Yep, sure did. Do not know how that happened. thought for sure I was on the GB forum. lol oh well.

Thanks RBaer! I'm not sure what happened with them.  I've seen other builds online with the kit decals and they looked good. Only one way to find out though...

Looks good, Bob, aside from the unfortunate silvering of the decals.

I have the exact same kit, barely started, boxed back up a buried cuz I got bored with it. Hmmm.... and, I wonder if I'll also have problems with the decals.

Looks great! But, I think you wanted this in the Sci-Fi Group Build

Hi Silentbob, that is the best model amt/ertl  put out. I thought it was well detailed also. Mine is still sitting on the shelf waiting to be built, so I am looking forward to your build.

As for the Valkyrie I am calling this one done. Here are the pics.

i110.photobucket.com/.../IMG_2375_zps7jpuuiuz.jpg

i110.photobucket.com/.../IMG_2376_zpsbz8nrruj.jpg

i110.photobucket.com/.../IMG_2377_zpspel0mxtg.jpg

i110.photobucket.com/.../IMG_2379_zpsxda2ht4f.jpg

i110.photobucket.com/.../IMG_2383_zpstzxkv1pd.jpg

Hope you all like it.

Yep, just the second one.  The first was a Tamiya Marder II for the Hunters 2 Group Build.  I'm not sure what happened with the decals though.  I might have to pick up the AFV club version someday, this is one of my favorite armored vehicles as well.

Silentbob, this only your second tank? Other than the issue with the decals it looks pretty darn good. One of my favorite tanks, I built the AFV Clubs version.

Thanks qcarr!  I got back into the hobby a couple of years ago, and I've learned a lot since I joined the forums here a year ago.  

Very nice, silenbob33!  Great job and thanks for sharing.  It is inspiring to see others' work.  

I'm easing back into the hobby after almost 20 years and last week completed - well more or less! - my second tank kit (Tamiya M41 Bulldog).  Just received the Academy Easy 8 kit from an eBay seller in Korea and am very much looking forward to it.

All finished!  Overall I'm pretty happy with it, except for how the decals turned out.  Like I said in my initial post, this is only my second serious attempt at an armor kit.  I learned a lot building it, and thanks to those of you that offered tips along the way.

I got a nice chunk of time to work on my Hellcat today.  I attached the stowage and did a bit of weathering.  I really like the Tamiya weathering set.  I might have to get each set after working with these.  Just need to get the tracks on and weather the wheels, attach the ammo can for the .50, and make an antenna.  After that I think I'll be done, unless someone notices something I missed.

Thanks garzonh!  I might be adding some figures later, I don't currently have anything in the stash that would work for a crew.  Someday I'd like to do something similar to the picture I posted in my initial post.  Someday...

Very nice!

I like very very much the OD color you got, and all the details and stuff you will be adding for stowage should look amazing.

Congratulations, should be a nice build.

Do you plan adding figures, dio?

Thanks for the offer Roy, but I think I'll throw some stowage and weathering on it and see how it looks.  I've already sealed them under a dullcoat and I'm afraid of ruining the paint tying to get them off.  I really do appreciate it though.  I'm always impressed by the generosity of the people here.

I guess you could smear some 'mud' over the silvered decals on the sides and storage on the ones on top. Foliage camouflage can cover up some issues too.  

geez.  that stinks.  I'm sorry to hear that.  I think I've only used Academy decals on an M7 Priest commission build -- and I didn't recall having issues. If you're willing to scape them up, I can easily donate replacement stars and reg numbers, if you want 'em

I did apply a gloss coat, but they still silvered like that.  Are Academy decals usually tough to deal with?  This is my first kit from them so I'm not used to working with them.  Microset, Microsol, and Solvaset didn't do anything to them.  The decals didn't even wrinkle up like they usually do.

silentbob: glad you're making progress.  Did you apply a glosscoat to the areas where you put the decals beforehand?

