OFF TO THE THEATER! - African Operations of World War II - 2021 GB

Wow! Shout out to Tamiya for responding to my missing piece request in good time, for agreeing to replace it free, and for getting it to me quickly. I was prepared for long shipping, but it just came today. 

John - I 've done both preshading and black basing, but I don't have a preference yet....still trying to determine which I like better!

Crown - killer job on the P-40!  Congrats on getting it done!

My little BF-109 trop is assembled....I filled in all the gaps, rescribed most of the upper surface panel lines, added a very fine brass mesh on the air filter and scratchbuilt an armored head plate for the canopy.  Waiting for primer/paint!

Starting working on the 1/72 Spitfire.  Unlike the Bf-109 this Easy Assembly kit has practically no cockpit interior to speak of....just a plain seat and a stub representing the control lever, all molded in.   yech!  Just too bare for me....so I scratchbuilt some details with whatever I had around; stretched sprue, Evergreen strips and sheet, bits of old PE, wine bottle lead.  I didn't worry about being too accurate, just wanted the pit to look somewhat decent. Missing from these photos are the control lever, oxygen bottles and battery which will be added after most of the interior painting is done.

Lastly, I plan on using the hairspray method on the Pz. I to depict the sand color chipping away and showing the original dark gray underneath, except....I've never used this techique before .  So I experimented on a couple of scrap parts to see what paints and colors would work best for me.  After several attempts I decided a custom mix of Tamiya Acrylic flat colors looked right AND chipped well.  Here is the final experimental result on a old 1/35 resin Pz. IV turret. (with filters, pinwash, grime & rusty weathering added).

I went kind of heavy on the chipping and weathering just to see how far I wanted to push it!  I expect the chipping and weathering on the little Pz. I to be more subtle.

Trumpeter P-40B Tomahawk IIA. Out of the box build was ok.

Paints A/K interactive RAF camo series.

Tamiya clear gloss and flat.

weatherin Gamblin pigments.

John3:16 KJV . Thankyou for having me in this GB , thanks your all your comments and for watching.

That's a beautiful plane you've got there, crown! Thanks for participating! Do you have a photo preference for the roster?

---

Good work, buff! Trying new things can be challenging, but it helps us get experience! 

  John 3:16 KJV. thanks I don't have a preference, your choice.

Crown - Beautiful P-40, congrats on a job well done!  The camo job is super and I like the base you put it on!    Thanks for sharing all your work on the GB!

Ernest. Thank you for your comments, those planes are looking clean and yes ready for paint. The Pz weathering looks stunging.

PJ. that looks fanstatic great job.

Thanks crown. My entry is completed. 

The lads are bunking down for the evening after a very hot day out in the desert.

Even a lizard is included with the Dragon figure set. 
Feel free to use any picture for the completed page and thanks for letting participate.

Stunning build PJ 

modelcrazy

Stunning build PJ 

 

Thanks Steve.

Nice job PJ!  Appreciate all the extra details like the figures and the lizard.  

keavdog

Nice job PJ!  Appreciate all the extra details like the figures and the lizard.  

 

Thanks KD.

PlasticJunkie, great job on your dio! I love the figures, and the fact that you have a lizard, too is awesome! I'll get a picture set on the roster! 

Thank you for joining this GB!

Here's a Wildcat (1/48) update:

Another AB session down; and the prop and canopy pieces are done, too. 

I have also gotten some lacquer thinner, so I can try out the gloss coat, decal, flat coat technique! 

 l like it.

Hi gents

I'm starting to getting response from this Group Build again after three months of nothing. I can see from looking around that there are some very sweet builds here - do like the dio PJ and the P-40B. So that means that if Kalmbach is serious, I may be back in business.

I am listed as working on a 1/35 Zvezda M-40/75 tank destroyer - better known as the Semovente.

Thinking I was on my own I didn't work much this summer - there were lots of ways to waste time. Now had the Group Build been working, I know I would have done more. So lets hope they don't exile me again.

I'm almost done with construction. Let's put it this way - Zvezda reboxed an Italeri kit that was new tool - in 1973 - when the Russians were on the other side of the Cold War. (I was in West Berlin about that time - the Wall was an extraordinary sight - utterly astounding.) As you might guess this kit is pretty crude. The plastic quality isn't bad - most of the pieces come off the sprues cleanly (attachments are actually quite thin - better than many kits of very recent vintage). The fit is okay. The tracks are ancient and awful - they took a lot of work and a lot of super glue.

A better modeler than I can roll with the punches. I've stumbled into a few dicey kits in the past three years or so - which stand in contrast with some spankikng new tool Tamiya offers - and fighting a kit lowers my morale and interest. So this one will not be a good offering on this build.

