Time out: Tamiya M151A2 Ford Mutt

A kit that took 32 years to build..

I bought a simple model kit from Hobby Jaya, one of Kuala Lumpur's most renowned model kit store which was located in Sungai Wang Plaza.
It was a Tamiya M151A2 Ford Mutt and it costs around RM16.90.
I was 14-years of age then and it was a real big deal forking out 20 Ringgit for a model kit.
This was one of my many craft projects as a teenager and barely into building it's undercarriage, I abandoned the idea of completing the miniature vehicle.
I tried using a brush and Tamiya acrylic paint, but the results were just too horrible even to show to a six-year-old. 
So, I boxed it up and kept it at my Aunt Lorraine's house in Setapak and left it there after relocating to Subang Jaya.
Since I patched up with my aunt, I went back to her house to rustle up all my old kits. And the Ford Mutt was still in it's box, with parts in the sprues still in "pristine" condition.

The Tamiya kit recovered after 32 years

Model kit building, a form of relaxation...

So, I had a situation at the workplace. Things are getting tough and the only way for release to me, is to build something. I use my brains to think of something constructive and some creativity to put things together and in perspective, broaden my horizon by acquiring a new skillset.
For starters, I am never good at building models and painting them.
The only success I had, was with a Tamiya Panzerkampfwagen kit sometime in the early 80s.
Recently, I bought a Tamiya single-action airbrush which is powered by a can of propellant. Since I had some really bad experience with propellant airbrushes, I was rather skeptical.

Airbrush: A game-changer

I have little experience when it comes to handling an airbrush. 
The only time I got to play with a handpiece was in art school. I sprayed twice. That was all. What I bought, was a Tamiya High Grade single-action airbrush. I believe it was manufactured by another company called Iwata.
Being skeptical at first, I tried spraying some acrylic paint on the Ford Mutt kit. I started with the tires on the sprue and found that the coating of paint was pretty event.
To spray, expert modelers suggested a mix of 2:1, that is two part pain and one part thinner. 
This is tricky, but if you have a plastic pipet (these can be bought from Daiso), you can measure the ratio by how many drops of paint you put in the handpiece cup.

Spraying the wheels in a circular motion..

Priming

Before I began painting and assembling the kit, I sprayed the parts which is still on the sprue with a can of grey paint primer.
This gives the parts an even coat before the acrylic is sprayed over it.

The painted kit, before assembly

Building not according to specs

I wanted the Ford Mutt to have a minimalistic look.
So, I ditched the TOW missile launcher and other parts that fills up the vehicle.
After painting the undercarriage, exhaust and suspension system, I was pretty pleased with the finish.
To get a solid base colour, I used the Tamiya Dark Iron acrylic paint. When applied with weathering, the results were awesome.
I wanted my Ford Mutt to be  a two-seater and there were options on the kit to build it as I like it.
There are no engine on the kit, so detailing it's interior wasn't an option given. Tamiya had produced this kit with the option of having the US Army's colour and markings or simply a US Marine workhorse. I chose none.
My Ford Mutt is as simple as it is..

The finished kit, with some weathering rendered

Another view of the Ford Mutt

Achieving the desired "look"

With the airbrush, I was able to touch-up the kit.
Some unsightly "blemishes" can be removed by spraying a light mist over it.
On the whole, I am pretty happy with the way the kit had turned out.

A pictured of the Ford Mutt with it's box..

I used two cans of propellant to complete the kit.
An airbrush compressor would be even more practical in the long run.
Building this kit was not difficult and having an airbrush is a big advantage if you want your kit to stand out.
The only part that is pretty tough to fit was the windshield. It's just a flimsy piece of plastic that needs to be glued to the windshield's frame.
Since I am not good at painting figures, I gave the Ford Mutt's driver a miss..

Time out: Italeri M4A1 Sherman 'Calliope' 1:72 kit - part 2

Top hull assembly...

