Thanks,

Now the Academy kit comes with invasion stripe decals but I'm not sure if I should use the or paint the stripes.  What do you guys think?

I like the look of that 68, really nice.

Eric, Ed and SB>  That is some great work you three have going on.  That Matilda weathering is spot on, and I really like that Mustang with the OD wings.  Pretty!

I always like those OD over NMF Mustangs! That looks good! And now for the stripes!

Nice LVCP!

Ed, Bob- those all look great!

Eric: Fantastic work there, the weathering looks just like the real thing.

Finally got a chance to get the LCVP assembled, minus the .30s which are on their way here from Korea.  

After doing a bit of research, I found a way to busy up the other side of the engine where the battery box and bilge pump were located.  Both parts came of my spares stash, I think the battery box is a part leftover from an Italeri Panzer IV, and the bilge pump is a part of a landing gear off of an X-Wing.

Really nice there Eric, I wouldn't mind adding a bit of camo to my Panther as well, keep those pesky fly boys off my back, so I willl be looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Lots of masking there 68, looking forward to seeing it un rapped.

Go on Blacksheep, you know you want to.

Loving the Cromwell tank. Now ya got me eyeing a couple tank kits for future builds.

Minus the tools and final pigment dusting we're calling the Cromwell done. Certainly have learned a lot about weathering - details later. Looking for a tank that's in good shape but has been getting a work out like this Cromwell outside Caen around July 1:

Which I interpret something like this:

Concerning any potential Panther problem I'll spending the remainder of the build creating matting and making the tank look like a bush like this one before Goodwood:

New territory for yours truly. Wish me luck.

BlackSheepTwoOneFour

Didn't have any ones... too funny!

Oh no she wasn't that bad!!! I meant I was going to leave her a three dollar tip but I didn't have any ones so I l left her a five. A five dollar tip on a fourteen dollar meal is a little excessive but I doubt she's going to complain. 

Didn't have any ones... too funny!

Six whole friggin bucks- gee whiz - back in my time we used to carve our own gun barrels out of TOOTHPICKS! And I DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A KNIFE- I USED A SHARP ROCK!!!!

Seriously six bucks sounds pretty reasonable, I wondered if they'd cost more than the kit itself! Heck I gave my waitress a five dollar tip last night since I didn't have any ones...

Gamera, those barrels were only in the $6 range from Sprue Brothers... you cant be THAT cheap ;-) (have you been possesed by VonHammer?). I figured with all the work inside that I am doing, I can add that bit of external work to help her shine.

Great work everyone!

Steve, that's really nice. Can't wait to see it done.

Mike, ye I got the Griffon set for mine. You can buy it in smaller chunks if you don't want to go the full hog, its damn pricey, a touch over £70 for the full set. But it does include metal gun barrels and torpedo's. I also managed to get some 72nd depth charges and sea mines.

There was a WiP thread on the Revell kit with the full Griffon PE, but I haven't seen any updates in a few weeks.

Raven: Looks pretty darn good to me too! Only thing I'd add is if you have an old model you might want to practice your weathering on it first. Though I think most of the pigments you can wash off if you don't like the results. And I have to say it's good to see a Sherman here, since it was used by the US, UK, and Canadian forces it's kinda not right to run the GB without one!

SP: Wow, those look nice. I've been too cheap to buy barrels like that but gee they look sooooo good!

Thanks guys! This is definitely still an in-progress build. I'm not embarrassed by it at all, in fact I'm pretty pleased with how it looks at this stage. A week or two ago though, when I was still laying down decals and fixing problems...you couldn't have convinced me to post pics at the time.

I have a set of Doc O'Brien's powders that I'm planning to use, I just need to get an idea in my head of how I want it to look and how to get that look.

Raven, weathering is easy with all the stuff they have out there now.  The Sherman I built for this GB was my first real attempt at weathering. And it came out ok . . . at least they tell me it did (see pics on 1st page to judge for yourself).  I pretty much followed the advice in the "Building and Detailing Realistic Sherman Tanks" book available here.  I also added some pigments and stuff and did whatever stikpusher told me to as well.  When it was finished I was happy with it.

Raven,

Like it or no, weathering is essential with armor. Tanks moved together over poor roads and rough ground so they were being pelted with dust/dirt etc from those in front as well as stuff coming from their own tracks. Rain, or even dew, will cause streaking on dusty vehicles in short order. US vehicles, if anything, were more prone to some "distress" than others because olive drab was very matte and thus picked up dirt immediately and faded extremely quickly. (It was well applied at factory however, so a lot of elaborate chipping is not needed.) In addition, the eye will always pick up some kind of shadowing when looking at a large object. 

You can spend lots of money on DVDs or spend hours on YouTube seeing how the blizzard of materials available for weathering from companies like MIG, AK and now AMMO (among others). A cheap introduction is to check out a page found on the fine site Missing Lynx which in 2003 published a series of articles written by arch guru of heavy weather "Spanish School" Mig Jimenez. These are worth everyone's look because they were written in 2003 before Mig himself became a businessman and thus they explain how to use non-branded materials to make the effects. (He also recommends a trip to the art supply store - nice to see smart people agree with yourself.) Topics include pigment, washes, filters, chipping and rainmarks and are nicely illustrated. Check:

http://www.missing-lynx.com/rareworld.htm

Eric

Raven, that does look good, but I agree about your build needing some weathering. 

Well my package from Sprue Brothers came today... some Quickboost MG barrels for my Marauder

and since it was only $8, I could not resist....

I wont be able to get Hoffman's Torpedoboot done in time for this GB, but it is a "to be done soon" project.

Raven it looks like you did a good job in building that beauty, how about some weathering, pigments, a little mud on the tracks, get your hands dirty. These tanks were used in a lot of foul weather unless you were going for a museum type look. Just imagine her coming off on Normandy Beach and fighting her way into the hedgerows. She's going to get a bit beat up. Do you have any close up shots theres no embarrassment here, a lot of people that'll help you out. We're all about making each other better modelers.    

Bish

stikpusher

Yes, one of those bigger Schnellboot kits would be very nice. I have seen the Revell kits build and the are VERY nice! I can only imagine the 35th scale Italeri kit...

I know, that thing must be huge. But I think the 72nd will do for me and will fit nicely with the u-boat.

I was just stumbling around the 'net, and found that Griffon makes an amazing PE set for both 1:72 Revell kits.  Here's one of them.

Steve,

Your Sherman looks great!  Nothing to be embarrassed about there.  More pics!

I've been working quite a bit on the Sherman, I was too embarrassed to post any pics earlier, because it was looking dog's-butt ugly for a while, but I think she's presentable now.

Just a few washes at this point to tone things down a bit, especially the bright white stars.   I'm going to weather it a bit, but I'm not confident enough at this point to do too much.

Well I ordered the cannon for my Hellcat Mk.I. Can't wait. Now if I only can get a little motivation to get back to my Thunderbolt. LOL!

stikpusher

Yes, one of those bigger Schnellboot kits would be very nice. I have seen the Revell kits build and the are VERY nice! I can only imagine the 35th scale Italeri kit...

I know, that thing must be huge. But I think the 72nd will do for me and will fit nicely with the u-boat.

Yes, one of those bigger Schnellboot kits would be very nice. I have seen the Revell kits build and the are VERY nice! I can only imagine the 35th scale Italeri kit...

Bish

Revell does have two 1/72nd kits of the S-100.

Thanks for that info Bish.  Now I'm sure a Schnellboot will be my first boot build...I mean boat build!