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~ ! Clash in Tunisia ! ~ { Final Photos on page 37 }

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  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Ventura (at the beach) in California
Posted by *INDY on Thursday, December 31, 2009 12:19 AM

bbrowniii

Indy

There can be no doubt (at least in my mind) you are the reigning supreme dio builder on this site.  Amazing attention to detail... Amazing detail itself.... and, as I said, superior WIP thread....

Man o man o man o man..... I can't wait for the next one...

WoW~~Bboyd~~ What do I say to that?....I'v gotten more compliments than I can count over the years for my various artistic pursuits, and that is likely the finest one. Thank you.          I should say no,no, not me, but I will just hold it dear and try to live up to it.

~Jetmodeler~ Thank you as well for being the 2nd to that. 

                         Update is in the works......................................

"Well...you gunna pull them pistols, or just whistle Dixie?"

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 31, 2009 12:15 PM

Wow, Indy---great work! That reinforced front grille brace on the Blitz is really cool...what's the story behind it?

  • Member since
    August 2009
  • From: Cary, North Carolina
Posted by M1Carbine on Thursday, December 31, 2009 8:31 PM

Adam, ou are a true MASTER!

 

Bob

  • Member since
    October 2007
  • From: Willow Oaks Compound / Model Bunker
Posted by razorboy on Friday, January 1, 2010 8:56 AM

Looking good Indy!  Following this build on multiple sites!!  Can't wait to see it finished.

Well done, well done indeed -

razorboy

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Ventura (at the beach) in California
Posted by *INDY on Friday, January 1, 2010 6:48 PM

Manstein's revenge

Wow, Indy---great work! That reinforced front grille brace on the Blitz is really cool...what's the story behind it?

Hey Manny ! Thanx  for that and good to see ya!  What is missing here is an update from YOU . Everything is so Top-Secret with you isn't it /? Zip it!  As for the custom push-bar something I observed here

 

Not entirely common, but a VERY wise field-mod. Just gave a little x-tra protection to the very precious radiator full of water, but in a tight spot could be used to nudge a a light vehicle as in light recovery jobs.

~Bob~  respectfully) Are you nuts? Hmm I'm no "Master". But I do thank you for that. Wow. I know you mean well, and I am happy you said it, but ,,,,no, not yet I am not. If you want to see a Master Dio builder....see

http://www.bobletterman.com/    go look at Bob Letterman's site....Yawzzza  ~ !

~R.B.~ Thanks very much. That's high praise & greatly appreciated! I've got this build going here & at Military Modelling only. Mil Mod is where I got started posting online  & FSM gave me my start in print so it's these 2 for me for now at least.

~Build update to follow shortly, thanks again...........

"Well...you gunna pull them pistols, or just whistle Dixie?"

  • Member since
    November 2006
  • From: United States
Posted by ww2modeler on Friday, January 1, 2010 7:33 PM

Wow, this whole project is amazing so far and its great that you post your WIP shots. I'll definately stay tuned for further updates.

David

On the bench:

1/35 Tamiya M26 Pershing-0%

1/144 Minicraft P-38J Lightning-50%

Numerous 1/35 scale figures in various stages if completion.

 

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Newport News VA
Posted by Buddho on Saturday, January 2, 2010 3:10 PM

This is an incredible build...and I am enjoying the progress of it coming together.

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Ventura (at the beach) in California
Posted by *INDY on Saturday, January 2, 2010 3:35 PM

~David~ I'm happy you find value in it. I like to think it's a resource for future builders to build on. No doubt some will take usefull bits and some will get ideas on hw to do even better....

~Buddho~ Thanks man~good to see you here~Please stay tuned.........

~UPDATE~

~~To start off Happy New Year !   Here in the Land of Milk & Honey we get one whole x-tra day off to do as we please(a small Wahoo!)  The new year has me smack in the middle of this somewhat sizable project, and things are in general pretty good otherwize. I hope  that's true for you as well...........I wish all my friends here the best in 2010 !      ...to the build.....
 
