Gamera

 

Sergeant

 

Gamera

Harold: That looks really good, you're making excellent progress. Looks like you're about halfway there on construction. Odd about the jerry cans and their rack though. Never encountered any weird features like that myself in AFV Club kits- just zillions of injection pin holes everywhere that need to be filled. Don't get me wrong, I love their kits but it is a pain to fill and sand so many holes. 

Thanks Cliff... Regarding the injection pin holes you mentioned, where do you find them? I have three AFV Club models in various stages of assembly that I'm planning to paint in a couple of weeks and I haven't seen any pin holes on the paintable surface, but maybe I'm not looking at the right place?

 

Harold

 

Guess I should have specified on the reverse side from the outside surface. Which can be a pain in something like a M10 or M36 where you can see the inside of the turret. There weren't any pin holes on the inside of your Matador's cab?

 

I completed the interior cab assembly today and tomorrow I hope to finish the exterior cab assembly. I need to paint the interior before I can put the cab, bed, canopy, and chassis together.

I made a few mistakes today, because I was rushing to finish as much as possible. I lost one of the pedals, a clutch pedal, I think but I made a new one out styrene, so it was not a major issue.

The control levelers on the floor seem to be in the way of the gas pedal, so I did a little research and found out the levelers lay over the wheel wells allowing access to the gas pedal. I am not sure what the levers do, but they are in the right place. Please see photographs #3 and #4 below. I also found pictures of a finished AFV Club Matador, #5 and #6 that confirm how the manufacture intended the levers to look.

Harold

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

That looks great Harold, almost ready for painting! 

And when refered to injection pin holes I mostly meant the circle like depressions like #4 in your photo. I'm not sure it's the right term. The ones that stand out like #1 I can clip off and sand down. The depressions if filled with putty always want to chip if I sand the putty. 

And I'm not complaining that much, I really do like AFV Club kits. For years they were the only company that did a lot of Allied subjects. Dragon, though I love 'em seemed to be mostly German stuff. 

Gamera

That looks great Harold, almost ready for painting! 

And when refered to injection pin holes I mostly meant the circle like depressions like #4 in your photo. I'm not sure it's the right term. The ones that stand out like #1 I can clip off and sand down. The depressions if filled with putty always want to chip if I sand the putty. 

And I'm not complaining that much, I really do like AFV Club kits. For years they were the only company that did a lot of Allied subjects. Dragon, though I love 'em seemed to be mostly German stuff. 

 

I am just about ready to start painting. Before I do, I would like to have a new air compressor. I have my eye on an Iwata IS850 Smart Jet, but I am still doing some research and comparing prices.

Harold

Hi Sergeant,

That Matador is coming along nicely!

Allways liked the laid back look of that truck - as if it is leaning back preparing for a giant leap forward :)

Nice referens pictures - looks like a lefty but I guess the layout of the controls would be the same just on the right hand side.

I will join you with a chevvy gun tractor if thats OK.

Bought it second hand (two big macs) and it did come with a pot of plastic cement - luckely not from the days when the kit came out back in the 70s.

@Gamera 
Thanks for thinking of the deadline and the bike being a smaller challenge, it is actually Eski's old 1/9, that is the headlight (bit blury) behind the chasis.

@Bish
Nice bust! 
Blackbasing - interesting technique, will look out for this one for sure.
(And for an other GB, in a distant future; Meet Otto, he will be riding Esci's BMW):

Stay safe, stay sane and happy modeling!
Svenne

...udated after getting my glasses back on...

Harold, i am really impressed with that truck, looking very nice.

I have only built 2 AFRV Club kits so far, both 251's, though i have recentluy started adding otehr subjects to the stash. I did notice rather large pour stubs on both kits. Though they were out of site, they had to be removed as some of them were so big they stopped the hull floor from fitting at all. I'll be branching to to other AFV Club kits soon, the Scimitor and Centurian are both lined up for the bench, so will have to see what they are like.

Thank you Svenne and Bish. I started the Matador as a stand-along model to be part of the British Army Group Build. I also wanted one of those cool British Army badges. I have always liked classic military vehicles and the AEC Matador is one of my favorites. I added a British Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun to be completed over the Christmas holiday and thinking about adding a gun crew later.

This morning I finished the truck cab but left it so I can take the cab apart to paint the interior. I left off a few delicate parts until I finish painting because I always seem to break something when handling the model very much. I am ready to start painting, but I may put this project on the shelf for a couple of weeks to decide on a new air compressor.

