It will never fly…….. Koppos Favorite # 2….
I always have been interested in the North African campaigns, WW2. The vehicles involved just hit me, and the way they get covered in their environment makes fun modeling. A tank I've always wanted in kit form came out last year. As weird as it is, it's the M11-39 Italian medium tank. Only 100 of these were built, the forerunners of the far more famous M13-40. 11 means tons, 39 the year of intro. I like my tanks kind of steam punk, all rivets and angles with guns in all different places, much like this one. The M11 had a 37mm in the hull, a-la the Lee/Grant or Char B, and a twin machine gun turret. This first "medium" tank was light years ahead of the standard Italian "tank", the tiny L-3 light armed only with machine guns. When I saw an ad for a 1/35 resin kit of the M11, I sent for it immediately. This is a product of Brachmodel, an Italian company, run by Luciano Brach, who makes the masters too. A beauty of a kit it is, fitting just as well as any injection-molded armor kit. The only place I cheated was using Fruil-model Metal tracks, which tho tedious to assemble, REALLY look great and enhance the model a lot. Luckily the M13-40 tracks are the same ones.
Finish is sand with green patterns, as per photos, and heapin' helpings of mud and dust. The only marking is the tri-color ID band on the turret rear.
Anyway I was very pleased with this Italian Panzer when done, and keep going back to look at it a lot. So far it's my favorite tank I've built, and I'd call it my second favorite model.
Well, that leaves one. Can you stand the suspense? No I can't be bribed to divulge number one before it's time.
Wow... another gorgeous target. The pre-paint shots are testimony to the very clean build... superb work there! As usual, your dusty & faded desert finish is excellent... when I clicked on the last pic I wondered where the exhaust plume was. No wonder a favorite... can't wait to see No. 1.
BTW... how on Earth do you manage to put the whole darned thing together and then paint the road wheels & return roller wheels/tires so neatly?
Thank you Sir. Tires are pretty easy, thinned Vallejo and a very fine brush does it. After touch up and weathering, screw ups are hard to see.
Wow, I'm surprised that the #2 is a chunk of steel! Great dirty finish...And the winner is?
I like it...nice work. Nice base as well...where'd ya get the concertina wire?
Believe it or not, it's Games Workshop ("Warhammer"). They make a lot of useful stuff for us types, groundwork, veggitation etc. One of my LHS's has a full line. Really, that stuff is only passable. Eduard has better, but it's hard to find. BTW that base is history, left it at last year's Mosquitocon. (If my head wasn't attached...). M-con 2013 is 3 weeks away. Maybe I'll get it back?
The one thing I don't get is assembling the whole thing and then painting. When I do armor, I do it the way I do airplanes: detail stuff painted on the sprues, separate sub assemblies done, etc. How come armor modelers do it this other way?
BRTW - saw your other "wierdo" tank in this month's FineScale. Nice work. You definitely win the prize for oddball models. (A good thing!)
Thanks, Sir. Hey I like Tigers and Sherman's too, just don't seem to get around to them. Got a Churchill coming-closer to mainsteam I guess. As to the painting I think the main factor is when there are a lot of small parts that need glueing like suspension stuff, tools etc. I'd rather deal with tight spots than scrape glue to get them attached. I was just eyeballing that new T-24 Soviet tank at the LHS. THAT's a pile of rivets and bumps. Right up my alley. 🙂
Nice job Bill, as always...weathering is spot on and she really looks freakin awesome...
(BTW, I know what number one is...I can be bribed... 🙂 )