DocRob

Some are really chained to a subject .

Nice grimy result Gus. The multi colored background pays off greatly. With the contrast of markings, wheels, etc. this will look great. Cheers Rob

A little pause with Xtreme metal in the moment, Gus. There is a French heavyweight occupying my bench time. Today I painted the tracks, another bare metal theme, but It turned out, that I forgot to buy Gun Metal from AK, instead I had to use Tamiya stuff, but that's another story, written in another chapter. Cheers Rob

Thanks Peter, made some progress the last two days, but no pics yet. After a coat of Future I applied the decals, which where extremely fragile. I broke the French insignia and had no spare in my stash. I decided to leave it like this and see how it will look with some weathering. After another protective coat of Future, hull and turret are left to dry. I sprayed the primed tracks with Tamiya gunmetal as a base and also primed the figures for some in between painting. The antenna was sprayed in a brownish orange tone and I hope this is correct. The only Colour pic of an antenna I saw is showing a kind of that tone. I wonder what kind of material it is, maybe Bakelit. The Tamiya manual calls for bright orange, which I doubt. Having that Colour in the airbrush, I used it for pre painting the rust areas on the muffler. Cheers Rob

And I always took your name for Martin, anyway it starts with the same letters . Cheers Rob

@Martinnfb Thanks for the great pics, your archive seems endless. Interesting trailer, I will store it in my brain HD for later. It seems, that you can't go wrong with oil stains and whatever causes stains on these tanks. That clearly stretches the definition of weathering to my eye , great picture though. Cheers Rob

Hehe, you fake Frenchie , bien huilé fonctionne mieux. Cheers Rob

Thanks Gus, grain (or better no visible grain) is always a key to a new looking NMF. I believe that is almost possible with these Xtreme metal Colours, but I have to find a way to get a better result. While working with those Colours sometimes the grain seem to be less prominent than in the end, that leads me to the conclusion, that it is all about the way you apply. I will perform some test if the tendency is more about 'flooding' the surface or better work in very thin layers. I believe here is the key to a ungrainy NMF. Thanks Joeg, but please enlighten me, what is an 'ac' Cheers Rob

Actually I have to admit, that I didn't spent a single thought on the tracks , beside that they are clickable and quite nice in plastic. I will consult some pictures, but would like to put some grease on the monster with some oily shininess as a contrast to the matte mud. Cheers Rob

I think it is a mean looking machine, like a dinosaur on the prowl. The bonus of this one is that you only have to paint the idler and the road wheel, all the tiny ones are hidden. After the camo, the beast looks very clean, but this will alter. I guess with that track layout, there must have been a lot of grease and oil involved and mud splatters everywhere. Cheers Rob

Bring it on Carl. I have a weak spot for naval planes specially with floats and the Kingfisher is one of my favorites. Can't wait to see your magic working. Salt and sun are not only for surfers, but also great for weathering effects. Cheers Rob

Thank you Carl, these Xtreme metal Colours make life a little easier with NMF. The durability is a clear plus against Alclads. As I'm not prepared to foil a kit at the moment, it has to be airbrush and Colour. To make a well worn NMF is not a big deal, but a high shine reflective one is hard to achieve. I will do further testing in the future and may try it on a P-38. Cheers Rob

Looking great, I like the newish, but used look, not easy to achieve. New is relatively easy, abused too, but the way you did it is the hard way. Me like. Cheers Rob

Without your hand it would almost look real or is that hand of yours out of scale? Cheers Rob

Hehe, haven't thought about Indy. What I had in front of my imaginary eye was the Char sans tracks as a kind of gondola for a steam powered Zeppelin. The whole thing would have been made of copper and brass with lots of patina. And then there were these tempting French camo styles... Cheers Rob

Thank you Senhores, some kits make it easier to achieve a good result and Dottie is definitely one of them. Cheers Rob

Salut les messieurs, get your Gauloises between your lips and enjoy some Camembert with some vine rouge , its time for some French feelings with the build of this early war beast. After finalizing my Dottie Mae, I decieded that it is time to finish some kits which where lurking in their boxes for a long time. Some years ago, back in Berlin, I build the Char B1 and it was completely tamiyaesque, meaning great. What makes the kit even better than most others by the brand, are the single link clickable tracks, which are fully moveable and durable enough for painting and weathering. The Char B1 to me has a special attraction, it looks like a beast from another time and has a little steampunk attitude in it. I was thinking more than once, that a conversion to a steam driven 'landship' would have been appealing, but then there are the great Colour schemes for French tanks, they clearly have a knack for that. For a start I sprayed the whole tank with 'Warm Sand' from the Mig range and added masks from J's Work for the camo. These mask sets are great for hard edged camo on flat, detail free surfaces. They are precut in Kabuki and adhere good. The second Colour, 'Pale Green', also from a Mig set was then applied. And that's where I am know with that French colossus. The figures might be used for a little Dio, but that's not already decided. Cheers Rob

Hola Señhoras y Senhores, after centuries in an Austrian lake Dottie Mae surfaced again some years ago and underwent restauration and now after all these years is able to get in her natural element again. When Eduard announced their version of the Hasegawa kit, it was instantly clear to me, that I have to build one and it turned out to be a pure pleasure experience. The addition of PE and some Brassin wheels is great and enhances the kit by far, specially in the cockpit. The only aftermarket used, where Master gun barrels and 0,3mm lead wire for the ignition of the engine and wiring in the cockpit. All in all it took me a little bit more than two month to complete Dottie and this is pretty fast by my standards. I added some plastic strips on the fire wall in the cockpit to get a look of corrugated metal and wired the Instrument panel. Both is nearly invisible after finishing the kit, but it was fun. Same goes for the wiring of the engine. I used lead wire for that task and wouldn't miss the experience. The lady was painted mainly with AK's Xtreme Metal Colours, like polished, pale and dark Aluminium on Tamiya rattlecan primer and Alclad gloss black primer with a heavy dose of sanding to get rid of imperfections in between coats. The metal Colours behaved well, with a little to much grain for my liking, but that might have been my fault. Shininess is great as you can see and these Colours are very durable with masking and are sealable with future. You have to be careful with removing of panel liner. I nearly ruined my build while removing access panel liner. The other Colours used where from AK, Tamiya and my beloved Livecolour set of blacks. Right, I bored you enough with the details, its showtime! Cheers Rob

Thank you Senhores, it was a pleasure to build after my temporary stalled Komet. Cheers Rob

Tres cool. Cheers Rob

Hi Gaz, there are many influences causing different shades in snow covered landscapes. There could be blues, greys browns, even pinkish tones and, er yellow. Don't get fooled with photos. Normal light metering systems of cameras are prepared for a light gray 'norm light' and therefore have to be manually corrected to give snow the right look. Cheers Rob

Love your weathering style, your dirt looks dirtier than other dirt , especially on wheels and struts and that prop saw quite some action. Cheers Rob

Nice, love it, but what about the Dio? Cheers Rob

Looks good to me, you can add more later and more appropriate to the scenery if needed. I have the same process ahead with my mud, snow and ice covered T-90, so I'm in your footsteps. Cheers Rob

Splendid, love your Nieuport. The Soviet scheme is very attractive and as much as the decals lead to alcohol subjects, the Nieuport seems to be a little oil leaking. Cheers Rob