Global Scale Modeller

Hi Guys,

I recently posted some pics in the Land Gallery of a couple of complete builds I've done including another Universal Carrier which at the time I didn't have a dio for but recieved some great feedback on what I'd done with the model. I've also got a 'Normandy' type dio that I was umming and agghing about and after much thinking and a few bits of inspiration from ISM I've come up with an idea to get it finished. Anyway to get everything for the scene I want to depict I need to build another Universal Carrier so I thought I'd document the build and painting of this one and also some figures and hopefully a reveal with a completed diorama at the end.

As a bit of background I thought I'd show you the first UC I did a while ago

more pics of it here http://www.intscalemodeller.com/viewtop ... 46&t=18546

And the completed diorama

more of which can be seen here http://www.intscalemodeller.com/viewtop ... 29&t=18193 which has a brief description of what I did
BTW - This will now be minus the Sherman which I'll use for something else

I've also made a start on some figures for the scene with the Masterbox British Paratrooper 'Operation Market Garden' set and I'll add more later as there'll be quite a few figures when I'm finished. The one sat on the gate is from the Tamiya Welbike set and has had a small bit of manipulation to get him to sit there but he seems to fit ok....who can resist sitting on a gate


Sorry but I didn't document any of these builds as I did them before I joined the forum but that's all waiting in the wings and will hopefully come together at the end of this build

So to Buisness - Tamiya's 1/35 Universal Carrier Mk II which must be a classic kit by now.

This has gotta to be a kit that most people have built or even started modelling with in their youth and even though its a few years old I reackon it turns in to a great model and is a very easy and enjoyable build.

There was nothing worth watching on TV yet again so I decided to crack on with it and over a couple of hours last night I managed to get the hull built and the engine cover

I had to scratch build the drivers seat rest out of styrene sheet as the original now resides inside of an M3 Stuart

So with the main super structure complete, tonight it was on to the bogies and the rear axle



So that's where I am at the moment and I should have more time later in the week and would hope to have it ready for paint by the weekend but I get the feeling I might do a few custom additions for stowage and the interior to make it different from the other one.

I hope you'll take the time to drop in now and again and more importantly enjoy watching the build progress and as always comments, crit and suggestions are more than welcome
See you with an update when there's more to share.
Cheers
Chalky

I for one will be watching. I do like your dioramas, and your figures above are very nicely done.

I'll be looking out for some stowage ideas I can steal

Augustus wrote: I for one will be watching. I do like your dioramas, and your figures above are very nicely done.

I'll be looking out for some stowage ideas I can steal

Cool, good to hear you'll be tagging along Augustus.....feel free to steal any ideas you like as I'm not the first that's for sure. I'll take some pics when I do the tarps that you asked about before

Love the diorama, great details!!!

Twokidsnosleep wrote:Love the diorama, great details!!!

Cheers , I do like building dio's and trying replicate the real world as best i can, as you say its all in the detail.

Looking forward to this. Tempted by that kit myself.

Great Diorama!

Cheers Guys, comments are appreciated.

UPDATE #1

No progress with the Carrier but built, painted and 'weathered' this little Paratrooper Welbike last night which is for the diorama


A highly detailed kit with lots of small parts and I can't wait for a full Photo Etch update for it lol, only kidding.....need to add a brake cable and then find somewhere to put it on the dio.
Thanks for watching
Cheers
Chalky

UPDATE #2:

Made a bit of progress today with the carrier and finished the body work and started on adding a bit of detail and stowage. The postman dlivered a resin mould and pouring kit last week as I thought I'd save myself a few quid by making my own stowage by taking moulds from stuff I've already got. I was pretty impressed by the detail the moulds have retained and its why theres lots of white parts on the model. I also made a wooden plank retainer to the front which I saw on a photo of a carrier


Made a fuel can bracket and some tarps and wooden boxes with the resin kit for the back



Had a bit of glue spillage on one side which I'll cover with another tarp hanging over the side later on


added some Milliput sand bags to the front as well


also added a few bits inside and made some headphones and a mic for the radio and aded a bit of detail with some wiring


So that's where I am after a few hours today and if I get the chance I'll give it a coat of primer tomorrow and then on to painting proper. I've a few more bits and bobs to add but I'll do that after painting and of course there's a couple of figures too.
As always comments, crit and suggestions are always welcome.
Cheers
Chalky

Those molds have worked well, was there much clean up needed? I was looking at this but it seems a bit pricey to start up, although it obviously works out cheaper in the long run, and there's always stuff I need more urgently.

