Breaking out the paint brushes

Got to painting the Sand Stalker. I tried to follow roughly a scheme used by the IJA on the Chi-Ha, but it turned out pretty different.

The customary coat of grey primer, after removing the blemishes it showed up.

Vallejo's Camouflage Green was the base colour, with the dark brown being GW Dark Flesh & the yellowy brown being GW Bubonic Brown. I was less than convinced by the Bubonic Brown so I went over it and changed it to GW Karak Stone.

Weathering, my favourite part of painting! I tried out a lot of the techniques from the Object 279 build in January's Military Modelcraft International. First a basic pin-wash using GW Nuln Oil; then paint wear was applied on the browns using a sponge dipped in the base green. Decals from a Revell 1:76 Challenger 1 kit were used, though one fell off from the next step- I really need some decal fixer. Scratches and such sponged & dry-brushed on using a mix of GW Tin Bitz & Dark Flesh, along with a small amount of MiG Light Rust pigment. After that a heavily watered down coat of Vallejo Light Yellow Ochre pigment mixed with MiG Dark Earth pigment was applied, left to dry and then brushed off where appropriate.

There's still a little left to do on this but I'm reasonably pleased with how it's turning out. I was thinking of making a vignette using a 1/76 Nitto SAFS I have left over from the EW Nutrocker and some insulation foam I found down in the basement. Such is the life of the student scale modeller :P

I also thought I'd post some pictures of the painting I got done on the Rook more than a month ago now...

The base colour, a mix of GW Shadow Grey & Camo Green. This was when I was just planning on a red or yellow ID stripe and leaving it at that before weathering, hence the red & yellow paints.

And after changing my mind about the camo scheme- the style of scheme taken from a T-34, but the end result feeling distinctly WW1 or WW2 French. The additional colours were Vallejo Camouflage Green and GW Snakebite Leather. I need some more paints...

Greebling resumes

Spent some time working on the Sand Stalker. Turns out 1/35 jerry can bits are perfect for detailing engines in 1/76, though I also returned to the SU-100 & M48 sprues. The big white bar across the engine space is an unused bit from the AFS Polar Bear.
Gonna start painting this soon I reckon.

Back from the dead!

Hello folks! Rumors of my death were much exaggerated etc. Just life was a little busy over the summer what with teaching NYC kids about nature and only having internet access 1 day a week etc. But I have no excuse for the absence after the 21st of August :P
I got back to Aber mid-September time and have been busy since. But I have done some modelling things! Not many though admittedly...
I got around to finishing painting some of my Dystopian Wars Russian Coalition stuff in the week before Freshers. Frigates, Gunships and a Repair Cruiser!

As a result of Student Loan I splurged on yet more DW stuff, which it will be way too long before I complete! The Australian Fleet Box and the Britannian & Russian expansion boxes. Having played with all them I love them all. Spartan sure can pump out some crazy designs- a giant underwater submarine chainsaw  (Britannian Vengeance) and a battleship with a drill like what they used for the Channel Tunnel as its prow (Russian Khatanga)? Yes Please! Aussies are less wacky but probably my favourite looking fleet, and they play incredibly solid too- I actually won a game with them; me winning a game being something of an oddity!

KoB Dominion Class Support Cruiser

KoB Vengeance Class Submarine

RC Khatanga Class Ice Breaker

RC Tiksi Class Support Cruiser

Nikel Class Heavy Frigate

Aussies, Brits & Ruskies assemble!

I also got a pretty damn rare Ma.K kit- a Zionel Westen 1/76 Sand Stalker.

Not the best quality I've ever seen if I'm frank; I had bits from a Revell M48 & a UniModel SU-100 lying around so I decided to do some mods.
The big gun is from the SU-100 kit which has some T-34 bits mixed in on the sprues so I nabbed that, along with a ventilation thingy & periscope.
The block on the rear (some miscellany from the M48 kit) was originally in my thinking for the bigger guns recoil, as in the Sherman Firefly, but now I'm thinking just move the radio into there to clear out the turret. The insets in the indents on either side are the rear radiator from the M48 cut down the middle.

I did a burst of activity before Uni started requiring actual attention and I think this will be my main project when I do hobby stuff. 

Some other stuff I've been doing is the actual SU-100 were some of the Sand Stalker bits came from- a pretty mundane project but a nice kit which shouldn't take too much effort to finish off- and some Dystopian Legions stuff which isn't by best work and not really worth putting up. Maybe after I've based them.

UniModel 1/76 SU-100. A nice little kit, which is a little further along than this pic, having been covered in a uniform green mix.

More updates hopefully soon!