Gamera

Maybe just an interstate section and a twisted and burned Route 66 (Route 666?) sign if you didn't want to do too much?

Maybe just an interstate section and a twisted and burned Route 66 (Route 666?) sign if you didn't want to do too much?

Guys,

Thanks for all your posts and memories with your firsthand experiences with these things. It makes for interesting reading!

Bish

Ye, I was thinking its 50/60's time frame. Are you thinking of having building rubble in there or more of a country setting. If the latter, the effects on trees could be something to consider. There is some footage of A-Bomb tests showing trees still standing or at worst snapped half way down the trunk. I would imagine these would be burnt on the side facing the blast.

Like I said, lots to think about. I'm looking for "the perfect dio accessory", basically. Oh joy...

Hello!

Once I owned several of those gas masks - when I was in primary school, the socialism ended in Poland and one day they opened a big bunker that still stands in the middle of the building estate I was living in at that time, and there was a warehouse with those gas masks stockpiled - kids just got in and took them as souvenirs. I got mine as gifts from my school colleagues. They later all carried their books to school in the gas mask bags - that was a similar bag to the american Claymore bag.

The concept of those masks was you carry the filter in the bag all of the time, and when you put the headpiece on, it is connected to the filter with about one meter of hose, similar to the vacuum cleaner hose. I had this mask on several times - not a very nice feeling... Boy, am I glad I never HAD to use them!

Good luck with your project Karl, I'm sure it will be something special when done!

Paweł

redleg12

Karl, you think it looks like a nightmare.....you should try wearing the NBC gear, that is truly a nightmare!!

Rounds Complete!!

Now isn't that a fact. I remember doing my first section attack in full NBC when I was in depot. Not fun.

Ye, I was thinking its 50/60's time frame. Are you thinking of having building rubble in there or more of a country setting. If the latter, the effects on trees could be something to consider. There is some footage of A-Bomb tests showing trees still standing or at worst snapped half way down the trunk. I would imagine these would be burnt on the side facing the blast.

WhooHoo, looking forward to seeing how this comes out more and more Karl!

Karl, you think it looks like a nightmare.....you should try wearing the NBC gear, that is truly a nightmare!!

Rounds Complete!!

That's a great idea, Bish. I've got to keep in mid that my setting should probably be in the 1950s. It's kinda hard to find diorama accessories from that era. I've really gotta wrack my brain to come up with something that's going to work.

Ye, they look like something the Dr Who team might dream up.

Tough decision on the base. Have you tried looking at pics of Chernobyl. I know there wasn't a nuclear explosion, but it might give you some ideas, perhaps combined with images of the aftermath of an earth quake or volcanic eruption.

Yeah, it's like something out of a SCi-FI movie! I hope to make a base that can give the same general feeling. Really trying to think of something that will make people "Ooh and "Awww!".

Well, you have to do what you have to do.

That photo is damn scary. I hope I never looked like that in full NBC. I'm just grateful we never had to use it for real.

<p>Thanks too, Mike! Working hard here not to disappoint! </p>  

I've been rather inspired by this photo, for the figures....stuff of nightmares if you ask me!

Bish

Stunning work as always karl, I know if anyone can pull off that look, its you.

And what a show of dedication to the hobby in getting another kit.

Stunning work as always karl, I know if anyone can pull off that look, its you.

And what a show of dedication to the hobby in getting another kit.

OUTSTANDING!!!!!  The artistry of your finish work comes through. Love the figs in the NBC gear. The usual "Doog" creativity.

Rounds Complete!!

Guys, thanks for all your positive comments!

I admit that I was somewhat intimidated to even start this project as I too, "had no idea what it was supposed to look like" to paraphrase Gamera. I'm kinda shooting from the hip on this one, but it seems to have reached a stage of plausibility at least for now. Let's see how I can screw it up with further weathering, lol. (Hopefully not!)

I'm going to add that next step of adding smoke and soot with he airbrush and then see what it looke like--update soon!

Lol, I can't comment on how realistic it is since I have no idea what it should look like! 

But it's friggin' awesome in any case!  

I like the effect, and it certainly tells a story.......

Really cool Karl- yeah, I'd say the paint job is telling the story.....

Dave

Some excellent techniques and tips Karl.

The burnt steel is looks terrific.

Karl, the artistry here really shows.

I think you're hot on the trail of what you're looking for.         

                              I know I like it!

Hello all, once again,

Well, I"e been working away on the Objekt 279; actually, to be perfectly honest, I rebuilt the hull since the last post. Got a new model and all---the tracks and "sit" of the model just weren't 100% level on the last one when I tried to glue the suspension sponsons back on. Through a minor mistake, it became impossible to sit the tank. So the hull ONLY had to be re-built. This time, I glued the suspension sponsons on first. I took the opportunity to improve and stagger a new set of cleaning rods

As I had said before, I am going for a "blasted" look, where the tank has just survived a nuclear blast wave. I'm taking some artistic liberties here---damnit, Jim, I'm an artist, not an engineer!.--so you won't see the lights blown of and hull stripped clean. The paint job is going to have to tell the story, for the most part.

I started with an overall coat of Tamiya primer gray again, and then a coat of metallic grey mixed from Tamiya paints.

Then, after adding a coat of hair spray, I added a rust-colored top coat.

Using a special tooth brush for tight spots, I started removing the top coat:

Then, I added some water and ....

SALT!

