Wait, what airbrushing?

 

Well, it's about time I reinvested in airbrushing. Twenty years ago I started airbrushing German tanks. Then...career, marriage, kids and divorce pushed it to the last thing I was going to do in the hobby.  But, with the unrelenting march of time, I pulled my model H Paache of the shelf and fired up the bicycle air compressor. My first victim was a 1/72 or HO Atlantic Tiger I had sitting in a box.  What do you think?

For those of you unfamiliar with Atlantic. It is the kit in the middle.  The one to the left is a 1/72 Tiger from Italeri.  The one on the right is a 1/76 Airfix kit. 

Not terrible. I need more practice with the airbrush. The paints we cheap acrylics from Hobby Lobby. So, it was a struggle to mix properly and not clog the brush. I have since ordered a set of paints from Vallejo. 

I was inspired to use an Atlantic kit because I saw someone post on TMP a wargame scene with this very model and I was impressed. 

A little back story... my first tanks (2 in this set) I ever bought was this kit.  I purchased it in the early 80s at Frank's Hobby Shop in Orange, California.  I can still smell the stale air of the store and see the large scale railroad track suspended above the isles. This little gem was calling my name.  I was so excited putting it together while watching Patton on "War is Hell week."  I think I was in the 6th grade.  Atlantic produced some reasonable tank kits for young lads getting into wargaming. I will post some of my collection in a later post.  The T34s, Tigers and Shermans were great fun! 

Next up, I tried my hand on this kit.  My son built one...sorta, I finished it. I figured it was the prefect test case.  The struggle I had was the air pressure. I got a few spit marks. I recently ordered a smaller air compressor for airbrushing. I hope it helps.    

I did use a liquid mask element for the canopy.  That was AWESOME!!!  I recommend getting it.  

This was my first airbrushed airplane EVER. I was happy... and my 14 year old son was impressed enough to put his phone down for 10 minutes!!!! 

Paint on and stay calm...

Italy in the desert...

 

Not enough time or credit is given to those brave Italians that endured so much in the heat of the desert. They were common soldiers that did not choose their leaders or the war they were sent to fight in. Therefore, here are a few models I have built recently as a small tribute. 

This is a nice Italeri kit.  It fits very well.

I really like this kit. Though, for a wargame table it is very large and seems out of place.  It kinda reminds me of the Hasagwa  155mm Long Tom, very cool to have, but on a game table is just big. 

Again, fine kits.  I enjoyed putting these together. The figures are from Armor Fast. 

Did you see I put a cigar in Segundo's hand?

These chaps are from the set below.

(Plastic Soldier Review)

I used a few fellows from the above and the Hat Deport 75mm. 

Wonderful kit and great decals.  

Off to another wargame... 

FlyxWire on TMP commented about a game of racing Alfa Romeos.  I wish I knew of one.  However, I played this game back in the early 1980s with several friends.  As I recall, it was a lot fun. Anyone else remember this game?  

Airfix Dukw 1/76

 

I guess I am on an Airfix kick.  I do like this kit.  It goes together easy. But, it does lack a lot of pizazz. Currently, I don't have loads of extra gear to weight this model down. The only add on's other than the cargo, which is also Airfix, was placing an Airfix US Marine in the machine gun ring and head swapping the drivers head with another Marine. ( The head swap create a Frenchi... see below.) 

The cargo is from the D-Day Battlefront set. 

I did have to cut down the legs of the machine gun ring.  They were modeled for a man 7' 4".  

                                                                    The Free Frenchman!

Airfix M3 Half Track

 

Well, it's been many, many years since I built an Airfix American M3.  To borrow an expression..."it's an oldie, but a goodie." I enjoyed this relatively easy kit.  I didn't recall it being as fiddly as it was.  However, time skews memories... maybe like a bad marriage. (Did I say that? lol)  It went together pretty easy.  The slight issue was getting the under carriage and hull to secure properly.  I used clothes pens to hold them in place. Outside of that, most everything went together well.  This kit was released in 1966! So, not too bad.

The overall detailing is a little weak. I rummaged up a few spare parts to add some detail. The kit packs are from a Fujimi American Jeep and 37mm anti-tank gun set.  The Gerri Cans are from Plastic Toy Soldier. The cargo is from Top Gear.  The crew is from Matchbox, as they too are 1/76 scale.  I tried the "Tank Riders" from Hat, but they were two large.  Airfix Marines were a thought, but the poses would not work. I like to think these guys are a part of the "Kelly's Heroes" platoon fighting their way through the occupied French town on their way through enemy lines. 

Look, I know it is a different version... but it's my blog... If you know the movie, you know what I mean. 

Operation Barbarossa

 

I picked up this gem on Ebay a few weeks ago. It is a pretty good set.  It has tanks, troops and war accessories. However.... I am not sure the choice of tanks for the time period is all that accurate, to be polite. Anyway, the diorama base is one of the better ones.  I think this also comes in the Saigon ESCI set.  Again, I used crushed kitty litter on some acrylic paste and let it set for 24 hours.  

Here is a rough finish.  I still had more work to do. But, this is a good example of always work from dark to light tones.  

I am very pleased with the way this came out.  I added some 1/72 scale brick bits I found on Ebay.  

Now the tanks choices are very odd, indeed.  The Russian T-34 is a the 1943 version. The Wespe is from 1942.  At least the 35(t) was in Operation Barbarossa, but in limited numbers. ESCI could have used their KV1 and given the Germans a PzII or III.   

 

I choose to use the accessories very sparingly. I did not want to overwhelm the diorama with stuff and take away from the brick bits and painted scenery. 

These Germans are from Plastic Soldier Co. 

Now I reequipped the diorama for something like Kharkov 1943...