Merkava Mk.3 BAZ 1/35 by Meng

[WebbyNZ]

These Meng kits always look good, and you are doing a great job.
Will be following for sure

 

[Jaitea]

Thanks guys,.....I'd be right in saying if I build this on a desert base it would be a dio?

J

 

[JohnSimmons]

Should be fine with a simple base and no figs mate.

 

[Junkie]

What Simmons said.

 

[Jaitea]

Thanks John & Scott,....just thinking of some upturned dirt by the mine roller

J

 

[Junkie]

That's fine. If you add a figure (or a dinosaur) then we dump it into dio.

 

[JohnSimmons]

Yeah no Diosaurus ;D

 

[Jaitea]

Ha,..OK

I replaced the lid of the other basket:


There were about 4 pieces that made up the engine cover which didn't quite fit right?....I had to clamp them together whilst it set,...the hull was a wee bit warped


Just set together:



Thanks for looking
John

 

[Klaus not Santa]

Looks great!
Sorry to hear of the trouble with the warped hull and the engine covers - but you've mastered it perfectly

 

[JohnSimmons]

Yup looks great dude 8)

 

[Junkie]

it does look good - I don't see any issues at all.

 

[Jaitea]

Thanks guys,....the hull straightened out ok,....the vent part on one side doesn't look completely right to me though

Primed top:


Everything proceeding ok,......until I try to create the non-slip surface on the top hull,.....like in these reference pics (one image is of a Mk2):




So I did a bit of research,......Chinchilla powder/sand:


Its meant to be a very fine sand,...ideal for replicating the non-slip surface,.....so a bit of masking:




Then I sprayed it with hairspray,.....and dusted it with chinchilla powder

Then FAIL

I ruined it

The powder just looked too big in scale & a complete mess

I had to wash, scrub, sand & toothbrush all the sand off it

No photos of my panic,....sorry

Straight build again,....I'd decided that I'll try and replicate the effect with paint

Next day I had a brainwave,.....what if I applied really fine sandpaper with pva glue?




.....if this doesn't work out right,...I know all I have to do is put a scalpel blade under the paper and peel it off,....then revert back to using a paint effect

Thanks for looking
John

 

[Jaitea]

I've done a bit more this evening:

I'm pretty happy with the way it's turned out....theres some bald bits but I'm not too worried...it adds a bit of character





Thanks for looking

John

 

[Scrach]

Nice work with the sandpaper, that probably went a lot quicker than the route I took with my Mk.I.

 

[Jaitea]

Ah brilliant Scrach,.....I thought I was going mad!!......brilliant job,....how did it turn out?

Why doesn't these kits come with this texture?

How did you do yours? What did you use for the texture?

J

 

[Scrach]

I sifted a fine aquarium sand to get the finest of the fine and 'glued' it with Mr. Surfacer 500.
I'm fairly satisfied with the results. Keep your eyes open toward the end of the BSC.

 

[Jaitea]

Brilliant.....I don't mind the suspence ;D

J

 

[Cash]

Looks like sandpaper did epic job. Very well done in my opinion. Also nice update. Good job man.

 

[Chris S]

Looks good from where Im standing dude ;D ,seriously tho ,nice work John . I do like these Meng kits ,couldnt praise them enough !!

Cant wait to see where you go with this one

Chris.

 

[Jaitea]

Thanks very much Cash....I wasn't so sure at first, but I think it adds to the look of the kit

Thanks Chris,.....I'm sure you're shocked that I've eventually got round to building this!

I've still got some more sandpaper to add to the main hull but I took some time off to do the turret (which will also need sandpaper :)

The cannon needed a bit of filling to get rid of the seam-line,....I also had to remove some of the locator pins because they were forcing a step down the barrel







Thanks for looking
John