#5 Italeri M24 Chaffee- COMPLETED!

Don't ask me how I came up with the number 85.7%... I just made it up   Decals have been applied after a coat of Future.  Tracks and wheels are on.  It was my first time using resin tracks and I am officially not a big fan of them now.  At least I can say I had the 'experience' dealing with the resin tracks...

A buddy of mine sent me the 'Eagle Claw' decals for my Chaffee as seen often in the pictures during the Korea War... thanks Adam (Indy)!

The tracks were primed with flat black paint from rattle can brought at Walmart I think for $1.25.   Then they were painted with lightly thinned MM Metalizer Gunmetal.  Finally heavily thinned MM Burnt Umber was applied... I still plan to paint some of MM Steel to the edges later.

Chaffee looks so shinnnnnyyyyy.... not for long!

Sprayed couple coats of MM flat clear acyclic to tone down.  Most of detail paintings are completed... it sure took me a while!

I am looking forward to do the weathering stage using thinned Burnt Umber and Raw Umber oil paints.  Then MIG pigments are next... thinking about using new 'Fading Allied Green'. 

Comments and feedbacks are always welcome... thanks for looking!

Terry, thanks for dropping by!  Am afraid there won't be much update this weekend... Mother's Day... I am at mother-in-law place fixing up her house.  Gonna make her happy and of course my wife...

Excellent work Andy, every time I drop by this thread I get a new surprise, the figures look great.

Terry.

Ben- Thank you mate!   Am afraid you will not see much update this weekend... Mother's Day... wife dragged me to spend the weekend at her mother's.  Gonna make all mothers happy. 

Doog- I have all three posters... white, light blue and deep blue.  I will try them all next time I take pictures.  I used MM #1711 Olive Drab so its pretty green for sure.  Keep in mind I used my ol' faithful BlackBerry... LOL  Thanks for the comment.   I enjoy figure paintings as much as building models. 

Andy

everything's looking really well from here--the figures are particularly nicely-painted.

Your OD looks really brown to me on my monitor, but I"m sure  that that's a camera trick. I would suggest to not use that deep blue background. It's pleasing to the eye but I believe that it monkeys with your color resolution and white balance? Try a few shots in the next post with a light blue or white background?

Hi Andy,

Wow, this is looking superb! Simply stunning!

The build is brilliant but your work on them figures is just perfect. I must practice!

Keep us posted, I can't wait to see this Chaffee complete!

ATVB

Ben

Thanks Rob!  It took me forever to paint those... lost nearly three weeks of valuable GB time but I think it will be worth it when everything is completed.  I like the crewman's uniform but I liked the face job of GI holding a cigarette by hand. 

ANDY- Your figures look GREAT!  The crewman is my favorite.  All of the gear is coming out nice and it really adds to the vehicle, bet it was fun picking all of that stuff out.

Mike- Thank you!   I noticed more time and patience on the figures helped.  I never spent so much time on the figures I would say at least two weeks.  Now I can get back to my Chaffee and finish it...

Bill- Thanks for stopping by!  Maybe it will lure you into building an Allied armor? Only kidding but you never know!  

Guys- For sure I am calling American GIs done... they are armed and dangerous now.

This is probably my favorite shot...

I applied base coats on all details for last two nights... a coat of Future is next so I can apply decals over the weekend.

Comments are always welcome.  Thanks for looking... have a great weekend!

Really nice work on the figs Andy, they are going to make a huge difference in the overall finish on this one for sure.

Andy- Outstanding job on the figs...you have really brought them to life.

Rounds Complete!!

Rick- LOL!  Thanks... I will make sure there is no seam!  Thanks for looking... please make the rain go away!

Guys-  For sure I am done with the tank commander.  Painting the eyes were much harder than previous American GIs because its plastic head didn't have much details.  Now I can finish my Chaffee...

Thanks for looking.  Please quit sending the rain over here... we Hoosiers have had enough.

Lookin' great, Andy!  Make sure you don't leave any seams on those rifle barrels.  Rick.

Guys, I think my GIs are completed.  I am working on the rifles now so hope I can call this done soon. 

Have a great weekend!

Kevin-  Thanks for dropping by.   Hope you will like the results...

Bill- Always good hearing from you.  Bad news... no storm predicted over the weekend.  But I think we have had enough... April was fourth wettest month ever for Indiana topping nine inches of rain.

Ben- A lot of practice and learning experience really helps.  I think they are my 14th & 15th figure since my return to the hobby three years ago.  Many great toots were very helpful especially from Adam (Indy) recently.  Did you see his Russian tankers? 

Hey Andy,

Wow! Great work. You truly are knocking out some superb stuff at the minute - this could AT LEAST be on par with the 'Coal Thief' maybe even better!

I am very impressed with your figures. I must try and practice on some as I have loads in the spares box - I never use them as I find them so hard! I've got some good dooks and magazine articles to help me. I just need to learn how to add life to them and to stop them looking so flat and '2D'!

Obviously I need to learn the skills of shading and highlighting on figures!

Top stuff - keep us posted!

ATVB

Ben

Figs are starting to come to life Andy, it's an odd situation where you find that you actually WANT more storms in order to get benchtime!

all around Andy! Looking real good! Keeping an eye out on this topic.

Thanks my friends.  Just a quick update... 3 hours just to highlight the GIs uniforms and gears last night.  Thanks for making my life hell... nah, I am loving it.  Still long way to go... darker wash is next.

Expecting another major storm  tonight so I have a good excuse to keep family in the basement where my work bench is...

Looking fine, Andy. The figures look nicely-started!

                            Fine looking work Andy,glad to see you are nearing the finish.Only do not do it until THREE AM. Jus got home a short time ago so I had to check it out. Will be back soon,gnite.

                                                               Greg"Detailfreak"Rowley

Thanks Mike!  Always good hearing from you.  I will holler if I ever need artillery support with details painting...

So far it hasn't been bad.  Because I used enamel paint for the base coat, I have been using acrylic paint for most of stowage so it was easy to wipe off paint in places where I didn't want it to be.  A buddy here sent me a suggestion using those Post-It notes to protect the tank... I will definitely try that during the washing stage later this week.

Nice work Andy. The shading looks good. I like to use two different shades of OD (Poly Scale OD and Tamiya OD) but the traditional method works great also.

The detail items may be a bit of a PITA....interested to see how you approach them!

Rounds Complete!!

Rob & Terry- Thanks guys!  Glad you stopped by. 

Bill- No Worries!  Figured Brenda was keeping you busy.  Glad to see your update tonight and it is looking great!

My weekend was GREAT!  No wife, no boys and weather sucked so I spent nearly two days at my workbench.  I have been busy painting the figures to go with Chaffee and finally started painting the stowage and tools.  Like Doog warned me, it will take me forever... I actually am enjoying this.

Sneak preview of the tank commander which is about 90% completed obviously eyes are not my favorite part then dark washes at the end.   

 Two American GIs... still long way to go.  50% completed... light & dark washes are next.

That's what my Chaffee looks right now... painted base coats on stowage & tools only.  Still a long way to go...

Hope y'all had a great Easter Day....

Andy,

The painting update slipped by me while I was away last week...looking super, can't wait to see more!

Beautiful work there Andy.

Terry.

Great progress Andy! Ecellent paint job.  Look forward too see more of this one.

John- Thanks!  Did you hear that AMPS is coming to Auburn next year?

Anthony & Ben- Thanks for stopping by.... it was fun!  Ben, it will look good on your next build. 

Very nice paint work Andy!

That is one nice paintjob Andy