Have Gun Will Travel: SP Artillery GB 2011

Hey guys, no real updates beyond some minor painting.  I've put on the white paint rims on the roadwheels and added some dark grey per the instructions to the transmission gear inside the hull.  I hope to pic up some oil paints this week and try the color modulation technique to tone down the starkness of the camo (slightly) then put in some washes/ drybrushing and markings and call it more or less done!  :D

Macattack - OK...the kit supplied track is the T66 track. On my build I replaced those with T80 track. The are slightly large and thus use less links.

The kit supplied T66 is the correct length for the M40, DO NOT shorten it if that is the trak you are going to use.

HTH

Rounds Complete!!

redleg12, Thanks for the reply.  I re-read my question and realized it was a bit confusing.  I still plan on using the T80 tracks instead of the kit supplied T66's. 

In your WIP thread you stated you used 79 links per side which came up about 2 inches shorter in length that the kits vinyl track's length.  My question was if I should make the T80 track lengths the same as the kit tracks, which you already answered.

I checked out your website too.  Nice work! 

Thanks again sir. 

I don't mind assembling these tracks, but I can't wait to get working on the actual kit.

I have been plugging away at these T80 tracks.  They are a little time consuming but they do look awesome IMHO. 

It is really hard to find a model kit of  U.S. artillery.  There only seems to be a few kits to choose from.  I guess if you don't build german or sherman you are SOL.

macattack80

It is really hard to find a model kit of  U.S. artillery.  There only seems to be a few kits to choose from.  I guess if you don't build german or sherman you are SOL.

Here is the complete 1/35 scale list of US Self Propelled artillery kits

http://www.redleg2scale.com/RBMI%20Info/SP%20kits.html

Here is the list of 1/35 scale US towed artillery kits

http://www.redleg2scale.com/RBMI%20Info/Towed%20kits.html

You need patience and ebay for some

Rounds Complete!!

Thanks again.  Very informative website you got there.    I read somewhere that AFV Club is going to make an M8 and an M1A1 pack howitzer.  Here's hoping they come through and actually make them.

AFV Club has be threating an M8 almost as long as they have been talking about an M42 Duster!!

As for the M1A1 75mm pack, possibly as some parts could be used on the M8 but more likely Dragon. The posted a relese in 2011 of the T30. That would go along with an M1A1

We can only hope!!

Rounds Complete!!

redleg12

AFV Club has be threating an M8 almost as long as they have been talking about an M42 Duster!!

Yeah.  I gather a lot of kit maker's announce kits then take 10 years to release them...if ever.  Only time will tell. 

Do you know off hand if Italeri still has the molds to their M107, M108, M110 series?  A re-release would be very welcome. 

Hey Redleg.. Need your help again.. Would it be possible for me to get the plans or a photo or two of your collimator set-up?  I know you sent me some stuff about it a couple years ago, but I've changed compiters again and the needed stuff is nowhere to be found, meaning I didn't upload it to my on-line file site..

Not a problem.....earning some eagle poop right now.....will post the info and picture tonight after mess call.

Rounds Complete!!

Hans - Here it is!!

The "how to" for building an artillery infinity collimator. This was scratch built using parts from the Academy machine gun kit. Parts V17 for the yoke and W12 which is cut up, modified and reassembled as the tripod base are used. The collimator is 0.6" long section of 0.10 styrene tube. The eyepiece is 0.060 rod inserted into the tube. The top was drilled and 0.030 rod inserted for the adjustment knob.  It is painted with Tamiya OD.

The infinity collimator after painting with Tamiya OD and wash with MIG dark wash, the adjustment know on top was dry brushed with Alclad steel. The lens is a small MV lens and the 0.10 tube is drilled to fit the lens.

The sandbags are made from air set clay. I wet the clay to get it soft and form the basic shape. Using a putty knife I cut off the excess on the ends at an angle and try to flatten as I cut to create a seam look. Once the bag is shaped I cover and wet a fine swatch of fiberglass and form it to the bag. As it dries I remove the fiberglass which leaves an imprint in the clay to give it the fabric look.  After setting the bags were painted with Tamiya Tactical Dark Green and weathered with MIG Dried Mud pigment.

HTH

Rounds Complete!!

REDLEG ONE TWO, THIS IS HAMMER SIX ACTUAL, GOOD COPY- OUT..

Hey guys, some pictures here for you; painted the whitewalls (turned out ok...) tried that crazy color modulation with some el cheapo oil paints from walmart (hideous, I know...the store I mean) and that was ok, not great, but it definitely toned down the color lines (if only my masking job had done better!) and did a wash for once (also new to me, but I overdid it...)  Anyways, if you can make anything else out in these pics, you'll see it...I guess.

Brought my work home with me today, so the modelling will be cut back some, however I want to try some fun washes that were posted on armorama to give it the appearance that it was rolling around on a training site for a few days prior to going to the wash-rack.  The dust will also cover up my poor paint job in some areas.  I'm also thinking of adding a full or partial all-weather cover to the missile rack to cover some bad mask failures in that area.

