Thats sharp looking Rob . Are the lights after market ?

Yes, I've always been cristical of my camo jobs. Had I not weathered the lower half (sort of) I would've carried the camo down there as well. So just the upper part of it liek that picture you sent me Rob.

BTW, those lights are super cool.

Okay, a couple of poor photos to get an idea on the camo. 

I've still got the tools, decals, muffler to install. Then weathering.

The directions are some of the worst I've encountered. I know this is Bronco's first kit and they're probably better by now. Decal locations are a joke.

Bill and Rob: Really sharp work there guys!

Theuns: Always nice to see more a/c. Are those green and orange insignia on the decal sheet for Ireland?

Eric: Hey, I like the camo, looks good to me.

Painted the pants on the French tank commander last night and put down the base coat for his leather helmet, jacket, and boots. Then fitted him to the turret and you can't even see his pants! Might as well just left them in the base colour, he could be sitting there in his underwear for all you can see.

Rob, nice work on the details, really making the front area "shine"!

Eric, we are often our own worst critics but the camo pattern you've applied looks good from here! As for having it continue down to the lower hull, I doubt much of it would have been visible through the weathering regardless so you shouldn't count that as a negative IMHO.

Some better pics.

There were some issues with the decals and I messed up the left heart, because I had to trim around it. I should have painted the tools on and the wood turned out darker then I wanted. I ran out of the red paint which was a hull red, because the red-brown looked more like rust. i probably won't go back and fix the brackets, because unless I spray them, they will look bad.

Another good day of progress in the paint department. I used a lightened shade of the base coat (added about 20% Light Gray) to add some color variation and shading to the panzer gray finish. I did this before the camo so that I could view the gray as a whole rather than dance around a camo pattern and create artificial boundaries in the process.

Next came the camo pattern. I used MM enamel Panzer Schokoladenbraun for the 1/3 dark brown disruptive pattern and applied it freehand with the airbrush.

Once that had dried, I removed the protective masking tape from the turret and commander's cupola and installed the road wheels and return rollers.

Next up will be spending time with the devil in the details department.

tigerman

Some better pics.

There were some issues with the decals and I messed up the left heart, because I had to trim around it. I should have painted the tools on and the wood turned out darker then I wanted. I ran out of the red paint which was a hull red, because the red-brown looked more like rust. i probably won't go back and fix the brackets, because unless I spray them, they will look bad.

are ya kiddin' me Eric?    with a touch of weathering this little bad boy gonna look EXCELLENT.... great job buddy

Rob,,    what big eyes you have!     The lights look great,,, 

Eric,,   I like the look of the camo,, once weathered it will blend in nicely. I also agree, the better pics are better  !

Gamera,,    (in his underwear,,   HA)

wBill,,    gotta luv that grey,   nice highlight / lowlighting. Do you have a cross reference for the pz schokoladenbraun ?          I am toying with using that camo style on the pz I,,,  not sure yet though.

BaBill, not sure what you mean by cross-reference? If you mean by references for why I chose the Schokoladenbraun, I can provide that. The ordered German 2-tone Nov '38 to July '40 scheme called for 2/3 No.46 Dunkelgrau and 1/3 No.45 Dunkelbraun and Panzer Tracts 1-2 has color chips that recreate it. See below...the two colors are very similar to each other so the contrast is hard to distinguish depending on monitor settings. The Dunkelbraun is a very dark brown and the Schokoladenbraun is the closest thing I've found to it in Testors MM line. HTH!

tread@wbill

looking great my friend....subtle to perfection.... don't show it to Manstein... he will want to marry it !

tread

Eric that camo looks just fine here .

tread@Rob

lookin' great man... are you old enough or worldly enough to remember the Austin -Healy  Bug Eye Sprite?...

a really cool little car.... your big headlights remind me of it.... I usually only compliment women on big headlights....but I am making an exception ....

tread

WBill the paint looks good .Aztec must be working fine .

You're too kind. I looked at pattern after pattern. There were many differations. I'm okay with it. I want to get done so I can start my .........? Actually, I may join a GB, rather then start one. LOL

Don't get me wrong, this has been an extremely enjoyable build. I've learned a few new things and the builds are outstanding.

tread@Cliff

Hey man :  )   are you using the figure from Tamiya or a special figure ?.... if you can, put up some pics of him....I have never painted a 1/35 figure and I was wondering about the Quality of the Tamiya figure... it looks pretty O.K. to me but not quite as good as those resin figures we see.... in any case, I'm gonna give it a try

tread

oops   double post

Bill: Love the shading you've got going on there. I need to learn to do that to spruce up my plain jane boring green US tanks.

