Global Scale Modeller

After a very VERY long time away due to many reasons (none of them interesting) I am back at the bench with a nice easy reentry to the hobby, Tamiya's lovely little Valentine, desert or Rusky rental version. I'm going for the desert version.

I started this almost a year ago and may even have started a thread, I cant remember tbh so I thought I would start from scratch.

Here's the kit and its a beauty, lovely plastic and just so very TAMIYA.





Basic tub, straight away you realise what a dinky vehicle this must have been



Lovely plastic detail on the suspension



Still getting used to taking pics under my bench lights, some bleach, some don't - go figure









Link and length tracks, beautiful detail and they will look spiffy when painted







Side boards, bays and greeblies, all nicely detailed and a dream to fit









Turret on with its peashooter gun, nice cast detail on the turret sides







She looks like a proper little tank now







Crew figures are nicely posed and detailed. I'll be using them as I have the turret hatch open



Got some paint on her, Tamiya over Ultimate grey primer. Greeblies in Valejo black but will be painted in gun metal later. Tracks done with Valejo Burnt Iron. She looks very bland it must be said but there's decals, filters, washing and chipping and wet and dry pigments to come - all the fun stuff.







Missed a couple of greeblies, including the rather large exhaust cover definitely out of practice



Decals on this morning and matted over, all 3 of them





Greeblies repainted



Next up is chipping and dot filters. Update sometime this weekend.

Thanks for looking in

Good to have you back and doing a great job on the Valentine!
Cheers Paul

Looks very nice so far. That's a lot of desert yellow paint...

Great to see you back at the bench mate

Looking forward to seeing you progress this again - looks like a cracking kit.

Quax wrote: Sat Aug 31, 2019 5:32 pm Good to have you back and doing a great job on the Valentine!
Cheers Paul

Thanks Paul,
Been away far too long

CygnusX1 wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 1:14 am Looks very nice so far. That's a lot of desert yellow paint...

Yep, and its only a little tank. Its also a bit TOO yellow for what I wanted. Should have applied a buff filter before the decals but I'll see what I can do to tone it down with oils. I may do an overall buff filter to finish as this is a desert scheme. It would have got proper dusty if it had been in service for any length of time

Tomcat64 wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 8:16 am Great to see you back at the bench mate

Looking forward to seeing you progress this again - looks like a cracking kit.

Cheers mate, went together like a dream, just need to keep going now and also get into the rest of the forum too.

looks like a great detailed build, im now thinking of buying this after seeing the great job you have done here.

Great to see you back chap. Nice kit, something to get you ticking along
Can't beat Tamiya for no nonsense builds,
DW

Great to see you back Stokesy!

And what a return! Looking very nice indeed!

Very nice! I love this tank too!

steaming though the build and it's looking sharp

Nice tank build there

Hope I’m not the only one who had to look up the word ‘greeblies’

Thanks Guys.

Its good to be back so thanks for all your good wishes.

Got a bit more done yesterday. Chipping first with Valejo black







Dot filters using oils, white and tan as I'm trying to wash out that rather bright yellow hue



First go, will do more as the artistic urge takes me



Hull done, will probably need more bleaching, maybe a white / tan spray filter what its almost finished











Still needs lightening up but happy so far.



Next up is a gloss then a Ultimate wash. That should make all the detail pop and give it a nice metallic sheen. Then its more oils for staining and rust then wet and dry pigments.

Ya cruising along. Won't be long and you'll be reaching for another kit out of stash.

Nice to see you back on the forum Stokesy, and a great little tank too!

That's coming along really nicely mate

digger303 wrote: Tue Sep 03, 2019 4:37 am Ya cruising along. Won't be long and you'll be reaching for another kit out of stash.

I've got some stunning kits in the stash so I'm very much hoping to do exactly that my friend

ElCapitan wrote: Tue Sep 03, 2019 10:38 am Nice to see you back on the forum Stokesy, and a great little tank too!

Thanks mate, on both counts

Tomcat64 wrote: Tue Sep 03, 2019 1:56 pm That's coming along really nicely mate

Cheers. Sorted out the hose for the compressor this morning, got it nicely plumbed for exit out of the window. Checked I know where my Aqua gloss is so I'm good to go. Should be finished this weekend then its back to the JP and pressing on with the build phase

dp037 wrote: Mon Sep 02, 2019 1:05 pm Nice tank build there

Hope I’m not the only one who had to look up the word ‘greeblies’

You are not alone!

Greeblies or greebles is a term used to describe the layering of smaller bits on larger objects to make them look more detailed and complex. In the world of Star Wars, ILM kit-bashed parts to add greeblies to the bodies of the vehicle.

Looking great so far and doesn't look like you've much left to do.
The finishing line must be in sight?

Stokesy where are you. Blistering along you were and 3 weeks later you must have hit a speed bump.

