M8 Armored Car in the Ardennes Winter WIP 7/27/08 *Complete* Figs IP

Doc - I am humbled that you are inspired and thank you for your comments,

Rounds Complete!!

Bill - Thanks for your comment and especially your help with the decal

Manny - Thanks for you comments.

Actually it is not in degrees but in mils. The graduation is mils left or right and to the rear (half circle) ending in 32 (for 3200.....6400 mils in a circle).

Thanks again

Rounds Complete!!

Marc - Yep, I'm hoping to bring snow to Danbury. Thanks

Stickman - Thanks for looking in and the comments

SMJ - On the forward end...call it turret forward I tend to agree. That's why I stopped and moved to the tires for now to get some opinions and decide myself. The back I have some scratchs on the side boards and other things to "break up" the white, I may "mess" up the front a little with some more scratched or a bit more wash. In general I agree.

The snow (fresh fallen) will be Woodland Scenics. I was going to try a light satin spray to try and give a twinkle effect to the powder. For the "compressed" snow on the tires, in the fender wells and tire tracks, I was going to use sheet rock compond mixed with white glue to form what is needed. Coat with a clear, wash to "yellow or dirty" the color sloghtly and then give a coat of satin and gloss mixed.

I will be setting up some experments this week so hopefully I can apply the snow to the tires and wells and once "weathered", assemble to the model this weekend.

Thanks for looking, your comments, and all your help.

Bodge - Thanks for looking in and the comments

Rounds Complete!!

I realy like the shadowing afect around the engin covers.

GREAT work can't  wait to see more!

It was back to work this week so progress slowed but at least I am far enough along to see the light!!

Bill was so gracious to give his decal pattern to Roy and I so Bill, this is for you, after applying your decal to the turret interior.

Here is a view of the whole model with the decal. Also added the lower front hatch handle to each hatch. The hatch is from the Verlinden set and the handle is 14 gauge wire.

The turret installed. Drilled the antenna mounts for .020 brass wire antenna and installed the mounts. The antenna and tie downs will wait until after we install the tires to keep from breaking them. Also began doing some scratch work on the white wash

Here is a closer view through the turret with the 30 cal and sight installed. Also installed (can't see in the photo) 30 cal ammo belt to the ammo can. This shot gives a better view of the "scratching" in the turret area.

Time for markings! I used Archer transfers and the wet transfer paper. The unit and vehicle number are the same as my opening photo. Front view:

Rear view

Now I mounted the tools. Their holders were the same "white" density as the vehicle but the tool was give a quick once coat. Looking at the photo of the real vehicle, it would appear this is what they did. Also added rear tie-down straps tied closed. Again looking at the photo of the real vehicle, they did not have any outside stowage but there is a dark spot which could be the straps.

I began to wash in the engine area with a grey wash to create shadows in the sunken areas of the engine covers

Using the same grey wash to highlight area like a black pin wash. Black would be too strong for the white finish.

After the grey wash, I created a rust/dirt wash with raw sienna and some MIG rust. I used this in the wheel wells for the dirt and rust "look"

With all the washes dry but needing set up, here is the finished look so far.

Well next its snow time! I'll be working on the wheels and the hopefully wrapping up the vehicle over the next week or so.

Thanks for looking in. All comments welcome

Rounds Complete!!

Another great looking build from you.  Sorry I just caught it now.  Love the white wash and the look of the ammo.  Will have to remmember the paint that you used.  Sorry your vacation is over by now.  But getting a lot done during that is the why I was able to get my rammtiger build so quickly as well.

Keep it UP and always enjoying your builds.

Specter -  Not a problem, I know what it is like. I feel like I can never catch up on everthing here!!

Ron -Thanks for the comments and words of encouragement. Doing the little M8 and having last week off let me go at almost Ron speed . Its nice to do a simpler kit though you start adding everything and well...

I'm getting anxious to see it done myself. Thanks for looking in.

Rounds Complete!!

