I’ve succumed to my ailment, and have started something else before finishing what’s on the bench, again. Using an Academy Magach 7C for the IDF stuff ,and a slightly modifeid Takom hull from one of their very nice Brave Tiger kits and Friul tracks, I’m off to the races. So far:
I built the Academy kit a few years ago, but it went into the recycle line and most of it ended up as the Magach 6D (fictional) I just finished, so I’m doing one I think I’ll be more happy with, using parts on hand only.
Academy parts on a Takom hull, fit is surprisingly good in most cases. The major hiccup is the relative lengths of the two front hulls and the armor module that fits correectly on the Academy hull. I had to jiggle some things, and exend the fenders to make it work, but other than that, not bad.
The several separate pieces of this stuff are often pictured out of alignment, and that’s what I’m going for, as well as showing the minor gaps between them, not well done by Academy.
It’s funky. I was playing with some different materials for the mesh floor of the basket, not happy yet. It’s supposed to be thin pierced steel, not mesh or expanded metal, and the only etch set has a very poor representation of it, so I’m still thinking about it while I work on the slick, lots of eye pain there.
Back at it… After finishing the Stuart and doing figs for a half dozen or so models that needed crew, I nosed back into the two Magachs. Looking at this one, I realized I was just stalling, looking for ways to put off painting, as I hate to forget something and have to do it after I’ve painted. I did the last remaining little things like spare tracks, fire extinguishers, smoke launchers with wiring and some added detail, anti-slip where needed, and stretcher and tent tie-downs on the front fenders, and realized it was time to paint.
For anti-slip, I tried something new: MIG anti-slip texture paste, which is apparently acrylic paint and fine grit in a tube. It turned out perfect for this model, but is way too fine for other applications. On the plus side, it’s easy to use and of consistent texture, so overall I like it.
I don’t particularly like painting, much prefer kit-bashing and used parts… But, I don’t worry my pretty little head over an airbrush, cuz I use rattle cans. I actually have an airbrush and compressor, new and unwrapped, in a drawer, just waiting till we end up in a house where I can set up a spray booth.
IMG_0914 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_0913 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
