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

NucMed Tech , that Crusader looks great, I think the more dust the better. Comet, the Puma is coming along great! Can't wait to see the camouflage on it. That Sahariana is beautiful Terry! You have more patience than me to keep working on it with all the extra aggravations. As for me, I got a lot done because of the rain. I got the camo painted on, the stone chips have been put on, along with a little rust. For this one I'm going to try some mud. I've never done it before so it should be interesting. Here's some pics after the camouflage was done.

Thanks for looking,    Ron.

Nice work on that Puma! 

M108 Report #3 - Finished construction & repainted.  Added just a tad of wash/highlighting.  Pictures below.  Shot Future at it after I snapped the photos.  Will wait impatiently for 2 days to allow drying, apply decals and minimal weathering.

Customiser, Nu medtec, Plastic Cross, Glyn, nice work guys, I worked on a Puma a trillion years ago, delightful kit. Never done a Crusader, I always thought the sprues looked a bit naff in the box but those photos say different, nice progress on all the models. Its while sitting here now that I am glad I joined this GB, CSI will be on soon and I've already got 3 hours in on the Sahariana. I'm going to stay on it ti'll about midnight. Doing chipping and drybrushing, probably while listening to Mamouna by Bryan Ferry. 

Tigerman its the same piece of crap just really low res shots. I don't buy confectionary, decide I don't like it and the repeat the process, just kidding, its the one and only.

Anyhoo,

Thankyou gentlemen and I will bid you all goodnight.

Regards,

Terry.

Terry- Great job on the Sahariana. I know you are not liking the kit, but it sure looks good. Is it the way the kit is made that makes it bad or could you have possibly gotten a bad kit?

Plastic Cross- Your M108 is coming along great. Looking forward to the finished model.

Customizer- That camo looks awesome. Did you mask it or go free hand? Either way it is looking great.

Well NuMedTech I think the main problem is that it seems to have been a rushed project. Italeri don't seem to have had a lot of reference material to go on. but as for the kit just ask Glyn he'll tell you its crap, bad fit flash everywhere, I spent hours upon hours chasing seam lines with scalpel and emery paper. some parts were missing and some resin parts were broken, if it was not for my experience, I hate to let it out but I'm a qualified Fitter/ Turner, thats an engineering qualification, and am now working as a jeweller and I'm building models over 30 years non stop, I'd have burnt this long ago. I think Glyn had an even worse experience with it. I have friends who own model shops but none of the customers have built them yet. We keep asking but to be honest the majority of kits sold here in Ireland are Tigers and German WW2 stuff.

The kit has wide open spaces and due to the fact its not camoflagued the weathering can be tricky. I would imagine a lot of people will make the mistake and weather it with greys like an Afrika Korps vehicle, where it was built for the Sahara so I think it will weather down to primer or bare metal.

Its a tricky one.

Regards and good luck to everyone on this build.

Hope to post soon.

Terry Burke.

Gun Tech wrote:

That's a little beauty Ron, did you used any AM?    I might be getting that kit

No AM on any of my stuff so far. I've only had the armour bug since about April so everything I do is right out of the box. Some time I'm going to have to take the plunge though.

Ron.

NucMedTech wrote:

Customizer- That camo looks awesome. Did you mask it or go free hand? Either way it is looking great.

Thanks. Never did like to mask anything(except cars). Airbrushing is one of the most enjoyable parts, problem is making the camouflage a little different every time.

Ron.

Here it is in all it's muddy glory.

Thanks again guys, I had a blast. I may try to squeek another one in before the deadline but I have to do some work on my house first.

Ron.

Here's a couple of pics of the mud. I had a lot of fun putting it on but what a mess!!!

Ron.

Obviously not done yet, this is my 1976 38(t) by Revell/Italeri.

I *really* can't get good pics of my models, may have to try a different digital camera, or go back to my SLR. The flash washes out all the subtle weathering and details, and yet at the same time, glosses ovder the paint, making it look shiny and highlighting the areas I've not yet gotten to. It sounds like a cheap cop-out, but the model really does look better than the pics show.

Oh well

CarnivourousDonut wrote:

Obviously not done yet, this is my 1976 38(t) by Revell/Italeri.     I *really* can't get good pics of my models, may have to try a different digital camera, or go back to my SLR. The flash washes out all the subtle weathering and details, and yet at the same time, glosses ovder the paint, making it look shiny and highlighting the areas I've not yet gotten to. It sounds like a cheap cop-out, but the model really does look better than the pics show.     Oh well

Looks great so far!! Try flooding the area with light( I use flourescent) and turn off the flash. I never use them, they just kill your batteries.

Ron.

Gun Tech wrote:

Ok Ron......   This is just so amazing!   The mud looks so real!      It's uneven, in chunks and splattered.....    great!!!     You have to tell me how you achieve such a realistic effect.

Ok, the secret is, it's really mud. It's a mixture of finely sifted dirt from my yard, a little water and white glue. And a few drops of paint for tinting. I spread it on the wheels front, back and on the treads with a popsicle stick but only as high as the imaginary muck it drove through. Then using an old brush flick the excess off the treads. The undercarridge is the fun part, using an old coarse toothbrush, dip it in and flick it on by by dragging your thumb along the bristles. Turn the model slightly so the mud sprays up the sides a bit and since it mostly goes out the back, you can load it on the rear panel a bit. Do a little at a time until the underside is done then give the top a couple of sprays from a bit of a distance. Don't forget to dab a little above the wheels along the edges of the fenders. The trick is to build it up slowly because it's tough to get the excess off if you go to far. Oh yeah, don't forget to put something behind the model as you're spraying the mud. Believe me, it gets everywhere.

Hope this helps,  Ron.

NucMedTech wrote:

Hey everyone, I'm getting ready to put the tracks on my crusader. I've never painted vinyl tracks before is there a different method or do I just do the same as regular plastic tracks?

All I ever do is wash them in warm soapy water, dry them and use Tamiya acrylics.

Ron.

You guys are making so much progress, I've hit the wall so to speak. I can't think of a good camo scheme, but am narrowing down my choice.

Ron fantastic work, especially considering you started only in April.

Donut great to see some progress.

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.

customizer wrote:

Here it is in all it's muddy glory.

Cutomizer - Your finishing touches with the splattered terrain really takes your build to the next level.  Superbly great results.   Bravo !!!

Larry

espins1 wrote:

Ron, fantastic build!  I especially like the spattered mud.  I hope you don't mind but I'd like to steal your idea on it's application and use your technique on an upcoming build.  Great job!!!

Same here Ron, thanks a lot for sharing buddy!

Here's the latest, not much to report, hope to get the camo on tomorrow. I ran out of good light. Most of the construction is finished. Going to bore out the end of the muffler with my exacto.