Semper Fi War in the Pacific

Rob , thanks for the explanation on the hair spray .So would you say it works ok with enamels or is it a waste of time ? Gad you went forward with the paint job , it looks just right and i know you have lot of weathering you will be doing to it yet .

Bil , you know the figure came out as good as it did because i enjoyed doing it . I've already learned a bunch from doing it . I tried writting "USMC" on the pocket .................omg ! Thats a tiney area !I may have to cave in and spring for those Archers after all .

PANZERWAFFE

That is a really nice fit on the sprocket.  They really look good on there and I know there better than Italerai tracks!!  So what does this mean for your build?

Rob .......well .........................Here's something interesting . The Italeri kit i stoled the final drive sprocket is an old "M4A2 Sherman Jumbo " according to the box but when its opened its a 47 degree M4A3 hull with the turret from their M4A1 . I tried the turret from the Tamiya kit and it fits exactly into the Italeri hull ! This turret can be used as the "wet sorage " by leaving the applaque armo off .There's is a big difference in the two turrets so i will want the Tamiya turret for this M4A3 . That will solve the problem with the T49 tracks fittting the Italeri kit . The road wheels on the Italeri kit are spoked and i believe the M4A3 had solid pressed steel road wheels . So maybe a swap will work . The tracks in the Italeri kit are those stiff and hard old rubber band type . I've known this Italeri kit was a complete joke since i bought it a loooong time ago . I didnt know what it was good for but know it has a purpose . This will be interesting bashing these two kits .I looked up the T49 tracks and they were an option on the M4A3 , so thats good .

Carl,,,  that fig does look good, congrats!   I too would be inclined to think you have built quite a few figures...  I'd say, with how good this one looks, you best be including in many more of your builds!   Glad you stabalized those tracks too,,    great rebound.

Rob,,   you are doing a great job on that baby...  personally I don't think the chipping is too much. I figure once your weathering is added, it will really tone down the effects......   looks great!

That is a really nice fit on the sprocket.  They really look good on there and I know there better than Italerai tracks!!  So what does this mean for your build?

DEATTILIO - Nice to see you back at it.  Just a little sanding and your there with the cab.  Great work so far moving the hatch and glacis.  For me it was all down hill after that.  The gap at the joining of the hull and deck is also on the 1/35 model.  After dry fitting all the pieces I decided to fill what gap could be seen with putty after the hull and top deck are permanently together.  Reason being, and thankfully, once the added armor plate is put on the bow most of the gap will be covered and not seen.  Only on the two ends will it be seen and need filling.  Your approach is probably a more solid solution.

The weld beads are very easy to do.  Just glue stretched sprue in place.  Then put some Testors liquid cement (pink bottle) onto the sprue.  Use an old hobby knife blade to cut, push, and poke at the sprue and you will get a weld bead.

CARL - Man you are fast!  You have him done before I was able to comment.  My comment, He looks GREAT!  The helmet looks nice and I really like how the blouse came out!  Super job!  You did really good on the face and skin tone also.  You sure this is your first figure?

Archer also has some nice decals for Sherman's if interested.  They had a few different sheets, one of them had those stars and bars like in that picture of the dozer in the pacific.  I'm searching for decals for my LVT and may also get a decal sheet for my M4A2.  Might try those E.G.A. decals also?

Well talk about a fun day.  Woke up and we here started cleaning the house.  After that it was time to do taxes.

Starboard side done.  Used the same process as on the port side.  This side the salt removed very easily and the chipping may be to much.  I'm just going to keep going and dress things up as I go along.  Too answer your question about the hair spray Carl.  First this whole process is suppose to be used with acrylic paints and the hair spray is sprayed on before the final coat of acrylic paint.  This is to make the paint remove easily when scrubbed to produce the chipping effect.

Hey guys i just tried the Broco T 49's on a Testors / Italeri M4A1 drive spocket and they fit perfectly !

