Snow Prowler

[WtShark]

I wanted to build something inspired by Inception. I couldn't find any 1/25 scale Hmmwv's, so I figured I'd try the Revell 1985 Blazer from Stranger Things. First off, what a huge difference in kits, the Revell kit was beautiful, parts were practically flash free, no warped or missing parts. Many parts fit so well they required no glue. New tooling and manufacturer's make a difference, (I had no idea how much). I finally got the guts to break out my 30+ year old airbrush and after purchasing a new needle, went to work experimenting with paint thinning. I was able to use some of the older Testor's acrylic I had, but purchased new Vallejo paints (I've now amassed a good selection of colors) and found an after-market set of resin tracks. I was unable to find a custom turret, but did find a .50 cal. I decided to try my hand at fabricating the armor turret and although it came out a bit "wonky", it's a good representation of it. I modeled this after the US Army CUCV, which was all over the place when I served in the early 80's. I wanted to try to build the standard brush guard, so using styrene strip, went about measuring, bending and gluing, came out pretty well. The snow camo, I used AK's camouflage "putty", (which to me is like the slime from the 80's as well) but it worked amazing and made making a random camouflage paint scheme much easier. I pulled out all the stops on this, using airbrush for all paint, and brushes/pigments for weathering. Overall, came out well.

 

[BarleyBop]

Nice!
Great job on the disruptive camo.
I'm still in the brush and rattler camp, so can appreciate the move to air.

 

[WtShark]

Thank you very much!
I struggle with patience- some things I go down a rabbit hole with and will spend hours fine tuning the smallest (and usually most insignificant thing) but others, I can't put the time it deserves. This camo was a steep learning curve. I first tried using a stencil I'd purchased, horrible, the shape of the body didn't lend well to the plastic stencil, (welcome to overspray city, population; me), then tried cutting a stencil with masking tape. Couldn't get a smooth shape, even using the "coolest/newest" pivoting razor knife, then tried the AK putty (slime). Took some getting used to, have to snap it apart in pieces, pulling slowly will result in strings like a hot pizza with tons of mozzarella. So, snapping small bits, shaping and applying them, seemed to work.
I still believe in brushes and rattlers, one can accomplish some remarkable things with some good brushes, paint and technique. I'll still use them where appropriate, as the AB requires a lot of prep and cleaning, at least my style does- But, I'll keep plugging away.
It's about the fun, as a microscopic, critical piece slips from my fingers, bounces off my lap and into oblivion.....

 

[BarleyBop]

...around here it is called feeding the carpet monster!