Hi Chalky love all that stowage the headphones and a mic are brilliant which I'm going to steal by the way, yes you have saved myself a few quid by making my own stowage by taking moulds , but not only that I think it's more satisfying more personal,I made that ,what do you use to make your the moulds if I may ask .Well done again keep it up

privatepete wrote:Hi Chalky love all that stowage the headphones and a mic are brilliant which I'm going to steal by the way, yes you have saved myself a few quid by making my own stowage by taking moulds , but not only that I think it's more satisfying more personal,I made that ,what do you use to make your the moulds if I may ask .Well done again keep it up

Augustus wrote:Those molds have worked well, was there much clean up needed? I was looking at this but it seems a bit pricey to start up, although it obviously works out cheaper in the long run, and there's always stuff I need more urgently.

Thanks guys, I don't go to town with the detailing but its nice to add a few bits of interest

I bought the Alumilite Amazing Mould Putty and resin kits from fleabay. Its not cheap (£50 for the two sets) but there's enough to get a lot of castings for what I want it for and its easy to use. The mould putty is 2 part and you just form it around the plastic and it sets in 10mins in to a rubber mould. The resin sets in about 30mins and was pretty rock hard this morning.


Here's a comparison, the original is on the left and the casting on the right which has been primed so you can see the detail, needs a bit of sanding but looked good to me. There's a bit if roughness to it due to air bubbles but I think that was my fault rather than the product but the detail retained is pretty good.


Well worth it I reackon......Got a bit of time to spend at the bench this afternoon so hopefully I can get some paint in the carrier
Cheers
Chalky

That stuff looks pretty good, is there any bubbles? Do you have to use a hair dryer? The stuff I use is cheap, but I think I get what I pay for, so I have to do extra work to get good results, anyway I really like your builds,

InitialProduction1 wrote:That stuff looks pretty good, is there any bubbles? Do you have to use a hair dryer? The stuff I use is cheap, but I think I get what I pay for, so I have to do extra work to get good results, anyway I really like your builds,

Thanks for the compliment There were some bubbles but I think it was my fault as have only done it the once so far, I think I poured the resin too fast otherwise it looks like good stuff

UPDATE #3:

I got quite a bit done this afternoon as I was modelling while watching England v Pakistan (cricket!!) which for me was almost the perfect afternoon ...just needed Cindy Crawford to be making the tea ...you might need a cuppa to read this one

After I posted last night I primed the carrier and the stowage I did



Then this afternoon I started on painting everything....first job was to lay down the base colour of Olive Green....BTW, all colours for the carrier are Tamiya



then i tried some panel fading using RAF Dark Green, I'm not sure how well I managed this and the camera flash washes it out a bit



As well as all that, in between waiting for paint to dry I got on with painting a few figures. Hand painted using Tamiya and Vallejo Model Colour

Another Paratrooper to go with the others


and some crew for the carrier, the last one is going in the carrier I've already finished




Just need to dullcoat them and add a wash or two

it was pretty warm here today and the paint didn't take long to dry so it was on with detail painting, gloss coat and decals

You can see 'Sarge' who I painted earlier sat in his new home manning the Bren Gun




A newbie mistake in these two close ups as I thought the ejector pin marks were part of the interior detail


So that brings ya'll up to date.......I'll be giving it another gloss coat tonight to seal it all in and then its on to the weathering. I've got a couple more figures to paint for the dio and will probably do them before I weather the carrier and fingers crossed I'll be starting on putting it all together on the dio next weekend and then post some pics for you all to look at and admire

As always say it how you see it but I hope you're enjoying the build and I'm doing something right, no matter how small it is
Cheers
Chalky

PS. I learnt today how the weather affects the Tamiya paint through the air brush as it went down ok but gave a really rough finish which is something I haven't experianced before. It was really hot and humid today and I wondered if this is 'normal'.....answers on a postcard please

Excellent work so far Chalky! Seeing the unweathered next to the weathered Carrier really shows off your skills. Also, nice job on the figures. The one underneath the paratrooper looks like Montgomery.

Very nice, the panel fading works well, I'm going try that on my next one. Did the bubbles on the bed roll sand out? I specially like the large tarps strapped on the back.

Interesting about the heat, guess I'll find out for sure soon. In the summer, down under, it don't get much hotter or humid than Brisbane. My poor POMmie body hates it.

