Thanks all 
Yes. I was for that very dark vietnam era olive drab. I mixed it myself. Turned out cool
That’s a very nice build.
The rubber mats in the rear are a nice touch. I know they didn’t come with the Black Dog set. Where did you get them? I never have been able to find a suitable substitute that I was happy with.
I like that you made that mold for extra projos. Depending on the RTV you used, you can even cast them in white metal. The molds will hold up quite well to the heat and you don’t have to fiddle with mixing resin.
I don’t seem to remember that from my days chiefing A5’s. The spades just made for getting the pantel back on the collimator more quickly if you wanted to do a more “precision” shoot, remembering that it is still an area weapon. Obviously the more the gun was locked into position the less the piece moved. But for missions of any charge where dispersal was actually desired, they weren’t necessary as we didn’t reverify for every round. As long as the piece was “close” and still within the Safety T we were fine.
Not dissimilar to when I used to fire Soviet mortars, we’d fire off several rounds after the initial lay just to sink that baseplate so there was less re-leveling on subsequent shots.
These days with the systems in place on the A7 the gun pretty much “knows” how to get back on the proper quadrant elevation and deflection. It shoots the same if not larger charges as the M109 but doesn’t even come equipped with spades any more - they’re totally unnecessary.
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Awesome build, and the interior is packed beautifully. That Nam dusting is spot on. Looking forward to the figures.
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Thanks all
For the rubber mats i used pieces of a kind of grinding net. Cut to size and painted black.
To cast white metal is a great idea. I may check this out.
Thanks mate
Finally started on the figures.
This is the first one of the crew and one out of 2 which will bearly be visible once the turret roof is fitted.
6 Likes
Nice. The figure looks good.
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Thanks
Figure painting is always a lot try and error for me 
Especially painting large areas of flesh.
First time for me i did this and there are 3 shirtless guys 
We’ll see…
Those figures look great. Very nice job. Figures can be torture lol
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Figures look amazing and the Dio is coming along really nice.
I have a couple of points for improvement.
1/ The elevation control should be closer to the trunions
2/ no elevation quadrant?
3/ the bench would be down during a fire mission, so the #3 doesn’t trip over it as the cab is traversed.
Lastly the barrel should be almost level to reload the Howitzer.
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Thanks
I know about all the thinks you pointed out ( don’t tell anyone 
) but i won’t change anything. It’s too late
I can live with it
Cheers
Finished the crew
I will dust them in a bit once they are glued on to the base…
Next to do is a lot of ammo
Thanks for watching
10 Likes
If you can find it id recommend Citadels layer “skullcrusher brass”. I’ve been very happy with their metallic paints. Ive found Tamiya,'s coverage poor on their metallics when brush painting and Vallejo’s metallics for the most part have so so coverage.
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Thanks will check them out
Ammo done 
All of the crew done✔
(including the dude, who is gonna be awake soon… )
Next up is a cable from the radio and antenna.
Also some more details and a bit garbage to add
Cheers
12 Likes
Stunning work, and a lot of it. Outstanding detailing and remarkable weathering. Really excellent flesh tones on the figures. The whole thing is perfectly set.
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Well done, nice pictures and a lot to see👍
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Great job. It came out looking awesome.
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