BA-3 Russian armoured car 1/35 scale

[JR]

After a day of prolonged rain the best place to be was either asleep or in the cave.
I'd previously applied a gloss varnish to the model and all the small parts. These had been sitting drying over night.
Even with a gloss coat the oil wash didn't want to flow, suspect the mix was to rich and not enough medium. Soon I had three separate plastic tops with different mixed in.
The first oil wash can dry, then I can blend it in, as I start in the rust colours.
I wanted the black around he turret to look like smoke deposits.








Nice group of Hornets, this time I've used old sprue, dab of CA, done.



I like the wheel assembly with half the shaft .

Comments please, have I got it rightso far ?
Still a lot of work to do with the oils.
Then the figures

John .

 

[Jim R]

Hi John
That is looking very good. You have a knack for making groundwork. Useful tip with the IPA. Armoured car looks well wrecked and all the scattered bits will really tell the story.
Good for you buying the Hornet Heads from Historex. I reckon those heads are some of the most commonly copied things out there.
Jim

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Looking amazing to my untrained eyes.

 

[JR]

Hi John
That is looking very good. You have a knack for making groundwork. Useful tip with the IPA. Armoured car looks well wrecked and all the scattered bits will really tell the story.
Good for you buying the Hornet Heads from Historex. I reckon those heads are some of the most commonly copied things out there.
Jim

Thanks Jim. As you know I love the ground work part a lot. That IPA is a mix at 30%, I've tried a spray bottle, that's ok, but tends to blow loose stuff away. The best method is with a pipette, just a drop here and there, it spreads so quickly.
Having read an article by Rodger Saunders I feel very strongly about this.
Here is the article by him, no doubt you have seen it before but others may have not .
I think it is well worth posting again .
John .

Piracy Here are examples of just a few pirated Hornet products: Hornet HBH02, 01, 05​ Various Hornet heads​ Hornet GH21, copied in resin​ All copyright in Hornet products rests with me, Roger Saunders, and I do not authorize reproduction by any other manufacturer. After all, other companies are in competition with me! Nevertheless, unauthorized copying is widespread, ranging from companies who use Hornet heads and hands on commercial figures to blatant passing off of copied models as the real thing Illegal commercial copying is a persistent and real problem, and many companies suffer from it. I have read several discussions about this on various forums, and I would like to give my views on some of the points made. How can I be certain that I am buying the genuine thing when I see it on the internet? If the seller does not state that the item is ‘Hornet’ then it almost certainly is not, even if the picture suggests that it is. The copyists often use a picture of the original manufacturer’s product, instead of the copy that they are really selling, and they frequently download images from the hornetandwolf website. Be suspicious of low prices. Specify that the item must be genuine and give the seller a lot of bad feedback if it turns out not to be. Don’t be fooled by lots of stars on their satisfaction rating. How do you know if an item is a copy? It will almost certainly lack Hornet packaging. The pirates often use a resin of a different colour and texture. Detail will not be as sharp as you would expect, and the proportions tend to be distorted. The pouring blocks of individual Hornet heads all have reference codes – the pirates usually take these away. The copied sets of heads may be on a single slug to save costs. Prices for the genuine articles are far too high. If manufacturers reduced prices the motive for copying would disappear. Unfortunately, if I did this my motive for producing them would also disappear. If prices were slashed sales would increase dramatically and so Hornet would sell more to compensate for the lower price. The market for these items is worldwide but small. The manufacturing process will only work for quite small production runs. Real economy of scale is impossible. If a pirate company can sell copies at around $8 why can’t you? They have to use the same materials and methods. The pirate company can simply take a model that represents weeks of painstaking work and pop it into a mould. As a general rule they are also based in a country that is far less expensive to live in, and run a business in, than mine. Often they do not sell via merchants, and so do not have to build a trade discount into the price. So why not sell direct, cut out the retailers and distributors, and lower the price? Without the retailers and distributors my sales would collapse. I am only one man, and my main function is producing models rather than marketing worldwide. These copyists are doing a service to the hobby by making the models available to people who could not afford them otherwise. Arguably true in the short term. But in the long run they are harming the hobby. Why should originators like me labour to make new products that someone else promptly steals? Cut to the chase. Why should the customer not buy wherever he finds the best deal? Buyer, beware! When an item is copied in commercial quantities it has probably been remoulded at least two times. Each time it distorts, usually shrinks, and detail is lost. At the prices you charge you must be making a lot of money. A few pirates aren’t going to do you much harm! I love this one! Despite the tremendous publicity Hornet products receive, actual sales are modest. Believe me, my income is not likely to provoke gasps of envy, and it is declining year by year. I think pirating is doing me a lot of harm. Copying is done on a well organized commercial scale by a lot of people. An offender in China claimed to hold more stock than I do myself! And his website described the knocked-off heads as being ‘top sellers’! So why don’t you do something to stop the pirates? As the creator I hold all copyright to these models. But practical measures are difficult, and there are always yet more copyists- many of which are beyond UK, EU or US jurisdiction. Why not name and shame the baddies on your website? Human nature being what it is, it would probably give them more trade! Most of these guys use PayPal to get paid. Complain to PayPal! I tried once. My tears shorted out the keyboard after a few hours. eBay is better, but you have to find out each and every time an item appears, and formally complain afresh before the sale ends. It then tends to appear again after a short interval and you have to start again. Discussion with either of these organizations seems almost impossible. So what is the answer? At present there doesn’t seem to be one. I suppose that if hundreds of enraged customers complained to PayPal and eBay (scroll down and find ‘report item’ to the left of the posting) each time knocked off models appeared they might do something. It’s not very likely though. The more folk that can resist the temptation to buy copied stuff the longer people like me can carry on, but the omens are not good. NB. All readers are welcome to copy and pass on the above as they wish. By all means use it in discussion forums whenever the topic comes up! Top​