With the tough parts on the M4A1's lower hull and undercarriage nicely settled, I began work on the top hull. 
The M4A1 is a refined tank compared to the early production models. It has curvier lines compared to the crude M4 that was produced in 1942 by five different contractors and about 6,784 of these tanks had rolled out from the assembly line to serve in North Africa during World War II.
The Italeri kit, I must say, is made of quality plastic. It's solid and not as flimsy as I had expected.
I began with the turret assembly and worked on the 75mm gun. 
These came in two parts and the tip of the gun was a real tough piece to work with.
It didn't fit well and to set it correctly, I rolled the gun barrel on its side to get an even surface.
That was the best  I could do to resolve the issue..

Actual photo of the M4A1's hull

Later M4 Sherman tanks has a gun mount on its forward hull

With the Italeri 1:72 kit, there is an option to assemble the turret with it's commander's hatch opened. The kit is supplied with a miniature figure and I found that a tad too hard to paint, so, it's hatch closed!
After completing the turret, I began the top hull assembly by cementing its tools like the tank's shovel and bars.
The 30-caliber gun turret on the bow of the hull was easy to mount. Since this is a small kit, the details are pretty impressive. 

Fitting the upper hull 

The hull, revealing the tank's engine compartment

Hull and turret assembly before applying weathering 

Applying weathering to the starboard side of the upper hull

Dealing with small parts..

I have to be extremely careful with cutting the small parts, some as little as 3mm in length.
The plastic cutter I used was too big for this small kit, so, I used my cutting blade and sliced off the parts one-by-one.
To make sure that these are not all over the place, I bought some trays from Daiso and called them my Work In Progress (WIP) trays.
It works wonder as I am able to pick up the parts with a pair of modeling tweezers.
The small parts have to be gently lifted from the tray. If you apply too much pressure the parts will slip off and worse case, it will fly off the jaws of the tweezer. You simply launch the little part into oblivion.

Tweezers comes in handy when it comes to fitting extremely small parts

Putting it together and adding the final touches...

I spent the whole day assembling the Italeri 1:72 M4 Sherman kit in my reading room.
With the upper hull completed, the following step, was to glue together the tank.
And finally, when it takes shape, what's left to do, was to apply the decals on the tank.
This is pretty straight forward. There's little details on the tank with the exception of three stars on the forward, starboard and port side of the hull. 

The nearly complete M4A1 Sherman medium tank

A decal on the port side of the tank

The completed tank with weathering on its undercarriage

Perspective in size: 1:72 M4A1 and the 1:48 M4

Final touches includes a 50-calibre M2 Browning (Ma Deuce) machine gun on the commander's hatch. 
This was painted in gun metal finish and weathered with the Tamiya weathering master kit. Even for a small gun measuring no more than 1cm, the details were amazing. There's a magazine box that comes with it, but I felt that it was unnecessary to assemble it.
Rather than painting the exterior tool, I applied weathering on them to give it that worn out look.
As for the "Calliope" rocket launcher, I didn't assemble it because the M4A1 was good enough to display on its own.
After completing this kit, I was rather suprised with the finish and what I have been missing out after all these years.
One thing is for sure: there are more interesting 1:72 Shermans out there and I am pretty excited at the prospect of modeling them!

Time out: Tamiya 1:48 scale M4 Sherman Medium Tank (early production) - part 2

And the wait was over.. 

It was a frustrating experience heading to the hobby shop and there's nothing on the paint shelves.
Took nearly a month for the new stocks to arrive and I wasted no time in procuring the XF-1 Flat Black paint to finish the M4 Sherman's tank tracks and wheels.
This is a real tough cookie because my finishing was really sloppy. I forgot to add some thinner to the paint to get a smooth coating.
For the tank tracks, I purchased the Tamiya TS-6 Matt Black paint. This one works like magic to give the plastic track links an even coating.

The Matt Black spray can

Tamiya's weathering master: for that professional finish!

Dry-brushing is a technique to give your model kit that worn-out look. In modelling terms, it's "weathering".
Tamiya produces a couple of sets for weathering finishes and I must say that I am very impressed with the results.
I comes with a set of three colours and an applicator.

The Tamiya weathering master

After I sprayed the tracks and built the suspension and wheels for the tank, I worked on touching up the glued areas with the Olive Drab paint.
Now, the best part was applying the weathering finish in the undercarriage. It's so simple, the job was done within minutes. 
You can even add mud and sand on the tracked wheels to give it a realistic finish. But, unfortunately, the weathering sets were not available.

