That's Amore (Italian GB) Jan 1-June 30 2012

I guarantee that nobody wants to see full hull shots more than me.I've been working on this baby for four months now.

STIK - The Autoblinda cars are beautiful vehicles.  Have always wanted this kit so will be watching your build with much interest.  Looks like some nice details and your construction thus far is looking great

TD - Roma is looking fantastic!! Love all of the small details.  I too would like to see the full hull shots.

ERIC - Tracks look great !  They are well detailed and they turned into a nice track.  I ant tell in your picture, what doesn't fit?  The sprocket teeth to wide, narrow, fat, etc..?  Keep at it, this build is looking great so far so just take your time.

Keep the tracks in case you need them for something else and if not maybe someone else out there can use them? 

Awe, it's so cute Ed. Such a tiny feller.

Looking good.I think I prefer PE over cleaning up indy links.

Finished construction. Not as bad as I thought. I got on a roll today. I'd say about 35 or more of the 176 were really messy.

Here's some shots.

The top tracks are the Tamiya. Next down are Italeri, and finally Model Victoria. I guess i don't have to tell you which is the best of the lot.

Thanks Rob and Ernest for the donations. Would you like them back?

With a miracle, I might finish by the weekend. Just going to have to figure out the sprocket teeth and painting & weathering of the tracks.

Good to see an update Ed. It's going to look great.

Ernest, it wasn't too bad. I'd say they are 3-4 links longer then my Italeri tracks, so I should have a little sag. Not sure what I will do on the teeth. I'll probably have to take them off. Ican't get over how small the openings on the links are. 

Stik you're buzzing through your build. Solid work so far. 

Mandy lurk away man. Hop in if you have a moment, we still have two months untill it officially ends.

Back from Nassau and back to the bench.

Guys- I have been lurking since this GB... no more lurking... great builds everybody!  Now you have been bookmarked so I can look forward to your updates.

Our guy Eric sure knows how to a great GB host!

bufflehead

Stik, my bad....I mistook your build for the AB 41 Autoblinda with the cannon armed turret.  This seems to be the "Sahariana" reconnassaince vehicle.  Still a very cool looking buggy!!  

And YES!  Weather the daylights out of it!!

Yes it is... and in Italian, even the name sounds cool..  Sahariana... an Army buddy of mine brought home an Italian wife from when he was with the 325 Airborne in Vicenza, and she always used to say when translating jokes, "... it sounds better in Italian..."

Anyways, todays progress report...

pintle machine gun mount for driver installed

and the engine compartment

Question to ponder: if the "hood" over a front mounted engine on an English car is the "bonnet", what would this part be on an Italian ride?

stikpusher

bufflehead:

stik - the Autoblinda is coming along great!  I've had a hankering to get one of these kits;  the AB series is one of the coolest looking armored cars around!  I'm itching to see how you're going to paint her up!!

 

Yes it does have a beautiful low silhouette!

I will be doing mine like this in a plain overall sand scheme... and weather the daylights out of it!

 

Stik, my bad....I mistook your build for the AB 41 Autoblinda with the cannon armed turret.  This seems to be the "Sahariana" reconnassaince vehicle.  Still a very cool looking buggy!!  

And YES!  Weather the daylights out of it!!

Whoa!!    Dang Eric, you weren't kidding about the flash on some of those links!! Yeah, it will take a sharp blade, steady hands, a magnifying glass and LOTS of patience to clean those puppies up!  They do look good though and snap together sounds better than drilling holes and sticking pins in them!

Any way to modify the sprocket teeth to fit them links?

Well for fun or not, I placed 7 links together and they do snap together. in the end I might glue them anyways. I will probably have to file some teeth down or completely off, for these tracks look decent enough. Some, but thankfully not all, will need some serious cleanup.

Geez, good thing I extended the deadline. LOL This should have been done within a month.

Thanks Nathen.

Doogs- my macchi is the 202.

Nice looking figgie there Doogs. Are those flares or something else strapped around his leg?

bufflehead

stik - the Autoblinda is coming along great!  I've had a hankering to get one of these kits;  the AB series is one of the coolest looking armored cars around!  I'm itching to see how you're going to paint her up!!

Yes it does have a beautiful low silhouette!

I will be doing mine like this in a plain overall sand scheme... and weather the daylights out of it!

Finally got some base colors on my Capt. Drago figure...

the real red baron

I'm going to be starting my Macchi soon. But first I need to work out the colours.

For the top of the plane I'm planning to paint it in XF-60 (dark yellow), with some dark green coloured mottleing spots. For the belly I plan to paint it in XF-23.

I'm not sure about the underside colour or the green, for the green mottle I've got these to choose from: XF-58 (olive green), XF-62 (olive drab), XF-65 (field grey) and XF-73 (dark green). I dont know much about Italian aircraft, and I've tried researching. Any help would be appreciated.

