TANKIETKA AMR-UE CITROËN-KEGRESSE/RENAULT. Mirage1/35 (jumbo)

[David Lovell]

Please bear with me as I get to the build ,as most know 1/72 is my first love but it seems a lot of the bigger manufacturers have noticed its popularity ,its always been popular but in a mainstream un noticed kind of way ,wether due to this or just the economic situation prices have crept right up ,ive always been a bit tight(even more so now I'm a pench) I loved the fact I could buy a kit of unusual subject matter usually with a load of etch included sometimes a few bits of resin as well for a tenner or less ,over that say up to fourteen pounds was a treat ,now I know these kits weren't exactly up there with the rest but a little tender care and patience they were very gratifying to build as I always say no such thing as a bad kit just some are better than others ,one mans poison(marmite) another man's bovril . So with it all at our finger tips started to do the rounds bargin hunting, all the time working on the BTR80 ,now the stash isn't short of choices but I'm sure we all stand there going na ,na, definitely na ,then these two were noticed on flea Bay just over thirteen pounds each jumbo scale I know but cheaper than a 72nder no brainer dived in
unusual and covered in rivets floats my boat ,I know its big scale but at that price I'll turn a blind eye and forgive them ,hobbyboss builds are usually no big shakes so haven't even looked in the box ,the mirror models looks more like a tlc 72nd up scaled to 35th but hey no such thing and all that. Now they didn't really push the button for the next build felt strongly I needed to get away from all things green this a Christmas present from a couple of years ago fell out of the stash

Grey ,greys good i like mine more on the faded levi look ,and its small so 1/35th seeming like a large 72nd i thought I'd cracked it ,but a quick sniff of flea Bay and a bid of just over seven quid a tenner with the postage produced this I know its a 35er again but at the price compared to some of the 72nd stuff being tight wins out.



Well from the title you can see this one is the winner im going tri colour (paint ordered) there's only three sprues all look nice and crispy one of the sprues with the running gear is quite warped hoping the long pieces aren't affected. The plastic is the usual Mirage gray softish but as I said crisply detailed .
Thats it then chaps thanks for your patience getting here ,will make a start ASAP but not sure about the paint job away with my son fishing last week of the month so that could be pending. I've a lot of modern (vechiels not manufacturers) 35th stuff in the stash I dont know either so don't ask but as long as these little jems price wise anyway keep falling in the shopping basket I'll build em bargin modeling way to go. Dave
PS I'll be doing the Renault version ill leave that there.

 

[Allen Dewire]

Go for it Dave! Even in jumbo scale, it's such a tiny thang, you'll be right at home building it. The tri-color looks a nice scheme to finish it in too...

I've got your Das Werk PaK 38 kit in resin from Brach Models. I hope one day to build it.............

Prost
Allen

 

[Tim Marlow]

Love it. I’ve done a 1/72 version…..it’s smaller than a Bren carrier so was in grave danger of being lost with a sneeze……

 

[Jim R]

An unusual little beastie. I like the camo you're doing. A real bargain - great fun for not a lot of money

 

[Si Benson]

Great choice and you really can’t grumble at 13 quid.
I’ve only built one mirage kit and it went together alright from what I remember so hopefully this one will go together ok.
I seem to remember it came in a huge box although it was only a small kit

 

[David Lovell]

Go for it Dave! Even in jumbo scale, it's such a tiny thang, you'll be right at home building it. The tri-color looks a nice scheme to finish it in too...

I've got your Das Werk PaK 38 kit in resin from Brach Models. I hope one day to build it.............

