Academy M3 Stuart 'Honey' UPDATE - FINISHED

Post by **chalkyw** » Sat May 28, 2016 6:55 pm

I thought I'd share my next build as I've set myself a target of having a go at British tanks in all theatres of WW2 so to continue the theme of my first diorama posted last week i've another desert diorama in mind which was inspired by a painting I found on the net

I'm not sure I'll follow the picture to the letter as I'm toying with a Matilda to accompany the Stuart but to start things of this arrived in the post last week, the Academy M3 Stuart 'Honey' with 'a fully detailed interior' so the box said.....

I forgot to take any pics of the early part of the build but I found on the net that the kit has the wrong interior for a British Stuart so after tracking down a few pics of what it should be like I decided that I'd have a go at scratch building the correct interior (or as near as). A new firewall was the starting point and then a few other things like a radiator, seats etc. made out of Styrene sheet, lead wire, copper wire and a few bits and pieces from my small but growing spares box.

After a couple of evenings work I must say that I was pretty happy with the results so next step was painting and out came the primer

I also scratch built a few extrior bit and bobs......the kits grille was solid!!

and then on to the interior detail painting.....not my finest hour but I guessed most of it you won't see so I wasn't too fussed about being too careful

All that was a few days ago and with a few hours to spare today with England v Sri Lanka (cricket for those that don't know) on the TV I started painting the exterior. After a bit more digging on the web I found out that the kits colours aren't 100% accurate and came across Mike Starmers site which gave me the mixes for the 3 tone scheme - Portland Stone, Silver Grey and Slate. I had a bit of trial and error with the mixes but I liked what I saw so broke out the air brush and masking tape......2hrs of masking!!!.....the masking was pretty successful with only a few minor touch ups on the turret

Even if I say it myself I was pretty pleased with the results so on to painting the tools and I also gave it an oil filter of Paynes Grey and Buff, hence the sheen in the pics.

So thats where I am at the moment and If I get any time tomorrow then I'll be on to a gloss coat, decals and then the fun bit, the weathering and I think a bit more stowage is called for as well. This is only my third 'proper' go at a scale model since 1981 so I hope you like what you see so far and comments/crits are always welcome. I'll post some more pics when there's some changes to see.

Cheers
Chalky

Ps. Spot the mistake!!

.....and no not the crap paint or inaccurate interior

Post by **trekfanj** » Sat May 28, 2016 7:58 pm

Freaking awesome work!!!

The Academy "Honey" was my very first armor build; i knew absolutely nothing about tanks at the time, so i just left the interior as-is and followed the painting instructions to the letter. But i did find an Eduard PE set for it with mesh grilles to replace the solid plastic ones, so it was my first attempt at using PE, too.

This little kit is solely responsible for getting me hooked on armor; i love the work you've put into it so far and i'm going to watch this build for sure! Keep up the good work!

Post by **OneSmallStep1966** » Sat May 28, 2016 8:36 pm

Great start

Post by **AridTalons** » Sat May 28, 2016 11:32 pm

Great work so far! Keep us posted!

Post by **Augustus** » Sun May 29, 2016 12:33 am

Nice work, I like the look of this one.

Post by **Matzen** » Sun May 29, 2016 5:27 pm

Hi Chalky,
your little 'HONEY' looks darned well

.

Greetings Matthias

Post by **digger303** » Mon May 30, 2016 12:51 am

For those that know....was hatch interior white or didn't it matter cause it was buttoned up for firing.
I'm not having a go cause you are doing great. It is just a question for my curiosity as I have that kit in my stash and One day I will build it.

Thanks for that camo site...got it book marked now

Post by **chalkyw** » Mon May 30, 2016 7:54 am

Gentlemen,

Thank you very much for the comments which are appreciated

Digger303 - No offence taken as the interior colour is something that my google searches didn't throw up and the only reference pics I could find were of museum pieces and other models which may or may not be correct and I winged it a bit as well by taking the white on to the hatches, which can just be seen at the top of this photo.

Now your comment has made me think about it I'm going to paint out the hatches and the turret cupola to match the camo as that just makes more sense now. Why advertise to aircraft with big white patches

I'm hoping to get a bit more done today as it's a cloudy, miserable Bank holiday monday here in the UK so I might post an update later.