~If anyone is wondering why I haven't gotten to completing the cab, it's just that I wanted to have this next task out of the way 1st, and not have the window-masks in place too long, and I'm going to have the air-gun going later while I finish carving out this tilt, and no doubt I'd blow those masks out of place. So before I get to all that dusty work;
 
~The Canvas Tilt~

Ok, clockwise starting(at 11:00 O'clock) is the Tamiya part representing the supports for the tilt. That's all you get OOB, a solid moulded frame stack.   I replaced this with some supports cut & bent from some.037 " music wire.(shown center) Much less forgiving to bend than brass, but way more sturdy, and that counted later. Use a seperator-disk(1;00 O'clock) to cut this material, as it will destroy your wire-cutters. At (5:00O'clock are some round-bend pliers I lifted from the wife's jewelry making toolbox, and are just the ticket for matching the radius of the kit part. At 9:00 on the clock are some toothed square-nose pliers needed to hold the steel wire for cutting as it really heats up.
 
While I toyed with the idea of just having an open bed back there, with the desert sun beating down on  what little is left of the troops' vital stores, I decided after long consideration to display a really torn-up old cargo-area covering.
 


While not the true method of attachment, this seemed to me to be the best in the case of this model. I drilled out a closely-sized hole and added a drop on thin C/A to lock the supports in place. The 4th one I decided not to use as if it's gone missing. A few members asked for a little info on this tarp-making process. Not much to it really....
 


I mixed a large ball of A+B epoxy putty as it's cheaper and sets harder than my usual choice of Milliput. Later I missed it's nice fine texture, that I'll need to make-up with sanding & surfacer. (Above) I'm using the silicone tube as a rolling-pin, and I'm using generous amounts of talc(baby powder) to roll out the mixed putty(that is now gotten soft, sticky and a little warm)
 


Once it's flat and thin as I can get it, I cut it with a blade dipped in water for a smooth cut.
 


At this point these pieces are easy to roll-up or use to wrap boxes and such, or just to show a tarp or garmet hanging or just thrown-aside. These 3 are just some quick examples and really need to have some details either sculpted in before setting, with some wetted tools, or carved-in later with burrs, grinders, files, and the like, before paint.


For this cargo-cover, I rolled out a huge piece and layed it over the tilt supports, folding it over to pile-up in the back. Later I trimmed it off with the wet knife, and worked it into shape.  A number of A.M. companies make some replacement tilts for your Opel truck, Mig Production makes a few nice ones, but I wanted this one to be a little bit different and in the end a good deal more thrashed than I'd seen. (May have saved a few $$'s too Zip it!


You may choose to let the epoxy-putty set-up a while before using it to model fabric, as it gets less sticky, droopy and soft, and will hold shape pushed into it. The last thing before your're ready to let it harden-up is to push into it any objects that might be making a dent in it - in this case the rear of that spare tire I'm going to have fixed to the cab-roof.


Here is not the end-product, but the hardening putty tilt , I'll later go back and work it some more after it's firmed-up, as I'm a better carver than sculpter.

I'll add in a few tears, and some sign of it's original attachments

~The next step was to carve in some subtle details, nothing to sharp, and smooth out the ratty look of that cheaper epoxy putty. For this I brushed on my Favorite, Tamiya Liquid Primer, with a wide brush, using laquer thinner to smooth it out as I went.


I started at the rear of the tilt, and I think you can really see a huge improvement. The other putty is correcting a few spots I needed to be just so, like around where I've drilled-out a few grommet-holes.
 


I selectively thinned the liquid putty over areas I liked, and layed it in thicker into spots I wanted to fill, a method I've been working at perfecting for surfacing.


Here's a zoom on the front-driver's-side, where I've quite purposefully filed-in  some fold-detail, followed by sanding & another go with the liquid putty. An entirely smooth surface isn't needed or wanted to model the fabric of this covering, but, hopefully this works!


