Fernando N's Ace British Light Tank Mark.VI C

[Fernando N]

Hi everyone,

With just more than a month in this GB I thought I add this one to the line-up:

Although not so many parts, they need a lot of clean-up and I probably will replace the barrels with some brass rod:

Instructions, tracks and decals:

Four marking options, I’ll be building the Maltese variant as it caught my eye in the first place:

Started on the hull and cleaning the first bits of the running gear which took at fair share of time:

The side of the box also states: ’’This box contains a plastic kit made under short run technology.’’ nothing lied there but with some patience and TLC it will end up fine, I hope...

Thanks for looking in.
Fernando

 

[stillp]

Interesting - another manufacturer I hadn't heard of.
Pete

 

[Steve Jones]

A 1 72 tankette!!! Rather you than me mate

I have been very interested in this camo scheme and seen it on a few completed models. No idea how to do it. I assume it will be with the brush.??? Will you be having a go yourself?

Good luck with the build

 

[Fernando N]

Evening all, sorry for the late update, progress continued at a steady pace but forgot to share it with you all….

Pete, they make lots of interesting subjects and as far as I know only in 1/72 and hopefully others are better fitting….

Steve, thanks and this little critter reminds me of a CVR(T) but maybe I made the barrels too long, more on that later.
For the camo it’ll be a combo of AB and brush work, done before on a 1/76 sd.kfz.9 with good result.

Been quite busy modifying or replacing parts with scratch built ones as the kits offerings are sometimes pretty simplified….
First replaced the mudguards, only after cleaning I realised that their shape was off to the box-art and corresponding photos of this tank on the net:

Then came the turret, after careful cleaning it up the sides were quite barren:

Made a bunch of rivets for it, although a bit large 0.6mm is the smallest size I could punch out:

Also made new barrels from 0.4 and 0.8mm brass tube with styrene cones and beefed up some of the hinge details :

The smoke dischargers were moulded quite badly, so making new ones was quicker than cleaning them up:

Last bits were installed on the hull and turret, added 0.3mm brass wire for the antenna and drivers mirror instead of the kits advised 0.8mm???
So ready for paint here:


Yesterday I gave it a coat of Vallejo Dark Yellow primer as a start to see if it looked the part (found a painting instruction of a 1/35 Vulcan models variant telling to use Desert Yellow and Nato Green for the scheme):

As the Dark Yellow was a bit too dark for my taste, I mixed up VJ 71.025 Dark Yellow and 71.001 White in a 8/3 ratio for the look I was after:

With more than a day old the paint is still tacky, doesn’t help with this weekend being all rain here and humidity high in the house.
I’ll give it a couple more days to dry and then it’s on to the ‘’Stone Wall camo’’.

Thanks for looking in.
Fernando

ps. Not intended to make an accurate version here, just my take on the matter….

 

[Dave Ward]

Fernando,
the 1/35 version was small enough for me!
I seem to remember Airfix did a 1/76 Mark VI many years ago - a rebox of JB models original. With the Vulcan model, not bad coverage for such a small tank
Dave

 

[Si Benson]

Top work mate,
You’ve really knocked that into something decent looking. Some really nice additions

 

[Jakko]

I seem to remember Airfix did a 1/76 Mark VI many years ago - a rebox of JB models original. With the Vulcan model, not bad coverage for such a small tank

S-Model have one in 1/72 — well, two, actually, because with S-Model you normally get two to a box I found it to be a very nice model, quick-assembly like wargaming-oriented kits but with the kind of detail and finesse I’d expect of a modellers’ kit.

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Wow - superb detailing on the little blighter.

 

[Mini Me]

Hi Fernando, just like working in 1/87 scale ! lol. Terrific progress and much scratchery is a
Huge improvement over the kit parts. Rick H.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Fernando
Well Sir you have made a cracking job of this. Definitely an improvement on the kit.
Jim

 

[Deleted member 4539]

You've put some great work into this Fernando .

 

[Steve Jones]

Absolutely gobsmaked!! What a stunning little build. You have excelled yourself on this one mate. Looking forward to seeing how the the paint job turns out.

 

[Fernando N]

Evening everyone,

Dave, Si, Peter, Rick, Jim, Ralph and Steve thanks for the kind comments guys.

Not so much photo’s in this update but the work involved almost took up the same amount of hours.

The instructions were next to useless in painting, telling one to look at the box-art for the Malta version and not even calling out the colours needed….
Luckily I found a Polish webstore who has a hi-res copy of the Vulcan models painting instructions, making painting a lot easier.
As I intended to extend the camo scheme to the running gear too, I still had to scour the net for some usable pics and add a guess here and there to complete the pattern.

Hand-painted A.MIG-084 NATO Green for the pattern with a 5/0 brush, Revell and Humbrol enamels for the remaining details and the search and head lights were done with a chrome pen (unseen here):


It’s under a coat of gloss now, in preparation for the decals (all two of them) and weathering.

Thanks for looking in.

Fernando

 

[Steve Jones]

It just keeps getting better mate. Fantastic base coat. Really looking forward to seeing where this one goes. Great stuff

 

[Graeme C.]

Nice work Fernando, the stone wall camo looks great.

 

[scottie3158]

Fernando,

Great work the paint job is exceptional.

 

[Si Benson]

Very nice Fernando, I imagine getting the camo lines on was a headache!

 

[Mini Me]

Looks like it turned out great! Cheers, Rick H.

 

[Fernando N]

Evening all,

Steve, Greame, Paul, Si and Rick thanks guys for the great comments.
Oh and Si the pattern was a headache indeed, it was easy to stray too much into one’s own pattern instead of the ref’s.

With the gloss dry I gave it a wash of AK 121 Brown to let the details pop out but not too much.

Then came a highly anticipated moment, fitting the tracks, will they fit and look good? (forgot to do so earlier)
The clean-up was very easy compared to the rest of the kit with little to no flash, only after welding them with a hot nail I found out they were way too long, cut out a couple of links on each side and glued them on.
Good thing they react well to CA.

A little layer of MIG Airfield dust pigment was applied to the tracks and a bit here and there on the top side, followed by a coat of VJ Matt varnish to seal it all in.
With the Matt dry a touch of gloss was painted on the lights again to regain the chrome look and this little tankette is finished (just in time):


I tried to keep the weathering light as in all the photo’s I saw on the net they were kept pretty clean.
More photo’s in the completed section.

Fernando

Ps. This GB was a great idea of Paul, had some good fun at building in the small scale again.

 

[JR]

Fernando.
Appolgies, missed this completely, had a good read through, my word you've turned this into a little gem. It's so small when standing next to the Tamiya bottle, just don't know how you manage to work on it .
John .