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1

Showcase & Gallery / Re: The Great Crusade

« on: September 05, 2021, 01:11:10 am »

BARV

Sherman BARV by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

Sherman BARV by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

It’s starting to get there I think.

2

Showcase & Gallery / Re: The Great Crusade

« on: August 28, 2021, 05:01:30 am »

State of play of the two ARVs

Sherman recovery tank progress by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

3

Showcase & Gallery / Re: The Great Crusade

« on: August 25, 2021, 02:59:26 am »

Adeline II by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

4

Showcase & Gallery / Re: The Great Crusade

« on: August 25, 2021, 02:57:59 am »

Over on the Facebook group, the ARV attracted some scorn for its lack of gun.

So, here’s the M4A1, built almost entirely OOB, although I have modified the pistol port as it seems to have been welded shut on the real thing.

Adeline II by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

I’ve also removed one of the left hand road wheels, to reflect the damage Adeline II suffered on Omaha beach - in the photos the tank is being towed by an M31 (another great potential model for Rubicon to consider!) with the damaged suspension chained up.

Adeline II by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

5

Showcase & Gallery / Re: The Great Crusade

« on: August 24, 2021, 04:24:37 am »

Thank you.

Alongside the BARV I’m building an ARV mk I using your conversion kit, and it’s a fantastic set of castings.

Sherman ARV mk I by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

Unfortunately I realised after gluing the suspension that it’s the early type and not right for the M4A2, so it had to come off and will be replaced. I ought to buy a second set of castings to use on an M4A4, as they seem to have been more commonly used for the ARV, but this one is based on the photos of 13/18 Hussars on board an LCT.

The BARV got a witness coat of primer, which showed all the worst lumps and bumps - I’ve since wet sanded it which hopefully will improve things.

Untitled by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

6

Showcase & Gallery / Re: The Great Crusade

« on: August 20, 2021, 01:54:25 am »

Roof/deck is on:

BARV roof/deck by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

7

Showcase & Gallery / Re: The Great Crusade

« on: August 19, 2021, 01:42:57 am »

Now I have dimensioned drawings I have modified the BARV sides to add width and reduced the angle of the rear panel. The “snot” is sprue melted in liquid cement, which, when dry, gives a solid filler that largely behaves like kit plastic. Patience is key now, to let it all dry thoroughly before cleaning up.

Wider BARV by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

8

Showcase & Gallery / Re: The Great Crusade

« on: August 17, 2021, 02:31:37 am »

I ordered some cans online from, I think, Magister Militum, which although advertised as 1/56 were firmly 1/48 when they arrived. They might do at a pinch, but the scale ones are noticeably smaller.

I figure that if modelling stacked cans as a load or scenic feature, I can use the Rubicon ones on the lower levels and save these for where the handles will be visible. On one of the Jeeps I tried scribing handles but it was hard work and not particularly successful.

The BARV is really a bit of fun, I like oddball vehicles and it’s a chance to challenge myself. No doubt as soon as it’s finished someone will market a resin one that would have saved me the effort

9

Showcase & Gallery / Re: The Great Crusade

« on: August 16, 2021, 11:03:22 pm »

I’ve been amusing myself trying to scratchbuild a BARV. The real thing used an M4A2 chassis so that was a fair starting point.

BARV by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

Progress has slowed due to the last day of the school holidays (never easy with an autistic child) but also because I don’t have dimensioned drawings to work from. I’m waiting for the Bradford book of drawings to arrive and in the meantime have been messing about with the interior. I doubt much of this will be visible, but it’s fun to do and I’ll know it’s there. Inspiration came from http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/showthread.php?t=21391 which gave me something to aim for.

BARV by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

The turret inner ring is from a repurposed coke bottle (the ring the cap breaks away from) and where the commanders deck is indented, steps led down to the crawl space to the drivers seat.

BARV by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

A blast of white paint brings it all together, I have some plastruct ladders on order which will do both for inside and hopefully also for the hull rear.

BARV by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

Meanwhile, I’ve been tackling one of the very few disappointing parts of the Rubicon kits, the jerrycans with their solid handles a bit like 1970s Tamiya. Fortunately good quality and reasonably priced replacements are available on eBay- the WD/German style cans are from Garner 3D printing, while the US style cans are from Zona 72 in Spain. No connection with either firm other than as a satisfied customer.

1/56 Jerrycans by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

1/56 Jerrycans by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

I’ll cheerfully remove these photos if anyone objects to my showing an alternative manufacturer. I hope that Rubicon will redraw/retool their jerrycans to bring them up to the standard of the rest of the range.

10

Showcase & Gallery / Re: The Great Crusade

« on: August 12, 2021, 01:40:25 am »

Tracks may yet get his wish, however I’m not giving up just yet.

Time to experiment.

Original Humbrol 29 Dark Earth

Austin Tilly by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

replacement Tamiya NATO Brown

Resprayed Tilly by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

The tilt colour is unchanged.

Tests on the paint mule:

Paint tests for SCC2 Brown by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

The darker colour is a 1:1 mix of Humbrol 10 and 29 - Service Brown and Dark Earth. The paler colour is Model Air 71.038 Camouflage Medium Brown

I then brushed a thin coat of the 10/29 mix on the front half of the Tilly, I think this will work.

Paint tests for SCC2 Brown by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

To my eyes this has taken away the reddish tone (compared to the rear body) and brought it back into the “drab” realm. A second thin coat once this is dry should prove it.

11

Showcase & Gallery / Re: The Great Crusade

« on: August 11, 2021, 03:15:17 am »

Not convinced the new colour is any better. Might settle for green if I can’t make this look ok.

Resprayed Tilly by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

12

Showcase & Gallery / Re: The Great Crusade

« on: August 09, 2021, 11:46:09 pm »

I’ve taken the plunge and stripped the paint from the Tilly. No photos as paint stripping is only marginally more exciting than paint drying.

13

General Discussions / Re: Ben Hur trailer

« on: August 08, 2021, 05:04:21 am »

I think this is a good shout, fairly sure I’ve seen them behind other vehicles too (the M32B1 perhaps) and they would also work for the Vietnam era trucks when they arrive.

14

Showcase & Gallery / Re: The Great Crusade

« on: August 08, 2021, 04:25:13 am »

Lack of updates due to a hasty (and now much regretted) bulk glazing session using Kristal Klear. While it worked well on the Beetle, I tried to get too clever doing the WW2 models, and applied it too thinly, with the result some parts dried much quicker than others, leading to nastily uneven windows, which looked terrible. Unfortunately, while fairly easy to apply, it turns out Kristal Klear is the very devil to remove, so most of the past two days have been spent picking rubbery glazing off models. Not recommended.

15

Showcase & Gallery / Re: The Great Crusade

« on: August 06, 2021, 03:12:34 am »

A change of pace this evening, two Jeeps, one US Army recon, built straight out of the box; the other British (no marker lamps in grill, no blackout lamp on fender, no rifle rack on windscreen and the rear Jerry can replaced with a WD pattern one - which will look better once painted so the filler disappears).