M41 Walker Bulldog

An M41 Walker Bulldog. This one with extra stowage and weathering. Not quite finished (wheels too clean) but I've reached that "let's move on " stage.

M3 Stuart (American)

M3 Stuart (Canadian)

The M3 Stuart kit made up as Canadian, extra stowage, fuel drum and customised additional side armour.

Panther tank

And here's the finished model!

Farmyard

I made this 1/35 scale farmyard diorama from scratch for a Panther tank scene.  The walls are plaster of Paris, the gates are made from McDonalds stirring sticks, the cobbles are lentils!  It was great fun to make, and I enjoyed adding the small details of the ruined cart, milk churn, barrels and the cat!

Churchill

This 1/35 scale Churchill tank has been set in a French street scene.  Two German soldiers surrendering, a French farmer offers the liberating troops some wine, whilst a soldier gets his daughter's address!

The tank was made "as is" with very little of my usual additions apart from some weathering and a little damage.  It was more of the scene I wanted to capture with this one.

SAS Jeep Revisited

It's funny how opinions change, how something might seem well made and well detailed one day - can become drab and poor quality later.  This is one such project.

When I made this I was really happy with it, to me the detail was great - but as time has passed and my skills have improved, I look back on this now and see all the flaws.

The tarps and scrim nets - I didn't want to use the ones that came with the kit, so I made up some using car filler instead. (I used the originals, pressed into playdoh to form a mould - which I filled with filler).

The detail in the painting is shoddy.  Rough, unrefined.  I rushed this model, and it shows when you examine it close up.

Today I opened a new kit - spread the parts across my work bench, put on my glasses and started to study the instructions - but there was a nagging voice in the back of my head that told me to revisit this model before I start something new.

Now, I tend to rush my models - I start off full of good intentions, lots of attention to detail, keen - but as the project moves forward I then get (no, not bored) restless.  I want it finished, I want it published.  I'm almost thinking about the next kit.

So.  I pulled this one out of the box I had hidden it away in the day before.

I also had this stashed away...

It's a cut and shut, a made up vehicle - front end jeep, back end double axle flatbed.

But because it's not authentic, I don't like it - so I have stripped every useful part off of it, and threw away the carcass.  The stowage I have set aside to use on my SAS remodel.

So, check back in a few days time to see what might grow from the pile of bits that now litter, strewn in tiny piles, across my workbench.

19th April 2014

Update...

So, having stripped down both models, discarding the botched up chassis and damaged parts, I'm left with all the parts above.  I rubbed down all the paintwork on the jeep, revealing some of the olive drab undercoat.  I also stripped off as much paintwork off the figures ready to repaint.

Then, after adding back some of the stowage I'm left with this...

...and below is the finished remodel.