How on earth have I missed this

Looking good so far mate you've captured the sun bleached paint really well

Great to see you back at then bench mate

CygnusX1 wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 12:05 am Looking great so far and doesn't look like you've much left to do.
The finishing line must be in sight?

Thanks,

I need to gloss it then apply a clay wash then oils for specific stains (fuel spills, oil stains) and finally wet pigments to rust the exhaust and dry pigments for dust.

And I need to paint the 2 crew figures

Kevthemodeller wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 9:28 pm How on earth have I missed this

Looking good so far mate you've captured the sun bleached paint really well

Great to see you back at then bench mate

Thanks Kev,

Its certainly been a while and all the sport over the summer hasn't helped. Hoping to get a good couple of session sin over the weekend

digger303 wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 12:21 am Stokesy where are you. Blistering along you were and 3 weeks later you must have hit a speed bump.

I'm still kicking mate. the Ashes and the Rugby World Cup trumped my bench time. Rest assured I'm back at it this weekend

Stokesy44 wrote: Thu Sep 26, 2019 8:59 am

digger303 wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 12:21 am Stokesy where are you. Blistering along you were and 3 weeks later you must have hit a speed bump.

I'm still kicking mate. the Ashes and the Rugby World Cup trumped my bench time. Rest assured I'm back at it this weekend

So I think its been about a year but I fired up the booth and the airbrush today. Pulled out my bottle of aqua gloss and turned the valentine all shiny





I normally use Ultimate dark dirt as a wash but I thought it might be too dark given the desert colour and the bleached look I'm trying to keep so I used their Earth wash which is the next darkest wash in the set.





It still looks a little bit shiny so when its all finished I may mist it with a matt coat.

Then it was on to the figures. Primed with Ultimate grey then acrylics. I mixed in highlights and low lights on the clothing and berets. They still need oil washes on the skin areas and a probably on the uniforms too. I think I retouched the eyes about 10 times but I still ended up giving the commander a Roger Moore eyebrow lift!







Oils and pigments left then it will be 'what's next on the bench?'

Lovely weathering and the figures are looking great mate

The finish line is definitely in sight; those figures look very nice (better than my efforts which always seem to look like aliens - or muppets) but I think they look great.

Awesome work on the Valentine as well as the figures mate - especially the blending on the uniforms.

Capt. R. Moore looks very expressive!

This has turned out really well Stokesy, even Capt. Moore looks stirred not shaken!

Paul

Quax wrote: Tue Oct 01, 2019 8:02 am This has turned out really well Stokesy, even Capt. Moore looks stirred not shaken!

Paul

I think the raised eyebrow is because he just spotted Tiger 131 coming over the sand dune 50 yards away!

CygnusX1 wrote: Fri Sep 27, 2019 5:37 pm The finish line is definitely in sight; those figures look very nice (better than my efforts which always seem to look like aliens - or muppets) but I think they look great.

Thanks. I forget how much fun figures are. No airbrush to mess about with, just pots of paint everywhere, mixed mediums, kind of making it up as I go.

Tomcat64 wrote: Mon Sep 30, 2019 2:11 pm Awesome work on the Valentine as well as the figures mate - especially the blending on the uniforms.

Capt. R. Moore looks very expressive!

Thanks bud. Just gotta finish her off now then clear the way for something a little bigger on the bench

All done.

Finished off with oils for staining then dry pigments for dusting.

I may have overdone it with the flesh wash on the crew. They look a bit sunburnt but hey its authentic!





Happy with the pigments, she looks nice and dusty now











Thanks for looking in. All comments are much appreciated. For my part I am chuffed to be back building again - and just as important - posting again. I've missed all you crazy cats!

Another great result. The figures do look like they have only just arrived from Blighty and never seen the sun before.

Another great build there mate, the mixture of shading, weathering and dusting really gives it that desert look

digger303 wrote: Sat Oct 19, 2019 1:47 pm Another great result. The figures do look like they have only just arrived from Blighty and never seen the sun before.

Thanks Digger and yes, they'll need some factor 30 tomorrow!

Kevthemodeller wrote: Sun Oct 20, 2019 10:46 am Another great build there mate, the mixture of shading, weathering and dusting really gives it that desert look

Thanks Kev. I'm going to the other end of the spectrum for the next build. Planning to winterise the Jagdpanther that I've just kicked off.

Lovely work mate - the weathering is spot on

Tomcat64 wrote: Tue Oct 22, 2019 11:18 am Lovely work mate - the weathering is spot on

Cheers mate, have to confess I had to ‘relearn’ a thing or too, such has been my time away.

I think it looks great; just the right amount of weathering and fantastic finish overall.

CygnusX1 wrote: Thu Oct 24, 2019 4:30 pm I think it looks great; just the right amount of weathering and fantastic finish overall.

Thanks Cygnus

Love the work bud!

The Matilda and Valentine are my favorite British armoured vehicles so I definitely love what you've done with her