ElCapitan's AFV Club 1/35 Valentine Mk.III w/ Rotatrailer

[ElCapitan]

Welcome to the build thread for this lovely looking Valentine Mk.III kit from AFV Club. I saw this on eBay and somehow managed to win it with 2 seconds to go on the auction.

Box art looks nice.



And inside? A printout of the box art!



And some nicely packed sprues, including a nice metal gun barrel.





There are four paint schemes to choose from, although strangely the one on the box is not included which I find a bit disappointing - I was hoping to do a British desert camo scheme, but the only british ones on here are green.





Instructions look fairly clear - I've never built anything by this company, so I'll need to get used to their style of instructions.



Hoping to get this started in the next couple of days, so expect an update soon!

[BigWall]

Very cool!

[RangerNeil]

First sight - that looks an impressive kit. I'm looking forwards to this build.

[digger303]

Sniped the auction well to get a nice looking prize. Looking forward to see this come together.

[Hawkmoon]

Nice result and you will enjoy this kit. AFV are known for the extra detail they put on [as long as its one of there own and not a rebox]

[ElCapitan]

I've actually managed to make a start on this already - found some time in my lunch hour.

The first step is counting rivets - no joke!



Once I made sure there were the correct number I carried on with the hull. The fit on these parts is not great at all, and the instructions don't make it totally clear how they should join in places. I can see a few places that'll need filler already, and I've never had to use filler on any of my other armour builds.



Still, something to do I guess.

[ElCapitan]

I've continued putting the hull together over the last few days and despite a few more pieces not fitting as nicely as I'd have liked, I'm making decent progress. The rear hatch doors were particularly bad - each one made up of 11 parts!





Then I started work on the workable suspension, which was very fiddly and doesn't feel especially strong - I'm sure that'll be fine once the tracks are on.



And finally the wheels - each one made up of 4 parts.



Starting to take shape!

[digger303]

Interesting suspension system

[ElCapitan]

So far today I've managed to get the side bits on - what are those actually called? - and a bunch of the greeblies.

[Donkeywalloper]

Lovely work so far, settling in for a right good build.
DW

[Stokesy44]

Cracking build so far. Liking all the detail.

[ElCapitan]

Thanks guys!

Speaking of detail, this kit comes with a really nice radio and other details for inside the turret. I'm going to be closing the hatches though, so those parts will be going in my spares box.



I'll actually be starting on the turret next, as I've got the hull and most of its detailing finished. I do still need to add the spare tracks and the exhaust, as they'll be easier to paint and weather separately.



Thanks for stopping by

[SMAddict66]

Looking good so far

I’ve grabbed a chair and I’m along for the ride.

[ElCapitan]

Just like that, the turret is finished! A couple of fit issues with the gun, but a bit of filing sorted that out.



And here's something I've never come across before - separate nuts. Why not just mould them on?



Finally test fitted it on the hull. Looks like a tank to me!

[robwuk]

nice progress... and yes extra bolt heads I have seen on a couple of kits (and never used them)

[digger303]

Just about all built and that PE while not extensive just adds whats needed. I like the turret hatch detail that will pop with a wash.
The bolt heads wouldn't have looked as good if they molded them on. My AFV M5A1 Stuart had some like that where the bolt head had to be added to a recess.

[ElCapitan]

So, yesterday I posted an update about my progress on the rotatrailer, but it appears to have disappeared without a trace

Due to that, this post seems like a bit of a leap from the last one, as everything is now completely built and primed...







I like this part of the build, as all the glue marks are now gone, and everything is nice and clean and crisp looking.

Now I have a question - what colour am I supposed to paint this? The callout gives a few "Dark green" suggestions from Gunze, Humbrol and Lifecolor - none of which are very similar shades at all, so I've no idea which is most correct!

[digger303]

Never liked the truly dark green...doesn't seem right almost like painting everything black from the air and distance.

[ElCapitan]

Never liked the truly dark green...doesn't seem right almost like painting everything black from the air and distance.

Especially for a unit operating in Tunisia! It seems that there's no consensus on what colour they would have been, so I'm thinking that Tamiya Khaki Drab might be a good option for some artistic license.

[BigWall]

It's looking great! Good luck with the paint.

[Tomcat64]

Bit late to this party but just caught up on the build so far - that's gone together really nicely Rob I'm wondering if they supplied the bolt-heads separately because they're not always used on different versions?

Looking forward to seeing it painted up

[ElCapitan]

I'm wondering if they supplied the bolt-heads separately because they're not always used on different versions?

Aye, maybe!

[ElCapitan]

Painting is done. I went with Khaki Drab and faded the top surfaces with a lightened mix of it too. I'm happy with the colour. Now I'm debating with myself whether to paint the red and white stripes or just use the decals...

[SMAddict66]

Nice work . Really like the modulation.

[BigWall]

The paint went down really nice. It's looking great!

[Hawkmoon]

Paint looks sweet and nice work

[aur0ra145]

Wow, that paint looks really good.

[RangerNeil]

For the desert - most likely Sand or Light Stone depending on the actual era. As a wee, wee, kid most of the paintwork in our house was Light Stone - this being what the old man got from the stores out in Palestine....

[digger303]

Not finished I know , but it does look perfect. Would guess there were any join issues/gaps and the like.

