Once the assembly was complete I started by priming the model with Mr Surfacer 1000 decanted and sprayed through my airbrush.
I then base-coated the model using the colour suggested in the instructions – Tamiya TS-46 Light Sand, again decanted from the can and sprayed through the airbrush.
I had a Quick Wheels Mask for the wheels which sped up the painting of those parts. Well worth the $10 investment.
The tracks were base coated Tamiya XF-84 Dark Iron and then attached to the model. Once this was done upper hull was attached to the bottom piece.
Once the base coat was applied I started picking out some details like the tow ropes and mud flaps with various Vallejo Acrylics. On this kit there aren’t many of those.
A gloss coat of Tamiya Clear Gloss thinned with lacquer thinners was applied prior to decaling. The kit has a couple of schemes but I’d picked up an aftermarket decal sheet from Echelon Fine Decals for vehicles from the 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment (ACR) that fought in Operation Iraqi Freedom. I decided on Troop Leader B-66 B Troop “Bandit” 1st Squadron 3rd ACR. The decals went down without any issues.
The decals were sealed and then wash of raw umber oil paint applied. Once this was cleaned up a flat coat was applied prior to further weathering.
I set the model aside to dry and started on the stowage. The tarps and ammo cans were from Tamiya and Black Dog, the Jerrycans were from Paul Wade (Redzebra models), the cardboard , Ration boxes were from J’s Modelworks .
Depending on where you’re from, the chilli bin, esky or cooler was scratch built. The bed rolls were made from the ends of micro brushes. The antennae are broom bristles and I also added an RB barrel to the 0.50 Cal machine gun.
Once all the stowage was painted and fixed in place another flat coat was applied to tie everything together. Then it was time for some pigments to dusty things up a bit. I used various Vallejo, AK and Mig pigments and these were set in place with Isopropanol Alcohol.
Chipping and scratches were applied using a piece of sponge and some dark black grey paint. More scratches were applied using coloured pencils. I like the control you get with pencils, and that you can remove any effects you don’t like. Undiluted raw umber oil paint was sued for some streaks and stains.
After looking online I added some soot to rear of the vehicle and rusted up the stowage box to reflect the images I’d found.
By this stage the road block vignette idea had gone out the window due to my lack of enthusiasm. Instead I decided on a simpler affair. The base was a piece of scrap pine which I routed the edges of. The road is simply card painted grey and the desert groundwork is some painted mortar sealant I had in the garage. The rocks are from the garden.
The crew figure is from the kit and is very nice in its own right. The CMK figure is also nice although his M4 is pretty fragile and I had to replace the barrel with some wire. I painted both these using Vallejo acrylics and am very happy with how they came out. That both guys have goggles or sun glasses meant that the eyes weren’t an issue.
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