Cheers

Chalky

Post by **digger303** » Mon May 30, 2016 10:37 am

chalkyw wrote:Gentlemen,

Thank you very much for the comments which are appreciated

Digger303 - No offence taken as the interior colour is something that my google searches didn't throw up and the only reference pics I could find were of museum pieces and other models which may or may not be correct and I winged it a bit as well by taking the white on to the hatches, which can just be seen at the top of this photo.

Now your comment has made me think about it I'm going to paint out the hatches and the turret cupola to match the camo as that just makes more sense now. Why advertise to aircraft with big white patches

Cheers
Chalky

well that was what I thought and I have heard that from another post a long time ago, but I didn't know when they started doing that. I thought one with better knowledge might have enlightened us both.

Post by **AgentG** » Mon May 30, 2016 9:42 pm

Since the vehicle originated in the US, you may want to paint the hatch interiors olive drab. I doubt the Caunter would have been sprayed onto open hatches. It would take too much time.
Just before the war you'd see white hatch interiors. That changed quite rapidly for the US based on experiences in the Pacific.
G

Post by **digger303** » Tue May 31, 2016 12:45 pm

AgentG wrote:Since the vehicle originated in the US, you may want to paint the hatch interiors olive drab. I doubt the Caunter would have been sprayed onto open hatches. It would take too much time.
Just before the war you'd see white hatch interiors. That changed quite rapidly for the US based on experiences in the Pacific.
G

thanks for both of us

Post by **chalkyw** » Tue May 31, 2016 7:54 pm

AgentG wrote:Since the vehicle originated in the US, you may want to paint the hatch interiors olive drab. I doubt the Caunter would have been sprayed onto open hatches. It would take too much time.
Just before the war you'd see white hatch interiors. That changed quite rapidly for the US based on experiences in the Pacific.
G

A very good point AgentG and one which makes perfect sense as presumably the Stuart originally came delivered in Olive Drab, thanks for the info

.........only one problem with taking your suggestion through to my model though as I'd already painted out the hatches to match the camo and started a bit of weathering before I read your comment

......something I'll bear in mind for the future though as its a great little kit and I wanna build another one already, lol. Thanks again.

Post by **chalkyw** » Tue May 31, 2016 8:15 pm

UPDATE:

So I've made a bit of progress since I last posted some pics, I'm not sure how good it is (I'll leave you guys to be the judge of that) as I'm still unsure of how to do lots of stuff in the workflow properly but since last time I've glossed and added the decals, a bit of chipping then attacked it with oils, washes and stains of various kinds. Next on the list is to flat coat it, do the tracks and get the pigments out and add a bit of dust. As this is heading for a diorama with another tank I'll probably leave the pigments and do them all together, so this is probably where this one will sit for a while.

What do ya think.....crituque and tips welcome

As you can see I also made a start on the figures with the commander who is from the Miniart Tank Riders set with an Ultracast head. As this one wil sit for a while I'm gonna start on the diorama as soon as and will post some pics of progress with that and also I'm going to start on the Sherman as well (see first pic at the start)

Hope you like and let me know if you've got any tips and tricks to share as I had a really hard time with the washes and streaking.....remember a noobie is doing this!!
Cheers

Chalky

Post by **AridTalons** » Tue May 31, 2016 9:49 pm

Excellent work Chalky!!! That rivet weathering is really top knotch. The figure is a nice touch too. Shows how small the M3 really is.

Very believable! Great work! Can't wait to see the Sherman...

Post by **digger303** » Wed Jun 01, 2016 12:31 am

Marvelous old chap

Post by **chalkyw** » Thu Jun 02, 2016 6:40 am

UPDATE #2:

I cobbled together another figure last night, so a couple more to do for the Stuart crew but I need to wait for the postman before I can start those as I'm running out of heads!!....the seated guy needs a bit of sanding as at the moment as he's got one 'popeye' arm compared to the other. I also made a small base a while ago as a bit of practice so will use that for photos until I get the main base finished and I'll get some white paper for the background as kitchen towel looks a bit crap. I'll make a start at the weekend if I can on the base and the Sherman (re: pic at start) which is the Tamiya M4 Early Production as I've been informed its good for a British Tank in North Africa.

