It's all Paul's fault!!!
haha.
I was watching Paul working on his Tasca Jumbo Sherman over the last few days and I just couldn't resist any longer.
That kit kicks so much but!!!
I don't have anything quite that awesome in my stash, but I do have a lot of Allied armour. I was going to pull out my AFV Club Jackson, but the engine deck is wrong on that kit and I'd given away the fix for it as a prize to UKScaleModeller haha.
I still wanted to do a TD though, so and Achilles was born. The AFV Club MK.IIc is pretty much the best kit out there for an Achilles so I wouldn't have to do much in the way of modifications.
My plan was to do a Battle of Caen dio with it... but I really want to do some Allies armour with winter camo. I've never done that before, so I get to play a bit.
Yay.
So on with the build...
Here's the kit...
The build starts off with the construction of the interior as most open topped TDs do. It has a few clean up issues though.
Pin marks in really visible areas.
Since almost all of it is invisible form the outside I'm not going to worry them, nor any of the wiring for the lower hull. The turret I'll be dressing up a bit once it's done though.
Then I assembled the bogies... they're a bit rough and need a lot of clean up.
The return skid is too thick and the join seam is huge. There's also no bolt holes on the side of the main part of the bogie.
I beat the hell out of the tires while I was at it.
Once the bogies are installed they are almost completely articulated. Not as nice as Tasca bogies, but not too bad.
Next I wanted to use some T62 tracks but they may be too short for the chasis. I may have to use the rubber block chevrons instead. I don't like them as much though. This is supposed to be a Canadian vehicle so the chevrons aren't as prevalent.
I had to replace the idler wheels as the ones that came with the kits had no backing and looked like piss. I used a set of Bronco ones that looked much better.
And that's it for this post.
The next one I'll have the rest of the lower hull and begin the upper.
Hi Mate that's looking really nice! I noticed the bogies are similair to the Sherman I am building. How do you go about drilling the holes? Do you have a jig made at all?
I feel the need for a Sherman or derivative build soon (of course after finishing off the things already needing to be done).
Mike, your builds are so informative and you always take it to another level.
Gonna watch this for all the treats you slip in to your builds.
Love to you and the family.
John
Don't knock the Academy M10 Achilles, it also has a full interior. Although the kit interior is for the US M10, not the British version. They are the same, but the Achilles (being the British/Canadian one) with the 17 Pdr gun had different ammo storage to accomodate the larger rounds than the US M10. Their ammo was stored in card tubes, whereas the 17 pdr ammo was stored as uncased shells.
Looking good though mate. I enjoyed building my M10, and its still one of my favourite models.
I'm trying to play catch up with this log now... I'm quite a bit further along now than I can document in realish time.
So I did the lower hull and the upper hull next and it was about this time that I decided that I'd set it up on a dio with some figures and a crap load of stowage.
I started with the exhaust system. I roughed up the mufflers with a sanding stick so that the rust effects would have a more 3D appearance later. I do this with pretty much all of my exhausts.
Then I moved on to the upper hull details. The rivets and grouser holder rack. Tools etc.
A bit of dry fitting...
The fits are good as per usual with the high end AFV club kits.
Next I began the assembly of the turret. This was a lot more tricky as it was all assembled with plates and almost no reference points for allignment. So... there were a could of gaps.
I used Mr. Surfacer 1000 to add texture to the cast features to the tank.
And a dry fit...
Next was the main gun. It went together perfectly. The only thing that I didn't like was the free spinning barrel and the somewhat silly spring loaded recoil action.
And again... the Mr.Surfacer 1000
The .50 is nothing like the .50 on the Tasco Jumbo that Paul has on the go, but it's not bad.
These will end up being covered, but done is done.
With the main gun and turret complete, so is the build. On to stowage...
Maybe a little more....
The crew???
Nah... let take it up a notch eh?
and some scenery...
So that's it for the construction... now it's on the paint bench drying after primer and base coat.
More later.
I know the feeling when something is Paul's fault
I ended up with 2 big eduard kits that way
But this is looking great so far
Looking forward to the finish
Let the painting begin.
After I primed it with Vallejo black primer (I'm not masking) I used Mig's AMMO Dark Olive Drab Base as a.... well a base coat. It's the closest colour that I have to the British green in my stocks. I'm covering it with winter camo anyway so it doesn't matter a whole lot aside for the inside of the turret.
I also painted the interior bits. I didn't go too crazy as I was going to spray the white wash and I'd need to clean up any overspray.
