Moon Puppy's 75mm GMC M3 Halftrack

[Sharkmouth]

Glad you got the decals.

Ken, it seems we were both wrong. I did not know of the third company. I am sure D'man was involved so it may have been Trakz or Hard Corps Models. Either way, I can't find any stock.

Regards,

 

[moon puppy]

I don't get it, months building this thing and painting is moving right along.

Sorry for being image heavy on this update but I really want some feed back on the painting.

Here's what I have done. Once I got the decals in place and post shading the way I wanted I started with a dot filter right on top of the acrylic base coat. I've gotten in my mind that I like doing a dot filter on a flat surface because it seems to have more teeth to grab hold of. Using oils and turpenoid I didn't have to worry about the base colors coming off. I used turpenoid also as the medium for some pigment applications. So here we are right now.

Well...hehe...here's where we stand right now. Trying for dirty, oily and sun streaked. I processed these images through Irfanviews Auto Adjust colors so it really is not this stark with the browns vers OD. I do think I need to do some more blending and get the dirt back up in the darker neither regions under the tracks and boogies. Front wheel needs work I can see that.

Little more light on the situation. More stowage will be added, trust me.

this is without the auto adjust, just resized the original image. tried some splattering up around the insignia but didn't look like John Steinmans effects..more practice.

Same side with the color adjustment. looking now I think more layers, layers and layers.

I"m hating on that RNGR decal, how it got so messed up I don't know.

I have to admit, I'm liking what's happened back here. I see a big ol' gap on the band around the box that should have been taken care of before painting, I'll figure out some how to camo it.

Down in the office. I'm thinking they would have kept this area cleaner than they would worry about the cosmetics of the side armor and stuff. Either I will install the Ammo that came with the ammo stowage or I will install the curtain cover. That one PE part is probably the least needed of them all. Depending on what you're modeling, I really think, as nice as it is, it's not worth the money. but the ammo is cool. I will not bother paiting the projectiles because when installed, they are total hidden.

Here's a close up of the exhaust pipe and muffler. Had fun with this. I painted the pipe and muffler black gloss primer from Alclad, then Steel. then I took all the rusty dust I have been harvesting from the steel plate I use to model on top of and mixed it with Liquitex Acrylic Medium gel, made up an nice slurry of rust and painted it on the pipe and muffler. It dries absolutely neutral and the rust is nicely embedded on the muffler. Thanks Laura, worked like a charm!

and a close up shot of the boogie, I wanted to get in tight on the tail pipe bracket. But you really can't see the bolt head holding the bracket in place. I can see inside the road wheels and what a poor job of painting I did there. Solution...mud!

Here's what I think I'm going to do. Come back with a dry brushing of the base paint for scratches and just rubbing off the dirt and grim in traffic areas. sealcoat, a pinwash and more pigments to build up and repeat that process several times till I have the buildup I want. Or maybe not.

What would you Armor folk suggest?

 

[Kreighshoer]

i like your effort, no doubt about it! you did an impressive job on the ht!

but i have to admit that while looking at the pics i permanently had "there's something missing" in mind! i can't tell exactly what but there's missing something!

i would touch up the brown areas and tone them down a bit, maybe you add a black wash?

regarding that particular decal you hate so much - in fact i like it a lot since it adds character to the whole model just as it is!

if i would have been the poor person who was ordered to paint on the "rangers" sign and be given stencil and paint i'm damn sure that i would have managed it to move the stencil while painting resulting in a crooked appearance! see what i want to say?

 

[moon puppy]

Laura I think the browns are popping out much more than they should. I'll use Gimp to work these original images a little and see if they make a differnce. The tones you see are really contrasting more than it is in person. Very overstated.

Agree with you on the stencils but the problem is, we have photos of the real think so many pages back and they are not like this. But forward is the direction.

Yes, there is a lot missing on this, just need some guidance on what to add, tone down and wash, Thanks!

 

[moon puppy]

color adjusted in Irfanview

Gimp white balance filter applied. this picture is more close to what I see when I look at it.

 

[shawngehling]

MP,
Looks great to me...
And you said you were a wingy thingy guy... HA.
Shawn

 

[Tim A.]

Looks awesome Moon Puppy!. I particularly like the worn paint work on the drum, very cool.

 

[moon puppy]

MP,
Looks great to me...
And you said you were a wingy thingy guy... HA.
Shawn

Thanks Shawn, I am a wingnut guy, but I do enjoy other genera. I want to build models. Not the same thing over and over...even though this is my second Halftrack sitting next to my second Wildcat on the workbench... To me it's about modeling the subjects be it planes, tanks, figures or whatever. I want to do a ship, would love to do one of those big Saturn V rockets but there's only so much time in the week.

