Two Three Alpha Scorpion, 3 Troop, 'B' Sqn Blues and Royals, Falklands 1982

[Guest]

Here is the base I completed this evening...

The paint was still wet on the rocks which explains why they looks so shiny. This pic gives you a better idea of the lumpiness of the terrain

This was created using a base of air dough which if kept damp remains sticky and is a perfect base for the grass mat that has been spread over it and squeezed down into all the corners, nooks and crannies.

The rocks are plaster casts from rubber moulds - the ones you can get in Modelzone. There is some added grass clumbs and small stones, but most of it is the grass mat which I think is superb - its the stony steppe grass mat from here.

Now back to the Scorpion build itself...

[aaron]

Great build mate i like the base A LOT.

I think my country used these too.

Reality in scale is awesome i looked at getting some of thier carpet sets.

[yak face]

Firstly congrats on your gold medal! Superb work andrew, the scorpion is coming along brilliantly , as you say this and the scimitar arent very often seen. The base looks superb and its great to see the research and effort youre putting into this to get it correct , keep the pics coming , cheers tony

[Guest]

Thanks guys, its great that so many people are interested in this build

Well this was a turn up for the books, I was sent a link to a BBC documentary about the Flaklands and lo and behold, there in all its glory is 23A:

Today has been something of a marathon! Started the day with the airbrush and ended the day, well looking like this...

All I can say is thank god for Accurate Armour! There is so many of their accessories on this now... Bergan, bedrools and helmets, AFV Hanging kit, PE camo netting, carbon fibre aerials, 120mm ammo boxes, 30mm Rarden ammo boxes... (yes I know this is a Scorpion not a Scimitar, but it looks like they salvaged boxes from wherever they could!)

Lots of mud and sadly the green/black camo has been lost under a layer of black wash I applied that went a bit funny, but never mind its a dirty machine and thats what I was aiming for. However I'm not sure that I haven't overdone the mud on the roadwheels...

Fitting the tracks was entertaining! After getting all the wheels on I fitted the first track only to discover that it came up a bit tight. Bugger I thought, I'll have to add another link, so I did and then the track sagged so much the upper track sagged down onto the top of the roadwheels!! Well thats not right, so I had to take the link out again. Now that the tracks have been on for a while, the links have stretched a tiny bit so there is a small amount of sag that looks realistic I'm pleased to say!

So all thats left to do tomorrow is sort out the driver and commander figure. Should be a piece of cake (he says laughing hysterically!)

Looks like I may even finish this one in time to take it to IPMS Farnborough on Monday evening... oh hang on I've still got to sort of the bloody decals... arse! Might need to take a quick trip into the office tomorrow to use the colour laser printer...

[papa 695]

Great work there Andrew and i dont think the road wheels are over done the Falklands are one wet muddy place

[Guest]

looks bloody awesome,straight from the falklands lol,you have this modelling malarky down pat don`t you

mobear

[aaron]

Yep im with Ole Andrew that mud does look awesome.

[Guest]

and so we come to the finale of my totally enjoyable build. I present to you, Scorpion callsign 23A, 3 Troop, 'B' Sqn Blues and Royals as it appeared in May-June 1982 during the Falklands Conflict.

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Bit more mud applied, this time mixed with acrylic resin (all MiG stuff), plus some soft pencil rubbed onto edges to simulate wear and of course the figures. I've just realised looking at the photos that one of the driver's goggles is still white as the Krystal Clear I used to make the goggle lenses hasn't totally dried lol!

The only things that are still missing are the decals... there are only two of them which I'll print on the works colour laser tomorrow. The two decals are the small black square with the callsign marking and the broken red square squadron marking. The registration numbers have been overpainted (there is a difference in the colour for this but the camera can't pick it up) and unfortunately I forgot to put the Convoy distance markings on before adding all the mud - so they've obviously been totally obscured by the mud - ahem!

The commander's face doesn't show up very well in the camera which is a shame as I spent quite a bit of time on it this morning!

[yak face]

Excellent job andrew!! The scorpion looks fantastic , as does the base . Youve really got the feel of a cold ,windswept, marshy terrain, the way the scorpion has churned up the soft ground is brilliant. If i might ask a small favour , can you get a few pics close up with a bleak grey sky behind (shouldnt be too hard with our weather!!!LOL!) it would be so fitting. A definite 5 star job , cheers tony

[Guest]

5*s all the way mate,watching this through construction then seeing this finished,beautifully done weathering and detailing looks good enough to have been there first rate

mobear

[papa 695]

Great job Andrew just like being there 5 stars from me

[aaron]

Wait what wow, This has really turned out great. Everything looks right and i really like the base matting and mud.

I keep scrolling up for another look.

Job well done Andrew

[Guest]

Thank you everyone for your kind comments, it adds an extra frisson to the pleasure of building the model in the first place

Now I've got the Scorpion out of my system (I've been wanting to build this for over a year!) I may go back to the Miss Demeanour build and progress that a bit further

[Guest]

yessssssssss pleeeeeeaaaaaassssssseeeee lol

on a personal note i love that plane

mobear

[Guest]

Nice finished dio Andrew.

Looks spot on even without any markings ..

***** from me