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More suspension work on the Weasel. Each bogie gets attached to the chassis with a leaf spring and what looks like an outrigger but is the upper arm. The instructions have you attach both the chassis first and then add the bogie. First thing is, the bogie has two pins that snap into the end of the leaf spring. Trying to get the first one into place was a real test of nerves. If you push too hard, you can easily snap the bogie, the upper arm or both. Also, it's not mentioned in the instructions but the bogies are handed. There is a front and back to them. The backside has a very small notch in the upper mount. This attaches to the upper arm. So after I did the first one, I took a different approach. I attached the upper arms to the chassis as per the instructions. I then attached the leaf spring lower arm to the bogies, making sure I had the bogie oriented correctly. The sub-assembly was then glued to the chassis. You want to do this while the cement hasn't fully set to be able to make alignment adjustments if needed. All the bogies in place. And it seems to be sitting level.

Thanks Peter! For me the "What's on your bench?" thread is a great place for stuff that in my case I may not finish. Sometimes I'm just fooling around with it and if it works, then I might continue. It's informal and I sort of like that approach. Of course, a serious build can be a pain to follow in that sort of format like you rightly said.

Just flying along there John. I've glued a couple suspension bits together and in the same time, you're onto paint.

Happy New Year folks! Time for a new build. This is the new Takom M29C Weasel kit. This is based off their almost as new M29 Weasel kit without the amphibious gear. Prior to this one, there was one by Monogram and a resin one my by LZ Models. I nearly bought the latter for the project I had in mind but it was never near the top of my must buy list. I read a build review on The Modeling News where the kit almost broke the reviewer. Seems there's a lot of small fiddly bits. I guess I wanted to find out for myself. First off, I'd you hate road wheels on tracked vehicles, be prepared as there are 64 in total. Plus they're tiny. I painted them first in rubber black along with the tracks which are rubber as well. At least in real life. There are 8 bogies, 4 to a side and each with 8 wheels. I made a change from the instructions and assembled the bogies first. I trimmed the parts off and gave myself some room so that I could clean up the sprue connection points easier. Tamiya cement bottle for size reference. One assembled bogie. 7 more to go. And the rest... The chassis is next. For the outriggers, I found it easier to glue the plates to the chassis and then insert the centre section. The centre section is also handed so watch out for that.

A different choice for a Pershing so should be fun to follow along with.

I think folks who thought the 1/32 Revell kit was too big will be all over this one. It is impressive to see Border sticking to the scale though.

I copped out and just did a couple dots for the eyes.

Happy New Year everyone! Thanks to Ernie, Martin, Scott, Fran and the other mods for keeping this a fun place. Thanks to James for having this place for us to have fun. Here's to the new year! Carl

That would fill my display case in one go. Fantastic array of builds there John.

Rob, your squid eyeball looks amazing.

Not a bad idea.

So the point I'm dreading, painting the eyes. Anyone know what colours these are? I have black and ivory but what about the first three? I know they're artist oil paint names but I have no idea beyond that what color they are. Just looking for approximate equivalents in acrylic. Thanks.

Great review Fran, I think I need to get a few of these. For the IP, Yahu has a panel coming out specifically for this conversion. https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/YMA3278?result-token=egrQB

Actually, X-Plus did one already as a limited edition release of their T-Rex kit. This one comes with a baby Triceratops as a foot rest/future snack.

Open up and say "Ahhh" Painting the mouth. The tongue first. With it out of the way, the mouth was a bit easier. Nice thing is my airbrush was fine enough I didn't mask around the mouth. The teeth were done in off white. Oh and she got a mani/pedi too.

I've got the basic paintwork all done. I've given her a gloss coat and then start on the detail painting. I'm not looking forward to doing her eyes though.

Thanks Peter. The belly is XF-78 Deck Tan but I'm going to darken it a bit later. Topside, the base is XF-5 Green and the tiger stripes are XF-27 Black Green. All are straight from the bottle. As for size, she's approximately 20" from tip to tail.

Most Gundam kits are impressive. The fit is great, almost no filler is needed. They're a great stress free build, especially the newer ones. The one I did didn't require any masking for the paint job. You may have to break out the same colour a few times but it really simplifies things. Bandai do several grades of kits. So they offer the same subject but in varying levels of complexity. They will also replace older versions with improved new ones. Perfect Grade is the best and largest scale but also the most expensive. Master Grade are next and those are to me, the ideal level of detail, quality and price. That being said, I think that's the first Gundam kit I've finished in over a decade.

I have the X Plus T-Rex and it's a very nice kit. The Spinosaurus should be just as good. Pegasus also makes a Spinosaurus model. I have the leg and base at my bench but I have to find the rest of it. The boys took it so it's hopefully in one of their rooms.

First bit of colour on. Some Tiger stripes. Base colour done. I kept bumping into stuff with its tail.

Peter, just saw this thread and caught up with your progress. Very nice work on the Corsair. I built one when it first came out. Nice low stress build.

Primer is now on the T-Rex. Just plain Tamiya XF-2 flat white. Part of the diorama base is a juvenile Triceratops so that's next I guess.

Love the gloss finish. Tamiya make a couple different blues in their lacquer line now. I wonder if of them might be a match?

I'm hoping to finish the Vosper this coming year as well.

Peter, the challenge for me is to just keep going through a build. It's too easy for me to just switch subjects, often for no rhyme or reason.