I can't believe it's been a month since I've posted on here!  But, between a sprained ankle, the worst cold I think I've ever had, a 4 year old, and a 4/12 month old my time has been spread pretty thin.  I applied decals, and they were the most stubborn things I've ever used.  Multiple applications of Solvaset didn't budge them a bit.  There's some pretty bad silvering, but I'm moving on with life.  I also did a raw umber pin wash on all the parts.  I've been working on a piece of scrap trying to replicate Karl's acrylic craft paint weathering on a piece of scrap, but I need a lot more practice before I try to use it on an actual model.  So tomorrow I'm going to pick up a Tamiya weathering set.  From what I've been able to gather, they look good and are pretty easy to apply.  Before I start weathering, I'm going to attach the stowage.  What would the troops have used to tie down things like fuel and ammo cans?  The pictures on the box show some kind of straps that I could easily make out of masking tape, but I wanted to check before I did anything.  I didn't like the .50 that was with the kit, so I grabbed one from an Academy US Weapons Set.  Any comments or critiques are welcomed.

Thanks, I'm learning a lot of this as I go...

Watching and learning.

I shot the OD before Easter, but I didn't get a chance to post pictures until now.  The preshading is very subtle, and you can see it much better in brighter light, so I took some pictures with my flash turned on.  Unfortunately I don't have a good area (or the skills) to take good photos.  I also did the detail painting on the radio unit and corrected the color of the insides of the hatches.

I was able to get a bit of time at the bench the last couple of days and finished up most of the sub-assemblies.  I left most of the turret unassembled mostly because I don't trust my ability to get inside of there with a brush for detail painting after I shoot it with OD.  I preshaded panel lines and the engine screen with black, and then added some rotbraun to it to preshade the rest of the Hellcat so that when I spray the OD it is broken up a bit.  This is something I tried on an LCVP for the Longest Day Group Build and I liked the results so I figured I'd try it again here.  I used the same mixture of black and rotbraun for the base color of the tracks.

I finally got some time to work on the Hellcat.  I got the upper and lower hulls attached and it's just about ready for painting.  I also attached one of the rings for the tow cable just so that I wouldn't have to do it after I've painted and risk ruining the paint job.  I also left the headlights off tor the same reason.  I'll put them on after I paint the silver on them for the lenses.  I'm in the group that likes to attach stowage after everything is painted, it just seems easier that way in my mind.  I've also started on assembling the breach of the gun.

Success!  Now to see if I can avoid destroying them when I paint them.  I know German tracks had a dark reddish tint to them because of the high manganese content of their steel, so when I built my Marder II I started painting them with a dark reddish brown as a basecoat and drybrushed steel over that for the exposed metal.  Would the same process work on an American AFV?

From what I recall, it was based on an M113, and he was in progress (post movie making) of adding the correct number of wheels

Finally got a solid chunk of time at the bench to knock out the tracks.  I followed Karl's tutorial and laid them out on the tape and glued them with Testor's plastic cement, let them sit for about 45 minutes before wrapping them around the wheels.  One side fit perfectly with following the directions for how many links to add, but the other required two more to fit right.  When I was wrapping them, I dropped one of the track sections onto the floor.  Luckily, it only broke in one spot so it was an easy fix.  Now to play the waiting game as the glue cures.

I made a little bit more progress, but nothing really needing a picture.  I finished the suspension and put some of the wheels together.  After reading Karl's tutorial on indy tracks, I realized I'm going to need a good block of time to work on them and that probably won't happen until the weekend.  I also had to deviate from his instructions in that the support rollers go together the opposite way on the Hellcat, so I have to pop the road wheels apart to get everything to line up just right.

CarnivourousDonut

The whole "Saints and Soldiers" trilogy are ok. The 1st one is the best, but the others are still acceptable.  At least 1 of the Panzer IIIs in the film is a replica, but a pretty good one.

I agree. 

 A good try, but I think the phoney one has the  inaccurate looking road-wheels.