USAF didn't seem to use them - I guess on the airbase they would only add weight here. I have also added some missing welds on the sides. And now I can start working on the suspension.

So first I had to work on the springs. OOB they look like this:

And here are my tweaks:

Now I have to build new shock absorbers and their mounts, and also the bolts attaching the axles to the springs. FUN!

Thanks for looking and have a nice day

Paweł

That's some amazing work there Pawel!  I love the custom 3-D printed parts and the other extra detailing you are putting into the model.  And the Commando is such a neat looking vehicle, yes a lot like the BRDM.

Hey, where the heck is everybody these days?  Forum traffic is as slow as logging in!

Pawel: Continuing really nice work there- those springs are a big improvement! 

Real G: I'm still here but 2/3rds of the time I can't log on to the site. I post a little but I've gotten kinda fed up at this point. 

Hello!

Real G - Yeah, the BRDM is a similar machine, but the Warsaw Pact used it for everything, and the R in the name is for "Razvedka" (Recon), so that's a role that the M706 wasn't meant for - not that the BRDM has any equipment that couldn't be installed on the M706.

I'm glad you like my work, thanks a lot!

Gamera - thanks a lot, I'm so glad you're still here!

But it's true, it's tiresome how bad the forum works now. When you compare it to a forum that actually works, the difference is shocking.

I'm here mainly out of sentiment for the old times, and here's another update:

I have the rear suspension done:

The resin wheels are from a company called MMK, the axle is my 3D print with a hole through for a reinforcement made out of brass wire to keep the axle from bending under load when it gets hot, and the shock absorbers are scratchbuilt.

And here's how the subassembly fits into the chassis:

Now more fun to come - the front suspension and the steering system!

Thanks for looking and have a nice day!

Paweł

Pawel

But it's true, it's tiresome how bad the forum works now. When you compare it to a forum that actually works, the difference is shocking.

And the appearance of those other fora is also a tad shocking, very text-based and "vintage 90s.

So, Kalmbach gets credit for a good-looking forum, just not one that seems to reun very well.  Yet.

Wow that looks nice Pawel! I hope you're putting a mirror under your model or something like that so people can see all your extra work? 

I tend to spash mud and dirt all over the undersides of my armour so I don't spend much work on detailing there... 

And funny, the site was a pain last weekend when I assume the IT guys get some time off. But it's ran fine all this weekend. 

Cap'n - that's right, but how about the model I'm building? :-)

Gamera - I keep my models in a cabinet with glass shelves and then I can take a look at the undersides. I also take them out every now and then :-)

And currently I'm havin' fun with the front suspension. I've assembled most of it:

The axle is my 3D design, reworked kit springs and scratchbuilt shock absorbers.

I've also scratchbuilt the power steering cylinder and I also have the drag link built, but it is not on the photo yet. The wheels will be shown "steered" to one side for a cooler look.

I hope to show you the photos of ready built underside soon. Thanks for looking and have a nice day

Paweł

Pawel

but how about the model I'm building? :-)

Well, when I can see it--this is the first time since about Thursday last week--it's outstanding as always.

Mind, I don't have a lot of time arund the V-100s, so every new thing is just that, brand new to me.

Looks good!!! 

LOL, you have a point! Never thought about putting the model on a glass shelf! 

Hello everybody!

Cap'n - thanks a lot for your kind words!

Gamera - I always say Ilike my models to be accurate from the underside, too! Usually it's not so easy or even possible to crawl under different machines, so it's important to me to be able to show it on the model, they are good for that!

And I have my chassis almost done. I added the last parts of the steering system, including a sheet metal cover for the power steering cylinder:

Having that, I was able to put the machine on its wheels - only temporarily now:

The rims on the front wheels were a little cracked, so I repaired them with copper wire. Looking up the chassis would look like that:

I plan to add some shading and weathering later, for now I'm building the details on the top. I got a hint from "the real thing guys" that I need a better grille over the exhaust on the "duck bill". I'm trying to draw something up in 3D.

