1/35 Academy M50 Ontos, WIP 6/12/10, Completed

Crusin' along nicely there Mike! Check one of your spotter barrels... may need to be straightened out some although I will admit that I too am suffering from the DT's after this past weekend.

Kevin - Thanks....I wish I had the DTs.....the Honey Do list was a killer....my escape was the town parade!!

Thanks for the look. As they say in football..."after further review" yep the barrel has a slight warp. It is one of those modeling mysteries how...but thanks, I will take care of it!!

That's the great thing here....sometimes you are so far into the woods your friends have to show you the trees!!

Thanks again

Rounds Complete!!

Read you Lima-Charlie on the Honey-Do list... Bummer. I'm remodeling the/her kitchen in my 'spare time'...

Doing a great job on this "Thing" there Mike.

Looking great Mike! The barrels are amazing, you did a great job. They look just right.

Like I said before you have inspired me,, I grabbed the SkyBow Jeep and 106 kit,, going to use the 106 and mount it on back of 5 Ton like we did in Gitmo,,,park it in a dio outside the barracks next to the ready ammo bunker.

Now just need to find the truck,,I could not find any Jeep Pick-ups in 1/35 or 1/32. Don't think I yet have the 'courage' to post a WIP,,but your work is inspiring!!

Semper Fi

Kevin

Hi Mike,

Great detail work Mike! 

Kevin – Glad you are inspired. As far as WIP photos….”there is nothing to fear but fear itself”….trust me, we don’t bite….not hard anyway!!

For a 5 ton, not sure which series truck you need. The 900 series, Italeri has their kit…if it is the 800 series, you may want to cheat and use the AFV M35 duce&1/2….it is the closest thing to the 800 series 5 ton.

Thanks again for stopping by

Schnobs – Always a pleasure to have you stop by!!

Rounds Complete!!

Thanks for the info,, We didn't get the 900 series until after my tour in GITMO,,so I need the 800,,I may just go with the AFV M35A2,,we did have one of those too,,,

Soon as I learn to post pics,,I'll take the plunge and let you guys 'bite'

Your 106 detail photos will be a huge help..

Red - looking awesome!

Bob

Bob - Thanks for stopping by and for the comments

Rounds Complete!!

Haven't been able to pop in as much as I'd like to Mike, but this one's coming along nicely.

Bill - Not to worry. Hope all is well by you. Thanks for the comments but mainly you take care....hope to see you back at the bench on a regular basis real soon.

Rounds Complete!!

Working like crazy and pulling all kinds of wierd hours as a result. It will be great for my business if the bid is successful (10-15% revenue growth) but will mean I'll have to spend 2 weeks or more a month between now and October shuffling back and forth between Manila, the US, and Fiji to coordinate it all. Bench time may become quite the premium under those circumstances (and no, I won't get any time at any beaches either!).

Bill - First good luck....I know how these can be and have been through it myself a bunch of times....we have to remember, without the job we don't have a hobby....make the best of it.....any good hobby shops in Manila??? maybe some good deals.

You may not hang on the beach but may find time for an hour at the hobby shop!! Of course....after you have picked up something for Mrs. Wbill

Rounds Complete!!

Manila does have some great hobby shops IIRC...the last time I was there in 2005 I took requests and brought back a bunch of kits for guys here on the forum due to the fact that there was a 40 kilo per passenger weight allowance on the airlines at the time and I went down and picked up a huge number of kits at dirt cheap prices (~$25 a kit even for then new DML releases).

Mrs. Wbill has simple tastes fortunately. She usually only asks me to bring back things like tea or coffee (she's a big fan of Asian teas) that don't take up too much space in the luggage. Will know in the next 10 days or so if we won the bid and what my life will look like for the next 3 months as a result!

wbill76

Will know in the next 10 days or so if we won the bid and what my life will look like for the next 3 months as a result!

Bill

I don't want to take this thread too far off the rails, but I suspect Mike won't mind if I chime in here to wish you luck on the bid!  We're all pulling for you (or should we be pulling against you?  I mean, you did imply that no bid = bench time, but bid = no bench time... hmmmmm, tough call...)

Thanks Boyd, definitely a Catch-22 moment!

Well it has been a couple of weeks and finally I am finished.

First I mounted the turret. Then I assembled the 30 cal MG using the PE shield and ammo box holder. I used an AFV ammo box for their ammo box kit.

Now the fun detail….I made a mold of a section of track. Once the mold was cured, I cast a resin section of track. Once that set, I removed it from the mold and while it was still soft, fit it to the model so it would sit properly over details and let it cure in position. Once cured, it was painted with the kit track with Tamiya Flat Black primer and Alclad Steel finish.

Next I assembled the tracks using CA glue and clamping the two ends tight and allowing to fully dry for about a half hour. Now the fun….I fit the drive wheel in the area where the track is glued and pushed the teeth into the slats in the track. Then fit the track around the road wheels, while holding the drive wheel in place.  Pulled it all tight and with a bit of glue on the axel, fit the drive sprocket in place. Now I built the outside suspension and mounted.

I mounted the rear ammunition storage door then I cleared the masking circles I had covering the PE ammunition.

The base was done with Sculpclay, then with a coat of stucco gel, sprayed with US Earth Red and tinted with MIG Vietnam Earth.  

