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

Forget decent. One of the yellow-bordered star decals got all torn up.  I posted elsewhere on the forum in hopes that someone can help with a decal from their spares box, but if that doesn't pan out, I'll be forced to buy another decal set. So is life. 
 
Either way, I promised pictures, and pictures you will get!

First, the carrier deck:

Then the good side of my 1/48 cat:

The dark side of my 1/48 cat:

And my 1/72 cat:

Another update:

The 1/72 Wildcat is almost finished! 

OK KJV, it's time I jumped in here with my entry.

The Pz IV not the 88, although cool, I'll keep it for a later time. I might also knock out Rommel as well.

Nice Wildcat BTW.

Thx, modelcrazy! I'll keep an eye out for updates on your build!
You know, doing a 1/72 tank, maybe you should throw in a 1/72 plane--either crashed or attacking the tank? 

Duplicate

I'll give it some thought.

I like the Wildcat.

Finescale actually sent me a message from this GB. Wonder if they'll do it again.

Eric

Thanks, Eric!

It's good about the email; maybe it'll be fixed?

I started the Pz IV. The typical Hase 1/72 armor build. Starting with the turret, road wheels and hull. I skipped the road wheel step to complete the hull.

As I was looking through the instructions, this struck me funny.

What?

That is funny! Is it that your feelings will increase, or does the model have feelings?! 
In case of the former, let me know if you have an increase of feeling when you assemble the track...frustration maybe? In case, of the latter, we've got a lot more questions! Lol

I'm pretty sure it's the former and like you said, frustration. I dislike rubber band tracks.

More work to the Pz IV

Pz IV looking good Steve - making great progress.

I don't know much about operation Torch so I was suprised to see wildcats in North Africa.  Arma has a great writeup here: http://armahobbynews.pl/en/blog/2021/06/18/f4f-4-wildcats-from-vgf-29-in-operation-torch/

Pretty ill fated depolyment for the poor guys.  Your Wildcat looks great - great subject with the yellow outlines.

Thank you, keavdog! I also read that the Wildcats in Operation Torch had the unique position of fighting against other American fighter planes which were under Vichy French usage. 

Good work, modelcrazy! What paint are you using for the sandy color?

John 3:16 KJV

What paint are you using for the sandy color?

Vallejo German yellow and Iraqi sand about 60:40 mix. By the time I put a wash on it, it'll darken up some.

Completed.

The 1/72 Hasegawa Pz IV kit was a nice little kit. I added some stowage from Value Gear. The rubber tracks were as much of a pain as always.

sweet, that tank has some milage.. super job 

Thanks Nick, I need to move the water can off the turret.

Good work, there, modelcrazy! I like the wooden stowage on the back!

Do you have a preference photo for the roster?

I guess this group build is winding down. The good news is, I got the replacement decals for my 1/48 Wildcat; so, I should be able to finish before 2022 strikes. :)

Thak you KJV, number 5 please

Roger that, modelcrazy! Thank you for joining my group build! 

I'll call my 1/72 Airfix F4F Wildcat complete.

You may notice that I've omitted the wing ties, but I'm having this be a plane immediately post-landing--pilot still in the cockpit and invisible deck crew having just pushed the wings into a folded position.

Of course, I'm not very happy about the torn decal on the right side of the plane's fuselage; but I'll live with that for now at least. 

Here are the pictures! 

Looks good to me John.  I love that deck base.

Even though this has been done for a while and collecting dust, I finally have a photobooth to take some decent pictures.  

Thanks for hosting this GB, glad I was able to redeem myself after failing at a War in Africa GB 15 or so years ago.   

Hi John - I want to let you know I'm still in the running (just!), but I need to change my kit.  I was down for the Tamiya SAS jeep, but the accessories are just going to take way too long to paint, and doing the jeep without them would feel like cheating.  I had envisaged that it would be a quick & simple build, but then I opened the box - there is a bit more to it than I remembered from nineteen-something-or-other...  I had anticipated a crossover with the Weekend Madness GB & figured it would fit into that time frame - wrong!  So, I'd like to go with the Airfix 1/76 40mm Bofors Gun & Morris tractor.  This will simplify the painting, but still involve a fair bit of construction (with lots of small, fiddly parts!).  I hope this is OK?

Glamdring

Looks good to me John.  I love that deck base.

Even though this has been done for a while and collecting dust, I finally have a photobooth to take some decent pictures.  

Thanks for hosting this GB, glad I was able to redeem myself after failing at a War in Africa GB 15 or so years ago.   

 

Thanks, Glamdring and nice Panzer II! Any photo favorite? 

Great to have you modeling with us; you can proudly claim a GB badge of your choice! 

Hutch6390

Hi John - I want to let you know I'm still in the running (just!), but I need to change my kit.  I was down for the Tamiya SAS jeep, but the accessories are just going to take way too long to paint, and doing the jeep without them would feel like cheating.  I had envisaged that it would be a quick & simple build, but then I opened the box - there is a bit more to it than I remembered from nineteen-something-or-other...  I had anticipated a crossover with the Weekend Madness GB & figured it would fit into that time frame - wrong!  So, I'd like to go with the Airfix 1/76 40mm Bofors Gun & Morris tractor.  This will simplify the painting, but still involve a fair bit of construction (with lots of small, fiddly parts!).  I hope this is OK?

 

Perfectly fine, Hutch! I'll get the roster all updated. And don't worry about going into the new year a bit. I've still got to do some flat coat airbrushing on my Wildcat, but the winter weather is a hindrance. I'll have to finish that one in 2022. 

John 3:16 KJV

 =

 

Thanks, Glamdring and nice Panzer II! Any photo favorite? 

Great to have you modeling with us; you can proudly claim a GB badge of your choice! 

 

I certainly will! 

I am partial to picture #3, profile shots are always my preference. 

John 3:16 KJV

Perfectly fine, Hutch! I'll get the roster all updated.

Thanks, John - really appreciated.  So, here we go - I started the kit today, it's an old friend as I built three of these when they were new & I was into wargaming - long time ago!

Moulding quality is not bad for a 1976 kit, almost no flash, fit is generally good, assembly in logical sub-assemblies:

Cab & body added to chassis:

Suspension & tranmission nicely rendered for the scale:

I did slip up with the rear suspension here, but fixed the error by the drastic step of reading the instructions properly!

I'm leaving the wheels & the canopy off to facilitate painting, just the mudguards to add apart from that.  Tomorrow I'll build the gun.  This is also a series of sub-assemblies, which helps.

More tomorrow, thanks for looking.

Off to a good start, Hutch!