I'm back! Lost the mojo so long ago I can't remember the last time I finished a model. So, I bought a Tamiya M5 Stuart. It felt pretty good. Nothing fancy, just what was in the box. So far so good. So I bought a French Renault 35 tank. Again, nothing fancy, just did what was in the box. the paint job brought a new challenge. Every main color is surrounded by a thin black line. My skills are not that good with a brush. So while I did the colors by hand, the black lines. . .videos had some doing it with Gundam Markers. Hobby Lobby has a set, which I had to buy since they had no single black ones for sale. Viola, patience, slow and steady. Of course there was a problem. Gundam markers dry out. So, in order to finish I used a black permanent marker. Looks good.
Apparently, while the tanks were nothing really special, I had a lot of fun doing making them. Then I bought a Tamiya Sherman M4 Early. Boom. Done. Green monochromatic paint. I used the Tamiya black liner for detail. Then weathering a bit in the boogie area, with powders and turpentine to fix it. On top, I played with a bit of dot filters in oils, and brushed it down and off with odorless turpentine. But this does not look ANYTHING like the you tube guys stuff. The tanks looks, dusty. Not what I was looking for. perhaps more video's (?) More turps that are clean? Oh and the old 'rubber band' tank tracks? Remember the ones you were supposed to heat up the blade of a straight slot screw driver and melt the pins that popped through the teeny tiny holes? Forget about it! Use Super Glue. Badda bing. They hold. Very very well! Even stretching them over the boogies.
So, the next model on the waiting list is an Panzer Mark III. Afrika Korps. I premiered it all in gray. Then the old hair spray trick and a top coat of Vallejo desert tan. I want this to be a very chipped desert veteran. This is from the days before the over all tan paint top coat, prior to 1943 or early 1943 in the field.
How do I get the kits I get? I do those real silly surveys and get points. Points convert to dollars which you can convert to Amazon Gift Cards. Free Kits! On the stack of gonna do I have a DAS WERK Blitz Panther, and Academy M3 Stuart, A Tamiya Mark II and a super find, a Takom JagdPanther G2 Blitz. This is a reissue without any interior detail, which is fine by me. There is a metal barrel and photo etch screens, for less than a good Tamiya kit.
Each kit is going to get most of the detail in finishing and painting. Soon, I am going to add figures and attempt some mini dioramas.
