Got ur, thanks.

Gamera: Thanks for lookingin in

Bish

Nice, liking the effects on this.

The MiG Brown you used for the filter, is that the oil paint?

 

Thanks Bish. No its the enamel based premixed stuff in the old bottle.

She's looking really sharp! 

Nice, liking the effects on this.

The MiG Brown you used for the filter, is that the oil paint?

I'm in the final stages of this build right now. Last time I posted I had just got the clear coat down. After that the few markings that was going on was put down with micro set followed by micro sol then some more future brushed on the next day to seal them in. Next was a overall filter of Mig brown for desert yellow. That was sat over to dry over night and I got started on the tracks. They was base painted in Tamiya XF-69 Nato Black then a coat of Model Master Non-Buffing Gunmetal was sprayed on. I really like the Metalizer paints for plastic tracks it gives them a really neat look imho. That was then dry brushed with Model Master Non-Buffing Steel. It says for airbrush only but they are really easy to brush paint with too just have to keep mixing while you work. The best way I have found is to shake the jar and work out of the lid. After the tracks had some time to dry I gave them a wash using Mig Standard Rust Effects on both sides. Not to much or it's easily over done. Then the rubber blocks was painted with Xf-69 Nato Black Back to the model I put on a respirator and started adding some streaking to the entire outside using Model Master flat white and dark tan. I apply the paint with a small brush then use clean thinner to pull the dots down creating rain and dust streaks. Its a must to have a respirator on while doing this, it took about 1.5 hours thats alot of thinner you don't want to smell. After that sat for a few hours I took a fine brush and some Mig Brown Wash and hit on the rivets and panel lines, then came back with some clean thinner and cleaned up tide and pool marks. Then final assembly started the flame projectors got installed along with the front MG34 the rear one I put stowed next to the drivers side rear seat for now. The Kar98k was painted up and stowed in there spot as well as the mp40s. While I was at it the tools was also painted and installed in place. Finally the tracks was wrapped on it took 95 for one side and 94 for the other, the last 251 I thought it took 94 and 96 but on this 96 created way to much sag. The last thing that needs to be done for now is to give it a overall flat coat but I need to wait for the enamel paint I used for the filters to gas out normally I let a model sit for a good week before I add the flat coat, I've had a bad experience with putting it on to soon in the past. I still need to add some soot to the end of the flame projectors but thats going to wait awhile I don't have a Idea for a base for this one yet so I'm also not going to do any pigment weathering yet either untill I figure that out. Finally got my new bench light in, the other didn't make it through the move so these photos came out better then my others. Thanks for reading.

Very nice camo scheme Clint...looks great.

That camo look's cool !

Keep up the great work.

Great job there. If I'm not crazy careful I get so much overspray and splatter. Your work looks perfect. 

I really like that, great choice of scheme.

Started painting yesterday first time trying to do this type of camo scheme. I've been playing around with my thining ratio a bit. I thinned this out 30/70 paint/thinner using iso91%. Next time I'll stick to using 50/50 with Tamiya brand thinner but had luck using iso in the past. First down was  XF-9 Hull Red to give me a dark color to work off of and build up the lighter yellow color. The Ral8020 was the same mix I used earlier and for the stripes I used XF-65 Field Grey since to me it looks more the color then the dark green that Tamiya suggest it should be. the XF-65 was sprayed with the neddle cap off at about 1/4" off the model. It was then overcoated with the Ral8020 mix from about 12" to tie it into the base a bit better and correct some overspray and some splatter with me being way out of practice. After that set up I got the pliers out and finaly got the lid off my 7-8 year old bottle of Pledge Future. That was then sprayed on in 2 light coats. The flash distorts some of the photos a bit but with out it you couldn't see anything. When I can afford it I'm going to invest in a decent camera and get away from using my cellphone to take everything with. (also open to suggestions on cameras) Thats where she sits right now going to start weathering later today maybe, depends if I wake up early or not for work tonight. Oh also replaced the rear convoy light with a correct 4 lens version from the spare box. They was then wired up along with the headlights. I guess I didn't get a head on photo to show them off yet. Thanks for taking the time to look in

Good call, be interesting to see what you think.

Its not often i buy AM tracks now. A lot of the armour kits have pretty decent indy links, so i usally just stick with them. I am waiting to see if the new ICM 251 Ausf A has indy link tracks, if not i will need a few more new sets.

I was just looking at them of Sprue Brothers. they are cheaper than Fruils are here, but once i add the posatge it would probably be about the same. But i don't mind that if they are easier to work with. I am guessing there is more clean up, but i don't mind that. I just used a set of Hobby Boss tracks for my AS90, and despite 6the clean up, i really liked working with those. Pity they don't do tracks for the 251.

Clint, i love Fruils, used a lot of them over the year. I have about 30 sets to use 10 of which are 251 sets. I used the first one a couple of years back of an AFV 251 kit and they were so tricky to use. Not sure if its the size or what, but they really did my head in.

For the last 2 251 kits i got that needed AM tracks, i got the AFV Club ones. I would like to try Modelkasten tracks, but simply can't find them here, so i might have to get a set from over seas.

Rambo

Mrmike. The tracks that come with these dragon kits are very nice and can be made workable with a bit of patients. I'll get a photo of them this weekend. The interior did turn out good for being way out of practice. Thanks for the encouragement.

 

I'll echo Rambo on the Dragon 251 tracks. Small and fiddly, but very nice. Certainly easier than 251 Fruil tracks.

The interior paint is looking great.

Clint,

Super work on the interior, and I have to echo Bish...seats look outstanding.

Lookin' good, your interior work is outstanding! I have the same kit with a set of Hobby Boss tracks #81005, which were easy to build but require reducing the size of the teeth on the drive sprokets. As far as appearance, they are a definite improvement but are narrower than the kit tracks. I don't know enough about the 251's to know which would be more accurate.

Look forward to your progress!

Nice work. I like the look of the flame projectors and you have done a good job on those front seats.

Oh, that's looking good. 

I've been able to get a bit more done on this over the past few days. The biggest is getting the fenders and tool boxes on the side of her. Got the flamethrowers built too they are both like tiny kits with alot of detail and very nice PE detail. (also got that radio installed was alot easier then figured)

I still have a set of AFVC indies for the M-48 series and I've used one before that. There were EP marks in every link to fill, but they look great in comparison to the stock Tamiya bands.

If I can get some for the 251 I'll be a happy camper lol.

Also, I had no idea about the water tank. It's good and stuck in there now. :(