[ElCapitan]

For the desert - most likely Sand or Light Stone depending on the actual era. As a wee, wee, kid most of the paintwork in our house was Light Stone - this being what the old man got from the stores out in Palestine....

That's what I initially thought, but turns out Tunisia was different as there's more greenery than other battlegrounds of North Africa or something. A brownish colour was apparently used around 1943 when this unit was there, so this is an approximation of that.

[RangerNeil]

For the desert - most likely Sand or Light Stone depending on the actual era. As a wee, wee, kid most of the paintwork in our house was Light Stone - this being what the old man got from the stores out in Palestine....

That's what I initially thought, but turns out Tunisia was different as there's more greenery than other battlegrounds of North Africa or something. A brownish colour was apparently used around 1943 when this unit was there, so this is an approximation of that.

Makes sense, thanks for the explanation One of the things I really love about this forum is the opportunity to learn other than building techniques. My knowledge (such as it is ) is rooted in the Coldwar and Soviet helicopters so anything from other era's is fascinating.

[Tomcat64]

Really nice coverage and variation on that paint work Rob - that looks great

[Hawkmoon]

All looking good on the paint and sweet work. I read somewhere the roto-trailers only had a short service life as they tended to leak quite badly as the seals just wer'nt up to the job and ruining anything carryied.

[ElCapitan]

All looking good on the paint and sweet work. I read somewhere the roto-trailers only had a short service life as they tended to leak quite badly as the seals just wer'nt up to the job and ruining anything carryied.

That's right, and they were unsprung, so would jump around on the rocky terrain, often being damaged beyond repair and even flipping over without the crew noticing until miles afterwards.

[digger303]

All looking good on the paint and sweet work. I read somewhere the roto-trailers only had a short service life as they tended to leak quite badly as the seals just wer'nt up to the job and ruining anything carryied.

Also they limited the tanks maneuverability severely limiting the quick reverse.

[ElCapitan]

A coat of Aqua Gloss and decals are done - next I need to get a black pin wash for it and some sandy/dusty pigment of some sort. Recommendations welcome!

[digger303]

Looking very good even without the wash....

[Tomcat64]

That really is coming along nicely - MIG do a basic "Sand" coloured pigment which might be worth a look?

[ElCapitan]

That really is coming along nicely - MIG do a basic "Sand" coloured pigment which might be worth a look?

Sounds like the one for me! Thanks

[ElCapitan]

Tracks on and ready for weathering.

Those tracks were horrific. I prefer Tamiya vinyl tracks that you melt together. These require CA glue and just do not take to it. I'll need to have a close look and touch up all the areas where the paint flaked off due to all the handling and fiddling I had to do.

[digger303]

Tracks on and ready for weathering.

Those tracks were horrific. I prefer Tamiya vinyl tracks that you melt together. These require CA glue and just do not take to it. I'll need to have a close look and touch up all the areas where the paint flaked off due to all the handling and fiddling I had to do.

Smick kit.....not a fan of any one piece tracks for the reasons you mentioned and more. I recently had a AFV m5A1 tracks that I slightly stretched and you should have seen all the gaps,cracks and perishing that they had under gone . It looked like a Swiss cheese and I didn't stretch them very much...maybe 1/4 of a inch over the full length. I know single link are a pain too.

[ElCapitan]

I've done the first stage of weathering, which consisted of a pin wash using Mig Ammo dark brown enamel wash, and some chipping and rust with vallejo acrylics.

I've overdone the chipping on the turret hatch and I absolutely hate it. I'm going to have to work out a way of bring that back a bit.

[ForbesHutton]

All looking good on the paint and sweet work. I read somewhere the roto-trailers only had a short service life as they tended to leak quite badly as the seals just wer'nt up to the job and ruining anything carryied.

That's right, and they were unsprung, so would jump around on the rocky terrain, often being damaged beyond repair and even flipping over without the crew noticing until miles afterwards.

I'm surprised no one found wider wheels (to equal the tank tracks) perhaps lengthening the axle too, filling the wheel tanks with water, the ammo area with rocks and rigging them to be pushed in front of the tank. They'd make a good single use mine clearer, and mines were used a LOT in North Africa (even in the 70s when I was there, there were some areas still not cleared of mines around El Alamien).

[digger303]

I'm sure you will find a way...absolute confidence...

[BigWall]

It is looking absolutely superb! The tools look amazing.

[aur0ra145]

Looks really good so far, can't wait for the final product!

[ElCapitan]

A bit more work done on this today, namely fixing the overdone hatch, which I did with some very dry stippling of the lightened Khaki Drab mix, and then a coat of desert dust courtesy of MIG Ammo.



It looks very dusty. Kind of covers all my nice modulation, but it's all good practice! I'll give the trailer the same treatment next and finally add some sandy deposits.

[digger303]

A bit more work done on this today, namely fixing the overdone hatch, which I did with some very dry stippling of the lightened Khaki Drab mix, and then a coat of desert dust courtesy of MIG Ammo.



It looks very dusty. Kind of covers all my nice modulation, but it's all good practice! I'll give the trailer the same treatment next and finally add some sandy deposits.

How did you apply the dusty look ?

[ElCapitan]

How did you apply the dusty look ?

I just brushed the wash all over, then removed some of the pigment from places I didn't want it using a soft brush.

[Kevthemodeller]

How have I missed this superb build, excellent colour shading, lovely weathering