I added in a few tears here & there
 

Now I can work on the glazing & getting the cab buttoned-up...and......and.....
 
......... PAINT!
 
 
 
 
So here it is after painting & weathering...........
 
Ok,OK....just kidding    Stick out tongue    but isn't  some beautiful destruction? I feel bad not crediting the modeller, but I found this randomly in a search engine. I won't be weathering this heavily, but man...I love a good wreck , don't you?
~~~~~~~Back soon~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Indy Out !

 

"Well...you gunna pull them pistols, or just whistle Dixie?"

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Newport News VA
Posted by Buddho on Saturday, January 2, 2010 3:51 PM

Good gravy....gorgeous tarp....and thanks for the tips on working with putty...I started using some for figures and didnt realize how much work is needed to smooth the surface texture!

  • Member since
    November 2006
  • From: United States
Posted by ww2modeler on Saturday, January 2, 2010 6:59 PM

I agree, that tarp looks fantastic.

David

On the bench:

1/35 Tamiya M26 Pershing-0%

1/144 Minicraft P-38J Lightning-50%

Numerous 1/35 scale figures in various stages if completion.

 

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Ventura (at the beach) in California
Posted by *INDY on Monday, January 4, 2010 8:35 AM

~Buddho~ Thanks & thanks for stickin around !

~Dave~ Thannks agin out to you

        Here goes........................

 

......the last stop before paint. This passenger door didn't want to fit at all Sad 


No doubt a product of my struggles earlier getting the cab lined-up. I suspect not every kit will be so much trouble, but I had to do some dirty-work to get that door in place, once I had it I locked it in with some thin C/A, it's going no place!Zip it!
 


Drivers side was no trouble at all, both are taped up from inside & I'l add the wind-wings in much later and the larger window open. For the  windscreen I used to kit-supplied Tamiya tape mask, after cutting it out.{That post between windows is not supplied by Tamiya, another gripe in reviews of the kit, though the 1 piece window       they  supply   could   be painted to show it}
 


Here's a last look at the multi-media going on Broken Heart on this build. I fixed the X-tra hands to the axels to keep me from brushing off the P.E. detail  who knows how many times !
 


For   a   primer I used Floquil Roof Brown in a spray can, in a few light coats. Top, bottom, everything. The color is a bit more brown than it appears here, but these are the photos I got mid-stop.   Seems to be a pretty usefull color to have in a can....
 
 
 


I have the same colour in a bottle, and  used it next, in the airbrush, with a bit of Floquil Engine Black, to do a complete pre-shading of everything. Then the same mix, with even more black, and sprayed it into every crack & gap and also did quite alot of freehand "mottling" on the bodywork surfaces, though avoiding   it   somewhat on upward facing body-paint. This colour will basically be what  is  seen where the top-coat is chippped later.       I may add some touches of metalic paint to high-wear areas before proceeding
 
 


The color should  provide   as good a base as any for tilt cover, which I''ll   paint in much different, but for now I've just based it the same.
 
 

 


All the hardware on the wooden bed needed the same treatment. I'll likely brushpaint the wood as the brushmarks can be a bonus there.
 
 
The wheels were based with Tamiya Matt  Black  TS-6, The the hubs got the same treatment as the rest  using   a circle template & light spray.
 
This should keep getting better & better Gents---fingers crossed! 

 

"Well...you gunna pull them pistols, or just whistle Dixie?"

  • Member since
    January 2012
Posted by I make stuff on Monday, January 4, 2010 12:00 PM

Wow, Indy, I have a busy couple weeks at work, you open a full scale assembly line of fantastic stuff.

That TARP!  The add on grill guard, the soldering, the PE, and now PAINT!!!

Looking mighty fine, sir.  Thanks for taking time to detail that voodoo that you do.   

NICE!

Bill

  • Member since
    April 2004
  • From: Boston MA
Posted by vespa boy on Tuesday, January 5, 2010 2:14 PM

Nice nice work on the Blitz with the details, the tarp and worn bed. I am constantly amazed by military modellers, who make plastic look like wood....too much work for me!

Keep it coming.

http://public.fotki.com/nkhandekar

This ain't no Mudd Club, or C.B.G.B.,
I ain't got time for that now

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Ventura (at the beach) in California
Posted by *INDY on Wednesday, January 6, 2010 8:26 AM

Bill! ~ We've been crazy busy too,I totaly understand(right when we're suposed to be getting xtra time off too!) We will catch-up very soon,Man.  ALSO,  Glad you appreciate my work like you do!  Wink

Narayan~ Thank you all for all that, it's an honor to hear it As for my personal love of doing the wood grains, I think it comes from days doing it as a woodcarver, where I'd take a new piece of pine and distress it into having an old split-up heavy wood grain....Great Fun!

 