Post by **chalkyw** » Thu Jun 02, 2016 6:43 am

AridTalons wrote:Excellent work Chalky!!! That rivet weathering is really top knotch. The figure is a nice touch too. Shows how small the M3 really is.

Very believable! Great work! Can't wait to see the Sherman...

Thanks for the comment......yep a very compact little tank, it must have been pretty cramped and hot in there in the desert.

Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Thu Jun 02, 2016 8:45 pm

I like what i see here very much! beautifully built, painted and weathered. Have the same kit in my stash, it suddenly became tempting after i saw your efforts.

Post by **digger303** » Fri Jun 03, 2016 11:43 am

Chalky that is good work !!

YouTube · Post by **Liamcraven666** » Fri Jun 03, 2016 12:00 pm

Wow , that looks great!

Post by **OliveDrab** » Fri Jun 03, 2016 5:59 pm

Awesome result so far with the Stuart Chalky!

Post by **chalkyw** » Sat Jun 04, 2016 7:59 pm

Hamikar, digger303, Liamcraven666, Olivedrab - Thanks for the positive comments guys, I'm still learning on the job & it means a lot to hear I'm doing something right
Cheers

Chalky

Post by **chalkyw** » Sat Jun 04, 2016 8:55 pm

UPDATE #3:

As I mentioned in the last update, I made a start on the Sherman for my dio and the Tamiya kit was an easy and enjoyable build which I did over a couple of evenings this week. The only major issue I had with the kit was that the sponsoons were missing which I gather is pretty normal for Tamiya. I wasn't happy with that so I decided to make some and filled in the gaps with some styrene sheet.

I then had a tank with holes only where they're supposed to be

& I was informed by an ISM member (thanks to AridTalons

) that the kit (Tamiya M4 Early Production) was good for a British Sherman in North Africa without any other modifications or additions and I left it at that. No interior on this one as the hatches will have figures in them so it was a pretty easy build compared to the M3

I could have left it at that but NO

....although there was decent texture on the kit I decided to have a go at texturing the cast metal surfaces with Mr Surfacer as I've seen a lot about it and want learn how to do something new on everything I do.......So with fingers crossed I jumped in....boy is that potent stuff but thankfully I have a window next to the bench and I must admit I was a bit nervous of screwing up the model but it turned out ok I think. I'm not sure if Mr Surfacer 500 was the right choice (let me know) but it was a bit too rough for my eye so I sanded it down a little bit.

Then this afternoon I broke out the primer and did the tank and also the figures I showed you on my last update.

Next on the list is painting and mild weathering of the Sherman in the desert camo as shown in the pic at the start of the thread and I'll post some pics of that as I do it. Hopefully I'll also get the chance next week to start on the dio base and with a bit of luck the postman will deliver a few more figures. I've decided I'm going to paint the figures all at the same time so when that happens I'll do an update on those as well

I just want to thank those of you that have taken the time to comment on my efforts so far and I hope you're enjoying my progress, also please chip in with any suggestions that you think might improve the build or point out any cock ups I've made

.
Cheers

Chalky

Post by **Bissyboat** » Sat Jun 04, 2016 9:26 pm

Looking good.

Post by **chalkyw** » Sun Jun 05, 2016 6:07 am

Bissyboat wrote:Looking good.

Good to hear you like it

Post by **chalkyw** » Mon Jun 06, 2016 9:16 pm

UPDATE #4:

Hokay, its been a busy few days at the bench as I did all the chores and then had some time to myself so here's what I got up to.......

I finished a few more figures, primed them and started the painting by base coating the flesh areas with Vallejo Model Colour Burnt Red in preperation for flesh tones in a series of highlights which I'll hopefully be able to start on in the evenings this week.

2 of the M3 Stuart Crew

This is the Sherman crew

So then I payed some attention to the Sherman which was already primed (last update) so it was time for a basecoat of Portland Stone using Mike Starmers mix. I think this is a great colour.

After a bit of drying time it was on to the masking for the camo scheme using White Tack and masking tape which took a while especially as I was doing it on the fly with only my reference picture (see the start) as a guide

The mask was then given a coat of Tamiya Nato Green which again I think is the biz against the Portland Stone

Then after some careful peeling and a bit of touch up this is where the Sherman is at the moment, I've also added a bit of stowage on the rear deck which might get a bit bigger, not sure yet and I need to do some detail painting on the tools etc

Once agian I welcome comments and crit on my efforts so far and I'll post some more on the Sherman when I make a start on the weathering but I want to get the driver and co-driver painted this week so that I can glue them in place and shut the tank up as the hull isn't permantly fixed yet and add the hatches.

