Dewchurch 3

[Gopher]

12 hours ago, lezz01 said:

So with pre-shading I think your paint needs a touch more thinning. The other thing you can do is pull the airbrush back a little around the edges of a panel and push in a bit tighter towards the middle. What PSI are you setting your air at and what airbrush are you using?

I'm not that big a fan of pre-shading I prefer to use either a panel liner or pin wash or a water colour pencil and drag the colour down the panels with a wet brush. There are lot's of videos on YouTube using both methods if you are unsure of how to do it.

I would post some of my own MM work but I have nothing at a stage that would be helpful right now. My Defiant is nowhere near the external paint stage, I'm still building the cockpit and neither is my Sd.Kfz 223. That's one of the problems with using after market PE detail, yes they look great but they really slow a build down. I hope to take one of them away with me on holiday in a couple of weeks but I was also thinking of doing a few wagon kits and leaving the military stuff at home. So I shall see how I feel before we go.

Regards Lez.

Hi Lez, Thanks for the advice.  I agree that my top coat is probably too thick, and I Just add a uniform spray without pulling the airbrush back around edges of panels.  I used an Iwata TRN 2 on the hull for the top coat (mainly because it is more geared to cover large areas than my other smaller nozzle Iwata airbrush). 

 

 I had the air pressure too low to start with around 20psi which is what I use for weathering very diluted acrylic paint.  I jacked it up to about 28psi which made a big difference to how the paint covered.  I use Tamiya acrylic paint, and probably do not thin it enough (proved by the air brush blocking initially)

 

I started to experiment with panel liner on the lower hull, and have seen some great videos on how to use it and various washes dragged down the panels with damp brushes containing thinner.

 

This is all trial and error for me, but am beginning to think that pre-shading may not be the best way to get the effects I'm after.   I saw a magazine article where some guy added white to the top coat mix, and then lightly sprayed the middle of some panels etc, but over the original top coat colour.  So he achieved  a nice variation in tone.  Then used panel liner and washes to get a great result.   

 

Hard decision what to take on holiday.   Be great to see photos of your military modelling in due course.

 

Thanks again for taking time to read and comment on my efforts

 

Best Wishes

 

Clive      

[lezz01]

Yeh I would say that if you've had to jack up the pressure to 28 then the paint is not thin enough. I really don't get on with acrylic paints and use enamels as much as I can. I do use acrylic for weathering with a brush. I was looking at an Iwata but in the end I went with a Gaahleri after watching many reviews. I'll let you know how I get on with it when I have something worth testing it on but by all accounts it's an outstanding airbrush for not very much money. I paid around £45 for mine but I see that the one I brought is now on special for less than £30. I have been using an Iwata clone that is very good and has given me good results in the past although I needed to polish the needles to get good results but that was not a big deal.

Regards Lez.  

[Gopher]

Speaker unit and vehicle control unit installed in the hull.  This has considerably increased the weight of the hull.

 

Bit of a disaster when I was screwing the speakers into the plastic casing.  Screw driver slipped and left a small tear in one of the speaker cones 😒  +!$*£#%*!  came out of my mouth.  I repaired the tear with some slightly diluted white PVA glue (just visible before it dried) in the bottom photo left hand speaker.  I hope this will do the job, the PVA should be flexible enough to handle the vibration of the speaker cone.  Won't really know until I wire it all up and start it up.     

 

 

 

[Gopher]

2 hours ago, lezz01 said:

Yeh I would say that if you've had to jack up the pressure to 28 then the paint is not thin enough. I really don't get on with acrylic paints and use enamels as much as I can. I do use acrylic for weathering with a brush. I was looking at an Iwata but in the end I went with a Gaahleri after watching many reviews. I'll let you know how I get on with it when I have something worth testing it on but by all accounts it's an outstanding airbrush for not very much money. I paid around £45 for mine but I see that the one I brought is now on special for less than £30. I have been using an Iwata clone that is very good and has given me good results in the past although I needed to polish the needles to get good results but that was not a big deal.

Regards Lez.  

I like acrylics apart from the fact they dry too quickly at times.  I've never airbrushed enamels.    I'll add more thinner when I airbrush the turret .  Never heard of  Gaahleri, but just done a quick Google and they look a bargain for the spec.  My Iwatas replaced a Badger airbrush which I never got on with.    I have to keep the needles clean and have a gadget/grind stone to regrind them if required to restore the point.  I find I spend more time cleaning them than using them.  At least they are easy to take apart . 

[lezz01]

If the PVA repair doesn't work try again with silicone sealant.

Regards Lez. 

[Gopher]

Another day another hut

 

[lezz01]

Further to my last post about silicone sealant. There is another option that is a flexible glue called 151 Fantastic Elastic it's very good and as advertised stays flexible when it sets. I've used it to fix shoes and it works a treat.

