The unOFFICIAL 2011/20012 Veteran's Group Build

Whew!  Glad I'm not the only one that thought it looked awfully blue; but I figured, "Hey, it's your barbecue!". If you wanted it blue, make it blue!

Yep...colorblind and all, I'm seeing a ton of blue there as well. Build looks good, though! Can't wait to see that guy done.

P-51 in NMF - NIIIIICE! Wish I were better with using enamels/lacquers etc.

So many builds going, I forgot that the M1037 was down in the primer booth! All ready for camo colors. Shoot, that reminds me...I don't think I put up a pic. Uno momento.

Apparently I took this before I added all of the resin doodads to the box...they're all on now.

Don't remember mine having a brush guard...that'll go into the spares box. Pioneer tools to be added later (mine were spraypainted black or green depending on the CO's whim with AAFES spray cans!). The rack was most definitely black.

Markings might be an issue - can't remember for sure what was on there. What would make sense as far as common bumper codes for 502 MI Bn?

Whatcha got there, a RATT rig?  I like that shelter!  I wish they made CUCVs in 1/35th.  I'd love to build my team's Turkey-32 and it's chase vehicle!

We had Pirhana systems mounted in our HMMWVs and they did have brush guards. That was in '90 and '91 though.

 EDIT:  In plastic I mean!  Miniman Factory makes a resin one; but something looks a little "off" about it.  Could just be 20 years of killing defenseless brain cells though.

Whoah, 75 EURO! Ouch. I'd like to have a CUCV in my collection, too (we had a similar cargo box setup on those as well), but not for that price.

What's a piranha system? I was in '93-'96...would we have still had those?

Yeah, 75 Euro is a bit steep.  I would need two of them too.  One for my vehicle and one for the chase vehicle., 150 Euro for two models?!  I think I'll have to pass.

Piranha was a mobile jamming system mounted in a HMMWV.  We used ours at Grafenwoehr and Hohenfels.  We had the commo shop make us a cable where we could plug in a Sony Discman and jam with music.  We had an ammo crate full of CDs and called ourselves "KPIG radio...The VOICE of Hohenfels..." or Graf depending on where we were! 

I'm not sure if they were still around in '93.  It was '90 when we had 'em in 1st ID(Forward).

Nice RATT Rig/Shelter Carrier Dupes. I am looking forward to seeing that one completed!

Here are a few shots of the Vulcan track taken outdoors to better show the colors. It's a hazy sunny day out so while in the top photos it is in direct sunlight, the haze has acted as a natural sunlight filter. No flash to accentuate the blue hue in the 34079 green.

In direct sunlight

and in shadow, but adjusted

Ahhhh...much better!  doesn't look like it was painted in primer gray.

LOL! I think the flash on my camera has an LED type light so it does add to the blue appearance. I dont know if you had any MERDC painted vehicles in your time in, but I do recall that the base 34079 green would weather with a distinct bluish hue as it faded.

Yeah, when I was on Lee's staff at Gettysburg we used a different scheme!

We had a couple tracks that had the MERDC scheme; but I took care of that in full MOPP 4 slinging a paint brush and 5 gallon bucket of sand colored CARC paint!  Fun!!

Wiseguy...

Wow - that's a great looking rig, Stik!!    Those things are s'posed to be driven outdoors aren't they? 

Nice job!

Ken

Thought I’d jump back in a post some progress.  I think I went through the same “slow build period” you went through stik, hopefully coming out of it now.  Got the turret built.  I pitched the styrene grab rails and stowage rack and substituted with some copper wire and mesh, other than that pretty much strait out of the box.  The engine compartment was also detailed up a bit.  I used some copper wire again to depict some of the plumbing and wiring.  Evergreen strip styrene “C” channel was used to build the guide horns for the powerpack on the way in and out.  The yellow striping on the harnesses was done with some scotch tape painted yellow and then cut VERY thin.  It was a PIA getting it on but I like the result.  The first coat of green was put on as a base for my intended MERDC paint scheme.   

Here’s how she sits now.

Really enjoyed thumbing through the pages and catching up on the thread, great information and craftsmanship all the way through. 

