Dan you are the man, thats a nice kit.

Nice choice Dan.

I would like to enter in my Tamiya 1/35 Tiger 1 Initial Production.

For after market, I have Tamiya's Tiger I Photo Etched Grille Early Production, on order from my local hobby shop.

Gamera

I've really wondered at the 'Firefly' - a friggin' Lightning Bug- a beetle whose butt lights up!!! Why apply that name to a Sherman with a 17 pounder? I'd have thought they'd use something more aggressive.

Kinda like the Germans with their Maus. A damn mouse doesn't sound scary at all, eh?

Regarding the Mr.Surfacer: I just used the 1200 (in the bottle) for the first time and I absolutely love it. It sprays really smooth, even without leveling thinner, and covers with the first coat.

waynec

pordoi

Ah, so there is rhyme and reason at least for some.  I'm not even going to ask why WWI tanks were labeled male and female....

Don

i believe male tanks had cannon, female tanks had machine guns, aN=nd hermaphrodite tanks had one of each.

Yeap that's it!

In the first tank to tank battle a German A7V engaged two British 'female' tanks and shot them all to blazes before a 'male' could lumber out to drive it off. The Germans never used many tanks but British high command not knowing how many tanks they had ordered some of the 'females' to be modified with a 'male' gun in one of the sponsons changing them to 'hermaphrodites' so they'd have some measure of self defense. I have no friggin' clue why they got the names 'male' and 'female' in the first place- seem cannon tank or machine gun tank would make more sense.

I've really wondered at the 'Firefly' - a friggin' Lightning Bug- a beetle whose butt lights up!!! Why apply that name to a Sherman with a 17 pounder? I'd have thought they'd use something more aggressive.

... and hermaphrodite tanks had one of each.

... I see nut-zink!!...

...I am not hier!...

...I didn't even get up dis mornink!!!

need I add.... 

Don

Eric, that's fine, gives me a rough idea. Sounds like you get more out of it than I thought. The 1500 I found was about £9, but I haven't looked elsewhere yet.

wayne, I believe your right about the Male and females.

pordoi

Ah, so there is rhyme and reason at least for some.  I'm not even going to ask why WWI tanks were labeled male and female....

Don

i believe male tanks had cannon, female tanks had machine guns, aN=nd hermaphrodite tanks had one of each.

I paid 9 dollars for the bottle with free shipping on eBay from overseas and got it fairly quick. It can be thinned down really far and still spray and cover. I think on the last kit I did (I think the halftrack with PaK), I covered the whole thing with only half of the paint cup full on my HP-CS. Not sure if that helps but it was thinned down probably 60/40 thinner/primer. I wish I had more precise data to give you on it.

Eric, thanks for that info. I notice its rather pricey, roughly how much coverage would you get with that

Gamera

Hey thanks guys, still got a little work to do there on the wash- do the shields and then add a little more where I scrubbed too much alway.

Don, as I understand the 'cruiser' or cavalry tanks always were assigned 'C' names - hence Coventer,  Crusader, Cromwell, Centaur, Challenger, and Comet. Since modern UK tanks descended from this line they continued the tradition with Chieftain, Conqueror,  Carnarven, and Challenger II.

The 'infantry' tanks were a houge-pouge (how do you SPELL that!?!) of names from like Churchill, Matilda, Valentine, there seems no rhyme or reason. Maybe Bish knows???

The Matilda supposedly got tagged with that name since she resembled in profile a duck in a comic strip from that time period. The Valentine since the first prototype arrived for testing on St. Valentine's Day. Just weird and wonderful stuff.  

Now that makes a bit of sense. I guess before the advent of Cruisers, it was just what ever seemed to fit. And I guess just carrying on with a C made sense.

Not that the British army needs to make sense to do something.

Ye, I figure you could be right about the 1200 being just fine for the job.

All our armour has a name that's usually military or warlike. There is a sort of system. Tanks usually begin with a C. Churchill, Crusader, conquer, challenger, chieftain etc. Not sure where the Maltida fits in, maybe before the system bargain.

