paddy
Well-known member
OK so this is Tamiya's 1/35 Valentine, a British Infantry support light tank from about 1941, i will be doing a North Africa version here with a 2Ib gun.
I dont really know much about tanks, My brother spent 25 years in Centurion and Chieftains in the British army but thats not a lot of help to me
first impressions is building is straight forward, i cant see a lot of opportunity to scratch and i dont think anyone does PE for this. That said i need to keep it simple while i work out what i am doing and more importantly, while i work out the art of painting these things.
My mind works in strange ways and first thought was gloss red with alloy wheels and chrome springs etc however i promise i will behave.
I must admit i bought this as a practice build having already bought an M10 Achilles. I thought this was one of those 1970s, quite nice but basic Tamiya models but i now see it is actually a newer tooling and every bit as detailed as the M10 i put to one side.
i have always been a Tamiya paint fan but recently i have really found their limitations as i have tried to do more intricate work, in particular its tendency to dry on the brush before you can apply it when doing very fine detail. Consequently i am starting to move over to the AMMO mig range which is a complete system of paints , washes, pigments and clear coats so that also adds another layer of possible jeopardy to this build
Valentines were well known for reliability unlike its predecessor, the Matilda , this one is being used as a bus.
Wiki report that some Valentines went from El Alamein to Tunisia in pursuit of the Afrika corps , a distance of 3000 miles with little or no problems.
Anyone with an engineering background like me will know that anything metal that moves, be it a hinge or and engine, hates sand. sand and oil mix creates an abrasive past, sand is used on sand paper and sand blasting because it will remove metal with ease when in a grinding situation. Guns Turrets tracks and wheels hate sand !!
Anyway this is where i am at with this build so far , My area is now in Lockdown again and has the fastest rising infection rate in the UK with a new strain of Covid that is 70% more infectious than last weeks version. This all means that i can see me at the modelling bench rather a lot over the next 2 weeks as we are not allowed out..
Off we go again, now where is my gloss Red
I dont really know much about tanks, My brother spent 25 years in Centurion and Chieftains in the British army but thats not a lot of help to me
first impressions is building is straight forward, i cant see a lot of opportunity to scratch and i dont think anyone does PE for this. That said i need to keep it simple while i work out what i am doing and more importantly, while i work out the art of painting these things.
My mind works in strange ways and first thought was gloss red with alloy wheels and chrome springs etc
however i promise i will behave.I must admit i bought this as a practice build having already bought an M10 Achilles. I thought this was one of those 1970s, quite nice but basic Tamiya models but i now see it is actually a newer tooling and every bit as detailed as the M10 i put to one side.
i have always been a Tamiya paint fan but recently i have really found their limitations as i have tried to do more intricate work, in particular its tendency to dry on the brush before you can apply it when doing very fine detail. Consequently i am starting to move over to the AMMO mig range which is a complete system of paints , washes, pigments and clear coats so that also adds another layer of possible jeopardy to this build
Valentines were well known for reliability unlike its predecessor, the Matilda , this one is being used as a bus.
Wiki report that some Valentines went from El Alamein to Tunisia in pursuit of the Afrika corps , a distance of 3000 miles with little or no problems.
Anyone with an engineering background like me will know that anything metal that moves, be it a hinge or and engine, hates sand. sand and oil mix creates an abrasive past, sand is used on sand paper and sand blasting because it will remove metal with ease when in a grinding situation. Guns Turrets tracks and wheels hate sand !!
Anyway this is where i am at with this build so far , My area is now in Lockdown again and has the fastest rising infection rate in the UK with a new strain of Covid that is 70% more infectious than last weeks version. This all means that i can see me at the modelling bench rather a lot over the next 2 weeks as we are not allowed out..
Off we go again, now where is my gloss Red