Prost
Allen

Love it. I’ve done a 1/72 version…..it’s smaller than a Bren carrier so was in grave danger of being lost with a sneeze……

Love it. I’ve done a 1/72 version…..it’s smaller than a Bren carrier so was in grave danger of being lost with a sneeze……

Great choice and you really can’t grumble at 13 quid.
I’ve only built one mirage kit and it went together alright from what I remember so hopefully this one will go together ok.
I seem to remember it came in a huge box although it was only a small kit

Thanks fellas hope you all stick around for this one the encouragement ,help ,and of course the small injections of humour are always an important part of the job. Dave

 

[David Lovell]

I have made a small start but nothing worth showing yet but here are the usual spru shots/instructions


As you can see not that much to it get the undercarriage and tracks the rest is bog standard fare. Dave

 

[Scratchbuilder]

Go for it Dave, looking forward to watching you put your touch on the model.

 

[JR]

Dave .
Always enjoy your journeys into 1/72 esp the more obscure makes .
Think this will be no different I'm sure .

 

[David Lovell]

All done on the construction side ,nice little build there were a couple of fetteling moments but nothing out of the ordinary ,the link and length were a minor pain mainly because the small parts were double links causing thurpney pence problems(younger members will have to equate to a fifty pence)sawed part through from out side to get them to bend slightly also preformed some dentistry on the drive sprocket teeth to get a nice smooth wrap round but think they look OK. The dome bits on top I decided(must have been a old person moment) to leave open so deciding they were over scale set about thinning them down then the light bulb came on realising I dont even own a 35th figure to have looking out closed up was the new plan ,when I dry ran the parts there was a massive gap so in my usual any old bodge will do put some plastic strip as a fix

Then in a moment of out of character madness tonssed up the tool locker/box thing

Now on a mission also put some latches on the tail gate of the rear cargo box

Enough excitement for one build





Now there weren't knock out pin marks there were nock out pins these were that big i removed them with the snips that big they left shrink holes on the other side ,please note what a good boy I've been you can see where I've filled them on the rear mud guards.
Well thats it for the mo I'm off fishing for the week next week down Exeter way with my son on our annual get away cant really say all that bonding stuff he's nearly forty but nice to just sit there and take in the nature not even needing to speak if we don't want to ,so will show it some paint on return till then many thanks for your help and encouragement stay safe all. Dave.
Ps not owning any thing 35th all left overs were de sprued and for the mo stored in the rear box thing come the time I'll make a ground sheet to go in as well just to add some visuals.

 

[Scratchbuilder]

Love the fine details you are adding, nothing like an empty box to put people off, it looks like a half finished job, even a few spanners in there will add interest.

 

[Jim R]

That's a fine looking build Dave. Your experience and skills have turned a so-so kit into a great looking model. A strange looking vehicle that's for sure.
Have a great fishing trip.

 

[David Lovell]

Love the fine details you are adding, nothing like an empty box to put people off, it looks like a half finished job, even a few spanners in there will add interest.

That's a fine looking build Dave. Your experience and skills have turned a so-so kit into a great looking model. A strange looking vehicle that's for sure.
Have a great fishing trip.

Thanks guys , I'll be first to admit that I'm the original mr lazy box basher but every so often take a small diversion ,stupid really as I enjoy trying my hand at the little bits I've added here not realistically accurate but they add to the build in a nice little way ,looking back i dont know why I'm like it i enjoyed this one

The resin part was a con they'd used the kit part to make the mould all the same nicks and blemishes so went with the kit


72nd I know but how much fun was that perhaps I should look back sometimes or get a kick up the arss not asking SHIMBO though. I've stuff in the stash upgrade sets 72nd photo etch tracks anybody ,I retired last November ,well suposedly ,hoping for knee replacement in the new year so with nowhere to go and time to waste who knows. Dave

 

[David Lovell]

Sorry all been a long time comming ,couldn't be bothered no not bothered but didn't feel the need might be a better way of putting it ,plus been playing with something else as well ,well after days of walking past it (them)decided to put the building tools/equipment away and set up the airbrush this morning and set about with the primer ,primer was mr hobby aqueous surfacer 1000 personally this stuff is so smooth and easy to use i think the results show for themselves




So thats where we're at with this one ive invested in a set of colours for French armour but this could well get in the way for the moment



I've got a few pics of this build if it comes first ill set up a build/bloggey thing for it. Seem to be thinking a good job across the weekend so I'll keep you filled in as it goes. Dave

