Weekend Madness GB 2022

Nice finish Bob! 

Bill, I don't remember sending that but looks like a great subject.  Looking forward to it.

The wall looks great Bob!  I like the weathering touches you added!

I'm starting my build in a couple of hours!

Sorry I'm not joining in this year GM, just too much remodeling still to do.

dwsrazor & Ernest-thank you.

Here you go!  6 PM start, Friday 12/09.  Tamiya 1/35 AMD 35 French Armored Car:

Next update will be around midnight.  Lets GOOOOO...........!!

......and 6 hrs later!

Major assembly done.  Tomorrow I will add some of the small exterior parts and some will be painted separately and added later.  

I forgot to mention that this kit includes a full interior, but I wasn't planning on doing the interior so that made the assembly that much quicker. 

Time to get some much needed shuteye! 

Off to a good start bufflehead!  

dwsrazor

Off to a good start bufflehead!  

 

Thanks Razor!  This ones going quickly!

15 hour update:

Another 2 1/2 hours in this morning.  Although it looks pretty much the same as last night, its now completely assembled except for the rear view mirror mounted to the fender.  Its a very delicate part and I'm sure I'd just break it off with my clumsy fingers during painting!  Figure and stowage added, but they're not glued on.

Next stop:  Paint boot for primer and base coat!

Whooowee!  24 hours in and I think its going well with the AMD 35!

Base coat of Tamiya Nato Green applied over black primer with white highlights (B&W method).  Shovel and pickaxe also have been base coated with a light tan on the wood handles and dark brown on the metal parts.  I started painting the figure and the stowage.

I'll finish the day with a brown filter on the vehicle and gloss coating it.  Tomorrow will be decals and final painting & finish!

Ernest-'going well' is a bit of an understatement...great build and the fact that it is only 24 hrs in makes it even more impressive.  Really like the B&W method-I really need to try it sometime.

Thanks Bob!  This build went by so fast and without any major problems so I was able to do a bit of weathering and spend some time on the bedrolls and figure....and still had almost 2 hrs left!  

The 1/35 Tamiya AMD35 French Armored Car is done! Some pics of the finished build:

Proof of On Time Completion with my choice of  for successful build! (apologies to anyone who might be offended by the inclusion of liquor in the pic)

The vehicle is more green that in the pics....probably need to adjust the white balance in the future.  Weathering done with Tamiya enamel panel liners (dk brown and black) and Tamiya weathering pastels, mostly the Mud color although I used a tiny pit of gray and rust on the exhaust.  The figure and bedrolls are a mix of Tamiya and Vallejo acrylic paints. 

Bill, thanks for hosting this year's Weekend Madness GB!  I'm not signing off yet....I plan on another entry before the GB ends!

That is great work. Any and all, be sure to zoom in on the photos. It's a 6 inch model!

Bourbon man myself, well earned!

Posted to finished builds.

Bill

Great finish Ernest!

Thinking maybe I need to add a motivator  to finish more builds...

Cheers

Wow, Ernest, you crushed it. That looks simply amazing. Well done!!

BK

Bill, Bob, Brandon - Thanks guys!  I had a lot of fun with this weekend build, so much that I want to build another AMD next year, but with the full interior and a couple of full figures!  Also, the Tamiya instructions don't show that AMD35's were also painted with a cool camo scheme right before the war broke out:

Bill, I may have to travel out of town next week, but if not I'll do another build this weekend for the GB!

Well done Bufflehead!!!    Great looking build!

Thanks for the kind words Razor!

Yippee!  I don't have to travel next week so I'm free for another weekend of modeling madness!  This time I really want to challenge myself so I'm going for a double build. Here are my next two entries which I will start either tomorrow evening or first thing Sat morning.  Both are 1/72 Hobby Boss Easy Assembly kits:

Both are very low parts count with simplified assembly and would seem to present no issues, but in my experience these Easy Assembly kits can be harder to build than one would think.  Half the time I encounter major fit issues resulting in lots of gaps that require filling, sanding and then rescribing panel lines.  But sometimes everything fits well....just depends on the kit.  I'm hoping these two are in the latter group!

Ernest you are a star and may get to hug Hobbes!

I was going to start the Yak but we lost power for two days which got me into my work week designing fire stations,

Go for it, and Model Crazy we are open for business as long as it takes...

Bill

I might enter this group build?  Have a 1/72 academy P-40, just have to finish up a couple builds then I can try my hand.

Sure, it'll be open until the end of the year. If you decide to join, let me know ahead of time what you are planning. The way my life is going right now, I'll probably be priming on NYE!

Bill

Good Saturday morning from the West Coast of the U.S.!

My double build for the GB started at 7 AM this morning and the final goal is to complete them by tomorrow evening.  The goal for today is to assemble as much as possible so that the main paint jobs are done and gloss coats applied.  Tomorrow's goal is decals, washes, protective coats and possibly some light weathering!