Harold

Hello again Sergeant,

That Matador is just waiiiting for you to sort that compressor!

I have a cheap DIY style thing myself, details can be found here if you are interested (you might need to scroll down to the end)...

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/tools_techniques_and_reference_materials/f/18/t/184994.aspx

Looking forward to see that Bofors coming along as well!

Design was done by Bofors in Karlskoga, my birth place.

Short update on the Chevvy and a problem were I am reaching out for help...

The main assembly of the chassis is completed, detail level was OK'ish considering the the 55 years the kit has been around but flash was massiv and mold seams had to be cleaned up everywere.

Now to my problem, I am using Vallejo Surface Primer, in this case 73.69 4BO and usually I can spray that straight as is without cutting it with thinner.

But today I had a weird problem, the airbrush only worked when holding it very close to the object, and only with very precise manipulation of the trigger.

When I pushed back the needle to far and airflow at max I only had air blowing through.

When I released the trigger slightly, thats both air and needle, I had a few seconds of spray and then nothing again.

I thinned down the primer to milk but still no joy.

This is with an Airmax 0,3 mm at 25 PSI, the thing is equipped with a tank so I have a constant airflow.

Anyway,
Managed to get some Aluminium and Gunmetal on the Triumph enginblock as well, more to that later. 

Best Regards

 Svenne

Svenne & Otto: That looks good! And that's cool about being from the same town where the Bofors was invented! The guy who invented peanut butter, Dr. George Washington Carver, is from my hometown- somehow it's not as cool though!  

Good luck with the airbrush, I swear mine gets more cursing from me than pretty much anything I own. I swear it's like spend hours cleaning it to get a half-hour or so of work out of it. 

Harold: Looks good there too! Good luck finding a new compressor tank. I've heard good stuff about the small 'pancake' style compressors. I've got a hand-me down large one with a tank and haven't used one myself though. 

Good morning Bish, Svenne and Cliff. Of course, it is not morning where you are, but good morning to you anyway Mates and thank you. I added the last little details to the cab this morning in preparation for painting. The assembly of this model went pretty much according to the instructions, but I had a problem with the fuel can stowage rack under the truck bed and I also lost the clutch pedal, one minute it was in my tweezers and the next it was flying accross the room.

I also had another problem I would like to explain in more detail, so if anyone else decides to build this model they can be forewarned. There was an early production version of the Matador that AFV Club came out with in 2014, #AF35236. According to Scalemates' database the later production version I built, #AF35239 was released in 2015 with new parts. However, part #I-49 and I-50 which is used to anchor the back of the cab to the frame and control the height of the cab was not correct in my opinion for the new version. 

I do not know why because I have never built the earlier version, but I can tell you that I had to remove 5/64" (approx. 2mm) of the part to get the cab to sit down properly. If you look at the front of the cab in my previous posting of the Matador without the canopy you will see a white styrene spacer at the front bumper. That represents how much modification I had to make to part #I-49 and I-50. The photographs below show the cab now sitting on the frame the way it should be according to all the pictures I have seen of the Matador.

A Mate asked me why I like the AEC Matador? I like old lorries in general because they have a special look and sound that is uniquely British, kind of like canal boats. I have never driven a Matador, but in videos I have watched people say they are beautiful to drive. I think it is because the driver is sitting right over the front axle and the steering is like a modern transit bus. I worked in the mass transit industry for six years as an electromachanical contractor and had an opportunity to test drive city buses and over-the-road coaches. What can say, I like big wheels.

Harold

Svenne Duva

Hello again Sergeant,

That Matador is just waiiiting for you to sort that compressor!

I have a cheap DIY style thing myself, details can be found here if you are interested (you might need to scroll down to the end)...

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/tools_techniques_and_reference_materials/f/18/t/184994.aspx

Looking forward to see that Bofors coming along as well!

Design was done by Bofors in Karlskoga, my birth place.

Short update on the Chevvy and a problem were I am reaching out for help...

The main assembly of the chassis is completed, detail level was OK'ish considering the the 55 years the kit has been around but flash was massiv and mold seams had to be cleaned up everywere.

Now to my problem, I am using Vallejo Surface Primer, in this case 73.69 4BO and usually I can spray that straight as is without cutting it with thinner.