Yet the subject is interesting. I think it is going to get together. It has lots of rivets and what we used to call "funk appeal." So, if I put some pedal to the metal, I hope to get this done pretty soon. I've never quit a kit in progress and don't intend to start. Below is a pic of the a real M40 and also of my kit as it stands. Assuming I get it done, I'll give a little background to the vehicle. The Italians made up half the Afrika Korps and in the desert anything carrying a 75mm gun was potentially dangerous. Also is a pic as the kit stands now. Wish me luck

Eric

warpic1 by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

inprogr2 by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

Good job, Eric! I hope the tech works better for you. :)

Started on my build with a catch. I'm doing two. Same kit one in American markings the other in British

Accurate Miniatures F-6A/ Mk.Ia Mustang

Almost ready for paint 

Good work, TJ! 

So, I have ordered and am now awaiting the decals for my Wildcats. 

I have also worked on a scratchbuilt carrier deck diorama base for the 1/48 Cat.

Come to find out, the carrier decks were blue! So, with stain and sanding...

Still not finished, but it's on its way.

Yay! My decals from arrived the other day, so I should have what I need to finish the planes!

That's some nice work on the deck!

I brought the Panzer 2 off the shelf now that we are in the 4th quarter.  The plan was always to include the commander in the hatch, but I will probably skip the rest of the Afrika Korps troops in the kit.  No room for a full sized display of them.  The start of his uniform:

and finished uni:

All that is left is to paint his hair and give a coat of sealer.

1/35 Zvezda M-40 Semovente Italian Assault Gun

Golden paints

Assorted oils and pigments

Hi

Sorry that I haven't been able to keep up with the list. Finescale has decided they care nothing for my money and refuse to restore my access to the list. I think this will be my last post on a Finescale forum, after ten years or so of usually faultless performance. I'll miss it.

But I promised a Mediterranean vehicle and here it is. The M-40 Semovente was a purpose built assault gun intended for Italian infantry support. However, it was given a 75mm gun which made it a dangerous opponent in the desert. And, there were days when Semoventes were very useful, especially in defense. (After 1943 the Germans expropriated several for their own use.) However, there were never very many of them, so the Italians soldiered on with tanks like the M13/40. Not that the Semovente was a game changer. You can clearly see a load of bolts keeping the thing together. Italy did not belong in WWII. (One of those "what ifs" - what if Mussolini would have stayed neutral? He might have stuck around as long as Franco.)

The Zvezda rebox is of a very old Italeri kit from the mid-70s. I believe Tamiya made one around the same time - no doubt better. This was basic modeling gents. There were no part numbers - just a diagram of where the parts were. There were precious few pins and holes. By and large, your eyeball gets a good work out. The tracks were poor, but I wasn't going to go overboard on this kit, so I lived with them. Actually, the fit wasn't that bad - although the very scanty instructions made the build longer than needed. Here's the kit assembled.

inprogr2 by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

I mised up a desert tan using Golden High Flow yellow oxide, buff and a bit of black. It was a good match I think.

IMG_0086 by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

I've been watching the Mike Rinaldi weathering videos on YouTube. They're way too long and just beg for a leaner presentation of the kind Adam Wilder did with a KV-1 a couple of years back. But there's still some neat tips. I did use oils for washes and it was ready for fading.

modelpic2 by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

I decided to build a simple desert base for the model. The more I look at sand in North Africa the less umber and sienna I see and more light gray with a hit of ocher. Kind of like this.

desertcolor by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

You can see most of the base in the pics of the completed kit below. I've put in some details so you can get an idea of the very interesting effects you can get with chipping and then coming in with heavy duty oil fading and then oil dusting.

rtDet by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

rear by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

Here are rest of the pics. It worked out okay, but next time I'll work harder on the pigments on the tracks - it's harder in my world to do light mud/dust then loading up on it.

left-ft by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

lft-r by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

right2 by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

rt-rear by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

And one more posing with the Tamiya Valentine I did early this year. The Tamiya is a better kit. I think, however, I might be closer to the right color on the M40. (I'm also using an unfamiliar camera - I'll get it working properly pretty soon.)

Val&M40 by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

Happy holidays gents. Happy modeling. I'd like to join you, but it just doesn't work for me if I have to check in manually every time.

Best

Eric

Comin' along, Glamdring! Keep it up! 

EB--Kudos on the completion! Looks good! Do you have a photo preference for the roster?

(...don't leave us!!!.... ;)

Will do! Have fun with that ship! 

Good verse!

So, decaling the Wildcats was a bit challenging. The decals wouldn't separate from the decal paper easily, and the decals tore pretty easily, too. But they are on the planes and the result is decent. 

The carrier deck for my 1/48 cat is also much farther along--perhaps even done if I don't do anything else to it. I could use some chocks for the plane, though....How would one build those? 

I'll post pics later.