I hope you like what you see and are enjoying following my diorama build.
Cheers

Chalky

Post by **AridTalons** » Mon Jun 06, 2016 9:46 pm

Well the camo pattern certainly looks crisp. It looks like it was a nice kit to build, minus the sponsons missing. The figures look nice too. With a bit of weathering I'm sure your Sherman will look the part alongside the Stuart.

Great work!

Post by **AgentG** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 7:59 pm

Looks superb!
One thing about history, never say never. Your interpretation is just as valid as any one else's.
Until you can point me to a guy who was there and actually remembers the minutia, like hatch colors, well then we just have to go along.

G

Post by **spock1701** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 9:53 pm

I'm really enjoying this thread. The build seems to be coming along very well so far. That Nato Green looks superb against the Portland Stone, I agree. Wonderful job.

Post by **chalkyw** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 10:34 pm

Thanks Aridtalons, AgentG and spock1701, as always I appreciate you taking the time to comment and glad you're enjoying my build so far

Cheers

Chalky

Post by **chalkyw** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 10:43 pm

UPDATE #5:

Just a small update with progress on 2 figures for the Sherman. I think I've said before that I'm fairly new to the hobby and my skills are lacking still, I'm not the greatest with the paint and even less so with figures but I'm happy with these two which I finshed earlier tonight. As you can see they won't win any medals and I still haven't got the confidence to try painting eyes yet but they'll do me for know. I need to dull coat them too when the oil wash drys.

Hopefully I'll improve with time

BTW: The camera flash hasn't done them any favours and that's my excuse which I'm sticking to

As always say it how you see it if you want to leave a comment.
Cheers

Chalky

Post by **InitialProduction1** » Sun Jun 12, 2016 9:41 pm

Stop selling yourself short on your building and painting skills, those figures are great, and that tank is amazing, really like following this build. Chalky do you know anything on the Matilda tank? I want to build it but not sure where to look to get started. Photos and such.

Post by **chalkyw** » Sun Jun 12, 2016 10:25 pm

InitialProduction1 wrote:Stop selling yourself short on your building and painting skills, those figures are great, and that tank is amazing, really like following this build. Chalky do you know anything on the Matilda tank? I want to build it but not sure where to look to get started. Photos and such.

Thanks, great to hear your enjoying the build so far.....I'm on a fast learning curve

Funnily enough I've got a Matilda sat on the bench in primer which is going to be the subject of my next desert diorama, gonna pair it with a knocked out Panzer Kampfwagen ii. As for inspiration and info I just trawl the net and use elements of different picture/photos I come across that I like the look of. Then I just wing it while I'm modelling and hopefully it turns out ok.

The inspiration for my first dio came from 2 photos I found from a google on 'north africa ww2'

I wanted to build a Valentine as my Great Uncle was in one in North Africa during WW2 and thought it was a cool idea to have a tank crew having a monring cup of tea and this is what I came up with....

A bit of imagination helps ..........sorry I can't be more help but that's how I work it out

Post by **chalkyw** » Sun Jun 12, 2016 10:34 pm

UPDATE #6:

Not much progress this week as works been busy and I've had a few other things to do but I did manage to get the driver and co-driver fixed in the Sherman, buttoned her up, got the decals on and a couple of gloss coats. Here it is in its shiny state

Hopefully I'll have a bit of time this week to start beating the Sherman up a bit, paint the commander and start on the dio base.
Cheers

Chalky

Post by **AridTalons** » Sun Jun 12, 2016 11:39 pm

Looking good Chalky!

You did a nice job on those figures by the way. I was a little horrified that their arms were chopped off but other than that you did good work.

Was the stowage included in the Sherman kit? I'd like to know because I'm on the fence about buying that M4 Early Production kit or a more expensive Dragon one. Don't forget to let us know how the build went with the kits. Its always nice to read about stuff like that for future purchases.

Oh! And what have you done with the hatches? They're missing

Post by **chalkyw** » Mon Jun 13, 2016 8:22 am

AridTalons wrote:Looking good Chalky!

