Good looking Sherman RBaer!

Gamera-  So sorry to hear about your accident.  Been there.  No Bueno.

Well here is a bit more progress on the 1/72 KVII.  Its been fun so far! :)

Some really good looking stuffin here, guys!

I just got news from my LHS that my Tasca suspension is on its way to me. It should arrive on Monday at the latest.

RB, that's one very nice looking build.

Chuck, really liking the look of that.

Cody - the KV-2  with it's massive turret and gun has always been an eyecatcher, looking forward to more from you.

Chuck - really nice work thus far.  With the paint on, it all looks like an actual kit and can't tell you had combined scratch building and kit bashing.

Gamera - good to hear you are back home and returning to the regular swing of things.

RBaer - looking extremely good, and I like the animation of those two figures .

Aaron - appreciate the extension, I'll need it

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Guys, thanks again for the comments and continued interest.  Last post I said I would freehand the rest of the painting, but it looks like I'm forced to rely on masking (unless I mix my own colours with thicker paints).  

The Caunter scheme paints I bought for this project are extremely thin, perfect for airbrushing though.  When I tried applying the second colour over the base stone with a brush, I could barely see it.

regards,

Jack

Thanks guys!

RBaer: Looks great to me, love the pointing figures.

Tim & Aaron: Wow, thanks for the early Christmas present! Guess I have finish now or end up with mud all over my face!

Gamera, sorry to hear about the crash, get well!

Jack, that is going to be one colorful little tank.

My wife "needed" a shopping day, so off the the cave I went, oh happy day!

Figs are in, base is almost done, all I need is the 50 cal and the oil cans, both of which are almost ready. Touchy-feely close to finishing here, yay!

If I was really ambitious, I'd open the loader's hatch and have a loader fig swinging the the -50 towards what "Pointing Man" is so excited about, but that hatch is pretty well glued down and I don't have an even remotely suitable fig, so this is it.

Thats funny, sorry to hear of the crash get better my friend. Terry  

Gamera,

Sorry to hear about your accident and here's to a speedy recovery. Tim and I put our heads together and, given your temporary incapacitation and lack of tools, as well as the rapidly oncoming holiday season, we've decided everyone deserves an extension. We want everyone to be able to finish their builds. The new deadline is February 28, 2015. So, relax, get better, and enjoy the holidays.

Cheers, Aaron

Thanks guys, I'm coming along slowly but surely. I thin being out of that cramped tiny hospital room and able to move around is helping more than anything. I just wish I had my modeling tools, I think I'm going to scrap something together with some emery boards and a razor blade.

Wow, sorry to hear this!  Get well!  I vote we give you an extension on finishing.

Hey guys, gotta agree, everything here looks fantastic. Sorry I haven't gotten much done but I've been in the hospital the last two weeks after a car accident and though able to follow haven't even been able to post much since I've only had a cell phone for internet access and I suck typing on touch screens.

I'm so close to done on the T-26 but I've got one arm in a sling and my modeling tools are still in my totaled car about six hours away so we'll see how things go.

Hey everyone.  Finally had time to scroll thru and catch up on everyone's work.  Great stuff!

John - great work on the T-34, and I love the guy with the broom.

Jack - that little tank looks so cool.  Great job on the brass and added details.  That last picture looks like it's getting geared up to be a Christmas ornament!

Garzonh - my, my, that Hummel is nice!  I love the weathering.  I need to try that someday.

Bob - another nice T-34 scheme.  Man, they're all over.  Looking forward to the rest of the paint and details

Cody - welcome!  good to see another braille-scale entry.  Looks like a great kit

If I've missed anyone, sorry - trying to get in a quick update.  Let there be paint!  My halftrack has paint, and as of tonight it has decals and a final clear coat before weathering commences.  I may actually pull this thing off before the deadline... 

Thanks Bish & James-I'm glad to be finally be making some progress.

James-I had considered the hair spray method but the target I'm shooting for really isn't weathered that badly:

I'm going to try some dry brushing and washes.

Nice one Cody, just in time.

Great work guys!  Love looking through all the work!

