Thanks Richard. I really do value any advice, but especially from those 'on the ground'.
The Vulcan kit really is a little gem… apart from the shields and opening up the storage bin, the only things which really require extra attention are the open sights.
The rear sight is provided in the kit, but its just too clunky. So I replaced it with one made with fine wire shaped on a simple jig… and an even finer wire for the vertical cross-hair. The foresight and it’s hinged mount are missing completely - you can see it folded down in the image below - but this was easily added from wire and plastic card.
There is also a tensioning bar for the side shields which fits into brackets at the top of the starboard side (roughly midway from front to back) and half way down the port shield (nearer the front). It’s missing in the image above (although there is a wire in place), but easily spotted in the Bakri Road photos. It’s the rod which can be seen above the loader’s head…
The other end can be seen running into the timing strip just above the traverse handwheel in this photo…
Because it actually runs at an angle between the shield and the main gun sight, it can’t be fitted until the shield is glued in place.
So here are some images of the gun nearing completion after base coat and initial weathering. The main shade is Mr Paint MRP-333 Khaki Green No.3/G3.
Now someone is probably going to tell me that this is the wrong colour, but I have done some research and, as far as I can tell, there is no firm evidence as to what you would expect for a gun manufactured in Australia and sent to Far East in 1941. The shade of the gun in the photos above certainly looks darker than the khaki drill uniforms of the crew and, after all, this was destined for the jungle, not the desert.
The MRP acrylic sprays beautifully from the
airbrush without any need for thinner, but be warned (I learned the hard way) that this is a lacquer based paint and lacquer thinner - NOT WATER - needs to be used for cleaning! Eventually (after having to strip the first coat from the model) I used Mr Color 400 Levelling Thinner.
For highlights I added a little
Tamiya Buff XF-57 (
Tamiya paints mix fine), then added chips, scuffs and scratches with an even lighter mix of the above, infilled with the original base coat + dark grey and, where appropriate, steel. Details were picked out in various places with different shades - the breach block, for example, should be quite shiny, the leather strap for the spare ammo boxes, etc.
Please note that this is not the final weathering because I am waiting to have everything almost finished - tank, gun, figures and base - before going in for the final unifying dust coat.
Rick H.