DRUMS01

I am not a long time ship modeler. My only other ship build was last year, the HMS Roberts

 

I'm smiling- a ship only a Red Leg could love. Shore bombardment for Operation Torch, D-Day at Sword Beach.

No idea about the right colour for the casings but the interior looks great from here! 

Ben: Great job there on the monitor too!  

stikpusher

Sarge, the 106mm RR round casings are not made of brass, but are made of preforated steel, and instead have a lacquered or anodized coating. I only saw the 106 up close a couple of times in my career, and had no training on them whatsoever.

I almost think that the new color by Tamiya, “old bronze” might work as the casing.

this link has info on ammo

https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/ref/TM/pdfs/TM9-1300-204.pdf

 

Harold

I completed as much of the interior detail painting as I can until I receive the bronze paint for the shell casings.

The next step while I wait for the paint is to assemble the exterior photo etched parts on the front and rear upper hull.

Harold

That looks sharp Harold, darn near the spitting image of the interior shots of the real thing!

Thank you Gamera and Carlos. I finished painting the fire control panel guard and it's a little rough up close, but at least it looks more like the the real thing now.

I finished the upper hull assembly too and ready to start steps 9, 10 and 11 which is the turret, recoilless rifles, spotting rifles and machine gun. Below is a rear-view illustration from the ONTOS manual and a photograph of the actual rear fenders. I think Academy made the rear fenders on their model to long.

The Tamiya bronze paint I ordered for the 106 mm casings should be delivered tomorrow and once they're painted, I can glue the upper and lower hulls together.

I have not glued the hatches down yet because I'm still thinking about how to display the ONTOS when it's finished. I like the idea GMorrison and Gamera suggested of adding a couple Marines and creating a wood base with a little ground cover.

Harold

HeavyArty

Actually, I believe that is the kit-supplied PE muffler guard.  Academy has been stepping up their recent kits to include PE.  This one was quite good.  You can see the three-part PE muffler guard in step 7 on the instructions below.

 

Harold

Sergeant

 

I also completed the turret assembly, so the next step is the assembly of 106 mm recoilless rifles and for that Voyager has supplied lightweight aluminum barrels to replace the plastic Academy barrels.

Harold

Sorry about the color misdirect Sarge. I kinda like the 1:1 mix better, but you’re the man on scene. 

stikpusher

Sorry about the color misdirect Sarge. I kinda like the 1:1 mix better, but you’re the man on scene. 

 

I remember reading an article about the effects of light on surfaces. It suggested that model paint should be a touch lighter than the actual subject we are trying to represent with our model because the model surface is so much smaller. I know there are some very excellent modelers who disagree, but in this case we have a controlled experiment. I simply paint the shells 1:1 and when the paint is dry put the upper hull on and see if it looks right. If not, I add a second coat of 1:1, or change the mix to 2:1 or 3:1 what could be easier.

Harold

That looks really good! And I'd probably put a figure beside her to show how small the AFV is. 

The bronze mix looks good, pretty darn close to the real thing. 

That is one fantastic interior - it's a shame to cover it over! Your post about how to display the finished model made me think about a photo of an APC I recently saw in a contest article. The upper hull appeared to be hinged on one side so the interior was totally visible. It's inspiring me to look into how to hinge one side of an Academy M113 Fitter, maybe a small wire and tube hinge like the car modellers use when they open doors and trunks.

Just a thought; your Ontos is a real work of art.

Gamera

That looks really good! And I'd probably put a figure beside her to show how small the AFV is. 

The bronze mix looks good, pretty darn close to the real thing. 

 

Harold

That MG looks really good! I've tried folding up those PE ammo boxes and not had much luck keeping them straight and square. And the teeny-tiny sights- WOW! 

Gamera

That MG looks really good! I've tried folding up those PE ammo boxes and not had much luck keeping them straight and square. And the teeny-tiny sights- WOW! 

 

Now the question; why in the world would someone design something for scale modelers you need X5 magnification to form? But more important why would any sane person bother to use it, myself included? Some times I think the people who design PE layout forget what happens when it's reduced to 1/35 scale. Example: if an actual gun sight is 1/2 inch high and you reduce it to 1/35 scale the sight become .0143 inches high, or <1/64".

Harold

Sergeant

Now the question; why in the world would someone design something for scale modelers you need X5 magnification to form? But more important why would any sane person bother to use it, myself included? Some times I think the people who design PE layout forget what happens when it's reduced to 1/35 scale. Example: if an actual gun sight is 1/2 inch high and you reduce it to 1/35 scale the sight become .0143 inches high, or <1/64".

Harold

 

the simple answer is... because you’re a madman... 

stikpusher

 

 

Sergeant

Now the question; why in the world would someone design something for scale modelers you need X5 magnification to form? But more important why would any sane person bother to use it, myself included? Some times I think the people who design PE layout forget what happens when it's reduced to 1/35 scale. Example: if an actual gun sight is 1/2 inch high and you reduce it to 1/35 scale the sight become .0143 inches high, or <1/64".

