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

Ok y'all, I have not forgotten about this shindig. Just got real busy at work and have a few builds needing to get finished up for Christmas gifts. But I have worked on the Challenger a bit lately.

The kit I have is the Hobby Craft reboxed Trumpeter one. So far I have had to deal with duplicate printed instruction sheets ( therefore leaving out the needed one ) , alot of flash, ill fitting parts and the such. Needless to say it has not been an enjoyable kit thus far and all I have worked on is a bit of the hull. Hopefully I can knock out enough on the cars to get some time in on the Chally this weekend , if I can get enough progress done to warent it, I'll get some pics up.

Does anybody know what color my Churchill would have been primed/undercoated with? I think the front fenders would have taken a real bashing, and I want to show some chips and scrapes.

I'm still working on my challenger and hope to paint it this weekend. BTW, Do most of you glue the tracks and paint or do you paint first and then glue them?

Good luck with the rest of the build Chris. Reports to date suggest you will have your work cut out for you. Your preference for the badge? votes up to midnight this Sunday US time - badge #1 is ahead by one vote at present.

Buff: TTBOMK they were primed in red brown primer just like everything British was (tractors, trucks...err lorries....etc). Here is a pick from www. tanxheaven.com of the Cromwell turret race showing the primer where paint is not applied


Balta, I always paint then glue, even on indy tracks like DML's. It is hard to get the paint and weather between road wheels and under fenders otherwise. Makes for a neater finish too, although the dust weathering will blur the edges here.

I can already agree on that alot Peter. So far I get about 10 minutes done with it and get irritated and toss it back in the box.

My vote goes for the #1 option.

Thanks Chris, that makes it easier now one badge is a couple of votes ahead.

Thanks for the tip, Peter.

No prob Buff, anytime you need help just ask.

Balta, Just re-read my post and thought I better clarify things. I mean that I assemble the indy links in two runs per side (upper and lower) paint them and the wheels, then glue the two runs to the road wheels - not that I paint each indy link, then glue them together - that's a sure fir receipe for links falling apart..

Okay, votes are in and badge #1 it is. The URL is:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/petbat/britgb1.jpg

For those who may not know how, to add it to your sig:
Go to the top of this page to the grey bar near the top and click on "UPDATE PROFILE"
Type in your user name and password at the prompt and click on "Submit"
Go to the box titled 'Signature" and type in (again do not type the space).
go to the bottom of the page and click on "Update my Profile"
the badge will then be added to all your posts.

The Centaur is now finished, but the figures are still getting the last few details. I've claimed the badge for the build, and will post pics when the figures are done. Looking forward to seeing more of your stuff.

Yes, I got the Camera, but my sister forgot the cord. I just talked to her and she said shed bring it by later today, so I should be getting pics. I already took them, i just need to upload em.

IF THE PICS ON THE NEXT PAGE TAKE FOR EVER TO LOAD, PLEASE POST A REPLY AND LET ME KNOW, THAT WAY I CAN GET RID OF SOME. I HAVE DSL SO IT WORKS FOR ME BUT I DONT KNOW ABOUT YOU OTHERS, LET ME KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, here we go. This is the Vehicle I tried to Replicate.


Heres a pic of the identification markings. The directions called for it to be white-red-white.


the innacurate Box art


I also was nervus of the decals going over all of that detail. So I masked off the are areas and painted it MM sand.


heres the rest of my build








Well, let me know what you guys think!

Great looking peice of work Rebelgood call not using the decals, it looks good painted on...........

I havn't made much progress on the Matilda 11 lately, life has been getting in the way, what with building a new house and a job change i havn't had much time to break out the modelling gear but i'm remaining optimistic and hopefully i'll get it done in time.....
........Jules......

Excellent Rebel. Very nice indeed. The later pics must be an earlier pic 'cause the tracks are still shiny steel.

Great pics

thanks for the comments guys! Actually, i took all of the pics after i was finished, but now that you mention it, i might have to go investigate the top of my tracks to make sure!
BTW, I just pu the badge in my sig, is that ok?

