M6 Gun Motor Carriage WC-55 2025-06

[BarleyBop]

outward

Yup, initially I thought I'd need a bit of springyness to keep the gun in place. Slightly narrowing the gun might be one option...

 

[Jakko]

Better to drill holes through the mount as well as the gun and fix it in place with a piece of brass or plastic rod, IMHO.

 

[BarleyBop]

Agreed, you know how it goes: the higher the number of tricky bits you get done, the higher the level of inertia you need to overcome to do more!

 

[BarleyBop]

Holes drilled, pin inserted in gun...



Assembled with carved sprue pistol grip and two sizes of carriage bolt heads:

 

[Jakko]

Much improved

 

[Edbert]

If you're looking for constructive criticism, I think the wood grain is too large and distracts from the beauty of the other bits. If not, just say he word if you want me to shut up.

Can you fill in some of it with putty/glue? I'd suggest making the ammo box out of evergreen and paint the woodgrain on. I've found that to be surprisingly easy to pull off with a base brown of acrylic and some very thin streaking of oil paints (sienna and umber) to simulate the grain.

 

[BarleyBop]

wood grain

To your point, it still needs light sanding, priming and painting.

I have to say that I am discovering that a large part of my enjoyment of this hobby is working with different materials, trying different techniques, and lateral explorations of the historical aspects of the subject matter. I was delighted to find out that they were indeed made of wood, and holdovers from WW1.
So ya, for me, the experience of the build is as at least as important (if not more) than the final product... after all, that is why I love the process and the art so much!

 

[BarleyBop]

A few hours today, painting mostly, OD on undercarriage and areas 'where the sun don't shine. The rest will be painted in a faded OD, with some shading and highlights.
Some wear on the seats.
Will have to put dash decals on before assembly.

 

[kevin]

Looking good

 

[Rimmer]

Just catching up with this build - all I can say is WOW. love the MG and its mount.

As one who brushes paint to another. That OD looks superb. What paints did you use? So far I've only rattle canned my WWII US OD, but it would be nice to have a go at brushing one.

 

[BarleyBop]

What paints

as mentioned above, using OD for under carriage and places in shadows, will be using faded OD everywhere else (not done yet).
I used a similar combo on my earlier WC52.
This time, I was out of my Aqueous 1000 black primer, so I used a MR. Color #12 OD to prime.
I will work some drybrushing of the darker and lighter OD for subtle blending, with a dark panel liner for details and then a lightened up faded OD for surface highlights.
Then bite the bullet and slather their DIY mud camo as in the Tunisia photos...

 

[Rimmer]

Thanks for that - much appreciated!

 

[locomotive]

as mentioned above, using OD for under carriage and places in shadows, will be using faded OD everywhere else (not done yet).
I used a similar combo on my earlier WC52.
This time, I was out of my Aqueous 1000 black primer, so I used a MR. Color #12 OD to prime.
I will work some drybrushing of the darker and lighter OD for subtle blending, with a dark panel liner for details and then a lightened up faded OD for surface highlights.
Then bite the bullet and slather their DIY mud camo as in the Tunisia photos...

View attachment 151472

Feckin' awesome!

 

[BarleyBop]

Woohoo! back on the bench!

With Pavesi driver figure being subjected to protracted torture by oil, and the Mini still sulking in a corner time out for a less than acceptable complexion, might as well move the ball on this one.
Have some dash decals and detailing to do before assembly, but the bed can be put on... needing a bit of coaxing, but done.


Unfortunately (did I say unfortunately?), I mean looking forward with anticipation to family get-togethers over the upcoming long weekend, so it might be next Monday night before I make any more progress... on any of my current projects.

Possibly in the next couple of days... but given that the preparation required is directly proportional to the number of people to be entertained, we'll see...

 

[BarleyBop]

So I placed the dash dials decals from the kit. Looking at them before final placement, nope, they're not doing it for me.



Then I remember my Archer dry transfers - US gauges and interior stencils:



... but what goes where? A question I have asked before, for another vehicle.
With an offering to the Google of Delphi, pdf please, I find a operator's manual, with this:



Sometimes I feel like the research is as fun as the build!

and from my reference pics

 

[Jakko]

For American vehicles, trying to find a technical manual is usually a good way to research details like this. Anything the crew actually has to operate or service will be explained and often shown in it.

 

[BarleyBop]

Some work drilling out and adding 'rivets on a stem' as pull knobs for the dash...

 

[kevin]

Nice work.
Did you repurpose those "rivets" or fabricate them?

 

[BarleyBop]

Will have to sand the ends to round them off a bit, but styrene extensions should do the trick for dash lights. Tomorrow... tonight I have to get some shut eye after what sounded like a herd if raccoons ran across the carport roof that connects to the wall at the head of my bed... at 4 am... after which I couldn't sleep.

 

[BarleyBop]

Nice work.
Did you repurpose those "rivets" or fabricate them?

I have a stock of different sized rivets for this purpose, and as actual rivets...haha... at the LHS, I always check what sort of stuff is available in all the sections, RC, planes, armour, cars and trains.
I find that browsing in person I'm better able to imagine uses for the stuff I find.