1/35 Land Rover 109 series II.A "Pink Panther"
22nd S.A.S. Regiment, Dhofar, Oman, 1971
OK, this project is finished! Started it in July 2019. I already built this subject as Tamiya out-of-box build some 3-4 years ago and i loved the subject but the Tamiya kit (manufactured in early 70's) was very simple and lacked many details.
So I decided to build it again but with little more effort and with an idea to build it as close accurate to the original as possible.
In order to have as many "options" as possible I bought both available kits of Land Rover series II.A (Tamiya and Italeri) and plus I ordered the upgrade and stowage set from Legend, photo-etched set for SAS Land Rover from Eduard, the sand tires resin wheels from Hussar and LiveResin GPMGs.
First I had to figure out which parts from which kit i will use and which will need to be amended, upgraded or completely changed. After almost two weeks of comparing each part with photos and blueprints I gathered, I realized there will be plenty of details that I will need to scratch build from Evergreen profiles and other materials.
I don't want to bore you with detailed descriptions of all the changes I had to made, you can get the idea from the pictures which have more detailed captions.
After the build part was done the priming, painting and weathering were just a routine walk in the park.
So I decided to build it again but with little more effort and with an idea to build it as close accurate to the original as possible.
In order to have as many "options" as possible I bought both available kits of Land Rover series II.A (Tamiya and Italeri) and plus I ordered the upgrade and stowage set from Legend, photo-etched set for SAS Land Rover from Eduard, the sand tires resin wheels from Hussar and LiveResin GPMGs.
First I had to figure out which parts from which kit i will use and which will need to be amended, upgraded or completely changed. After almost two weeks of comparing each part with photos and blueprints I gathered, I realized there will be plenty of details that I will need to scratch build from Evergreen profiles and other materials.
I don't want to bore you with detailed descriptions of all the changes I had to made, you can get the idea from the pictures which have more detailed captions.
After the build part was done the priming, painting and weathering were just a routine walk in the park.
1/35 M151A2 'jappas' (academy)
Basic kit is Academy, wheels are from DEF models, some parts I used from Legends and CMKs update sets, lights are from SKP models, FN mag is from LiveResin, rest of the stowage is home-made or from various leftovers. I also used few parts from Eduards PE set designed for "shmira". The decals were designed by me and printed on decal paper. Off course there was a lot of scratch-building. Painted with my own color mix from AK interactive paints.
Big "toda" to Michael Mass who provided me with dozen of amazing photographs.
My model represents the vehicle from era of Lebanese war which is amplified by the "Times" magazine from June 1982 reporting about Israels enter to Beirut, on the drivers seat.
Big "toda" to Michael Mass who provided me with dozen of amazing photographs.
My model represents the vehicle from era of Lebanese war which is amplified by the "Times" magazine from June 1982 reporting about Israels enter to Beirut, on the drivers seat.
1/35 Land Rover Defender XD "wolf" W.M.I.K. (hobby boss)
Hobby Boss kit n. 82446 is very nice with planty of great and crispy details, however it does not represent any particular version of this vehicle widly used within 1997 till nowdays. As I decided to build version from aproximatelly 2004-2006 I needed to add some details. For that I purchased the Black Dog 35050 upgrade kit which also including very nice stowage. However I was not fully satisfied with the weapons details (probably the weakest part of Hobby Boss kit) so I also ordered E.T. model upgrade 35-109 which also contains planty of photo etch details. I also bought Eduard photo etch details 36191 that were bit more usefull than E.T. details. Anyway there is so many parts from these upgrades left that I can build another detailed Defender in future.
On top of that I added some details such as bottles, stowage and barbwire from my reservoir and off course I added planty of wires and scratch details to make the final model as much accurate as possible.
Painting was done mostly with acrylics (Tamiya, AmmoMig and Vallejo) with brush exclusivly and did not brought up any problems.
Weathering was very light as these vehicles were kept in pretty good condition and instead of few scratches it was mainly just dusted with pigments.
I am happy with the final result and already looking forward to build another Land Rover (maybe IDF version...)
On top of that I added some details such as bottles, stowage and barbwire from my reservoir and off course I added planty of wires and scratch details to make the final model as much accurate as possible.
Painting was done mostly with acrylics (Tamiya, AmmoMig and Vallejo) with brush exclusivly and did not brought up any problems.
Weathering was very light as these vehicles were kept in pretty good condition and instead of few scratches it was mainly just dusted with pigments.
I am happy with the final result and already looking forward to build another Land Rover (maybe IDF version...)
1/35 U.S. Cougar 6x6 HEV (meng)
Meng model build mostly out of the box except the interior that actually lacks plenty of important details, mainly the radio set which I added from amazing (but really pricey) ProArt Model resin kit (n.35055) plus it obviously needed plenty of wires and cables. The stowage is from Black Dog and Plus Model and M4s are from Trumpeter. This vehicle didn't needed any special weathering care as these were very well maintained in Iraq and the weathering contained only heavy dusting done with help of AK interactive pigments. Meng is also producing bomb squad figures with robots which can not be compared with resin figures but the quality is still very solid and actually gives a nice touch to the finished model. Over all this was bit complicated build, especially because of huge amount of parts and need to paint fully the interior in the middle of the build. But the quality of this kit is amazing and I enjoyed it a lot. Recommended, but only for advanced modelers.
