Battle of France Group Build - French Battle Tank B1 bis

Started by George Williams · 26 · 9 years ago · 1/35, B1 bis, Tamiya
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    Simon Whitney said 9 years, 8 months ago:

    Looking good so far George.
    As for the painting side, I can see that will be fun.
    But with skills it should become another work of art like the bikes you build.

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    Seamus Boughe said 9 years, 8 months ago:

    Amazing work! That thing looks like a real land ship.

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    George Williams said 9 years, 7 months ago:

    Well, after a month's inactivity on this project, I've finally managed to apply the basic camoflage colours. After much deliberation I decided to invest in a cheap (and I do mean cheap) Taiwan airbrush and compressor, all for the equivalent of £30 of your English pounds! I don't think it's exactly state of the art, but it will do for now. So I first sprayed the sandy colour. I masked off the areas to be in this colour using a tip from this lovely website, namely, applying the masking tape to the model,and drew a line in pencil where the border should be. Then, carefully removing the tape and putting it lightly on the cutting board, I cut along the pencil line, and then reapplied the tape to the model. This took a long time! Then I sprayed the olive green colour. With great excitement I removed the masking tape, and, hey presto, here's the result.

    . All things considered, including that this is the first time I've attempted any sort of camoflage scheme, I'm quite pleased. There's still a lot to do, but having overcome this hurdle, it should be ready for the deadline in a month's time. Sorry about the long shadows in the pictures, the sun starts to go down early here, but, it's better than yesterday, when we had our first snow of the winter! Next, I think, I'll tackle the tracks. Thanks for looking.

    5 additional images. Click to enlarge.

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    Editor said 9 years, 7 months ago:

    Looking great. I've built this kit (one of the only 10 or so armour objects I've ever attempted) and thought it was a really nice experience. Looks wonderfully eclectic, plus there's no painting of road wheels and the click-together tracks are a work of genius. Your camo looks great, time for some dirt?

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    Simon Whitney said 9 years, 7 months ago:

    Hey George looking good.
    And air brushed too.
    Looking forward to seeing it posted on the day.

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    AL HOFFMAN said 9 years, 7 months ago:

    Looks like your investment paid off. You laid that paint down like a long time user. If your area has a lot of humidity & your compressor didn't come with a water trap you might want that to be your next addition. Did not realize your bikes have been sprayed via rattle can. Now I'm even more impressed.
    As you get comfortable with the gun & it can't do the more intricate work so you get a better one don't retire this one because these basic guns can be great for primers & metalizers.

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    Bernd Müller said 9 years, 7 months ago:

    Hi George, better late than never ! Sorry, didn t see your build before. Your tank looks really good, it is a very interesting vehicle.
    I am more than impressed to learn, you didn t use an airgun before. The first result is great.
    The first snow? It would be very intersting to learn more about the environment. where you live.

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    Ralph Clements said 9 years, 7 months ago:

    Well, George, I didn't know you made models of anything that slow or square - but I can say it's seems you are handing it beautifully and your adventure outside the comfort zone is inspirational...got me thinking of building a ship maybe

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    George Williams said 9 years, 7 months ago:

    You're right about the tracks, Martin, but I think they will benefit from some careful painting and weathering, any tips?

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    George Williams said 9 years, 7 months ago:

    Thanks, Simon.

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    Rick Wilkes said 9 years, 7 months ago:

    Very well done George. You did an excellent job painting a hard edge camo with complicated masking, didn't see a ridge along any of the edges.