Thought I would share a few pic's of my Tanks getting ready for the Backyard Front. The Tamiya Tiger 1 Is at the Detail and weathering stage, And the King Tiger has been run and now almost ready for dissasembly and Paint. Still have not decide on a scheme yet for that one.


Semper Fi!

nice tanks and commander. tom

Thanks Tom. The pic's do not do them much Justice. I have the Metal tracks and suspension upgrade from Backyard armorer in the tiger 1. WOW what a Difference they make. Liked it so much I hade to get the same upgrades for the King Tiger. I have seen your tanks on here and I have to say, Great work! What an inspiration. I am hoping to locate a Hummel or Elephant for my next Project.


Semper Fi!

Semper Fi!
thank you.

for elefant, it is very rare. the new one was auctioned for $5500 in Japan. i saw couple of used one were sold on ebay for $2000 to $2500.

for hummel, I do have another brand new one if you are interested.

thanks,tom

I'll have to check my $$$$$$$ But yes i am interested.

Tom.
Thanks for the Deal On the Hummel Kit. I am Looking forward to getting it built and on the back yard front lines



Semper Fi!

you are welcome. Hummel is the best on Bandai line. good luck. tom

Well I started the weathering, WOW My hats off to you guys that make them look so real, I started on the back and wheels and am working my way around. In the shop it looks nice and grungy, went to take some pics of the work so far outside and i fail to see half my work[:@] Oh well maybe i will just have to add more grunge

For some reason, I have the same problem. Taking pictures of them helps. Don't know why, but it works.

I almost thought the tank in the last set of pics was a different one than the first.

Same tank.... Just different Lighting. Its alot more weatherd than it looks in the pics. I have alot more to do. This is nerve wracking work. Finding that balance between over done and not enough is tough. I have not done this in over 20 yrs, I think I have forgotten more than i thought.




Semper Fi!

Yeah, the lighting really makes a difference in the way colors actually look.

Finding the balance is hard. Are you using an airbrush for the weathering? Or both brush and airbrush?

Ron, Im using a combination of a few different mediums, Acrylic paint (like for Canvas) Its thicker and can add texture. pastel chalks. I sand them into small piles and create the color I need, I dry brush that on as well as hit it with a Dab of water for different effects. Bare in mind im making all this up as i go along, I have never seen this done before so its alot of trial and error. Nice thing about acrylics and chalks, you can wash it off if it looks to bad. To seal it i use plain old Testors Dull Cote. I tried some more pics but i am a Victim of crappy Lighting. I have not even touched the Tracks yet as well as most of the Tank. Looks much richer in person.

Semper Fi!

The chalk tip is something I have not used on tanks, yet. I use both water based and thinner based paints. The acrylic paint you mention is something I'll have to try, given the texture it can achieve. One thing I have tried is mixing both an airbrush effect with flicking paint from the bristles of an old tooth brush. Gives more randomness to spatters and stuff.

Another way to simulate heavy caked mud is by using some stuff called Liquid Steel! Natural mud is better, but I wanted to be able to clean it and still have a muddy tank. I was trying to fill the holes in the body where the mud guards bolt on and found the LS filler had the same texture as mud. Paint it up with some dark earth colored paint for texture highlights. Since the filler itself is a very dark grayish color (almost black) washes of the paint made it look even more real.

Since control is still an issue with my airbrush (operator error), I use a brush for all most all of it. In the future using the airbrush for at least the base coat, as well as parts of the weathering will be in order.

In those new pictures you can see the weathering. Looks good!

Thanks Ron. I had forgotten about about the splattering. One thing I might mention is I tried some Watercolors on a test sheet (The Paste Kind) Blended really nice However when i seal coated it The cracking and chipping started. Then it almost all fell off. I understand about Airbrushing errors [&o]. I have a badger that adjusts down to a Pencil line spray. Still not to proficiant with it yet but i pick schemes I think i can Handle, Operative word there is THINK . I really like the chalk work. great control with easy clean up. I found that doing the road wheels was a Breeze. Now if i can only Figure out what to do with the Tracks. This aspect of modeling is all new to me. I have been into RC planes since a Kid and also have spent several years scratch building Huge ships. It was Time for something new. I had always been interested in Tanks, nows the time. and what a Time I am having, this is a Blast. Below are a few pics of my ships That I have scratch built from line drawings.

Totenkopf I am not a big ship fan but I have to say, those are some damn fine looking watercraft. Very Well done! [X(]

Konig, Thanks for your Kind words. I have about two years into each one and reached total burnout. When i was a kid we did the 1/35 armor and made super 8 movies with them. Even rienacted the Bridge at remagen, We However had more success in Blowing the bridge to pieces I spent two weeks building that bridge, and a few m-80's and film canesters of Gass later that bridge was Toast. and so were our Tanks Re exploring the armor part of this Hobby that I enjoyed so much as a kid has been very rewarding. I have found my new Nitch in the Hobby. I have a Nephew coming this summer to stay a while and I am thinking of buying Him an HL and tricking it out as a suprise for him, Then maybe he will leave MY Tanks alone LOL.

Semper Fi!

[X(]

Those ships are HUGE! And to build them board by board? From drawings? Simply amazing!

An airbrush is a new animal to me and it will just take time to get it right. Another mistake I made on my tank was using a Sharpie for the numbers. It looks pretty good, but I can't spray it with the dullcoat since it will make it run. Oh, well. Live and learn.

BTW, I have other modeling interests as well. I also like model railroading. Have been at that for about 16 or so years. After looking at your pics of the ships, I might just have to start another hobby!

Ron, Yes they are Huge avg length is 8 ft. However you can build them any size. If you ever want to try your hand at it I can help you find the right scources online. Model railroading is something I have yet to try and some day hope to. I agree about Airbrushing, but time and patience will hopefully prevail LOL. I would like to find and artical or something on how they do paint chipping.

Oh wow those ships look amazing.

BTW I've always wondered, how do you get the wood to bend to become the hull of the ship? I always imagined woods will break if you try to bend them or something.

Thanks,

I use soft thin wood or I soak some woods in amonia and Water 50/50 mix.


Semper Fi!

Hi SS Totenkopf,

Very impressive vessels. You apparently have extensive modeling credentials and so seeing your foray into R/C tanking should be rewarding for us all.

I'm also interested in warships so I recognize that your ships are (what I believe to be) an Admirable class Minesweeper and a Sumner class destroyer, right?
May I ask what scale are they in?

Thanks for the pics,
-Harq

Harqhubus.
Well Thank you, I hope That I can do some Justice to the R/C Tanks I Build. Building is no Problem However I still have alot to Learn. I am even thinking about maybe Scratch Building My own tank. The selection is so Few, And there are so many Tanks and Half Tracks That could be built. Now if my pocket book was as large as my ambition
You are Corrcet on the class of ships, The Admirabel Class Sweep is 1/24th scale about 8' Long and fully balasted weighs a few hundred Lbs. The Gearing Class is 1/48th Scale 97.75 Inches Long,and about 65 Lbs.