belugawhaleman

I've started this Tamiya Valentine Mk.II/IV yesterday. I posted on What's on your workbench but I'll put the rest of my build here. Yesterday I started on the lower hull and finished the suspension last night. Today did the road wheels ,sprockets, idler wheels , and some minor details. I can say the kit is a good one. It goes together well with excellent fit. Like I said in my earlier post..a small amount of Mr. Surfacer was used to fill minor gaps...very small gaps. This tank had an interesting suspension and drive train that I think the kit really captures well. I'll be building this kit out of sequence; I'll build the turret and fenders, then return to the tracks. So far an interesting build. I was surprised to see that this tank has its brake drums on the outside of its drive sprockets......to save space? Anyway, here are some pics.

Some engines of the era were dual-ignitioned , then each of the inserts would have Spark plugs, but this would be more common in aicraft engines .

It's actually four cylindered. There are eight screwed-in inserts on the en-bloc cylinder head. Each covers an engine valve. And four have places for spark plugs.

Been working on Tamiya's 1/35 Valentine Mk. II/IV today. Not much to show. I plan to do a Soviet tank without the side skirts and brownish-green paint. Did some work on the lower hull. The fit is pretty good. I used a couple dabs of Mr. Surfacer to fill some tiny gaps here and there. It's a cool model of a strange little tank. I thought I'd do something British for a change. I was not aware that some models, including this one, used American engines and transmissions.

Didn't know there was a 1/48 version. I built the classic Monogram kit years....and years ago. It came out nice I remember. It might give this one a try. Please do a build log on this one!

Sad to hear. My condolences to the royal family and British people. A very great loss... She will be missed.

Interesting subject for your build.....will be viewing!

Moments ago another arrival; and yes, it's Tamiya. From overnight shipping marvels Tower Hobbies came Tamiya's U.S. Medium tank M26 Pershing T26E3 (35254). A favorite of mine, I always thought the Pershing was a good- looking tank. I built the 1/16 rc version by Tamiya years ago... It still sits languishing in a cabinet in my old bedroom at my mother's house. Anyway, while not a recent release, ( 2002) this kit it's still said to be a decent one. This is the one that Tamiya put the working suspension on....but never did so again. They must have thought that was a dead end modeling-wise. The barrel will probably be replaced by a Aber one as the kit's barrel is a multi-piece one. I have a pair of Gaspatch .50 M2 guns that are nice and one may be used on this kit.

Not quite, there's still a bunch more Tamiya kits to go before I hit that mark. Their Archer kit, M40, and of course, their yet to be released Comet😀

Thanks . The paint schemes look a little complicated on this kit though. They both look hard edged not sprayed and it looks like I'll have to make masks of some sort. I heard the Swiss used these tanks after the war for some time.

Had to pick up a package at the post office today.... It needed a signature and I wasn't home yesterday. A minor annoyance. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was my order from Hobbyeasy in Hong Kong. Another Tamiya kit; their Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer Mittlere Produktion.(35285) I've been looking for this kit for some time......always out of stock. Sometimes the more pricey boxing with the Aber extras included can be found but I didn't want too spend that much. Again, it's a Panzer 38(t) based vehicle...... So it's a small kit, but I like the looks of this odd-looking tank destroyer. The kit has a choice of vinyl or styrene link & length tracks. It looks pretty good and will go together well being a Tamiya kit.

Interesting subject well executed!

Looking forward to the Tamiya release of the Comet as i have more Cuban themed decals for one. Nice work on your Comet. I couldn't find the Bronco kit in stock anywhere.

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.