Happy Birthday John!  I hope you have a good one!

Good looking armor Draken.  I'm glad to hear good things about the truck.  I haven't had the best luck with Academy kits.  All the extra accessories will come in handy too.  I am thinking about getting the 3 vehicle set too, as it comes with a jeep and more accessories.  I'm sure I can find a use for a ketten and a kubelwagen at some point.

It was suggested to me, to remove the Sabre article.  If anybody wants it, just pm me with where you want it emailed to.

My Sherman came in today.  It turns out that I think it is the same one John built earlier.  Trumpeter has the paint down as Olive Drab.  Is that the correct color?  Maybe it is just me, but it seems like the color is lighter in the Squadron book.  For the LVT too.  Tank guys, what color should USA and USMC vehicles be in Korea?  Any info will be greatly appreciated.

Happy b-day John!

Cheers gang,

Greg

USA vehicles in Korea will be Olive Drab. The same shade as you saw in late WWII. I am partial to Testors MM and Polly Scale Olive Drab 319 for this shade. But use wahtever your preferred shade of OD makes you happy. Some camoflage pattern schemes were seen later on as well. White in winter and earth brown in summer. From what I have read USMC vehicles in Korea were orignally were also OD, but in 1951 or so Marine Corps Green made its appearance. This is a darker Bronze Green. Tetors MM has the shade in enamel and acrylic.

Greg , with my armour builds I took a little artistic licence with the OD colour finish .

I airbrush with Gunze and Tamiya Acrylics , unfortunatly a lot of the LHS are no longer stocking Gunze , so it's getting more difficult to come by these days . Anyway for my Hobbyboss M4A3E8 Sherman and M19 Tank Transporter , I was mixing Gunze 3 parts H-330 Dark Green and 1 part H-304 Olive Drab . I use the same mix on the other Armour builds except for the LVT-3 , which I sprayed Gunze H-340 Field Green . (Marine Green)

The two T-34/85 tanks I'm currently working on , I have mixed Tamiya Acrylic 3 parts XF-58 Olive Green and 1 part XF-2 white .

Gunze have three Olive Drab colours H-52 , H-78 and H-304 ; but to me those three colours tend to look more earthy brown and Tamiya's XF-62 Olive Drab is quite dark olive . So I messed around with a few different paint mixes and settled on the ones I mentioned earlier .

I have two Trumpeter M26 Pershings and a Dragon M4A3 105mm as well as another 2.5 Ton truck which I was thinking of finishing in Gunze H-340 Field green for the USMC and sitting them inside the HUGE LCT-6 Landing Craft .

BTW , nice work on the M30 and M7's Andy

I really like the M30 and the canvas covers , great stuff !

                         John .

Calling it done on these three...  The Fujimi M-30 and M-7 and the Matchbox M-7.  Take a look at the canvas covers and the hoops that were added to the Fujimi kits,   I also added a camo net and some extra stowage to the Matchbox kit.  The matchbox kit came with three figures, but the commander didn't look right so I added the left over Hasegawa commander from my spares box.  I really enjoyed this build!  The kits themselves wer oob, but the extras wer nearly all hand made; the exceptions wer the crates and bedrolls on the Matchbox/Revell-Germany M-7.  The Fujimi kits will be used later as part of a convoy across a river on one of my bridges.  The Matchbox/Rev-Ger. kit is set up in firing position.

Hope you folks like these!

Hey Stik;

Will the LCVP and the T-34/85 be making it to the front page soon?

Thanks! 

ok just a quick update...I HATE ACADEMY DECALS...ok phew that felt good the yellow theater band was just a nightmare so i pulled off what i could with tape and masked it. the yellow band wasnt too bad but boy getting the black "cheat line" was tough.i thought about finding solid black decal, but i figured with the compound curves it would be better to just paint instead. so here i am getting ready to throw black all over my NMF!!

heres a couple of pics to kinda show where im at now..

OK guys, first off, aplogoies for not being on here much lately. My mother died on Saturday, so I have been somewhat preoccupied. Although her death was not unexpected due to a long series of illnesses and her age, this is still quite a loss for my family and me. She had been living with us for many years and under hospice care since the holidays last year. I will be on here now and then in the upcoming week or so, but please have patience on any updates I do. Some of you guys build way too fast for me to keep up with in my normal life.

