Thursday 25 August 2011

CP MODELS TQD Castings 1980's British soldiers 1/72, 100TH POST!!!!

 Hello all,
On my 100th post on the blog,
A dream has come true!!!!At last the mythical TQD castings Falklands Brit's have been re-cast AND are for sale.
They are now available from the great Mark at CP models miniatures,
The come with spare heads berets, caps or helmets depending on the set.They are labeled  as 1980's but we all know where they are clothed for!
You even get separate Bergen's for some of the blokes,  which I might have to see if I can come to some arrangement to get some on their own for stowage on my Airfix Scorpion.
I already have my sets put by ready for pay day.I have to say they look the nuts, I can only hope that there is some Argentine forces to go with them.
For my 100th post it has made me a very,very happy man.
I would like to thank all those follower's that can be bothered to read the rantings of a dodgy painter and even iffier model maker, I promise to try and improve,and up the standard a bit more.

Cheers Rich.

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Monday 22 August 2011

Valdemar Medieval casualty 1/72.

Hello all,

This is from a duel on Benno's with the great Paul from
Paul's bods, and his man the "Arrow catcher".
Cheers for the duel Paul I am slowly catching up!

Another one of Alex's stunning figures from the Valdemar stables.They are a bit pricey but well worth the money.
The base was a simple affair.A load of Vallejo dark mud effect smeared over one of the million MDF base's I picked up dirt cheap.
Once it nearly dried I pushed the fallen knight into the mud to make it look a bit more natural, then sitting on top.
Then my wife told me afterwards that the way I placed the grass around the bloke didn't look right!
The grass is from silfor tufts and some loose static grass for the trod down look (cheers to Paul for that tip from another dio).
The figure was painted using the good old Vallejo model colour and Vallejo washes.The armour was dry brushed and filed to bring back the original metal of the figure.I know it's cheating a bit but you can't beat real metal.The sword still looks a little to clean for my liking but it's to late now.I would like to thank Paul again for the duel, I don't think people realised how much work went into the conversion on yours mate.Till the next time!
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Cheers for looking,    Rich.

Saturday 20 August 2011

Trumpeter Croatian T-55 Build 1/72. pt3, Finished!

Hello all,

Well they don't call me two post's Rich for nothing!!!!
Really, they don't!
Sorry Paul, the wheather worked out for a change.
 I went a little mad with the weathering Pigment on this one as you can tell.Once you start it's very hard to stop.

The base is crap,there is no other word for it.I tried using woodland scenic burnt grass, but I think I will keep using silfor grass tufts.
 I have to say I am really chuffed with Trumpeter kits and intend to get a lot more of them.Very well moulded and nicley detailed.

The decals have came out nicley but I think I could be being a bit to clever.I have been using microsolve and think it might be worth just trying them on there own.

Well Paul, I hope you had as much fun building this model as I have.Really glad I got off my arse and did this kit, because they do a nice line in USMC LAV's that will get my attention.I might even shell out on the "Black dog" stowage set  for them.
PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGES FOR A LARGER VIEW AND ANY COMMENTS OR TIPS MORE THAN WELCOME.

Cheers for looking,  Rich.

Trumpeter Croatian T-55 Build 1/72. pt2.

Hello all,

Well this is how far I have got with this build of a Croatian T-55.
The three main bit are built, the turret, the chassis and body are now finished.
The turret has been the hardest part of the build so far with the smallest most fiddliest bits to put on in the world.
The little hooks by the side bars have been a pain in the arse.You get six in the kit and only need four.I lost two and a third one went over the hill for half and hour.
The metal gun went on better than I thought with the aid of my old Nemesis "Loctite"!!!!!
 All three section's put together for a dry fitting to see how good it looks.And to make sure I haven't cocked it up in a massive scale.
Like Pauls the fuel drum lines are still a problem!!!!
I have tried to get the "track sag" look like Paul did using Super glue.
The first one didn't quite work as well, but practice makes perfect and the other side worked better.
That was due to me using my fat fingers to hold the tracks down, and also why I could take pictures of it either.
The build has cost me my airbrush!!!!!It died this morning due to my sausage fingers over tightening the thread on the needle and it sheared off.Sod's law just when I am getting used to it.Never mind some over time will hopefully pay for a new Harder and steenbeck airbrush.
I used Vallejo Russian primer and model air Russian green for the main colour.

I have finished this build and I am waiting for some descent light to take the final pictures.

PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGES FOR A LARGER VIEW AND ANY COMMENTS OR TIP MORE THAN WELCOME.

Cheers for looking,   Rich.

Thursday 18 August 2011

Trumpeter Croatian T-55 Build 1/72.

