The Great Crusade

[06/24]

So the two Bedfords are ready for paint, currently drying after a bath in soapy water as the ABS can be a bit slippery (presumably residual mould release agent).
 
I’ve only made two additions, the quarter light frames (0.5mm square Evergreen strip) and a back for the stowage box under the QLT.

Bedford QL trucks by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

Bedford QL trucks by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr
 
Everything is only dry fitted in the photos, so please excuse any wonky edges.

[06/24]

I’ve renamed the thread to reflect the broader D-day/Normandy/Liberation of France nature of the contents, the quote comes from Eisenhower’s order of the day on June 6th, 1944:

“You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hope and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.”

[06/24]

Ok be gentle, my first attempt at Mickey Mouse using aerosols, will need tidying up with a brush or Gundam panel line marker. Looks ok I hope. The “British” OD is Halfords Camo Green - the tilt covers are Humbrol 155 ODZ, so you can see the contrast, the Halfords colour being darker
 
Bedford QLs by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

Bedford QLs by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

And the plain green QLD

Bedford QLs by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

Bedford QLs by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

[06/24]

I’m beginning to wonder about repainting the Tilly. I used “Dark Earth” knowing it to be too light for SCC2 Brown,, I’d hoped it would look ok, but I’m starting to think I’ll do a mix per Mike Starmer with 98 Chocolate and 29 Dark earth, in 5:4 proportions, or there are ready mixed colours available, but I don’t know if any of the acrylics are considered a good match. I’ve ordered another QLD to do with the tilt frame exposed, and might paint it SCC2, and repaint the Tilly at the same time. Could do a British Jeep at the same time, make a brown trio. I think the change to SCC15 was authorised a couple of months before D-Day, so I suspect repainting existing second line vehicles would not have been a priority.

[06/24]

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).

Jeeps by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

Jeeps by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

Jeeps by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

Finally a reference photo I took a few years back, to show what I should be aiming for with the SCC2 brown.

Jeeps by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

[06/24]

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.

[06/24]

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.

[06/24]

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

Resprayed Tilly by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

[Tracks]

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

My vote is for British Green.

[06/24]

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.

[06/24]

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

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.

[ripley]

Nice work on the BARV .  Never thought I'ld see anyone attempt one in 1/56 . Those look like nice gas cans , I've been using Tamiya 1/48 scale ones . Not the best size wise for the mounts on vehicles , but they look good as cargo and assorted scatter

[06/24]

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 

[06/24]

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

Wider BARV by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

[06/24]

Roof/deck is on:

BARV roof/deck by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr