20 Minute Challenge - Day 132

Day 132 - 6 May

Result of a couple of days playing around with some different ideas

20 Minute Challenge - Day 131

Day 131 - 5 May

Base coat on.  Needs to be stowed and weathered

20 Minute Challenge - Day 124

Day 124 (28 Apr)

M113A2/3 for OIF getting a refresh now I am getting to grips with the printer.  It also reduces the amount of plastic in the spares box as the front splash plate comes from the TY LAV kit. The kit has the option to build the LAV-AT so BF threw in the same sprue they provide with the M163/M901 so I have 5 of the front plates seen on M113 during OIF.

Modern - M2A2 ODS Next Stages

The remaining two M2A2 ODS that I bought, have now been given a basecoat of the Tamiya XF-59.  I have added the rear Id Panels (sorry bored you enough with those now) as well as the covers for the gunner's sight.

Early shot showing the the styrene panels.  They are way overscale but good enough for me to game with

Base coat added and on this one (which will be callsign 112) I have taken the last panel off as well.

 Compared to the first one from the rear

And from the front with the revised sight which is only 3 pieces of styrene

Need to decide on how the antenna's will be added yet (but I can do that at a later stage) and as I have two M1A1 to do as well the next highlight coats will be added when I do all the models together.  Then on to markings and stowage and basing

Already lost interest in these ;) and thinking of going back to the MiG Killer project

Modern - M2A2 ODS

The Zvezda Bradley is in 15mm is a cracking kit, with lots of detail as opposed to its poorer M1A1 cousin.  I have put the first one of three together as a tester and I am quite happy with it.  It like all my other models needs some baggage items, Combat ID panels and radio antennas and of course basing

Modern - OIF Combat ID panels

Combat ID panels were pretty common during OIF and they appear in most of the photos on the hull and turret sides.  As I had used a vietnam era kit they obviously didn't come of the sprue so I tried building them from 1.5mm styrene strip.  I made two at a time and cut the frame once I had trimmed and fitted each of the slats and then a simple job of glueing them in place.  Now I know they don't look too out of place I will make up the ones for the USMC M1A1s as well as some more for the 4 other US Army Vehicles I need for the Force on Force scenarios

Modern - M113A3 Base Coat

Still haven't found the "Desert Sand" that I like.  This is painted using Tamiya XF-59 which gives a tan brown sort of finish which will do until I find something better.  Dry brushing with VJ Iraqi Sand to lighten and dusty it up to be done and I will do that when I get around to adding the baggae and extra pieces to this

Modern - M113A3

Following on from the M1064A3 proxy I used some of the lessons identified to work on the first of the M113A3s I was going to need.

I cleaned up the back of the BF M113 by carving off the light clusters and jerry cans and then carefully trimmed the track guard to make a vertical surface.  I also cut and sanded the track guard out to make it look as it it was part of the fuel tank on the inside face as will.

I then made up a template for the sides of the fuel tank and then cut out sufficient pieces for two vehicles, the idea being that if this worked out okay I could crack on and duplicate the pieces for the third model using the second template.  I still worked on fitting the pieces together on the model rather than building the tanks and then fitting.  I am not skillful enough to get that bit right yet but might try it out on the last two models to see if speeds up the process.

The idea of the vertical surface was that it would give me a reference point for the bottom of the fuel tank and would then allow me to sand the shape to give a better representation.

The tank filler caps were added as was a second antenna mount and blanking plates on the top.  I am still thinking about the rear light fittings that are needed. but as these are gaming models I might do that as a last thought.  Smoke dischargers also need to be considered as well as spare track pads and other little details.

Again the Road to Baghdad book identifies that the ACAV kits are fitted to all the M113A3s needed which again is useful.  What it does mean however is that I have now run out of BF M113 kits as one was used a while ago for my Israeli 1982 project so will need to order another pack in the future to finish off the BandAid (probably).

The PSC Sdkfz 251 kit provided the jerry cans again as I can't find the box with all my white metal jerry cans. 

Will still need to find or make some stowage and Combat ID panels for these and then look at decals.  As I can make my own and they will be in black it should be straight forward but need to do some research first to find out what is actually needed.

Model has been given a black undercoat and I might get chance this afternoon to give it a coat of Tamiya XF-59 which is the colour I have decided to go with for the US Army vehicles

Modern - M1064A3

Now that I have completed the USMC forces for Road to Baghdad, I began looking at the US Army forces needed.  A couple of bradley's, slack handful of M113s including a Bandaid and a M1064A3 Mortar carrier.

As I only need one I tried out some ideas using the BF M113 kits that I purchased.  The book says that it has the ACAV kit for the commander which was in the kit already, so I made up the external fuel tanks using plasticard, trimmed down the covers over the road wheels by 1mm or so and made a couple of bits of baggage out of green stuff and finally pinched some jerrycans from the PSC Sdkfz 251 kit (I think thats where they came from).

Good enough to game with and I have some better ideas about what to do for the M113s which will all need to be the same.  Aftermarket potential on these kits is great but needs someone with the skills.

Modern Combat - QRF Stryker

I loved the look of the Stryker and was overjoyed when QRF released one.  It took me a while to actually get around to buying one though.  It is a lovely model.  Painting not brilliant but fine for a gaming model.  If only someone would do a slat armour set for it.......Oh well another project.