M109A2 Howitzer, AFV 1/35 Improved photos!, oct, 25.

I think your 109 is coming along great.  I have only built the Italeri kits and have been happy with them and was just wondering how the AFV was..

Nice progress with the basecoat Garzon, looking good.

Ahhh....always good when the paint starts.

Have to agree with my brother Gino, the AFV kits are a cell phone compared to the Italeri which is a cup with a string.

Rounds Complete!!

OK...so it happened what I was afraid....

I screw it.... camo is so hard, I got the airbrush "spitting" all over, puddles of paint so it looks awful 

I will just finish it, just because of the time I spent assembling. I will put another color of camo and thats it. I was wanting to add some mud and other weathering but will not spend more resources on it.

I presume the problem is the compressor, it does not has a tank so it fluctuates and cannot control the pressure output...ebay garbage...

Here´s the mess....

Man, that's a bummer.  You can always try spraying the green over everything again, then using blue-tack to mask the cammo pattern.

Thanks man!, but I just lost interest in this one... I will just finish it and put if for sale "as is"....hahaha..

Im already eager to start my new project, which will be a cool diorama...

I can totally sympathize with an unsuccessful paint impacting your motivation.

My only suggestion, put it on a shelf and walk away.

Another round of green and some silly putty to mask the camo could fix this but if you get fed up with it then try getting back into the game with another one.

You did a great job on the kit, don't completely give up on it just yet.

Don't give up on it yet.  Usually, if you get air brush spitting, it is from the paint being too thick and/or the pressure being too low.  I usually paint at about 2 or less psi and the paint is pretty thin, about the consistency of milk.  The more you thin the paint, the lower the pressure you can go.  Too thin and it takes multiple applications to cover.  I would re-shoot it in the overall green and give it another go.

2 psi??

I don't even think mine can be set to that

I think it was 1-2 issues ago FSM had an article about thinning for airbrushing, and the immediate actions for various issues

That does not look so horrid at all. Certainly nothing that a few more airbrush sessions can not cure. Set it aside, until your ready to do so, then come back and finish it up.

Hi to all!

First of all, thanks for your advice and support, so, after cooling off...I went on doing the second camo color, I made my own mix and came out too dark, almost black....

Ok, so, I had to put another layer on top of it of more clear green...hmmmm....so, since the model is almost going too wrong....time for experimentation... putting the clear green on top of the black gave it an iteresting shadow color...hmmm...not yet happy so....lets thin a lot of clearer green and layed down a very thin mist of it from far away...around 8 to 9" and just make it rain over it....

It came out nice!!, Im starting to like it back...still need to add some pinwash, darkwash, some light dusting on it and I think it will be saved...

The "four" tone camo with the "rain" mist of green gave it a look of used, lightly weathered look... or at least Im telling that to myself...

Last pics:

Note to myself: do not panic!!  , something good may come out from bad...

See ya around

Yes indeed. Under a layer or three of weathering (dust, dirt, & mud), the final results should look convincing enough.

gunner_chris

2 psi??

I don't even think mine can be set to that

Whoops.  I meant 20 psi. 

It came out looking just fine.  I'm glad you didn't give up on it.

Hey guys,

OK, so first stage of weathering; pinwash, grease, rust... next will be an overall dust and mud...hmmm and thats it!

I might buy some oils to start experimenting with those...

Bye.

I'd say you salvaged the camo/paint job nicely and have this one well on its way to being a nicely weathered finish!

It is looking great so far.  A couple things though.  The rust pool and streak under the muffler doesn't look right.  A light coat if rust on the muffler is accurate, but not that much.  The crew would never let it get that bad.  The muffler would be replaced before it rusted that much.  The other item is the lens on the Pantegraphic Telescope (PanTel), the boxy structure on the left top of the turret.  It should be clear, not red.  I presume it is supposed to be anti-laser coating, but M109A2s didn't have it.

It is coming along nicely.  Keep up the good work and it will turn out awesome.

Thanks I will fix it...it so hard to know when to stop....

OK, so time for showdown!

At first I tried experiment new techniques, I mentioned the disasters in another post I had when trying to use the AB to spit a pigment mix....not good   ...kids, do not attempt at home.

So, first wanted to do a light dusty look on it...but after several coats of AK airbrush dust color, I did not changed a bit.

So, after ending with a lot of pigment mixes, of different colors I decided to use a splattered muddy look. Covered it all with pigment fixer.

WOW!!   looks better than I thought.

I really like how it all looks together. 

Techniques used:

1. Fiiting, filling putty
2. Pre-shading.
3. Base color
4. 4 tone cammo but only 3 are seen, one gives a shade.
5. Pinwash
6. Darkwash
7. Aluminum dry brushing.
8. Rusting streak
9. Motor oil grease
10. Dust color airbrushed.
11. 4 different colors of pigments for mud and splatter.
12. Overall mist/coat of pigment fixer.

here it is:

I will submit it for the FSM reader gallery and magazine, hopefully can make it.

However, I will take some better snapshots before doing so.

I will start planning on my firts diorama, and Im aiming high. So, I need to stock some goods, reference materials so I dont think I will build something from here till the end of year.

Meantime I will see your great models.

It came out looking great.  The weathering looks really good and blended the paintjob together to look great.  Great job on completing it.  