 

[David Lovell]

Had one of thoes eureka moments ,1mm tape for curves bang on for the demarcation lines between the colours mask up the primer job done how cools that ,flea Bay produced what I wanted masking tape for curves ? from a well known modeling brand it was total I must have gotten its use /purpose wrong in my tiny mind ,suppose you could wrap it around a curve but it wouldn't make curved shapes a'la camouflage ,was made of a sort of plastic/vinyl wouldn't stick to the primer anyway. So by now its got my back up bloody stuff ruined my plan ,fired up the compressor sprayed the whole thing green ,cleaned the AB through put the science putty down where it was green ,loaded up with brown fired it on cleaned the AB ,put putty down where the brown goes ,shoved the cream at it cleaned AB and peeled the putty off. I know what your all thinking but don't like stopping once underway I did then retire for a quick coffee and butty(nice bit of pork tounge and mustard do they call it pork toung because it doesn't sound as bad as pigs tounge(what ever happened to sheep's tounge) ).struggled painting the lines with mr hobby aqueous matt Black wasn't till almost finished I remembered I had some ak 3rd gen intense matt black ,never mind ,have tried to smarten them up using appropriate colours.
This morning ive given it a couple of coats of filter for tri tonal and blocked in wheels and tracks so she's good for what I like doing next.




Not i think one of my finer moments but I'm confident of making it turn with the next stages. Stay safe all wired times loads of covid about again down our way. Dave

 

[David Lovell]

Greetings from the dining room table havent been given the look of doom so must be keeping within the realms of being half tidy (ill try and put a pic in next time). So have started to do some work on the paint job ,you can see where I've been so far and seem to have struggled on two counts ,can't remember the last time I did something with more than one colour and finally have to admit its time for new reading glasses these are now making hard work of it so off to the opticians a week Saturday. As I said you can see where I've been so far





Absolutely miles to go yet trying not to get distracted by other things I want to build will try and make some headway over the weekend stay safe all Dave

 

[Jim R]

Just had a catch up. That paint job is looking very tasty Indeed.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Agree with Jim. That looks really cool, great paint and it’s starting to age nicely.

 

[David Lovell]

Just had a catch up. That paint job is looking very tasty Indeed.

Agree with Jim. That looks really cool, great paint and it’s starting to age nicely.

Thanks guys as I said seem to have been struggling with doing my thing on the tri tonal camo ,where as with the usual monotone builds I'd have just gone through my usual motions ,mmmmm usual motions cause for lack of recent enthusiasm/ mojo? ,plus the glasses not quite doing what they should be havent helped perhaps another mojo killer without realising, still thank you for the kind comments and support. Dave

 

[David Lovell]

Greetings hope you've all got your heads around this clock change rubbish ,I have but you don't really want to know how ,any way I'm still working on this and I hope getting somewhere near the finishing line ,as I mentioned working with the tri tonal has made me adjust my usual way of working so as ive progressed its become somewhat of a test bed in a good way I hope , hopefully now over time I've grow out of the mud and rust covered buckets I've still got a slight chipping addiction but if its something you enjoy why not. During a conversation with our own Mr Race he mentioned he'd used oils on his last build and was pleased with what he'd achieved ,this got me thinking ive a tub full of oil brushers (also a beautiful publication by abtielung and their basic box of oils that haven't seen the light of day for about three years not even opened)so decided to give them the ak oil brushers a go to kind of lightly weather the paint work around the bottom ,risky at this stage it could I suppose have become a victim of the rubbish bin ,but quite pleased with the transparent dust stained look achieved something to build on with the next build.
Any way tracks ,drive sprockets ,rear return wheel thing and some junk in the bin on the back and were be there.




Thanks all for help and encouragement getting a bit itchy to move on to the next one now ?..mmmm tru scale another 35er there's even a sub and a boaty thing on the peripheral......Dave

PS yes I have broken the gun barrel small as it was I did find it but it can wait as the finishing touch.