How's everyones builds coming along?

hey Rob...been busy wrapping up a class for my MBA and the NFL playoffs haven't helped with bench time but expect to get some work in tomorrow and Sat morning and an update posted. Promise!

Hi Rob :  )

 I actually have primed and base coated  my char.....I am playing with silly putty tonight... hope , hope ,hope to have enough for a post with pics this weekend.... just haven't had the ability ( time wise ) to get to the bench lately, 

Your builds, by the way, are absolutely beautiful top shelf products....I've never looked twice at a Bren Carrier till I saw yours... outstanding workmanship !     I think I need a class in time management LOL ?

tread

Come on boys, we need more finished builds. Lot's of you guys with in-progress,  so hup-two-three.

WBILL - Must feel good to wrap up another class  I know what your talking about here in TX with the NFL many excited people here  Look forward to your update when it comes.

TREAD - If I remember right this is the first time with silly putty right?  Going to be nice to see her with some color on   Where you still planning on having the commander?

Thank you very much for those nice words.  It's really nice to hear from someone of your abilities that you enjoyed them.  It was a lot of fun to build them here with all of you.  Maybe one day we can do something Russian together.  Have lots of early Russian vehicles that want to get done.  The two right on top of my head are the T-28 and T-35.  Love the multi-turret tanks.

BOB - How is the 109?  Really nice looking so far.

tigerman

Come on boys, we need more finished builds. Lot's of you guys with in-progress,  so hup-two-three.

Sorry I too need a course in time management- I always rush though the first 75% of a build and then lose interest in the remaining 25%. Really need to finish her off.

Sorry...posted to wrong forum. D'oh!!!!

Dont rush it , bad things could happen . Just sayin .

Oh, man...bummer.  I did the same thing to the rear deck of a Stuart once but it wasn't this serious and I was able to hide the damage with stowage.  Vowed to never force dry again.  Sorry to see all that work go to waste. It was a beautiful build.  Maybe you could incorporate it into a diorama/vignette by flipping it upside down in a ditch and it won't be a total write-off.

Carl: Well, I won't be going quite that fast

Dave: You don't want to know what happened to it, trust me - BLAM!

Gamera Okay, now you have really piqued my interest. If the carnage wasn't caused by placing a desk lamp too close for too long (my method) just how did you do it?  PM me if it's too good a technique to share with everyone

Rob,

Yep, this makes 2 down and only 9 more to go!

Dave , when i took that pic i didnt realize that the model was melted until i looked at the pic in the view finder . Imagine my shock ! I looked at the actual model and couldnt believe it ! After a few seconds of being stupified my immediate reaction was , like Gamera said , blam !!!!! Here's what was left after the blam effect . I brushed the remains into this empty box . It now resides in some trash dump far far away .

What happened that while taking pics of the model i left  it unattended under a high wattage light . I dont do that anymore . I turn off the lamp as soon as i stop taking pics . a lotta time and patience went to the dump that day .

Carl, that's really sad. I can just imagine your reaction. I think the neighbors 200 feet away would have heard me screaming from the basement.  Know what you mean about those high wattage photo lamps.  I use a 500 watt for my overhead light and it  generates a lot of heat in a hurry.  Even the smaller tungsten fill lights get hot. I'm thinking about trying some higher wattage compact fluorescents. It would be  "flat" lighting and I'm not sure of the color temperature but at least no worry about meltdowns. Have you ever shot using CF lighting?

Hi guys..... finally some bench time..... this will be 'Bourrasque' when she is finished.

I let the silly putty sit over night after application as it seems to naturally seek low points, plus I used a brush to push it into all low spots on the sides. I was surprised... when I unmasked there was not even one place that even needs touch-up.... no bleed through anywhere... taking time with this step really paid off especially considering I have never used  it before.... I was also quite happy with how easily it 'un-maskes '....even around delicate parts .... any way here are the pics, I didn't spend much time on them, just wanted to give you an idea ...since I have the time today, I want to try and get the tracks finished,too..... ( while watching NFL playoffs... LOL )

here are the pics... the bellows for the radio was already base painted and I just set it in for the pics.

thanks for looking,

tread

P.S. I almost forgot to mention my 'OOPS' story....you will notice the are no turret hooks on the sides ...this is because the blue 'heart' decal goes right on top of them...in removing them, one side got severely gaffed with the exacto blade blade resulting in a complete turret re-do including casting numbers and casting texture... lucky the kit comes with extra hooks....the decals can now be applied and I will cement the new hooks over them and blend in with paint

Dave , I tried a couple of CFL in my adjustable arm lamps but i was disappointed in the results . I used a couple of 100w CFL's that i had handy and that wasnt enough light i'm thinkin . I havent checked any further into finding a higher wattage CFL . I like using the adjustable arm lamps i have now but i do need to get a better set up . Any ideas you have about better llighting i will be glad to listen too .

