SIGA MT-LB Complete

A short day today saw the end of this kit. I must admit I am quite pleased to see the back of it, or the side of it in this case.

The green was finished off with a light black wash, then the tracks and rubber on the wheels in a dark panzer grey.

Decals from the kit came next and they were a little fragile.

A light dried mud colour was then applied.

Now looking at it, I still have to paint in the head lamps and spot light. A nice addition to the force, but hardly recommended.

SIGA MT-LB Update

After a weekend away getting my hands dirty in the field, this afternoon I carried on where I left off on Friday night. Progress that night stalled on those friggin tracks.

Today I just did my best and lumped on with it. Thankfully the front track guards hide most of my mess, and it is a mess.

Not my best work, by far but it has the shape and it is solid enough for the game table.

First base coat painted, the tracks clearly visible in all their glory. The true colour is not as bad as this night shot.

Friday Night Follies

With the wife and kids away for the night, I am enjoying being master of the house. I have been working on the SIGA MT - LB that I started a few months ago.

In actual fact construction of this kit was halted when I got the the individual track links stage. These are the bane of my life, however with the help of a few Canadian Clubs I am battling my way though.

Airfix French Cavalry (Cuirassiers)

Dave once again has been pouring his heart and soul into producing some gems out of blobs of ancient plastic.

Hot on the heels of ESCI's 1980's French Cuirassiers are the 1969 versions from Airfix.

Dave reckons they are total @##*%$ to put together and not the best cavalry ever made.

Myself I think he has done a grand job, considering.

I will let the pics do the talking.

Cheers again Dave and great work as per usual.

I Am Ashamed Of My Workspace

I really need to clean up my modelling table, as I have really let things go this winter.

But not tonight, maybe tomorrow night...Or the weekend...Or spring maybe. Decisions, decisions.

ICM BTR-60P: Completed To A Degree

Painting was carried out last night in my standard Soviet style, with some metal weathering. I added a quick wash then a light muddy coat.

Front wheels showing misalignment, however these have quite a bit of play and do straighten up, I just was in bit of a hurry to get the shot in before it rained forgot to do so. (That's my excuse anyway)

Rear shot, the propeller assembly at the rear is more detailed than this and it is a shame to hide it with the covers.

Interior is nicely done with a reasonable crew compartment and military standard bench seating which is always fun to travel on.

After reading good reviews about the decals I was disappointed to discover that they dissolved in the water, this however is not really a good idea for decals. I just chucked on some spares to look the part.

I have learned quite a deal from this kit, and although not the dream kit like the Trumpeter T55 it does fill a gap on the table, and is fairly acceptable for wargaming. It is just a shame that the finely detailed parts are already broken prior to opening the box. I might buy another one to try the axles the way I think they are supposed to look.

ICM BTR-60P: A Tale Of Two Kits

As mentioned in a previous posting this month I had purchased a ICM BTR-60P APC in order to flesh out my NK and Soviet era forces. After finishing off the T55 I launched into this kit as I want it on the table for a game this week.

Okay into the build, first up the wheel and axle assembly, pretty straight forward although there are two quite important issues.

1. The wheels do not fit into the axles, if you try and force them in they will split as seen above. I etched out space from the inner wheel with my trusty hobby knife to cure this problem.

2. The instructions are more than a little vague concerning if the strut for the axle goes on top of the inner hub or the bottom. I choose the top, but remain unsure if this is correct.

The hull construction is full on, lots of tiny pieces everywhere, and the detail is quite fine and usually totally flash free. Very brittle parts though, most handle rails, tools, foot steps, steering wheel and hull cover spars broken.

Underside detail.

With axles attached, as I said unsure if I have this right. I used superglue to mount as it without it I think normal plastic model glue would fail with the weight.

Basically as complete as I could make it. As I commented in the title this is a tale of two kits, there is the boxed kit as is, finely detailed but with most of those finely detailed parts broken, and there is my wargame kit, minus the guff.

Overall a reasonable build for a couple of hours, good enough for the table. Painting up next. Look, are those wheels right or not?

Trumpeter T-55 BTU Pt:5 Completed

I made the final push on this little beauty from Trumpeter today but was piped at the post by Rich at http://westmodelsandfigures.blogspot.com/2011/08/trumpeter-croatian-t-55-build-172-pt3.html . He's created quite a little ripper.

I added decals from a old Fujimi T34 kit and carried out some touch up painting, then a wash and some light weathering.

I cut down some old M48 tracks to try and get them to look like the T55/54 series tracks and added them on the running board of the hull.

Some light 'scaring' of the dozer blade was applied. I have not seen any shots taken in the field of these BTU-55 blade so it was hit and miss for this.

It is a shame that the AAMG mount is not included, that really would have made the kit.

I lost my home built gun cleaning rod tube in the garden, after letting the paint dry in the sun, it is green etc and blends too well with the grass.

Some minor wear and tear around the loader and commanders hatch. The layers of paint seem to give the turret a cast look.

I decided not to mess with the fuel drum seams after all, it is for war gaming.

Another set of converted track links.

I would have added a Jerri can or two, but did not have one good enough to spare.

I really like the log, his twig has been in the spares box for about seven years!

Probably my most enjoyable build this year, and my first Trumpeter build. The extra money is well worth it and having Rich to spur me on really made me work for the result.

Cheers Rich.

Simple Things Amuse Simple Minds

After a weekend away with Mrs Plastic Warrior, she made highlight that my toothbrush was not really suited for and it was not desirable to be rolling around in my ditty bag. So at the supermarket she purchased a toothbrush case for safe and hygienic storage of the a fore mentioned device.

I too was rapt as I now have a perfect storage solution for my paint brushes!

Trumpeter T-55 BTU Pt:4 Painting Starts

With the main construction complete I started yesterday before drinks on the painting. First up a Flat Black for the primer.

Then a Olive Drab Number 2 for the Soviet Field Green. Thankfully for me the sun has been out so the paint texture was hassle free.

Since the main painting was complete, I then saw no reason not to add the anti ditching log with super glue. I sourced the log (twig) from the garden. Hopefully I am still on track with this as Rich is closing in. As mentioned by Rich, the aux fuel drums do have a nasty line where they are joined together, my application of putty was too light on this side to hide it, so I may try again.

Model on!