But today I had a weird problem, the airbrush only worked when holding it very close to the object, and only with very precise manipulation of the trigger.

When I pushed back the needle to far and airflow at max I only had air blowing through.

When I released the trigger slightly, thats both air and needle, I had a few seconds of spray and then nothing again.

I thinned down the primer to milk but still no joy.

This is with an Airmax 0,3 mm at 25 PSI, the thing is equipped with a tank so I have a constant airflow.

Anyway,
Managed to get some Aluminium and Gunmetal on the Triumph enginblock as well, more to that later. 

Best Regards

 Svenne

 

 

Regarding the problem you are having with your airbrush. I am not an expert in airbrush technology, but I have encountered the problem you described. I have an Iwata RG-3L3 miniature spray gun with a 1.0mm nozzle which is an airbrush in spray gun form factor, and an Iwata Eclipse HP-CS gravity feed dual action airbrush with a .35mm nozzle. The air compressor I have is a large pancake style construction model designed for use with nail guns. It is noisy, heavy, and hard to control at the 25-psi range. That's why I want to replace it before I start painting.

When I had the problem, you described I eventual found that it was a combination of the dual action trigger mechanism sticking and microscopic paint residue inside the nozzle. The Iwata instruction manual said to clean the airbrush thoroughly and apply a drop of Iwata oil to the trigger mechanism and the area of the needle that is in the nozzle. It also said to use a 30X magnifying glass to inspect the inside of the nozzle.

What was happening is a microscopic amount of paint residue was partially blocking the flow of paint even though I had good airflow. The trigger sticking only confused the issue, so I was looking in the wrong place for a solution. As I began to paint the blockage would cause fresh paint to slow down through the nozzle until all I was getting is air. When I cleaned the needle and nozzle, I removed the new paint, but not the old residue. Now I use a tiny bristle brush designed to clean between your teeth to scrub out the inside of the nozzle.

I have not had a problem since I started inspecting the inside of the nozzle and applying a drop of oil to the needle and the trigger mechanism every time I clean the airbrush.

Harold

Hi Harold,
Thanks you for that additional confirmation.

In fact the gun - in modified version of course, is still in use.
Check out the Swedish Strf 90, or better known as CV90 (Combat Vehicle 90).

And thank you for that information on possible root cause suggestion to the AB failure.
In fact I did see some rather flaky residue when cleaning the AB.
I think that might be clogging the smal channels leading to the actual nozzle.

Need to stop using the same AB for both Tamiya and Vallejo as well - I think the formulas are very different and Tami turns to glue when mixed with Vallejo thinner (or the other way around, can't remember).

Here is the Triumph main engine-assy:

The main engine block came out the way I wanted but not entirely happy with the cylinder.
I wanted a more black metal finish, will redo and do right.

Anyway - 20 hours and then TGIF! Woot Woot (W.O.T.8)

Until then; Stay safe, stat sane, keep modeling!

Svenne

...Edited
After sanity check: Having read Harolds suggestion one more time I will quite simply go for more carefull cleaning, using more adequate tools. Thanks Harold.
Stop editing...

Svenne Duva

Hi Harold,
Thanks you for that additional confirmation.

In fact the gun - in modified version of course, is still in use.
Check out the Swedish Strf 90, or better known as CV90 (Combat Vehicle 90).

And thank you for that information on possible root cause suggestion to the AB failure.
In fact I did see some rather flaky residue when cleaning the AB.
I think that might be clogging the smal channels leading to the actual nozzle.

Need to stop using the same AB for both Tamiya and Vallejo as well - I think the formulas are very different and Tami turns to glue when mixed with Vallejo thinner (or the other way around, can't remember).

Here is the Triumph main engine-assy:

The main engine block came out the way I wanted but not entirely happy with the cylinder.
I wanted a more black metal finish, will redo and do right.

Anyway - 20 hours and then TGIF! Woot Woot (W.O.T.8)

Until then; Stay safe, stat sane, keep modeling!

Svenne

 

I also use Tamiya and Vallejo paint and primer, but not together. When I had the problem, I described I was using Tamiya Surface Primer which is lacquer based with Vallejo paint. Since then at Cliff's (Gamera) recommendation I use Vallejo Surface Primer (water based) with Vallejo paint and Tamiya paint. I think the lacquer-based Tamiya primer is what was stubbornly clogging my airbrush nozzle because the Vallejo airbrush cleaner and thinner is designed for water based products not lacquer.

