Thanks Steve.

Its nice to have a change now and again, and keeps you all on your toes

Oh my gosh. that is a very outstanding model.

I was just wondering who built it and then I read your name-Bish!- didn't recognise you with the new fancy smacy avatar and signature. You ol' dog, you have changed your spots, so to speak 

Cheers!

Thanks. I do rather like the look that the pigments give, especially on desert vehicles. I could never get this with pastel chalk. I do plan on a Chally 2, a couple of warriors and an AS 90 at least.

I thought it was time for a change, and with all the eagles showing up lately, I thought it was time for the Lion to show his face.

Very cool Bish, I love the dusty look and the storage. You should do more modern hardware 

PS: Very cool new avatar too! 

Time to wrap this one up and call it done. The last thing to do was add the dust effects, fit the antennas and bring hull and turret together. For the dust i used a mix of miG and AK pigments and the antenna are micro carbon rod. I had considered adding the commander figure and even started painting it. But when i test fitted, i realised he would not fit as is with the MG ammo box's in place, so that decided it for me. Closed down it is.

First the turret.

And the hull. I used some tamiya soot pigments around the exhausts. I also fitted it to the base so i could get it in the soft sand before it hardened.

And then the two were brought together.

And there you have it, my first 35th none WW2 German armour build in many years. I know i could have done more to make it more accurate and it could have more kit on it, but it was nice to be able to relax and not worry to much, i have enough German armour to pull my hair out over.

Looking good Bish!

Lookin' very good there Bish!

Wow you hit it just right with your tans,looks really good,and the wash really pops the details.

Sorry for the wait guys. The stuff i ordered from Accurate Armour arrived sooner than i had expected so i was able to get those done and fitted. After the last update, i gave everything a coat of future with some Tamiya flat. I then added the tools and items from AA, bergans, roll mates and oil cans. I made some bungee's with some wire and used these to secure some of the kit.

According to the decals instructions, the markings on the rear and left of the turret were done on vardboard. The only stuff i had that was sutable was some WW2 German box's. As i don't think a box with a German eagle and Swastika on it would have gone down to well, i managed to find enough that had no print on it to use. None of the bags i have will fit into the side bins and i don't have anything else sutable to use so have decided to leave the side bin half empty. I might add a bit of cam net into the front one but there is no way that will hold a full chally net.

I also worked on the tracks, giving the inside 2 coats of Vallejo steel and an oil wash on Raw Umber and Yellow Orche mix on both sides.

After adding all the baggage, i gave the whole thing another coat of future/Tamiya flat and then some AK N Africa dust effects. This was applied quite heavy low down and light as i went higher up. As i had hoped, this has toned down the pin wash. I also added some exhausts stain with Tamiya smoke mixed with a little black.

Next up will be some streak effects and some oil staining followed by a coat of Alclad clear and then the pigments for the final stage.

Wow, that looks great Bish! Going to have to try the same on my desert Abrams whenever I get about to building her.

Ye, the decals were rather nice. I have not used Bison decals before, though i do have a couple of sets waiting to be used. I'll definatly consider them again. And the clean look is about to change. I'll be geting to the tracks this week.

Just a short update. After the coat of future, i gave the hull and turret a dot filter followed by a pin wash. I used the AK interactive wash for DAK vehicles. It's now being left to dry fully before sealing with a mix of future and tamiya flat.

Its a bit heavier in some areas than i had intend, but the dust effects should tone that down a bit.

Once sealed, i can paint all the small details and ad the tools before adding some dust. But i am waiting on some stowage items from Accurate Armour before i can do that. So i will have plenty of time to finish the tracks, figure and a few other bits.

The decals layed down nice and snuggly. Thias is looking like a clean build. I'm looking forward to see how you handle the tracks 

Excellent work friend. Glad you chose an oft-overlooked subject.

What color are you using for the Desert Sand?

She's starting to really look like a Challenger, sharp work! 

For the sor of base i will use here, i keep it rather simple, it will be very similar to the one i did for my 32nd Bf 109. I just use a piece of pine shelf board cut to size and routed around the edges. I then stain and varnish it and add the ground work. In this case celluclay coloured and with some sand added and a few stones. My dio bases take a bit more work.

Weathering will not be heavy. The vehicle were freshly painted before deplyment and of course in that enviroment there not much rain leading to mud. So i will do a light dot filterin followed by a pin wash. The main part will be the dusting useing AK desert effects and sand pigments.

Right. The M-60 I'm working on is going into a case, but I'm not sure about the M-48 yet. I really need to practice with bases. I've only made a couple so far and that's an area I'm really lacking in.

I have some unfinished plaques to use, but I need to gather more materials for the groundwork.

Looks like you're almost finished already. How much weathering do you plan on doing?

Looks great, Bish. Will this have a base under it later? Or is this one for the shelf?

Its also a nice reminder that I'm going way too slow with my builds lol. Man, I need to paint something lol!

Ok, update time again. I finished off the tarps for the sid bins with straps made from Tamiya tape and the locking mechanisim from lead foil.

After those bits got some primer, it was paint time. I got a bit carrie away and started adding the decals before i remembered to take some pics.

I have noticed one sligth error from the PE set. The small bit on the drivers hatch next to the handle is PE part 80. The instructions call for one here and 2 for the pick head. But there are only 2 included. Some checking showed that there should be nothing here, so this needs to be removed and out in the proper place.

With the rest of the decals then added, i did a light dry brush, only doing one layer as i don't want to heavy a weathering job here.

The dry brushing was done Tues night with the base enamel and white oil. So i am leaving that to dry until tomorrow before a coat of future, which i hope to do correctly to protect it dfrom the washes to come.

Thats all for now.

Looks good Bish! 

Excellent, Bish. Just excellent.

I would've commented much sooner, but I have few words for what you've got here. I like looking at it. just scrolling up and down. Its purdy. :)