I waited a day and sprayed the white on. It's Mig's AMMO Washable white camo. I've never used it before so I'm looking forward to giving it a try.
While I waited for that all to dry I finished the tracks up to the weathering and pigment stage.
Painted in Alclad black primer, the rubber is Mig's Ammo tire rubber, the metal teeth is just drybrushed gun grey over the primer.
A mock up with the diver in place after he was finished and some of the fine details painted.
After 24 hours I went at the washable white camo with a stiff bristled brush and some RO water.... nothing happened.
I let the water soak for a moment or two... nothing happened... I got a bit worried... Lacquer thinner... that worked.
I had to be careful, but it did the job.
I did the entire turret with the lacquer.
I started on the lower hull but I managed to get the water to work. So it will be interesting to see how well it compares.
That's in the next update though.
They were a bit Seb... I like to figure things out on my own anyway. I'm THAT kind of arsehole haha.
I do appreciate the vids though... Watched.. logged... and enjoyed.
So after the debacle with the crappy turret appearance I moved to the lower hull. I used water on it and I waited longer this time.
I figured that I just applied the white too thick and that's why it wasn't coming off.
It worked.... really well in fact.
I'm very pleased with the look of it so far.
So I'll finish this and then do the decals. I have a plan for those. ... another little experiment.
What a brilliant job.
I'm sat in bed on a Sunday morning with Mrs DW reading Sunday papers and me looking at your fantastic build. Cat has just sat on I-Pad.
What is RO Water?
On one of the photos of the gun mantle, is it embossed ARSE, or are my glasses in need of a clean.
Mike, your builds are always entertaining and educational for experienced and novice.
You Sir are the Guru Master.
Have a great day Mike and best wishes to you and the family.
John and Diane.
Yesterday I finished all that I wanted to do to the interior. I base painted it, detailed the insturment panels... That's about it. It will be all but invisible so I really didn't care much about it except for the floor under the turret. That area I gave more attention to, detailing the tread plate, the shells. Weathered it with more care etc.
Still, with the crew in place it will be all but invisible.
After that is stuck the lower and upper hulls together and worked on detailing the exterior.
I started with detailing the stowage on the hull. It's a pain in the ass as it means a lot of colour changes and brush cleaning, but it's my favourite part of the painting process.
I also added the decals.... This was a bit of a brain fart. I was over excited about adding the white camo and playing with it that I totally forgot the decals. They should have gone on and been sealed before hand.
Either way, I managed to clear off the white in a more or less believable way and add the decals. After a bit of weathering and dust and dirt it should be unnoticeable.
After spending two days not Modelling a single thing, I finished the detail painting, chipped, and gloss coated her. An hour ago I added a pin wash, but that's for later.
Nothing too exciting... But here she is as of last night.
It's all painted now. All of the weathering is completed.
Next I'll move on to the dust/dirt and mud effects. I'll also be adding some snow/frost effects as this depicts the winter of 1945 Januaryish.
Before I do though I need to finish the rest of the figures as well as move the vignette bass up to about the same stage. Then I can make sure that all the colours will match up.
OMG that's gorgeous....even though I'm not an armor lover/builder....I still love it. I guess similarly with the women I've loved throughout my life, I could be tempted to try the dark-side?! ~
If you don't have anywhere to store that one, I have a perfect spot for it in my place
Thanks
I'm always happy to be the corrupter of souls hehe.
Work progressing on the Achilles base.
DAS and some sculpting tools go a long way. I'm really beginning to like this DAS. It's better than the FIMO that I was using as it's denser and more workable, less elastic.
The drying time is greater but our hobby is about wasting time not about being efficient haha.
Wow
The AFV alone is just superb.
The base work is really genius.
This is DAS then? What is the drying time then Mike.
Shaping up see what I did there?, to be one (I did say one, as all are ace), of the best.
Finishing nights in morning, so once a few jobs done on the Monday, I get to spend sometime at Bench.
Hope you and family are good.
Look after yourself.
John
Thanks John, right back at ya bud.
The DAS drying time varies with thickness. 10cm thick layers usually dry in 48-60 hours. Five cms and thinner in 24 hours.
Thick layers tend to crack so I try to keep it under 10cm.
Well done Mike, love the winter cam and weathering. The dio is coming along really well mate. Cant wait to see the paint on it! are you going to add snow effect?
that's the experiment... To see if I can still add them even though they should have gone on already.