Then it was time for weathering. The model is weathered with MIG Vietnam Earth. The barrels inside, on the end and breech were treated with MIG Smoke. Both were applied with Turponid as a “wash” and after drying, the excess pigment was removed. Pin washing on the MG and the spotting rifles used MIG Dark Wash

Grass…..I mixed green grass with brown grass, the cut varying lengths and using landscape cement glued “clumps” into place. After all the grass was mounted and dry, they received a coat of the MIG VN Earth wash to get a dusty look.

Lastly, I painted some .020 brass rod and cut two 3.375 inch antennas. These were mounted in the RB antenna mounts on the back of the turret and hull.

Well….that’s it….and here it is, the finished M50 Ontos

As always your comments either good or bad are appreciated.

Next up, Commanders Models M561 Gamma Goat.

Rounds Complete!!

EOM!!

Beautiful.....okay, as beautiful as an 'Ontos' could necessarily be. Love the look with the red Vietnam dirt splattered all over the hull and some spare tracks laid out over the hull. She's a definite beaut' redleg12!

If I can make a small suggestion maybe dirty up the mg-gunners shield. It just seems really clean when compared to the dirt collecting on all the other surfaces. Other then that gotta love this build.

Mike - Thanks....hummm yep I had an attack of the ....missed the MG shield......thanks.....I will get that taken care of forthwith!!

Thanks Again

Rounds Complete!!

Came out real nice there Mike! Actually, this 'Thing' is so butt-ugly, part of me just wants to bust out laughing. You've done a great job on this one (as well) and I love the final product! It's been another fun and interesting blog to follow... thanks! Even digging the groundwork.

Would be perfect if you had a butt-ugly Marine standing-by this/his butt-ugly vehicle.  

Excellent job!  You made this crazy looking thing look like one MEAN crazy looking thing.

Brian

  I have been following all of your past work but this one is probably my favorite.  I am into WW2 but if I have to build one from Vietnam War then I'd go for this kit.  Ontos kits have been selling like crazy at LHS here...

Mike, what can I say but "EXCELLENT"!!

That is one cool, mean-looking "thing". The spare track you cast looks great--and cool in place. All it needs now is a crew figure!

That weathering looks appropriate, and well-applied. Not too much, and enough to look like it belongs in the scene.

The only other thing I can picture in the scene is maybe some Vietnam plant matter n the ground to break up the starkness of the all-over red soil and provide some color harmony to the vehicle? I think they make some PE ones somewhere that would be easy to paint up and lay down? It doesn't need it, but my artist's eye could see it in there.

Hey Mike,

I haven't followed this one from the start, but the end result is stunning. I like the little touches like the long grass caught in the running gear. This little critter is so unusual looking it almost looks like something out of  a sci-fi movie.

Mike,

Really enjoyed following your thread, the end result was worth the wait!

The good,

Excellent building techniques executed while showing ingenuity with kit corrections & added detail.

the bad,

To me the ground work should be lighter towards the top of the vehicle, SE Asia seen a lot of rain and streaking of the dust would look appropriate.

& the ugly

The shield on the .50 BMG mounted in the center seems a tad crooked to the rest of the vehicle, possibly the camera angle or the .50 is swiveled at a different direction than the recoil less guns? I agree with Doog that some simple jungle vegetation would elevate the artistic merit of the base to the next level.

Kevin – Thanks….a butt ugly sand puppy…..LOL.  I hear you, the kit figures are somewhere between inhale and blow . The one full figure is handling ammunition. The ammunition is so out of scale (actually scales to 122 rather than 106). Lastly……I truly inhale at figures . I know….practice makes perfect…..I will get there

One of these days I will surprise you!

Brian – Thanks for stopping by and for the comments

Andy – Thanks. First, I am touched that you have enjoyed my work. As far as the kit popularity….it is different and draws a look! The spare track was a touch to make my build different from the rest

Karl – Thanks, see my figure explanation to Kevin….yea, I knew you would look for plants ……I was thinking of it but it is so small, on a small base…well….hey, I put grass on the model

Thanks again….you are the king of scene makers and as much as I usually don’t go all the way there I appreciate and you comments and point of view. Between figs and scenery, someday I may surprise you and actually do a dio.

Joe and Gino say hello even though they have not been back in a while!

Phil – Thanks, Glad you like it. It was a fun little build

Suppression – Thanks. I an glad you enjoyed the thread. As Mike pointed out earlier, I missed dusting the MG. As far as the angle…it was just sitting in the pintle for the photo….I will take a look

As far as the vegetation…..yep…I know

Thanks again

Rounds Complete!!

The colors on the Ontos really worked out well Legs and a great effort.

Tony Lee

She came out great Mike.  Another show-winner as usual.  Great job.

Tony - Thanks, always a pleasure to have you stop in!!!

Rounds Complete!!

Gino - Nice to have you stop in. Thanks.....winning at show is nice but hearing from you and the others in the forums are better than any gold medal....even better, is seeing you guys at the shows.

Now seeing you at a show Gino.....we are going to have to work on that......AMPS International is in Fredricksburg, VA next April.....hummmmm

Thanks old buddy..... 

Rounds Complete!!