First stage in applying the weathering master on the kit

The undercarriage

Applying weathering on the tracks

Achieving that "worn" look

Working like a man possessed.. 

The undercarriage was a tough stage in assembling the tank.
I am not aiming for a perfect finish, but rather completing my task after a long wait. It took nearly a month for the paints to arrive and when I got hold of it, I worked on the tracks and painted the wheels. 
It was a mess, but having the parts weathered, kind of concealed the obvious fault on this kit.
I worked on assembling the small parts on the exterior of the hull like the lights and and tools on the tank.
Rather than painting it, I used the Titanium colour to weather the steel tools and the finished parts were kinda appealing to my eyes.

Weathering applied on the suspension, wheels and track

The kit, nearing completion with decals applied on the hull

And the final results.. 

Well, I must say at I am pretty pleased with the kit I had finished.
This is a far cry from the ones I did more than 20 years ago.
I am proud of my achievement in putting together the 1:48 kit with the least amount of obvious defects. 
The TS spray paint cans did wonder in giving an even coat on the tank. For RM28 a pop, my investment paid off. 
I touched-up the tank by painting it with a brush and a trip to my aunt Lorraine's home in Setapak retrieved my old hobby kits as well as all the useful tools that came with it.

My humble effort: "Hurricane"

Now that I kinda found the hang of it building plastic model kits, there are a couple of projects that I would like to work on.
This hobby keeps my mind sharp, hand-eye coordination in place.
Since there at least a few good 1:35 kits out there, I am looking forward to build a few more M4 Shermans! 

Time out: Tamiya 1:48 scale M4 Sherman Medium Tank (early production) - part 1

The "Fury" experience..

"Fury" with Brad Pitt as the leading man is one of 2014's finest films..

So, what do I do when I don't cycle or go eating? I go to the movies. Well, at least I made an effort to entertain myself.. 
I made a beeline to the box-office to secure a ticket to the IMAX theater. 
The film shown in IMAX 2D was "Fury" and it's about a World War II US tank crew in the European campaign.
The movie's namesake: is actually an M4 Sherman medium tank. The story tells about it's battle-hardened crew who took in a rookie tanker and I must say that Fury was one of the best war films I have ever seen on the big screen.
After the credit roll was shown, it was time to head home.
But, before that, I made a pit-stop at a hobby store in the basement of 1 Utama.
There, I found a Tamiya 1:48 kit.
It was an early production M4 Sherman.

The only Tamiya model kit I could get hold of

An impressive kit in a small package

Traditionally, Tamiya produces their military miniature kits in 1:35 scale. This is slightly larger than the 1:48 kits and has more details in terms of the kit's features and armaments.
On the early production Sherman M4, what struck me was an aluminium chassis for the tank. This gives it some heft and what I am not used to seeing: are the plastic tracks for the threads. And this proved to be a real pain to assemble in the later stage.

Initial stages of building the M4 Sherman

Tamiya spray cans: a gift from the Gods!

I used to hand-paint my kits. This requires a lot of thinner to get an even coat on the hull of a tank.
For a finer finish, advanced modellers use the air brush. This is basically a constant pressure of 20 - 30 psi to get an even coat of paint on the surface of the kit. For realistic finishing, airbrushing came highly recommended.
The closest ever I came t airbrushing, was a Testors aerosol air brush kit. Which was a major disaster. Why? Well, if you keep the propellant constantly on, the nozzle will freeze. 
So, the way out of this was the Tamiya spray paint.

Tamiya's spray can for plastic kits

Steady hands for an even coat..

The spray can made life really easy.
A couple of runs and I can see the results. I get the hull sprayed and then worked on the kit's chassis.
Smaller parts are sprayed, then touched-up with a fine modelling brush.

Parts of the turret was touched-up with an acrylic-based paint

The main hull and turret assembly nearing completion

The waiting game..

With the hull assembled, what's left to do, was to work on the chassis and its undercarriage.
This proved to be a pain because there's no supply of Tamiya's XF-1 Flat Black acrylic paint.
To make things worse, there are only two hobby shops in the Klang Valley. The other way out was to risk buying stuff on-line through a store in Skudai, Johor. But that's just too risky for a bottle of paint...