Carlos .............? Andy i almost didnt read it , i thought it was for someone else . I had a neighbor in California that would call me that . Thanks for your comment .

Bill , thanks again .

I'm calling this figure done . Except for the E.G.A. on the left *** pocket . I'm going to try drawing that in with a pencil ...maybe tonight .

Carl,,,  it does look good,, yes,,     will look for the finished fig pics too..

Deat,,   looking good!

Andy,,    thanks,,,,   I will post some pics of the finished effect on the seats using the screen. I would think that if the fiberglass is tight enough, it should work as well....  you can always press one way and then another way,,  sort of cross pattern,,, which actually works very well..   give it a test run on a piece of scrap.

Rob- details on the tracks look good.  Looks like they require a lot of clean up?

Carlos- Yes your figure look like a marine now. Great work!  Too brave you are...

Deattilio- MARDI GRAS?!?!?!  wait a minute I don't see booze, beads and boobs!  Nice porcess on your LVT!

 Bill- Outstanding work on vintage jeep!  . Thanks for the great tip how to fabricate texture on the seats. Will definitely try that one day. All of my screens here are fiberglass... I smell another trip to the hardware soon.

Bill , ok then i'm going to call the helmet good and apply a wash of burnt umber to the rest of the figure .

Detail , thanks

Good to see your LVT is comimg along , and it looks like a lot of detail and research has been going into it .

PANZERWAFFE, those tracks look incredible, looking at the nearly complete set is encouraging me to pull out my 1/35 LVT.  The LVT is looking good too, especially the welds on the armor.  I like the green but am undecided on the camouflage, only because it hard to picture the whole model based on only the port sponson.

Shellback, that figure is impressive, a challenge I have yet to tackle on any of my builds.  He will look god when finished and fixed to that even more impressive jeep.

Finally getting some time to work on Mardi Gras and stumbling across inaccuracies as I go.  Dragon was thoughtful enough to provide a tit on the port bulkhead to align the bilge discharge tube, unfortunately the LVT-4’s bilge discharge was from the forward bumper and not atop the port sponson.  A detail they neglected to provide for their LVTA1 and LVTA4 kits, both of which had the bilge discharge atop the port sponson but position is left to the modeler’s best guestimate.  There is also a glaring gap between the hull and top deck, hence the plastic strip affixed for sanding and proper fit.  I will be sanding away the putty that is covering the vision block locators, hatch cuts, glacis cuts and towing eye also lifted from the donor LVTA4 after today’s errands.

Oh yeah,,    much better              Nicely done!

Bill , yes i was surprised about the tracks not fitting . Nothing on the kit box says what they will fit . good idea on the hood , dont want hide all of your detail . I took your advice on toning done the helmet and started to remove the camo dots with glass cleaner since they are painted on with acrylics ...............and look at what happened , I think i like the effect and will leave it as is . What do you think ?

Carl,,   thanks,,     credit where credit is due pal,,,     !          And, I am actually going to let the hood loose. I have a tiny piece of 2-sided tape holding it down now, as I've been painting and weathering a bit.        Damn,, sux about the tracks. I hope they will work on your alternative choices.  I'm glad you are going to do the dozer though,,,  I know you were contemplating a change,,,,   I would enjoy watching that build!            ...         Your figure is coming along just fine,, he's lookin better every time. I think if you tone down / dirty up the helmet a bit, it will hit the spot.

Rob,,,    much obliged!            oh yeah,,  ha,,  - gang banger....          The palm tree method is not the same as the seats....   I'll send you a message as it is sort of boring and I don't want to crud up the post / thread. 

I will try to get some more progress pics up soon.

Rob , your offer of sending me the tracks is realy very , very much appreciated .

Let me see if these Bronco tracks will fit a Italeri or a DML kit that i have in my stash first .