1/35 Toyota Hilux pick-up (meng)
Build straight out of the box. However, the finished model looked bit empty and boring so I decided to load it up little bit and add some story to this truck. Feel free to make up your own story ;)
1/35 Sd.Kfz. 222 D.A.K. (hobby boss)
Hobby Boss kit n. 82442 was an big surprise for me, I already built Sd.Kfz 222 from Tamiya years ago as my first 1/35 kit so I was very happy to build this pretty vehicle. The quality of kit is great and details are comparing with old Tamiya kit absolutely amazing. The FlaK gun is practicly an "kit in a kit" and I added only metal barrel from RB models, few details from Eduards PE set and replaced few parts with wires.
Only thing I added on model were few wires to the engine and interrior, few details from Eduards PE set originlay designed for Tamiya kit but usable and usefull for this kit as well. At the end I scratch builded the jerry can holder from PE leftovers to add something unique on to my model and added 4 german jerry cans from Tamiya.
Painting was much harder than I originaly thought so. These particular vehicles were shipped from Germany to North Afrika overall painted with german panzer grey, also known as Dunkelgrau. After assigned to an unit, vehicles were usualy hand painted in the field with RAL 8000 Gelbbraun or RAL 8020 Braun, but as far as there were limited deliveries of paint, these were heavily diluted and the quality of paint job was very poor are together with ruff weather it ended up that the vehicles were very quickly chiped and rubed and scratched to basic grey surface and heavily weathered.
I used AK interactive acrylics and must say I am very satisfied with the shades authenticity but not that much with the quality of paints. Especialy the RAL 7021 dunkelgrau has quit glossy finish and I had to spray all vehicle with matt varnish in several layers.
Weathering was long process but I enjoyed it a lot. U used classic techniques of dry brush, wash and pigments.
Only thing I added on model were few wires to the engine and interrior, few details from Eduards PE set originlay designed for Tamiya kit but usable and usefull for this kit as well. At the end I scratch builded the jerry can holder from PE leftovers to add something unique on to my model and added 4 german jerry cans from Tamiya.
Painting was much harder than I originaly thought so. These particular vehicles were shipped from Germany to North Afrika overall painted with german panzer grey, also known as Dunkelgrau. After assigned to an unit, vehicles were usualy hand painted in the field with RAL 8000 Gelbbraun or RAL 8020 Braun, but as far as there were limited deliveries of paint, these were heavily diluted and the quality of paint job was very poor are together with ruff weather it ended up that the vehicles were very quickly chiped and rubed and scratched to basic grey surface and heavily weathered.
I used AK interactive acrylics and must say I am very satisfied with the shades authenticity but not that much with the quality of paints. Especialy the RAL 7021 dunkelgrau has quit glossy finish and I had to spray all vehicle with matt varnish in several layers.
Weathering was long process but I enjoyed it a lot. U used classic techniques of dry brush, wash and pigments.
1/35 Sd.Kfz 233 D.A.K. (afv club)
This kit is so well detailed that except few wires I built it straight out of the box. Build was not easy and I can recomand it only to skilled modelers. However if you will have enough patience and will thing thru all the steps, especially as far as painting, you will be rewarded with very nice model.
1/35 Camionetta AS42 Sahariana (italeri)
This kit looked great in the box, Photoetched details and resin engine are included together with 2 nice figures. However closer look revealed some ejection marks in difficult places and the seem lines on small parts were sometimes almost half millimeter big. Big disadvantage is the quality of the plastic which is very fragile and if not extremly carfull, you will break most of the small parts while cutting them out of trees. I had to replace the canvas and few other small details and cut out few jerry cans which was not easy job to do but the result is worth it. The weakest part of the kit are the photoetched details, these are breaking up even after first bending and are etched from extremly thick piece of metal. Anyway, I enjoyed the build and particulary the painting.
1/35 Schwimmwagen type 166 (tamiya)
Nothing special here, Old kit from tamiya with eduard photoetche details and some stowage from tamiya. I enjoyed this small bug.
1/35 BRDM2 rusting somewhere in eastern Europe (trumpeter)
This is one very nice kit from trumpeter. I did not spent much time by detailing it or even thinking about marking or camouflage as from beginning I wanted to use this model for practicing rust, scratches and other heavy weathering techniques.
At the end of the day I am very happy about the result.
At the end of the day I am very happy about the result.
1/35 Ford G.P.A. Jeep (tamiya)
Very old Tamiya kit with detail set from Eduard, Archer transfers and stowage from various manufacturers. Painted with Vallejo acrylics and Ammo Mig acrylics, drybrushed with Humbrols and washed and weathered with SyraHobby products.
1/35 T17E2 Staghound AA (italeri)
Build out of the box, just added the wooden box (unknown resin). Painted with Hataka acrylics. Weathering done with help of SiraHobby washes, efects and aqua pigments and pastes.
1/35 M20 armored utility car (tamiya)
Tamiya kit + Verlinden engine set + Eduard detail set + Italeri & Verlinden equipment. Painted with Mr.Hobby paints and Humbrol on brush. Weathering done with help of Sirahobby and CMK pigments.
1/35 Honda XLR250 (tamiya)
This cute little motorbike is ideal as an weekend build. I really enjoyed it a lot. Basically build out of the box with few cables and wires added.