Here's a link.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/151®-FANTASTIC-ELASTIC-FLEXIBLE-WATEPROOF/dp/B004QX29CO/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1X6D6U0YJ35B3&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ogtAbqn0UZnAYFfpXjzZFQrnkrQkG048wtVT6EkRUHWxYgt1pwi5glJJGSVqVDtrE_6KbPOCfdG5vpZgBYBP-QmRWMR0A184YdYMYqKoYhtgGRHytaBFfi1tBi0XdQpHq9XNdyTAwgelZy_1HEh7RNnO-imXff0PmoHqQierkFcZw_pp9PgL-PLPxzhv_G5s7s4iu3i1BtbgCIZNj-NuWjUkfQB3H7IIenPe4p7FrBI.FwWNHwUY8C_FH2QQavqDCZBvvyWASxfexIj_POpPoJE&dib_tag=se&keywords=151+fantastic+elastic+flexible+waterproof+glue&qid=1725310130&sprefix=151+fantastic%2Caps%2C83&sr=8-2

Also on eBay.

I'm going to try it for fixing track to cork as a means of keeping the sound deadening properties of cork alive as using PVA totally destroys it. 

Regards Lez.   

Edited September 2 by lezz01

[Gopher]

9 hours ago, lezz01 said:

Further to my last post about silicone sealant. There is another option that is a flexible glue called 151 Fantastic Elastic it's very good and as advertised stays flexible when it sets. I've used it to fix shoes and it works a treat.

Here's a link.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/151®-FANTASTIC-ELASTIC-FLEXIBLE-WATEPROOF/dp/B004QX29CO/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1X6D6U0YJ35B3&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ogtAbqn0UZnAYFfpXjzZFQrnkrQkG048wtVT6EkRUHWxYgt1pwi5glJJGSVqVDtrE_6KbPOCfdG5vpZgBYBP-QmRWMR0A184YdYMYqKoYhtgGRHytaBFfi1tBi0XdQpHq9XNdyTAwgelZy_1HEh7RNnO-imXff0PmoHqQierkFcZw_pp9PgL-PLPxzhv_G5s7s4iu3i1BtbgCIZNj-NuWjUkfQB3H7IIenPe4p7FrBI.FwWNHwUY8C_FH2QQavqDCZBvvyWASxfexIj_POpPoJE&dib_tag=se&keywords=151+fantastic+elastic+flexible+waterproof+glue&qid=1725310130&sprefix=151+fantastic%2Caps%2C83&sr=8-2

Also on eBay.

I'm going to try it for fixing track to cork as a means of keeping the sound deadening properties of cork alive as using PVA totally destroys it. 

Regards Lez.   

Thanks Lez - that is very useful 

 

Clive

[Gopher]

Ivatt 2mt over the pit

 

[Kevin Johnson]

On 02/09/2024 at 07:55, Gopher said:

Another day another hut

 

Love the look of the hut Clive.👍

[Gopher]

First steps in weathering the tank tracks.  The tracks are a complete unit so no construction required (other than eventually fitting them to the tank)

 

So far I have added a Mig tank track wash, and then dry brushed a Mig light soil onto the pads, linkages etc.  Also dry brushed the same on the internal surface of the tracks (not visible in these photos). 

 

Not totally sure what to do next.  I will either add another wash (probably US military vehicles wash), and/or dry brush some rust patches on the linkages, and/or airbrush a mist of Mig dust colour over the treads.  Then finally seal it all with Matt varnish.

 

This is another case of experimentation with the weathering until I get the result I am looking for.  Photos of Abrams operating in Iraq show the tracks as being quite weathered with grime/muck and odd bits of rust.  There are areas of soft wet ground in Iraq so not all dry desert. 

 

 

[Gopher]

Decision time, is that my train or not ?

 

[Gopher]

Bit more work on the tracks.  I applied another wash (Vallejo Wash FX), this toned down the light mud effects visible in the photos above.  I then daubed some Mig rusty rails on the linkages.  Not quite the effect I was hoping for (they are a bit cleaner than I envisaged). and I wonder whether the linkages look a bit too rusty.

 

However I quite like the effect so I may leave alone.  Only other thing I might do, is spray a very thin coat of MIG light dust over the treads of the tracks, and of course seal all with a matt varnish.   

 

 

[lezz01]

I don't know about M1's but the tracks on my 432 never went rusty. They weren't on the vehicle long enough to go rusty. We took them out on exercise twice a year and changed them in the field every 2 years so the track life was very short and we never let them go to the end of their lifespan. I would also think that if they were in a desert environment the scouring effect of the sand and grit would stop them rusting not to mention shortening their lifespan considerably. Having a track snap on the move is just about the last thing you'd need to happen on a track laying vehicle. I know this coz I had one go whilst driving through a village in Germany due to a faulty track pin and hit the corner of a house and a Board of Enquiry is almost as bad as a Courts Marital coz if it had turned out to be the fault of the crew then that is what happens next. The RMP investigation cleared me and and my commander as the track had only done 50km and our maintenance logs were up to date and it had passed it's annual BFG test 2 days before the exercise started. REME determined that 35% of the track pins in that track were brittle so not our fault.  

Then of course there is the BS factor I can just hear what my BSM would have to say if a single spot of rust was found on one of our vehicles, the driver and commander of it would be doing extra duties for ever. When the Queen came over to inspect the whole BAOR all the vehicles were so bulled up you could see the glare from orbit. 