Draken, your T-34/85 has been added to the front page, but I cannot find a LCVP from you. When did you finish it? Also if I may ask a favor on your completed build photos to pose the finished models where there is not so much in the view. The clutter detracts from your great builds.

Helo, apologies for missing your DUKW and M16 MGMC, I corrected that shortfall on my part while searching for Draken's LCVP.

Some Assembly... your pics appear to have been moved on Photobucket and do not show up here...

I wish to extend my condolence to you and your family stikpusher , on the passing of your mother .

My thoughts and prayers go out to you .

Kind regards ;

            John .

stick- i too was in your position. i took care of an elderly parent and its always tough when they pass. i am sorry for your and your familys loss. if theres anything i can do for you PM me and ill help in any way i can

I'm sorry to hear about your mother Stikpusher and my condolences as well.

I'll keep you and your family in my prayers.

Cliff

SAR: Funny I saw your photos fine at work but they don't show up now. I don't suppose it's a browser issue since I use Microsoft at work and Firefox at home?

Woah, stik... 

I'm sorry to hear about your mother.  My sympathies go out to you and your family.  I feel like kind of a jerk now.   

I'll get a few more of the LCVP, I hadn't even thought about the backgrounds of my photos.  I'll take some more of the M-30/M-7's, too.  It may take me a day or more to get them, I've got such a small apartment and lots of stuff, I'll have to clear a place to take the pics.

"Patience is [man's] greatest virtue, next to that, pizza.  Definitely pizza."  ~A. Hill

Sorry, Stik.  Best wishes to you and yours.

Hey Stik!

Here's the better pics.  At least I THINK that they're better.   Anyway, I'm pretty sure that the LCVP went up during your move, no problems on that.  Here's some pics for you to choose from for the front page, if you feel that they deserve it; that LCVP was almost a toy it went together so fast!  I spent far more time on the figures than on the boat itself!

And the Nitto/Fujimi M30 and M-7, and the Matchbox/Revell-Germany M-7 with Camo netting!

Stik, I  too am very sorry for your loss.   My condolences to you and your family.  Take care of yourself buddy.  My thoughts and prayers to you, your family and your Mom.

Sincerely,

Greg

Thank you everyone for your kind words. I truly appreciate them all. You are a great group of people!

Draken, your LCVP and latest Arty builds are added.

Great work Andy on the M-30 and M-7's

I found a 1/72 Matchbox GMC M-40 Self Propelled Gun on the net and have ordered her , but I'm still searching for the Fujimi M-30 Cargo Carrier .

As for me the T-34's are ready for the spraybooth ;

I already sprayed the lower hull section and have added the road wheels , so tonight I'll have a go at adding the tracks .

Here's the uper hulls just prior to painting ;

                             John .

Hi John, your commie armor is looking good!  What do you think of the UM brand tanks?  They have a Sherman with a 105 howitzer and hvss suspension like the Marines used.  They have a WWII Sherman with a bulldozer blade.  I was thinking of buying the dozer tank to rob the blade from...  I also thought I saw somewhere (can't find it now) that Dragon made a 105 Sherman with a flamethrower (hvss), like the Marines used in the Squadron book?  That would be cool too.

Here is my little Sherman as of yesterday.  It will be ready for the paint booth pretty soon.

Cheers,

Greg

ps- would anybody happen to have a spare 72nd Italeri/Revell Corsair windscreen and canopy?

Hi Greg ;

That Trumpeter M4A3E8 Sherman was the first armor kit I built and it's an easy kit to put together , your making good progress on yours .

I have both UM and Dragon's M4A3 105mm kits , here's some sprue pic's ....

UM M4A3 105mm HVSS

Instructions ;

UM M4 Dozer ;

Instructions ;

Here's Dragons M4A3 with HVSS ;

Instructions ;

As you can see both kits have a lot more parts than the Trumpeter M4 kit , especially the HVSS bogie suspension

I was going to build my M4A2 Dozer as on page 19 of Squadrons Armor in Korea book .

I haven't starting glueing the tracks as yet for the UM T-34 , I suppose the advantage of the Dragon M4 kit over the UM kit is that

Dragon supply one piece tracks ,.

