75th Anniversary of 1942 (World at War)

 

Good looking work, Andy.

Overdue for an update on the PR Spitfire ... this one isn't playing nice.

First the Vokes filter, gone ahead and glued it to the wing bottom, but normally this should be done after the wings are attached to the fuselage - yea, unconventional me.

I noticed some open gaps (circled red above) right where the wing leading edge meets the filter.  So to fix that, wedged a length of sprue inside the filter to spread the walls a bit, it helped.  From test fitting, also noticed there was a step where the back of the filter joined the faring that is molded on to the wing underside.  Sheet plastic and some sanding fixed that.

Now for some real gaps:

The wing roots on this kit are a problem, but oddly I didn't have this much fuss on an earlier Sword kit of their Spitfire V.  Needs major dihedral to eliminate that space, so trying this for the first time, and added some plastic sheet along the whole wing root:

It still required a bit more sanding for a finer fit, but here's a shot for test fit:

Pilot and cockpit details in place.  Also adding a trio of scratch built recon cameras, the side fuselage one is already in place - barely can make it out in the photo:

 

regards,

Jack

Great work with the improvisations, Jack!  Your techniques will come in handy; thanks for posting them.  And--it looks like you're whipping this one into shape.

 

checkmateking02

 

Good looking work, Andy.

 

Here are the latest pics of my work the the T-34.  Hull has been joined to the chassis.  I have not been able to work on this as much as I would like due to recurring back issues. 

Front shot.  Still messing with where to put the tow cables.

I cleaned up the sides where I had been thinking about putting bed rolls.  Just have to get the cables, some spare track, and maybe the bedrolls on.  Minor finish painting (headlight and machine gun) and some more pigment to dirty it up some more, and I think I will be done.

Thanks for looking,

D

As always, comments are welcome, including critical.  I want to get better.

 

Nice work, D.  Great looking paintwork, and the addition of mud is really well done!  Nice work!

checkmateking02

Nice work, D.  Great looking paintwork, and the addition of mud is really well done!  Nice work!

 

Thanks check.  So close to the end I can taste it.  I am now spending more time thinking than doing.  Fiddling with the tow cables and bedrolls to try to find a "real" position for them.

Nice work all!

I was able to get some paint on over the last week so this one is finally moving along. I recently picked up some Mission Model paints RLM 74 & 75 to try out on this build. So far I REALLY like these paints. I was able to free hand some of the camo on the sides of the fuselage and was able to mottle with relative ease. They go down very smooth and with very little overspray. Highly recommended!

You'll notice that the right wing tip isn't painted over but this will be painted white along with most of the port wing so no big deal.

The mottling will be pretty much covered up with the next camo layers but it's nice practice and I'm glad I've found a paint that I can have some success with (not the case in the past:) I will be ordering Mission Model white soon so this one will have to wait till then to move forward.

 

 

Hey Andy, that is looking really good.  The mottling came out very nice.  I agree with you wholeheartely on the Mission Model paints.  They are going to be my go to in the future.  They seem to be expanding their line pretty quickly.  I really hope this paint catches on in the community since it really is a quality product.  And if I can use it, that means it must be practically idiot proof. 

D

Hey Lost, I see your pictures just fine.  Glad to see you have your bench back!

Thanks Check.    I should have another update soon - photos still in camera and that was as far as they got. 

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  Looking good Dwayne,  can't wait to see it dirted up further with the pigments.

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Andy, I like the looks of the  109F, and that is indeed some fine mottling on the sides.

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Thank you Lost, and yes your photos are viewable.

regards,
Jack

Cheers Lost, and good to see you back at it. I thought maybe that MB.5 had seen you off

Nice start on the Marder.

Very nice work, rooster.  Luftwaffe mottling is not an easy thing to do, and yours is looking really good.  Congratulations.

Gasp!  lostagain!  Losing the bench is--apocalyptic.  Glad you got it back, and are back here.  Nice work going on.  We're looking forward to more!

Fortunately the loss of the workbench was only temporary - here is the replacement in all it's glory:

So I have a my space back to stick stuff together again! The Marder has come together very easily, so now I am getting ready for painting.

So Bish the MB5 didn't completely break me but I have stuck with a few OOBs to come back!

Hey Lost, that Marder is coming along well, and that bench looks really nice....and organized....with open space to work on.  Clearly I need to devote some time to cleaning mine up.  LOL

Thanks Dwayne,

The look of organisation was posed for the photo, I promise! My usual method is to let bits, tools etc pile up in my workspace until I start to sweep things off onto the floor, then I clear it all ready to go again...

So nine games in, we are 9 points behind you and have lost to the bottom team. Don't think we are going to get the title again this year...

lostagain

Thanks Dwayne,

The look of organisation was posed for the photo, I promise! My usual method is to let bits, tools etc pile up in my workspace until I start to sweep things off onto the floor, then I clear it all ready to go again...

So nine games in, we are 9 points behind you and have lost to the bottom team. Don't think we are going to get the title again this year...

 

Sounds like the same method I use.  When I have no more space, it is time to organize.

As for football, it is a long season.  I have to say I do like the way Pep has them playing.  Really attractive football.  But I am still really anxious every game, because....well....you know..."typical City". 

I think Conte will get your boys sorted out.  I still fear Chelsea.  Spurs are looking very good this year as well.  Just so long as it isn't United!

On another note, I get a chance occasionally to see the other team I root for, Napoli.  My wife's family is originally from Naples, so I really had no choice.    They are currently leading Serie A, and Juventus may actually not win the league after 6 straight titles.

 Oops, you got me started.  I could go on forever.  I will shut up now. 