Well better late than never.  I see on the list it says I was to build the 1/35 KVII by Trumpeter.  I have to have that revised to 1/72 KVII by Trumpeter.  I think I may have the 1/35 but its hiding and this one was sitting in the open.  Sadly I had ACL surgery and cant dig through the collection.  This might save me some time to slip in before the deadline too so its a win-win!  I may give this to my buddy after I finish if I don't get attached to it. Haha.  Here is a start.  I am impressed with the molds.  Very impressed.  Very crisp and mostly clean.  It did have a tiny bit of flash on a couple small wheels.  The gun, turret, and well.... everything else has been fantastic.  This will of course be in Axis markings.  I plan to add some type of white wash.  I don't know why but I just love Russian Armor.  Especially the KV & SU line.  

Nice work jack. The Italians didn't do half measures when it came to showing this had changed sides did they.

Bob - solid work on the T-34.  Many like to incorporate the hairspray technique for winter whitewashes, but looks like you are approaching it differently, so looking forward to that.

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Primer is now on, and also tackled the stripes representing Italian flag colours.  For the red and green, the dedicated paints from MisterKit were used. 

Tamiya  tape was used for masking, but afterwards, did spend about an hour touching up with a brush.  I think the rest of the tank will be approached without the airbrush.  I found the tape just did not adhere well due to the small surface area, as well as all kinds of curves and rivet detail.

regards,

Jack

The 34 is coming along nicely bob, good to see you back.

Hey all-first off, my apologies for not commenting on the excellent work you guys have been displaying-really, it's been great just following your builds-excellent work.

I've been fortunate the last couple of weekends-I've been able to the the T34/76 built, primed, painted and a coat of white camo.  I still have a lot of work to do, but I hope to meet the deadline.

Hope to get some work done on the Indy tracks this week, order some Future and figure out the best way to weather it.

Stik, I know there is a lot more that can be done, but that's as far as I am going for now.  Until I build a bigger display case I wouldn't have a safe place to put a fixed setup, sorry.

RB, your M51 is looking outstanding!!!

John I can't wait to see that dio all finished!

I need to resume work on my project!

John: That scene you created around your T-34 looks great!

Jack: Fantastic work on that tiny tank of yours! I'm digging the PE work!

Thanks, Jack.  I'll keep watching what you do, and the rest in the GB, and hopefully keep learning.  What fun!

I'm not really playing dolls at this point, am I?  Nah, we're playing Army!

John, great job incorporating your vehicle into a complete scene.  

Those extra enhancements in the follow up post did make a difference.   I find, as a viewer, that it keeps me coming back to the center of the image.  For painting faces in 1/48 scale,  one really has to rely on the quality of the sculpt -  usually a base skin colour followed with a brown wash is enough.

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Guys - everyone, thanks for the comments on the pimped up baby carriage.

regards,

Jack

Thanks for the comments, everyone.  I thought about garzonh's comments on the photos, and rearranged things a bit.  I also worked a little on the broom guy's face and ground down the broom a little.  Also, I changed how  he is holding the broom and now he looks like a proper slacker to me.  I put some miscellaneous tool stuff and cans to hide some location holes on the tank and here it is with the hatch off, though it may not be the exact way the real thing comes apart.    As to the old engine just laying dead on the ground, that's the way we did it down on the farm 50 years ago!  It would be nice to add a shed or something and a better backdrop, but I got a couple thousand more kits in the stash to get at....

Sweet work jack, really nice work on that PE as well.

John, nice set up and a great looking build. I feel your pain for faces. It took me the best part of 20 years to get mine to a point I was happy with, and that only happened this year, largely with jacks help.

Great to see the front page filling out. Great work all.

Sweet work jack, really nice work on that PE as well.

John, nice set up and a great looking build. I feel your pain for faces. It took me the best part of 20 years to get mine to a point I was happy with, and that only happened this year, largely with jacks help.

Great to see the front page filling out. Great work all.

Jack, the baby carriage looks great!

John, I like your story, well presented.

My entire progress for the past week:

A tow cable. I need to make time to finish.

John,

So many things going on...phewwww....lots and lots of things to look at, and will be a very dynamic dio once it is completed.

My only two cents advise, is that if thats the tank engine, I guess the hatches to access it should be opened, and also, I dont think the would let the eginge just laying down on the floor. But thats just me.

Overall, very very nice color and again, a dynamic scene.

Cheers.!