1/35 Israeli CJ-5M (Accurate Armour conversion of Skybow M38A1C)

[Jim R]

Hi all
Thanks guys.
Took off the clamps and nothing pinged apart so that was good.




Managed to get the rear plate on. That came from the AA set. The bonnet, front wings and grill were a problem. I think with the running gear made up of so many pieces slight errors on my behalf kinda added up and so a fair bit of fettling was needed.


The Israeli modified jeep has a mesh over the grill.


I fitted a few other little pieces and gave the whole thing a coat of black Stynylrez primer. Hopefully the black will create a shadow effect when the top coat goes on.


The dashboard is next. Again much modified for the IDF. They also fitted a .30 calibre mg on the passenger side.

Jim

 

[Mark1]

Looking good with some primer on.

 

[scottie3158]

Looking nice so far mate. That's a good finish with the primer.

 

[Jakko]

That’s coming together very nicely. I built one of these years ago, I think when Skybow was still its own manufacturer, but I don’t remember any specifics so unfortunately I can’t recommend any specific methods or things to pay attention to. But you seem to have it well under control anyway

 

[Jim R]

Hi all
A bit more progress although I've actually spent more time than expected to get to this stage. Lots of little parts and marrying the kit with the conversion.
A dry fit of the parts so far. Mr Surfacer 500 to texture the seats a bit.






The usual forest of bits for painting.


A very light top coat of Vallejo IDF Sand Grey so that shadows and wear and tear shows through.






I've started detail painting. Neither the kit or the AA conversion had any decals for the instrument panel. So I used some from the spares - I think these actually came from a plane. In the true Ron school of mogglin' they'll do for me, at least better than I could paint.


Jim

 

[JR]

Love it Jim, those dials look spot on, esp the altimeter

 

[Mark1]

Looking good Jim, yep I've got a few with altimeter speedos

 

[Steve Jones]

Most of my vehicles have Spitfire dials. Terrific work on the wet stuff Jim. Nice to see

 

[Allen Dewire]

Looking very nice Jim. The shading came through great too. As to the altimeter........Hey when they fired the stovepipe, I bet this thing jumped up in the air a bit..........

Prost
Allen

 

[Lee Drennen]

Beautiful build Jim very detailed I like it.

 

[Jakko]

when they fired the stovepipe, I bet this thing jumped up in the air a bit..........

Barely:

Which, of course, was the whole point of the RCL

(Too bad the teasers appear right over the actually useful bit of the video here, though.)

 

[Jim R]

Hi all
Thanks once again for your posts
106mm just about done. Maybe some light chipping on the tripod and some pigments.


Dash dirtied up a bit with an oil wash. Still a little bit to do.


The body has had the oil wash inside prior to dusting it up. White bonnet strip painted and the tools and lights painted. I had no decals for the bonnet number. I found some white numbers and letters which looked about right. Unfortunately they were on a clear background. I painted a bit of clear decal paper black, cut out the numbers and the letter and put them onto the black background. I then painted the little Israeli sign/symbol and cut the whole thing out. It went on OK and while not perfect or authentic it looks better than nothing.




Thanks guys.
Jim

 

[Jakko]

That is coming along very well It looks good and the markings came out well too.

BTW, the “little Israeli sign/symbol” is a stencilled version of the letter צ, or tsadi, the first letter of צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, “The Army of Defense for Israel”. Basically, it means “this vehicle belongs to the military”

 

[Jim R]

Thanks for that Jakko. You are a mine of information.
Jim

 

[Steve Jones]

Coming along well Jim. Nice to see the update

 

[Allen Dewire]

Looking mighty fine Jim, Love the color and the weathering. I really love the racing stripe on the hood too. The 106mm ain't too shabby either Sir!!!

Barely:


Which, of course, was the whole point of the RCL

Jakko, it was a little joke over the altimeter. In Berlin, in the 80s we had 90mm stove pipes and used to shoot them on their tripods at old Sherman wrecks in Grafenwohr. Body at a 90° angle to keep from getting your legs burnt off. No, they didn't jump and the accuracy was around a 95% hit ratio on the target. Lot's of fun............

Prost
Allen

 

[Jim R]

Steve and Allen - as always your kind support is appreciated.
Well the Jeep is virtually finished. OK it has no steering wheel, machine gun or headlight lenses but its pretty much there. All the chipping, oil work and pigment work is 95% complete. It is very small and very fragile. I reckon if a medium sized spider walked across the bench something would fall off it!

















I must give credit to Steve J. I have learned a lot from his YouTube videos about layering weathering effects. I think he definitely has something so thanks Steve

Jim

 

[Tim Marlow]

That’s a great result Jim. The weathering is spot on as well, lived in, not worn out!

 

[Andy the Sheep]

A real beauty, Jim, bringing back some scent from my youth: firing one of those 106 is really something!

Andrea

 

[scottie3158]

Jim,
Very nice work mate one to be proud of. The pioneer tools look very good.