Sounds like youre doing some very successful hunting/gathering on this trip Draken! Outstanding

I went and did a little work on the Centurion yesterday. Had to fix up some replacement for a few little fiddly bits that had broken off in the recent past, and fill a few mounting holes for parts I do not intend to use, due to reference photos. Next up some touch up paint in those areas, then add stowage, the few last parts and ready for weathering. Nothing worth pics yet...

Hi everyone ;

Here's some finished 1/72-76 Armour models ...

Airfix 1/76 Bren Carrier ,

I'll add some jerry cans to the Bren Carrier later on when I open up another Academy 2.5 Ton Cargo Truck.

Revell's 1/76 M-24 Chaffee ,

Airfix 1/76 Churchill Mk VII ,

Airfix 1/76 Churchill Bridgelayer ,

Sadly I did not enjoy putting together the Airfix Bridgelayer toghether , crappy rubber tracks , too many small road wheel parts to fit together and get lined up properly , the support pieces for the upper bridge span are difficult to fit into position ...

Along with Revell's Bridgelayer , which I'm still struggling with , they will both definitly be one off builds !

Now for something that I really enjoyed building ;

UM 1/72 T-34/85 ,

UM 1/72 Recovery Tractor based on T-34 lower hull ,

Both UM kits were quite an enjoyable build ; The only tricky part was fitting the tracks in place , I used ordinary hobby glue (Humbrol Poly Cement) , that way I had time to adjust each track slightly as I glued each piece in place before the glue set ;

Well that's it so far , I'm still working on Revell's AVRE Bridgelayer , the turret hit the floor this morning and broke in half , so I've re-glued the turret pieces back together and have puttied the join .

I should have Academy's Ambulance and Cargo Truck done shortly as well and there is a F9F-2 Panther and F2H-2P Banshee for the USMC waiting for decals , Hopfully by the end of the week I'll have five more builds ready for the display cabinet .

                                    John .

John- Looking real good.  Of course this is my favorite... I am way biased. LOL

I am afraid to ask you how many 1:72 models you have built so far...

Awesome stuff Helo!  Can't wait to get back to Korea and get to work on models again.  I had such high hopes for getting things done here in the states this year...  The nephews, my dad, friends, and family are conspiring to keep me away from the work bench.  But that's not really too much of a complaint, as I only get to see them for three weeks each year.

Keep up the awesome work, John! 

I just ran across this using Stumbleupon and thought you guys deserved the belly laugh that I got from it.  I really was almost rolling on the floor laughing my butt off at this cartoon.

Yes, we've all built that model! 

I cut out the original from my local newspaper many years ago and saved it. I keep it over my work area at all times. I even scanned it and post it here on occasion... especially when folks start complaining about Dragon's instruction sheets... it sums up things perfectly! Gotta love Calvin and Hobbs!

Calvin and Hobbes was always my favorite.  Even better than Bloom County or The Farside.

Nice looking tanks John.  Those UM T-34's look good.  I am going to have to give that brand a try.

I have most of the mods done for my Amtrac.  I still need to make the armor shields for the .30's, but that is about it.  While I was at it, I decided to remove the plastic lifting eyes on my Sherman, and replace them with wire.  Then I made some headlight guards.  Here is where they are at now:

All the little pieces for the Sherman are ready for the paint booth too.  I still have a bit to do for the Amtrac to get there.

Cheers,

Greg

Greg, the Amtrack and Sherman arecoming along great!

John, your latest additions are added to the front page.

You braile scale guys kill me with the rate you turn out stuff!!! NEXT GB I RUN---NO BRAILE SCALE BUILD FANATICS!!!! just kidding

Just working on stowage and smale detail painting for my Centurion today. Perhaps a Humbrol Matt Clear coat overall this afternoon.

Hey Guys, I just stumbled onto this site full of Korean War photos while doing an image search for British tanker uniforms. Some excellent photos, most of which I have never seen before. Enjoy.

http://cooper-johns.sorway.com/note/164/

And now I just stumbled onto this one... and mostly in color...simply incredible to view. Superb reference pics!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmclean2009/sets/72157619026844615/

Excellent links you posted Stik , I'll be copying plenty of pic's into the computer for sure .

DP , I'm glad you liked the Revell 1/76 M24 Chaffee , I have Italeri's 1/35 Chaffee in the stash and look forward to building her sometime in the future .

Andy , just sit back and enjoy your vacation back at home , there's plenty of time for model building over the duration of the Group Build .

Greg , excellent work so far on the LVT-4 and Sherman

Thank's for the kind words on my recently completed builds everyone ; Since Stikpusher kicked off the Korean War GB just over a year ago , I decided to take stock of where I'm at after 12 months .

I've started 49 builds and so far have completed 9 Aircraft and 15 Armor builds ...

Another 10 builds that are about 95% completed ...

There's 15 more builds at various stages of completion ...

There's a C-46 Commando and P/F-80 which I didn't include in the above pic as I'm stripping off the paint as I wasn't happy with the finish .

