Scammell Pioneer R100 Artillery Tractor by Captain Slog - Thunder Models - 1/35

[Captain Slog]

Welcome to the start of my build of Thunder Models Scammell Pioneer R100 Artillery Tractor in 1/35^th scale.

 

 

 

This is primarily a YouTube build series.

 

The kit review can be found here;

 

 

The 1^st part is the assembly and painting of the engine;

 

 

 

A couple of photos of the completed engine minus weathering.  I’ll go back and weather/grime up the engine at a later time.

 

 

 

 

Although this build may be in the Shore leave section of the forum it is my log so please keep comments restricted to the kit or modelling in general.

 

Cheers

Slog

[Egilman]

3 hours ago, Captain Slog said:

Although this build may be in the Shore leave section of the forum it is my log so please keep comments restricted to the kit or modelling in general.

Welcome to shore leave my friend, and we will try to stay on topic, does a side trip down history lane count? We have been known to wander a bit discussing the object being modeled... {chuckle} but we do honor all requests to stay on topic, (most of the time) just a bunch of good ol' boys, meanin' no harm.....

 

I'll be pullin' up an easy chair for this one...

 

EG

[Edwardkenway]

Sitting quietly at the back, nice start on the engine!

[Canute]

Cap'n, I'm in, too. I'll try to stay on topic, too. But sometimes, we might take off and wander. The engine is looking super. Can't wait for more.

[Old Collingwood]

A great looking build  - so few good quality  kits of these subjects  - same with tank transporters.

 

OC.

[popeye the sailor]

nice start.....I'm in too  

[Baker]

me too

[Captain Slog]

Thanks everyone for the likes and comments.

 

Part 2 done for the gearbox.

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Slog

 

[Captain Slog]

Hi, thanks for all the likes.

 

Part 3 covering the front suspension is now up on YouTube.  Small modification to the steering done to allow the front wheels to be poseable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Currently working on the front suspension chassis mounting, the chassis and the winch gear.

 

Cheers

Slog

 

[Captain Slog]

Hi,

 

Part 4 is now up covering the chassis and winch gear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hopefully next part will see some colour coats going on.

 

Cheers

Slog

 

[Captain Slog]

Hi all,

 

Part 5 is now up, where I used SMS lacquer paints for the 1^st time.

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Slog

[Captain Slog]

Hi all,

 

Part 6 is now up on YouTube covering the assembly and painting of the rear suspension and drive.

 

Apart from the wheels, which I am working on now, the underside is now complete. I really need to start weathering so I can assemble all the components onto the chassis...but will probably start on the upper sections.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Slog

 

 

 

 

[Captain Slog]

Hi all, thanks for the likes.

 

Part 7 covering the wheels is now up on YouTube.

 

The wheels were primed with the usual black Mr Finishing Surfacer 1500 and the tyres painted with Tamiya Rubber Black.

 

I only had 18mm Tamiya tape so needed 2 strips with the centre hole cut out with a cheapo circle cutter;

 

 

 

The completed wheels using SMS lacquer paints;

 

 

 

I have been putting off weathering the completed assemblies to date including the wheels as trials with generic office supply brushes wasn't giving me the desired effects so now my order  has arrived I am hoping to weather and assemble the chassis, engine running gear etc during the holidays.

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Slog

 

 

[Captain Slog]

Hi All,

 

Part 8 is up on YouTube covering the initial assembly, painting and weathering of the cab.  To keep the videos to a reasonable time, although at 50 minutes it is still too long, I will need to cover the cab in 2 or so parts.

 

The first picture shows a partially assembled cab with pedals and assemblies fixed to the firewall, the rear bulkhead, levers and seating all cleaned up ready for prime.

 

 

 

The cab and rear firewall primed ready for paint and chipping.  The wood floor was done by first painting with Tamiya Deck Tan and then treated with artist oils to try and replicate the grain. (The photo has blown out the wood, as much darker to the eye).

 

Where I wanted to apply chipping to the ‘metal work’ I used Ammo by Mig acrylic ‘old rust’

 

 

 

After reading the label on Ammo’s chipping fluid I thought I had better try it on my ‘test cube’ first as the label said “after applying the fluid paint with acrylics” or words to that affect. My top colour coats are lacquer.

