Most of the rest of the work was time-consuming, but routine. Three coats of Future were followed by the decals, which were of Cartograf’s usual excellent quality. A further coat of Future over the decaled areas followed, followed by three days’ curing time.
Recessed detail, POL, and water stains were represented by oil paint pin washes, followed by three coats of Humbrol Mattcote. While this was curing for a couple of days, I painted the OVE and other detail stuff with Humbrol and Citadel acrylics.
I was depicting my model as it would have been in early Summer 1944, only a few months after it would have left the production line, so I decided not to over-do the weathering. I represented slight scratching and wear over heavily trafficked areas with tiny chips of soft lead pencil. Soft dry-brushing of tan and sand shades of Conté Crayon and chalk pastel dust served to blend colours together and tone them down, while Tamiya weathering powders served to add road dirt and grime on the lower hull and fenders.
Last of all, I added the radio aerials. The starfish aerial head came from the kit’s etched set (for some reason, the Griffon etched set doesn’t provide one), but the kit plastic item is pretty good. For the aerials themselves, I used lengths of thin brass rod, painted black.
And that was it. I quite enjoyed the build, though it did drag on from time to time. Originally, I had intended to add crew figures and stowage, and may yet, but not until later this year at the earliest. Here are some final piccies:
Comments and queries, as ever, welcome.
Cheers,
Chris.
Cute and cuddly, boys, cute and cuddly!