 

[grumpa]

Love it so far John, if all else fails give it a good bashing I always say.

Cheers Jim.

 

[Steve Jones]

Wonderful work mate. You really are good at these wrecks. Have you and Jim been swapping notes?? LOL

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Agree with the others John - wonderfully realistic work.

As for the piracy, it always pays to go to reputable dealers.

 

[Steve Jones]

I'm new to this world of piracy in models. I can spot the signs with figures but how do you spot an AFV kit? Does it come in a fraudulent box like a pirate DVD?? Do fraudulent AFV kits actually exist??

Apologies for hijacking your post mate

 

[Andy Belsey]

I was admiring your work on the burnt out vehicle thinking of the poor bu**ers, who probably didn't get out of it and then I scrolled down to all your trophy heads! The all this talk about pirates....

By the way, I fully support the fight against piracy. Those who try to scratch a living from our hobby could do without parasites creaming off the little they do get. None of us should be tempted to their cheap prices but buy from genuine sellers like John.
Andy

 

[scottie3158]

Looking good John, as the others have said you have the knack for this.

 

[JR]

Looking amazing to my untrained eyes.

Thanks Andy, don't know about the un trained eye though
John.

 

[JR]

Love it so far John, if all else fails give it a good bashing I always say.

Cheers Jim.

Thanks ,best way there is Jim

Wonderful work mate. You really are good at these wrecks. Have you and Jim been swapping notes?? LOL

Cheers Steve, no, I just follow him around, from a discrete distance wearing dark glasses and a big hat.

Agree with the others John - wonderfully realistic work.

As for the piracy, it always pays to go to reputable dealers.

Thanks Peter.

I'm new to this world of piracy in models. I can spot the signs with figures but how do you spot an AFV kit? Does it come in a fraudulent box like a pirate DVD?? Do fraudulent AFV kits actually exist??

Apologies for hijacking your post mate

Not hijacking it at all Steve, I think it would mainly applies to figures.
They can easily coppied in a mould, and then churned out. Not so easy with a complete sprue.

I was admiring your work on the burnt out vehicle thinking of the poor bu**ers, who probably didn't get out of it and then I scrolled down to all your trophy heads! The all this talk about pirates....

By the way, I fully support the fight against piracy. Those who try to scratch a living from our hobby could do without parasites creaming off the little they do get. None of us should be tempted to their cheap prices but buy from genuine sellers like John.
Andy

Thanks Andy
Agree they do look a bit like that on those sprues, in fact they are the Germans moving forward having a gander, the poor Russians have ling been removed and buried. That's a point, I could put some graves, heaped soil, but I don't know it the Germans would have bothered .

Looking good John, as the others have said you have the knack for this.

Thanks Paul .
John

 

[Deleted member 4539]

Coming along well John .

 

[spanner570]

Rough as a bear's a**e!
Love it!

 

[BattleshipBob]

Excellent John!! Was the driver only third party insurance ?

 

[JR]

Coming along well John .

Thanks Ralph.

Rough as a bear's a**e!
Love it!

Thanks 570, we aim to please .

Excellent John!! Was the driver only third party insurance ?

Cheers Bob, no he had full, but there was an exclusion clause stating not covered in the event of war !

John aka 453

 

[MikeC]

Thanks ,best way there is Jim


Cheers Steve, no, I just follow him around, from a discrete distance wearing dark glasses and a big hat.


Thanks Peter.

Not hijacking it at all Steve, I think it would mainly applies to figures.
They can easily coppied in a mould, and then churned out. Not so easy with a complete sprue.


Thanks Andy
Agree they do look a bit like that on those sprues, in fact they are the Germans moving forward having a gander, the poor Russians have ling been removed and buried. That's a point, I could put some graves, heaped soil, but I don't know it the Germans would have bothered .

Thanks Paul .
John

If all else fails then do the usual - set fire to it - or are you only allowed candy matches these days...
Mike.

 

[JR]

If all else fails then do the usual - set fire to it - or are you only allowed candy matches these days...
Mike.

No Mike,I have a secret supply , and of course the soldering iron
Right today did a little more on the car , using pigments and oil. Finished for to day and leaving it overnight, or longer.














Some more blending when this had dried.
Any comments welcome
John

 

[BattleshipBob]

Looks superb John, excellent !!

I trust a Stug did the damage lol

 

[JR]

Looks superb John, excellent !!

I trust a Stug did the damage lol

Of course Bob, an early version ? as it would have been early in the Eastern campaign.