As far as I am going!

There comes a time in the construction of any model when you have to say that is as far as I am going with it! If not you will up spending hours and hours on something that to put it brutally bluntly, will be land fill at some time in the future. Sounds harsh but the reality is that no matter how good we think a model is, when we leave this mortal World, others left with a room full of models to clear may not think the same! I accept that and I also have a lot of other models I wish to build before I do leave this World so time is important so lets put this kit to bed and move on. 

Just before moving on I did finish a few things on the tank. The radio aerial, machine gun and shovel have been mounted to th turret, the tow cables are in place and the rear exhausts have been sooted up along with a bit more weathering around the tank hull and turret.

It has been a an interesting kit to build. Far more complex in areas then it needed to be but never the less it has built up nicely even though I curse the etched brass parts! Things I learnt were that practice does improve your skills as I found with the etched parts. Those became easier the more I did. My figure painting, although still poor, is not as bad as it was when I painted the crew for the Russian T34. 

So having rounded up matters here are some pictures of the finished kit and diorama which to be honest I am really pleased with. Now onto the next one - well finishing off some other projects!

No trees but some tracks today and the cats help out with a diorama although they don't know!

After the last two days of tree matters it was nice not to have to deal with any more tree related disasters. It allowed me some time to do a bit more on the Egyptian T34 tank, namely finish the tracks. 

Being metal, tank tracks rust! However because they also run on some metal wheels in the tanks running gear there are also areas where that metal to metal contact leaves a shiny surface on the tracks. In the case of this tank the drive of the powered rear wheels leaves a shiny surface on the track guides as well as on the inside surface of the track links. To replicate this I used some aluminum paint (for some reason the WMD HQ stock of paint did not have a suitable silver in stock) literally dry brushed onto the parts of the track that would be shiny. In addition the outside faces of the track links run on various surfaces which in effect abrade the metal of the tracks and leave a shiny finish on the raised parts of the links. Again I replicated this with some dry brushed paint. 

Track awaiting being 'shined up'.

Track now with shiny parts!

Once the tracks were treated it was time to mount them to the tank hull. I had some time ago glued the rear drive wheels in place as I needed them securely in place to construct the multi part track links. The rest of the wheels were left loose until the tracks had been painted. I used some UHU glue to fasten these to their mounting points. I use this glue rather then plastic cement as it allows the wheels to be removed relatively easily and without damage later on if for some reason I end up with a broken track which I need to repair. Working smarter not harder!

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One side finished - just the other to do.

I also managed to do a little more to the diorama base. The trunk and leaves of the two palm trees have been toned down with some stone coloured paint which worked better than the grey I had planned to use. I also added a few enhancements around the two palms with some rocks and grasses. The rocks are selected from a clay cat litter (unused!) that my cats were using until we moved onto a wood pellet one. If I run out of rocks the cats may have to get used to the clay type litter again! The long grasses are a piece of sisal string that was from a well used and much clawed cat scratching post. It was cut into suitable lengths and glued into PVA. The cats have certainly helped out with this project! The rest of the shorter grasses are static grass and pre made tufts from PECO. Not much more to do now.

If only real trees were as easy to deal with as model trees!

My plans for today went out of the widow as I dealt with the aftermath of yesterdays apple tree disaster. With the collapsed branch dealt with I found several large dead branches which had to be removed and cleaned up. The end result is an odd looking tree but happy cattle in the field behind who are benefitting from the apples which are not big enough for me or Mrs. woody to eat! They could well get fairly fat as I have three sacks of them.

Dealing with model trees is a lot easier and having planted the palm trees on the base for the Egyptian T34 tank yesterday all I have to do with them is tone them down with a misting of a grey/brown paint which will make them look a little less Disney like! 

On the base itself I coated it with PVA glue.

Once the base had been covered the wet glue was covered in some kiln dried sand.

Once dried it looked good to me!

Although neither the base or tank is finished I could not resist posing them together - just what I hoped for! Just need to push on and finish it subject to any more issues with real trees! 

Its all trees today!

Getting back into things after a few days away I started to make a base for the Egyptian T34 tank. I made one for the Russian T34 and just as a reminder here it is.

 I made the base for the Egyptian T34 in the same manner and to the same size as the one above using the styrene base that pizzas used to come with - I built up a stock some years ago as I eat many pizzas and now the styrene is no longer environmentally friendly so has been replaced by cardboard.

The new base was cut out.

The tank was placed on it and a small raised section added for a little variety.

In the WMD HQ Stock Room some palm trees have been languishing for some years - I bought them because I wanted one for a project but could only buy a pack of six. However they have now been useful and another two have been used for this project.

The base was sprayed with Halfords grey primer and two palm trees were glued in place and the tank placed to see how it looked.

I would have applied the sand base to it this afternoon but unfortunately my plan was curtailed by my apple tree in the garden which decided the weight of apples was too heavy for one of the branches and it half broke off. 

It is an old tree - about 50 years in age - so I guess it is coming towards the end of its time. I will be spending some time cleaning this mess up. I managed to fully cut the broken branch off as it was resting on adjacent branches which could have ended up breaking under the additional weight. Mrs. Woody and me need to decide if we take the tree out completely and plant a new one or see if we cut it all back and get some shape into it whether it will last a few more years. Whatever we decide, it is only when you start clearing up something like this that you realise just how big trees are in kit form but then again it is all about the trees today!