Harold

Svenne: That looks good!

Harold is right. I don't think you can clean your airbrush enough!  

Great work on both of those guys, really comeing on well.

Svenne, only thing i can think of is some sort of blockage, but i am sure you have cleaned it fully.

Harold, look forward to seeing that Bofors. I had a great uncle (my dads uncle) who serve on that gun in WW2. Though according to my dad he spent in the war on the islands north of Scotland, can't remember if it was the Orkney's or Shetlands, and he never saw a German aircraft.

Loking sweet GS, like those markings.

Will do.

Greysnake: Ohhhhhh, that looks good!!! 

Kaysee: That sounds cool. 

GreySnake

 

Harold

Ready for paint. The color will be a camouflage of medium brown and grey blue like picture #1 below. These are British World War II colors that Vallejo has researched for accuracy. The medium brown is like the Matador in picture #2 with the red arrow. This is the correct color for the British Army Artillery units of WWII. The camouflage pattern will be like picture #3 below. This will also be my first adventure in camouflage painting.

I received the AFV Club fuel can kit like picture #5 and rebuilt the stowage rack under the truck bed, please see photograph #4 below. I also received the Eureka LH-00 40mm braided metal wire rope like picture #7 and rebuilt the set of tow cables on the tailgate of the Matador, see photograph #6. These were two little details I wanted to upgrade before painting.

So, I am ready as soon as I have a new air compressor.

Harold

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

Coming on nicely harold. I like the look of those tow cables, will have to check those out.

Yeah, that does look good Harold, looking forward to seeing her in paint. 

Thank you Bish and Cliff. I have found some conflicting information regarding World War 2 British Army Artillery color for tactical and support vehicles. My original source was Vallejo paint set 71.614 British Colors UK/BEF/Europe 1939 - 1945. Colors researcher assisted by expert Mike Starmer.

https://acrylicosvallejo.com/en/product/hobby/sets/afv-color-series/wwii-british-colors-uk-bef-europe-1939-1945-71614/

However, in the Royal British National Army Museum I find a different set of colors for Royal Army vehicle.

 https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?q=searchType%3Dsimple%26resultsDisplay%3Dlist%26simpleText%3DTruck&pos=14&total=314&page=1&acc=1989-07-69-1

Can anyone shed light on this issue? Was the color of World War 2 Royal Army Artillery vehicles brown or green? Vallejo's expert thinks they were medium brown with grey blue camouflage. The British Museum thinks they were green with brown camouflage.

If it's the truck photo you mean, I'd always go with Mike Starmer's research before trusting the paints used by museum staff.

Also refer to Mike's research concerning the timeline of what paints and schemes were used for the European Theater:

https://www.mafva.org/british-vehicle-camouflage-1939-45/?v=79cba1185463

regards,

Jack

jgeratic

If it's the truck photo you mean, I'd always go with Mike Starmer's research before trusting the paints used by museum staff.

Also refer to Mike's research concerning the timeline of what paints and schemes were used for the European Theater:

https://www.mafva.org/british-vehicle-camouflage-1939-45/?v=79cba1185463

 

regards,

Jack

 

Your referral to Mike Starmer's research is compelling to say the least. The information provided by Vallejo and guided by Mike Starmer make it so much easier to understand than trying to interpret the plethora of standards, instructions and changes in paint colors and camouflage schemes that took place during the Second World War.

I tend to be obsessed with details especially regarding military history. I want things like paint and decals to be accurately represented in my modeling work. Thank you for taking time to provide Mike's research, it's is extremely helpful.

Harold

Hello Harold, glad to be of some help - I'm pretty much in the same boat as you concerning accuracy.

If  your truck is for the NWE Campaign 1944-45, then you likely have two choices in schemes.  In April of '44, the British military adopted scc15 as their main vehicle and equipment colour.  It was their match for US olive drab, and it was an effort to make more uniform the appearance their equipment since a lot of it was of lend lease origin.

Anyhow, with this new paint colour, the stipulation was any equipment already in service was not to be repainted with scc15 if they were in still good condition.  It was only after a major overhaul that they usually qualify for a repaint.

regards,

Jack

Hi GreySnake,

Your Sherman has come out great! 
Please remind me - you were using Miniart's indvidual links for this build, correct?

I like that particuat camoflage painting - very different from the OD one that is in my SOD pile.

Congratulations om your build:)

With regards
Svenne