There are currently 51 kits in the stash ...

A few more on order , mostly 1/72 Armour . I saw that UM Models do a SU-76 , so I ordered one along with some Hasegawa trucks .

I thought I may of had a few more completed builds in the display cabinet after the first year of the war , but family commitments have  come first this year , however I'm still quite happy with what I have built so far .

Keep up the great work everyone ....

                                           John .

Truly a sight to behold Helo! You have turned out quantitywise in one year what normaly takes me two or three. Keep up the fire!

Well my Centurion is ready for a Matt Coat in the morning...

Then the day after it will be final painting, adding stowage, and finally weathering...

John: What can I say? You're like a modeling machine!

Greg: Sharp work there, love the headlight guards you're done on the Sherman.

SP: Looks like you're almost to the finish line. Slap a little mud on her and she'll be done

Hi All:

I think I'm back ... I still have the chest drain in and feel awfully puny, but I smiled when the sun came up this morning and i was awake to see it  :-) ...

One thing that happened just yesterday - Brookhurst Hobbies finally replied to my e-mails (6 in all), found my order, found the product and shipped it to me ... geez, I placed the order April 22 and received the product  August 8 ... not bad !! ...

The P-80 has just started but I'm tempted to either build two at the same time or switch to this ne ...

Here are the pictures ...

Thanks ever so much from us to all of you for your best wishes, good thoughts and prayers ... much appreciated and all worked ...

pepper

Hi All:

Just for the heck of it, I tried shooting some paint on my test model ... it was drynig less than an inch from the nozzle, so I either have to paint inside (my wife says 'NO - NO':-) or air condition my garage ... don't think either will work ...

I think i'll just build up to paint and wait until the temps go down ...

105.7 as i type and the hottest part of the day is still hours away ... whew !! ...

pepper

105.6?!?!?!?   For the first time the temp dropped under 80's today here in Indiana finally after 24 days of 90 degrees or higher this summer... It was 78 degree during my lunch break.   Just come over here and spray your build in my basement anytime! 

Expected high today in Moorhead, MN is 80F with only around 50% humidity.  A nice break from 90F and 95% humidity in Korea!  Pepper, you keep yourself cool and don't worry so much about the models, winter is gonna be here soon enough!

stikpusher

Truly a sight to behold Helo! You have turned out quantitywise in one year what normaly takes me two or three. Keep up the fire!

Well my Centurion is ready for a Matt Coat in the morning...

Then the day after it will be final painting, adding stowage, and finally weathering...

Stik- Missed your post earlier... it is starting to look real good!  Looking forward to see it weathered...

Cool ?? that's a rumor :-) ...

We're now on our 40th straight day of 102 + F temps ... our record is 42 days and the forecast is for more of the same for at least 7 more days ... so, we're gonna  set a record ... this is one I'd rather not be part of and being a native (now displaced) San Diegan, I find it increasingly harder to cope with the highs and the lows ... of course, i could live in Maine or Montana - I have cousins in Montana and have visited when the temps were over 100 and below -40 ... thanks, but no thanks, and oh how I miss the beach and my sailboat  !! ...

I know winter is coming, but if like this past one, we're gonna actually have snow here (like last year) andd below freezing temps for a few months ...

You folks who live in the cold country have my condolences :-) ...

p

Pepper, at least it is the dry heat!  Ha ha.  Just kidding.  It has been too darn hot down here too.  Not in the one-teens like up there though.  I tried the a/c thing, and the one I bought from my friend didn't work for crap.  I moved my paint booth into my laundry room for a little while.  The little while my wife wasn't home!  I used non-toxic tamiya through my airbrush so it wouldn't leave a smell.  I hope fall comes early.  Or at all.

Keep cool, buddy!

Cheers,

Greg

well we are having another mild summer here.Not  blazing hot like some years,but just right. Yesterday I went out shooting with a buddy at a range thats in the foothills of the coastal mountains here. Typical temps of the upper 80s (dry) when we got there in the afternoon... but what suprised me was honest to God actual meltwater run off in the creek on the way up there... unheard of in August...usually that's long gone by June.

And now back to our regularly scheduled GB

Yesterday before shooting I attached stowage and this morning Matt Coat was applied on my Centurion. This afternoon I can get the final detail painting done (persicopes/vision blocks, dry brush bare steel highlights, mufflers) and antennas attached and weathering.

Awesome stuff Stikpusher

She must be getting close to the finish line .

In regards to the Centurion Tank , I have a kinda on-topic /off topic question . I ordered a couple of those 1/72-76 Airfix Centurion Tank kits and one will be for the Korean war and the other for the IDF . I found a very comprehensive article on-line about converting the Airfix Centurion to an IDF version ; However the conversion is quite complex and the article's author talks in detail about many of the components and their technical terms . I really don't know all that much about the workings on most tanks , so I was looking around ebay for some books on the Centurion Tank and came across these two ...

and this one ...