Nearly there!

Not much time for model making just recently but I have had a chance to start putting the Egyptian T34 tank together with the figures that came with the kit. I will leave it to the pictures but although there are still things to finish I am rather pleased with it!

Decaling the tank!

Although the MiniArt kit for this Egyptian T34 tank has a multitude of parts it does not have much in the way of decals. Not a fault of the kit but these tanks just did not have much in the way of markings in real life. I am modelling the tank as it was when used in the Suez Crisis in the Autumn of 1956 which is probably the most decorated, in the way of markings, period for the Egyptian T34's. Just four decals are used in a slightly bright shade of green which at least stands out in a desert environment. The decals do add to the model and start to add character.

I did spray a coat of gloss varnish onto the areas where the decals were to be applied to give them a smooth surface to adhere to. The decals themselves were easy to apply and for once I did not end up trying to untangle curled up decals!

Weathering the tracks.

In my attempt to make the tracks of the T34 tank look weathered and worn I resorted to my usual trick of a wash of thinned black paint. Not a lot to the technique - merely dip the brush in the diluted paint and then dab it onto the track and let it flow naturally into the nooks and crannies. The nature of the liquid is that it carries most of the pigment of the paint into the lows of where it is dropped onto and as it dries it leaves that nice highlight. Although I forgot to take a picture once the black wash had dried I repeated the process with a sand coloured paint just to add variety!

Rusty tracks.

In between completing jobs on Mrs. Woody's list (that should get me in good books!) I did manage to find time to spray the tracks of the T34 Egyptian tank in an overall rust colour. This will be the ideal base for further work on them. They were also sprayed with matt varnish ready for that further work to make them look as though they have travelled miles through rough terrain with little care! This of course is dependent on me getting some more time between jobs!

Sand Bag!

Whilst I am sure that my MiniArt T34 Egyptian Tank would be at home with a sand bag or two this particular reference is a UK vehicle registration plate. There a lot of 'doctored' plates on vehicles where spacings, layout  and character shapes are altered to make something else. You don't however see many standard plates where at first glance and the brain filling in gaps or reading what should be there they are relevant to their vehicle or owner. 

A case in point today where a tipper truck from a local sand and gravel merchant was behind me on my bike ride early this morning. It overtook me but due to a steep hill and gravity acting in my favour on my large frame, I caught up with it as it waited for a gap in the traffic at a junction to join the main road. I managed to get this quick picture of the truck with its SAND BAG registration plate. It amused me anyway!.

Back at WMD HQ, the Man Cave oven saw a very brief visit where I have painted the tow cables rust colour. Due to the nozzle of the paint bottle being partially blocked, I ended up spraying a lage amount of paint out so in a bid not to waste it parts of the track were painted. With this heat progress is slow which I also tell Mrs. Woody when she enquires as to the progress of the jobs on her list! Time for another ice cream!

The rear of things!

Treating Mrs. Woody to lunch out today - a £3.75 Spar Lunch Deal (25pence cheaper than the CoOp - every little saving helps!) - we took a ride out to enjoy a walk in the countryside. Having highlighted the early harvest that is currently happening here in the UK it was somewhat inevitable that our view of the countryside on our journey was at times compromised by being behind a tractor and grain trailer. 

However we were in no rush, the farmers need to do what they are doing and driving slowly saves fuel too! 

I certainly would rather see the rear of a grain trailer than the a T34 tank although continuing my modelling activities on the MiniArt Egyptian T34 tank I have added slightly to the rear of that as I have painted the Jerry cans that fit in the holder on the hull. Using the opportunity to add some colour one is green and the other red. No idea if that is prototypical but you do see these cans in all sorts of colours and it adds a bit of interest to the rear of the tank unlike the grain trailers I keep following!

They need to be weathered and made to look battered as most such cans look especially when in operational use.

I have also added further colour to the DShK 12.7mm anti-air (and everything else that gets in its way for that matter) machine gun which is taking on some character.

 I have also glued the drive wheels in place which will enable me to do a final test fit of the tracks before painting those separately. The rest of the wheels are loose at the moment which allows me to remove the tracks. I had to fit the drive wheels because of the way in which MiniArt choose to mount them to the hull. As they engage with the tracks they have to be in the correct position on the hull or the premade tracks will not fit. If that explanation sounds confusing then just put it down to my poor choice of words! 

With the DShK gun temporarily mounted on the turret things are really coming together.

Is this really only the middle of July?

 

With warnings of a hot weekend I still had to remind myself that it was only mid July whilst out on my bike ride this morning seeing harvested fields, hay stacks and tractors out ploughing - sights normally for late August and September!!

Back in the relative sanity of WMD HQ I was pleased to have a visit from Mr Beecham, he of modelling fame and cycling prowess! It was only a flying visit but always great to have a chat with him and he had a look at my Egyptian T34 on which I have added the hatches to the turret which now require weathering, weathered the wheels some more and highlighted a few more parts of the hull.

Out of interest I dug out my Italeri Russian T34 that I built a year or so ago just to see what the two look like together. Interesting comparison and whilst you can see differences in the level of detail between the two kits they do look very similar from normal viewing distance. 

Probably the tracks are the next thing to do but with a hot weekend that may make the Man Cave somewhat oven like and delay progress. However it will be a good excuse for an ice cream!