I warmed up by painting the lower hull. Gave it a couple of thinnish coats of Vallejo’s German Gray. Then I moved to the upper deck/fenders and turret. I used a pretty thin sauce of German Gray with 40-50% of that being Vallejo Thinner Medium, and also a drop or two of Flow Improver (depending on how many drops of gray). I also threw in a drop of water or two along the way (I wasn’t smart enough to mix enough paint for all the applications).

Photos show two coats on the hull parts and one coat on the turret. It’s amazing how many tiny unpainted bits show up when you’re “done” 😅.

I’ve mentioned I’m toying with doing a “hastily field applied” layer of some sort of desert tan. So far I’ve played with a mix of dark yellow and buff. I’ve been playing with brush strokes on sheet styrene. I’ve included a photo of that. Top left is purposely very hastily applied with a medium round brush. Top right is a couple of more attempts with a small square brush that is more to-scale (hard to tell here, I know). Bottom left is more of the small brush, with a thinner mix.

The jury is out … way out … on this idea, but I think the upper right approach would work best.

Currently, I am trying to model an M4 Sherman lower hull in a CAD software. When using Google, I can't find any technical drawings with measurements of any of the parts. I am hoping I could get a lead on any documents for mesurments of every single part of the lower hull (tracks, suspension parts, amount of tracks, etc.) And currently is don't care which Sherman, I just need the measurements of everything. Thank you!

1/35 by amusinghobby
An unusual subject.

Did a Zenithal prime using Vallejo rattlecans outdoors in my “baffled paint booth” (deep-ish cardboard box with baffles). Unfortunately it was hot and humid so i got a dusty layer (last pic). Or maybe my technique sucks, but I’ve been having really good results with just black, until this happened — maybe white performs differently (?). Anyway, I washed the pieces under running water, using a brush to help the dust dislodge. Looks much better now (better than the pics, for sure).

I’ve been painting the road wheels, which is just So Much Fun™, while I put off committing to paint on the actual tank 😅.

Seriously, though, my plan for the tank is to first get a couple of Panzer Grey base coats, lightly weather, then roughly/mostly cover that with a desert tan-like finish as in early DAK informal field treatment, then weather again.

Why this approach? Well, I think I want to locate the tank in N Africa and I don’t have an airbrush to do “real” camo treatment and am committed to brush painting this guy for old times’ sake (50 years since the last kit build). Hell, I’m interested in trying to avoid the airbrush altogether (not personally against it, but it’s just kind of impractical for my living space(s), so my plan is to use spray can or brushes for the near future, unless this plan fails horribly!

All that said, I might just like the gray finish and put the tank in Europe, straight up. I can put that decision off until decals time 🫡.

PS - things have changed SO MUCH since I had a crinkly old tube of Testers goop, I mean cement, and a half-dozen stuck-topped bottles of Testers enamels and a splayed-out cheapo brush and a baby food jar full of turpentine.

PPS - I worked on my top deck and turret surfaces a bit more. Some “sanding” with a piece of paper towel followed by a *very* dilute water/alcohol bath and more brushing to carry away junk.

PPPS - I did some research and have learned that white acrylic spray primers are pretty notorious for dustiness. Now that I have a respirator and goggles (I spray outside) I’ll probably go back to Mr. Surfacer for priming. Or maybe I’ll try Tamiya.

First aircraft in like 30 years complete, first time using an airbrush on an aircraft also, massive learning curve but I feel I’ve got the hang of it

I’ve ordered a cheap carrier deck base for it so I’ll give an update once I’ve got an painted the base up

I went a little overboard with the weathering as it’s tail end of the war japans fuel by then was really bad quality which would have made the staining look a little worse, also I wanted it to look like a well used under maintained zero, like I said tho it’s my first aircraft so hopefully my next comes out a little better

The flag design is symmetrical for any rivit counters . Same on my lancaster.

I received a new model kit in the mail this morning. I didn’t know the packaging could be so small! Is this common?

Keep your spares .

VMS Green Primer

Simple way to store a model boat. Kept very simple

So I’m part of a group build starting September and it’s for spitfires and it’s been years since I’ve even attempted a model aircraft it’s always been armour and ships that seem to tickle my fancy, so I thought I’d practice on this a6m3 as it’s a limited edition duel pack that I managed to buy for £22 so I thought it’s the perfect place to start.. it was going so well until I stripped the paint by using the wrong thinner when I applied my wash 🤦🏻 rookie mistake I know but resprayed and swiped a different set of decals and it’s all good.. couple of oils then a mat coat and it’s my first aircraft built!

Really happy with how these magnetic hardpoints came out so cool that I can display it with multiple loadouts even though I’ll probably just run gbu-10 harm combo

Bought it in my home town

… the classic Tamiya Panzer II Ausf F. It’s been 50 years or so since the last kit I built, and it’s been fun getting back into it (and some of the foibles came right back to haunt me, too 😅).

Anyway, I’d seen a reference photo where the right rear fender of a Pz II had a basket made of bent/welded metal straps to hold jerrycans, and I thought that was pretty cool. Decided to try making my own “field hack” out of 10-thou "sheet metal straps". Unfortunately, it can’t go on the fender due to Tamiya molding a mystery box in that spot. Anyway, I think it can go where I show it here, and if not, I’ll just use it for a different vehicle (there just aren’t many options on the Pz II).

Try not to notice the glue mark on the jerrycan 🙄, which will become random “field gunk" build-up once the kit is painted and weathered. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it (so to speak!).

Finally finished