ARMOR - British/Commonwealth Group Build (9/17/04 to 12/31/04)

Thanks petbat, i'll have to give that a try. I'll let you know haow it goes.

Daveash:
i love the pink land rover, can't wait 2 see it completed !
if only they made one in 1/72 !!!
Reb:
good luck with the airbrush problem, hope it works out....

Project update:
the Chally's 12 double roadwheels r painted...
a real workout 4 the eyeballs, even w/ optivisor. one session
4 the surface rubber & backsides of wheels, & a 2nd session
2 do the sides that show... & i still need 2 go back & do some touchup
on the rims of the wheels.
a question:
does anyone have any Chally 1 reference pix ?
i need 2 figure out what colors 2 use on the trax....
thanx in advance,

frosty

Frosty, try here :
http://tanxheaven.com/bobgriffin/cr1mk3/cr1mk3bg.htm
About 50 walkaround pics of Bovington's Operation Granby (The British code name for Desert Storm/Desert Shield) painted Mk 1 like this

; and

http://tanxheaven.com/challenger2/challenger2.htm
50+ walkaround pics of the uparmoured Mk 2 Chally.

Check out the site for the other little gems worth looking over.

Peter:
thanx 4 the reply & the linx, they will b very useful !

i am really enjoying this build of the revell 1/72 kit,
the fit of the parts is excellent & apart from the turret baskets
which r quite thick, the model has a lot of nicely molded detail 2 it..

last nite i installed the roadwheels, idlers, return rollers & drive sprockets
& had a near miss w/ the main gun, i had just glued the lower part of the turret
2 the upper part when i had the sense 2 check my reference (the drawing on the front of the box, in this case) 4 the orientation of the gun barrel...
& of course, i had put it in upside down !
luckily the glue hadn't set & i was able 2 pry the turret apart & reposition the
main gun barrel...
i should have some pix next week if all goes well !

frosty

Well my fellow modellers i've finished most of the building and as soon as i put the finishing touches on a couple of wingy thingy's i'll start the painting.....
BTW does anyone know what the proper 3 tone camo colours are for a Desert Matilda from 7th armoured are
Cheers Jules.......

No probs Erica. If you want some Granby pics just send me an email.

Julian How about this one:


It is the Caunter scheme of Portland Stone No 64, Silver Grey No. 28 and Slate No. 34

To get the colours mix (from the MAFVA site):
Portland Stone: Humbrol 34+74 in ratio 4:3 plus a slight touch of 33 or 67 to add a hint of grey
Silver grey: Humbrol 74 and 145 in ratio 5:2
Slate: Humbrol 86 and 111 in ratio 6:1+ a touch of black.

I have made some good progress on my "pinky" this week. It went together OK but was quite bland. I have added various bits from my spares box and wire/brass collection. I have not used the kit driver, but I am working on another figure to complement the model.
These pics are "in progress", the wash is still wet and a few mistakes need to be fixed.







Any comments and suggestions welcome

Very busy Pinkie there Dave. Looks great.

For a bit more 'authenticity' paint part of the side walls of the tyres pink from the rims out - but not in a circular pattern. The uniform circles of the black ring of the tyre stood out like the proverbials in the desert, so the SAS painted them in an irregular pattern to break it up.

Well ya'll I didnot get the Valentine done yet but should have it done when I get back during the Holidays.Dave I like what I see on the pink pather-sas,you have done a good job on it.Petbat I will have the Valentine done when I get back.Ya'll take it easy and untill 2 weeks from now have fun.Digger

QUOTE: Originally posted by j.s.harrison Well my fellow modellers i've finished most of the building and as soon as i put the finishing touches on a couple of wingy thingy's i'll start the painting..... BTW does anyone know what the proper 3 tone camo colours are for a Desert Matilda from 7th armoured are Cheers Jules.......

