Thanks, Stikpusher. It's fun doing it. The camera actually helps draw out a lot of the detail my unaided eyes miss. I am going to go for a faded camo on the exterior. Never did one before. That should be interesting.

No turret numbers is helpful. It's hard for anyone to criticize your replication if they don't have a specific, historical vehicle to compare it to!

Well I have no Idea what I'm doing but I'm having fun so far 

Well, I had a few late-build challenges with the Sherman. In addition to my first attempt at weathering, I managed to snap the top off the radio antenna...twice (my repair attempt didn't turn out so well, as you can see, but ehh I'm not gonna mess with it anymore ). Just as I thought I was finished, I discovered that my cat had absconded with the turret-mounted .50 cal. Luckily I was able to recover the weapon mostly intact and complete the model. To recap, this is the Revell 1/32 M4 Sherman Bastogne version, with improvised armor (sandbags and wood planks) and hedgerow cutter (not used). The markings make this this the 3rd Armored Division, 32nd Tank Regiment, C company, 3rd platoon, 2nd tank. Elements of the 3rd AD came ashore at Omaha Beach on June 24, 1944 (D+18) and saw their first combat at Villiers-Fossard.. I tried to weather it as a tank not long off the beaches and advancing inland. I found the kit to be an easy build, with enough detail to make it interesting and no major fit issues. The only real negatives are the large amounts of flash and the figures, which are honestly just awful. I enjoyed this build and am happy with how it turned out. I'm calling this done, but I welcome any advice.

BD, digital photos are great for going over your own work and seeing all the little things that your Mk.I eyeball misses

Cody, your Wuerger is looking mighty purty there in warpaint!

Raven, you did a decent job on an old classic. I would suggest hollowing out the spade grips a bit on teh commander's .50. When viewed from above they should be more "U" shaped and not flat across. It will add a little more life there, and all the little things add up. Also, the antenna should be OD, not bare metal.

Steve, I like the colours you got going on the Sherman, and I think  the beach sand weathering is quite effective.

Just some basic skills need tightening up, and that will come as you get a few more under your belt.

regards,

Jack

BD, I will second stik on that. I can almost guarantee that every time I take some pics, I spot something I have missed with the naked eye. And if I didn't, someone else will. 10 pairs of eyes are far better than 1.

Cody, nice looking 190 there. For someone who has no idea what they are doing, you seem to be doing ok.

Raven, nice looking Sherman. I do see a sink mark on one of the spare track links, but I think that's just something to note for next time. I will gladly be adding this to the front page.

BD: Looks good, I too really like the weathering on the gun there.

Cody: Looks like a 190 to me- nice work!

Steve: The Sherman came out great, I love the olive drab paint and the mud/dirt you've got splattered on there.

If I may be a little nitpicky? Judges at shows have busted my chops about stuff like this and then I wondered- 'why didn't people tell me this before' so I'll let you know here. If you think it's stupid you're free to ignore me!

1). The tracks are a little loose, you can fix this by cutting one of the links off and cementing it back together. You probably don't want to do it here since you're done but you might try it in the future.

2) You can paint the tools a dark grey and then rub some pencil lead on them to get a little metallic sheen. Silver paint is a little strong.

3). The area around the left front light guard is shiny. Hit it with a little of the matte finish you used and it will go away.

4). As Bish noted there looks like a pin mark on the spare track link on the hull front. It's in a kinda hard place to fill and sand there though. If nothing else you can do a cop-out and stick a helmet - US, captured German over it.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the constructive criticism. This is my first AFV model in probably 30 years, so Jack is exactly right about my basic skills needing improvement. This build has helped me become much more confident, and I've enjoyed this GB and the community immensely.

This build had some personal meaning for me, as my grandfather was involved in the Normandy invasion. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard aboard an 83-foot cutter engaged in anti-submarine warfare prior to D-Day, and during the invasion his ship patrolled off the beaches in search and rescue operations as part of the 'matchbox fleet' (400 men were saved on June 6). His experiences there affected him very deeply throughout the rest of his life. I loved my Pop dearly, and I've always been very proud of his service in the war, so this model is my small salute to him.

Raven728, Thanks for sharing that. They were, and still are, an incredible group of men and women--truly America's finest moment in world history, to date.