I came across that pic of what looks like a M4A3 today . The title was "Sherman Dozer Pacific " . Looks like it could be Iwo Jima to me . I'm going to just go with the Tamiya kit M4A3 for this build like i originally planned . I have a lot of Shermans by DML and Italeri but  the Tamiya M4A3 is the only one that will work for this G.B.  I got some paint on the figure tonight and he is looking more like a Marine . What do you think ? I'm not sure about the helmet camo . He will have a wash and some dry brushing tomorrow . Let me know so i can change any mistakes .

Thanks for the feedback guys.  Will continue with the painting as is.

BILL - Superb update  Very nice engine details and I like all the additional wiring both on the engine and firewall.  I too like that trick for the seat texture.  Is that the same method you use for the texture on the palm trees?        I didn't know you were a gang banger Bill

CARL - I'm not a 100% sure about the Composite Hull, that info is just what I know or have seen.  That really stinks that those tracks don't fit.  I wonder what kits they will fit?  Is there no way to modify any part to make them fit?  I have one other possible solution.  Went looking in the spare part box and found some old Dragon Sherman tracks

Believe there is enough here to make a set of tracks.  Did some looking and found pictures of M4A1, M4A2, and M4A3 that were USMC and they had these tracks on them.  Can send them to you if you would like to give them a try?  Just let me know.May also have some sprockets that I could send, will have to look some more.  I have both styles of the outside plate with the teeth for the sprockets, just not sure if I have the center. 

Is that pic of the dozer blade M4 the one you were thinking about doing?

Here's the picture i'm using for an example .

Bill , thats a really cool way to get the fabric look into the plastic !!!!

Oh ya , the Bronco tracks do not fit the Tamiya drive sprocket !!!! I dont know if they will fit the Italeri or what others ....................

Rob , well thanks for the info , , cripes i may have to go back to the Tamiya M4A3 then with the kit tracks ..............thats what the dozer blade was made for anyway ..................

OK , ok , ok , all of a sudden you guys are posting like gang bangers . Thats cool .

Andy , thanks for looking for those Archer transfers . Nice looking set . Do you use their transfers ?

Rob , i dont see any reason to redo the salt weathering . Looks to me like the resultant chipping is fine . Once you add some rust and other weathering into the mix it will look great imo . I dont see any reason to sand it off and repaint . Whats the hair spray do ? Hold the salt ? Never tried the method . I had to think about the E.G.A. but i fiured it out . Cool . I like the color , what ever that word is , must be German for a shade of green . Good that you got a chance to use the new A.B. I like the results .

Bill , jeep engine detail is looking good . Leave the hood loose so you can open it later . You give me too much credit but if thats what effect i had on your build then i an truely proud for it

Cant remember anything else to respond to . Great post guys . Glad to see them !

Rob,,   I would think that weathering could be the answer.   Doubtful anyone wouldl notice anything out of the ordinary.     PS,,,  looking very nice too!                        And,, understood with the tracks / blacken it....  I try to use a bit of a combo.    BUT,, paint or otherwise, those dag-gummed tracks do look sweet!

Hi guys

I have been very negligent with posting update / pics of my jeep progress....  

 it is sort of cool to see two / same kits built for the GB.......    with a bit of trepidation, here are some of my progress  pics - - -

I believe my last post was that of  the engine compartment, where I added a basic scratch horn,,  I know,, not very exciting...

I tossed in a little firewall detail as well

I added some basic detail to the engine,,,

A little dry brush here,,  wash there,,  etc.

Wire up the lights, battery, add some bracing, hoses,  a little more paint detail, a few stains and splashes....

You know,,,  the wacky thing is I probably will button up the hood......   while I was watching Carl build his, I thought the engine would be fun to detail..... Carl sent me a bunch of pics and links showing the real engine....  This made it much easier and it was very much fun to tweak the lil bugger....   So, even "hood-closed" it was fun to do      ,,,    I think that is one of our modeling curses,,,  we detail the crap out of somthing that may never be seen....        BUT,,  still fun to do    (sorry,, rambling here)

So,, as some of you know,, I jump around a bit when building...     I moved on to the seats.....   not really much here to speak of,,     but, I wanted to add some texture to the cushion / fabric -

I took a piece of old crappy (very tight meshed) brass screen -

I painted the seat "padding" with some liquid glue (Tenax),,  waited a few seconds, and pressed the screen into the seat(s).

