Italeri Group Build Sept. 1, 2006-Jan. 15 2007

I am still there,

in addition to the 122 mm howitzer and the 120 mm mortar, I also assembled the Italeri-Zvezda Zis3 M42 anti tank gun.

Bad surprise : there was an important part missing in the 120 mm mortar, and no indication where it is supposed to be.  The missing part is the link between the tube and the stand. So, I had to do it from milliput.

I painted my models with Humbrol 114 and applied a dark wash of oil paint (black+ burnt umber).  Still to do my favourite part of the job : drybrushing.

I show you a picture of the howitzer, note that sub-assemblies are not glued together yet, and there are some small parts not glued yet.

Hoping the 3 models will be finished by the end of october.

Michel

M108 105mm Howitzer Report - Slow start but progress is being made.  I've got the bottom hull built, the road wheels on, seams filled and sanded.  The gun/turret is pretty simple and should be finished and ready to paint by tomorrow.  I'll generate some build pictures once it starts to look interesting.  Not a lot of photos/info about this vehicle on the web.  Apparently it was undergunned, so the M109 was quickly deployed and replaced the  M108. 

Larry

Okay, time for a weekend update. I got some painting done, still have more to go.

Just a quick update.  The update is there was no activity this past week.  Doctor's appointments and family duties took priority.  Hopefully, I will get in some build time this week.  My son's Sherman is coming along nicely for his first armor build.  Will post pics in a different thread.

Ron

Hi guys. I just picked this SD Kfz 234/1 at my LHS and I started right into it on Friday night. I'm very happy with this kit so far, there's a bit of flash but the sink marks are almost non-existent. Only complaint is on one of the tires, the locating pins on it lined the tread up wrong. Funny it was only one tire, of course I noticed it after the glue had set enough I couldn't get it apart. Oh well, I was looking for a subject to try some mud on.

Thanks for looking,    Ron.

NMT, love the Crusader so far. What color did you paint it? I'm still looking on ebay for one.

Customizer, you're an animal for going at it again. This ought to be cool.

M108 Report #2 - Assembled and painted the big parts - first 2 pics.  Took two steps back trying to add a little wash - 3rd and 4th pics.  Fortunately, I was using pastel chalk and can remove most of it with a good water wash. 

Thanks.

I was looking for an M109 and found this M108 on eBay.  I didn't even know there was an M108.  I've not seen another one for sale since.  The M108 was a little undergunned at 105mm, and within a year was modified to became the M109 at 155mm.

Larry

customizer wrote:

Hi guys. I just picked this SD Kfz 234/1 at my LHS and I started right into it on Friday night. I'm very happy with this kit so far, there's a bit of flash but the sink marks are almost non-existent. Only complaint is on one of the tires, the locating pins on it lined the tread up wrong. Funny it was only one tire, of course I noticed it after the glue had set enough I couldn't get it apart. Oh well, I was looking for a subject to try some mud on.

tigerman wrote:

Good progress so far Larry. As for me zippo. On a bright note, I found my missing roller! I'm just trying to figure out a good camo, for she is ready to get one.

Glad you found it.

Gun Tech wrote:

tigerman wrote: Good progress so far Larry. As for me zippo. On a bright note, I found my missing roller! I'm just trying to figure out a good camo, for she is ready to get one.   Glad you found it.

Thanks, it did tick me off a bit.

Comet wrote:

I'v been cracking on with the Puma but ran out of dark yellow so have just given it a base coat for now.Will be going to the LHS sometime this week to restock on paint so will be able to continue with the camo then. This has been a great kit to build with no real problems.The only problem I'v had has been with the Jordi Rubeo barrel.The muzzle brake is made from white metal and was very badly cast,took alot of work to get it to fit to the barrel.

It looks awesome Glyn!    I did mine a few years ago with the original barrel......  before finding out that the muzzle brake was to small. Yours looks perfect! Viva AM for old kits!

Terry Here Just Thought I should post some Pics here as Its this GB that I'm building this kit for.

One thing I did not mention in the other update post was the amount of mould line removal that needed to be done. On the gun alone I remember spending one entire evenings modelling cleaning mould lines, about 4 1/2 hours with a break for CSI.

Thanks again for viewing,

Regards,

Terry.

PS. Glyn good luck with that PUMA its agreat kit and I personally have very fond memories of it. Again Good luck and thanks for the encouragement with the Sahariana.

Comet, your puma is looking great. I hate it when I run out of paint like that. What to do.

Well football is going to start soon so I'll post my weekend update pics.

Started the weathering. Not to good at this part any comments welcome.

Please let me know what you think and if you want to add any tips that would be great.

The model has been futured in preparation for the wash.

Thanks all.

Stephen

That's a different vehicle isn't Terry? Looks good.

Stephen, good job on the Crusader so far. Weathering is my bugaboo, but I'll say it's coming along nicely.

Thanks for the kind comments Tigerman and Comet.

Comet, are these tanks not supposed to be dusty? I like your crusader and was just hoping for mine to come out that well. Maybe your pictures don't show the effects so well, but I thought your crusader was quite impressive.

NucMedTech wrote:

Thanks for the kind comments Tigerman and Comet. Comet, are these tanks not supposed to be dusty? I like your crusader and was just hoping for mine to come out that well. Maybe your pictures don't show the effects so well, but I thought your crusader was quite impressive.

I like the effect and the way it looks