After a coat of lighter rust, and scrubbing away the salt, here's what I have...

Next, I masked the front with some Adam Wilder clay mask, and started the 3-color camo, which is a custom mix of Sand Yellow,. Olive Green, and Gray, mixed from Tamiya paints.

The three colors....

After removing the mask, I have a delineation line of where the paint go scorched off...

Detail...

THe rear...

Next, the front was again masked at the line, and salt added in front of the mask, A line of "scorch"white was then painted on...

What I got...

This is going to be the effect that I"m going for:

To get this, I now add a yellow line, first...

Then two successively darker shades of rust

This is where I"m at now.....It looks a little excessive now, almost clownish, but I've been here before, haven't I? The excess is intentional--I need a "background" o rusty tones for the next step--adequately minimizing and sharpening the blast-line. I will next add some weathering filters, and tint the base coat, and then add some more salt, white, and black soot painting.

I've also been working on creating a "goon army" from some extra TAKOM Soviet soldiers in their spooky gas masks...

THAT'S IT FOR NOW!

Any comments or questions gladly welcomed!

STAY TUNED!!! It's going to be a wild ride!

Hello my friend!!

Sorry for not being so active in this forum, I've been working on a diorama so I was more on that "side" of the site. Still have not finished it, waiting for some Vallejo paints to be delivered for paiting the figures.

Your kits is coming great...will you ever dissapoint us?...heheehe....nooo

Im eager to see how you will paint and "scorch" this one out.

Also, I have suscribed to the GB of FSM Orpahned Armor, so I need to buy some stuff for it...cool you are in NC. In fact I will be in GA and SC next mid June...hopefully can find a lot of weathering paints and stuff.

See you around.

Hugo

I'm in Charlotte, University area. We moved in about two months ago. :)

Thanks for the comments and welcome to the Carolinas!

Great new project! Love this crazy tank. Can't wait to see your final product! Saw that you said that you are building a home in North Carolina. I'm moving there in a few weeks to the Winston-Salem/Greensboro area.  What area are you in?

Damn, DM, I knew the Aussies were tough buggers....but their war equipment too!?  Hot dang I knew I love those crazy folks Down Under for a reason.

Brian

Awesome stuff, Steve! Thanks for posting that!

I have to make an "artist's choice" here---I realize that, realistically, the tank would probably be damaged more than I want to damage it; i.e. lights blown off, parts missing, etc. Except I don't want it to look "bare". I also want to model "the tank" more so than I want to impute the circumstances surrounding its appearance.

I think of myself as a bit of a "director" in a movie here. How many times have you watched a movie and thought "If that had really happened, then X, Y, and Z would have happened too"--yet "X,Y,and Z" are never shown. Or you think "Oh come ON! That totally defied physics!". Of course, the director is more concerned with the "Art" of the film than the strict realism. That's kinda the decision I'm making here. I don't think I"ll bust off the lights and whatnot---I'll imagine the tank as being somewhat farther from the blast than that "Atomic Tank". Enough to abuse the paint but not enough to strip the vehicle of steel.

In any case, I won't be able to get back to it until at least May 26th or so. Gotta go rock the world again...

  Well since I ain't building anything, then maybe I can help you blast it around a bit. This should give you some ideas.

  I had put this info back for a Centurion build later on, but at the rate I'm going at now that probably isn't going to happen ..... read on and enjoy.

            ***********************************************************************************************

 An Australian Army Mk 3 Centurion Type K, Army Registration Number 169041, was involved in a small nuclear test at Emu Field in Australia in 1953 as part of Operation Totem I. Built as number 39/190 at the Royal Ordnance Factory, Barnbow in 1951 it was assigned the British Army number 06 BA 16 and supplied to the Australian Commonwealth Government under Contract 2843 in 1952.

 It was placed less than 500 yards (460 m) from the 9.1kt.1blast with its turret facing the epicentre, left with the engine running and a full ammunition load. Upon examination after detonation it had been pushed away from the blast point by about 5 feet (1.5 m), pushed slightly left and that its engine had stopped working, only because it had run out of fuel. Antennae were missing, lights and periscopes were heavily sandblasted, the cloth mantlet cover was incinerated, and the armoured side plates had been blown off and carried up to 200 yards (180 m) from the tank. Remarkably, though, the tank could still be driven from the site. Had it been manned, the crew would probably have been killed by the shock wave .

       (one of the side plates)

      (three days later)

 169041, subsequently nicknamed The Atomic Tank, was later used in the Vietnam war. In May 1969, during a firefight, 169041 (call sign 24C) was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). The turret crew were all wounded by shrapnel as the RPG entered the lower left side of the fighting compartment, travelled diagonally across the floor and lodged in the rear right corner. Trooper Carter was evacuated while the others remained on duty and the tank remained battleworthy.

The Atomic Tank is now located at Robertson Barracks in Palmerston, Northern Territory. Although other tanks were subjected to nuclear tests, 169041 is the only tank known to have withstood atomic tests and subsequently gone on for another 23 years of service, including 15 months on operational deployment in a war zone.

  So if 'ya wanna read some more .......

                     .....ride the Bomb.

Thanks, Wayne, and Mike, for the comments and suggestions. I realize that the blast wave would probably blow off most of the fittings, but I may take "artistic license" to keep a little more of the tank intact. It will be more of a "paint effect" thing that I"m going for. Like I said, I've got some time to think about it....