Various WIP

[ripley]

Hopefully in the next stowage sets we get identifiable  ammo boxes ( 25 pounder , etc )

Finished the CMP with crew , decals and a light wash . I added decals to make it a vehicle of the 8th Field Squadron Royal Canadian Engineers  ( 41 on light blue ) , 4th Canadian Armored Brigade ( maple leaf on green ). All 4 of my Canadian vehicles are marked for the 4th CAB





I added the exhaust pipe ( circled in red ) and a muffler which were missing from the kit

Also painted the outside row of wheel nuts red on the 2 piece rims(  if you loosened these with air in the tire it could blow apart and kill you )  , although my lousy camera work doesn't show it

The real deal for clarity . Still have to add a tow cable to the front bumper bar when I find one the right size

[Ballardian]

 Cool diorama, nicely done

[ripley]

Thanks

[ripley]

Checking out the net for inspiration on my next project , the  Char B1 bis . I want to build it as a knocked out / abandoned  French vehicle , so I'm gathering pictures of damaged vehicles and internal views





Lots of good stuff out there on the  www,chars-francais.net site . They seem to have pictures of all 365 of these that were built , although all info is in French .

Lots of interesting paint schemes to choose from ...



Unlike the bland OD color with white stars of the Sherman , each Char B was an individual with its own markings , name and color scheme , so hopefully I'll find enough info on the French names  the decal sheet supplies . If not I'll have to build a German flame thrower  version , while a much cooler weapon IMO , its got a much blander paint scheme

[Captain Blood]

Very tidy job on the CMP truck.

Yes, WW2 French AFV camo schemes are completely nuts and seemingly endless in variation of colours and patterns. Tres Gallic 

[ripley]

Looking at some of the color prints of French tanks ,  the Char B  schemes were rather boring compared to the smaller Renault and Hotchkiss tanks . Some of those had 5 or 6 colors , including PURPLE !!!

[ripley]

Just some info on the CMP I've found since I've finished the kit . The window flap on the doors was plastic / canvas attached to the plastic window insert . If the window is removed ( stored in bag on cab rear wall ) , there should be nothing in window frame .







So , if you don't add the window "glass " remove the flap . It's kind  of hard to do once the kit is built , so I'm going to leave it be , but the next one I'll get right . ALSO , note placement of pick handle and head on truck box

[ripley]

Now an update on my Char B  build . I wanted to have the rear sprocket bare of track , but there is minimal teeth detail and making a double row of plastic  sprocket teeth is not something I want to spend time on . Although ,I seen steam punk detail parts ,  ( a bag of various size sprockets ) , that with a lot of filing and sanding (  lots ! ) could be made to work . Might have to get some for a future build .



As the front idler wheel is molded to side panel , replacing it is going to be a pain , so I added a little detail to simulate the rims . It probably won't be seen once the track is added but just in case






I've also made a few castings of the crew side door by pressing it into plasterscene . Looking at how the kit is molded I figure I'm going to ruin the plastic door cutting it out , so better safe than sorry right ?

[ultravanillasmurf]

That is dedication.

Nice work.

[ripley]

LOL , sometimes I think its a little bit of stupidity not dedication . But , I do like having a unique vehicle that no one else has . A lot of guys I know just build straight out of the box , no removing or adding parts to make it more realistic , which , to me is boring . I do like a bit of a challenge , something to get my creative juices flowing like this build . I want to add some detail that  , I assume ( hope ) will be seen through the open side door

On the left ( red ) is a large vertical spring with MG ammo drums mounted on the inside surface , then there is a vertical 75mm ammo rack ( blue ) on the right side . Here's a picture of some unknown persons 1/6 scale scratch build from google

And here is the same modeler's crew door , a little more detail than I'm going to add , his looks like it actually locks the door !

Got 2 ideas for the spring as I have nothing like it in the parts box . 1. use a spring from a ball point pen , cut to length , 2. wrap the central post tightly in heavy thread to simulate the springs coils . Number 2 is probably easier as the thread and plastic core are easy to cut to length as apposed to the metal spring . Here goes nothing ...

[ripley]

I managed to cut the side door open without much trouble . I decided to use the thread wrapped "spring " adding a top plate and some stiffening rods and nuts on the top , of course you can't see them once it's installed , BUT I know they're there . Still haven't got the ammo rack sorted , will keep trying .

Pictures show broken track in nice curly loops or bent in a mess , because of how the track is cast I went for the mess version . Still not quite sure , so the various bits are still mostly tacked together , not glued . I will look at it again tomorrow and see if it still works for me

[ultravanillasmurf]

More nice work.

Does the track come as two halves or slightly more pieces, either way you have made it look like links.

[ripley]

The track is typical Warlord , 4 pieces , a top and bottom run with smaller ( 4-5 link ) pieces for front and rear section . The track is very simple , with no teeth  like  Matilda / Churchill track , and the track pads  overlap hiding the join unlike say Tiger / KV track , so its easy to make straight  cuts as opposed to trying to notch out the interlocking bits of  the Tiger / KV  track . 

[ripley]

More work on the Char B . I added a machine gun and 47mm breech to the turret ,  a couple of squares  of plastic to represent the side vision blocks and the turret traverse wheel . Except for some padding ( turret race / roof ) that's all that's in the turret , and you can barely see any of it



 I also added internal working to the side crew door , not exact but enough to look the part .

I used this 1/6 scale model WIP as my pattern .Wish I could find out if he completed this tank

If you look close you can see that his door latches will actually work …..wow !

[ultravanillasmurf]

Inspiring work.