Must be the overhead light then. I could see that you had rusted them up in the other pics and made an assumption about the overhead shot.

Did you drill out the end of the exhaust pipe? About the only thing I can see that might improve the build. A fine addition to the stable. Thanks for posting it with the Panzer IV. I always thought the Whippet's were smaller than that, maybe because the whippet is a small greyhound, but the comparison gives a great indication of size.

Great job on the markings. Pity the kit ones were wrong. If you can get it, get some 'Mr Marksoftener' from Gunze Sanyo. It is in a green labelled bottle and has a brush in the cap. It is designed to help decals snug down over detail. Put a little where the decal is to go and put the decal on, then use a tissue to soak up the excess water. You have plenty of time to move the decal around if needs be. Then apply a little more Mr MS over the decal and leave it. It may crinkle the decal up, and you will think "Oh no, what have I done", but it will settle down again, so don't worry and don't touch it. Check out the numbers around the Centaur Turret on my pics on page 16, I used it on that and it settled them over the side hatch ports perfectly (except that I accidentaly touched it and the numbers tilted sideways and I forgot to go back and adjust it - but no one noticed. Heavy weathering has fixed it now ). I have used it to drag decals down over Zim, etc.

I checked the tracks, and it was the lighting. As for the exaust pipe, yes i drilled it out. Its a bit hard to see, i'll get a better pic of it. I also drilled out the barrels on the mg's. For decal setting I have been using solvaset. It works good, but I think it would have been easier to paint anyways.
And the main reason I love armor.....well, you said it already, wheathering can always fix up your problems, as can stowage

yeah, ammo boxes and rucksacks don't look good on the wing of an F-15...........

Good work there John,I like it.I like the way you aged it and done the tracks.I think you got the markings just right and it should be a fine addition to your collection.Now as for me the Valentine XI is done so feast your eyes on this.It is done in a winter scheme due to I just had to do it.











Hope ya'll enjoy this pics.Digger

thank you! Now my turn, Very nice! the mud on the tracks and around road wheels looks really good. I also really like how some of the Undercoat is showing through, its very cool. But what is this winter camo! Latley it seems to be a lot of winter armor, but there is a problem with this, ITS COLD OUTSIDE!!!!! THe builds are making me even colder! I think I will have to build some Normandy and Afrika Korps stuff to keep me warm! lol!

Digger and John, those are both great builds. It's always nice to see things that are a little out of the ordinary.
Here are a couple of pics of my mostly assembled Churchill. The hull, deck and turret aren't glued on yet. I'll be painting them separately. I have test fitted the tracks, and they fit quite well. The antennas haven't been glued yet, which is why they're a little off. There are bits and pieces missing: coax, front fenders, muffler, some tools and stowage. They'll all be painted separately. I've made one major goof. I glued the turret hatch and cupola shut. I was planning on doing the kit figures sticking out of the hatches. I could try to cut them off, but I think cutting them off would leave very visible damage that I don't think I could fix. The kit comes with separate open hatches. I guess I'll just have the farmer figure that comes with the kit waving to the tank as it goes by.

QUOTE: Originally posted by M1abramsRules yeah, ammo boxes and rucksacks don't look good on the wing of an F-15...........

Yeah but flak holes do........

Nice to see the Valentine Digger. That white wash paint job looks great. I know the Brits whitewashed Churchill's , but not sure of teh Valentines, but it looks great anyway. The mud and weathering looks very realistic. Congrats on another great build.

Rebel. Sorry about the exhaust, just the angle of the pics I suppose. As I said, just the one thing that looked a little funny. As to being cold outside....its a lovely 28 degrees celcius here; blue skies, birds singing.............

Buff, looking very good indeed. Age doesn't really show on this kit when built properly. I always think the Churchill looked more agressive without the front fenders, something to consider. Keep up the good work.

QUOTE: Originally posted by rebelreenactor Ok, here we go. This is the Vehicle I tried to Replicate. [ Well, let me know what you guys think!

