Project Patton

[reserve]

Yer welcome brother

OCD? Perhaps, perhaps not but I'm here to tell ya that's very sound advice these computermobiles are dizzying in their complexity. The plug to the PCM in this Ford has around ninety wires coming out of it

and it's tucked right up on the firewall requiring bending in ways my old carcass don't appreciate. I did find the errant circuits tho, and since I did not wish to disassemble the top of the engine (again) to get to the main harness I just cut them off and soldered new wire in between the PCM and sensor plugs. Got rid of the 0102 and 0113 codes pronto.

So I took it out for a couple driving cycles and on the second one, bang check engine light again. Scanned it and found P0135 which means O2 sensor, upstream, bank 1 malfunction. I reached thru the right front wheel well where I could get to the sensor plug, got hold of it and gave a good squeeze which resulted in an audible click. Cleared the codes from the PCM, started it up, went to live data on the scanner and presto there it was graphing a lovely sine wave between .120 and .850 volts. Wish all fixes were this cheap and easy.

Hmmm, that did not have much to do with building tanks did it

Regards,
Mark

[JCON]

Nope it didn't but it was interesting!!! LOL!!!

[rustybaer]

"Clicks" are good..... usually.

[reserve]

Yeah unless they're coming from your joints

Progression in fits and starts, I have the first layer of mud and color on it





A little blending with a lighter color may be needed I'll see what it looks like when dry. I've been ignoring this for too long

Regards,
Mark

[ARMORGUY]

Now that is looking very promising Mark!

[JCON]

Keep it going brother Mark!!!

[reserve]

Thanks guys

Mud texture mostly done, running gear and fenders on









I always try to get the lower hull and running gear painted and mudded before assembly, if I do not I usually make a mess of things. I'll wait to get the base painted before I darken the textured spots so I can match them more closely 

Now I can finish the build stage

Regards,
Mark

[ARMORGUY]

Good thinking Mark, it looks great.

[JCON]

I like where you are taking it sir!!!

[reserve]

Thanks gents

So last Tuesday the ten week long heat wave finally broke (104 on Monday, 52 on Tuesday) and we got about 60 hours straight of easy, soaking rain. On Friday it was 65 and I was out on the damp ground and mud with my rifle and little PD buddies, wet and shivering, trying to keep the mud off the rifle.

It was luxurious, haven't felt that good all summer.

Anyway, the problem with doing a series of older American armor is it gets boring for alot of reasons, not the least of which is the choice of paint schemes...OD, OD, or perhaps OD. To fight this trend I've decided to do the M-46 up as a tank from the 6th tank battalion, 24th infantry in Korea, 1951.

Here's the start






When I get this one done I'll be taking a break from the series as I've had a hankering to try something different. That will be this



found at the LHS this morning when I went there to get paint to mix a suitable shade of orange for the 46. It's been many years since I've done an aircraft I got alot of remembering to do

Regards,
Mark

[JCON]

That looks like fun Mark! Is the 46 gonna be a tiger design?

[reserve]

Should be long's I can remember how to build an airplane

And, yes it will it was the 6th armored that came up with that idea. Base coat complete with a bit of fading. I'll probably not fade it too much as the '46 was a brand new tank in that period but I do need to get some contrast on it





Cyberhobby gives you a few stripe decals but not nearly enough and they're pretty coarse so I'll hand paint the stripes with a larger pointed brush. Some shiny clear coat then decals which I'm actually looking forward to applying as this will make a very big difference in the model's appearance

Regards,
Mark

[JCON]

Awesome, I'm looking forward to this!!!

[reserve]

Stripes and decals. The Tiger mouth was problematic but enough Micro Sol made it more or less right









I'd thought of striping the entirety of the orange area but this was not done on the genuine articles; as it is I've got too many stripes on it now. Don't care tho I like it 

Regards,
Mark

[reserve]

While waiting for stuff to dry on the tank I decided to play around a little with the Italeri A-7. While armor kits have advanced light years in the past 45 years it seems that aircraft kits are still the same ill fitting, badly molded garbage that I recall from when I was a kid. At least this Italeri offering is, featuring enormous gaps, panel lines that don't match up on the fuselage, incomplete molding on mating surfaces, and other assorted ills that should'nt oughta be there.

Altho I'll give it a shot, I have a feeling this one's gonna end up in the garbage bucket; I'm quite annoyed at the wasted fiffty bucks but fighting such things as this is not my idea of fun. Can anyone recommend a decent aircaft kit or manufacturer?

Regards,
Mark

[ARMORGUY]

Mark, the tank looks fabulous.
Tamiya, good ol' Tamiya Mark.

[Dukemaddog]

Beautiful work man! I especially love the M-46; I did one in 72 scale too.

[JED]

WOW that suddenly went bright! Looking good

[reserve]

Thank you gents

AG I probably should have guessed that on my own I suppose but it's been so many years since I've done an aircraft kit I'm very out of touch

Duke, did you give it the tiger treatment?

Jed I can't be sure but I don't think these guys were over interersted in staying hidden

Right then here it is all glossy coated and partway thru the pinwash


Working with an OD base and then going to an orange base was quite interesting


and here it is pinwashed and flat coated. 


Flatcoat brings out the fading on the OD, I've gotten used to having all my effort disappear under gloss coat and reappearing under the flat.

In between sessions with the tank I began to work on the Italeri A-7 pictured earlier. After a good ten hours of unsucsessfully trying to assemble the model and make it fit correctly it took its final flight into the garbage bucket in more pieces than it came to me in the box as I was hacked off at the idea of the waste of fiffty bucks. Italeri now holds the distinction of the manufacturer of the worst POS that has EVER been on my bench, and I don't think we'll be doing business anymore.

Regards,
Mark

[JED]

Pretty amazing how much difference flat coat makes. Lovely result