3. No decals? Yup, failed again in this area. The Academy decals was really a nightmare (maybe to me?), they simply tear up so easily that I just gave up at the end.

Hi Dan,

Personally I think you did a great job! Especially the painting on those "little details" (e.g. instrument panels). Your photography skills is way better than mine. That's for sure.

The lack of decals does make the build a little dull. But I must agree that the decals of older Academy Kits do tend to "tear" easily. Got to be very delicate.

BTW, you might want to weather the cabin a little more. Dry brush more dust (pigments) inside since you're trying to stimulate kind of a desert scene. Other than that, I think it's still a very nice build.

Cheers,

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3. No decals? Yup, failed again in this area. The Academy decals was really a nightmare (maybe to me?), they simply tear up so easily that I just gave up at the end.

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Here, you may want to let the decal stay in the water for a little bit longer. Then it should be removed from the backing card more easily

I think you make a pretty decent vehicle. Its always quite difficult to make a light colored vehicle looks worn and weathered. What you did there is already good enough. However, when you add more details to it - ie additional rackings, Jerry cans holder etc, you can enhance the details with wash and dry brushing. Hope these info helps!

I made the same vehicle before. The addded armour option. Yeah he decal is of a bit lower quality compared to he DML. anyway nice APC>

Thats a pretty damn good attempt there Dan. Based on what you experienced building this kit, i would certainly recommend trying out the Tamiya M113A2 as it was certainly an enjoyable experience for me.

Based on your photos, i would do a little kit bashing by using the Academy's interior, engine compartment and rear ramp and swap it into the Tamiya kit.

The Tamiya kit has better detail and best of all, its has plenty of decals leftover which you can place on this one that you built. If you compare the details from this photo, you will see what i mean.

As for weathering, i would certainly recommend that you use powder pigment to get the best effect for dust and sand. Definitely try to perform a wash on your model to enhance to edges and gaps to make it look more realistic. Unfortunately, when i built this M113A2, i was still experimenting with washes and it didnt turn out good but i would certainly recommend artist oils mix with turpentine. Believe me, capillary action works wonders when artist oils touches a glossy surface.

Actually, I was really planning to build another one, and was contemplating bashing Academy with either Tamiya or italeri's (latter , cos it was cheaper!).

Thanks for the advise on washes as well. Yes agreed with you, and i did that, but as mentioned in earlier post, I really doubt desert vehicles would not really have so much dark stains, but guess more researches is due.

Really appreciate your advises, cheers!

You are quite right, desert vehicles dont have that much dark stains however washes are mainly use for enhancing parts of a vehicle that would typically have a shadow. Its not enough to rely on natural shadows especially for 1:35 scale so most modellers typically enhance it to make it look more realistic. If not, it tends to look rather flat as the colour is somewhat uniform throughout the whole model.

My latest build had a wash done to it but instead of using black like most modellers use on OD coloured type vehicles, i used burnt umber (dark brown) and then dry brushed over it to blend it in. I placed it in places like the wheels to enhance the bolts and even the door frame.

Try it out on your next build, i fully recommend it.

Hi Jazza,
Well well, love your humvee there and it so happens that I have one in my stash. But, I do see your point from your pix! Trust that I will try that out in my next desert build.

Cheers!