D

    

Should be getting some primer on this one one soon,  but here are some final construction shots:

The Sword brand kit has you install four pieces inside the wheel wells, but I could only get one to fit, and even that lone piece is sitting on a slant.  I found they all stood too high and interfered with the fit of the top and bottom wing halves.  No matter to me as the landing gear will be in the up position, and the gap left by not using those parts won't be noticed. 

Note all the putty holding the pilot seat and a pair of cameras in the rear.  Some putty up front to to fill in the hole where the main fuel cap is.

I've used resin exhausts for better detail.  Some scratch building for the landing gear.  PE doors replace the kit parts, as they are too thick and oversize - they sit atop the wing surface instead of flush within the wheel well.  Also scratch built the pitot tube.

regards,

Jack

 

 

Nice detail work there, Jack.  Looking forward to seeing some paint on all that excellent construction.

That is coming along very nicely, Jack.  All the work is paying off.

The Spitfire is coming along nicely Jack, nothing beats a good Spitfire in my opinion.

Cheers

Tony

Thank you Dwayne, Check, and Tony.

Shot some primer on today, and there are a few tiny spots that need levelling out with Mr.Dissolved putty.  Will be sanding those areas tomorrow.

regards,

Jack

Real world has been getting in the way of styrene world - bad priorities. Anyway, I've been plugging away. Do recall I'm aiming to come up with a knocked out Panzer IV that met fate during the very ugly Soviet Rzhev Offensive - let's say late February 42. Winter is fading away, but the full thaw hasn't arrived. (Surprisingly the Reds continued the push during the "rasputitsa" in that sector no doubt adding to the huge butcher bill paid as Stalin pushed the counter-attack too far.)My tank, as you can see, has picked up a couple of AP rounds and ignited some ammunition. (I found a nice illustration of a Panzer IV interior and ammo storeage is found just below the fender and at the rear of the turret - I'll put in a closeup later to show where the holes are courtesy of my ever useful hot knife.) I do like the rust itself - but it needs some real inspiration to look like battledamage.

Mike Rinaldi says that a kit can look like a disastor but brought together in the last 10% of the project: let's hope he's right - that's about where I am. We'll be needing some snow for the ground - standard sculptamold hopefully. The tank needs a black glaze, black pigments, properly busted up left track and general tidy. Then everything gets a dusting of Kyrocell snow - incredible stuff if I do it right and can figure out how to photograph it. Wish me luck - I may need it.  

Eric

rust1 by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

Looking really good there, Eric.  You may want to thin the fender sections where they have been damaged, just to give the illusion that it is thin sheet metal. 

Most, if not all model kits, have the fender and it's lip along the outer edge molded as a solid thickness.

regards,

Jack

Looks great Eric. Are you going to add an interior?

Hey Eric, that is an ambitious project!  I like what I see so far.

So I am calling my T-34/76 done.  The scale rope I was waiting for came in, and that was all I needed to finish it off.  Here are the pics:

 

 

Several firsts on this project.  First aftermarket anything in tracks and rope.  First workable tracks.  First real attempt using oil washes.  First attempt at painting fabric, the bedrolls.  First time making tow cables.

I am pleased with how the bedrolls came out, and used techniques learned on this very forum.  I am also pleased with the overall project.  Need some more work on dot filtering, as I keep pulling up too much of the oil, and it ends up way too subtle.

The next time, I will make fabric stowage using green stuff.  The plastic bedrolls don't conform to the model, and making them with 2-part putty solves that issue. 

This is my second 1/35 scale armor model, and I really enjoyed this one.  I have a Tamiya 1/35 KV-1 in the stash, and that will likely be my next armor project.

Check, I like the last photo, the 3/4 view, even with the shoe in the background.  LOL

Thanks for looking.  Looking forward to seeing more work in the GB.

D

Hi Dwayne, solid T-34 you have there, looks very good.

regards,

Jack

Well done D.

Oils are fun to work with. Try making the bedrolls out of tissue paper. They look realistic and conform perfectly. 

Sweet T-34. I've still never built one. Like the patina on the finish. It's probably right that you didn't give the thing heavy duty weather - I think the average T-34 was history in two or three months. Armor fans: YouTube has a neat new channel - look for Chiefton. The guy is an Irish-American former tanker who now does research for the game World of Tanks. He has a very neat series of examinations of a variety of museum tanks (including a T-34 85). A very gamer (and maybe tanker) view of the things. Like, Christie suspension didn't come with a guarantee by St. Paul - the Sovs were stuck with it in 1940 and there was no time to turn their back on a major project. And sloped armor was well understood by say, Louis XIV's fortress engineer Vauban by 1650. And crew well-being actually paid off. And the Sherman was really pretty good. Anyway, if you want it there's a five one hour "Tank Talks" by Moran moderates with experts like Zaloga, David Fletcher from Bovington, and Hilary Doyle. Years ago I hung around with game designers from SDI at the Army's Center for Military History in Washington - they knew their stuff and added technical/operational factors that were really being missed by some very good "conventional" military historians who were even then finishing the "Green Books" on WWII. I've no intention of adding an interior. I've got an issue of "Weathering" mag (Mig Jiminez gang at Ammo) on "KOd Armor." There's some uber-genius in Japan that specializes in really wrecked tanks with full interiors - amazing work: think of Mike Rinaldi doing a junk yard. But I may be in over my head as it is. Obviously the fenders are out of scale - that comes from using a thirty year old model. If they had been individual parts I would have tried to thin them - it would have been really hard as it stood. This is fun and if I knew what I was doing I would actually look for a good kit to use. But it still may be a calamity and I had this oldie in the stash crying "wreck me." It was fate. Eric