British Army Group Build 2020

stikpusher

Yeah, those end connector assembled tracks are fun aren’t they? 
 

Lots if fun!! Glad I have no hair to pull.

Yeah, those end connector assembled tracks are fun aren’t they? 

Here's where I'm at with the Firefly. These tracks are a PITA to assemble but they do look good. Got the bends done and now the center sections are next.

I just looked at the DS tracks on my Firefly 1c in the stash and they are toast. They can't be bent without them breaking. They have become extremely brittle so I shot Dragon an email asking for replacements but haven't heard anything back. If any of you guys have a set for the 1C that you can part with please let me know. I'll be happy to pay for a set of the V type tracks for the Firefly.  

Bish

Good news on both fronts. lets hope the new decals are better.

 

Fingers crossed! We shall see once I get them and experiment. 

Good news on both fronts. lets hope the new decals are better.

Finally we can post again!!

Star Decals shipped me a replacement sheet so I will try that one once I get it to see if it was a bad one I got for the Firefly.

Thanks GS. And thats good news about the fret.

PIAT looks good with the paint on RG. be nice to see how you weather that.

Well that is good customer service.  Maybe they upgraded to a better decal paper and your sheet was an older one.  I will be alert for any problems when I use their decals for my T-72.  Star does have an extensive and interesting range of subjects, so I wish them well and hope they deliver a superior product.

I got lazy and rattle canned the PIAT over the weekend.

I chose a light color to see how it darkens after weathering.  I still have to fill/sand the projectiles, which are kind of a mess!  The Enfield rifle is ready to paint, so I'll be posting progress pics of it soon.  I Googled to check on colors and was surprised that Ron Volstadt's wonderful box art painting had a few minor discrepancies.  But it's all sorted now.

plasticjunkie

Well here's a positive twist to the bad Star Decals experience. I shot an email to the company detailing my findings. The owner, Johan Lexell quickly responded back and assured me his decals are of superior quality and that it must be a bad sheet I ran into and offered to send me a free replacement of any of his listed decals so I accepted his kind offer for some good looking Sherman markings.

I'm glad he backs up his product unlike some other companies that ignore the customer.

 

Well thats good news, and good customer service. Everyone has their off days, its good to see them making up for it.

Well here's a positive twist to the bad Star Decals experience. I shot an email to the company detailing my findings. The owner, Johan Lexell quickly responded back and assured me his decals are of superior quality and that it must be a bad sheet I ran into and offered to send me a free replacement of any of his listed decals so I accepted his kind offer for some good looking Sherman markings.

I'm glad he backs up his product unlike some other companies that ignore the customer.

G if you click on the star picture you will get a closeup and might see  an indication of the thickness of the white circle decal. I'ts over a flat part so it looks ok.

Sergeant

PJ, very nice save with new decals. I always get nervous when it's time to add water-slide decals because I've had mixed results. I have been using Microscale Micro Set and Micro Sol products, but I will give Solvaset a try in the future.

Harold

 

Thanks Harold. I havee used Sol and Set in the past but i find them to be too weak in making the decals go into irregular surfaces unlike Solvaset that works like majic.

Bish

 

Ye, they were in Viller's Bocage when Wittmann attacked. I believe they lost about 30 vehicles and a complete Squadron was destroyed.

 

I think i read somewhere that Wittmann ambushed the British column. I think he shot the last vehicle first so they couldn't back up and shot the first one to box them in. 

Holy cow, that star decal was something else!  Tamiya’s decals get slagged a lot for being thick, but I was able to get a similar star decal to melt down over a Cromwell turret roof ventilator using Solvaset.  It looked like melting cheese during the process, definitely “hands-off”!

I did have to touch up a small section that tore, but it was amazing the Tamiya decal actually was able to pull it off.

PJ, very nice save with new decals. I always get nervous when it's time to add water-slide decals because I've had mixed results. I have been using Microscale Micro Set and Micro Sol products, but I will give Solvaset a try in the future.

Harold

I don't often get AM decals for armour kit, but i have noted that Star has a good selection, thought i don't have any of their German ones on my wishlist, there re a couple of their modern British ones i am interested in.