Hi Chalky very well done I like it a lot, intact before I posted this I ordered one so you are now in trouble with the wife because I blamed you sorry

Augustus wrote:Very nice, the panel fading works well, I'm going try that on my next one. Did the bubbles on the bed roll sand out? I specially like the large tarps strapped on the back.

Interesting about the heat, guess I'll find out for sure soon. In the summer, down under, it don't get much hotter or humid than Brisbane. My poor POMmie body hates it.

The bubbles took a light sanding and with another coat of primer and paint are hardly noticeable now......Aaagh, I remember Brisbane in the summer, I've never sweated so much in my life

privatepete wrote:Hi Chalky very well done I like it a lot, infact before I posted this I ordered one so you are now in trouble with the wife because I blamed you sorry

No worries Pete, I'll take a hit for the team I'll look forward to seeing the build

Hay are you volunteering for this job,it's your my friend,I'll get spending then

Awesome build mate, really great work on the bags... I build mine using modelling clay, but will give your method some thought... good stuff.

PrivateMansoor wrote:Awesome build mate, really great work on the bags... I build mine using modelling clay, but will give your method some thought... good stuff.

Thanks for the comment, the resin is certainly a lot easier

privatepete wrote:Hay are you volunteering for this job,it's your my friend,I'll get spending then

I'll take the hit for you spending £15 on a Tamiya Carrier kit or even the resin but if you're off out to spend more than that then you're on your own mate

UPDATE #4:

No real progress on the carrier but finished a couple more figures for the dio, just need do a couple of washes, bit of dry brushing and dullcoat them. You can see a bit of scale differences between these 2, one is Tamiya (Para) the other Masterbox. I need to invest in some heads for figures


The end is in sight

Thanks again for all the comments which really give me the encouragemnt not to give up and just go down the pub instead
Cheers
Chalky

chalkyw wrote:UPDATE #4:

No real progress on the carrier but finished a couple more figures for the dio, just need do a couple of washes, bit of dry brushing and dullcoat them. You can see a bit of scale differences between these 2, one is Tamiya (Para) the other Masterbox. I need to invest in some heads for figures


The end is in sight

Thanks again for all the comments which really give me the encouragemnt not to give up and just go down the pub instead
Cheers
Chalky

heads looking ok to me...better than ok

UPDATE #5:

I had a bit of time in the last couple of days to try and finish the carrier with weathering and adding a few more bits and pieces and this is what I came up with. The pics have the one I'd done already for comparison and appologies but I completely forgot to take any pics of the weathering I did but basically it was just an oil pin wash and dot filter with some home brew mud added here and there. I think there's a bit more I can do to it but for the time being I'm going to call it done. You can see the colour differences in the base paint as I used Olive Drab on this build but RAF Dark Green on the other. I'm sure it'll grow on me but I prefer the first one with the RAF. Anyway here's a few pics







So that's it for the model build on this one. Finished the figures for the Dio earlier in the week so some time tomorrow I'll post the final reveal pics here and a few more in the Land Gallery. I hope you've enjoyed this small build and hopefully my efforts look ok.
As always comments and crit appreciated.
Cheers
Chalky

Great build enjoying the viewing

Looking good mate. Good job on the figures.

PrivateMansoor wrote:Looking good mate. Good job on the figures.

WMH wrote: Great build enjoying the viewing

Thanks Guys

FINISHED: Yay

Well Guys finshed this one this morning so heres a few taster pics





I've put a load more in the Land Gallery herehttp://www.intscalemodeller.com/viewtop ... 46&t=18951 for you to have a look at.

Thanks again to everyone who has viewed this thread and those that have taken the time to comment, much appreciated.
I hope you've enjoyed following this one and I hope you like the finished Dio.
As always I'd love to hear what you think even if it's pointing out a few mistakes, of which there are a few
My brain is already working on the next one which I might run a thread for from start to finish, including the dio buiding as well.
Cheers
Chalky

Yeah mate, do one start to finish including the diorama would be a great idea. I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one following.

Mistakes or not, they don't leap out at you. To me it looks really nice and well done.

Hi Chalky outstanding diorama if you are making mistakes please teach them to me

Impressive diorama, great job !

Great build mate

Thanks Guys, much appreciated comments.

privatepete wrote:Hi Chalky outstanding diorama if you are making mistakes please teach them to me

Pete, mistakes are just something that can't be taught I'm afraid

Come on old boy, what's next, I need to see more work!

Augustus wrote:Come on old boy, what's next, I need to see more work!

Patience is a virtue