~~~One more session of pre-paint preparations. The sand-clour top-coat has been beatin around on this truck for several seasons and so needs some heavy weathering featuring meticulous chipping, and so I'll apply modeller-made-famous TRESemme ultra fine mist hairspray prior to the top-coat.(a mix of Tamiya Buff & Dark Yellow)           before doing so, I ran a few tests on various pieces of styrene that I'd painted brown alongside the model, and tried using alcohol and laquer thinner in addition to water to soften the paint for chipping.
 


I found what I liked was using alcohol 70%(greenarrow)and a short-bristled brush with a little stippling with a fine brass-wire-brush too. I found water worked, but was a bit less controllable(red arrow). Of course better results can be got with a more patient hand. 

 


A great deal of patience is what's needed to make the laquer thinner  work   subtly. Here(red arrow) I did some rapid work to see how it lifted the paint. The( green arrow)   is another example of using the brush   &  brass & knife-tip too,with alcohol.

 


I stumbled on a great badly-distressed paint appearance(above)  by soaking the Tamiya paint with laquer thinner. It crinkled-up like a paint-remover attack, but I'm thinking   it may come in handy some day for a burned-out paintjob.

 


One last sample, this one painted without hairspray, to see what the alcohol removal would look like, with a brush(red arrow), and stippled with the brass micro-brush(green)

 
 
I did some selective dry-brushing on the trucks metal-work , with some metalic enamels  , and used some liquid-mask on certain areas I knew I wanted chipped. It's difficult to see here which is which.
 
 
 
I masked-off the tarp, as it's current paint is a perfect pre-shade for painting it later, and hit the wood-work of the bed with a very diluted spray of Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth, so the chips in the wood show a different color than the metal.
 

OK,  NOW it's ready  to paint !!                                 
 
  Wish me luck Mateys                    Wink  

 

"Well...you gunna pull them pistols, or just whistle Dixie?"

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Everett, WA
Posted by Schnobs on Wednesday, January 6, 2010 11:47 AM

Hey Adam,

We talk on the phone and discuss and critique each others work and i forget to post to your WIP's or think I did remembering a conversation we had.  I think I speak for a majority of us when I say thanks for taking the time to be so methodical and diligent in passing on your methods and techniques. Yes

It's interesting that you discovered that the Isopropyl alcohol is the most efficient method of chipping.  This is going to look fantastic with paint on it.  Keep firing down range Sir this is going to be a great anchor for your Dio!

 

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance. That principle is contempt prior to investigation." Herbert Spencer
  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Ventura (at the beach) in California
Posted by *INDY on Wednesday, January 6, 2010 10:21 PM

~Thanks Edmund~ and thanx for putting it in writting. All your tips on using hairspray are coming in handy, Buddy. I've never used it for anything but small jobs before, although I'm likely to try it again & again now.The alcohol seems to work the best for me, and I'm likng the look of the chips done the next day, better than those done immediately. There are a myriad of factors including thickness of hairspray, thickness of paintlayer, the modeler's touch when removing, among others that seem to be difficult  to convey or repeat exactly between us all. That MMIR article you shared with me is a fantastic read, but I'm not prepared to spend literaly weeks on the chipping using laquer thinner like Mr Rinaldi in issue #46 !! He did a great job on that build, no doubt, but I need somthing to work alot more rapidly.