Eric: Um, what's wrong? Looks great to me. Just toss on a wash to two, a few filters if you use them, and drybrush a little and she'll look great.

Tread: Sorry, they're a set of two French tankers from the Warriors line I picked up on sale for half price about the same time this GB started. I'll be sure to post a photo or three of them when I'm done.

Warriors French Tankers

wBill,,,  thanks, that does help yes,       Exactly what I meant too.            Your info will give me a good base point if I do use the two toned camo.

Thanks my friend !

CARL - The lights are from the spare parts box and pretty sure they were from an old Matilda.  The bottom bars were broke so had to fill with putty and super glue.  Then sanded smooth and sanded the bottom flat.  The light covers were cut from some spare styrene.

ERIC - The camo looks great    Like the colors you used.  From all the pictures that I've seen the camo did not carry down too the running gear area so your right on the money.  Agree with the others, once weathered everything will blend right together. 

CLIFF - Thanks.  Your commander sounds good even if he is in his underwear.  Look forward to your pic's.

WBILL - The variation on the Pz Gray and brown pattern is very nice!  The contrast with the hatches open really looks good on this one

BILL212 - Thanks.  That disruptive pattern would be nice to see on the Kleiner and more true for the time.  Look forward to seeing what you do and how the paint flies.

TREAD - Not old enough but have seen the Austin-Healy's before when searching for parts for a few other cars.  If I understand correctly they were very popular with the women.  Thanks for the exception.

Has been another long day so will just finish some small details up and then hope to get to the paint booth this weekend.

Decals are finished, and weathered the muffler, so it's pretty much just the weathering to go. Perhaps, by early next week if I'm lucky.

Rob , Gotcha . good ole spares box .

Eric , sounds like your close .

Trying to ramp it up Carl. I have so many models that I want to rip out of their boxes. Which one, which one?

Are you getting more time to build now Eric ?

Tread, you're right...Manny is an unreconstructed serial polygamist in every sense of the word!

Carl, thanks! The Aztek is a beauty...I can definitely see some advantages with the metal body versus the plastic one I had before. Namely the balance is better and I have more control when doing detail work.

Gamera, thanks as well! Have to agree that when working with a monotone scheme some tricks are necessary to get some variations...more to come in terms of the weathering/filtering to build on this foundation of course!

Rob, appreciate the comments. The masking did its job well and once the bandages were removed the patient recovered nicely. I agree on the contrast and am glad I opened both hatches instead of just one as I originally planned.

My next MBA class has begun (each one runs 6 weeks) yesterday so I am squeezing in time when I can get it. Tomorrow I have to spend time with the leaf blower and clean up the front yard so may be a few days before I make progress. Benchtime is precious these days but I do get a week off for Christmas so should be able to make great strides...ultimate goal is to get this build done before the calendar year is out.

I'm not much for WIP photos but I did want to show a couple.  I built a jig for making Magic Tracks and used The Doog's tutorial on Armorama to install them on the Pz IV. 

Anybody besides me have trouble distinguising the light gray from the dark gray on Magic Tracks?  And I'm a pilot!

wbill76

 

Carl, thanks! The Aztek is a beauty...I can definitely see some advantages with the metal body versus the plastic one I had before. Namely the balance is better and I have more control when doing detail work.

 

Bill , i use a Testors air brush , a reboxed Aztec , and have good luck with it . The plastic body is a little light feeling , especially after using my Badger 150 . I  have 2 A.B.'s hooked up at the same time is why i go from the Aztec to the Badger .

Few small things were accomplished and lots of bad pics taken but here they are.

Boogies are all permanently on, front idler wheels are dry fit to help when tracks go on.

Rear plate on stowage bin made, tail light added, jack block holder (on left), tool box (right) box had hasp and lock added on also (not seen in this pic.

Ammo boxes with scratch rack (not sure if happy with boxes), Bren gun (drilled out barrel) with scratch gun bracket.

Rifle and tripod added with brackets and straps added. 

Radio with wiring and another Enfield.

Next up is to try to paint and fix up the kit supplied tracks.  Not to excited about these but will have to make them work. 

Want to get the tracks on before going any further because have made new fender shrouds.  Once these are on then will paint the exterior of the Carrier and then continue to weather the interior.  New fenders made from brass.  They have a slight angle bent in them but hard to see from this pic.

HOLY POOP Rob ! .............

Not even sure you can call it a Tamiya kit anymore with all the goods you've added. I love that Enfield.