You did a nice job on those figures by the way. I was a little horrified that their arms were chopped off but other than that you did good work.

Was the stowage included in the Sherman kit? I'd like to know because I'm on the fence about buying that M4 Early Production kit or a more expensive Dragon one. Don't forget to let us know how the build went with the kits. Its always nice to read about stuff like that for future purchases.

Oh! And what have you done with the hatches? They're missing

Thanks for the kind words Sir, especially about the figures.....they're from Ultracast and didn't come with hands

but I guess you wouldn't see them anyway

great figures though with loads of detail. I've clumsy hands so the hatches will be fixed at the last minute otherwise I'll be forever glueing them back on

The 50cal and stowage aren't fixed yet either.

Most of the stowage on the back came with the kit but with a couple of tissue paper tarps added, the front was a scratch built can holder and a bed roll from Tamiya's Allied Stowage kit. The Sherman kit has a lot more stowage included but I've left it off for this build, spare wheels, track links, backpacks and GI helmets etc. I thought I'd covered the build in Update #3(??) an easy build and 3-4 hrs total but I'm slow

. Except for the missing sponsons which I didn't like, no other problems but it may be lacking a bit of detail compared to a Dragon or Tasca kit, so I guess it comes down to how much time you want to spend on the build or accuracy issues. If you shake the box hard enough I'm sure it will come out already built. I've got Dragons M4 DV in the stash so will compare that when I build it but there's a lot more in the kit that's for sure. Hope that helps - a bit

Cheers

Chalky

Post by **Augustus** » Mon Jun 13, 2016 2:35 pm

Really nice work Chalky, and yeah I'm doing the early M4 too.

How did you go about doing the tissue paper tarps?

Post by **chalkyw** » Mon Jun 13, 2016 6:52 pm

Augustus wrote:Really nice work Chalky, and yeah I'm doing the early M4 too.

How did you go about doing the tissue paper tarps?

Thanks Augustus, our two different takes on the same kit just shows how much milage there is in modelling

.

Tissue tarps are just cheap supermarket tissues which I split down to a single layer, the ones I had were 3 layers, then roll em up in to the shape you want and fold a couple of the edges back on themselves to make them look a bit more realistc. Next i put a bit of cling film on the Sherman rear deck, placed the stowage and the tissue tarps in the arrangement i wanted on top of the cling film......Now comes the reason for the cling film.....I then painted the tarps with PVA glue, carefully so they didn't loose their shape, the PVA soaks in and then I took the cling film with stowage on it off the tank and put it aside to dry. The cling film stops you getting PVA all over the tank

When dry the tarps are stiff and ready to paint with the rest of the stowage. Before painting you might have to go around with a bit of superglue to make sure they're fixed properly to the other stowage.

BTW: Check this youtube video out on figure painting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-rsH9wdaVg, the principles easily transfer to 1/35 and have improved my first attempts no end.

Hope that helps but plenty of info on the net.
Cheers

Chalky

Post by **chalkyw** » Thu Jun 16, 2016 7:02 pm

UPDATE #7:

I had a bit of time this week so I got to work on weathering the Sherman. Sponge chipping, dust coat with buff paint and a few washes using AK products and oil paints. I'm calling this one done for the time being as I will add a few pigments once the diorama is finshed and hopefully tie it all together. Also the commander needs fixing permanently which I'll do later and a couple more figures need painting for the Stuart crew for the dio and for the eagle eyed amongst you.....yes I need to do the tracks

Here's the Stuart and Sherman together.

I'll try and document the dio build and post an update when there's something to show but.......the end is in sight

Comments and crit always welcome
Cheers

Chalky

Post by **spock1701** » Thu Jun 16, 2016 7:08 pm

Looks fantastic, man. Great build.

Post by **InitialProduction1** » Thu Jun 16, 2016 7:48 pm

Absolutely awesome Chalky, thanks for the info, got me looking for your Matilda tank. Lol. Again Great build there my friend.

Post by **wavelet** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 10:02 am

Great build. I have the same kit in my stash.

Post by **Bissyboat** » Sun Jun 26, 2016 9:50 pm

Nice an clean application of the camo.