 

Everything got 1 nice heavy even coat of hairspray and it was alowed to dry for up to an hour before applying paint. Not much to see, a slight sheen.
 
One step I left out in the previous post was that I brushed on some future over the 'wood' areas to provide a barrier for the chipping. That was allowed to dry overnight.
 
Into the paintbooth !

In order to achieve a very sun-faded, as well as chipped-up paintjob, I'm using colour modulation by way of four different tints of the sand paint color. This color was mixed from Tamiya XF-59 Desert Yellow + XF-57 + XF-2 Flat White and thinned with alcohol. I poured some of into some small take-out cups with lids and added progressivly more White to each, to get the four different tints.Above you see the 2nd darkest color applied thouroughly to the sides, but only as a light key-coat to the tops, to avoid build-up.
 
 

The lightened version went to the tops of roof, bonnet, & fenders, and then the darkest colour was graduated loosly up from the runningboards, and painted into the inside corners of the bodywork. It also went onto the bed-side hardware.
 
 

Later,  after It was sure it was dry,   so I could really see the difference,   I applied the really  light (fade-out) tint to the top-facing surfaces only. the 'wood' of the bed-sides we're sprayed in with a lighter color in thier centers.
 
 

The entire bottom of the truck was sprayed with an even darker chocolate shade than it started in( a color saved from the Kubelwagon base-paint). This paint was applied to the insides of fenders, the whole exhaust, and even allowed to creep up the edges of the bottoms of the sides, so that chip colours will mingle and show great damage to the paint on every road-facing surface. (you can see the effects of this on the edges of the fenders and under-bed toolboxes) It should pay-off later.
 
 
 

Not much body-paint will exist nearest roadway.
 
 
 

Wheel-hubs got a spray of the darkest color with a little freehand spritz in the centers with a lighter one. Close enough is good-enough for me as these will get alot more work.
 
 
 

These jerry-cans got  a number of possible colors after a similar hairspray prep.
 
~~~Next up...here comes the CHIPS~~so go get your   'S    
          I'll be back with that!.................INDY OUT !

"Well...you gunna pull them pistols, or just whistle Dixie?"

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Everett, WA
Posted by Schnobs on Wednesday, January 6, 2010 10:45 PM

Wow you will have quite a bit oif tonal variation for your chipping!

I got my Diet Coke and I am waiting for yoru chips!!

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance. That principle is contempt prior to investigation." Herbert Spencer
  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Ventura (at the beach) in California
Posted by *INDY on Friday, January 8, 2010 2:59 AM
~ Eh Gentlemen ~       I'm hold-up at my bench every minute I can get, but the chipping process is taking a good number of hours to get right.    
      ~~First a moistening of the painted surface with 70% alcohol on a medium round brush and then stippling firmly and  very delibertly with a chopped-off (stencil brush) where you want to place the chips.
 

I have ALOT more to do tommarrow night, and Ill have a proper post after that 
~See ya then   ............

"Well...you gunna pull them pistols, or just whistle Dixie?"

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Ventura (at the beach) in California
Posted by *INDY on Saturday, January 9, 2010 10:09 PM
~ Well, a few modelling sessions later, I have chipped-up, sun-faded, sand-colored paint, although I have still to add some highlights at some chip-edges, and some dark rust to some of the deeper dings{Not to mention the whole rest of the weathering process ! )
 
 
Again, I want a truck that's been in the desert running around for many months, say as many as 20, survivor of  numerous sandstorms and terrible roads.
 

After I'm done highlighting the edges of some chips for greater 3D effect, and rusting-out some of the bodywork dents, I'll give it 2 coats of Future to seal it all up and prep decals.
 

The "X-tra hands" unit has never come in so handy, as I can tilt the truck over to work on one side for hours at a time. I don't have to ever pick it up, much-less hold it.
 

The tools I found useful for the chipping, in order of importance, from bottom to top, a medium round, soft bristled brush to flow the alcohol over the paintwork, one panel at a time, to soften the paint up. Then 3 different old brushes I chopped-down to near nothing, making essensially very stiff stencil brushes, which I used in a jabbing, poking, stippling motion to get the small chips.(Don't scrub or brush or off comes ALL the paint!) In the center is a steel probe(or 'pick') which was very handy to ouline panel-lines and scratch-out exactly placed chips and marks.The blade I mostly used to scrape the paint clea of protruding edges. The small flat brush for in-between spots, and the brass-brush and cut-down sanding stick to remove paint from edges of complex shapes like hardware items and bodywork fittings.
 

Nothing subtle about this weathering, but it will end-up far more toned down by the end.(I like how in this shot you can see the steel color at the front corners.       Paradise

~Figuring the sandstorms are less likely to attack from the top-down, but the sun is, I applied the damage with that in mind.Here you can see how I defined the bodywork where it meets the windscreen frame and placed some very deliberate scratches close to it with the pick. I have yet to do anything with the window frame.
 
 

Before I began this by applying the hairspray, I used some of the liquid masking fluid to block sand paint from going into areas like the inside corners, where it's more difficult to achieve good chipping. This led to some oversize chips however and I wouldn't recommend it except where you're certain you want larger areas of damage.
 
 

I tried to use a different approach to the woodwork, as well as the undercarraige. I used the probe to define the woodgrain and try to get the paint to chip along the grain. I will need to paint in some more obvious signs of the wood .
 
 

I tried to portray specific damage to road-facing areas.
 

Here you can see the differing approached used to bed-side & body-paint.
 
