The Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum

Nice going on the Mig! It sure looks good, well with the work you've put in.
The Centurion is coming along nicely too! It's a shame they package it with those tracks. Even molded link and length look better, and are easier to paint and pose. But I suppose to keep it halfway affordable some corner had to get cut.

Greg

So, not been posting much of late. Truth is I've been super-busy trying to find a new job. Happily, that was a successful quest and I start my new role on Monday.

Other factors that have figured in preventing posts is the amount of travelling Mrs D and I have been doing lately, and not just to model shows. We had a break in Nimes last month and returned from Belgium just a few days ago. Then there's the small matter of the SIG theme for Telford. This has turned out to be an impractical target and a huge mojo killer so I wasn't enjoying the modelling time that I had. However, the theme has now been abandoned as there just aren't enough Cold War SIG members building for it. Looking at the stash after making the decision to go back to a generalised theme was a huge relief and I've started enjoying the hobby again as well as having the opportunity to progress the ridiculously large pile of unfinished projects that are cluttering up the Den.

So, lately...

I bought this at the Thornbury Show earlier this month and it's already finished.









It's an old kit but a nice one and provides a quick mojo builder. The rubber band tracks are very good, which is always a bonus, and went together with the help of a hot screwdriver. It's painted in Tamiya XF-58 and is OOB in the photo although I did add a co-axial MG from brass tube afterwards. Weathering is via a dry brush with XF-56 and a good bladdering with Flory Models washes. This is one of the original Tamiya "carpet crawlers" and it does have parts for a battery compartment with it, however it also has some nice metal mesh for the engine grilles too and that does lift the model quite a bit. Fit is as you'd expect from Tamiya, excellent, although the 2-piece gun barrel did cause a few bad words to seep out


And my latest victim is a refugee from the unfinished mountain pile. The Trumpeter SAM-6.






It's a nice kit in general. The launcher vehicle is a superb piece of model engineering. Lots of parts though so it's not for the faint hearted. That said the kit does have it's faults. It's been roundly criticised over the missiles which are a little too thin and too long. I think they look OK. Certainly not bad enough to warrant the trouble of scratchbuilding new ones. My 2 main issues with this kit were:

1. Confusing instructions: Not surprising from Trumpeter. They're over-complicated, unclear in some places and the colour callouts range from useless to just plain silly.

2. The tracks: I'm quite a fan of link and length tracks but these are the worst I've come across (and I've put together Italeri ones!). They just don't hold together to allow you to put them on so it's a case of adding individual links, and the lengths are all over the place. I had to perform surgery on one link as one side appeared to be longer than the other Could do better here, I think.

Apart from that though it makes into a nice model and a very satisfying one when you finally get to the end.

So here it is, finished, again, in XF-58 and with rather more subtle weathering than the T-62.












So, two new models for the SIG display at the IPMS Chiltern show this weekend and 2 more boxes for the binmen. Nice to have room for more

Nice work on the Russian heavy metal.

Cracking work on both and I especially like the SAM-6

Nice work Comrade All of us here at Great Russian Tractor Factory applaud your work, and celebrate with much Vodka

Nigel

Good work on that armour Daz

Congrats on the new work Daz.

I am not an armour builder but I do like the T-62. The barrels on the back stand out to me. Nice work.

cracking work as usual mate, and they look even better in the flesh

Superb work Darryl!

Fantastic work Daz!
Would I be correct in saying you had these on display at Biggleswade?

Excellent results Darren and congrats on the new job!

Very good work on the Missiles and tank!!

So that's what you have been up to!
Wonderful Soviet armour!

Cheers,

David

Very busy boy. Excellent work on the T-62 and the SAM launcher.

A pair of CW stunners Daz and I especially like the SAM-6 launcher and missiles, not that I find the T-62 mundane, far from it, but because the SAM's are so visually different in a world of AFV models. Top stuff.

Hope the new job is going well!