Academy Patton...Finished

[fightnjoe]

Well folks how about an aircraft guy changing direction just a tad and including armor in his build list.

I know I have built a few armor kits but I have been presented an opportunity and I am going to wander that way.

First up is this, The Panzer Page on Facebook is hosting The Dan Jayne Memorial Tribute Build 2017 edition. I have entered with this...



First up is a quick shot of whats in the box....



Didn't take long at all to start it up. First step, road wheels. Cleaned up and now done. Second step, begin to detail the lower hull.





Next up is more for the lower hull and hopefully soon.

I have not given up on aircraft but cannot pass up an opportunity.


All comments, critique, and criticism are encouraged.



Joe

[fightnjoe]

Time to update.

Time was spent working the details to the lower hull. So far so good. The wheels and the return rollers are ready to go but left off the hull to accommodate painting. This puts me through step four in the instructions.








Next up is the upper hull.


All comments, critique, and criticism are encouraged.




Joe

[privatepete]

Hi Joe nice clean start, good luck with your build

[arkbuilder2012]

Off to a great start. Will follow this one since I'm planning on doing one as well.

[fightnjoe]

Many many thanks.



Joe

[fightnjoe]

A bit of a double update tonight. I had planned on just the update for the upper hull but work on the turret proceeded very quickly. In fact that completed the "construction" phase. Under ten hours total.

The detail went on without issue, well other than the parts I had to take off and redo because of builder error. No tweezer pults, no carpet monster attacks. Easy peazy as some would say.

Pictures.

Upper hull








And then on to the turret.









Like I said pretty simple construction on this one. Of course it was out of the box and the only things that I modified were the cables to the headlights and the rear antenna on the turret has a wire wrapped as I sanded out the previous detail. The main gun was two pieces and there is a bit of a warp but I have gotten it better than it was.

Painting can commence.


All comment, critique, and criticism are encouraged.




Joe

[fightnjoe]

Moving right along on this it is time for painting.

Up to this point not much was for sure on this build. I knew I wanted to build it so I could tackle the cammo. As I feel that is one of the major weaknesses I have in this hobby I wanted to challenge myself. Once the construction was finished some choices were needed. Just how did I want to portray this subject. It did not take long for the thought process to hone onto the choice. Something like a gate guard. Weathered but not too much. Still standing proudly as a reminder of its service.

I just had to go for it.


First was to present in that fashion I needed to try to get a handle on something I had failed with multiple times. Paint chipping. My other attempts ended with failure to get it right and substituting some other technique to get a worn look.

First is the rust, how? I sprayed Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer and then mixed in Testor Light Tan to highlight.





I let this dry overnight.

Now is the tricky part. This is where the failures of the past haunted me. I applied hairspray over the entire surface, or so I thought. I let this dry and then began the cammo pattern. The overall coat of Vallejo Olive Drab Primer was first. The instructions called for Khaki but the only one I had in the paint supply was badly neglected and had dried to a point of unusable. I went with the second choice. Gunze Sanyo Dark Earth provided the brown. Tamiya Buff and Apple Barrel (Walmart craft water based Acrylic) were used as well.

Once each dried to the touch I began the next. Everything I had seen on this method said to work on the chipping before the paint fully cured. With that in mind I waited until all the paints were dry to the touch and then out came the water and brushes for the chipping.















Currently she sits drying from the gloss coat. I plan to begin oil work once that dries.

Now lets critique a bit. I do not like the paint work. I rushed through the steps and did a poor job with it. I went freehand with the cammo and to be honest it only resembles the instruction call outs vaguely. I am pretty happy with the chipping though. I tried to keep a light approach and kept the chips and paint peeling to areas that would have seen wear and tear and where rust would naturally occur.

All comments, critiques, and criticism are requested.



Joe

[arkbuilder2012]

I think it looks great as is. Let it sit for a few days and come back to it. You may see it in a different light.

[OneSmallStep1966]

That's looking great, very nice hairspray chipping too

[SergioSolo]

Love the low contrast between the paint and the chips. Great job!

[fightnjoe]

Many thanks.

On another site some information was shared that shows the hull and turret do not chip or rust as I portray. I went back and cleaned it up a bit. Soon on to the oils.


Joe

[GollyPo]

I agree with Sergio, the contrast on the chipping is great. I like it when the chipping doesn't look too recent or like it all happened at once. I like the camo, too.

[fightnjoe]

Many many thanks.



Joe

[fightnjoe]

Well folks here we go again.

Warning, the pictures for the most part do not show the actual colors portrayed. The pictures show a much "warmer" tone or yellowish tint.

Now for the not so regular update.

Using oils the process of weathering begins. Several different oils are used to show the streaks. There are so far three separate sessions dedicated to this attempt. To be honest the results are not matching up to the intent.














As you can see the pictures do not do me any favors.

However now I believe I have taken the streaking as far as I should and can move on to the next stage.


All comments, critiques, and criticism are requested.



Joe

[schweinhund227]

nice work ! I love that M48 Engine deck !

[fightnjoe]

Many many thanks.



Joe

[fightnjoe]

Well she is finished. At least I am going to call her finished. I did not add the antenna as my logic told me there were some things that would have been removed prior to installation as a gate guard. I am happy with the way this looks as in the last 37 years I have done only a dozen or so armor vehicles. Honestly not up to par with some of the work I have seen online but for this old aircraft builder it looks decent and portrays what I want.

Again this is the Academy M48A5K, or at least that is what it says on the box. The paints are Vellejo US Olive Drab, Gunze (I think) Dark Earth, Apple Barrel (Craft Paint) Black, Tamiya Buff, and Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer. Built OOB.















All comments, critique, and criticism requested.


Joe

[Topcat]

Superb photos, nice.

[fightnjoe]

Many thanks.



Joe