Post by **chalkyw** » Wed Jun 29, 2016 1:57 pm

UPDATE #8:

I've been delayed posting another update by a faulty broadband line but started work on the base last week so thought I'd post a few progress pics.

It all starts with a cheap Ikea picture frame, I've forgotten the name of it but they're about £4. I removed the glass and then PVA glued the backing board in to the frame and marked out a rough layout as well as masking off the frame.

Next I glued some foam flooring underlay to create some rough contours and a bit of rutted track

I then added some DAS across the whole base to even out the harsh foam lines and give some variation to the flatness. The DAS was mixed with PVA to ensure it was stuck down

Then it was time to add some features using a couple of Woodland Scenics rock moulds, some model railway ballast, bird cage grit, stones of various sizes from the garden and some shifted soil with a bit more DAS for blending the larger 'rocks'

The rock moulds were selectively filled with Hydrcal to create some larger rock features

The base was then given a coat of Matt Medium and I went about being a bit creative with the rock materials and plaster moulds following the rough plan I had in my head and my reference picture (see start of thread)

and basically that was that. the whole thing was then given a coat of cheap automotive spray can primer and although you can't really see it in the pictures the primer really gives a sense of what it all looks like and a few touch ups were needed here and there

So that's where we are at the moment and hopefully I'll get a chance to start on the painting and weathering of the base at the weekend and add a few bits and pieces like grass tufts. Hopefully my broadband will be fixed soon and I'll be able to post another update soon. I've still got a few bits and bobs to do to finish the tanks and I have to paint a couple more figures but things are really starting to come together now and hopefully I can do a final reveal and post some photos in a week or two

.

Once again comments and crits welcome and i hope you're still enjoying my build.
Cheers

Chalky

Post by **Bissyboat** » Wed Jun 29, 2016 3:11 pm

Mind blowing stuff chalky. The ground looks like the real article.

YouTube · Post by **NorthernModeller** » Wed Jun 29, 2016 5:04 pm

coming along great

Post by **wavelet** » Sat Jul 02, 2016 3:43 pm

Coming along superb.

Post by **Augustus** » Sun Jul 03, 2016 12:30 am

I hope you know I'm taking notes on this stuff!

Post by **chalkyw** » Mon Jul 04, 2016 1:33 pm

Thanks for all the positive comments and really good to hear you're enjoying watching still.

So....

UPDATE #9:

I've done a bit more work on the dio base after last time but somehow I pressed the wrong button and deleted all but one of the progress pictures I'd taken

but for those of you taking notes (Augustus, lol) I thought I'd give a brief description of what I've done.

So after the primer had dried I gave the base an overall spray with a Humbrol Acrylic spray can in Sand colour which also gave a nice shading effect with the dark grey primer holding in the recesses - here's the only pic I have still got which was after this colour was added.

This was then given a selective overspray with the Tamiya colours in the pic, Desert Yellow, Dark Yellow and Buff which created some tonal variations in the yellow. Once this was dry and I was happy with how it looked I then gave the larger rocks and stones a light dry brush with German Grey which gave them some contrast to all the sandy colours and then applied a few grass tufts (Winter Tufts by Army Painter) in various places. Then I went over the base with AK's North Africa Dust pigment which dulled down the paint and really adds a dusty look and fixed this down with a light coat of cheap hairspray.......umm.....and that was about it......sorry I haven't got any pics to show of this bit but I'll try and remember not to press delete next time

The finishing post is in sight now so my next update will be the final reveal so if you're still watching then I'd love to hear what you think

Cheers

Chalky
Ps. I've actually finished the dio but will hold you in suspense for a bit

Post by **chalkyw** » Wed Jul 06, 2016 1:44 pm

Well Folks, its time to call this one finished for now which is a bit sad as I've really enjoyed it and sharing the build has been fun too. There are a few bits and pieces I'll probably add over time, like some more stowage for the Stuart but I think its time to move on to a new project. Here are a few pics to be going on with of the completed dio and I'll post a few more in a day or two in the Land Gallery.

So this is where it all started with a pic I found on the net

And a couple of models and a few hours later here's what I came up with

I was pretty chuffed by how well the cotton wool dust clouds came out

Once again thanks for all the comments and I do hope you enjoy the finished scene and the journey its taken.....Until next time

Cheers

Chalky