WWII Project Progress Report

15Dec
by patmcf

Well, last week I said I was back … yep, back to long grass and prolific weed growth!  I seem to spend all my time mowing these days.  I have even had to build some compost bins for the weeding wife.  All that means is I’m up early and in bed early so checking out all you good folks’ work has fallen by the wayside, I do apologize, and will try to improve my game. Oh then there was the Ashes series to bugger up my plans!! You may not know it but I just love test cricket, especially the Ashes! What were they thinking when they left out Ando and Broady!!! I had to buy a new radio for the shed so I didn’t spend too much time on the couch.

Well enough of that and on with the small amount of modelling I have achieved over the last month. I may have mentioned I purchased a small Airbrush and fouled it up, but it turns out that there was a nozzle that was supposed to fit on the spray end that I had omitted to apply (the instructions were lacking somewhat, or maybe they didn’t realise someone simple was going to buy one!)  Anyway after looking at images of them I realized my error and found it in a small plastic bottle.

After some (a lot) of practice I painted two tanks, you will notice in the photos one I painted by hand a year ago, there is a big difference.  I also airbrushed the landing craft, but I’m yet to put the final finishing touches on it.  It has also come in handy when priming my figures.  Oh, a big thank-you to all who have tips and offers of advice, always appreciated.

It is raining today so I thought I had better post something while I could as it will be back to mowing again when it stops and the sun beams down.  Take care and happy modelling!

The Airbrush
The paints and thinner I purchased separately.
Guess which one !
A neat little model !
I wont be using the sea like base.

42 thoughts on “WWII Project Progress Report”

  1. Dave Stone

    Good to hear you’ve found the problem with the airbrush. and the missing part Pat, you have a lot on show there already, so look forward to seeing this develop

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  3. theimperfectmodeller

    Looking forward to seeing how your airbrush journey progresses Pat. Something I’ve never attempted so keen to see what a beginner makes of it. Looking good so far though and it would seem we have a treat coming in terms of your next diorama. Good luck cutting the grass but retirement wasn’t meant to be more work! I’ll pass on commenting on the ashes! 🙂

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. patmcf

      Fair enough, but I’m sure things will be different today in Adelaide 🤔. As for the airbrush, I really can’t see you ever needing one , I’m not sure if it’s down to being a cheap one but it does require a lot of cleaning but I’m prepared to put up with that just to get the rewards on the Tanks. I can do some priming but that’s limited to one colour, I’m that a more skilled person could do a lot better 🤔. I have to thank you as not long ago you told us that to achieve good results on painting stripes is to thin the paint with flow aid , I did this and it certainly worked when I had to paint the yellow lines on the two tanks , so cheers mate that info made me a happy boy after the extreme concentration of airbrushing 😅😅😅.Well the heats arriving so the grass is going to die of soon which means mowing is over 🤪🥳

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

    1. patmcf

      Thanks Matey , it’s not something I would do if I could get away with doing it with the brush 🤔it may just be me but there is a lot of cleaning the little bugger , if the effects weren’t so good I wouldn’t bother. As I just said to TIM I could see that he would ever bother using one what with his skills with the brush, I would also think that would be in your case as well. It certainly works on vehicles but on figures it’s only good for priming so with what I do it has limited use 🧐🤓

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  8. John@justneedsvarnish

    All looking good Pat! 🙂 Nice work on the Japanese tanks, both the Type 89 and the Type 95s (those yellow bands are buggers to paint, but yours look excellent) and nice to see quite a bit of artillery as well! I’ll be looking forward to seeing this project finished!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. patmcf

      Thanks John , I would like to take the credit for the yellow lines but it was our TIM’s advice that made it a lot easier, that is to thin the paint with flow aid , heavens I have learnt a lot from our mob😄. The 2 pounder and the type 95s are for one show and the rest will hopefully end up making up a three set fingers crossed c😅😅😅.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  11. Wudugast

    Those tanks certainly look good. Afraid to say airbrushing is a bit of a closed book to me, maybe something I’ll try someday but at the moment I know almost as little about it as I know about cricket! 😀

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. patmcf

      Thanks matey ! Like some of the other lads I don’t think it would be of much use to you , your brush work is superb, It is good for planes and tanks but having said that I feel one could do a good job if you were to thin the paints as TIM suggested when he paints his stripes .