I was going to build both 105mm kits for the Korean War , however I'm going to save the Dragon M4 Sherman and kitbash it with a Dragon M4A1 for an Israeli M51 Sherman .

I did find two Airfix 1/72 Centurion tanks on the net and have ordered them , the box art didn't say what version the Centurion was , I guess I'll have to wait untill they arrive in the post to see what Airfix supply ?

Oh well ; I better start on those T-34 tracks , I hoipe they fit togther okay ?

                              John .

I forgot to add Greg , that I have a spare 1/72 F4U-4B Canopy that your quite welcome to have .

I'll send you an email .

            John

John, thanks for the information.  Those UM Shermans look like they would fit the part.  I guess you beat me to the idea.  Great minds think a like, even if I am a little slower!  The Trumpy Easy 8 is pretty easy so far!  It is going to be a copy of your earlier build.

Thanks for the canopy.  I wanted a quick, out of the box, build of an AU-1, and I had one I had barely started a while ago.  Somehow, I have misplaced the clear parts.

Cheers,

Greg

Thinking of T-34's...  I ran into this whilst surfing teh intertubez.

"Uh, boss...  We have an issue on the bridge, here..."

Can't let this build get to second page!

MUST BUMP! 

Good thinking Andy

I'm a little embarrassed   , I should of finished some of my armor builds and be posting finished pic's ;

However I got side-tracked a few evenings this week researching 1/72 scale Armor for the Israeli 1956 Sinia campaign and the 1967 Six Day war .

So sadly I'm yet to put the fifnishing touches on the Korean Armor builds .

These four kits arrived during the week.....

I'm looking forward to the MPM H03S-1 Dragon Fly ; I was never happy with my efforts with the two Mach 2 H03S-1 I built which is why I didn't post any finished pic's of the builds , hopfully I can make a better go of the MPM kit .

                               John .

Helo H-34

However I got side-tracked a few evenings this week researching 1/72 scale Armor for the Israeli 1956 Sinia campaign and the 1967 Six Day war .

Now that is another GB theme I have been kicking around in my mind for some time...

Cool beans, Helo!

I've got the MPM kit on my shelf and I'm planning on using the vacform canopy first and not cut the fuselage until the last second in case I screw up.  That Trumpeter LCM is AWESOME!  A thousand times better than the Airfix.  And the PE parts are a very nice addition.  The Airfix kit was very clunky when finished.  Here's a link to a comparison of the Trumpeter and DML kits, along with a mention of the Airfix:

http://modelingmadness.com/comparisons/hobbinslcmcomparison.htm

And you're really gonna love that LCVP.  Mine is SOOOooooooo much nicer than the Airfix, even though there's less detail to it.  One problem with the Pegasus kit, they give you two Bosuns and only one gunner.  It's weird...   My Dragon LVT-(A)'s are both sitting in the states at the moment, I'll get a look at them asap when I get there on Sunday.

A little news for everyone on the board:  There's been some VERY VERY serious weather here in Korea, in case you've been living under a rock somewhere.  Subway stations have been flooded out, landslides at highways, the death toll is now in the 70's.  The towns to the north and south of me have all been flooded to a great extent, the 'tourist' strip outside the Army base up north is a disaster!  All of the restaurants and stores are shut down while they clean stuff up.  There were four dead in that town, one was a policeman doing his national service instead of the Army and died trying to rescue an old man.  I happen to be living on the rise between the two watersheds and my town is basically alright.  I'm hearing horror stories from other English teachers about what's happened in their areas.  At least three were called in late at night to help save their schools from flooding.  We had an entire season's worth of rain in 48 hours...

On another note, I'm heading to the states tomorrow and will be there for three weeks.  Then I come back to the RoK for four weeks at my current job.  I have no clue as to what's going to happen after that.  I might have a new job, I might not.  I might be able to continue in the same job, I might not.  I might be going back to the states if nothing is firmed up.  I'm under a lot of stress, so the C-46 is sitting around waiting for decals, still.  One of the jobs that I've applied for is teaching ESL conversational English and debate for the RoKAF foreign language institute.  According to their needs, I'm kind of a shoe-in, but I'm sure he's had tons of apps.  Hopefully, the good food back home (that's very bad for me and the diabetes) and the family and friends will be distracting enough that I can have a good rest.  I do intend to get a few kits done while at home, I'll post what I can when I can.  I'll also be visiting my local air plane museum and a Cold War Minuteman Launch Control Facility that's a museum near me.  My dad's last job in the USAF was the facility manager of one of these, I'll be bringing the dude along with me.