Which Macchi is it again? 

The PCM C.205 has some really great profile sheets, complete with exact color callouts and a paint chart. Wish there'd been a similar chart and accurate callouts with my G.55. Sadly, it was just "sand", "brown", and "green" on the scheme I chose.

stikpusher

 

tigerman:

 

Got the tracks from Model Victoria and ugh. Lots of flash and they don't fit over the sprockets.Decisions, decisions.

 

 

That is always a fun challenge with AM tracks... I have that happen a few times...

Well here are the latest mini progress pics

Floorboard on the frame and drivers seat/controls installed.

Drivers compartment sidewalls and rear installed

Starting to take shape now...

Wow now i remember the veichle you're build!! i'm not used with armours names wishing to get the 72 version from italeri, i see is detailed piece too!

The earlier Macchi 202s were close to a middlestone color with olive green mottle. Later macchi's (205) were sand yellow (RLM 79) with olive green mottle. The all green colored Macchi's were a medium green. Most Macchi's had a light gray underside. I don't think olive drab or field gray would be close to anything.

I'm going to be starting my Macchi soon. But first I need to work out the colours.

For the top of the plane I'm planning to paint it in XF-60 (dark yellow), with some dark green coloured mottleing spots. For the belly I plan to paint it in XF-23.

I'm not sure about the underside colour or the green, for the green mottle I've got these to choose from: XF-58 (olive green), XF-62 (olive drab), XF-65 (field grey) and XF-73 (dark green). I dont know much about Italian aircraft, and I've tried researching. Any help would be appreciated.

These are tiny mojos. I'll look at them more closely later. I think about half of them need major cleaning. I could just go with the Tamiya tracks that I got from Rob.

Ernest, I sold the Friuls to Rob. If they wer bigger. I think they would have been much easier to construct. These resins will be quite a challenge.

stik - the Autoblinda is coming along great!  I've had a hankering to get one of these kits;  the AB series is one of the coolest looking armored cars around!  I'm itching to see how you're going to paint her up!!

Eric, dude you are having the worst luck with the Semovente tracks.    I'm sorry to hear that the MV tracks are also a pain.  Cleaning up the flash is tedious, but manageable....the poor fit to the sprockets is definitely problematic.   Aren't those tracks designed for that kit?  As far as I know, Model Victoria doesn't make resin replacements for the sprockets...???  Will the MV tracks fit the Friul sprockets instead?

I haven't started the Zvezda M-13/40 (or M-14/41 as we've been informed), but l did receive the Jordio Rubio metal barrel and Eduard PE set .  The Eduard PE is actually for the Tamiya kit, but I think I can make use of some of the PE to augment the kit parts.  I decided not to spend any more $$ for other update parts/sets.  With the Friul tracks I already have I think it should be detailed enough, although I am thinking about  redoing the exhausts, or maybe even scratchbuilding them. 

Jack, thanks for the info on the M-13/40 kit!  That link to the Zvezda review definitely helps out and I'm going to make full use of the info there to help with this kit!

tigerman

Got the tracks from Model Victoria and ugh. Lots of flash and they don't fit over the sprockets.Decisions, decisions.

That is always a fun challenge with AM tracks... I have that happen a few times...

Well here are the latest mini progress pics

Floorboard on the frame and drivers seat/controls installed.

Drivers compartment sidewalls and rear installed

Starting to take shape now...

Got the tracks from Model Victoria and ugh. Lots of flash and they don't fit over the sprockets.Decisions, decisions.

I am glad to finally be here Tigerman!

BSY, it is a beautifull detailed kit.  I am very happy with my subject choice so far.

Last night before I ended my session I attached the opoosite side wheel bases and the chassis floor to the frame then put everything aside to dry overnite. I will be back at work over the next four days so I doubt that I will have much progress to post until next Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday.

Stik, large amount of details there

Glad to have you aboard Stik. It'll be nice to see some land targets.

Well after many months of lurking in this GB, I have finally kicked off my ABM 41/42. Steps 1-3 completed and halfway thru step 4. Bascily that is the lower frame and suspension. As usualy Italeri molds that stuff very delicately as on their HMMWVs and I have already broken a mounting pin... And it looks like the alignment will be something of a bear on this one... Ah well, hopefully not too ugly...

Something tells me that the B-25 might be on the shelf a little longer then you planned.

As for my tracks, I've never used them before and they are going to be very small. I'm going to have my strongest lens in my goggles for this one.

tigerman

Feel very unproductive. Hopefully the tracks arrive in the next day or two. I have no idea what I'm getting into.

Dude. Replace "tracks" with "HK B-25" and those are my exact sentiments.