Bowcat's 1/35 Tamiya M40 155mm Self Propelled Gun

[Mr Bowcat]

I think next time I will spray the backs with smoke first, then the blue. Hopefully it will tone them down a bit.

 

[stillp]

Sounds a good idea Bob.
Pete

 

[Fernando N]

Another late one here too Bob, paint job and weathering look very nice.

 

[wotan]

Bob

Very realistic modelling. This will be a beauty when done.

John

 

[scottie3158]

I don't know why they say blue having worked on armour the armoured glass in fact any glass will have a green sheen to it.

 

[JR]

Looking good Bob.

 

[Jakko]

I agree, I think they should be more greenish.

Same here, from crawling around inside an M74 armoured recovery vehicle a fair number of years ago, which has almost the same cupola as the M40, I remember the glass having a distinctly greenish tint to it.

Though with the hatches closed (or filled with a figure) I normally go for black with graphite from a pencil because there will be little light shining out of the vehicle, but there should be a sheen to the glass.

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers gents.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Bob
Getting very near the finish line now. The finish, painting and weathering, is excellent.
Jim

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers Jim.

Getting there, the figures are 70% done, body's are painted and need a gloss coat before I apply a wash. Head's are almost done, I spent a while yesterday with oils to get some high and low shades, not at all happy with the eyes but that's an area I always struggle with.

Next I have to start thinking about a base.

 

[minitnkr]

Don't know about WWII, but I had a friend who back in the nineties subcontracted w/Lima Works to supply them w/vision blocks for Abrams tanks and they were all clear blocks of acrylic when shipped. They may have applied some coating later depending on sensors or humans looking through them. Just some trivia. PaulE

 

[Jakko]

Don't know about WWII, but I had a friend who back in the nineties subcontracted w/Lima Works to supply them w/vision blocks for Abrams tanks and they were all clear blocks of acrylic when shipped. They may have applied some coating later depending on sensors or humans looking through them. Just some trivia.

I have some more trivia: I own an American M6 periscope like this one:

(that’s not mine, it’s just a photo I found online). These were used in most American armoured vehicles of the Second World War and the 1950s, and probably later.

Unless you actually look straight into the “window”, that appears dark. This is because when looking at it under an angle, what you actually see reflected in the top mirror/prism (not sure what it is), is the inside of the periscope body, and that’s painted black.

All that said, though, the vision blocks in the hatches on the M40 aren’t periscopes, they’re just glass blocks set in the ring, as this illustration from a tech manual shows:

 

[Mini Me]

My answer to this dilemma was to use exposed 35mm film negative. It's black, shiney and produces a nice effect.
Cheers, Rick H.

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Well, the hatches are glued on now, so the blocks are staying blue.

Did a little bit tonight. Finished up the binos, hard to tell from the pic but I used clear glue to make lenses.



Got the bodies glossed up ready for a wash. Here they are in some type of bizarre conga line.



And this is where I'm at with the heads. Definitely going to have to revisit some of the eyes, 3 and 5 in particular are going to give me nightmares.

 

[Jakko]

My answer to this dilemma was to use exposed 35mm film negative.

Who still has that, then?

Like I mentioned earlier, I paint them black and then use a pencil to apply graphite for the shiny effect, which has the added bonus that it’s reflective from some angles but not from others.

 

[Mini Me]

Bob, I like the chorus line, reminds me of the Bunny Hop on "American Bandstand"
in days of yore! Cheers, Rick H.

 

[JR]

Your worried about those faces Bob.!
I've given up trying to do the pupil, all mine squint !
John.

 

[rtfoe]

I agree, I think they should be more greenish. Revell say blue as well though.

Pete

It's bluish because of the reflection from the angle to the sky just like sea water isn't blue and what we see as blue is reflections from the sky.

BTW Bob, build is looking nice with paint and weathering on.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Thanks chaps.

 

[stillp]

It's bluish because of the reflection from the angle to the sky just like sea water isn't blue and what we see as blue is reflections from the sky.

BTW Bob, build is looking nice with paint and weathering on.

Cheers,
Richard

Don't they have an anti-reflective coating?
Agree, the build is looking good.

Pete