Harold

 

 

 

 

the simple answer is... because you’re a madman... 

 

I served in South Vietnam from January 28 to March 5, 1966. I was a Navy hospital corpsman assigned to the Marine Corps' 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Division. I hadn't planned on such a short tour of duty — 37 days — but in Operation Utah, a sniper shattered my right femur, a wound which gave me a free ticket home and more than 10 months in the Navy's Balboa Hospital in San Diego.

A few days after our amphibious landing in South Vietnam, I encountered an Ontos, which I had never heard of at that time. Here's a photo, taken with my Nikonos I under water/all-weather camera, which I had bought specifically for Vietnam:

I talked briefly with one of the crew, probably the bare-headed guy. He told me that a day or so previously, they had fired all six of the 106mm recoilless rifles at the base of a pagoda, which promptly and not surprisingly collapsed. I guess we showed those Buddhists who was boss! 

Bob Ingraham

Vancouver

Bobstamp

I served in South Vietnam from January 28 to March 5, 1966. I was a Navy hospital corpsman assigned to the Marine Corps' 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Division. I hadn't planned on such a short tour of duty — 37 days — but in Operation Utah, a sniper shattered my right femur, a wound which gave me a free ticket home and more than 10 months in the Navy's Balboa Hospital in San Diego.

A few days after our amphibious landing in South Vietnam, I encountered an Ontos, which I had never heard of at that time. Here's a photo, taken with my Nikonos I under water/all-weather camera, which I had bought specifically for Vietnam:

I talked briefly with one of the crew, probably the bare-headed guy. He told me that a day or so previously, they had fired all six of the 106mm recoilless rifles at the base of a pagoda, which promptly and not surprisingly collapsed. I guess we showed those Buddhists who was boss! 

Bob Ingraham

Vancouver

 

Harold

Found this on youtube. You might find it interesting.

https://youtu.be/T0t-0l0Zv0I

M60_ tanker

Found this on youtube. You might find it interesting.

https://youtu.be/T0t-0l0Zv0I

 

Harold

Nice! Those recoiless rifles look awesome!!!

Looks just about ready for primer and paint on the exterior. Are you going to weather and dirty up the interior?

stikpusher

Looks just about ready for primer and paint on the exterior. Are you going to weather and dirty up the interior?

 

So the question is 'factory finish' or 'weathered, worn and rusted'. To make a scale model look realistic the current thinking amongst model builders is that it must have weathering. I agree with this trend and marvel at others skill in performing this process.

Personally, I like as little weathering as possible and still have the model look realistic; however, I understand the theme of a diorama or vignette may require more weathering, distress and even battle damage. I've ordered several Vallejo Wash colors to use on this model.

Harold

I too, spent many years in the Army. Being anal retentive was part of the job. I try to keep weathering down to a mininum. Drives me crazy when I see a tank or other vehicle and it looks like it has just been drug out of a swap after 50 years. Especially M60 tanks. My bread and butter for 10 years of my life. Sorry for the rant.

Ray

M60_ tanker

I too, spent many years in the Army. Being anal retentive was part of the job. I try to keep weathering down to a mininum. Drives me crazy when I see a tank or other vehicle and it looks like it has just been drug out of a swap after 50 years. Especially M60 tanks. My bread and butter for 10 years of my life. Sorry for the rant.

Ray

 

Harold

I doubled the size of my paint booth in preparation for the next project. The ONTOS looks mighty small in this 33" Wide x 15" Deep space.

Harold

Sergeant

 

One of the reasons is a 'Marine Corp wash' was done with diesel fuel not soap and water and the original factory color was made darker by the diesel fuel. Also the ONTOS had light armor and was often hidden in the jungle and used to ambush the North Viet Cong, so according to Captain Seely it received a lot of wear and tear on the exterior paint.

One other thing I noticed while showing Rae the photographs Carlos (Stikpusher) provided is the inside of the doors and hatches were painted the same as the exterior. As Rae indicated the ONTOS was often hidden in the foliage to ambush the North Viet Cong and a white hatch cover that was opened would stand out in the jungle.

I also received the Vallejo Model Wash colors I ordered: #76.518 Black, #76.514 Dark Brown, #76.523 European Dust, #76.521 Oiled Earth, #76.513 Marron Brown, #76.505 Light Rust and #76.522 Desert Dust. I picked these colors thinking they would give me a good range to start from in weathering the ONTOS. So the next step is to dirty up the interior a little then glue the upper and lower hulls together.

Harold

I gave the white interior a light pin-wash with Vallejo #76.514 Dark Brown. I'm not sure how dirty to make the interior but looking at the interior through the open hatches and doors it seems about right to me for a combat vehicle at rest.

I have also decided to finish the model with all hatches and doors opened, so the interior can be seen from every direction. I will place at least one Marine figure alongside the ONTOS to help show how small the vehcle actually is compared to a man.

The next step is to mask off the hatches and doors, glue the upper and lower hulls together and attach the rear doors. Then attach mud flaps to the rear fenders.

Harold