For modern vehicles, there is a range of vehicles that are known as CVRT's. They all start with an S. Sparten, Scimiter etc. The Ambulance version is a Samaritan (see where their going there). Theres a Command version called a sultan.

Then we have our version of the US Bradley which is a Warrior.

Funnily enough, the only post war AFV that doesn't have a name is the 432, basically our version of the M113.

I don't study British armour, but I did spend 12 years in an Armoured Inf battalion. My first 4 years were in the AT platoon and we had to do AFV recognition. As someone who was interested in AFV anyway through model building, I really enjoyed this. And it was while learning about NATO and Warpac armour that I started to note the systems used by different countries, and though of course we didn't do WW2 German armour, it did help me see that even the Germans had a system.

Gamera

Don, as I understand the 'cruiser' or cavalry tanks always were assigned 'C' names - hence Coventer,  Crusader, Cromwell, Centaur, Challenger, and Comet. Since modern UK tanks descended from this line they continued the tradition with Chieftain, Conqueror,  Carnarven, and Challenger II.

The 'infantry' tanks were a houge-pouge (how do you SPELL that!?!) of names from like Churchill, Matilda, Valentine, there seems no rhyme or reason. Maybe Bish knows???

Ah, so there is rhyme and reason at least for some.  I'm not even going to ask why WWI tanks were labeled male and female....

Don

Hey thanks guys, still got a little work to do there on the wash- do the shields and then add a little more where I scrubbed too much alway.

Don, as I understand the 'cruiser' or cavalry tanks always were assigned 'C' names - hence Coventer,  Crusader, Cromwell, Centaur, Challenger, and Comet. Since modern UK tanks descended from this line they continued the tradition with Chieftain, Conqueror,  Carnarven, and Challenger II.

The 'infantry' tanks were a houge-pouge (how do you SPELL that!?!) of names from like Churchill, Matilda, Valentine, there seems no rhyme or reason. Maybe Bish knows???

The Matilda supposedly got tagged with that name since she resembled in profile a duck in a comic strip from that time period. The Valentine since the first prototype arrived for testing on St. Valentine's Day. Just weird and wonderful stuff.  

I currently use the 1500 in black and grey for priming and have feel in love with it. I thin it with Mr. Leveling Thinner and the coverage is just superb and it sprays smooth as silk!

Bish:  I was not aware of a 1500 either, though did a quick Google search after your post and it seems to be the most recent addition to the Mr. Surfacer line.  Seems to be marketed mostly as a primer; available in gray and black.  Not entirely sure that the 1500 would fill a purpose that the 1200 couldn't do as well.

A collective well done to the Brit builds recently posted.  But I was wondering how the British named their armor; Crusader,.. Matilda?  Is there a system?

Don

Looking pretty good so far udel!

Gamera, love that Crusader! Such a modern looking vehicle, looks like something you could almost see on the battlefield today.

Udel: Great looking Matilda!

Cliff: I really like how your crusader looks!

Ohhh Udel, yes that is one nice lookin' Matilda!

Eric: Lol, just one road wheel at a time my friend!

Well, here's my Crusader with the treads and sand shields on. I still need to apply the wash to the shields. She's a little darker than I wanted, I tried something different by applying a sludge wash of Flory 'Dark Dirt' and scrubbing it off instead of a pin wash. The results are well... I sorta like it and sorta hate it. We'll have to see what the finished results are:

Udel109, nice looking Matilda. should look great when finished.

udel09 -- one sweet Matilda!!!

Tigerman -- many thank for giving me the go-ahead, it's hasegawa's 1:48th scale Bf 109 f/Trop, and I'll probably use Eaglestrike 48-078 "Jagdwaffe over the Sahara" for the markings (AM okay?) I've already got basic cockpit assembly done and sprayed into RLM 66, and am researching the F cockpit for what instrument colours to use.

I'll have a photo or two up later,

Cheers, M/TB379

Thunderbolt is going to add a Bf-109 F to the GB. I'm open to that. I love Luftwaffe planes in the desert scheme. If anyone would like to add a plane, please feel free.