Hello all,

Yes I know it say's Russian on the box but I wanted to try a Balkans war model.So after a weekend away in the city of dreaming spires they call Oxford,wondering around the beautiful building of history and learning,and to be honest feeling a little bit thicker than normal.I have started a tanden build with Paul from,Plastic warriors blog,
 ,Check out Pauls progress, he's like the bloody Usain Bolt of the modelling world,I will never be able keep up!!!!!
 I have to say this is a cracking model!!!It is the first Trumpeter model I have built and so far it is going together like a dream.
The chassis is done ready for spraying,when I have done the base coat second coat and painted the road wheels I will try the tracks.
I like the way Paul has givien his "Track sag" which I think makes a build.He has also done very simply as wel,top man sir!!!
The top  of the body of the tank took a very short time to build and looks great.Went together very nicley again, even the holes that I had to drill out seemed to work.
I will spray this on its own as well and give a final coat when joined.
A quick dry fit to make sure that I have not cocked it up on a massive scale.The external fuel tanks have seams running through the sides and I rather laziely tried to get round this by pouring a load of glue in it and hoping it would level it out.I doubt it will work but you never know.
I bought some  metal tank gun barrels on EBay for about £2 to jazz it up a bit, but to be honest this models gun is very good.Now seam mark on the gun and the end is hollow as well!
A better view of the barrel to show the end.I have the barrel now and will use it because it is still better than the plastic one but time and paint will tell.
This is the sheet of Bison decals Iam going to use for this build.I like the Croatain decals and give a bit of colour to an otherwise drab camo scheme.
You get a shed load of optains about 30 odd different AFV's worth of decals, so my T-72 and one or two Pegasus T-34/85's will get an outing.
The bottom scheme is the one I am going o try and I hope to have this bad boy finished by the weekend with any luck and if the good lady wife les me!
I have got to get a .50 cal MG for the tank which was a surprise for me.

PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGES FOR A LARGER VIEW AND ANY HELP,POINTERS COMMENTS OR TIPS MORE THAN WELCOME!

Cheers for looking,   Rich.

Thursday 11 August 2011

Long range desert group patrol at rest 1/72, WIP PT3.

Hello all,

Some more blokes reporting for NAAFI break!
I have been enjoying getting some numbers knocked for a change.It normally takes me for ever to paint one figure.
 A back shot of the blokes.
 I need to paint the radio and attach some twisted wire's to the headphones, speaker's and hand set, which should be fun!
 I tried to paint a band around the Beret but I am not sure it looks right on this one.
 This bloke looks very relaxed for a man deep behind enemy lines.
The tunic is a bit German looking for my liking but I will let it go this time.
 Buttons have been painted on the jackets this time which is a job I rarely do.The goggles have not quite worked how I planned, but how do you paint them?
Do you paint them the colour that they are meant to be underneath or paint them a shinny colour?
 Again a side shot of laughing boy,all he is missing is suntan lotion.The usual Vallejo Iraqi sand and burnt umber wash has worked again, with a little weathering powder.
Finally a group shot of the boy's together, I might add a few more troops to the final dio but I will see.I do need a bloke or two on stag so that's next.

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Cheers for looking,   Rich.

Monday 8 August 2011

Long range desert group patrol at rest 1/72, WIP PT2.

Hello all,

Not a lot to say about these so I wont waffle on like I normally do.
I have painted 5 now and 4 more to go.I now have my second set of Revell/Matchbox LRDG set so that is now in the pipe line.But it will have to wait for my T-55 build to start (if your reading this Paul).
The usual Vallejo Iraqi sand for the trousers and leather brown for the waist coat, flat flesh and a bloody good wash with burnt umber, with a good dusting of Tamiya weathering powder for good measure.
3/4's of an hour to paint all three!





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Cheers for looking,    Rich.

Sunday 7 August 2011

Spanish civil war Condor legion panzer I and crewman 1/72.

Hello all,

This has been a long time coming, from the point of planning, info gathering, buying and getting off my arse and doing!
I hope you like it.
I have been on about doing a Spanish civil war dio for ages,but found that there are virtually no descent SCW figures in 20mm,1/72 on the market.There might be a few metal war gaming figures but none that I know of.
The Panzer I is from Italeri and was spotted in a local shop, I always wanted a MKI panzer and this ticked both boxes.I keep saying I will get another one when I post things but this I will because I learnt a few lesson's on this job.One being I hate link tracks!
 The stowage for the tank is from SGTS MESS  range of bit's and the straps are made from green stuff.I was tired of putting stowage on and not strapping it down, it didn't look right.
The only real problem I had apart from the tracks was the gun barrels lost their ends on the spruce when removing and the side panel didn't quite fit snugly in the hole.
The decals went on like a dream and I have to say I like Italeri decals, they work and don't shine.
The Panzer was airbrushed with a coat of Russian green primer and then with Vallejo model air gunship green.I am getting the hang of airbrushing so on to camouflage next!
The whole tank was then given a good wash with burnt umber and the pencil came out for some quick wear and tear on the edges of the tank and hatches.
 The figure is from Caesar's Panzer crew set.A knife came out and removed the blokes hat and was given a new Beret with green stuff.
I copied this fellow straight from the front cover of the Osprey Condor legion book.
I used Vallejo Iraqi sand and gave it a good wash with burnt umber.I washed the face with umber as well instead of flesh and I think it has came out better.
The base is the same one I used for a duel with Paul, the one with the two pissed medieval blokes.
I am running out of space in my second bedroom and it is dictating my modelling at the moment, I fear I will have to swap rooms with my son and put up some shelves.

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Cheers for looking,   Rich.