 

3 light coats of chipping fluid were applied and once dried which only took as long as flushing it out the airbrush I applied 2 coats of lacquer.

I waited just 5 minutes after spraying the lacquer and scrubbing pretty hard with a toothbrush had no effect on the paint! (lacquers are very tough!)  I had to scratch the top coat with a needle, which then allowed the water to get to the underlying chipping fluid to activate it. Once it started chipping it was okay and pretty controllable.

 

 

 

So with an idea of coats and timings it was on to the cab.

 

The finished result as covered in the video.  The thoughts were to wear and chip the paint where most foot traffic occurred such as the door entries but not under seats and where feet have rubbed and chipped the paint off the metal surfaces and polished in places with constant boot contact.

The ‘metal’ areas such as edges and corners were polished using Ammo’s Polished Metal pigment.  After the video I gave the cab a quick wash with black artist oils and still need to work it a bit.

 

I will at some stage hit it with dust and dirt pigments but need to finish the other parts first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Slog

[Captain Slog]

Hi All,

 

A bit more progress on the cab and close to finishing, leaving only the side panels to fix and final interior weathering.

 

A couple of photos of the interior fit out including four levers, the drivers seat and passengers seat.  The colour call out asked for Ammo’s Red Leather but just used Tamiya’s Hull Red as had it on hand. The photo doesn’t show it but the seats are a bit more red and a bit brighter.

 

The gear lever gate was a nice photo etch part and the holes down the side had raised edges like they were punched out the same as the real part.  According to what I have seen in real videos, I have placed the gear lever in the neutral position.

 

 

 

 

The rear bulkhead with the back rests attached and yet another lever coming through. This one will be linked to the winch.  Chipping done on the entry to the crew cab area.

 

 

 

A couple of photos showing the cab sitting on the chassis.  The box art is deceiving as this vehicle is a lot more stubby than the artwork suggests.

 

 

 

 

Just the side panels to do to finish this stage of the cab.  The brake lever (yet another lever!) and the steering wheel/column isn’t fitted until the cab is fixed to the chassis as they themselves are fed through the front and rear of the cab to be fitted to the chassis.

 

Oh, almost forgot the dashboard, this is supplied in a couple of pieces of photo etch however the gauge decals were missing from my kit. I have emailed their replacement part contact address but not holding out much hope as this was a good while back and didn't get a response. Kinda hoping they just appear in the mail but not an issue as pretty simple gauges so will come up with something. 

 

Cheers

Slog

[ccoyle]

Very convincing paint chipping!

[Captain Slog]

Hi All,

 

Thanks for the likes. A bit more progress.

 

Part 9 is up on YouTube showing weathering the interior of the drivers cab using pigments. (Home made using pastels).

 

 

 

The engine, running gear, winch etc have all been permanently fixed to the chassis, as shown in the following 2 photos.  I will do overall weathering of this assembly prior to fitting any other components to it such as cab.

 

 

 

 

The crew cab and cargo bed has been fully assembled and will prime, paint and weather as per the front cab.

 

 

 

 

Of course, I just had to do a dry fit of the chassis, cab and cargo area to get an overall feel for it.  Unfortunately, the wheels don’t allow a temp fit as these would have been fitted also lol.

 

 

 

 

The next video will be of painting and weathering the cargo area.

 

Cheers

Slog

 

[Old Collingwood]

Really nice build  - so lifelike  - amazing what detail  can be put into these  builds.

 

OC.

[popeye the sailor]

super job so far.......your paint work is spot on!

[Captain Slog]

Hi All,

 

Part 10 is up on YouTube covering the assembly, painting and weathering of the cargo bed.

 

 

 

 

The old adage of less is more went out the window and I went to town with pigments, washes and chipping. Lol

 

But this build is a learning curve to try out new (to me) products and techniques so all good.  As mentioned in the video the exterior is unpainted and/or unweathered until I can get it mounted permanently on the chassis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again couldn’t resist dry fitting to the chassis. By lifting the chassis higher I could hang the wheels on the hubs for effect.

 

 

 

 

This is the last of the major components apart from the full length canopy and now just need to concentrate on the remaining bits and pieces and overall weathering.

 

Cheers

Slog

[Old Collingwood]

Excellent work  - fantastic  weathering.

 

OC.

[Roger Pellett]

A very nice job!

