It's all grey!

It is strange how getting a model into a uniform colour changes the way it looks, especially when that colour is grey! However, that is what has happen to the Airfix Stolly which is now in grey undercoat awaiting its top coat of green. Having a number of separate parts yet to be fitted makes the painting a bit more of a challenge but it is certainly easier in the long run then trying to mask them or paint them in situ. Anyway, it all has to dry off now so I will have the delight of seeing it all grey for a while!

Just about ready for paint!

 Well, the Stolly is just about ready for paint. Just a couple of parts to attach and then its time for some primer before a top coating. 

I 'm impressed by this kit - I just need to get the painting right though! That is also what Mrs. Woody says to me!

Some extra detail would be nice!

 I have to admit to enjoying the build of the Airfix Stolly. I have said it before but will say it again, it does remind me of the early Tamiya kits, simple but detailed. Unfortunately there are always the odd parts where that extra detail would have been nice. On this kit, these are the mouldings for the headlight protectors. In real life a frame with slats that should deflect any large rocks or such like that could damage the headlight. In model form, Airfix have moulded the part as a solid so that the headlight that will be behind it will be invisible. Not exactly a good moulding.

However, with some dexterous cutting and some plastic strip something a bit better can be created. First job is to cut the innards out of the frame.

Then add some plastic strip. Now I have just got to wait for the glue to dry to trim the strips to length but that should at least look a bit more realistic then the original part once mounted on the vehicle.

Crashed and bashed!

Crashed and bashed today and I am not talking about some new weathering technique on the Airfix Stolly build! It is me who is crashed and bashed having come off my bike on a corner in the rain. I just know that the front wheel slid out and before I knew it I was on the ground looking at the lady in the car following me who must have had more of a shock than me! Amazingly no bones broken, no ripped clothing and minimal damage to the bike. I seem to have taken the main damage with gravel rash and a very sore left hip and shoulder which will heal whereas any damage to the bike won't heal! Anyway, after a minute or two I was back on the bike and continued home to present my bloodied self to Mrs. Woody who said not to make a mess!

Right, crash or not, work on the Stolly continues with the interior of the cab masked in readiness for painting.

It was then attached to the cab base before the joints were flooded with glue.

I will need to fill the joints but there is nothing too serious unlike my body joints at the moment!

Weathering the cab!

The Airfix Stolly is coming on with the cab now weathered using my usual dilute mix of earth brown paint along with some Tamiya weathering pastilles. 

I like the way this has come together. 

Once matt varnished I will mask from the inside the window and hatch aperture's and fit the cab to its base. With that done I should then be able to deal with any joint issues before painting the external parts of the vehicle.

Stolly cab interior

The Stolly cab interior looks a lot more interesting now the various parts are fitted and painted. It just needs some dirtying up to replicate the state these cabs got into in real life!

Micro Sol for a micro job!

 Having previously primed the cab interior of the Stolly it was time to top coat it with Tamiya XF11 which is J N Green or also known as Bronze Green which is the shade of paint used by the British Army in the 1960s. The airbrush soon had the paint applied.

Whilst that was drying I thought it was time to add the dashboard decal to the dashboard part! Airfix have supplied a nice set of decals but previous experience of other makes and dashboard decals has not been good for me. So with some trepidation I cut out the decal and dipped it in water.

After a couple of minutes I slid it in place. Now the dashboard part has the various dials and switches moulded in place so the decal needs some Micro Soll applied to soften it so that it moulds to the shape of the dashboard part.

You can see by the ruler that this is a small part! At this point the Micro Sol still has to do its job. However, once it had it all looked much better. I'm impressed by the decal and its general fit on a part so small as well as the powers of Micro Sol.

Stolly cab interior starts to get some paint.

Just a quick update on the Airfix Stolly build. I am now at the stage where I need to attach the cab to the base which means the inside needs painting. First off a bit of preparation. I am painting the seats and a few other parts separately and then attaching them to the cab base once painted which means I need a paint free gluing surface. Now I could just paint the entire cab base and then scrape paint away but to save some possibility of damage to the paintwork I have used thin strips of masking tape to cover the required areas. Once painting is finished I should be able to remove them and have plain unpainted plastic ready for glue! That is the theory anyway!

