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Bandai 1/48 Valentine, now DONE! :)


ghodges

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Bought this one on a whim. Nice kit for its age (the 70s), with a full interior. I actually built the engine, but then decided to close the engine hatches. However, I decided to leave the commander hatches open, so I built up the stock driver's interior, which will be barely visible, if at all. The road wheel arms and springs are nicely detailed, but did require some tedious clean-up and some minor filling.

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The turret floor is well detailed

 

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Bandai only provides the cannon breach, so I added some parts to the inside of the turret, including the periscope bottoms (spare resin bits) a radio in the back bustle area, a machine gun breach (none comes in the kit, oddly), and also added the breach door to the breach, since otherwise there's merely an empty hole in its rear! I'm not worried about accuracy; just wanted "stuff" to represent items that I thought would be logically visible through the hatchway.

 

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The Valentine scheme I want to do (multi-colored splinter camo) has side skirts, so I added those and built up their brackets. The wire hand rails weren't done for "detailing" purposes, as much as to save time. They were easier and faster to make and add than to cut off and clean up the kit plastic grab rails!

 

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The periscope view port guards were merely "holes", so I added some scrap plastic inside them that can be painted to represent the actual view ports. The head lights had huge sink marks in the front of each one. The simple solution was to cut a new cover with the appropriate light slit out of plastic tape. All you need is a circle template and new #11 blade! Although not shown, the undersides of each of the fenders had to be thinned out considerable, as the plastic was too thick to allow for the track to pass over the gear sprockets and clear the fenders. The muffler guard on the left side was also thinned quite a bit.

 

I didn't intend to do as much as this when I bought the kit (which of us has never said THAT before! :smiley29: ); but since it's a British tank: in for a penny-in for a pound! :smiley2: The first coat of primer is on it as of today. More pics when she's done! Comments are welcome, but be kind....after all, I'm an airplane builder! :smiley13:

 

GIL :smiley16:

Edited by ghodges
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Funny how when you start out with any kit you say "I'll just do...." and by the end it's covered with white plastic and putty.

 

You're doing well with an old kit. The Bandai series were nice, but they do need work and you're doing it well. Knowing your painting skills, I want to see your camo scheme.

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Got the initial paint on for the splinter scheme....

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I suppose the blue could be Azure Blue (a common Brit camo color), but I used USN WWII Blue Gray to avoid the purplish hue of the Azure paint; and RLM 66 Dark Gray, figuring the other color was basically a very faded black. I also post shaded all three colors with lightened versions of the base colors. It's tough to see, but there's also a black patch on the right side, blocked by the turret in the pic.

 

I also masked and painted all of the road wheels today, which reminded me of why I only build one tank a year! :wacko: The last painting to do will be the red/white group markings.

 

Now its on to the gloss coat, followed by washes, dry brushing, fading with chalks, etc., etc., etc.,..... :smiley22: But, I am enjoying this as a breath of fresh air, and there's NO pressure for it to come out well either! :smiley20:

 

GIL :smiley16:

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Ok....got a round of washes and drybrushing done...

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By the way, I need to adjust my white balance, or change the darn bulb in my in my bench lamp! The real British sand color on the model can be seed on the side skirts, while the light makes the top sides look too yellow.

 

Lots of fiddly stuff left to do, but I hope to have this one done in time for our club meeting this Saturday. Feel free to give me some advice or ideas before I finish this thing up! Cheers!

 

GIL :smiley16:

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A good ol' Bandai 1/48 Armor build. It looks great so far Gil!! The weathering and paint is turning out fantastic!!

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Got her done!

 

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All MM paints...used light brown, USN Blue-Gray (for a subdued Azure blue), and RLM66 Dark Gray (for a faded flat black). All colors post shaded with lighter shades. Washed and dry brushed, then weathered further with pastel chalks. Chipping was done with sliver and graphite pencils, as well as steel chipping applied with a small piece of sponge. Kit rubber band tracks painted Alclad Steel and weathered with black and rust washes. Unit markings are painted and the white lettering is dry transfers. Questions, comments, and critiques welcome!
Gil :smiley16:
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