My tank transporter fetish is way out of hand...

[dogfish7 (R.I.P.)]

Pretty hard to paint, this time of year. Have the same problems. Looks nice to see some paint on.

[Beekster]

Dec 15, 2017 15:22:58 GMT -6 dogfish7 (R.I.P.) said:

Pretty hard to paint, this time of year. Have the same problems. Looks nice to see some paint on.

True.  I intend to do more painting in the coming days, including getting some more Orange on the Madill pieces.  I do have a radiator-style space heater that I may put into the garage to warm the space some before I paint.  It's fully insulated, so I should be able to take some of the chill off, especially if one of the cars has been run any time in the previous few hours and is radiating heat into the space, too.  Open the window at the paint desk in the corner when spraying, open the garage door when I clean out the brush so that the area ventilates thoroughly, and close it up again in maybe half an hour.

[dogfish7 (R.I.P.)]

I have 6 builds, which need paint

[JEFF]

More outstanding work, Beeks.

[Dukemaddog]

Dec 15, 2017 15:31:32 GMT -6 dogfish7 (R.I.P.) said:

I have 6 builds, which need paint

That all? You're slacking dude!

I got 11.......

Great work Beeks. Looking forward to seeing more.

[Beekster]

Welcome to prime(r) time! I restocked my Tamiya Fine spray primer this afternoon and shot the frame. The cab was done earlier, and don't they look nice together?






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The chassis frame will now sit for a few days for the primer to cure. The cab required a little rework. I neglected to make round turn indicators that sit on top of the fenders, so I will start to make those tomorrow morning. I will also punch a few more discs for side reflectors on the trailer and get those attached, and will probably mix up a rusty brown color and spray it on the load bed where tank tracks would scuff the surface. Before I start painting the base camouflage colors I will take a torn piece of makeup sponge and dot the brown areas with liquid rubber so that I will get a distressed paint effect in the end. Also on the agenda for tomorrow is to prime the wheels, which will inevitably show up some bubbles that need filling and sanding.

[JEFF]

That looks excellent, Buddy. Sounds like a busy day tomorrow.

[BUCKY]

Ahhhh, gray flannel underwear looks great!!

[JCON]

Nice work fella!!!

[Dukemaddog]

Looking good! Well done on the nice smooth coat. Looking forward to seeing more.

[Beekster]

Well, Duke, it is coming along albeit slowly. Both the wife and Mother Nature had other plans today, so my goals are only partially done today. Wife wanted to go shopping, and Mother Nature decreed it too darn cold today to use the airbrush. Got some primer on the wheels, and have started the turn indicators for the front fenders. I've got MV Lenses for those, and after three tries I finally got .156" diameter by .100" wide cylinders cut and squared up to house them. The base cylinders are set aside now with small bits of .100" rod glued inside for strength. Tomorrow morning I can drill them for .032" brass rod for standoffs and drill the lens openings so that they sit nicely inside. With brass rod standoffs they won't be fragile.

[JED]

Looking good

[dogfish7 (R.I.P.)]

Some great primerization there Beekster!

[Beekster]

Despite being busy with the usual holiday stuff and cold weather (it's 32 and freezing rain right now...) I have shot some paint on various parts of the beast. The cab has the turn indicator sockets in place and a final primer coat. A blemish at the top corner of the rear window will be corrected and simply covered with the camouflage coats:




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The wheels have had two coats of Testor's Rubber from the little bottle, a grungy brown that I like the look of for tires that aren't kept scrubbed and shined and are subject to large amounts of brake dust accumulation:



They are barely dry to the touch, having had the second coat applied only an hour and a half ago. The same applies to the truck frame and wheel hubs, done in Aircraft Interior Black, a shade that tends a little bit towards charcoal and isn't as stark as flat black when applied to large areas. Two coats done on the frame and one on the wheels, and both need another pass. The hubs are really deep, and the frame has nooks and crannies everywhere that are fiendishly difficult to get paint into. I suspect I will have some brush work to do to get everything coated in black. Yeah I could have used a black primer but I love the consistency of the Tamiya Fine spray primer and find that it's easier to pick up flaws on a lighter primer color.

[Beekster]

And the trailer, too: Primer sprayed on the resin spare tires, and a rusty brown on the load deck where steel treads damage the paint. I will tear up a makeup sponge and dot some liquid rubber on those stripes before spraying the camouflage colors to get a chipped paint effect started. Peacetime rigs like this don't get beat up much, but the load deck is always subject to wear. The color is a mix of Model Master Rust and Tread Brown.

[JCON]

Looking very good indeed!!!

[BUCKY]

Very nice progress on these items! Looks great!

[JEFF]

Great progress, Mr.B. I like Tammy Fine primer also.

[Dukemaddog]

Excellent progress. I'm taking notes.

[Beekster]

How about a mock-up of the major components all together? Here is the beast:


Definitely a rig of considerable size! I finally got a lightbox big enough to hold a tank transporter. It will fit on a folding card table, but overhangs a bit and doesn't sit flat. I think I will have to work out a method of raising it a bit, perhaps using foamcore board where the subject will sit. My available lighting is also rather marginal for this size of box, so I will have to address that, too.