Merry Christmas, Vietnam!

[Guest]

It’s been a while, but I’ve been working on this kit some more.

First up, I sprayed the undersides green, after masking off the white sides:

[ATTACH]322345[/ATTACH]

That was a bit of an ordeal in itself, since the paint I used (Hakata AO59 USMC Fieldd Green) didn’t cover well at all, requiring two coats and still it’s not what I’d like, but since it’s on the bottom I don’t really care

Unfortunately, I hadn’t masked well enough and needed to get rid of overspray, so I masked most of the model with a page from a newspaper:

[ATTACH]322346[/ATTACH]

Then two more coats of white paint to get rid of the overspray, and after removing the newspaper and masking tape, I was left with …

[ATTACH]322347[/ATTACH]

Dammit … noticeable ridges where the paint had built up against the tape edges Not just here on the back but also along the bottom and front of the whole right side.

Some very fine-grit wet-and-dry sandpaper got rid of the worst of it:

[ATTACH]322348[/ATTACH]

I very carefully sanded it down until I couldn’t feel the ridges anymore. You can still see it, but it’s not nearly as obvious as at first. Hopefully, this will be enough.

[BigGreg]

COOOL that this project is back... love to see it finished...

[Guest]

Jakko,
What a build, and at this time, great idea to use something original and backed up with physical evidence. Looking forward to more.
Cheers, Mike.

[Mini Me]

I'm with Mike, great timing and historical as well.
Cheers, Rick H.

[Guest]

I’ve finally put all the decals on. This was more involved than it sounds: first of all, either CMK’s printer used glue that doesn’t dissolve very well, or the water I have isn’t wet enough — that is, they had to soak for along time before coming loose. Then when they did come loose, they had a tendency to tear, either because small parts still stuck to the paper, or for no apparent reason at all Eventually though, I got them onto the model:

[ATTACH]322961[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]322962[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]322963[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]322964[/ATTACH]

The right side is entirely speculative, since I only have one photo of this vehicle (see the top of this thread), and I get the impression CMK did as well because they basically say to do it the exact same as on the left. This doesn’t make all that much sense, because for example they provide a little green star-like decal with a hole in the middle for the right side as well as the left, when the hole is only needed on the left (for a step that’s there but not on the right).

From there on to lesser complaints about the decals: for starters, they’re too big. If you compare the decals on the model to the photo of the real thing, you can see that most of the decals are clearly larger than they should be, especially the socks (stockings, whatever — you’re supposed to put your shoe out for Saint Nicholas to put presents into ) and the curved candy stick thingies, but also the candles on the front. Lacking any other decals or enougn artistic ability to paint all of these myself, though, I had to use them. My second lesser complaint about the decals is the coarseness of the halftoning: you can clearly see the points, especially in the red-and-white parts, like the bow and the candles on the front. This is a bit odd given that there are much finer lines on some of the decals, so they could have printed this better, if you ask me.

Anyways, these are fairly minor points that I noticed mainly because of trying to get the markings right Now I just need to paint some details, build and paint the tracks, finish painting the sleigh, add some sand to the outer faces of the wheels, put on the antenna and make some baubles. I don’t think the vehicle needs, or should have, much weathering.

[minitnkr]

This is just so cool & appropriate. Well done. I'm sure you'll figure out the trees. PaulE

[Guest]

This is just so cool & appropriate. Well done.

Thanks, even though it’d be more in my nature to do a model like this around Easter or in the middle of the summer

I'm sure you'll figure out the trees.

Ideas are welcome, though, as I’ve still not had any good ones.

[minitnkr]

See your local hobby shop for trees. Not just model RR, even slot car section has trees, so evilbey should have them easily/cheaply if you don't have a LHS. PaulE

[scottie3158]

Jakko,

Looking good

[Guest]

See your local hobby shop for trees.

The ones left in my general area don’t have anything I would consider usable for this. Perfectly conical pine trees (of which I have a bunch, for wargaming purposes) don’t really cut it, going by the photo of the real thing

[Guest]

Small update: I applied some shading to the model with thinned-down light grey (Rackham “Sharp Gray” for those keeping track), then sealed the decals under matt varnish.

[ATTACH]323536[/ATTACH]

The sleigh is almost finished too, so here it is posed on the LVTP:

[ATTACH]323537[/ATTACH]

Still loose, as I need to paint a few details and add the garland that’s around the sleigh. The tracks are nearly done, just need a bit more painting, and the figure is also getting there. What else? Oh yeah, I still need to find something to make the baubles from, and I’ve more or less given up on the trees because I can’t think of a convincing way to make them

[Jim R]

Hi Jakko
What can I say - beautifully done, great fun, so appropriate and I've never seen it done before.
Jim

[papa 695]

Liking this a lot Jakko

[Jon Heptonstall]

Coming to the rescue.
[ATTACH]323551[/ATTACH]

[Guest]

You mean I should smoke some Pall Malls to relieve the stress of not having a good way to make trees?