1/35 trumpeter C1 Ariete

Folks, this was my first attempt at Trumpeter kit and really enjoyed the experience. most of the fit was good, only a small amount of green putty needed. The first thing I look at when opening the box is to look at the barrel and then the tracks. I decided to use a turned barrel from RB models and Bronco Models workable track links (this is a kit in itself). The kit ones were poor at best. Other after market used were foil mirrors. Paints used were Tamiya and Vallejo acrylics, and the model was dusted with desert sand pigments
There was some flash to remove, no big deal though. The kit had to be painted in sections as there were a fair bit a clear parts and would of been very difficult to mask. The only real point of note was the workable tracks did not fit around the free wheel. I had to remove the inner teeth to get it to fit. Luckily it cannot be seen with the wheel faring's. Please feel free to leave comments.Hope you enjoy.

Thanks Leo

1/35 Jagdpanter Late Version

hi all,
It's been a while since my last post, but i feel it has been worth the wait. Recently completed  is my 1/35 Tamiya Jagdpanther Late Version. with vinyl treads. The overall build was good except for some filler when joining the two halves together, both front & rear. All paints are acrylic unless stated. I undercoated  with Tamiya, brown XF9, gave it a light salting and finished  the camouflage with Tamiya  XF60, XF61 and XF 64. Next I removed the salt to reveal some light rusting and did an all over with an oil wash of Burnt Siena.
A first for me so I was a bit apprehensive, I added some weathering in the form of mud. For this I added back yard dirt (it's summer here and I could scrape it quite fine) mixed with water and white glue. I thought it turned out ok, but tell me what you think. I added some further rust trails and finished with sone Vallejo Carbon Black dusting. finally finished with a clear flat coat to keep everything from rubbing off. I also added the soldier, but I recon I've buggered up the eyes. He looks pretty agro.

Aftermarket used - voyager barrel, aber photo etch grills and cleaning rod tube

hope you like and all comments welcome.

Thanks

leo

West German Leopard

This one is also just off the press.

This is the 1/35 Tamiya Leopard. another great kit and one I also enjoyed building. The only problem area was the front armour plating, it seemed a bit warped and needed to be clamped down and finished with some putty. I scratch built the 2 canisters at the rear of the turret as they weren't worth using. The barrel was not the best fit and needed alot of putty and sanding to get  a reasonable finish. Paints were all Tamiya acrylic, starting with an overall flat black, with the olive green final colour. I washed it with some oil paints, and finished with a light dusting of earth powders. The tracks were painted firstly in steel, then red brown, got a light sanding to expose some of the underneath steel and then washed with thinned down rust (testors). Let me know if it was too much. All comments welcome.

Heinkel HE 111 H6

Hi Everyone,

Just finished this one so it's hot off the press. 1/75 Hasegawa Heinkel HE 111 H-6. I really enjoyed building this craft. Most of it went together pretty well. The areas in question ( could of been my own mistakes) were the wing to fuselage fit, the undercarriage bomb bay. Anyway, I decided to finish it in dessert colours, All Tamiya acrylic paints, I used the AIMS decals collection part 2  - VG+ES Wk. Nr 4085, I also used the Eduard mask set as there was no way i would of attempted this kit if there were no masks for it.
this was my first attempt at pres-hading so I'm not sure how visible it is, I hand brushed a thinned down flat black, but i recon I will try airbrushing it next time.. The only scratch building I did was the pilot tube and i lost the fuel hose and had to scratch build one.
Overall i would recommend this kit with someone with a few kits under their belt. comments welcome

1/72 Airfix Beaufighter TFX Trench Art

Hello again,

I've been looking at this kit in my stash for quite a while now. I go to start it, think about what i need to do  and then I keep putting it away. Then one day I was surfing e-bay and came across some trench art aircraft when I had my light bulb moment. So here it is. I really should invest in a photo booth because it was real hard to get good photos with a metallic finish. By the way the aircraft was finished with Allclad Chrome. I will eventually mount it to a base and it will sit proudly on my work desk.

Thanks Leo`

1/48 Tamiya Dewoitine Tobruk de Torch

Greetings all,

I've been at it again. Here is my latest build for my local club challenge. This model will be going into the National Model Expo. 1/48 Tamiya Dewoitine D.520. What a pleasure to build this kit, everything went together easily, the only area i had issues with were the side windows. This was no fault of the kit, just my bad habits I suspect. The cockpit is pretty much stock with the exception of Eduard belts and I used aftermarket dials (decals) on the instrument panel. she was painted with ModelMaster enamels and the decals are from Iliad. They went down beautifully. I gave it a black water colour wash. First time I've done this and I think it turned out OK. I need more practice though. Any tips in this area would be appreciated. Finished off with ModelMaster Matt lacquer. Please post comments.

Cheers - Leo

Latest build Tamiya 1/35 Sturmgeschutz IV

Hi everyone,

Just finished this fun build of the  Tamiya 1/35 Sturmgeschutz IV. The only aftermarket bit is the barrel, when looking at the kit one, the choice was obvious. I also scratch built the tow cable at the rear with fishing wire. The antennas were made from stretched sprue. Probably the only thing I didn't like were the one piece tracks. Although they fit well, It was pretty hard to get the seam marks off. Otherwise everything went well together. Tamiya paints were my preferred option with an undercoat of red brown followed by desert yellow. I painted the interior flat white.  I tried the salt effect and I thought this turned out pretty good. The model was finished with oil paint washes and powders. I recon I over did the weathering and will probably tone it down for the next build. Please tell me what you think.

Till the next build.

Cheers - Leo