I'll post updates after main assembly, painting and glossing.  Wish me luck! 

4 hr update!

Easy Assembly my !  So many pin marks that needed to be removed, so much flash, so much misaligned parts.....ah well, I knew what I was getting into!  Give me a newer Tamiya kit any day of the week!

Anyway, progress has been made.  The interior of the Me-262 engines and the turbo-fan thingies needed to be painted in Burnt Iron (thank you Vallejo Metal Color!).

As with almost all aircraft, cockpits needed to be painted as well.  Both kits have VERY basic pits - no instrument panel or sidewall detail, just a seat, floor and sides!  I dressed both pits up with some Eduard PE German seatbelts and slapped some basic instrument decals on the plain panel; nothing fancy, just something to indicate instruments!  I also glued some lead split shot in the front of the 262 to offset the expected tail sitting.

Time to start some major assembly work!

5 PM Update:

Assembly of both aircraft is complete.  The canopies and landing gear are just fitted in place in the pic and the landing gear doors will be installed after painting.

As expected the 262 had a lot of fit issues that required lots of filling, sanding and rescribing, but I managed to do a decent job of it.  Here's a better pic...no mods or extra detail added to the exterior:

The 109 was a little easier to build and, in fact, was finished first.  The molded cannon barrels were horrible so I replaced them with hollow brass rod - a relatively easy mod.  I also had a Quickboost tropical air filter for this kit that was better than the kit filter so....

  That's it!  Once I glue the canopies in place and mask them they will go to the paint booth!  Hopefully I'll have one more update before the end of the day!

Great progress Ernest-fit and finish looks ready to go for paint-looking forward to see the finished planes.

Thanks Bob!  Really trying to get these done today!

I've had some setbacks, mostly with painting and using the wrong thinner, but I've sorted it out and the builds are back on track....just not sure I'll be able to finish today.

I petered out last night and wasn't able to even get them into painting, so today's a busy day!  The 109 and 262 went into the paint booth this morning and at first things went smoothly....primered and preshading were done by 11 AM. 

But then I ran into problems when I started painting.  I have several AK Real Colors laquer acrylics that are perfect for these aircraft, but I had major problems with the paint spitting and not spraying.  I haven't used the Real Color set before and couldn't figure out what the problem was until I switched thinner from generic laquer thinner to Mr. Color Levelling Thinner and that solved all my problems, but now I was a few hours behind.  Finally finished in the booth about 4:30 PM!

Everything painted with AK Real Colors.  The Levelling Thinner really made this paint go on smoothly.  I'm not even sure I'll need a gloss coat, but I'll put one on just to be sure!  It's 5 PM now and I want to get this done by midnight so I've got one last push!!

Whew!!  I didn't think I was going to make it but I managed to get this double kit 48 Hr build done!  Completed just past midnight, so its actually very early Monday morning!  Still the 7 AM completion time is 6 hrs away so that's a bonus!

Both are 1/72 Hobby Boss Easy Assembly kits.  

I'm really happy how the 262 came out, only problem was I lost the front landing gear door....its around her somewhere, it disappeared right when I was installing the lg.  Probably turn up in a few days when I'm cleaning the bench!

The 109 had some issues with the detail wash and subsequent flat coat.  I guess that happens when you rush things! .  It came out OK in the end.

Bill, thanks again for taking the time and effort to host this GB!  I really enjoy pushing myself to build kits for the yearly Weekend Madness!  I'll be busy with family the next two weekends so this might be it for the year!  I'll stick around and see how everyone else is doing!

Take care all and Happy Holidays!

Very impressive Ernest-add to that they are both 1/72 and you accomplished this in less than 48 hrs. just adds to the quality of the builds.

And since you built two planes, shouldn't you have poured two drinks?

Cheers

bufflehead

Whew!!  I didn't think I was going to make it but I managed to get this double kit 48 Hr build done!  Completed just past midnight, so its actually very early Monday morning!  Still the 7 AM completion time is 6 hrs away so that's a bonus!

Both are 1/72 Hobby Boss Easy Assembly kits.  

I'm really happy how the 262 came out, only problem was I lost the front landing gear door....its around her somewhere, it disappeared right when I was installing the lg.  Probably turn up in a few days when I'm cleaning the bench!

The 109 had some issues with the detail wash and subsequent flat coat.  I guess that happens when you rush things! .  It came out OK in the end.

Bill, thanks again for taking the time and effort to host this GB!  I really enjoy pushing myself to build kits for the yearly Weekend Madness!  I'll be busy with family the next two weekends so this might be it for the year!  I'll stick around and see how everyone else is doing!

Take care all and Happy Holidays!

 

 

BK

Hi builders! For those of you (cough) who haven't started a build, it's not too late!

Bill

Awesome stuff! Can't believe we had a double build finished this year! Kudo's to bufflehead

im up this weekend for sure. Got stuck working tomorrow during the day but with a huge storm coming in tomorrow night i plan to start my build. See you back here in 24hrs