BlrwestSiR

I know the feeling Ryan. I was looking at the new Tamiya Achilles from Lucky and it sold out right after coming in.

Martin, Ron is looking for the markings. I checked Archer but they don't have any.

You say it's discontinued and if you don't grab it now, it'll cost twice as much or more in the future. There's enough truth in it....

Really lovely work as always Ryan. Carl

Only the two kits above. Their more recent Easy Eight kits (including the Israeli ones) are 100% Tamiya. I'm still trying to figure out why they did it. I know Tamiya has re-boxed Revell in the past and still does with Italeri (they're the Japanese distributor) but it's the first time I'd seen them repackage a Japanese brand.

Nice progress. Sometimes when the tracks go together properly, it really can be therapeutic.

Tasca had a name change to Asuka for some reason so they're one and the same.

Here's the Firefly box: It even says it's from Asuka on it: Here's the Easy Eight:

Mike, the Tamiya Firefly is the Tasca one reboxed with some Tamiya figures in it. They're really hard to find these days though. Tamiya reboxed the Firefly and the Easy Eight Shermans. They then came out with their own Easy Eight a couple years later. I've got both in the stash as they were cheaper than the Asuka boxing's at the time. Going the other way, Asuka has an M4A3 coming out with Tamiya figures. https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/m/10616980

Well, it's Canada Day long weekend. So there's been lots of time to work on tracks... ....joy! These are AFV Club T48 tracks. They're supposed to be press fit and workable after assembly. The first time I tried them they did indeed press fit together. Unfortunately, they would also fall apart as fast as you assembled them. So this time I did a couple things differently. First I painted them prior to assembly hoping that the paint on the pins would tighten the fit up. Next, if the link was still a bit loose, I would use PVA glue on the pins. I figured that will further tighten the fit but still allow some movement. Both techniques made the assembly go together much better. And faster. I got one side done Friday night I finished off the second one last night. So now to start on the small details.

Cool! If any of us wins the lottery, we'll have to make a group booking.

I thought we needed something Olive Drab in here. Plus Asuka Sherman's just fall together. Thanks Kev! I used to crawl all over one as a kid. Near my house growing up we had a Lanc on a pedestal and underneath was an Easy Eight Sherman.

Great progress Rob and it's looking very nice.

Just catching up on your build. Nice to hear about the Master Club tracks as I keep thinking of trying them out. I'm on my third Tasca Sherman myself. Carl

I need to try that. I've got an old Miniart diorama scene I should try to redo.

Really nice there Ernie. Have you ever tried using Japan Dryer in your enamel paints? It's a catalyst that speeds up the drying time to a couple hours versus days. I used it on the few times I had to spray MM enamel.

I'd say the Rye Field tracks are worth it. They went together very nicely for me. The sprue attachment cleanup for each link wasn't bad. I used a round chisel to cut them off which speeded things up. I like that you can join up to 10 links at the same time. The pins can be fragile though so you have to show some care once they're done. Plus they're fairly inexpensive.

Thanks Kev! I definitely would not want to be in anything as small as the Dingo on the same battlefield. Thanks Jeff! Most of that was due to the kit. No interior to worry about, I was able to leave most of the tools off and a minimum of teeny tiny PE bits. If I had stuck with the kit tracks, it would have probably taken a bit longer.

Here's my Jagdpanther G1 Carl

Nice choice Ron. If you can, check out the Master 60lb rockets. They're just as Purdy as the gun barrels. I wish they'd scale them down to 1/32. Carl

Thanks Gaz! So far, they're eyeing the sci-fi stuff and smaller scale aircraft but I'm sure that day will come....

Nice pair of kits Gaz! Missed out on those from HLJ. But I did get this on sale from Great Hobbies here in Canada. For $41 CAD shipped, it was hard to say no. I also got a couple more kits. Another for me: As tomorrow is the last day of school for the year I picked these up for my boys. Hopefully they'll like them. Carl

Thanks Mike!

A very nice looking Tiger Mike. Makes me want to work on my Dragon one. Carl

Really nice build so far Gaz. There's something about these German 8 wheelers that's so cool. Carl