1/35 Israeli Defence Force M60 A1 'Blazer'..

[papa 695]

Great work so far Ron, and learning along the way.

 

[PaulTRose]

I've just completed this thingy that goes on the back of the turret.

its called a 'bustle'


think of it as a luggage rack  :D


its going together nicely

 

[monica]

Bit of a battle with the headlight area

they look very simulate to the BTR ,light protectors as well,a wee bit fiddly,I found as well, :D


nice progress on this one,

 

[Ian M]

Looking very god Ron. The plastic does look nice and crisp with sharp fine detail. Also the photos are mega sharp, New camera?

 

[spanner570]

First off, apologies to Gavin for not thanking him for posting the video...Thanks Gavin!


.......me too Ian!


Thanks Monica. It was fiddly for sure.


I knew it was a 'Luggage rack' but didn't know it's name, hence Thingy!...But now we all do. It's called a bustle. Cheers for that Paul. I appreciate your input.


Ian, I used my trusty old pocket size, Sony Cyber Shot camera - gern's got one too. About £20 on ebay. 


Thanks to you tankies on here, I'm learning as the build progresses. Good stuff


Ron 

 

[Snowman]

Only a pleasure, Ron. Just adding to the knowledge. ^_^


Nice work, you are cracking along quite a steadily rate....more than I can say for myself.

 

[spanner570]

Thanks Gavin. Good to have a guiding hand! 


...as it's raining here, I've just had a pleasant day working on the turret.


Bit of a juggling act as there are no fixing points for most of the components, just dotted approximate lines. 'Fix them somewhere about here!' The instructions do give you the correct order for fixing the armour, but not exactly where.....you're on your own mush!


So I had to juggle the reactive armour, the hand rail, the two 'orange boxes' and smaller bits to make them all fit summat like.


Are the 'orange boxes' either side of the main gun, mortars, smoke thingies or what?


Here is the result.


I've just spotted a few bits where I've not cleaned up properly.





See the small piece of armour at an angle? I've just been at the bench and moved it closer to the one underneath - too much of a gap.











The turret front lifting eyes are in the right place. Those indents by them are for an earlier version of this tank (I think, as there are plenty of alternative bits left) - I've decided to leave them rather than fill and sand them all.


The bustle is not fixed yet, as I still have to cut and fit some fiddly scale mesh (supplied) to the framework, and I though it better when I get annoyed with the stuff, to just sling the bustle across my den on it's own, rather than the whole tank!!


That's it, next up I'll start painting the model. As usual I'm brush painting and luckily I have the correct colour in Humbrol Enamels and a bottle of turps substitute at the ready, so I'm good to go........


I hope you like the model thus far.


Cheers,


Ron 

 

[spanner570]

No one want to let me know what the 'orange boxes' are then? Not to worry


I've given the model it's first coat of enamel. Well thinned with turps and applied with a big brush, worked in all the nooks and crannies. I let the paint run where it wanted to go, then when semi dry. I layered it off to remove an unwanted ridges.


With brush painting I can introduce weathering with each coat. This first coat has left a nice hit and miss streaky sand blasted effect - just the ticket!








Bustel still not fixed - I'm not in the mood for that mesh work yet!


Thanks for looking,


Ron

 

[monica]

looking good,do like the shade of sand your used, :D

 

[flyjoe180]

Looks good Ron.

 

[PaulTRose]

No one want to let me know what the 'orange boxes' are then? Not to worry

sorry...only just got here  xD


you are right....they are smoke dischargers 

 

[spanner570]

Thanks Paul for answering my question.....


Thanks too to Monica and Joe for your encouraging posts.


Apart from some fettling, I've finished painting the tank, and I've added the decals. Still plenty to do.


I've given the tank it's final colour. Brush painted as usual, using Humbrol enamels and a good dollop of turps substitute!





I've hacked at the track pads as the mouldings were far too clean and smooth. Having seen the awful rough welding and general bad finish of a real M60, I'll never worry about cleaning seam lines properly on a tank ever again.............any tank! 





Next up I'll add the stowage, hawsers etc. finish / tidy any painting, weather the brute, then put it on a dio.


I hope you approve thus far and thanks for looking in.


Cheers,


Ron 


Edit - I've just noticed I didn't paint the top, small wheeled, track thingy guides O.o ....should 'ave gone to specsaver!!!!

 

[Snowman]

SWEET!! Great build! B|

 

[monica]

looking real nice,like how this is turning out so far, :D

 

[spanner570]

Thanks folks...good to have you still tagging along. I hope to wind it up soon.

 

[spanner570]

Hi folks,


Apart from some stowage etc., I've finished sticking plastic to this, so I've been adding a bit of detail painting and also started to weather to the model.


The two towing hawsers. Made from thick thread.





Sometimes I think folks get uptight about weathering models and then make it too complicated and difficult. That is of course up to the individual and I respect that. I prefer to keep the process simple (it needs to be!) I've done the weathering by just using a slurry of very thin Humbrol enamel, slightly darker than the main colour, letting it run where it wants. Then when nearly dry, I sprinkled the whole of the tank with polyfilla powder - and blew the excess off....seems to have worked for the dusty / streaky effect I was hoping for.


I don't much care for chipping, I think it tends to be way too much on some models. So later, I'll probably just do a bit of work with my trusty old pencil....... 





I've also started a fairly straight forward background for the model, using off cuts of polystyrene sheets. I am hoping to finish up with a bombed out section of a Syrian street, and then plonk the tank in front of the buildings.


I just stuck bits here and there as I went on my merry way. It's about 16" long. 


As I always do with my model buildings, I started with a 1/35 figure in a doorway to get the scale something like, and then worked out from that spot as ideas came along..


Here is the first session......


Roughly cut out and stone / blockwork scribed in.





Cheers all,


Ron

 

[0ne48thtel]

Sorry Ron I have just caught up with this and it is looking great love the nicks you have taken out of the pads nice touch.

 

[Deleted member 4203]

This really is fantastic Ron, you've made an excellent job of it  :D

 

[spanner570]

Thanks Terry and Blair for your excellent posts.


These IDF tanks were loaded up with external clobber, so to make the model look summat like, I had to bite the bullet and buy Aftermarket stuff. Yes, me!!


I refuse on principle to spend at least half as much again as the kit cost, just to purchase a couple of rucsack and some bits and bobs which were the right era. 


I found these Tamiya thingies for £8, which will do me just fine.....No good for the purists, but near enough for the likes of me.(helmets excluded, mind!)





I'm up and running now, and able to finish the tank 100%


Cheers,


Ron.....

 

[monica]

real great work with the weathering on the tank,Ron,your why of doing it dose turn out a great resolute in the end, :D


some think I,have pickup from you and the why you do it , 9_9 like how your taken so nicks out of the tracks as well,


do real like your start to the building as well looking good,As I,will be paying a lot of attention to it as I will be doing one in the modern GB,next year, :D