~~~Things should begin to move more briskly now, and I can get to the really fun stuff
                           
Thanks to you guys as always for following......................Indy   Zip it!

"Well...you gunna pull them pistols, or just whistle Dixie?"

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Everett, WA
Posted by Schnobs on Saturday, January 9, 2010 10:21 PM

That's what I thought it would look like!  You do not dissapoint my friend!  I really like the tonal differences of the chips and this as I stated before will really draw the eye with it's complex weathering.

Thanks for documenting this Adam it will come in handy!

Yes 

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance. That principle is contempt prior to investigation." Herbert Spencer
  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Niagara Falls NY
Posted by Butz on Saturday, January 9, 2010 11:58 PM

Hey Adam,

 I just came across this thread and I tell ya, I am very impressed my friend..!! I really like how you put this all together from start, the build, mods/updates, pre painting preps to now... I definitely like how the steps to painting the vehicles make the finished build realistic..

 I am in the midst of doing Tamiya's 3 ton 4x2 Opel and I can not wait to see how yours turns out!!

 The way you brought all this together, I can really envision the dio and I can not wait to see the finished product..!!

 I will definitely be following this is one fer sure!!

 Thank you for be able to share this with us

Flaps up,

Mike

Rangers Lead The Way

  If you would listen to everybody about the inaccuracies, most of the kits on your shelf would not have been built Too Close For Guns, Switching To Finger

  • Member since
    October 2009
  • From: South Carolina
Posted by jetmodeler on Sunday, January 10, 2010 10:07 AM

Great job on the truck so far. It looks amazing.

Can't wait to see everything finished and in the dio.

 

  • Member since
    October 2007
  • From: Willow Oaks Compound / Model Bunker
Posted by razorboy on Sunday, January 10, 2010 10:44 AM

Your weathering is awesome!  Well done Indy, well done indeed!!!  I must try your chipping method sometime -  mine has always been "Brushed-On" vs. your "Brushed-Off" .........................

.... I like your method better.

Cheers,

rb

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Ventura (at the beach) in California
Posted by *INDY on Sunday, January 10, 2010 5:35 PM

~Ed~ Thanks Brother, You're a good man & great friend   Dead

~Mike~  That's all much-appreciated. I happy that you've found value in my (I hope) well-produced posts. This truck is finnaly getting somewhere interesting. I'd really love to see a detailed build-up when you get around to doing your Tamiya  Opel. There is so much you can do witht hese, so many variants, different roles they we're tasked with.... what kind of ideas do you have for yours? Stowage?