Painting requires a primer and black is my go to choice as if I miss any parts with the top coat the black should at least act as a shading and hide my errors! So the primer has been applied. Left overnight it should be ready for a top coat tomorrow.

In suspense!

 I was in suspense about how easy or difficult it would be to build the Stolly's suspension. It is an important part of the vehicle and very visible so it has to be right. At the time of building the first side I was a bit bemused as to how Airfix had designed the suspension but by the time I finished I was actually very impressed by it. The important part is to follow the instructions precisely and to look hard before cutting the parts from the spru to make sure you don't leave behind any part of the part!

The first part is the torsion bar suspension and shock sbsorbers.

The stub axles are added next.

Then the steering linkages and some hoops .

Just the other side to do now!

A deviation from the inmstructions!

Now, I have in the past in this blog highlighted the pitfalls of not following the manufactures instructions to build their kit or indeed Mrs. Woody's instructions on tasks that she has lined up for me to do. In fact I have created problems for myself by doing the exact thing both with kits and Mrs. W! However, in this instance I am sure I can deviate from the Airfix instructions without issue but not so sure about Mrs. W! However, I will deal with the latter issue later. In the meantime, I have found out that it is possible to build the Stolly's cab separately to the chassis/hull and for it to still be able to be fitted into place. The significance of this is that I can paint the inside of the cab at any stage I like without having the worry of having to do it through the cab windows. Much easier!

With cab temporarily in place it already looks like a Stolly!

Right, better get some plant watering done as Mrs. Woody has instructed - always best to follow instructions, or is it???

This could be an early Tamiya kit!

Work on building the Airfix Alvis FV622 Stalwart Mk.2 1/35 scale or as I will now refer to it as the Stolly has started. This is the first Airfix 1/35 scale military vehicle that I have built by Airfix so the build will be a learning curve but initial impressions are that this could be an early Tamiya kit. Parts fit well and it is not over complicated but the jit dos lack the finess of say a Dragon or Miniarts kit. However, I like uncomplicated and simple as it reminds me of me!

So far it has been easy going ith the chassis or hull constructed and the cab started on. Unfortubnatly, for a brand new tooling, there is a sink hole mark either side of the cab interior.

Some filler has dealt with these, but not what I expected in a new kit.

Moving on, the cab interior is mostly done and I have left the seats unglued for he moment as that will make painting the cab interior easier. I will have to see how I do that painting before building the cab which the instructions instruct should be built around the chassis/hull or can I find another way?

Time for a Stolly!

Time for a Stolly is not what Mrs. Woody heard. She heard Time for a lolly! Whilst in this hot weather that might be a good idea, equally it being time for a Stolly is also a good idea!  

What's a Stolly Woody, you may well ask? Well, in this case it is a Alvis FV622 Stalwart Mk.2 which in many circles, including the military, is known affectionately as a Stolly for short. If you want to know more about this vehicle there are some details on the Wikipedia page available by clicking here.

That's all well and good but what has this to do with my blog? A new 1/35th scale kit by Airfix is what it has to do and yesterday saw delivery of one of the first kits in the UK to the WMD HQ. In fact it is the first kit I have bought this year!. Uniquely, this is the first 1/35th scale injection moulded kit of this vehicle made as far as I know. There have been resin versions in the scale and KFS do a fine 1/24th scale one in resin but Airfix have done a first!

It is a largish box with some weight to it although opening it up doesn't reveal a mass of parts just heavy ones!

I'm looking forward to building this as I have had a fascination for these iconic vehicles since my childhood. Mrs. Woody is of the opinion that I am still a child which may explain my continued fascination! It does look as though I may have help or probably hindrance in the build as Monty the cat is showing a keen interest!

Right, now its time for a lolly!