This was a Christmas present I have been working on over the past few weeks.
There are a few reasons I like this kit.
The first is the car has the classic F1 shape that has been lost over the years as aerodynamics technology has moved forward.
The other main reason is the style. I like racing green and this kit reminds me of the recent all green Caterham F1 cars.
Lastly the year this car ran Team Lotus were sponsored by Tamiya which I thought was quite cool since it is a Tamiya kit.
As I mentioned in my previous post. The air filter is something special on this model. It is in fact hidden within the drivers helmet.
I soaked the filter sponge in filter oil before screwing it into the helmet structure. Decals were then applied to the helmet to give it the detail shown in the photos.
Who would of though Mark Webbers head would become an air filter?
Work has started on the World of Tanks Ferdinand kit.
I started by working on the main chassis and getting the hull together. The suspension took a little while to make as it is each of the 6 parts are comprised of several small parts. After adding these I filed and built the gun.
I gave the gun a coat of dunkelgelb to ensure that the whole of the ball of the gun is painted in the base coat. This will prevent unpainted spots appearing when the gun is moved.
Before fitting the gun into the turret I primed the hull so that I didn’t need to mask the gun up.
I intend to paint a camouflages scheme on the tank destroyer using dunkelgelb as the base coat with green and brown areas.
In this session I have added the exhaust to the gx-21 engine for my RB7. Its immediately noticeable that the exhaust set-up is very different to on a standard nitro car.
It has a compact exhaust system that goes straight out of the back of the chassis rather then the common side pipe method. This adds to the scale realism because it means it will all be tucked away neatly under the body shell.
The engine is mounted and gears meshed.
I have also added the receiver battery case and on/off switch at this stage.
Next up will be the air filter which may sound boring but this ones special.
I am a keen player of World of Tanks, so when I discovered that there were WOT kits available I decided to investigate.
At first I thought these would just be re-branded releases of standard Italeri kits but you do get some nice WOT tanks extras.
The main bonus is the inclusion of a code which will get you a special event premium tank in the game itself. Special events vehicles can not brought and are hard to get hold of. The vehicle that come with the Ferdinand is the 105 leFH18B2 Self propelled gun (shown below).
As this is a premium vehicle it gets more credits, experience and crew experience than standard tanks you can get in game. It is the first of two SPG’s in the game. I have used thi vehicle several times in the game and am having great fun with it. It was actually the deciding factor in my purchase.
The kit also comes with a semi colour instruction book where the example camouflage scenes are in colour. These match some of the schemes you can purchase for German armour in game. There is also a decal sheet of some of the insignias from the game, this comes with both allied and axis decals despite the fact that it is a German tank destroyer.
Lastly you get a mini guide showing you the weak points of the world of tanks armour available in kit form.
(There is also a bottle of glue provided)
This section of build brings the engine closer to completion.
Here I have added the flywheel and clutch to the engine. The engine now has clutch bell with gear enabling it to mesh the the main gear on the chassis.
Below are some photos of what the engine will look like when its attached to the chassis.
In the next collection of parts I will get the exhaust and manifold, enabling me to fit the engine onto the chassis.
I have finished working on the body of the Hummer H1 model. There are a few spots to touch up with paint but aside from that it is complete.
On the front of the vehicle I have added the logos, windscreen wipers and lights above the windscreen.
One of the most noticeable additions is that I have added the tinted window panels.
These really enhance the look of the model. Some of these panels will need to be removed however when running the car in order to provide adequate cooling for the engine.
On the rear of the vehicle I have added the indicators, small rear lights, number plate and plug socket.
The aerial, side indicators and Hummer logo have also been attached at this stage.
Adding the lights really enhanced the look of the model and I am very pleased with how they come out using clear red/orange paint.
Now all that is left for this model is the engine, exhaust and radio equipment.
The body is almost complete on my Hummer H1.
As the body will be complete in with the next delivery of parts I will keep this short and take some decent photos with of the finished model.
In this session I have added some of the small details to the body such as the fuel caps and tow hooks.
I have also painted the light buckets / lenses and added these to the body. There are also side lights and small lights to add to the front and back of the vehicle that are painted but have not yet been added.
In this section of the Red Bull build I have almost finished building the engine, its nearly ready to be fitted to the chassis.
The final tyre has also been added to the car. This is great because I finally have all four wheels on the model but annoying because it has now out grown its old living space.
With this 1:7 model and the 1:8 Hummer I am building its getting hard to find space to store these models.
Last year at Tank Fest I purchased the Flames of War Open Fire Starter box.
For those who don’t know, flames of war is like a real war (mainly ww2) table top game like Warhammer.
Even if I never play the actual game I thought it would be nice to make the models in it.
I have recently built the Stug G tanks from the set as well as a Wittmans Tiger Tank I found on eBay. The Tiger kit was new and good fun to build. It has a resin hull with any additional parts to add being metal.
Here I have started the process of painting the models by giving them a coat of grey primer.
I then airbrushed the base coat for the models using lifecolor RAL 7028 DunkelGelb.
Yes DunkelGelb is that infamous colour of German armour that people will argue about till the end of time. Being basically dark yellow in German I guess its open to a lot of interpretation. I have used a variety of different shades of dark yellow on German Armour and find lifecolor’s one to be the best.
Shane's Shed 