Great work Rebel.

Digger, like your Valentine also.

Petbat, what only 28c degrees where you are, we have aready reached 32c here, and its still climbing.

Not fair! you guys are going into Summer aren't you! Were just getting into winter where 32F is freezing! I'm so cold! Think of Afirka Korps, think of Afrika Korps

Digger and John, excellent builds!
I finally took some (very crappy) in-progress shots of my model. The quality is lousy, and they're blurry, but they give an good impression of the modifications made:

A lot of great work going on there Zokissima. Pity the pics aren't clear because this looks like a build worth taking a real close look at. Looking forward to more pics on this one.

Rebel, I live in Brisbane, Queensland, the capital city of the north eastern state of Australia. The state has a tropical to sub-tropical climate, but here in Brissie, in the south east of the state we are in the more temparate zone. Rarely gets colder than 4 degrees celcius (39.2 degrees F) at night in Winter, but regularly get up to 37 degrees C (98.6 degrees F) in Summer (with some days hotter - we had a few 42 degree C (107.6 degrees F) days last summer. The high humidity makes it a bit uncomfortable out of doors in high Summer. Whilst the southern states get colder, I have seen snow for only 5 minutes in my life but I still call Winter here cold.

A little Trivia as people really have no idea just how big Australia is:
Australia is just over 80% of the size of the USA but there are only 8 states and Territories in Australia compared to your 51. Queensland is the second largest state in Australia with a land mass of 1,727m sq km . The largest state in the USA is Alaska with 1,481m sq km whereas your California is less than 1/4 of our size at 404,000 sq km. The whole United Kingdom would fit nearly 32 times into my state of Queensland.

That said the population of the USA is 288M, United Kingdom 59M, Australia only 19M. The total population of the greater city of London (worlds 20th largest city by population)is more than 1/3 of the population of the whole of Australia.

This is the place to be to get warm. Okay, so when are you coming to visit? I'll 'throw another shrimp on the Barbie' (BBQ) for you (you are probably too young to know that old Australian Tourism advertisment that was shown over there).

Great builds guys. Turned out nice.

My Challenger is pretty much stalled right now. Mainly a cross between trying to get a few others done still and lack of time. Hopefully I can draw up the patience and will pwer to drag it out this weekend and deal with the kit some more.

looking good so far zok and buff. Buff, that chain adds some really nice detail.

petbat, I had NO idea that Australia was so big, seems small on our globes. I have a climate very close to yours. In the summer here its usually about 100F more or less.
In the winter, I think the lowest it ever got since I have been born, was about 28F (at night). Its usually about 40F in the winter nights though.
when am I coming to visit? Well, as soon as I can get over the fear of watching the toilet water spin backwards! (Does that really happen? I think its a big myth over here)
oh, and just for the record... We have 50 states

Rebel, Yeah I know....I just added the State of Intoxicated! (It was a typo - that's what you get for not watching what you input with chubby little fingers. )

Yes the water vortex is different in the Southern Hemisphere. The gravitational pull on water is called the Coriolis Effect. See:
http://www.ems.psu.edu/~fraser/Bad/BadCoriolis.html
What I think is scary, is if you live on the Equator, does your water spin at all?

No worries Chris, just keep plugging away.

Well I wanted to thank ya'll earlyer but this morning the power went out.Now I have a chance to thank ya'll and to say ,I had a blast doning these projects.I hope they measure up to your all standards.So far want I have seen on this group build has been excellent and hope to see all of them when finished.I also want to thank ya'll for being a friend to me.This has been fun and wish that I had another Slimey Limey tank to do.I also wish that I had not the Bishop done at the time of build started,but I did so...it is posted some ware in the armor forum.As for the Valentines white wash that allows the base coat to bleed through was easy.1 ground up some white clauk and use some ft.white paint.2 dip brush into paint then dip into ground up clauk,do this real good.Then apply to tank and watch the majic happen.Well that is it and ya'll have a good day.Digger