One last suggestion for you.  On the rear ammo rack, when open and empty, you can see inside the turret (as below).  I recommend painting inside the tubes (the flat part), black to represent the depth abd dark interior.  

Alternately, you could paint the whole ammo rack white with the black holes again to show depth.

When rounds are present, you will see the flat bottoms through the holes and they will be either OD Green (HE), Light Green (Smoke), White (Illum), or Grey (Chem) depending on the round type. Usually smoke and chem rounds are stored on the floor inside the gun though since they have to be kept upright since the contents are a liquid/gel and can settle to one side, throwing off the ballistics of the round.

Simply beautiful track garzonh!! I worked on these things for about 7 years in the National Guard and know this ol beast quite well. Nice job.

Hey garzonh, that turned out really nice!  Great work on the camo and the mud splatters!  Keep em coming!

Sounds like you're now happy that you held on to the finish line buddy.

It was worth it

Tony lee

Heavy arty: thanks a lot and I will just leave it as is...otherwise I would have to disassemble everything and ruin the paint. I will be more careful next time.

Mustang: thanks pal, it does mean a lot to me getting a seal of approval from someone who actually use it and for so long. Really, thank you.

Bufflehead: sure, I do have plans for a diorama in the near future, my first one!. Your comments are greatly appreciated.

Tony, what can I say my friend?. I did had a lot of problems with this model since the build up, but that made the reward more appreciated. Your support helped me a lot getting through this.

I still have a lot to learn, I cannot compare my skills from veterans who have been doing this for 10, 15, 20, 40 years!. I have just made 9 months in this hobby with this being my 4th model.

Again, thank you all.

Hugo

It turned out pretty nice, Hugo.  I've had similar fit problems in my build on the turret and gun.  I think the issue is with the D sprue--there may be one mold that is wrong, as not everyone has the same problems, so when people do, it's in these areas.

Hi Deskjockey

Thank you very much, so I was not mistaken, had the same problems with turrent and gun, so 2 of 2 with the same problem is more than a coincidence.

garzohn,

It looks pretty nice, but I would have to offer some suggestions on the mud-spatter technique that you used.

Look at the rear. Your rear hull is noticeably cleaner than your overall hull. That looks unnatural. On the other hand, I wouldn't recommend you add any more large splatters like you have on the front 3/4, because that is a bit overdone. Is there any way you can rub some of that off with a stiff brush? I say this because the M109 is a pretty tall vehicle--I would thinks it wold be too tall for all that splatter to get up there from driving, for the most part. The next time you try a technique like this, mask or block the upper hull.

I would also recommend NOT using that cheap "lichen" product as a "vegetation" product. That stuff is like, from the 1970s, as far as being acceptable groundwork product these days, with the incredible realism we have today.

The mud on the spades and tracks looks pretty cool, but add some oil washes of browns to add some variation and depth in there. Just mix up a loose wash and dab it on randomly,

Hope you don't feel like I "rained on your parade", but if I see things that I think you can improve, I will always be honest and try to point out what I see.

Hi the doog!

My approach was that if it went at a high speed over a puddle of mud it will splatter the front without getting any on the back.

We all have even experimented this on a any car, when going through this situation, all the front could be covered in mud but the back looks very clean, because the mud will go to the front and up but due to the speed the ones that will fall down after being projected will land where you "were" not where you "are. Its simple physics.

I do agree some of the spots are too big.

As mentioned it was an experiment on mud splatter I like how it came out.

I completely take your criticism in a good way, dont worry. This is my 4th armor, so bear with me.

Thanks again.

Hugo

I am also building the AFV M-109-A2, but it has been a battle.  I had a bad time trying to insert the gun tube into the brass housing.  The breech mechanism is difficult to align and get it to fit into the turret.  This is my second attempt to build a M109-A2.  I first bought the  Kinetic M109 but could not handle the link and length tracks.  So, this project is more of a battle for me than other builds.  Any insights?

Garzon, not bad at all on your mud. I am with Doog on the rear being too clean- AFVs in motion throw up rooster tails of dirt, mud and dust as they move forward. The dynamics of the tracks project that stuff on the sides, rear, and top of the hull. And on the case of a vehicle like this where the turret is rear mounted, it will get up on there too! The faster that the vehicle goes, the more that gets thrown up there. I am sure any of they guys here such as Mustang, Redleg, or Heavy Arty, who have served on these beasts can attest to that.

Doog, I will say that the mud will somehow also end up on the front up there high turret as well, from the same dynamics of the stuff being thrown off of the tracks. Given enough time and mud (and a typical young Joe driving), AFVs get covered in mud and become one with the local terrain ;-)

navy07

I am also building the AFV M-109-A2, but it has been a battle.  I had a bad time trying to insert the gun tube into the brass housing.  The breech mechanism is difficult to align and get it to fit into the turret.  This is my second attempt to build a M109-A2.  I first bought the  Kinetic M109 but could not handle the link and length tracks.  So, this project is more of a battle for me than other builds.  Any insights?

Hi, so, you are the third with the same issue....hmmm....see guys, I was not crazy.

The barrel has  small straight line dented on it, this lets you know this line should be on the top and straight and aligned with the model. This is also important so, you can align correctly the muzzle break.

Send me some pics of the part you are having an issue, I will be more than glad to help you out.