So, now that we're safely back on the front page, have fun modeling folks! 

stikpusher

Helo H-34:

However I got side-tracked a few evenings this week researching 1/72 scale Armor for the Israeli 1956 Sinia campaign and the 1967 Six Day war .

 

Now that is another GB theme I have been kicking around in my mind for some time...

Stik ; If you ever get enough interest in an IDF or IAF GB , I would certainly be one of the first to join up

I spent a small fortune this past week buying 1/72 scale Armor for the IDF ; About 30 kits in total plus some reference books . I already have a small stash of 1/72 Israeli Armor ...

I found a 1/72 conversion for an IDF M4 Sherman Ambulance and stocked up on Dragon , UM and Trumpeter M4's plus a whole bunch of russian made armor captured and used by the IDF .

My stash of 1/72 Israeli Air Force kits is twice as big as my Korean War stash ...

There's also a nice stash of resin and PE goodies for the IAF ;

and some Helicopters...

I must confess , the Armor bug has really bitten me and modelling Israeli Armor in 1/72 scale does appear to be quite challenging , there will be lots of kit bashing to build some M-50 and M-51 Super Shermans as well as M3/5 halftracks . I found an article on-line for converting a Airfix 1/72 Centurion to a IDF Mk.5 , there's five pages of text for the conversion , it's quite a comprehensive conversion !

But I shouldn't forget about the ton of work still to do for the Korean War , so I better get cracking on my current armor builds .

                         John .

Draken, that flooding in Korea sounds like very serious stuff. I hope it passes you by with no damage to you and your loved ones. Enjoy your upcoming R&R here stateside.

Helo, I see you would again be a one man GB just by yourself. I have two ideas for GBs for next year: 1) "Summer of '42" any subject that was involved in the fighting in WWII during Summer 1942 when the tide was turned- Axis or Allied. Timed to commemorate the 70th anniversary; 2) "The Arab/Israeli Wars"- any subject that was involved in the War of Independence, 1956 Suez/Sinai Campaign (open to Brit and French stuff too), 1967 Six Day War, War of Attirtion, 1973 October Yom Kippur/Ramadan, and 1982 Lebanon Wars. I will start throwing out feelers next year. And yes, IDF armor is a great subject area for variety.

Stik- I know this is late as I have been away for nearly two weeks... I am sorry about your mother and you have my condolences. 

How about North African Campaign or Afrika Korp GB?  It was where the tide started to turn... Eric (tigerman) was thinking about doing a GB soon.  I have to agree that we should take advantage of the 70th anniversary for those major campaigns especially D-Day which isn't til 2014. 

Guys- Catching up here... so many great results.  You are truly building machines! 

Wow!  That is a great stash John!  I think that doing Israeli armor conversions sounds pretty challenging.  It seems that their vehicles evolved quite a bit over their life cycle.  That sounded negative, sorry, quite the contrary.  I think that makes them that much more interesting.  As for IAF, my current Night Fighter GB build is of the Metero Nf that fired the opening shots of the Suez war.

The armor bug has bitten me too.  I like my little Sherman so far.  I went ahead and picked up an M-26 Pershing for the USMC at the Naktong river battles.  I also have the extra .30 cals I need from the Academy truck to make my LVT into an LVT-(a)5.  The Dragon kit has some of the features of the early 4, and the later "Marianna's model".  Mainly, the .30 cal for the A-driver.  That will make it easier to convert to an (a)5.  According to the LVT in Action book,  the main difference is the stabilized gun.  In 72nd scale, not really noticeable.  Also, the addition of a few vision blocks, and a few other changes in the turret.  I will post pictures as I do mine.  As for the (a)4 in the Armor in Korea book, it has a vision block on the turret like the 5.  Hmm?  Is it a 5, or did a 4 get that added?  Now I really want an LVT-3 like John's!

Draken, have a safe trip home.

Cheers,

Greg