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Dragon 1/72 Bradley IFV

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  • Member since
    April 2010
Dragon 1/72 Bradley IFV
Posted by Theuns on Friday, December 29, 2017 8:27 AM

Having been bitten by the small armor bug I will builds this 1/72 Bradley next. Sofar I have assembled the wheels and sprockets, the detail of the instructions for someone like me who is use to flying stuff was a little spartan and I had to figure it out as I went allong.

 Dragon 1/72 M2A2 by Theunis van Vuuren, on Flickr

The detail of the kit is rather nice and the moldings seem very crisp and clean.

Initially I thought I would scratchbuild the whole interior as the kit has none, but sanity prevailed and I will build it as a closed IFV ;-)

 

Theuns

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Harrisburg, PA
Posted by Lufbery on Friday, December 29, 2017 9:26 AM

Looks like a nice kit. Enjoy building it and keep us posted. :-)

-Drew

Build what you like; like what you build.

  • Member since
    January 2016
  • From: A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Posted by Hunter on Friday, December 29, 2017 9:39 AM

Theuns,

Looks like a nice kit...I'll be along for the ride.

Hunter 

      

  • Member since
    April 2010
Posted by Theuns on Saturday, December 30, 2017 1:00 AM

cool, I can use all the input and advice I can get :-)

 drago n 1/72 Bradley IFV by Theunis van Vuuren, on Flickr

 dragon 1/72 Bradley IFV by Theunis van Vuuren, on Flickr

 Dragon 1/72 Bradley IFV by Theunis van Vuuren, on Flickr

The build is quite fiddley with small parts , and there are MANY of them but it all adds to most outstanding level of detail, I wonder (not being an armor builder) if there are other kit makers who surpass this detail level in 1/72 scale?

What would be the correct color for this IFV? I have read tamiya acrylic sand, but I have seen them in a lighter "grey/sand" mix almost like my Israeli sherman here - 

 

I assume they would fade from the more "yellow" sand to lighter kakhi almost?

 

Theuns

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Fort Knox
Posted by Rob Gronovius on Saturday, December 30, 2017 1:47 AM

Bradleys are either overall desert sand or the standard NATO 3-color camouflage scheme. Some items like the swim barrier poles, those three poles on the left rear portion of the hull, have been deleted on the actual vehicles. Model Masters makes the paint that most people use for desert sand.

  • Member since
    December 2012
Posted by RX7850 on Saturday, December 30, 2017 9:13 PM

That's a great kit by Dragon, lots of detail as you mentioned. Have fun with it . Looking forward to seeing it done.

  • Member since
    April 2010
Posted by Theuns on Saturday, December 30, 2017 11:29 PM

I did the painting yesterday, this time I went with preshading and hopefully will need very little pinwash, I an rather pleased with the results. I used my IDF grey enamel and added some sand/yellow to it, I think it looks OK.

Now the final assembly starts.

pix to follow

 

Theuns

  • Member since
    April 2010
Posted by Theuns on Sunday, December 31, 2017 12:40 AM

Here is one of my pet hates....painting wheels...

 dragon 1/72 Bradley by Theunis van Vuuren, on Flickr

Color on.I almost think a pinwash will be to "stark" the shading is working well to  break up the mono tone look, maybe a wash just in the hatch openngs and around the tools.

 dragon 1/72 Bradley by Theunis van Vuuren, on Flickr

I primed the tracks yesterday and like I was warned they are still a tad sticky, I will leave them in the sun today to see what happens.

 

Theuns

 

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Sunday, December 31, 2017 12:40 PM

Looks good!!

If you don't want to use a black pin-wash you might try a brown or a darker sand than you used for the paint. Probably a good idea to spray an old model the same colour and then put the was on it in case you don't like how it turns out.

 

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England
Posted by Bish on Sunday, December 31, 2017 2:13 PM

Thats a nice looking kit, look forward to seeing how you finish it.

I did the Revell 72nd Warrior IFV a couple of years back and that was nicley detailed.

I am a Norfolk man and i glory in being so

 

On the bench: Airfix 1/72nd Harrier GR.3/Fujimi 1/72nd Ju 87D-3

  • Member since
    April 2010
Posted by Theuns on Sunday, December 31, 2017 10:44 PM

Because of the nice aemor plate detail there is quite a bit of "shadows" ect, I think a wash will only be needed in a few places like on hatch openings to define them better. For the rest I think a pastel weathering will be more subttle.

The tracks are still sticky after being primed wth tamya primer. just like I was told tey would do.

I am not to worried about this, will just paint them the same sand and then drybrush a grey to siimulate the rubber pads.

 

As for weathering on the tank, nothing but Iraq dust from pastels.