Jules,
Sounds like you were having the same problems as me, finding the right colour for the 3 tone camo. Picked an Osprey Modelling book today on Modelling the Matilda Infantry Tank that gives two different paint guides on this scheme, pete's colours are very close to one that is given. This book also has info on the Aussie versions of this tank, might use this info for my next Aussie Group Build subject.

Great work Dave.

An update on my Centurion:
Finished the turret. It took forever to clean the smoke dischargers. Had to fill in some gaps and location holes in the bins, as all of my pics didn't have anything on the bins, and the kit part, whatever it was, didn't fit well anyways.
Cleaned up the lower hull. Used plastic strip and putty to plug the holes in the bottom of the hull, as well as above the drive sprocket assemblies. Cleaned up and assembled all the running gear components, and this took a good day. Flash galore.
That's it for now. I'll see if I can find the time to do some more this week.

I finally got some time over the weekend to unpack my armoured car and get a little work done. Sorry I don't have any pictures--I'm hoping to get a camera in another month or two.

The Humber's main body is moulded as one big solid block of resin, and assembly consists mainly of adding detail parts to the block. The hatch openings are pits about a half-centimeter deep. The moulded detail is very good, and the kit will build into a fine minature of the original when it's done, but a big part of the enjoyment of modelling for me is in assembling the pieces, so this is a bit disappointing. If all resin kits are like this, I won't be building many of them.

I washed all the parts in warm water and dish soap to clean off any mould release goo, and some of them bubbled funny when I did, so it was probably a good idea. I used an old toothbrush on the finer parts, and for a wonder I didn't break any, although I did separate a couple of them from the sprue in the process.

The main body had a lot of flash to clean up, and two big chips knocked out. One on the lower right side and one on the rear bumper, below the engine louvres. Part of the rear right fender was also broken off, but I found it in the box. I filled the chips with putty, but I haven't got the fender fixed yet. Up next is the rear suspension and muffler.


M.

I've just started mine last week and so far I will say that I have never seen so many pin marks!!! They are all over the small parts!! I have assembled the lower hull and most of the suspension. I'll try and post some pics later today when I get home.

Have a good 2 weeks Digger. We'll be looking forward to seeing some pics when you get back. Keep safe.

South Aussie. I have heard that that is a great book to have. I will need to look out for it myself.

Zokissma - keep plugging away mate. Those older kits are a real challenge, but you feel you accomplished more when you see it all finished. Sounds like a great build coming along.

Marian - welcome to the world of resin where chips, breaks and lack of parts are the norm. I suggest you prime the kit before painting, as some resins will repel hobby paints. Looking forward to pics when you get your camera.

Well figures for the Centaur are a disaster - I really hate the new formula Humbrol paints, you just can't dry brush like you used to. The crew are enjoying an oven cleaner bath right now.

I am going to invest in some of the Vallejo Model Art acryllics this week. I have seen what my fellow club members have achieved on figures with them. Will start painting them again this week.

Just need to make a replacement crowbar for the kit itself, as I broke the kit one during dry brushing (one clamp wasn't glued down well enough).

Daveash, nice job on the SAS rover !!!

Update on my project:
i started painting the trax on the revell chally last nite,
did the track pads in black & i'll do some drybrushing w/ a
steel color next...
it's coming along, bit by bit...