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    1. patmcf

      😅😅😅hey mate I thought one of those DRS decisions were a bit suspect , I certainly felt fo Broady 🤔. As for the airbrush And I ,let’s say we are still getting to know each other , we do have our moments as I’m not the most technical Person 😅😅😅. It certainly needs a lot of attention 😳🤓

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  14. Kuribo

    The hobby progress looks great. That’s plenty done for what I’m guessing is your next big diorama. And cricket? You talking about watching some insects or that game where they swing paddles around like some drunks trying to play baseball? 😉 In all seriousness, it is the one game that I don’t ever see taking off here in the US. You can find it on TV here if you really work to find it but most of us Yankees don’t know the first thing about the rules including me! 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  15. Azazel

    The models are looking great so far, and I’ve managed to destroy one airbrush and not even bother with getting the one I purchased later out of it’s packaging. They seem like a great tool in theory but far, far too much faffing about for me to be bothered with.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. patmcf

      Sorry I’m late mate 😱. Thanks mate I’m not overly keen on the Airbrush and will only use it when I feel it’s warranted, I don’t think I could be as good as the on YouTube even with practice 🤔.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  18. deturnation

    How Japanese tanks were that useless, that those “tanks” were sufficient enough. haha
    Pat, lovely stuff as always!
    I actually fear airbrush myself and think I won’t be ever using one, but you are already doing a pretty good job on it!
    I hope you enjoy your new home by now.

    Cheers Anthony

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. patmcf

      Thanks mate we are certainly learning a lot about country life , weeds , lack of water , and all kinds of pests in the prchard😅😅😅. You are right in fearing airbrushes as they can be very temperamental it mine has certainly trued my patience 🥵

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. deturnation

        Well let’s say the deadliest animal where I live a pigeons and rats, because we only got two different types of poisonous snakes who are almost extinkt. haha
        But I gather the outback is a little bit deadlier but you probably also have a lot more space to go for walk with less people around, which is also nice and some nice nature.
        Airbrushes are supposed to be rather sensitive to weather I think, but they should be okay, if it’s hot and dry?
        Your airbrush skills are already quite nice I think!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. patmcf

        When you mentioned snake it got me thinking about how many I had seen and that amounted to two in say about 30 years 🤔and they were both in cities . On a hike this week we met a local and I asked him if he had seen any on his many walks and he said he hadn’t seen any in ten years 🧐. Sixty years ago when I was on the family farm you generally saw one every week in summer. What you say about the weather and the airbrush is interesting and I will keep that in mind when I next use it but I’m not to sure about my skills yet 😂😂😂.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. deturnation

        That’s a bit sad. Have the wild cats hunted them this badly?
        Are insects then the real issue?

        I think I heard, that airbrush is similar to spray cans in that they need rather stable temperatures and humidity. But for that I think you have things like thinner and other gadgets you can use with the airbrush to counter that partly.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. patmcf

        I’m not sure if Feral cats eat snakes but we certainly have a big problem with cats , as for insects they are just a pest especially flies in Summer 😉. I do feel you are right about temperatures , had to thin the paint back in early summer so I haven’t tried doing any now it’s mid summer and pretty warm.

        Like

  19. Mark A. Morin

    Hi Pat it’s been a bit and I like you am catching up here in January. I am happy you are finding the airbrush helpful – for painting tanks and other applications they are a must I find. I have 3 – an Iwata CS, an Iwata Neo, and an Iwata Micron B. The CS I mainly use with a .5mm needle, nozzle and cap instead of the .35 for priming and varnishing. The Neo I use for general purpose stuff (and if I’m too busy to change the CS back to .35), and the Micron-B is for ultra fine work (and that one cost a LOT). Cleaning is definitely a must, and I had a chuckle when I read about your forgetting to have the nozzle in! I don’t know if you are using a compressor or a can, but a compressor with a pressure gage on the line and a moisture filter are game changers as I have found. You are right though, it does take a lot of practice. Your Japanese tanks definitely look the part and I look forward to seeing more of your stuff. As for grass, it’s going to be 8 degrees tomorrow for a high (that’s -13.3 C) – so I long to see green growing grass! Keep on going though, you’re a fellow retiree!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  20. patmcf

    Sorry Jeff missed this one 😳. Thanks mate progress has slow some what over summer but I’ll be back into Dios when the decoupage is done and dusted🥵. I think one has to grow up with some sports to understand them , I have the same problem with your grid iron football 🏈 they do show some but like you and cricket I just can’t work out what’s going on , maybe it’s just that I’m simple 😅😅😅.

    Like

    Reply

  21. patmcf

    Thanks Mark, I don’t envy you with a temperature that low 🥶, up in the thirties over here . I never thought I would use an airbrush as these days I don’t do many tanks vehicles or planes so I didn’t think it worthwhile paying out big bucks for a good one , it was only when I saw this little one that has the compressor built in did I think to purchase one . I feel when put up against yours it would be regarded as just a toy 😉. Just love retirement mate 😃only problem is that’d there isn’t enough time available 😅😅😅

    Like

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.