 

Theuns

  • Member since
    April 2010
Posted by Theuns on Saturday, January 6, 2018 8:41 AM

Cell phome pix not great, my camera went bust :-(

The color is actually a tad more yellow and darker than in pix.

Pastels brushed on to look like dust.

 Dragon 1/72 A2M2 by Theunis van Vuuren, on Flickr

 Gragon 1/72 A2M2 by Theunis van Vuuren, on Flickr

 Dragon A2M2 by Theunis van Vuuren, on Flickr

 Dragon 1/72 A2M2 by Theunis van Vuuren, on Flickr

Theuns

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Fort Knox
Posted by Rob Gronovius on Sunday, January 7, 2018 9:45 AM

Good job, there are some pole parts that should have been removed under the platform with the shovel on it. They are part of the swim barrier that was removed from Bradleys in the 90s.

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Valrico, FL
Posted by HeavyArty on Sunday, January 7, 2018 11:11 AM

It looks pretty nice.  Good job on it.  In addition to what Rob said, the antennas and thier mounts should be dark green, not sand/white as you have them.  Keep up the good work.

Gino P. Quintiliani - Field Artillery - The KING of BATTLE!!!

Check out my Gallery: https://app.photobucket.com/u/HeavyArty

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  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Sunday, January 7, 2018 3:50 PM

Theuns: Looks pretty darn good to me!Yes

 

PS: Guess I should try some modern US armour. It's great to have people around knowlegable to point out my screw-ups!

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    July 2014
  • From: Rifle, CO. USA
Posted by M1GarandFan on Sunday, January 7, 2018 4:13 PM

Yes, I think the Bradley looks great.

Re your PS: I agree with you. I love my Sherman's, but I need to try some modern armor, ie: M1 Abrams.

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Fort Knox
Posted by Rob Gronovius on Sunday, January 7, 2018 7:10 PM

Gamera

Theuns: Looks pretty darn good to me!Yes

 

PS: Guess I should try some modern US armour. It's great to have people around knowlegable to point out my screw-ups!

 

I try to temper inaccuracies with the level of difficulty in correcting the error. For instance, many old kits by Tamiya have inaccurate tracks with the end connectors in the wrong spot. Impossible to correct on the kit part and often times the correct aftermarket item costs more than a better kit.

But something easy like leaving an item off, drilling out holes on a sprocket, etc. are easy corrections that any modeler could do. You have to balance the fear of being labeled a "rivet counter" here with the desire to help out a fellow modeler. You don't want a site where everyone just says "Great Job!" and provides no real feedback, but you don't want to just pick everything apart.

  • Member since
    April 2010
Posted by Theuns on Sunday, January 7, 2018 10:14 PM

I am very happy for the feedback, I know very little of this subject matter. I tried to google as many pix as I could and almost each one shows something different and I found it hard to know what shaould stay and what should go :-(

For me the instructons were not all that clear either, the boxart also shows things that are not provided in the kit so I built it by "gut feel" :-)

As for the antennas, easy to repaint them, I will look at bits I need to remove to see if it csn be dome without havng to repaint large areas.

 

All my armor kits are now built, I need to get a few more .

 

Theuns

  • Member since
    January 2015
  • From: Tumwater, WA.
Posted by M. Brindos on Monday, January 8, 2018 9:59 AM

Yes. Yeeeessss.... Let the armor bug flow through you. Then your journey to the Dark Side will be complete.

Devil

- Mike Brindos "Lost Boy"

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Fort Knox
Posted by Rob Gronovius on Monday, January 8, 2018 12:29 PM

There is a lot of leeway when building armor models. Tanks travel over the land and through the land, damaging parts, ripping off fenders, etc. Vehicles take hits and continue to operate allowing for battle damage. Take a look at a lot of former Warsaw Pact armor in use by free countries. They now look like stuff out of Mad Max. Paint schemes look super chipped and faded, some look like kids with spray cans tried to make their own camo.

Vehicles are parked in motor pools with antennas, machine guns and external stowage downloaded and off the vehicle. Most US Army vehicles are very well mantained and are frequently repainted. So you can model near perfect garrison vehicles. But there are also rotational sets of training and deployment equipment that get dogged out by users.

  • Member since
    April 2010
Posted by Theuns on Monday, January 8, 2018 10:24 PM

Yup, when I was a combat medic, I operated on with the SA defence force on large scale "sharp point" exersizes an deployed to urban unrest aswell.

The equipement was always well maintained and in good working order, but it got dirty as hell within a day or two :-)

I generally , even with aircraft modling dont like  to do factory fresh stuff, if needs to look like it have seen some work.

I will get more armor once I have a little loot not needed elsewhere.

Maybe a Tiger or something that I can really "mud up"

 

Theuns

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