belugawhaleman

Great job Scott! A beautiful model!

I just heard on the news that a Russian oligarch, critical of Putin, met his death falling out of a hospital window.... Yeah, that happens... death by natural causes... Gravity!

Another Tower Hobbies purchase came today and yes, it's another Tamiya kit. This came as an afterthought as I only intended to buy some paint. First the paint; I purchased four bottles of Tamiya xf-89 dark green to do the 3 tone German camouflage. Unfortunately, they are the detestable "mini bottles". Why does Tamiya offer some colors only in this size? Annoying! The model is Tamiya's Russian Self-Propelled Gun SU-76m (35348). I thought it looked like a interesting subject and reviews say it's a pretty good kit. One of the reviews showed that the commander figure in the kit face resembles Putin. Anyway, It will be an interesting build i think.

Cool! I'll be following this one!

I like odd subjects! More SOOTO please!

It came! My kit from Hobbylink Japan. Another Tamiya kit. This time their Sd.Kfz.166 Sturmpanzer IV Brummbar Spate Produktion (35353). I'm pleased with HLJ shipping was very quick....I ordered it last week!. Anyway, I've been looking for this kit for a while .. Fortunately, this kit offers a 1945 dated decal option , so I don't have to do zimmerit. Although Tamiya has a set of Zimmerit for this kit that you can apply. I don't know how this works. Are they decals or stickers? Has anyone tried the Tamiya zimmerit sets?. Anyway, I'm looking forward to building this odd-looking assault gun. By the way,apparently the name Brummbar was not used by the Germans....it was a name given to it by allied intelligence.

Well done John!

I have to say I'm pretty impressed with their kits and will likely buy another.

Love them as well. Growing up we lived on a lot adjacent to a larger wooded property (Now part of a forest preserve). Whenever we heard frantic cawings, we knew that there was a Great Horned owl about. For some reason, the crows would surround the owl, but keeping their distance. Not sure why they did this, but clearly, this was some kind of organized behavior. Anyway, this gave us a chance to view the owl and the crows. My mother, however, has a dread of crows........A bad omen of sorts

Two more items today: First, coming from Sprue Brothers, came a model by Tiger Models. A kit I've been looking for some time of a subject I've been wanting to build. It's their Panhard AML-90 in 1/35 (4635). Both Takom and Tiger Models kits were always out of stock. The kit, while very small, looks pretty impressive. It looks well-molded, has a complete interior, engine, a choice of rubber or styrene tires, metal gun barrels, the suspension features metal coil springs, and there's some photo-etch. Everything is packaged separately in very Tamiya-like, stapled soft plastic bags. Pretty cool model kit......but small.. Very small. Also today, another barrel by ABER. Their 152.4mm tank barrel M-10S for Soviet KV-2. for the Tamiya kV-2 I got last week. I'm still waiting for a couple of kits from overseas; A Brummbar and a Hetzer. Probably no more kits for at least a while......unless, well, nevermind.

From Tower Hobbies two items today; First Tamiya's potent Airbrush Cleaner this is an extremely strong solvent that smells ,suspiciously, like their extra thin cement. It works very well and quickly to remove paint from airbrushes and paint brushes. I use a glass eye-dropper to put A small amount in the cup of my airbrush, scrub with a large soft bristle paint brush, then spray the rest out of the airbrush. Simple and quick. Makes color changes easy. Most of the time disassembly of the airbrush isn't needed. Anyway, be careful, it will mess up plastic, and painted surfaces. Of course, make sure to use proper ventilation when spraying this stuff. I keep two bottles one for brushes, the other for airbrush use. I also got a small, photo-etch circle template set from Tamiya (74150). It has hole sizes from 1 to 12.5 mm. Might be useful.

I ordered a kit again from Hobbyeasy. Yes another Tamiya kit this time their Hetzer kit (35285) released in 2007. A hard to find kit kit in stock unless you buy it in the costly With "metal barrel and photo-etch" version. I don't expect it anytime soon and really don't need it right away Anyway, but I'm glad to have found it.

Thanks Carl. I looked at your build last night. Well done.

Thanks

Your Mig looks amazing! So does the little Gaz. I have Tamiya's 1/35 version, Tamiya Includes one with their Korean war Easy Eight Sherman. I built the kit in the early 80's

I think I dodged a bullet by not buying this kit. Anyone must be given a lot of credit for building this one. I think Monogram had a 1/48 kit of this aircraft...I don't remember If I had it or not.

How did I miss this? Very nice!

Congrats! Making modeling a profitable endeavor........ What a concept!

Wow! A spectacular finish to an interesting build! Wonderful!

Thinking of doing the Tamiya Marder III next....... One of the options is winter camouflage over grey...My question is what's the best way to tackle this? Can the white be simply over- sprayed with an airbrush Over the gray in kind of a mottled finish? Is it hand brushed? What do you guys do? I want to do something different with this....either winter or the German 3 tone camouflage. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks; Paul

Great job Peter!

Thanks Harv

Finishing up on the Cuban M3 Suart.

Yes, this will probably not have much in the way of weathering. I may add a little dust on the lower chassis and tracks. The Cuban tanks did not see much use prior to the revolution. This one was based in the town of Santa Clara . Because I display my tanks on a shelve or on a coffee table I don't see heavy weathering as making too much sense ....if displayed in the context of a diorama, well, that would be different. I think of my models as sort of recognition models. Only to display to show a certain type.

I have a Dragon Saladin that I may build soon. I did notice that the prices are higher.... I had my eye on their Marder II I think it was about $ 70.00 for a very small 1/35 kit. It had some interior detail... That was cool. I like Tamiya, good products.......and NOT Chinese.