Thanks for the kind words, Gamera. I'm learning from experts like you.

I have finally resumed work on my Marauder after a few side tracks recently. Last night after dinner, I scratched op the waist gun ammo cans and their rack. I just need to make teh mounting brackets and add some PE flex chutes now.

SP: Very nice work- again I wonder how much you'll be able to see inside though!

Steve: Wow, a big thanks to your grandpa and guys like him. I think we often overlook the Coast Guard and all they did during the war.

BD: Gee whiz I'm no expert! I'd call myself competent maybe but not an expert! Look at guys like Disastermaster and Bufflehead if you want to learn from an expert! I try to help out because a lot of this stuff I've only learned recently and am still picking up so I think I'm pretty new to this stuff too!

Most of it will be visible from one angle or another... it will certainly be busy in there for anyone who looks...

Well here it is with the decals on.  I just need to fit the landing gear and the canopy w/ a few components. I also gave it a satin clear coat to blend the decals in.  I have only made a couple planes but so far I have enjoyed this build.  Its been quite a change from autos.

Cody: nice looking 190.

Stik: nice job on the ammo bins.

Last week I was busy working a double shift and taking my CCW class...not much modeling toime, but I did get the hull painted, but no pics taken.

Last night I got a couple hours in at the LHS and was able to get the national markings and the registration numbers on the Sherman.  Here's a few pics....

As soon as I decide which tank I'm doing, I can get the unit and tank name on.  All markings are Archer Fine Transfers.

Pyrman, looks great so far, I can't wait to see it finished. Cody, she's a beauty - I always thought 190s were gorgeous planes.

Pyr, your M-4 looks great!!! It's so clean!!!

Cody, your 190 is looking great as well. Getting close to the finish line...

Today I added the external framwork to the waist guns ammo bin mount and came up with a way to suspend it from the tail- using a spacer between the cans that runs up into the tail made from 1mm strips

external framing

the cans with the spacer/suspender mount

the whole assembly glued together

and test fitted in place

Cody, love the 190, great work on the paint scheme.

Greg, that's looking really nice.

Stik, some really nice detailing there.

Yes, the tail recognition stripes should be white on the OD & NG surfaces and black over bare metal.

Dam it!  I started off that way also.

Stripes look good though, but am wondering if you purposely have uneven widths to those applied on the fuselage?

regards,

Jack

Nice work, but those black stripes in the fuselage do look thinner than the white. Is it meant to be that way.

No, just kind of over this one and want to be done.  measure with a scale and marked with pencil but when I taped thing they just didn't turn out exactly they way things were meant to be.

I'm going to have to make some of the white thinner and black wider.

I know I posted this in a different thread but this is worthy for The Longest Day Group Build. Last night, I went to Barnes and Nobles with intention to buy Fly Past magazine. Unfortunately the newest issue wasn't in yet but I did find a worthy June issue of Air Classic. This issue is a 70th Anniversary Commemorative Edition to D-Day. Buy it before they're gone! LOL!

Cody, Greg, and SP those look great guys!!!

68GT: Dang, those stripes look perfect other than the width- going back and repainting them sucks.

O well 68, sometimes we just have to say it will do. Something we can chalk down to experience.

Blacksheep, nice heads up, thanks. It seems the model companies are getting in on it as well, I have seen several decals sets for the Normandy campaign and Airfix have released there really out fort sets.

After I made my previous post, I went and took a look at reference pics I have for 2AD - I found that 2AD did not have any national markings on the hulls! DOH!!  So I had to remove the offending stars, here's a few pics....

 it was easy enough to remove the markings with Tamiya masking tape

  but after removing the stars, I noticed this was left on the model.

I replaced the star with this marking on the turret roof

{note to self: check references before putting on markings!}

OK, I'm getting there with my 10.5cm sparty. Here are a few pics as it starts coming together.

I'm just starting to do the weathering on the lower section. I did some stressing and have 4 filters on it so far. I found some great Pollyscale paints for filters/weathering. One is called "Dirt." It's the best looking dirt color I've found. Vallejo makes one but when you thin it, it looks mostly green. This Pollyscale retains its color even when it's thinned.

And here are a few more:

I'm having a lot of fun with this. There is still lots of detail work to do everywhere, and then to the dreaded camo!