Zenrat's Flying Circus

[scooter]

I recently discovered pineapple jam...

But back to modelling.  I had an hour and a half before work today which I used to continue putting together the 1/48 Dicker Max.  It's getting close to paint.  I have to decide what colour to paint the interior and the gun.  This matters due to it being an open topped SPG.
It's not a RW build but I looked to the interweb for inspiration only to find a distinct lack of colour reference pictures.  Not surprising given they only built two of them.
Outside is going to be green.  My story is that is was captured at Kursk, refurbed by the Sovs, and gifted to the PDRV after the war.  However, while the exterior would have been repainted the interior would have remained its original colour.  A shade of grey probably.

I mean, if you could find an interior colour photo of some other German WWII open-topped gun and copy that, who's going to tell you you're wrong?

The insides of a lot of AFVs are white, at least to start with...

There's always red oxide primer

[Weaver]

I recently discovered pineapple jam...

But back to modelling.  I had an hour and a half before work today which I used to continue putting together the 1/48 Dicker Max.  It's getting close to paint.  I have to decide what colour to paint the interior and the gun.  This matters due to it being an open topped SPG.
It's not a RW build but I looked to the interweb for inspiration only to find a distinct lack of colour reference pictures.  Not surprising given they only built two of them.
Outside is going to be green.  My story is that is was captured at Kursk, refurbed by the Sovs, and gifted to the PDRV after the war.  However, while the exterior would have been repainted the interior would have remained its original colour.  A shade of grey probably.

I mean, if you could find an interior colour photo of some other German WWII open-topped gun and copy that, who's going to tell you you're wrong?

The insides of a lot of AFVs are white, at least to start with...

There's always red oxide primer

Good call.

[Wardukw]

When the Dicker Max was built ,,like 1940 it would have been painted dark gray (dunkelgrau) ...inside and out on a SPG ..but since it's a wiff you could go a lightened dark yellow..dark yellow was the standard colour from 43 onwards .
Since its captured and refurbed ,,ya could go with a russian green instead which is a medium olive green ...that looks pretty good .

[zenrat]

I'd like a contrast between inside and out.  Outside is going to be green so I think light grey for the inside followed by a nice dirty wash.

[Old Wombat]

Grey is a good choice, given that the 2 x Dicker Max (a.k.a. the 10.5 cm K gepanzerte Selbstfahrlafette) vehicles were only in service during 1941-1942 - having missed the invasion of France & the assaults on the Maginot Line for which they were designed, & failed their assessment for use as SP AT guns on the Eastern Front.

[zenrat]

Grey is a good choice, given that the 2 x Dicker Max (a.k.a. the 10.5 cm K gepanzerte Selbstfahrlafette) vehicles were only in service during 1941-1942 - having missed the invasion of France & the assaults on the Maginot Line for which they were designed, & failed their assessment for use as SP AT guns on the Eastern Front.

IRL, yes.  I think in my timeline they made it to '43 when one was captured at Kursk.

[zenrat]

I couldn't live with the orange peel paint finish on the Woody so i've brushed flat clear over the red areas followed by weathering pigment.
It now looks like it's been spending time parked up at the beach while the driver catches waves.  Which is what I had intended when I started building it.
So now i'm happier with it.

Interior of the Dicker Max is going to be RLM 84 grey.  It's pale and has a green cast to it.  I brushed some on the hull interior and it looks like it should be there.

I've started one of the 1/144 aircraft i've been buying.  They are increasing in number so I thought I had better make sure I can cope with the smaller scale.  It's a Zvezda Tu-134 airliner.  So far so good (although I am building it wheels up and putting it on the stand and thus avoiding the undercarriage parts).  I have a set of aftermarket transfers which include all the windows so i've filled and sanded the fuselage.

I cleared the body of the VW van today.  So time to print the custom transfers.