Thanks for looking and have a nice day!

Paweł

She's lookin' good Pawel! Big, squat, and tough looking! 

Pawel

Thanks for looking and have a nice day!

Looks good.

Mind, this appears to be the only thread with any activity here.  The 504 Errors are still rife, and even with only about six people per weeks commenting.

Hello everybody!

Gamera - thanks a lot, it's got style ain't it?

Cap'n - yes, I'm painfully aware of that... And thanks!

And it was pointed out to me, that I need a new grill over the “duck bill” in the rear. So I drew up a new one and recently it was 3D printed for me:

After fitting it here’s how it looks like:

On the same picture you can see the radiomans top hatch, also known as the “rear gunners hatch” which is way off in the kit. The cover is too big and the opening is too small - something like that deserves a kind of trophy, doesn’t it? I’m using MMK’s door kit, but the radiomans hatch from the kit has wrong shape, so I decided to convert the kit part here. I also had to move and enlarge the opening in the kit roof and I lined the edgeswith 0,5mm copper wire.
One more photo:

Here you can also see the rear light brackets made from styrene sheet.
On the next photo are the side lower door stops that I made of copper wire. The kit parts have wrong dimensions anyway:

Out of wire I have also fabricated the front light guards:

As you can see, I like wire a lot

Thanks for reading and for your comments, have a nice day

Paweł

Pawel

Thanks for reading and for your comments, have a nice day

Sharp as a razor, as always.

Eyeballing recent comments It looks like I'm about the 7th person to comment on the entire FSM site in as many days.  Sigh.

Hello Cap'n!

Thanks a lot for your comment. I sent you an e-mail too, did you get it?

With so little being posted I feel a little like a star of the show here...

And recently I've been working on all those doors - and there are many of them! I have ordered a MMK set that has only V-100 doors - they are a separate set for a reason! And it's a nice little set and not so expensive. Here's a link to the MMK page:

www.mmk.cz/en/models/category/detailni-a-konverzni-sady

And here's how my doors turned out:

Now I want to paint them on the inside and temporarily install them closed to paint the camouflage on the vehicle. Then I'll permanently install them as open.

Thanks for looking and have a nice day

Paweł

Pawel

I sent you an e-mail too, did you get it?

I did, you should have an answer back by now.

Hello Cap'n!

Yes, I've seen it thanks a lot!

Let me post another update to keep this place from a complete halt...

I got the doors painted on the insides now:

I made some new weld lines in the back:

And in the front I thought about how to best attach the mesh to the light guards and I decided to solder them on:

I've also added some welds around the lifting eyes in front, too. The winch compartment cover is also temporarily secured for now. I've also intalled the top armor and the fixed weapons mounts, made from the kit-supplied PE - a little simplified, but nice:

Now the plan is to temporarily fix all the doors in closed positions and paint on the 3 colour camo on that.

Thanks for looking and have a nice day

Paweł

Hello everybody!

I started painting the camo pattern. For masking I used "patafix" rolls filled with masking tape. This is how it looked like after painting and masking the first colour (sand brown) and painting the second colour (green):

And here's the thrilling moment - masks removed!

The OG came out pretty gloss - I'm going to knock that shine down with clear after applying the "effects". I also want to paint the doors' edges black to simulate the gaskets there. Interstingly, I tried to look up the instructions for all the kits of the V100 and they all don't seem to match the photos as far as the camo pattern go. My scheme is also a litle "what if" on the rear deck - hard to find references on this area...

Well, now I want to apply the decals and do some weathering. Thanks for looking and have a nice day

Paweł

Pawel

I started painting the camo pattern.

That's a gorgeous paint job, love the colors.

Side note, we have three, 3! unique posts today--Huzzah!

Looks nice, Pawel.

Hello everybody!

Cap'n - we're having an exclusive posters' club here, eh? It's good to post here from time to time to keep my mind away from politics... Thanks a lot for your kind words, I'm glad you like the colours.