I was wondering if anyone else had either of these books or perhaps a different publication ?

Well my timing could not have been better , while typing this post the doorbell just rang and Parcel Post just dropped off the Airfix Centurion I bought on ebay .

I opened the kit and the instructions read Centurion MK.8 , is this version correct for the Korean War ?

Anyway I would very much like to get a good reference book on the Centurion and I did see on ebay some 1/35 scale Centurions , I was thinking of trying to find an IDF version which wasn't too expensive and use it as a guide along with on-line article and a refence book to build one in 1/72 scale

                           John .

BTW , It's the middle of winter down here in Sydney , the temp today is 52 degrees and it never snow's .... 

The Centurion Mk.3 was the version used in Korea. The Mk.8 differed by having the later 20pdr gun barrel with bore evacuator, changes to the turret including a new split two piece TC hatch, a lengthened hull, and other detail differences.

Either of those books would be good reference material, especailly the second one. I have the Squadron, "In Action" book at it is a good basic referecene to the various marks of the tank.

Wiki has a good rundown on the Centurion. The more I learn about them, the more I like them. My next one will be a Suez 1956 Centurion... then perhaps one day an AFV/Club Aussie one for my Vietnam collection.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centurion_tank

Hi Stik , thanks for the help ;

Here's a sprue pic I just took of the Airfix Mk. 8 Centurion ...

It's interesting you mentioned about the hull being lengthened , the article on converting the Airfix Centurion to a Mk.5 IDF tank , says to the side hull pieces are 2mm too short and to extend them first by removing the central trio of track roller mountings then divide each into three parts by verticle cuts between the mountings for the central bogie units and then cement plastic strips into the cuts and glue everything back together .

Obvisiously a reference book or two will go a long way in helping build either a Korean War or IDF version as I think I need to check the measurements of the Airfix components and scale back to the real thing

Thank's again Stik

                      John .

Well here is one thing I recall about the Israeli Centurions.They have numerous basic Mk.s that were the starting point for the mods they later made. One common modification made during the early 1970s was replacing the original engine with a US made diesel. They also upgunned theirs to have the standard L7 105mm gun across the inventory.  In 1973 it was possible to see diesel and gas engined  Centurions of differnt Mk.s fighting in the Golan in the same area. And configurations changed from their original accquisition and introduction into IDF service until their replacement and retirement as MBTs.

I would check the kit measurements against the posted ones on line to see if it really is 2mm to short. In metric that shouldnotbe too difficult. Its a lot more fun when your doing it in feet/inches...especially when its a big subject such as a ship...

Gregbbear

Pepper, at least it is the dry heat!  Ha ha.  Just kidding.  It has been too darn hot down here too. .

Greg

Heya Greg:

101 right now so we're one day closer to the big record  - I remember my Mom always talking of the 'dry heat', but hot is hot :-) ... at least we've only had a few days when the humidity was out of sight and those are miserable ...... wish I could help with your a/c, but ...

Stikpusher - in the 2nd picture of  your armor, is there a wee bit of silvering on the the right side of the star decal on the front of the turret or is that a camera glitch ?

P-80 out of the box while the helo remains tucked away ... the 1 piece molding of the entire framework of the helo is absolutely amazing ... I want to get a good start on the jet before tackling the helo ... haven't build  one since the way old days and that was of the Revell H-19 ? ... was following one on eBay recently but when the price went over $20, I bowed out ... it ultimately sold for $47 - geez Louise ... I also just saw a black Tomcat (the Playboy version) listed for $175 ... I guess there are people who will pay these prices, but not me ...

Everybody have a great day and build, build and build (you too, John :-) !! ...

pepper

Pepper, that is actually what remains of the interaction between Solvaset and Future. In anything more than minimal amounts Solvaset melts Future and leaves a milky white residue behind that I have not yet been able to figure out how to remove.... Tried thinner and a few other things, and while they reduce the effect, none remove it completely.

I am doing the final weathering today (letting the paint dry now-pigments up next) and will have pics of the finished tank up soon.

Well, I've been complaining about 97 degrees here so I guess I should shut up

I've had weird results with Future so I've stopped using it for anything but clear parts. I generally use Testor's Model Master acrylic clear gloss and matte for everything these days and haven't had any bizarre results.

Pepper: Which Playboy F-14 is that? I had a 1/48th Fujimi 'Black Bunny' Tomcat back in college but it's trashed now. Someone wants $175.00 for this or even more crazy a 1/72nd kit???

99% of the time, Future gives me no problems. The 1% that I have had all involved Solvaset. No worries though.

Anyways here she is... my Tamiya 1/35 Centurion Mk.3 in the markings of 29th Brigade, 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars during Winter 1950/51 when the Centurion was first blooded in battle helping to stop the Red Chinese tide.

stick a fork in it... she's done

Hi Stik, your Cent came out great!  That has got to be one of the better looking tanks of all time.

Cheers,

Greg