And...main painting is done!

Went back over with XF-61 lightened slightly with XF-60 Dark Yellow.

Also began installing interior bits...looking forward to weathering!

As to how much of the interior is visible with the hull and turret installed - not much, but definitely more than I thought:

deafpanzer

I happen to be a big fan of Star Wars... great name you came up with.  Looking great!  I have been following your work for a while and I was wondering how are you planning to address the barrel issue because I am experiencing the same thing with my M24 Chaffee as it won't stay up.  Little too heavy for a tiny tank...

Viagra...

No, I'm actually planning to shove something between the breech assembly and the upper front turret. There's a space in there that's not really visible at all, so I figure that should be good to hold the gun level or slightly elevated. Also probably going to glue the gun into a static position to help share the load. 

The kit actually provides an elevation screw, but it mounts in a way that has zero structural worth, so I wouldn't trust it with the weight of the aluminum/brass 17-er.

                      Confucious say  you get smalla barrowLOL sorry!

I happen to be a big fan of Star Wars... great name you came up with.  Looking great!  I have been following your work for a while and I was wondering how are you planning to address the barrel issue because I am experiencing the same thing with my M24 Chaffee as it won't stay up.  Little too heavy for a tiny tank...

Have been watching the progress on this one quietly and definitely looks good with the paint on. The "Darth Achilles" reference was good for a smile.

Excellent work there Doog's. Between aircraft and armour  you really are a busy guy.

Terry.

Knew it would look awesome with those colors...both the black and the green.

Here's Darth Achilles...

Also got the base coat of XF-61 on tonight...

Hercmech

 

DoogsATX:

 

Started laying down the pre-shade layer last night. Got about 3/4 of the way through it when I ran out of Tamiya Flat Black, but it's looking super-menacing in its current state. Darth Vader's tank destroyer.

 

 

What? Darth Vader's Tank and no pictures?

Seriously though I like the looks of the XF-61 and think it would look good on your Achilles.

Well...Darth Vader's tank destoyer in a bazillion pieces!

I'll be sure to snag some pics once I get the rest of it painted black. May even put the major pieces together to show it off - that QF 17-pounder looks mean with paint on it!

DoogsATX

Started laying down the pre-shade layer last night. Got about 3/4 of the way through it when I ran out of Tamiya Flat Black, but it's looking super-menacing in its current state. Darth Vader's tank destroyer.

What? Darth Vader's Tank and no pictures?

Seriously though I like the looks of the XF-61 and think it would look good on your Achilles.

Started laying down the pre-shade layer last night. Got about 3/4 of the way through it when I ran out of Tamiya Flat Black, but it's looking super-menacing in its current state. Darth Vader's tank destroyer.

Hoping to lay down the base green layer tonight. After a lot of internal debate, I think I'm going to go straight XF-61 Dark Green. I know it's not exactly accurate to the not-olive-drab the Brit vehicles wore, but I just love the look of it on this Firefly...

this one is gonna be good !!

Well, Woodland Scenics makes dry transfer sheets of stripes going all the way down to .01"...figure I can handle the white band and tip, and use the DTs for the red striping. Going to be a huge PITA to lay it down on something that small. My eyes are already hurting!

                      Doogs,I am not 100% certain but there is a good possibility ,someone must make them!!

                                                          Greg"Detailfreak"Rowley

detailfreak

                  You may want to check out Archer Fine Transfers for the ammo stencils Doogs

                                                        Greg"Detailfreak"Rowley

They make ammo stencils?

Where's my happy dance?!?

                  You may want to check out Archer Fine Transfers for the ammo stencils Doogs

                                                        Greg"Detailfreak"Rowley

Gamera

Sorry to hear about your accidents but she' s coming along great Doogs. I love those PE fenders, despite the gap problems they look a great deal better than the plastic ones.

I actually ended up making lemonade out of the Tenax spill and used it as an excuse to experiment with using solvents to enhance the casting texture on the tranny cover. You can kind of see the results in the lastest pics I posted.

Have to agree about the fenders...I ended up just welding small strips of plastic into the gaps. Working on sanding them so they blend in with the side skirts a bit better, but already a big improvement.

I'm itching to get cranking on my Sopwith Pup, but I'm determined to get this thing into paint first!

Real nice all around.  i too like the look of those rounds standing there.

Sorry to hear about your accidents but she' s coming along great Doogs. I love those PE fenders, despite the gap problems they look a great deal better than the plastic ones.

Awesome Doogs, good progress! I agree, I love the look of those tank rounds.

Hercmech

I love those rounds. Nothing quite looks like metal except metal.

That was my thinking as well! Typically, I'd consider such a thing an extravagance, but since they'll be so prominent with the exposed turret, I figured they'd be worth it.  

I love those rounds. Nothing quite looks like metal except metal. Fantastic, looking forward to seeing it done up.

It's been slow going over the past week or so. So much prep work to do on little parts, but I'm finally very close to spraying primer.

And this isn't even all of it...

The Tasca Ma Deuce and AFV Club brass 17-pounder ammo. Not sure how I'm going to paint the round IDs on the ammo yet...

Stumbling toward main assembly completion. Still have a few bits here and there, but hopefully I'll be moving to paint soon:

Here's a look at the front...you can clearly see where the transmission cover got attacked by solvent:

And here's the gap between the PE fenders and the plastic. Still working out how I'm going to tackle filling it.

Thanx, the other chaps M-10 should have clued me in, yours is looking great. 

I believe the A sprue is mainly for the M10...there's a spare breech assembly and mantlet there as well, if I'm not mistaken.

I know it's called for a few A parts in the buildup thus far, but mostly minor bits.

You got me motivated to go and dig my Achilles out of the stash and start on it, it has been there for quite some time. Everything is pretty much straight forward, I have the hull done and am starting on the turret but it seems that there are 2 sets of turret walls, the instructions say to use the P sprue parts and nothing said about what the A sprue parts are for. Any idea what  the story is on these.   

You ever have one of those nights where nothing's going right, you know you should just step away from the bench, but you stick at it and things get even worse? 

Yeah.

Started out last night trying to decal the Mossie...but somehow the Future laid down very grainy-like. Polished a few areas down went to go apply some decals, and the Micro Set lifted the paint. Umm...what?

So I set that aside and moved on the Achilles. Trying to get it as built up as I can before painting. Kept battling the concrete monster all night...then managed to knock over a bottle of solvent. Which spilled all over my cutting mat. And the lower hull of the Achilles. The transmission cover took the brunt of it...and one of the drive sprockets is now locked down, never to move again. Could've been a lot worse, but still...

On a more positive note, FedEx just brought me a Dragon Firefly Ic Hybrid and RoG's new Arado Ar 196! 

So I keep revising my plans in how to attack this beast. 

At the moment, instead of pushing on and painting the rest of the interior and the open turret, I'm going to complete all the construction I can. That way, when it comes time to spray the green, I can get the interior and exterior in one go.

Also decided to get all ambitious and attach the Eduard PE fenders last night. They definitely look more to scale than the kit fenders, but there's a slight problem - a gap between them and the main fenders extending back along the sides of the tank. I'm planning to glue a thin piece of card stock or something behind the gap, then use putty to disappear it.

hughes2682

Solid work on the beastie you've got there.  The gun on that is quite impressive.  Why is the clamped on weight on the barrel? 

Cheers

Dave

Thanks Dave! You know, I honestly have no idea why the weight's there (while not on, say, Fireflies). I can only guess it has to do with balancing out the weight of the breech assembly?