Dave Ward's 1/35 HobbyBoss Vickers Medium Mark I

[Dave Ward]

No Photos yesterday, just assembling the other side of the suspension, and another track session!
The hull has its' bottom plate added, and I dry fitted the suspension units....................
[ATTACH]304872[/ATTACH][ATTACH]304873[/ATTACH]
A thing of beauty it ain't! Hopefully I will finish the individual track links today, and I can start assembling some runs, and around the idlers/sprockets
Dave

[Guest]

Looks roomy?

[Dave Ward]

The Mk I had a crew of 5, 3 men in the turret ( a feature that would be lost until midway thro' WWII ). I haven't seen any pictures, or drawings of a contemporary layout, so I don't know what gear was carried, or how cramped it was! The HobbyBoss model has absolutely no interior for either hull, or turret.
Dave

[Guest]

:disappointed2:

[JR]

Progress indeed Dave .
The bogie sets look good, as for tracks the least said the better !
There does look to be some nice detail on the body, very clean as well.
John

[Dave Ward]

Ah, the tracks. I started putting a few links together, to make the bottom runs, they are an extremely tight fit together. I'm going to take a bit off each link, so that I can assemble them without causing a spike in my bp.
HobbyBoss are very patchy on their interiors - The Schneider, and the St Chamond are like the Vickers - totally lacking. The Sd.kfz 221/2 series, on the other hand have an interior. It doesn't bother me - I'm not one for detailed interiors!
I would be interested to know how many modellers have used the complete interiors on their MiniArt T-54 & T-55's, and how they display them?
Dave

[Guest]

The Mk I had a crew of 5, 3 men in the turret ( a feature that would be lost until midway thro' WWII ). I haven't seen any pictures, or drawings of a contemporary layout, so I don't know what gear was carried, or how cramped it was!

Here's the interior of a Mk. II; that of the Mk. I can’t have been that different. Here’s a sample image from that page:


Looking towards the front from the rear door.

[Dave Ward]

Thanks for that, Jakko, I wouldn't think that there was much difference internally between the MK I & II, the main difference being the suspension. That example looks very roomy, no turret basket - not much comfort - no seats?. Preserved/renovated vehicles can be a problem, you don't know what has been added, removed or missing!
Dave

[Dave Ward]

The hull is rapidly approaching the priming/basecoat stage some PE bits added...............
The Vickers MG mounts will be painted separately. After much hemming and hawing, I've decided to use Vallejo Reflective Green 890.
[ATTACH]304960[/ATTACH][ATTACH]304961[/ATTACH]Fenders only dry fitted - I'll fit the tracks before finally adding them. Some errors pop up in the instructions - just omissions, like the front towing eye and shackle magically appearing!, but nothing that a little search among the sprues can't solve. There aren't any clear parts in the kit, so I'm going to have a hunt for some lenses in the spares box for the front headlights, or drill out & use PVA.
Dave

[Guest]

Hello Dave,
Just caught up to your build and colour dilemma, here is another for you if you have it in your stock AV 70.894 Russian Green (RLM 80/ FS34083) which after a bit of mild weathering might answer the question. Headlights, paint silver and then add coat of Smoke.
All those wheels :tongue-out3:.
Cheers,
MikeC.

[Dave Ward]

Mike,
I did look at the Russian Green - but I thought it was a bit too light. Weathering? well, these were peacetime tanks, and all the more precious for being the first few. Unless the vehicles were on exercise, or just returned, they would have been scrubbed down, paint retouched, and kept ready for inspection ( just like the horses they replaced! ). So I think a bit of modulation, and a light wash are as far as I will go
Dave

[JR]

Dave think your right with the paint, suppose you could add a touch of black to darken the 4 BO
As for those MiniArt interiors, I would think paying those prices you would leave it open, I wonder how many have been built without mishap with the plastic they use.

[Dave Ward]

Primed and basecoated the hull...................................

[ATTACH]305074[/ATTACH]

I made up the Tamiya Matilda flexible tracks, to see what the fit was like..............

[ATTACH]305075[/ATTACH]

To my surprise, they were a pretty good fit. I'm going to paint them up, and see how they look. I'm still working on the individual links, but if the flexi tracks look any good, I may go with them.
Dave

[Guest]

Dave,
Fully agree on the weathering, looking at Light Tank VIB's, they looked as though they had just come from the showroom.... And the Green you have chosen for the basecoat will get you there. Looking forward to the final model.
Cheers,
MikeC.

[papa 695]

Looking good Dave