brunnels

Howdy, welcome to the forum.

Browsing that site for M3A1 parts, I am amazed by how much stuff there is available for plastic kits nowadays. I will have to do some research on how to tell early vs late models.

I haven't built a plastic model kit in 25 years, so this build log will start off as a bit slow as I will be doing some research on new techniques and tools used in plastic scale modelling, and also doing some research on the M3A1. My grandfather served in the US Army during the Second World War with the 86th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop who were attached to the 6th Armored division. When I was youngster in the 90's, he would often pick me up and take me to museums which really kick started my life long interest in military history. He never talked much about his time in the war, so I never really new much about his time in the service other than he served as a radio operator in a light armored vehicle, but I never knew what kind of vehicle that was. Recently we were cleaning my late grandmothers house out and we came across some photos from the War, one of the photos was a very small photo of him next to an M3A1. I decided instantly that I was going to have to build a scale model of the M3A1. Photo of my grandfather I did a little research and the consensus online seemed to be that the Tamiya kit was hard to beat. I also ordered a Vallejo US Army paint kit as I don't have many paints for this era. I also have on order a Photo Etch detail set made by Passion Models, and a book on the M3A1 to use as a reference. I will probably look for either a US Armor decal or stencil kit, as the Tamiya kit has mainly Soviet decals with a few US Army Italian campaign decals which might work with a little cutting. Also not sure if I should purchase an airbrush, I don't use one on my ship modelling, but I remember back in my scale model plane days that it was a great tool to have.

I watched the new 4K release of Master and Commander last night, now these images..... The wait for release is getting tough to bear lol.

I love seeing stuff like this, thank you for sharing.

Howdy all, recently I have been thinking a 3d Resin printer would be a fun hobby and tool that would benefit ship model building. I have some experience in 3d printing about 10 years ago I had a Crealty 3d Printer, but it was a more traditional 3d printer with the spools of material. I eventually gave it up do to time and that printer had several issues that I could never quite work out. I know printers have come a long way since then, and the Resin printers have really impressed me. I do have a few newbie questions regarding the Resin printers. I will mainly be printing smallish stuff to compliment our models (blocks, cannons, decorations, small figures) stuff like that. 1. Can I get a decent hobby setup for under $500? 2. Do the resin printers give off any toxic fumes? I have a 4 month old daughter, so this is a big concern of mine. 3. If I can't keep the printer indoors, I will put it on my workbench in the garage. In Oklahoma temperatures can easily reach greater than 100F/38c in summers with plenty of humidity, and below freezing in the winters. Would the printer have any issues being used in my garage in these temperatures?

I really like the method that @tedrobinson2000 used with modeling clay. It looks much better at scale than any result I was able to achieve using cloth, and they are pretty easy to make.

Fantastic job, what blue are you using? I really like the shade of it.

I was scratching my head on those as well, I ended up tying them around the bitt in front of the main mast.

Fantastic build, one day I can hopefully do half as good on that kit.

Is a long narrow hull like this easier or harder to plank in your experience so far?

I'm currently building the Vanguard Speedy kit and its a great kit, instructions are very good and the materials are fantastic. I have the Syren kit in my stash, the instructions look really good and I could probably learn a lot by just reading through them, but I was somewhat let down by the quality of materials in the kit.

I am very impressed with your wood color painting, that is a skill I still have yet to grasp.

I'm going to have to remember this technique, sounds much easier than using the nails.

Looks great, I wish I had done the same with my Beagle, I'm not a fan of that top layer of super thin planking that Occre likes to use in their kits.

I had to add a little filler to mine.

I can see how that would be a pain to work with, especially the cutaway side, but your end result looks very nice.

