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Modeller Build Logs
Tasca Sherman Firefly Vc |
| By James Wechsler | | Started: | Dec 1, 2006 | | Updated: | Apr 29, 2007 |
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OK, I’ll admit it, when I got the opportunity to do a blog using Tasca’s new Firefly kit I was giddy with excitement. I’ve got Tasca’s Pz. II Luchs, and I’ve built about three of their Sherman suspension sets, and two of their 0.050 cal MG sets. Tasca has yet to disappoint.
Now as a total Shermanaholic, I’ll admit that the thought of building a Sherman model that requires only a little bit of extra work is hard to fathom. I mean what is Sherman modeling without a bucket of aftermarket resin parts, replacement tracks, and a huge photoetch sheet? It’s … like modeling German armor (noooo don’t say it’s true)! There, I’ve said it. 2006 has been an allied modeler’s dream and Tasca’s Firefly is the grand finally of the fireworks show.
But in many ways I’m glad to be doing a blog using a great kit. My last two blogs involved extensive use of resin conversion and scratch built parts to make unusual Shermans. So they were heavily focused on construction tasks. Yet I’ve noticed that most of the comments I receive when I post photos of my models are requests for more information on how I do my painting, weathering, and groundwork. So for this blog I will spend less time on the construction tasks and more time on the painting, finishing and techniques for making simple ground work.
Up Next: The Construction Starts.
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| Making Tracks | Apr 1, 2007 |
Tasca provides a nice set of the ‘British Chevron’ style tracks often seen on Firefly VCs in some type of flexible, glueable plastic. Oddly they come in sets of two identical half-lengths per side so you have to glue them twice. The only reason I can see for this is that it allowed Tasca to use a smaller mold which could then be installed on a lower tonnage molding machine, saving a little cost.
It matters little to the modeler since the fit is excellent and once glued together, the joint is invisible. There is a small mold line along the edge of the tracks and across the end connectors but it is nearly impossible to see after painting and weathering.
I must admit that my technique for painting tracks has degenerated over the years. I now do much less work than I used to. With the tracks being the flexible, soft plastic type, I started by painting them in Tamiya Acrylic XF-72 JSDF Brown which is a nice earthy brown color. I use acrylic for the base coat just to be sure there is no interaction between the paint and the plastic. Then I gave it a heavy coat of Testor’s Dullcoat paint to seal it further.
Once this had dried for a day, I gave it a wash in Raw Umber oil paint thinned with turpenoid. I would definitely not recommend any stronger solvent to avoid damaging the tracks.
Once dry for another day, I covered the tracks pretty thoroughly in MIG Pigment European Dust. The key here is to make sure the weathering on the tracks integrates with the rest of the suspension and lower hull. After covering the tracks in the pigments, I went back with my Mark I Model Thumb and lightly rubbed off some of the pigments on the tracks. You can do this on link to link tracks as well but be more careful since they’re not as tolerant of the rubbing and breaking the track at this point is a real pain to have to fix.
Then I did a little dry brushing using Model Master Dark Anodonic Gray metallic paint. I’ve found this to be a good color to represent exposed metal that is a little oxidized. Finally, I dry brushed some Model Master Aluminum on the chevron sand three bolt heads to represent the freshly worn metal of these areas of the track. Having seen a running Sherman up close that has the US Metal Chevron tracks on it, I can tell you that the chevrons are very bright metal. So I made sure to highlight them noticeably.
Up Next: Final Details |
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