PeteF

More model building on the real one. M1919 gun barrel.

Always a modeler, I had to paint the correct vehicle number on the real one.

Jey Leno just did a segment about his. You can see the driving position. His was built in the same batch of 225 Ferrets as ours.

You’ll find that you get huge “bang for the buck” if you start with a tan dry brush. REALLY dry brush...barely any paint. It’s not necessary to go nuts with chipping and grime but a dry brush will accentuate details and edges in a way that makes the shape look like a miniature object and less like a model. Corners, raised rivets, edges and then fading and streaking from normal sun/rain exposure. Then consider it was driven largely on dirt roads so the tracks/wheels would always get dirty. Then some washes to accentuate lines, shadows and the areas of dirt that run off the machine when it gets rained on. Doesn’t need to look battle worn but the first week it gets left outside and driven on dirt and it will stop looking “fresh.”

Still noodling. Added the ubiquitous water can.

Considering I'm building for the guys who are doing the restoration, they'd totally notice anything that wasn't scale...certainly puts extra pressure on it. There is typically a water "Jerry" can on the left rear fender. The one it the kit didn't fit well but I have it modified to go so I just need to paint it and attach it.

Even though I was "done" I wasn't quite done. Worked on the straps on the engine hatch today...last little details getting taken care of.

Link to WIP thread. So much of it was fitting small pieces that it was hard to document it meaningfully. Much different than an aircraft model in that the large assemblies were pre made and all the time was in attaching things that were mostly complete but of which there were a zillion fiddly ones.

My wife and I were traditional graphic designers prior to switching to Mac in 1987. This is one of the few things we have remaining from that era of our lives.

Finished except for antennas and rear view mirrors. Excellent kit, first time building a resin kit, first armor kit I've done. Models a 1959 Ferret that we purchased and is under mechanical restoration in Texas.

To show how small a Ferret is, here it is "parked" next to my same scale (1/24) Mosquito in my office: iun

The kit has incredible brake, marker and turn signals. The light lenses were to be glued on to painted silver backing. I used canopy glue but the seal became air tight. I don’t know if it will ever dry clear

Here are some shots of my Ferret being worked on...you can see how much weathering 61 years of use has created.

Thanks, The light I'm using is pretty bright so over-does how it looks in natural light. I'm finding weathering armor to be super fun.

Tools and decals added.

Washes...

First round of exterior weathering...fade and highlights.

The photo is a bit deceptive. The real Ferret is about the size of a regular car so the model is “small” but the scale is large. It’s about 6” long.

Thanks. It’s interesting to explore the vehicle in 3D. I’ve never built an armor model or a resin model. This is a top notch kit that is a bit above my ability for building tiny bits without getting glue everywhere. I’d recommend any of their kits. I’m now into the fiddly painting where I’m more comfortable.

Got the camo on and most of it built (turret and wheels are loose fitted here). Now comes a ton of weathering.

And finally have a base of paint on everything.

Some final bits of assembly

Still chipping away at little bits and bobs. Getting there. The black on the turret is covering some body work I had to do due to some careless filing.

Hinged engine covers. The entire cupola and engine doghouse are removable so I’ve been working on fit.