Over the weekend I was able to finish off the running rigging, and start attaching all the external pieces that were prone to be knocked off during rigging such as the anchors, lanterns, port lids, Captain figure, ships boats etc. Captain Figure This is the first miniature figure I have ever painted, while I have modeled off an on since I was a child, my model subjects were always vehicles. This was a first for me and I enjoyed it a bit more than I expected I would, while it isn't something I want to do a ton of, I do feel more comfortable painting figures in the future. The only tip I had received beforehand about painting mini figs, was to paint them in the order that they would be dressed. So I did a flat flesh for the skin tone, I then painted the socks and pants in Vallejo Off White, then the jacket in Prussian Blue with Ochre Brown trim, then the hat and shoes in grey black. I then went over the pants with a light wash. I basically have little clue if this is the best way to paint these, but I am happy with the result for my first time. Once the model was complete I cut away the base and slowly sanded away the remainder until the fleet were flat enough to be glued to the deck. Completed Model!!! My Second ship kit the Sphinx is 99% complete, the 1% left to do is rope coils but I probably won't get to those immediately as we are having a our first child, a little girl, at the end of April, plus I could use a change of subject from the Sphinx. Here are some photos of the 99% complete ship, I may try to setup a light booth to get some more professional looking photos as I think it deserves it after a year of work. I decided to only lash down the middle boat so I can display more of the gun deck if I wanted in the future. Overall I am very happy with my model, it turned out much better than I was expecting mainly due to Vanguard just making an excellent kit that goes together so smoothly, plus it really helps when you have excellent database of knowledge on this site and excellent build logs to copy from such as @Blue Ensign, @hollowneck, @Moonbug's Pegasus and numerous others which I have taken Ideas from. There are a few sore spots like the decorations above the Quarter galleys roof that I goofed up, but maybe one day I will have the means to make something to replace that parts. Thank you to everyone who helped and followed along the way. The Sphinx was a fantastic model kit and I highly recommend Vanguard models to anyone looking for a kit. My next kit will be to squeeze in the Speedy 2023 version before the Surprise kit releases, but I am undecided if there will be a build log or not with the baby coming, plus I'm not sure I can really offer much other Speedy log's haven't already covered.

Yes, this is the thread.

Small update, I have been working hard on the running rigging and should be able to complete the rigging by the end of the week. I took a few breaks in the rigging to check a few more tasks off of my build list. Quarter Deck Cable port lids - Not sure the correct term for these, they are the openings right in front of the Quarter deck companionway intended to run cables up to the capstan. The kit does not offer anything to cover these up, and I felt the openings just looked off, so I fashioned up a couple quick easy lids out of some spare wood. Nothing special but they satisfied the captain. Hammock Crane netting- I was at the point in the rigging where I needed to put the netting in the hammock cranes at the waist. I am using some tannish color toule for the netting. When I put the netting in on the Quarter deck rail, I used on piece length wise and it was super fiddely and frustrating to work with the netting just caught on everything. This time i followed what @hollowneck did on his Camilla, and cut the toule into smaller vertical strips, I found about 25mm wide is just about perfect. I start by attaching one end of the net to the inboard crane rope. I experimented with several types of glue, but CA glue ended up being the winner as I needed something that set really quick. I go down the line attaching all the pieces before moving to the next step. Once all the pieces are glued on the inboard rope I then brush Matt Acrylic (Vallejo) over the netting where it meets the deck, this will secure the bottom of the netting, this makes the netting hold place securely while I lift up the other end for gluing on the next step. Next I add the outboard rope to the hammock cranes, and then glue the other end of the netting to the outboard rope again using CA glue. Lastly I trim the tops of the netting with some cuticle clippers and the netting is finished. As you can see in my very top photos I also decided to redo the netting and remove the hammocks from the quarter deck hammock cranes. My initial plan was to outfit the Sphinx's hammock rails with hammocks, but after I finished the waist netting I experimented with hammocks and realized they almost completely blocked what little view of the gun deck I had visible underneath the ships boats. I slept on it, and the next day decided on going with no hammocks as I didn't want to hide the gundeck, I also decided to remove the QD hammocks and also redo the netting as I wasn't completely happy with my first attempt.

One of the first things I noticed, I really like the new design. Do you know what ships boats will come with the kit yet? Also do you plan on using photo etch or 3d print for the toasted cheese?

Fantastic result, your rope coils look really good. I like the cannons on the quarter deck, I have been tinkering around with the idea of adding a couple myself just to give some to look at since most will be covered with the boats.

Looking great, I also had to fix a few broken feet on my deck beams, they are much more fragile than they look.

I don't know if you all have Hobby Lobby's down there in SE Texas, but I was in my local Hobby Lobby and they had a pretty good assortment of basswood blocks that I thought would be perfect sizes for filler blocks.

I just want to clarify my post, I wasn't trying to make any assumptions that you all were ripping anyone off. I just felt that at the current price it might turn some prospective buyers away, and shipping prices can vary greatly depending on who you ship through.