Steven, that's a very complex scheme you've had a go at. Congratulations on the attempt, it looks OK in the photos. I build a lot of models of racing cars, some with complicated schemes, but that's a beauty.

The Sturmtiger is almost done. I've just given it it's final coat of Dullcote (after these photos were taken), there's some drybrushing to do on the tracks and some cable to add to the crane. I might also chuck on some bits and pieces to give it the lived in look.

Here are some before weathering and after weathering comparison shots.

Cheers

Tony

Nicely done Tony!

Tony -- excellent! Going very well, you'll be all done soon!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Thanks guys.

I'm going to call this one done now, although there is no stowage and I haven't added the machine gun. I've just decided to order an aftermarket barrel for it, as I felt the kit one let it down a bit. I'll do the stowage at the same time as I do the stowage for my next build, which is a Panther for the Ostfront GB and a club event in mid March.

This has been a great GB for me, thanks for hosting it Mike. I'll stay tuned although I've finished this build. I've tried several techniques on this model for the first time, including home made zimmerit using Milliput, brush painting of Vallejo acrylics for the hard edged camo pattern,  use of filters to modify the base color and using dot filters to apply subtle streaking to the model. Overall, I'd say I'm pretty happy with the finish. I hope you are too !

I'll look forward to wearing my GB badge with pride.

Cheers

Tony

Tony -- great work! It really looks the part, the camo and tracks came out very realistically!

Congratulations on being the first completion, page 1 is updated! I'd better get busy with those badges -- putting up the ones for the Phantom build hopefully today...

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Tony - Very nice.....love the detail on the camo work

Here is my installment this week

/forums/t/134859.aspx?PageIndex=3

Getting close to painting

Rounds Complete!!

Hey guys, heres another picture, added some more washes, decals, tracks, and some drybrushing.  Looks a lot better to me than it did, but it still needs some more heavy sludge washes on the tracks to make them more rusty, and I need some ammonia to mix up a neat mud effect that I want to put on the lower portions and front (bow?)  If you notice, I played-on-words with the decals, so its name is K01 or Koi.  I'm just going to refer to it as the carp.  Maybe I'll put it in a pond of water someday for a display base...lol, that would be toofunny.

Thunderbolt379

Tony -- great work! It really looks the part, the camo and tracks came out very realistically!

   Looks awesome! 

I now have 2 full lengths of tracks all together!!  Woot Woot!  I will get some pics up tomorrow.  I just hope they stay together when I go to install them.  These particular indy link tracks were a pain to get together but they sure look good. 

I will start the suspension system next to try and get the more tedious assemblies done.

Thanks guys, I'm really looking forward to more completions, some of these projects have really taken my imagination, particularly as I'm not a regular armor builder and I don't know anything about many of the vehicles being built here.

That digital camo scheme is the business, I'm really taken with it. Also the Berlin Brigade scheme. Sometime I'm going to have a rendezvous with one of those schemes.

Regards

Tony

Beav, the digital camo is slick.  Nice work sir! 

Took Koi out into the sun today; here are some pics with better lighting (ok, maybe only one).  I really like how the white wheels turned out.  Also, don't let the dot filter people fool you, you CAN use it on complex camo schemes!  Still needs that flat coat.  I've never used future before, but I liked how it turned out with it...come to think of it, I've never had the financial ability to go out and buy the starters for most of the more complex techniques out there, like oil paints, even mineral spirits.

Beav -- she looks an absolute treat! Are you calling her finished at this time???

Cheers, M/TB379

Not quite finished, but almost; expect me to finish it up in the next week or so.    I hate setting timelines.

Beav -- no worries, in your own time, there's plenty of it!

A little progress on the M110, I finally had a chance to get to the wash and drybrush stage. I went over the beast with black and dark brown oils, pinwashed but went very carefully as I noticed some areas of acrylic were inclined to lift. This is a rare effect, I've not seen it often but when it occurs the best strategy is to minimise the damage and hide it under some dirt. I pinwashed recesses and created some rust streaks in prominent places. Then I mixed a lighter green enamel, drybrushed extensively over edges and created some areas of differing tone on open panels. Next I'll need some infrequent spots of brighter rust, and drybrush with metallic for bare metal areas.

The tracks are sprayed, they need their wash and drybrush also, and the track blocks painted into a weathered black, probably in the same operation as the mudflaps. By then she'll be moving along, ready for details like the fire extinguisher, some cabling to be put into black, the driver's vision ports into something to suggest the reflective nature of the optics, and other point details.

Pictures when she's a bit further along. There's really only a few days work to get her done but I'm guessing it'll be the weekend as there's heaps of RL stuff going on too.

Cheers, M/TB379

I'm still here so I took a break from the Dicker Max i'm also building to share the love with the Emil.

On the front I installed the spare track links and the towing eyes.

On the rear I installed the smoke candles that only the #1 Emil had fitted and dry fitted the jack and muffler.

Till next time

Tony lee

Hi Tony..........Looking better all the time....it's so cold  Brrrrrrrrrrr............Monty

Ten below here last night,broke the record set in 1929 by seven degrees.

Everything finding a place.

Later

Tony lee