Gary

Stik, your Vulcan is looking pretty good! Like the camo. I'm not really familiar with that scheme but I really dig it! And yes, the base does look less blue now....

Gary, great lookin' scratch work you've got there! One of my favorite piece of armor.

Can't wait to see some more pics!

Gary, that engine compartment is excellent I do love all the little details in the plumbing.

Oddman, I dont know if that camo scheme was only on 5th ID at Ft Polk, or at most on III Corps vehicles that were fresh out of Red River Army Depot rebuild. Thats where ours painted like that way seemed to come from, except for the display stuff at Division Change of Command Dog and Pony shows. Those ones looked to be fresh out of the DISCOM paint shop. In any case, it was superceded by the NATO Tri color.

A little progress today, but nothing worth realy taking a pictureof yet. I began painting the stowge items: rucks, net & support pole bags, vehicle tarp, jerry cans, etc. And a bit of placement to see where things will go...

Here is the stowage so far with the track...

And a close up of the items. I still need to finish painting the cots and paint all the straps on the items that have them...

Nice!

I don't remember - is this the Academy or Italeri? I've read that the Academy is the better of the two...and of course I have the Italeri one.

dupes

Nice!

I don't remember - is this the Academy or Italeri? I've read that the Academy is the better of the two...and of course I have the Italeri one.

Well doesn't that figure...hate when that happens. Though, I'm not a huge fan of Italeri to begin with. 

dupes

Nice!

I don't remember - is this the Academy or Italeri? I've read that the Academy is the better of the two...and of course I have the Italeri one.

This is the Italeri kit. I am sure the Academy kit is better, especialy pertaining to the suspension, but this kit is not bad at all.  The biggest weakpoints are the road wheels and the pioneer tools.

bump

I think illicit GB bumping without an actual update is illegal...

Nothing illicit here... just a simple boot

Whoa - look out below, Geronimo!

Made a little more progress on the Mustang.  A couple of the Hasegawa decals decided to morph into multiple bits, so had to use some from an old Tamiya kit.    Still have to deal with the gear, guns and canopy and apply the metalizer sealer, but getting close.

Ken

I set aside my Semper Fi GB LVTs to make some progress on my AAV.  The MiniHobbyModels is a poor kit, and would not be in my stash if it was not given to me.  The amount of putty and plastic needed to clean the seams and better the fit or kit parts, which I am not done adding is apparent in the pictures.

Well, I finally got my BUFF hung up.  If I had Paitshop, I'd make the background sky blue.  That will have to wait.

The effort and time is disproportionate to what the finished product will be.  The kit did not include taillights or horn, so had to add very thinly cut plastic rod topped with some PE parts.  The sides are too large, the bottom should be fairly even with the bottom of the water jets/deflectors.  I am hoping the EAAK will detract attention away from sidewalls.  Preparing for the EAAK has necessitated shaving off various parts such as the molded-on cargo hatch handles and bilge discharge covers.

I am using this as an opportunity to practice with E.T. Models and Voyager Models Photo Etch sets for eventual use on the superior Hobby Boss AAV7s in the stash.  I will also use this as an opportunity to practice salt and hairspray methods and practice with Rust All to mimic how horribly corroded the EAAK became by the late ‘90s.

Although there appears little difference from previous pictures, there was much puttying, sanding, fabricating and gluing done.

Coming along very nicely there I have the same kit in my stash. I was thinking of just using the EAAK armor from it on a Tamiya or Academy AAV after reading how "off" this kit is. I'll be watching your work here closely.

I have made decent progress on the AAV, primarily on the turret.  I added the PE and it makes a world of difference, plastic could never capture the footman loops the way the PE has.  I added an external hatch handle and primed the turret.  Next will be a coat of rust and tan before green.  Both tan and rust must show through the green in several spots.

As can be seen in the pics  have also been committing time to building a lineup of 1/72 LVTA4s and an LVT4, plus 1/100 C-47 and Mi-24.

Buffrin, your BUFF has been added to the front page roster. Very nice work If you do update your hanging shot with some photoshop work I will change the pics.

Deattilio your Amtrack is looking real good there. The PE helps bigtime!