1944 Group Build

Good work on the V-1, Ken.  Nice little trolley, too!

Thanks guys

I found some cool videos on you tube The guy goes by QDC and he evaluates different kits. He does a lot of armor, He does a few other things as well. He did a B-29 . After he finished it, He hung it on the wall. I would have never thought of that. So, Thats probaby where the B-52 will go.

The V-1 is looking quite lovely, Ken! What pic do you want me to post on the front page?

Thanks SS, I think the !st picture will be nice on the front page

Thanks again everybody

Nice job on the V-1 ken, looks good on the trolley.

Thanks Bish

More masking:

But some progress, too--partially finished island structure:

And main gun turrets:

And some test fitting--nothing's glued down permanently yet:

Epic checkmate...just 'dazzling'!! Keep up the good work!

Just amazing masking and painting CMK. It's looking excellent.

Thanks, Rob and Joe.  The ship has two more islands.  After that, the complicated stuff will be finished.

That's looking really nice there Check, I like the look of the turrets.

I made a start on the 251 on Mon, should have some pics ready before the end of the weekend.

Thanks, Bish!

It's keeping me busy, painting tiny pieces now.

Finally made a start on the 251. This is the first AFV club kit I have built, despite have quite a few in the stash. So far, my views are mixed. The kit goes together nicely and there's some nice detail. But there are a lot of pour stubs that have to be removed. Some are not in view but are so bit they get in the way of fitting. But its nothing a little sanding doesn't sort out.

This is the kit, the Sdk.fz 251/3 Ausf D. The real thing came with a range of radio fits depending on its role. While the kit does include extra radio's, the instructions only show one fit, without seeing the inside of the real thing, its hard to tell what each vehicle carried. I will be sticking with the instructions which show the fit for a /3 II which I think is correct for the vehicle I am doing, but of course its largely a guess.

I am also using an Eduard PE set, Fruil tracks and Quick wheel wheels.

I have started with the lower half of the interior. There will be quite a few bits painted before assembly, and this includes the top and lower half which will have the insides painted before they are put together. After fitting the lower hull sides to the floor I decided to start at the front and work backwards.

 And here you can see another part of the kit that has to dealt with. The raised lines indicate the fitting of various parts. However, they include the areas for other versions where items are not used in this one, so these have to be sanded away.

I have also part assembled the seats and have the IP  drivers bulkhead ready for painting.

I then carried on along the lower hull without any major issues with the kit parts or the PE.

Next up will be the rear and the inside of the upper hull piece. 

What an excellent start Bish. Very sweet PE set and your work with it is quite impressive. I must say, I'm rather excited to watch your build of the 251 halftrack. I really like halftracks and I have yet to see anyone build a 251. So watching you apply your masterful skills to one is going to be nothing short of awesome. Also, I'm rather curious about the quality of an AFV Club kit. It really is great to have you in here getting busy now.

Thanks Joe. I am a big fan of the 251, in fact its my favourite military vehicle, like the Stuka is my favourite aircraft. This is only the second one I have built, the other being a Dragon /17, but I have another 25 in the stash and there is a lot of potential with these, I have worked out there are 63 versions taking into account body types and different roles. So I still have a lt to get to.

I am trying to improve my updates, I have been looking at the posts of Wbill and others, so hopefully they will be more helpful. I have even made a pop up clear background for my pics to do away with the clutter. But if there's anything that's not clear or any ideas for making the posts better, please let me know.

I have just been trying to sort out some figures, I have most of them covered, but I want a sitting radio man, and I think I may have found one that works, though he might need a bit of re modelling.

That's looking really great, Bish!

Great start on the 251 Bish!  Man, that's a lot of PE!  This coming from someone who has NEVER done any PE yet!  

Great work mate!

Eagle90

SchattenSpartan

The V-1 is looking quite lovely, Ken! What pic do you want me to post on the front page?

SS - What goes? Are you no longer posting pics on the front page?

Awesome job Check.

I need to get back on my USS Missouri and get it done. Been real busy with real life things lately. I just can't seem to get the masking down on the superstructures. What color did you start with?.  It is giving me fits trying to get all the small parts masked plus I am having trouble with my airbrush not wanting to spray the paint right.

I have tried everything that  know but to no avail. I will get it figured out soon.

That 251 is looking great Bish.

One of these days I am gonna get a good kit and all the extras that goes with it and try my hand at PE and all the other things.

Thanks a lot guys. I have almost done the inside to the point where I should be able to get the primer on tonight. I should have some more pics tonight or tomorrow.

I have been using PE for many years now. One of the most important things to learn is when not to use it. Not every part in a PE set is better than the kit part or something you can scratch build.

Eagle, o believe me this is nothing. One PE set with two smallish frets.

Ahoy, Nomad!

I know exactly what you mean!  The small parts are a major effort and Trumpeter's version has plenty of them.  Plus the fact that I can get something painted, and then find a photo that indicates it was a little different than I thought; and that sends me back to masking and painting and re-painting and touch-up, etc., etc., etc.  Happened just last night.

Then, I also had trouble with the airbrush, so I ordered a new compressor--thinking the old one was running out of power to move the paint; it was only 1/10 HP to begin with--and some replacement parts for the airbrush.  Discovered that two out of my three tips were cracked and split.  Things are going better now, but I'm still looking at lots of parts to paint:  20mm's and 40mm's and secondary guns and a lot of add-on's that I don't even know what they are.  

But, to get back to your question:  in principle I started with 5-L Light Gray (unless the part didn't have any); then masked over that for any other colors.  Mostly, if a part had two or more colors, I applied the lightest one first.  Doesn't always work, so you kind of have to go by guess and by gosh sometimes.

Fair winds, when you get back to things!

Bish, that 251 looks awesome so far! I really like your improvements to the updates (trying to do the same as well).

Thanks buddy, I have been taking some lessons from some of the other guys.

Looks like a great start Bish.

I'll be watching your progress on the 251

Thanks Ken.

Well, time for another update. I finished off the lower hull by adding the fire extinguishers and the brackets and fitted the back plate to the hull.

I then moved onto the top section, not an awful lot to add here.

I replaced the kit rails with scratch built ones as I was not keen on those in the kit.

I also got to work on the interior fittings, these included the radio mounts, seat backs and the rear doors.

I was then able to get to the painting.  Everything got a coat of primer then a coat of DY using Vallejo Model Air.

I was than able to get straight to the weathering with a raw Umber oil wash all over to give it a grubby look.

Next up, this will all be sealed with a future. Flat base mix. Then I will be doing some dot filtering and a pin wash. I have also been working on the other interior parts which include the most important in this variant, the radio's. After painting, I added the power connectors using a small piece of bras rod and the connectors for the other cables with a piece of styrene rod.

More to follow son. 

Outstanding work, Bish--particularly the detail painting on the radios.  Looking good!

Thanks check. Still got a bit more detailing to do on those and I will leave the wiring until they are fitted as I have to work out what goes where. Looking at some pics its a real rats nest.

Looks great Bish, I can't wait to see those radios installed with the wiring

Awesome job going on there Bish. I am still trying to figure the masking out on the Missouri. LOL. I am waiting on Revell to send me some new engine pieces for the P-61 that I am working on. The one that came with the kit were in real bad shape. A lot of the detail was lost in the making of them. More flash than I wanted to deal with.

Trying to redo my work desk to make it better. Need more space for the paints and tools. Bigger job than I realized.

Keep up the great work. My time with PE is coming soon.

Doug