As i've finished the Woody I was getting itchy about starting another car from the stash.  I pulled the half built "Fire Truck" Show Rod from the coffee table of doom and have made progresss with that but it didn't completely satisfy the urge so I got out a 1/25 '60 Chevrolet Brookwood station wagon.
This is an evil-bay find from about 15 years back.  Cost me $16 IIRC.  It's a sixties AMT Craftsman series kit.  Put together with the four screws supplied and never painted other than the chassis.  No glue has been used except to glue on a hood scoop from another kit
The wheels and metal axles are missing but everything else is there.  There is some gold overspray on the body.
This is it mocked up on some random wheels.
60ChevyWagon004 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
I've never seen another one of these.  Not built or for sale.  I'm going to clean it up, fix the glue scars on the bonnet, paint it, polish out the "glass", and build it OOB apart from lowering it over custom wheels.
I made a start today by stripping the chrome (it was worn - I think it had been played with.  Not a bad thing) and putting the body and chassis into the stripping tank.  The body won't need much as I just want to loosen the overspray but the chassis will need longer as it has a thick coat of matt black and silver to shift.

[PR19_Kit]

It's a Zvezda Tu-134 airliner.

A 1/144 Tu-134 is still quite a large-ish model, getting on for the size of a 1/72 F-14 maybe, but I'm with you on all those TINY wheels! They're a real pain to paint, and there's SO many of them too!

......... so I got out a 1/25 '60 Chevrolet Brookwood station wagon.

I've never seen another one of these.  Not built or for sale. 

     

I've never even HEARD of one before! Nice that AMT did some full size wagons, it's so very 'American'. 

[zenrat]

Weathered Woody.
48 Ford Woody - Weathered by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

Tu-134.  Flying surfaces propped in place.  Yes it's bigger than a 1/72 Rata (what isn't) but there are tiny parts.  Fit is good but not exemplary.  It's sitting on a scale reference Tamiya Extra Thin bottle.
Tu 134 WIP 04-08-2025 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

VW.  Cleared.  I will print transfers which will sit over the cargo doors.  Also a sharks mouth.
VW Transporter WIP 04-08-2025 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

Fire Truck.  Back from the coffee table of doom, dusted, wheels glued on and mocked up.  Painting of the remaining fiddly bits (mostly "chrome") has commenced.  Wheels don't roll but the fronts do steer - sloppily.  Tolerances in the steering are huge.
Fire Truck WIP 04-08-2025 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

Breguet 695 repairs.  Tali glued back on.  New vertical tails made from P-40 stabs.
Breguet - repairs by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

[Old Wombat]

        

[NARSES2]

Nice work there mate, the Woody in particular    and as for the Breguet ? 

[zenrat]

Thanks folks.  I printed two sets of the transfers for the VW last night and cleared one set today.

Chris, the Breguet is still mostly as it was when I finished it.  The "accident" resulted in a snapped off tail and a missing prop.  All the remedial work has been to the tail (other than replacing a missing exhaust and securing a loose undercarriage leg).  I successfully remembered which paints I used (surprising myself) so they match.  I still have to match the greens in the blotches though.

Tomorrows my long day at work (I work almost a full day) so no modelling will be done.

[zenrat]

I'm having issues with my home made transfers.
I tried to put some on the VW today.
I think the problem is the clear coat.  I used to use Testor's Decal Sealer but they stopped making, well anything, so i've had to switch.  After experiments i'm using the same Acrylic Clear I use on aircraft.  It seems to work OK on small (ie aircraft) transfers but on bigger (car) items the ink is smearing and washing off.  I think the problem is that I am stretching the transfers as I slide them off the backing and this is cracking the clear which lets the water get in.  Small transfers don't crack because being small they slide off with less force.

So, having cleared more transfers I shall try again but this time I shall let them soak for longer and then try real hard to slide them off gently.

[PR19_Kit]

I've had a bit of that problem myself too recently. But I swapped decal paper and that sorted it. The QC on decal paper seems to be very lax these days.

[zenrat]

I have also been forced to switch decal paper for the same reason - the one I liked is no longer made.