frosty

I needed a couple of hours of personal time yesterday, so what better way to unwind than to wrestle my Centurion.
Screwed in the mount to the idler wheel, and finished all assembly on lower hull. The mount is ugly and unscenic, and still needs to be filled and smoothed into the hull, but I'm not sure how far I'll get on this, as there's plenty else that needs attention.
On to the upper hull. I wanted to show this tank as being used, so I wanted to open the storage bin(s). It took a good hour to remove the rearmost bin from the hull. It was rebuilt using styrene stock. I shaved the clasping mechanism from the kit part, and glued it onto my own.
I decided that this vehicle will show some heavy battle damage, so on the skirts had to fly! I removed the front third section from the left side, and used it as a template to build one from styrene. I thinned it, punched a few holes, and deformed the front. Grab handle detail still needs to be made, but the mounting screws were removed from the kit part and added. On the other side, I removed the front and rear thirds. Front will remain off, but the rear was replaced with a styrene copy with some bullet-hole damage.
The front fenders were removed, and will be used as templates to create copies out of aluminum foil. Ditto for the rear fenders, which were never installed to begin with. However, the kit parts have a weird mount, so if I just wanted to replace them, it would have left a big gap. This was filled and sanded smooth. At this point I was ready to join the upper and lower hull, and was immediately stuck on a huge problem. The hull fit perfectly in the front, but the upper rear was too narrow by 2mm to fit onto the bottom rear. It took some serious cutting and muscle to force the two together. They've been left as is, clamped and held together by a plethora of rubber bands.
Oh, and I filled the mouting holes for the spare track links on the front glacis plate. I will mount one, but the other will be left empty with just the tie down brackets left, which I made out of thin foil that I found on top of a box of Pringles chips.
Don't think I'll have any time left this week to work on this any more. Few things left to do:
make front and rear fenders and distort.
make replacement mufflers.

After all that is done, I think i'll be ready for the paint.

Sounds like you are really earning your badge on this one Zokissima. Speaking of badges, I guess it is time to vote for the one for this GB. Here are the 3 options we basically settled on a while back. We only need to finalise the vote on which to use:

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3


One vote per customer please

number 3 for me cause i made it and i built a universal carrier.

My vote goes to option 2.

me 1 or 2, mostly one though.

Well I am just about the happiest person in the world today. I have fixed my siphon cup so I can now paint! Turns out the tube was clogged with paint so i cleaned it out with some pipe cleaner and walla! I decide now if I should post or pre shade. I just finished a model with post shading and I am thinking about trying pre shading, well i'll let you know when i decide.

One more update:
I was lucky enough to find some thick aluminum foil, so onwards it went with my first attempt to use that material. I used the removed kit front and rear fenders to fashion replacements out of foil. I like they way the look, and I can see they will look even better when painted. Both front and rears were replaced, with some 'built-in' denting. I did have one problem though; the rear fenders have an upright barrier that is bolted on in the real thing. I attempted to shave the kit part off, but it was too large, and a slip of the knife cleanly cut it to useless. So now I'm stuck to find a replacement that will be adequate.
In addition, I also replaced the exhaust. I used the kit shroud as a template to cut an appropriate sized piece of foil, which was then bent over the kit part to force it into the proper shape. I used a strip of styrene on the vertical contact edge, so that I had a good mating surface to the hull. The rear was enclosed with a piece of styrene sanded to the curved shape, and the kit muffler was used in the front. I hope to get a digi cam soon, as there is not much work left to be done before I can start painting, and this is one I want to keep a record of.

John, the simplest problems are the ones to give us the biggest heart attacks. Good to see you fixed the problem (did you blow bubbles to work out what was wrong?)

Zokissma, I hope you get your digi soon too. I want to see pic's.

Okay the vote is 1 all on the badges....... so far. I abstain for now, he, he.

I'll vote for badge 2.

Be strong petbat and make a decision.

actually I just though it might be a bit dirty in there, so i cleadned it out and walla! Didnnt have to use the bubble trick. I almost though that there was a crack in it but it turned out there was just a small ding. I will be post shading BTW.

I vote for #1.

I hope you get a camera soon, Zokissma, I'd love to see what you've done with the foil.


M.

I've my preference Wayne....just don't want to influence you guys and gals with it. By the way, how is your build going?

Well Guys Im gonna try my first group build and jump in w/ a 1/35 scale Chieftan by Tamiya wish me luck.

I vote for 1

i believe the count is
#1 = 3
#2 = 1
#3 = 1

Actually John it's:

#1 = 3
#2 = 2 (Zokissima and South Aussie)
#3 = 1

But you knew that didn't you