The Tank Grave Yard

[Skinny_Mike]

Hey there folks! Been a while since I posted any progress on any models here. I have been feeling a little anxious as of late. I keep walking into the model cave an noticing the overflowing shelf of doom, which is really starting to get to me. Makes it tough to focus. At last count I have 24 different kits in some aspect of in work! 24 – that’s just insane! With the majority of the shelved kits being armor, its really starting to resemble a tank grave yard over here! So I did a little soul searching and decided, in the spirit of new years and new beginnings and all that crap – its time to start making some headway on the shelf of doom. So I made a plan and some goals – let’s get through 5 dead builds this year. Seems ambitious considering my usual snail’s pace of completions, but I have quite a few that are already past the painting stage. Going after the low hanging fruit, if you will. Some of these already have build threads, and I will resurrect those, but a few I was working on in the back ground and don’t, those I will post here.

Alright – in no particular order, here is the goal for this year, keep in mind I will still be working on the FW190 and the Tiran for our Campaigns.

M109A6 Paladin

Its WIP link is here: Paladin Build


MIG Late King Tiger

Its WIP link is here: King Tiger Build


Tiger Models AMX-10RC

And last, but not least…

F-15C Aggressor

The WIP is located here: F-15C Aggressor Build

Ok – that's the list for 2019. Seven models is pretty sporty, but like I said all of these are already in the painting stage, there really isn’t too much further to go. (If you did the math you'll notice one is missing, that one is kind of a special build and I will reveal it when I get it done, in its own post).

Lets see how I do with my goals!

Thanks for watching folks, be back soon!
Mike

 

[Brokeneagle]

:laugh: I know how you feel Mike, but I think your approach should work. I am trying to do the same thing.
Good luck - I look forward to seeing these finished.

Ian.

 

[Sherman 18]

Knock them out!


I will be watching your progress

 

[fledermaus]

Mike I think every body has a grave yard in our stach, just pick one and continue working till done, (easier said than done)
nice work so far

Abdin

 

[mike walsh]

Mike,

Good resolution to start off the year.
The kits look pretty good and to see them finished is a huge accomplishment.

And yes , I have fallen into the same trap with uncompleted kits.

Michael :drinks

 

[lupanzer]

Very nice team ...

Luiz.

 

[Steve Ski]

Nothin wrong with "Hanger Queens", they eventually get pulled back out on to the line. I say, Ruck Over Bby! I'm slow too, so you're in good company, Mike. Bookmarked!


Cheers, Ski.

 

[Skinny_Mike]

Hi Folks! Well its been a while since I’ve posted much of anything on this site. I haven’t really been building as much as I wanted to be this year. But there has been some progress so I am taking some time to get things caught up.

From the Grave Yard, I have made a little progress on my AMX-10RC. This is the Tiger Models kit. It’s a pretty good kit overall. I can’t speak to the accuracy, but it goes together pretty well and doesn’t have thousands of parts. This was my kit that travelled with me, but I’ve run up to a point where I needed to spend some time detailing and that required the home base workbench.

First step is the hull. This went together pretty easily. There was a few gaps that needed some putty where the top met the sides, front and back, but nothing major here.

There is some photo etch pieces included in the kit. The screens for the engine deck are slightly oversized for the raised intakes but its not that noticeable once they are installed.

The rear of the hull has a few complicated assemblies but overall it went together pretty smoothly. If I was better at soldering and bending metal I would have replaced the guards over the water jets, but alas I stayed with the plastic.

And the front of the hull, with the drivers hatch and all the other accessories added. I chose to fold the mirrors down mostly because at some point they would be broken off if I left them up.

Unfortunately I realized after assembling the hull that the front plate has an anti-slip coating to it, which I forgot to add. Its not that big a deal, the mirrors were really the only thing that were in the way. I figured I would just work around the mirrors. This gave me an opportunity to try out a new product, Hull Tex from Vantage Modelling Solutions. This product comes in two parts, an adhesive and the grit. You first brush the adhesive where you want the texture then blow out the grit onto the adhesive. It works really well and is so simple to use. Here is the end result.

…and a close up…

Video link on how it works VMS Hull Tex

Hull is done, so now moving onto the turret. This again goes together pretty well without any hassles.

I am using a few aftermarket pieces on this build, one being a stowage set from Blast Models.

Installing the loaded stowage basket for the left side required a little bit of surgery as the stowage set is designed for the RCR version which has a slightly different turret rear. You can see in this photo that the basket, molded to the armor plate, needs to take the place of a chunk of the molded kit piece.

The get it all fit and aligned, I first installed the resin, Then cut the front and rear sections from the kit piece and installed those.

Here is is all assembled. I had to support the rear piece because all the mount points are forward of it, and it is spaced armor so there is a gap to the hull. I drilled a hole and used a piece of plastic rod to set the proper spacing and to support the piece. Then putty and CA glue were used to fill the gaps and make it all look continuous.

Well, that catches us up on this build. Hope you like it!

Mike

 

[moon puppy]

Nice

 

[Brokeneagle]

:drinks

 

[Swordsman]

Carry on ….. I have the same plan …. just other people are always taking my time …. but Sales are up in the Hobby Shop ….. so I have to go drive the golf cart over there and sell some model kits ….. Nearly blew it off, but I've been getting new customers lately ….. I must clear the bench and get to it ….. Congrats on your progress …. I hope the time gods are good to us ….. so the shelf's contents are lessened …..