~Jet~ Thanks Man ! Please stick around, there's plenty more gunna happen here.

~RB~ Thank you greatly for the excellent remarks ! I'm trying to do something extra-special with everything in this Dio.    As for the chipping approaches, Mig Jeminez was saying on his blog recently that the hairspray is great, but for certain kinds of chips, and he likes doing it along with the more conventional ways(I asume meaning with sponge & brushes)     You're Tamiya truck is a very cool looking model. I guess it represents an early Opel truck originally Grey, later painted Dark Yellow , likely in a field-shop, maybe when the 20mm was installed? Now the yellow paint is wearing away. I like the look of your chipping too,especially around the cab. Only thing I would mention is having the dirt/dust on it more of a contrast with the paint color. That's one challenge I have yet to face with mine...getting the look of the surface dust just right (maybe Steve Zagola's "Dust Glaze" method ?)

"Well...you gunna pull them pistols, or just whistle Dixie?"

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Ventura (at the beach) in California
Posted by *INDY on Sunday, January 10, 2010 5:46 PM
~ The next step for me is getting some 3D effects into these chips in the paint, using a technique I'm told is called "mapping", by way of adding a slightly lighter color to the edge of the chips , and a dab of something different & a bit darker to thier deepest areas.


Here is an extreme close-up, as this isn't too visable to the un-aided eye.
 
 


I used Vallejo acrylics for this fine brush-work, 004 Off White, tinged with very small amounts of  132 Brown Sand & 019 Dark Flesh. A jab of darker color was added into the chocolate of the chips, this was 150 German Camo Black Brown(a near match for my Floquil base coat, and reccomended if you want to do this job using Vallejo) mixed with a  little Model Air 018 Camo Black Green. Again, I still have yet to add in any dark rust.
 

These effects require very fine-line painting, and for that my favorite is the "Liner" brush.
Unlike very small-bristled brushes, these hold enough paint to get things done!
 Here's my collection of them(though the 1 in front is actually a small "Round" . None of these was over $5 USD at the LASS    ( Local  Art  Supply Store)


Veiwing the model normally, it shouldn't be too appearent how the mapping is done. If done right, however the chips should just look a bit more 'right', and the over-all finish should have a bit more 'pop'
 

 (It's entirely possible that I may have scratched my signature into that front fender above when i was chipping it   Embarrassed  )


~The same work went into the wheels, though based on a slightly darker paint.
 
 

After I liked the hubs, I painted the tires thinnly with Floquil 013 Grimy Black, and then an even mix of the "Grimy" and Floquil 009 Primer, and then Primer with 25% "Grimy", This was done as a matter of "relief painting" , not dry-brush, as my brush had too much paint on it to call it that. The Front wheel in both these  shots is finished to that point. The Rear wheel on the left has two more steps done. !st, I thinned-out the last highlight color and smoothed -out  the entire sidewall   ( you can see the difference above) and then mixed that colour with equil parts 0011 Reefer White and dry-brushed that final highlight onto the edge of the tread by way of some gentle flicking       ( which I admit I enjoyedStick out tongue) You can see the final highlights on the right, below
 
 
Once I get some sand into and onto these tires, I think they should serve well. These are the very same wheels you guys have seen countless times, no doubt, in many Tamiya kits, thier Standard  Wheel, WWII, German Vehicle........ but I thought they we're pretty nice mouldings, even with thier age and common-ness, so I though I should make the most of them  . that's all for today......Zip it!
 
.........Please tune in again next time for another  semi-thrilling episode of "Clash"......
 

"Well...you gunna pull them pistols, or just whistle Dixie?"