I still haven't started.  No excuses. Maybe after the game. This looks like a cool tank and I wrecked my Tamiya III L in my move.

Progress so far:

Comments/Critiques welcome

Don - I would say AK paints / weathering washes are composed of pigments specific to their theme to fit unique subject matter - DAK wash, color filter specific to German DAK vehicles, stains, or desert dust conditions. Note they are expanding their line for other modeling subjects. The paints / washes can be used right out of jar, however I would use additional thinner to get the effects right. I have use several different oils before with thinner for washes / dot method for filtering / wore paint look and still do but I fine I get the effect better. Example the Pz IV was completed using oils, dot method (three colors), and pigments & water. The Tiger and Pz III was mostly completed with AK washes & filters. I would highly suggest the DAK Wash and DAK Filter. There are several u-tube demo videos available.  Armor86

Thanks Don, my LHS doesn't carry it either. But there are a couple of UK based on line sources that have it. I have just come across a 1500, which I hadn't heard of before.

What color would you guys recommend for a British Matilda MkII antenna? I was thinking the base coat desert yellow but online sources said some were painted pale colors to match the skyline.  Either way I will try to post some pictures tonight.  Thanks for the help!

Bish:  You are correct that Mr. Surfacer is a lacquer based product.  Locally, I have found the 500 and 1000 in 40ml bottles but the 1200 I have only seen in rattle cans.  It is also available in the 40ml bottles; just that my LHS doesn't seem to carry them.  Its availability is spotty but when I do find some, it's one of my favorite primers.  It sprays very easily out of can, so my guess is that it would airbrush equally as well if decanted, or diluted with lacquer thinner from the bottle, if necessary.  It also has a neutral gray color so it's not likely to influence the color of your main coats. 

Dan (armor86):  Sorry, I didn't ask my question clearly.  I know of the AK products but have never seen or worked with them.  Are they simply highly diluted paints/pigment solutions?  And is their advantage just mainly in convenience over making ones own, or do they contain unique ingredients that make them easier to work with or easier to achieve the desired effects?  Also, nice progress on the Sd232!

After our 60 degree day on Saturday, we're now under a winter storm warning for heavy snow tonight.  I might just end up with some unexpected bench time tomorrow if the forecast holds!

Don

Jibber: I really like those weathered colors on your M3!

Don: Very nice work! The tools and roadwheels look really sharp!

Dan: Great work!

Tigerman, I use the dot filter occasionally, actually I've used it twice, once on a Sherman and an Abrahms. I had better results withe Sherman where I mixed three different oil colors, white, brown and light green but the sand colored Abrahms was a different story. I like using the right color "dust effects" on certain vehicles which is  why I used it on my Panzerfunkwagen and the M3 but the green camo on the M3 showed brush streaks that I should have noticed and smoothed out. I studied two hours last night on old videos, photo's books etc on North Africa Campaigns to include modern vehicles and almost all of them are covered in sand and dust. That was the effect I was trying to get on these two vehicles. It worked on the 8 Rad but not so much on the M3. I have the right oils for sand colored AFV's but I didn't think I could get the same dust effect with them. But I really need to spend more time with dot filters and dry brushing, seems I'm missing a lot. I'll leave it up to you whether you want to use those M3 pics.

Thanks.

I love all the back and forth on these techniques.

Don, its on route. Got my 88 to finish, then a Panther for the D-Day GB. The Pz III will be after that. All going well, should be started by the beginning of April, should just give me enough time. I am hoping I can finish it as a complete dio, I have a base and some figures, just got a Verlinden figure set to get.

Been reading your comments on primer. I normally don't use it, but on the two figures I am doing, I thought I should. I got hold of some Humbrol acrylic primer from the LHS, but have been looking at various options. I was thinking of trying the Alclad Acrylic primer, but the Mr Surfacer was another option, just wasn't sure if the 1200 would airbrush. Did I understand it right, the Mr surface is a lacquer product.