War in the Desert - African campaign GB - 12/9/07 to 5/13/08

Bob great looking Spitfire and you really can't see any problems with the canopy from where I am sitting.

Cheers

Luciano - just fantastic work! Love the figures... and your "small" diorama is just gorgeous! Love the little story it tells...  Quality is top notch, both construction and aesthetics. I hope you join other GBs or post more of your work, its phenomenal! I also have to again thank you for taking the time to write down your WIP and techniques used in detail, I bookmarked this thread and will be reviewing your techniques once I have a clue what I am doing here ;) 

Rick - Again, very nice paint job, crisp camo.

Bob - I like your spit, great kit, nice build. Love the markings!

Thanks Lu.  Your little dio is simply outstanding.  Excellent work .

Regards,  Rick

Lu-thanks for the kind words.

Your diorama is outstanding.  Very impressive.  Even more so when one considers that it is 1/48th and not 1/35th.  I hope to see more of your work here in the forums in the future.  And thank you for sharing your techinques.

Rick and Bob, congrats to yuo two because both spits are looking very good . so I will keep on eye because those two beauties seem to be near completion. Rick I see you are being one very active member here and one very fast modeller too, so congrats for that as well.

Tamiya 1/48 scale Universal Carrier

Gents,

Sorry to have you waiting but here you have my small desert diorama completed finally, so that means my contribution to the GB ends here too. I really have a very good time here and enjoyed sharing my work day by day with you all. This is the second time I join to one GB here at FSM and I am sure will do again in the future thanks to your warm welcome and support. Now other models demand my attention far form desert warfare for a while. Although I plan to make one more small desert diorama very soon, I cannot be on time before the end of this GB unfortunately.

Okay, that is all for now. I hope you like the final composition.

Lu

Oooppppssss...... I guess I gained my GB badge finally, right?

Arki, Mark...Thanks Guys.

Regards,  Rick

bobbaily wrote:

And knowledge is good....

Ah, yes, but ignorance is bliss! Anyway, very nice looking Spitfire, Bob.

Rick, your Spitfire looks great with the decals done.  Almost there!

Mark

Thanks Bob.  Kudos to your Spit.  Very nice.

Regards,  Rick

Sorry I haven't commented on the excellent builds being displayed here-a bit busy, but that's no excuse.

Saddler-fine job on the Sherman.  Very nice looking.

Lu-wonderful job weathering the UC.  I'll be reviewing your techniques for future builds

Rick-as always, an excellent build in progress.

I'm about 95% done on my Spitfire.  I still need to do an oil wash on the wheels & struts, add some exhaust & gun stains, but here she is:

Overall, this Tamiya kit is very forgiving.  A lot of detail that one more skilled than myself could take to the next level.  I buggered up the canopy (the masks bled thru) so after some cleanup, I decided that the 'open canopy look' hid some of the imperfections.  Missed a seam here or there, but overall, a fun, easy build.  I'll be adding another on to my stash.

Thanks Darren.

Got the decals on the Spit & sealed with another coat of Future.  Won't be this shiney when finished.

Regards,  Rick

Great looking Spitfire Rick, you've really nailed that camo especially the hard edge demarcation lines.

As a note on the underside color of those DAF birds, the only time you can see (or guess) that one may be Mediterranean Blue vs. Azure is when you have a photo of several aircraft together and you can see that the underside of some of the aircraft are much lighter than others. 

Right you are Mark.  That's why you have to be very careful using published color photograohs as Bible references.

Going back & looking at your pics, I'd say the main difference is in the type of lighting used & the White Balance setting on the cameras.  Mine were taken with Flash, but my guess is you used incandescent.  If you set them side by side in natural lighting, they would likely be very close to the same in color.

Regards,  Rick

rjkplasticmod wrote:

Thanks Mark.  The paints used were all Model Master enamels... Middlestone, Dark Earth on the top sides & Azure Blue on the lower.  Some references show the lower surface as Mediterranian Blue, but Azure would have been more likely IMHO. Regards,  Rick.

Thanks, Rick.  Those are the same paints I used on my kittyhawk, but our two airplanes look so different (to me at least).  It's amazing how much different cameras, lighting, etc. can affect a photograph.

Mark

Thanks Mark.  The paints used were all Model Master enamels... Middlestone, Dark Earth on the top sides & Azure Blue on the lower.  Some references show the lower surface as Mediterranian Blue, but Azure would have been more likely IMHO.

Regards,  Rick.

Nice work, Rick!  What paints did you use for the topside colors?

Mark

Thanks guys.  Decals started today...Getting close.

Regards,  Rick

Some progress on my Spitfire.  Basic painting is done & she's Futured waiting for decals.

Sorry about the pic quality, my fill flash decided to malfunction & I see I have some dirt on the camera sensor.  The bane of the DSLR camera.  Cleaning time.

Regards,  Rick

Hermes, I'm also thinking of switching builds.  I have been struggling to convert Dragon's M4A1 to an early version, but have hit snag after snag, most likely due to my lack of experience with kitbashing and resin conversions.  I probably bit off more than I can chew with this one!  None of the mixed parts I'm using want to go together correctly (lower hull, upper hull, tranny housing, fenders..etc, etc.)  ARRRRGHHHH!!!   The only way I see getting this conversion done correctly is to order replacements for some of the resin parts I'm using, but they could take some time to arrive.   With your approval I'll take a look at what I have in the stash and see if there's something else I can build....OOB!! 

Sure Chris, that's fine.

I've been thinking of doing a light (easy) vehicle as well since I've got so many other builds that I might not be able to finish the Sherman in time...and I had better finish something since it's my GB...

If it is'nt too late I would like to change my entry to Tamiya's 1/35 German BMW R/75 Motorcycle w/ Sidecar (kit no. 35016) if that would be ok.

Thanks,

Chris