One time the BSM told me to sort my tank out coz it looked like an Airfix Spitfire as I had been a bit creative with a repaint and would be inspecting it again in 48 hrs. So when it rolled out of the garage 2 days later it was in green and dark earth with RAF roundels on the side. The look on the BSMs face was absolutely priceless, he went purple and I thought he was going to stroke out but the Bty Commander was p!ssing himself laughing so it only cost me 5 extras and it was worth every single one of them.    

Regards Lez.   

[Gopher]

4 hours ago, lezz01 said:

I don't know about M1's but the tracks on my 432 never went rusty. They weren't on the vehicle long enough to go rusty. We took them out on exercise twice a year and changed them in the field every 2 years so the track life was very short and we never let them go to the end of their lifespan. I would also think that if they were in a desert environment the scouring effect of the sand and grit would stop them rusting not to mention shortening their lifespan considerably. Having a track snap on the move is just about the last thing you'd need to happen on a track laying vehicle. I know this coz I had one go whilst driving through a village in Germany due to a faulty track pin and hit the corner of a house and a Board of Enquiry is almost as bad as a Courts Marital coz if it had turned out to be the fault of the crew then that is what happens next. The RMP investigation cleared me and and my commander as the track had only done 50km and our maintenance logs were up to date and it had passed it's annual BFG test 2 days before the exercise started. REME determined that 35% of the track pins in that track were brittle so not our fault.  

Then of course there is the BS factor I can just hear what my BSM would have to say if a single spot of rust was found on one of our vehicles, the driver and commander of it would be doing extra duties for ever. When the Queen came over to inspect the whole BAOR all the vehicles were so bulled up you could see the glare from orbit. 

One time the BSM told me to sort my tank out coz it looked like an Airfix Spitfire as I had been a bit creative with a repaint and would be inspecting it again in 48 hrs. So when it rolled out of the garage 2 days later it was in green and dark earth with RAF roundels on the side. The look on the BSMs face was absolutely priceless, he went purple and I thought he was going to stroke out but the Bty Commander was p!ssing himself laughing so it only cost me 5 extras and it was worth every single one of them.    

Regards Lez.   

Great anecdote Lez.  Love to have seen a photo of the tank with Spitfire camouflage and roundels.

 

I think you are spot on re the rust on my tracks.  Can't see even the Yanks tolerating that much rust on their M1s.   I airbrushed a light dust coat over the tracks this afternoon, which has toned down the orange hue a bit, and given the whole tracks surface a slightly dustier look.  The change is subtle, and maybe I should give it another blast with the airbrush, or maybe just very lightly drybrush a  bit of gunmetal on the linkages. 

 

Thanks as always for your input

 

Clive       

[Gopher]

 

Another view of the weighbridge at Dewchurch (without a tank in sight)

[Gopher]

I've finished weathering the tracks.  My final stage was dry brushing a tarnished steel colour on the linkages, which helped tone down the rust colour.  

 

Tracks now fitted to the tank, so next up is adding detail to the upper hull.  Plus installing the working lights 

 

 

 

Edited September 7 by Gopher

[lezz01]

They look much better now Clive.

Regards Lez.

[Gopher]

13 hours ago, lezz01 said:

They look much better now Clive.

Regards Lez.

Thanks Lez, I'm much happier with them now. The linkages look more tarnished/grimy rather than rusty.  Fair do's to Tamiya the tracks are a work of art in their own right.   Quite heavy and beautifully put together.  I know some modellers use all metal after market replacements.  Personally I would not bother.

 

Regards

 

Clive        

[Gopher]

Busy time at Harewood Halt. A4 Guillemot held at a signal whilst returning to the Eastern region with an inter-regional express train.  Someone needs to go and wake the Bobby to clear the signal. 

 

[Kevin Johnson]

15 hours ago, Gopher said:

I've finished weathering the tracks.  My final stage was dry brushing a tarnished steel colour on the linkages, which helped tone down the rust colour.  

 

Tracks now fitted to the tank, so next up is adding detail to the upper hull.  Plus installing the working lights 

 

 

 

Clive the tank build is progressing nicely. Lovely job weathering up the tracks.👍

[Gopher]

3 hours ago, Kevin Johnson said:

Clive the tank build is progressing nicely. Lovely job weathering up the tracks.👍

Thanks Kevin, all a bit of a learning experience for me.  

[Gopher]

Must be something serious as Britannia Lord Rowallan is also held up by a signal as it heads towards Dewchurch with an express.

 

[Gopher]

Started adding a bit of detail to the upper hull, painted the rubber fenders on the track guards, and also added some transfers to upper and lower hull, 

 

I always used to apply transfers to military models when I had completed the whole build.  With my current build methods I build, paint then weather the tank in stages, so lower hull and running gear, then upper hull and finally the turret.  So it is easier apply the transfers in stages.

 

 When I eventually apply matt varnish, the transfer film will be less evident.  Drive sprockets also completed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 10 by Gopher

[Gopher]

Ex GW Mogul stabled at the coal stage