I did get a couple of pics before the melt down though . It was built for this G.B. Its the old Testors Pz.1.

Tread , wow , i like the camo !

That really looks nice tread.  The silly putty did the trick alright.  Too bad about the turret set back.  Darn things are hard enough to move along then all of a sudden sometimes you have to go backward.

Great looking paint  Was going to ask what happened to the turret hooks but you have explained.  Can not tell at all of the problems you had, nice work on the repair  Had originally just thought you had removed them before painting.  Your turret texture really came out good.  Not to much but just enough to show, well done.

Shellback, I melted  some tracks that way, put the lamp right on top of the vinyl track to straighten them and kind of forgot about them for an hour or so.

I've am ready for the base coat on my Panzer II. Added some headlight wiring and chains on the tow pin and smoke discharger. Thanks to wild Bill for the photo help on these. this Tamiya kit is building up very nicely without hardly any fit problems.

Had to us some Mr Surfacer on a gap on the frontal armor. These Panzer II has bolted on armor for France, but this gap was for the original armor. I let tke gap for the bolted on armor, since I would think this would be prominent.

I primed with Mr Surfacer 1200 thinner with lacquer thinner, about a 1 to 2 ratio. I have never used this before, but I really like the sandable finish Mr Surfacer gives me. Only thing, I had to airbrush it outside in 30 degree weather. Also did the black preshading, but I forget the turret inside when I was priming so that got just a black primer coat.

Sprayed the wheels black and will use a cirle templete to paint the hubs.

Mixed up a black, blue and metallic grey coat for the tracks and sprayed those on the sprue. They will be the last thing I install.

Hopefully tomorrow I will get the grey basecoat and the brown camo on.

Have a good weekend,

WILDMAN - Thats looking sharp.  Really like that shot of the rear, nice details you have back there.

Tread & IWM: Hey, those look great guys!

Tread,,,  you have done a great job on that camo....  very nice indeed!   Sorry to hear about the hooks, but a nice rebound for sure.

iraqi,,   excellent work on the pz II          super detailing,      I just luv that stuff!

Good to see so much positive production guys.

Thanks, guys.

Super detailing is cool until I realized I knocked the tow pin chain off when pre-shading. It's long gone now, so time to twist some more wire to make a new chain. The thin wire from my old laptop power cord works great for small chains.

Tim ,thats the down side of our hobby isnt it ...................it melts so easily .

Good looking detailing on the Pz.

Tread, nice work on the putty masking and camo pattern!

Tim, glad to be of service, the pull chains you've created look the part perfectly.

It's been a struggle to get time back at the bench with the end of the year activity, work on my MBA classes, and the start of the NFL playoffs...but I managed to get some more progress done and start the weathering stages.

First up were the tracks, I applied an airbrushed base coat of MM enamel Burnt Umber and let that cure overnight. Then I dry brushed some MM enamel Steel to give it a metallic look and applied a highly thinned wash of MM enamel Raw Umber to tone down the steel and blend things together.

I also started in on the hull weathering. I applied an overall wash of MM enamel Raw Sienna with a round 0 sable brush. This will get combined with the dot filtering process that is next to provide a dusty/streaky finish to the base camo pattern.

My goal is to get this one completely finished in the course of the next week or so, hopefully I can deliver on that expectation barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Bill , good to see you got some time to work on the Pz. . thanks for sharing your techniques .

Hi Bill , first off, thanks for the kind words, and may I say your Pz is looking awesome as ever !...

being a football fan also, it is really almost imopossible to get something done AND watch the playoffs...

everytime I leave the room to try and do something my wife yells ' INTERCEPTION' or TOUCHDOWN !'  I come back and the playing slows a bit, I try to sneak away and I'll be dammed if doesn't happen again  .....LOL

I am tring to work on the decals so I can begin weathering...

good luck gettin' anything done !

tread

Hey guys.. :  )

thanks for the kind words on my silly putty job... everything will tone down quite a bit once the weathering begins : )

tread