All that work seem's to have paid off, those decals look good, even the Star.

Ye, they were in Viller's Bocage when Wittmann attacked. I believe they lost about 30 vehicles and a complete Squadron was destroyed.

Got all the Dragon decals on and I'm very pleased how they came out. Very good adhesion and 0 silvering requiring very little Solvaset as an added measure.

The big star decal on the engine deck is from the awful Star sheet I had the problems with but I had to cut each star triangle inside the white circle to get rid of the horrible silvering in the clear film. Even after 4 applications of Solvaset every few minutes, I was able to cut the clear carrier film and remove it very easily. 

The markings are for the 4th County of London Yeomanry, The Sharpshooters. Wasn't this the outfit of Fireflys that attacked Wittmann at Villers Bocage?

The tracks will be next then the fun begins with the weathering.

Bish they have an extensive line of markings and a decent selection but the sheet I got went into the trash after applying just a few decals. 

The included Dragon decals went on without any issues even over the same  areas the Star Decals had problems.

Thats interesting PJ. I have used Bison decals in the past, on my Chally 1 and i used some of those on the Warrior, didn't have any issues. I wounder if they have changed their process or if this was a one off. I was planning on getting a Star decals set for the M109.

Real G

Wow, and Solvaset is the “Nuclear Option” of decal solvents.

Now I’m thinking of painting on the cockades and just using the vehicle numbers.  I‘ll proceed with caution - thanks for the heads up!

 

You are welcome G. Yes I was pretty surprised that Solvaset failed with these decals. I used the Dragon ones and are actually pretty good. 

Wow, and Solvaset is the “Nuclear Option” of decal solvents.

Now I’m thinking of painting on the cockades and just using the vehicle numbers.  I‘ll proceed with caution - thanks for the heads up!

Real G

Uh-oh, I bought a Star Decal set for a Finnish T-72.

In other news, I finally got paint on the PIAT.  The rounds still need some cleanup.  I’ll paint the Enfield rifle soon.

 

G

I was very disappointed with these decals. Even after multiple Solvaset applications the film was just too thick and the silvering was just awful even though I glossed the tank. I even did the Future on wet and applied the decals then more Future which has worked for me in the past applying stubburn decals. 

Uh-oh, I bought a Star Decal set for a Finnish T-72.

In other news, I finally got paint on the PIAT.  The rounds still need some cleanup.  I’ll paint the Enfield rifle soon.

Thanks Bish.

Hey just a heads up....do NOT buy Star Decals specially the Firefly 35-C1172 sheet. They are total GARBAGE. The film is super thick and the silvering is incredible. the 3 or 4 I applied look like freaking peel and stick signs!

This is the only decal that has totally defeated Solvaset which is the best decal solution, melting the film to make it look painted on but not with these decals. I will strip off the few decals I applied and use the Dragon ones which hopefully will be better than these.

Looking good PJ.

Sergeant

 

 

Bish

I use vallejo for figures, they have a good selection of colours for that.

 

 

 

 

A note regarding Vallejo paint... The 70.xxx series paint is designed for hand painting with a brush. The 71.xxx series paint (with Model Air on the label) is designed for use in an airbrush. You can use the 71.xxx series paint for hand painting with a brush, but it usually requires more than on coat.

 

 

I did try model air a few years back but was not keen on it. I found it to thin. But i now have a big selection of model colour, they are perfect for German uniforms and i tend to use them a lot now for figures and equpment.

Looks great Theuns. 

Just a quick update. I shot the Firefly black then Tamiya XF-58 Olive Green and wondered if it was even close to SCC15 British Olive so I ordered some supplies from SB including a small bottle of Hataka SCC15. I sprayed it on the Firefly yesterday early evening and I can't see a diffence in color between the Tamiya XF-58  and Hataka SCC15 paints. The color is a bit darker green than US OD and actually a nicer looking green IMO. I also shot a semi gloss coat of MRP clear to ready it for decals and pin washes.

Pictured is my tamiya M-10 in US OD and weathered but the shade difference can be seen.