@Jakko i think I’m going to use zimmerit color for this one. I do believe i have a khaki green as well so maybe the zimmerit color will be a highlight feature.
Also you are spot on with what does it look like not what is it. I will say that army manuals now do a good job of showing operator level tasks and identifying what a part looks like. This could be chalked up to that generation being more technically inclined.
I have no idea what colour the MIG Zimmerit paint is But I do have Mike Starmer’s books on British colours, and for khaki green No. 3 he recommends 5 parts Humbrol 155 olive drab plus one part Humbrol 10 service brown; the colour sample (real paint) for KG3 is clearly more brown than the sample for SCC 15, even when I looked at it in poor light just now.
Or, if you’re more cynical, to US Army manuals since at least the 1970s, when they switched to line art instead of airbrushed photographs, being written on the assumption that the reader is stupid They spell out everything, even the things that anyone intelligent enough to tie his own shoelaces would do anyway without being told to …
(My favourite, from the TM for the M151 MUTT: “Problem: Windscreen wipers don’t work. Solution: Turn switch to ‘on’ position. If trouble persists, report to unit maintenance.”)
@Jakko the zimmerit color is almost a khaki color but I’d say a bit darker
Haven’t seen that manual but to be honest it doesn’t surprise me. That is the first part of anything usually, did you try turning it on?
Another quick update. Began working on the upper hull tonight. Got the crew hatches done and place that portion onto the lower hull. Next up is the machine gun mounts and front armor. Hoping to have an 80-90% solution by Sunday night.
That sounds too brown to me, but like I said, I haven’t seen the actual paint. I do know I’m not impressed by MIG’s colours for the SCC 2 and SCC 15 they sell.
But it leads to the philosophical problem of: How do you know the wipers don’t work if you didn’t turn the switch to the “on” position? Or: How stupid do you think soldiers really are if you assume they think the wipers will work without turning the switch? (I mean, it’s not like they would have been used to cars with rain sensors.)
@Jakko might be good to use a shadow color then.
Also, 100% could probably get these new kids to go ask for blinker fluid for the humvee lights .
After some free time this weekend i was able to get most of the lower hull done. Have a few more details to place and on to the turret. Hoping by Tuesday night to have a 100% solution so i can go into painting and diorama construction.
These past two days i spent working on the tracks. Over all it took roughly 2.5 hours to get the tracks down and i dropped a few choice words during the entire process. I noticed that i will need to add some putty to this and fill some gaps. The kit overall isn’t bad but there was a minor fit issue with the bottom hull and it can throw off the entire kit if it’s not remedied.
Traditional i build tracks separately and give paint them on their own. This build they will be kept attached during the painting process. It helps that these done have a ton of exposure other then the tops and bottom and are far easier to run a brush over.
Okay guys i feel like im at a spot where i can start laying out this diorama. Only question is how, im stuck with two options. I forsure want to have a resin pour showing part of the water. I’m stuck between a wide view which would be able to show more water and a narrow view which would probably give me more depth of the beach.
Wide view
Narrow view
If this is the base you’re going to use, then IMHO it’s too narrow for the second option, because the tank overhangs it on both sides. OTOH, if this is only to show what you mean and you intend to use a slightly wider base, then I think the second option will look better.
@jakko no i intend to use this base, i think narrower will give it more depth. It’ll have a slight incline to it. I’m thinking blue water but not so blue you can’t see through it.
I’m not sure what colour the sea is when you’re on the beach at Dieppe, but going by photos, it appears to be blue-greenish. FWIW, the North Sea where I live is more like a blueish grey-green, I suspect it will be a bit bluer at Dieppe because it’s on the English Channel rather than the North Sea, which puts it closer to the Atlantic Ocean and away from the silt that mucks up the North Sea (with thanks to the fishing industry, BTW).
@Jakko i could probably do no coloring as well depending on how close to shore this looks. Which doesn’t hurt my plans to much as i still have some water effects from AK interactive inbound. Can still show some sea foam and light ripples hitting the beach.
Hull is complete turret is just about finished. Next up will be cutting some white paper and turning it into tape by soaking it in water down Elmer’s glue. Then I’ll apply a base coat. While all that’s drying I’ll begin building out the diorama base. I think I’m going to also try and add a screw to under the tank to tighten it to the base. May need to make a Lowe’s hardware store run if i can’t find a good nut and bolt with washer in my tool kit.
I’d also say Dieppe seawater’s at best a murky grey-green or green-grey, zero blue. Also, the point of your diorama’s what’s happened on land so I’d suggest minimise the water – besides I’d imagine water’s trickier to do with breaking surf/foam than the beach.
@Dioramartin that is true, it’s not a huge part but it’s a practice rep for a future diorama. I thought i could incorporate it as a test run and add some depth to the diorama. Especially with a half submerged vent from the amphibious kit.
A quick google for Dieppe gives me this pic:
As you see the color of the water varies the closer you get to the beach. I don’t know the weather conditions at the time (or of the days leading up to the landings), but that certainly would have influenced the color too.
If the sea at Dieppe is anything like the southern North Sea, then it’s probably a good idea to add some colour. If you go knee-deep into the sea around where I live, you already can’t see your own feet anymore. (Granted, this is on a sandy beach rather than pebbles, which probably affects the amount of particles in the water, and thus, visibility.)
@golikell thats a great picture and shows the varying colors at lengths out.
@Jakko that is true, i need to see how much area i have left before i get to crazy with the coloring. I have some ideas of how im going to attack this portion.
There is a photo book that covers the Dieppe Churchill tanks only and I think it was Peko who have have released it. Either way it would help you greatly with this project.