Drum?? Oh the ditching roller up front..that just sort of happened, er, I mean yeah, I meant to do that....

 

[MrT]

MP overall the track looks good!! I like the rust effect and U-bracket is a great touch. If you want to know what I would do to give it some snap. First I agree that some pin washing will really help and some strategic application of pigment is on the mark as well. Now I want you to do some detail painting hmy: . The straps for the jerry cans were generally a Kaki color or really faded olive green and the buckles were black or a dark green. Doing this will make them stand out and add a little character. The loading end of the gun needs a more worn look. Lot of pushin and shove in that area so liberal chipping and even some brite silver would not out of line. The seat cushions if they were cloth get the same treatment as the jerry can straps that will make the cab area stand out a little. Using slightly contrasting color adds depth to the model. I noticed on the back that the streaks looked white I would try to use the same color as my dirt pigment. One of the streeks seemed to start in the middle of a panel. Make sure a streak has a starting point such as a rusty spot or and edge. Well this is my dollars worth. You are doing a great job so keep swingin!!!

Terry

 

[lupanzer]

Dear friend Bob.

...good job!...I agree with Laura a black washing it'll be a good idea...anyway a beautiful modelling piece!

Thanks!

Luiz.

 

[panzerace007]

MOONIE,

I agree with LAURA- That Ranger decal adds Character ! Leave it as she sits . One thing you may want to add as wear - Vallejo German Camo Black-Brown ! It's a Dead Ringer for worn & scratchy ! I would dry brush a little around th rear area & on top of th open rear area ! Once you start dry brushing with it, You'll see what I mean. Easy though ! You can get a lil' carried away with that !

Of course a Lamp Black wash never hurts ! Good idea with dry brushing th Base color to show recent wear !!

Man This IS HOT MOONIE !!! Great Job !


ERIK

 

[Iron Mike]

Wow, you are really going to town with the finish! Terry offers sound advice, as do the others, details, details, details!

 

[iambrb]

man, that is some troooooly beautiful work, MP!

I should hope to do something with half this skill!

 

[moon puppy]

MP overall the track looks good!! I like the rust effect and U-bracket is a great touch. If you want to know what I would do to give it some snap. First I agree that some pin washing will really help and some strategic application of pigment is on the mark as well. Now I want you to do some detail painting hmy: . The straps for the jerry cans were generally a Kaki color or really faded olive green and the buckles were black or a dark green. Doing this will make them stand out and add a little character. The loading end of the gun needs a more worn look. Lot of pushin and shove in that area so liberal chipping and even some brite silver would not out of line. The seat cushions if they were cloth get the same treatment as the jerry can straps that will make the cab area stand out a little. Using slightly contrasting color adds depth to the model. I noticed on the back that the streaks looked white I would try to use the same color as my dirt pigment. One of the streeks seemed to start in the middle of a panel. Make sure a streak has a starting point such as a rusty spot or and edge. Well this is my dollars worth. You are doing a great job so keep swingin!!!

Terry

All noted and worked on some of it this evening.

One thing I am doing, and need to stop, is working with pigments before it's time. It looked a mess when I came up from the garage but maybe when it drys it'll tone down some.

Thanks for the comments folks...

 

[shawngehling]

M/P,
I can't wait to see a ship and water...
Shawn
Oh by the way, Planes in the water look really cool too...:hmmm :evil:

 

[moon puppy]

Could there be a mast on the horizon??

Well I listen to everyone's advice, I think, tried to get a pin wash, some of the basics just escaped me and I really tried to screw this up. But I think I pulled it out of the clutches of doom.

Not going to get into detail about what happened to the insignia, let's just say that clear liquids all look the same...But it does have this very faded look that I probably could not have done if I wanted to.

I'm happy with the way the canvas cover turned out. Tried using pigments to get texture in there. Thoughts?

Grabbed stowage from all sorts of places. Found the Verlinden stowage set in the 30% bin yesterday. Not sure what that one thing is, looks like someone's golf club, can't be too prepared, never know when you can sneak in 9 holes.

Well this the last update. When I get the antenna secured and more stowage on the other site I'll call this done.

What do you think?

 

[TREEMENDUS]

I think it looks great mate

 

[lupanzer]

Dear Bob.

...the painting effects on the canvas looks cool...it seems quite realistic...and about the antenna it's ok but don't forget to paint it!

Best regards!

Luiz.

 

[moon puppy]

Yeah the antenna is a bit lacking. that's not the one I had prepared, can't find it now. So I grabbed some of the jewelry wire I had laying about and stuck it in. I"ll have something more correct next picture.

Thanks guys!

 

[Sherman 18]

I love it MP!!!!