SMJ - Yep, Sprayed the white over a nice OD paint job but to get the bleed of color its the best way. Also if you want scratches, the tip of the #11 blade lightly will scratch the white down to the OD. If you want wash ware, 600 grit sanding gives the ware down to the OD. Experimented with this on my paint cow. Don't know how much I will use considering my subject photo, but though that would help.

Thanks again.

Roy - The rack and ammo is a . What I found is bend the rack as required. Roll using a dental pick. Glue one side and let it set, the roll in the turret, add glue to the other side and use the pick to hold in place until set. That should get it flat to the wall of the turret

The retainer clips I cut, used the pick to roll and glued to the round. Once set, using forceps to help insert the round and then used a drop of glue on the bottom to hold.

Everything was pre painted. Being anal and slow plus some...how the hell am I going to do this time, all in, paint to complete install was ~4 hours. It's a pain but looks great when finished.

Thanks for the comments

And yes thanks Bill for the decal. It does look great. It's a definite for me

Rounds Complete!!

Redleg: Great work on the 37mm PE ammo racks.  I got started with mine and the Eduard set but got stuck there.  Seeing your work motivates me to try to restart mine.  One thing I've noticed on others' builds of the M8 is low-hanging stowage off the turret.  Note that the crews had to deftly stow stuff as to not interfere with the traverse of the turret against the drivers' hood.

WBill: great PDF file! 

redleg12 wrote:

SMJ - Considering the help you gave, your comment is is GREATLY APPRECIATED!

No prob' redleg, and thanks...by the way, did you spray that white OVER the green?...I expect you did...that's tough spraying over a perfectly good paint job isn't it?  I have a half track I'm starting that I plan on painting german gray...post-shading, the works, then I'll hit it with the white camo'.  You loose the work below, but you gain experience with the airbrush/technique too!!!

Bufflehead - Thanks for the comments. I thought I would do something different with the M8. It also seemed nice to do a winter build in July!!

thanks again

Rounds Complete!!

Hey redleg, been busy getting caught up on missed posts and I just finished with this one.  Fantastick work on that M8 dude!  I love the white camo you're doing with this one...its not often seen!  The interior looks fabulous.  Too bad we're not doing the "Winter Warriors II" GB, this would fit right in!!  Funny to see a winter whitewashed vehicle in the middle of summer....its 90+ outside right now!!  Anyway, I'll be keeping my eyes on this thread....I'm dying to see how this armored car turns out!!

SMJ - Considering the help you gave, your comment is is GREATLY APPRECIATED!!

Specter - I was not going to show a lot of ware based on the photo at the beginning of the WIP which shows a fairly well intack wash. May put in some scratches etc., but thats about it. Will do some washes to tone town the blue/white color of the wash and highlight some details.

Stick Man - Thanks for the comments

Rounds Complete!!

Looks GREAT with the whiite wash on!

Can't wait to see it fnished.

I forgot if you said if you were going to keep the white wash like this or not. Either way you are going to have it it looks great so far.

redleg12 wrote:

NICELY DONE!!!

Manny - Thanks for the comments

Mobious - Thanks, glad to have been of some help. Like I said, love the Alclad paint. Biggest plus is it works well in an Air Brush and cleans up well after use.

Bill - Great minds think alike. No, I did not final glue the turret. With the white wash work, I wanted to wash the model whole but small thing like the 30 cal could not be installed until after the wash so the turret and ring were only dry fit.

I was going to add a few more details and was going to try to create the ring markings using Autocad. You just saved me a bunch of hours at the computer. I will download from you site tonight. Thanks for the help and your comments.

Rounds Complete!!

Love the little details that you've added, looking sharp. The sprayed on white coat looks the part! I was going to suggest adding the gradient ring numbers to the inside base of the turret but I think you've already glued the base and turret together? I have the gradient ring as a PDF that I used to print my own decal and add when I did this one way back when. It's available to you or anyone else that wants to take advantage of it, here's the link:

http://www.bpmodels.net/Model/Decal.pdf

 Hey Redleg12,

 That's lookin good, The white wash looks neat. The ammo looks the part. Very nice metal finish. Gonna look into the Alclad metal finishes, for myself. Thanks for the post.

 Best Regards,