DocRob

Smooth and shiny Peter, with NMF it's all about preparations. Like you, I really love the Tamiya LP colors, since I tried them on different occasions over the last half year. The gloss black goes down very smooth and shiny, perfect for metallic coatings. I thin as well with Mr. Levelling Thinner, but with a ratio of 1/3 paint and 2/3 thinner. As the thinner and color are relatively aggressive, I mist over a first coat, which dries quickly under the airstream and hinder the mix to destroy plastic and/or decals. After that, I spray a wet coat, which perfectly levels itself. Cheers Rob

Thanks to both of you. It was my first try with the Archer decals. I had high hopes, using them, but stalled while trying so. The biggest problem is, they are printed onto the decal carrier, which is not cookie cut. That would 've made it easier to slide the tiny thingies off the backing paper. The other prob is, they are very fragile and I damaged some, while trying to position them. Another thing, I didn't like was, that I bought a set, which Archer claims to be used from 54 mm up. This figure is double the size and the smallest supplied eyes are barely small enough. Enough ranted, the very well casted or printed figure deserves better. Maybe I give it another try with trusty old hand painting. Cheers Rob

Thanks Hubert, I did exactly that with the right eye. I cut the iris to fit, a bit on the lower side and a bit more on the upper side. The left eye was ruined through the many tries of getting it right though. I think I will make an eyepatch for the right eye as first, it looks cool and second, I cant see that eye anymore. Cheers Rob

On with the Chinese Tankette. The thing got a gloss coat for decaling and dark brown panel liner and will be flat coated for further weathering. I painted the figure with the base colors, which shadows and more highlighting to follow, as well as appropriate dulling. Cloth very matte leather with a slight shine,... The worst were the eyes, where you can see the right eye being painted very bad. This is caused by umpteen repaints due to me being not able to place the Archer eyeball transfer in place and in one . These decals need to be cut all around the iris and slightly more on top and bottom. the micro decal has then to be slid from the transfer without being destroyed, a nearly impossible task, at least for me. It worked by accident on the right eye with the second try, but the right took six tries, before I surrendered, destroying the eye and surrounding face multiple times. Boy, do I love the idea of decaling eyeballs . Cheers Rob

I wish you luck Phil, when I used Micro Mask, it always disappointed me, but I never used it on panes. The most annoying part was to get rid of it, as it adheres too strong, at least at detailed parts. Maybe it's of use on the glasshouse. Cheers Rob

Nice piece of 3D Tetris Carl, luckily your version sports less turrets, than others . Cheers Rob

Your build looks great so far and it's quite a behemoth. It's a very tempting kit and there will be more 1/16 Stug's available in short time. My only venture in this scale was the Takom Chinese Tankette and I have to say, I like the scale and the opportunities which lay in, painting- and weathering wise. Cheers Rob

Heller has the same kit in it's portfolio and they claim 1300 +x parts, whatever that means. Cheers Rob

Very nice Phil, all around. Your IV looks positively busy, with the great paintjob and weathering. The worn Schürzen add to the appearance. Cheers Rob

With the Shermans, there is another player in the game with Asuka. They have lots of different versions and a good reputation. I haven't built one yet, but have one in stash and the kit looks tamiyaesque on the sprues. It has rubber band tracks, which I will substitute on mine. Cheers Rob

Yeah, it's the Takom 1/16 one Martin. I have the Chinese version, which sports rubber tracks and a very nice resin figure of a sitting Chinese tanker. Cheers Rob

Only to show, that I'm still modelling, but on a very reduced schedule in the moment. The Tankette received tracks, exhaust, machine gun and the first layer of weathering, which included some work with pigments and a brushed on highlighting of all the rivets and some other bits and pieces. All green camouflaged surfaces, were carefully finger rubbed with a tiny bit of steel pigment. It's barely visible, but somehow gives the painted plastic a heavier appearance. Cheers Rob

I'm sorry to hear about your gruesome flu Hubert. All the best to your wife and to you. Cheers Rob

You had Dackelbauch on your bench for dinner . I'll take the turkey every time . Cheers Rob

Nice Gaz, i think you nailed it. The setting is nicely arranged and the burn traces on the T-34 do look very good. The figures are very nice and add a lot to the dio. The only thing I'm not sure about, is the direction of the Marder. If he continues straight on, he hits the T-34. He can't turn in this position for using the t-34 as prootection either. But I guess you had completely different thoughts about the setup. Cheers Rob

Thanks for that Kai, these hangovers are killing me . The innards of your Tornado do look great. I never liked the actual plane to much with it's boxy appearance, but will follow your build with interest, as I like to look on subjects, I wouldn't build myself and peak a little deeper. Sometimes my bias has changed, doing so. Cheers Rob

That's why there are so many new 1/16 kits out there, the usual suspects doesn't get younger . Dragon has a 1/6 scale Sherman in their portfolio, if I'm right. Your turret work looks fine and don't get too irritated about the tiny bits and pieces. Armor building is a different breed and I'm sure you'll like it for a change. Cheers Rob

That looks so cool and ........... frightening. Cheers Rob

Your progress does look good Kent. While I was browsing through the box and manual of mine, I had a similar idea, like you had regarding the engine cowlings. Until now, I can't say much more about the kit, than it looks great on the sprue, well detailed and I like solutions like the carton rig for the wheel struts and the inclusion of cockpit masks. The manual appears to be well made with a bit of Wingnut Wings style or even better like Copper state ones. Cheers Rob

Thank you for sharing your feelings about the Mt. St. Helens eruption. I remember it quite well, as I was only a few years older than you and read a lot about it by the time. Luckily the La Palma volcano doesn't have such an explosive potential, but the sheer amount of gas, ash and lava emitted by the volcano is frightening. Some houses close to the eruption area are completely buried into the ash, with only the chimneys peaking out. For Friday, there is a heavy rain forecast, which will make the situation even worse. I have no idea, how all that will be cleaned up. Like your experiences tell, the ash is very fine and settles everywhere. Due to constant winds, we got mostly spared on the neighbor island. We had only one day with lots of ashes in these two month and some everyday, which I can evaluate due to my white Jeepometer . The worst for the people of La Palma beside the loss of homes and goods, is the psychological stress caused by permanent earthquakes, fire, roaring eruption noises and gas pollution. Even on my island, there seems to be an untypical high stress level over the last few weeks and we are on the lucky side of the eruption. Cheers Rob

Very nice progress, it must be fun to build such a beast in 1/16 scale, even the tracks doesn't look too scary, except from the necessary cleanup. Cheers Rob

What a pity Carl, is there no way to get rid of the stuff with shaking the fuselage and let gravity work for you? That gap is not too small, hope you can fill it and make it unseen. Cheers Rob

The pre shading should be sufficient Phil, I found, that it does not count for that much, how thin or equally done the pre shading is (with the exception of WWI wing strut / canvas simulation shading, which should be fine and equal). If you really want to improve it, you can do it multi tone, selecting different colors, like brown and blue, depending the surface color. this way, you can accentuate panels also, which makes a monochrome paintjob more interesting. It's not much more work, bud does improve the result a lot. Cheers Rob

I like the setting a lot, you made them look 'heavy', especially the T-34. The burn effects do look very good. I would place more dust on the tank, maybe a bit more on the T-34. Cheers Rob

It is terrible Peter and there is no end in sight. One man lost his life in an accident so far. The roof, he was freeing of the ashes collapsed under him. A fear which is growing now, with a rain forecast for the next days. On Saturday night, I took out my camera, tele lens and tripod and made some pics with the very clear weather, we had then. You can see traces of the lava stream, most of them hidden by mountains from our angle. Cheers Rob