 

I looked on the kit box and on your previous posts and could not find the date, the real thing, not the model.  I assume WWII?

 

Roger

[mtaylor]

The weathering you're doing is excellent and the vehicle certainly now has a "well-used" look.

[Captain Slog]

Thanks for the nice comments guys, appreciated.

 

The Pioneer was first produced in 1927.  The R100 variant, which this is model is of was introduced to the British army in 1935 to serve as their heavy artillery tractor.  The recovery variant (SV1S & SV1T) in 1936 and the tank transporter (TRCU20) in 1937. (from Wikipedia).

 

Thunder Models have released all 3 versions.

 

Cheers

Slog 

[Canute]

Great looking weathering on the truck bed. Looks real. 👍

[Captain Slog]

Hi,

 

Part 11 is now up. This is a relatively light one covering only the radiator and the fuel tank.  The exhaust, originally going to be included, is missing from the video as explained below.

 

 

The radiator was pretty straight forward other than the filler/cap is attached to a block which fits into a large cut out in the header tank and the fit is very poor requiring a lot of filling and shaping.

 

Weathering wise only the radiator got some pigments. The header and surround left at base colour stage until fitting, which I am holding off until I can fit the bonnet which needs the drivers cab fitted.

 

 

 

The fuel tank has fit problems also with the filler neck which required lots of filling and sanding also.  I really wanted to try a lot of things with this, some successful, some less so.  It received both sponge and brush chipping, pigments (polished again!) streaking grime (need to improve here and will likely do again once fitted and can do a unifying all over weather) and some fuel staining which was hit or miss.

 

 

 

Now on to the exhaust, I actually filmed this but when I was done I just wasn't happy with it enough to include in the video.  I tried to emulate one of Night Shift exhaust weathering methods and I feel failed miserably.  This style was to use grey and white to show heat affected pipe work.   I ended up trying to recover it by throwing on some rust pigments but that's not what I wanted.

 

Of course Night Shift is a master at what he does and has his particular style so I can't be expected to pull it off first time trying.  I know where I failed and will either strip it back and try again or try a different technique.

 

Oh, the exhaust pipe isn't fixed to the muffler yet until time to fix to exhaust manifold and chassis.

 

  

 

Probably only got 2 or 3 videos to finish it off now.

 

Cheers

Slog

[Captain Slog]

Hi All,

 

Relatively short update this week.

 

The kit provides photo etch for the large cargo basket, which is attached to the chassis under the drivers cab.

 

The video touches on how I work with photo etch and, in this case, soldering it up.  I am used to soldering small 0.2mm brass wire but nothing as large as this and tried new to me flux and low melting point (179 degrees Celsius) solder. Back side photo etch could have been fitted better as a gap, but won’t be seen so all good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Slog

[wefalck]

I have not done any military modelling since my early 20s back in the mid-1970s, but I do recognise and appreciate a good paint-job 👍  Techniques have come a long way since, when 'dry-brushing' was all the rage among modellers.

 

I always wondered, whether all these speciality products are really worth the money ?  In many cases they just seem to be diluted paints or specially packaged and labelled pastels. 

 

I didn't have the time to sit through the videos - how did you the excellent wood effect, what paints (I don't mean brands) did you use for it ?

[Captain Slog]

Thanks for the comment, Welfack.  I’m in a similar boat with this being my second attempt at “modern” plastic modelling for want of a better term. A F-8 Crusader, my first, was done a couple years ago. Then close to 4 decades before that!

 

I think they are worth the money from a convenience point of view and for consistency but as you say just repackaged existing products modified for the purpose. Although there are a couple I am not sure what they would be.

 

The wood effect was just a base colour; in this case deck tan as that’s what I had on the shelf. I think starting with a lighter colour is better than say a brown as the effects are more visible and the overall tone darkens with the oils.

The ‘grain’ is a couple of different oil colours. I tried placing dots of oils and trying to blend but the better effect was to paint ‘grain’ streaks with the oils and then use the thinners to work and soften/blend the edges. That’s it.

The ‘wood’ areas of this kit does have a moulded grain (over scale) which worked in my favour as the oils can go into the moulded grooves to help the overall effect.

There are other methods using acrylics but for me more difficult trying to blend and short working time of these as well as can’t go back and rework once dry like you can do with oils.

 

Cheers

Slog