  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Niagara Falls NY
Posted by Butz on Sunday, January 10, 2010 9:04 PM

Hey Adam,

 You are most welcome and yes, it has helped... As for my build which was put on the back burner, has been reaccuainted with my work bench lol

 I am going to place a FlaK 37 AA gun on the back bed as it was field applied.. The over all colour will be German gray and a hastily applied Panzer Yellow splotchy of camo(wheels will be over all Panzer Yellow). The Flak gun will be over all Panzer Yellow with the green/brown camo

 As for storage I am not to sure.. Maybe some tarps, jerry cans, a spare tire and if I can find some AM ammo cases/rounds for the 37, I'll add those too...

 I have one other item to be added as storage but I am not going to say... Other than that, it's add as I go!! Thanks for asking!!

Flaps up,

Mike

Rangers Lead The Way

 

  If you would listen to everybody about the inaccuracies, most of the kits on your shelf would not have been built Too Close For Guns, Switching To Finger

  • Member since
    December 2008
  • From: Northern Va
Posted by psstoff995's lbro on Sunday, January 10, 2010 10:04 PM

Great work! That is looking awesome!

I really like that opel, it's coming along great and I can't wait to see this dio done.. Surprise

-Will young modeler Test fit master
  • Member since
    October 2007
  • From: Willow Oaks Compound / Model Bunker
Posted by razorboy on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 4:20 PM

I agree, that truck could have been off of the first shipload of equipment and still running late in the theatre.  Softskins were everybit as important (if not more so) to the AK as armour was and used until it was used up - then stripped for parts.  The desert environment with it's constant daily temperature changes and the inherent natural sandblasting effect would not have been very kind to most, if not all surfaces - especially painted ones.  Your talent for weathering is obvious and enviable!

Looking Good IndyYes,

rb

  • Member since
    April 2004
  • From: Boston MA
Posted by vespa boy on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 5:06 PM

The chipping detail is very nice to see. and especially the variation in colour as you get from the weathered surface to freshly exposed scuffing. Good stuff.  Thanks for sharing.

I remember seeing some very beaten up Peugeot 203s and 404s in Tunisia, and your weathering is not inconsistent with what taxis look like! I remember one 404 taxi with no doors and no straight panels!

http://public.fotki.com/nkhandekar

This ain't no Mudd Club, or C.B.G.B.,
I ain't got time for that now

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Ventura (at the beach) in California
Posted by *INDY on Thursday, January 14, 2010 8:05 AM

~Mike~ Sounds very cool man. A very popular configuration & for good reason.

~Will~ Thanks to you Mister

~Wayne~ Thanx, you betcha Man, the desert takes it out of you, & everything else. You know it Cool

~RB~ A appreciate and value that endorsement a great deal. Fits with my reasearch entirely. At the shop we have an actual sandblasting booth and someimes I've found it interesting to see just how I can take the edges off of details with it(on a practice part only !) I was thinking how of ways to use that kind of assualt AND yet have a maximum of detail also(NOT  with real sandblasting!)     Anyways, thanks for those marvelous compliments!

~Narayan~ I'm happy to hear you appreciate the work to get the subtle changes into what isn't a subtle weathering. My pleasure to bring it here.   Super facinating info there about the Peugeots in Tunisia. What we're you doing there? Tourist? Riding around in  beat car with no doors?

Big Smile

From  Exit Rommel  by  Bruce Allen Watson

 ""The aridity was crushing. Normally, an ordinary man with no water supplement on a hot day loses so much bodily fluid that he would probably be dead by nightfall. Of course it rains, but much of it evaporates before hittting the ground. Once in a while, a torrential rain passes over, turning the sand to goo and making the wadis treacherous places as walls of water suddenly and unexpectedly wash everything before them.  Or suddenly or just as unexpectedly the sand begins to riffle as the wind increases. The sky turns yellow-tan and great billowing sand clouds race across the desert in a violet storm. slashing exposed skin, erasing paint from metal objects, and clogging any piece of machinery not adapted to desert operations."

"Well...you gunna pull them pistols, or just whistle Dixie?"

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