I've used this method before on tarp covers, sand bags, etc.........  If you use the right mesh tightness, the results can be pretty nice. Even though it looks a little irregular, I think the seat(s) will turn out ok.

I have some more to post but I don't want to overdo it either.....   I hope to have some more pics up within the weekend.

Not to belabor a point, but my friend Carl was / is very inspirational to this build.   Seriously, I probably would have not added near as much without his reconnoitering the subject      ,,   and his fine work on his too.

Thanks,    as always,,  all comments welcome

Bill

ANDY - Great find with those eagle, globe, and anchor transfers  I am ordering some for myself.  I was afraid I was going to have to paint them when I got to doing my figures.  This is sooo much better.  You deserve these

CARL - Alright about the M4A3 / Dozer   Should I remove it off the build roster on the first page and add something else?  The composite hull is a cool choice but wasn't it only in US Army and British use as Fire Fly's?  Believe the Marines acquired them after WWII and they used them in Korea.

I did not no the Mig Pigments could be scrubbed into the finish either.  It was "Try and hope for the best" approach.  I'm still new at using pigments and it is the first time I used the rust colors from MIG.  Surprisingly it has a very durable finish on the tracks.

The figure conversion is looking good  Andy is right, very brave.  Was not expecting you to un tuck the blouse, nice surprise.  Looks like the cargo pockets came right off for you.  Andy also has a good idea with trying Archer for the EGA.  One other thing you could do is......leave the EGA off?  Maybe your figure did not iron his EGA on as he should have.  I have seen and known people who did not iron there's on.

BILL - Yes, I did soak the tracks.  Had first used dish soap and scrubbed the tracks down real good.  Dried and then soaked in vinegar for the day.  Then let the tracks dry overnight and blackened them the next day.  I'm just going to stick with paint for the tracks from now on.

Fig conversions are always cool.  Look forward to see what you come up with.  Whatever it is I know it will look great.

LVT update

Finally used my new Renegade Krome.  I love it  Easy to use, well balanced, and lays down paint beautifully.  Will just need some more practice with it which will be no problem to do.

Have painted one side so far.  Was a long process that did not quite come out as I wanted.  First primed in flat black, sprayed selected areas with schokoladenbraun 43 as a base for exposed metal / chips, put on some Mig rust pigments, coat of hair spray, salt in selected areas, and sprayed the green base coat.  Did some color modulation with the green, you may be able to see in this pic.

Was pretty happy with the green coat and had thought about leaving it all green but decided to continue.  So put on the reddish brown camo stripes also trying color modulation.  Added the yellow beach bar and let everything dry.  Next using a toothbrush went to work removing the salt.  The salt did not come off as I had wanted and had to scrub very hard to get it off.  Not a good method for enamel paints.  Had sort of figured this but wanted to try it.  The result.

So what are yalls thoughts?  Like it or not?  I'm undecided.  Should I continue or sand what chipping is there and repaint everything?  All green or camo?  The weathering process will change everything again also so it may work as is.

Carla- LOL!  Welcome to my world.  I found this at Archer Tranfers...

http://www.archertransfers.com/FG35046.html

For $10.95 it will provide decals for at least 20-25 figures... perfect match for what you need.

Carl,,,,  you are a maniac   (in a good way)..........        I'm sure he will turn out great

Andy its coming along better than i expected . That Archer idea is a good one . I'll see what i can do with it b4 i go that route . Who'd of thunk i'd be putting this much time into a figure ? Not until i saw your work and that made me want to try my hand at it ................+

Carl, you are so brave!  So brave!  No way I will do this... LOL  Maybe Archer dry transfer has set of USMC symbols?