John - thanks a lot!

And I'm working on the weathering... I applied the decals, some Gunze gloss on top of that and then there goes some oil dot:

That was before and after it looks something like this:

And the chassis looks like this:

I'm going to take it out on that finish a little more and then I' apply some clear flat, because now the finish is obnoxiously glossy...

Thanks for looking and have a nice day

Paweł

I think that will look even better in flat. 
Getting USAF vehicles "right" is a complicated dance of showing the age and wear on well-maintained vehicles that were used daily, yet never very far from their motor pools.

Of course, there is that bug-a-bear where the camera "steals" away hours of effort by not "seeing" what is actually there.

And, we few who are "here" must needs capitalize on being here.

Hello Cap'n!

Thanks a lot for your comment! I've now put on a layer of flat clear, and yes, it sure looks better! I have also painted up the lights front and rear. Hobby boss supplies these parts made entirely of clear plastic - that allows to paint them up in an interesting way. In the photos below the wheels are only dry fitted, so they look funny. Somehow the left lights also look crooked, I'm not sure why, in reality they look "straighter". Here are the photos:

I feel like I could finish this one up in one day if life didn't keep coming in the way... Let's see how long...

Thanks for looking and have a nice day

Paweł

Pawel

Somehow the left lights also look crooked

Could be a trick of the camera.  Dunno.

If the clear bits had any texture to them, I'd suggest a pale gray wash, very thin, to give them some relief.

The rollers for the towing hook might need a scuff or two, somewhere down the line.  Still, it's looking great.

Hello Cap'n!

Thanks a lot for your comment!

I'll try that wash and you're right, I'm going to distress those rollers a little more.

In the meantime I worked on the weapons mounts, there are two foldable mounts on the sides of the superstructure, I've built one deployed:

And one folded:

I had to scratchbuild their locking levers. I've also added what Ikar was always pointing out - the chains securing the fuel filler caps. A third chain is on the trailer hitch in the rear:

I was also working on the armament:

One "pig" is from an AFV Club kit, the other one from a Dragon figure set, and their mounts are leftovers from my TAKOM Sgt. York. The "invention" on the left is the XM174 automatic grenade launcher that was tested in Vietnam by USAF (another info provided by Ikar01).

To add some stowage I started with the ammo boxes. Another info from Ikar01 is that some boxes were painted white and meant to hold the 40mm illum rounds:

And that would be it for now - thanks for looking and have a nice day

Paweł

Pawel

To add some stowage I started with the ammo boxes.

Outstanding paint job on the cans, I really like how they aer all "ammo can green" but also differen hues of that green (which varied per contractor as well as time out in the wild).

Also, that white paint is perfect--has the look of an imperfect, out in some field shop, look without looking like "bad modeling."

Hello Cap'n!

Thanks a lot for your comment and for your kind words!

I'm glad you've written pretty exactly about what I was trying to convey... It's a good feeling to know it kinda comes across. Reassuring!

And today what I hope will be tha last update before the deal is done...

I've built the opening assist for the rear doors:

I also have some stuff to go with the car:

Among other things we have here an M16 with a (scratchbuilt) underslung XM148 grenade launcher (tested in Vietnam, superseded by the M203), 40mm grenade clipsfor the XM174 (the oval ones), a radio yet to be painted and a drink cooler (I still have to paint the "zinc coating" on it).

Thanks for looking and have a nice day!

Paweł

Looks good.  It's kind of sad that I go to the main Forums page and look for things where the latest responce is measured in days or hours.

Hello Cap'n!

Yeah, that's true! The posts on this forum are days apart. If I tried hard to look for the bright side of this I could say I'm in the spotlight here, maintaining a place in the top 10 or even top 5 newest messages for months now! Still very sad...

And in the meantime my baby is done! Here's how it looks like now:

Thanks a lot for everybody that commented here - you helped me pull this one through!

Have a nice day!

Paweł