I applied the winter camouflage using the hairspray technique, which produced some mixed results, especially on the hood, hopefully they will be mitigated as the weathering progresses. Here are some pics of the process.

I am also painting the machine gun shield totally rusted.

Every time I have an idea for a model that involves something new I try to build something else to practice it. Most of the time the something else ends up being pretty involved at the end, but no harm I guess. For the SdKfz. 251/1 I wanted to model some Waffen-SS figures. So I took a Dragon figure and started practicing Waffen-SS camo painting following Calvin Tan’s technique from his book. First results were pretty bad.

As I practiced I got a bit better, although one thing I couldn’t really get right was painting faces with acrylics only, so I went back to the oil paints and finished the figure. I still have the equipment to paint and fix on teh figure. I still need to give it a flat clear coat.

This is going to go with some of the Melusine PVC figures I bought a while ago, which I have repainted and I am in the process of weathering.

The interior is almost done, it needs some more weathering and I will maybe add a few more items. The equipment like the ammo boxes and the helmets are from a Tamiya figure set.

I decided to finish this kit for the Hanomania Group Build at Missing Lynx. I finished the interior assembly and started painting all the details. This is my first panzer gray vehicle so I am experimenting with some techniques for chipping, given that there is a lot less contrast available than on a dark yellow vehicle.

A local hobby shop, Galaxy Hobby, sponsors two model contests every year, one in the spring and one in the fall. The one in the spring is a general modeling contest, things like aircraft and armor but no science fiction. SciFan is held in the fall, with only science fiction related models allowed.  This year I was awarded two prizes, a 1st place in Anime Spacecraft and a 2nd place in Robots (there were almost no mecha entries, so they all got lumped together). Cool thing is the award comes with in-store gift certificates, which I used right away!

For Ashes (1997-2009).

I really miss you furry girl.

This vignette was made in honor of the anonymous freedom fighters of the Animal Liberation Front that risk it all to release those that deserve better from us.

Until all of us are free…

To learn more about the issues please visit:
http://www.animalliberationfront.com/ALFront/alf_credo.htm
http://www.animalliberationpressoffice.org/faq.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Liberation_Front

Recommended reading:
Terrorists or freedom fighters?

About the model: The freedom fighter was made with parts from the four figures in the infantry kit and heavily re-positioned and re-sculpted with Tamiya epoxy putty. The figure was painted with a base of Floquil weathered black and Tamiya acrylics and later shaded with oils. The chicken in his arms was also modified for a better fit with a Dremel tool. The boltcutters come from a 1/35 Pz.IV kit.  The other two chickens are OOB. All are painted with Tamiya acrylics. The base is one half of the packaging on an iPod nano. The side of the shed was made with Evergreen styrene and wire mesh. The soil is from the garage around my apartment building. It was painted with Tamiya acrylics and the hairspray technique was used to do the paint chipping on the shed. The grass is a mix of static grass and long grass from Woodland Scenics. The message on the wall was hand painted with a fine paintbrush.

It’s as done as it will be for now. I am not totally happy with the figure, but given that I am kind of new to figures I feel the job is decent. It’s acrylic base with shadows in oils. I need more practice in this field.

I have worked quite a bit on this kit since the last update. Time consuming paint chipping process with several colors and techniques, the same I usually do for armor. The interior is almost done too but I don’t like it too much, I was hoping to achieve the distressed leather couch look but it didn’t work too well. Next up is painting and then the pilot’s head, which will be the most challenging.

Just got this kit from AFV and I plan to try some new painting techniques on it. Mainly color modulation and hairspray technique. My first winter white wash. More to come soon.

Some progress on the Prowler. The thrusters were replaced for aluminum ones, since the plastic ones have a really bad seam in the middle. Did some welds with epoxy putty but I think they are a bit overscale, but not too bad. I primed it after the pics and found a few flaws that need fixing. I almost put myself on a deadline again, but no, if this can’t be finished for the Seattle IPMS Spring Show, then so be it.