Small Scale Military Headquarters

Decided to repaint a FOV Matilda. Here is the finished project.

TJ

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Looks good! I hope FOV eventually releases something similar - the desert cammo colors on the regular Matilda thats been out for a couple years is kind of funky.

Boy, I would have gone for one that looked like that in a heartbeat. Good work tman.

...yours looks better than any of those in the box. Do you use Acrylic or Enamel for the overall paint job? I had heard there were some issues when painting the softer-plastic components vs the die cast metal, etc... I am thinking of converting an Action series Matilda to a Russian Lend-lease variant while I wait for the next wave of FOV releases.

I airbrushed the vehicle using the Polly-S water based paint. A good paintbrush would also give a decent finish. There doesnt seem to be a problem with painting the tank itself as far as paint adherance is concerned. I just painted over the FOV paintjob without stripping. I did seperate the top of the hull from the bottom so I could remove the tracks before painting. After painting, I put it back together, decaled and then weathered the tank with the airbrush.

TJ

Thanks for the tips... I had seperated the hulls on a few vehicles to detail, etc, and the Matilda exhausts were a minor concern but came apart smoothly.

Very nice end product! You mentioned that you decaled this...are you using after market decals? Are is there a way to make your own water soluable decal sheets on your computer.... If there IS a way to make your own decal sheets...I have a ton of 'projects' to get started on!

Take care, and keep your head down in '05,
John

There is deffinitely a way to make your own decals! I haven't done it yet, but you can purchase special decal paper from a hobbystore. You then print your design on it using an ink-jet or laser printer. There is a chemical that you then paint over the decal to seal it, called Liquid Decal Film. Once all is dry, you can then cut out the decal, soak in water, and then slide it on as you would with a professional decal. Painting the application surface with Decal Solvent and then painting the applied decal with it will blend in the decal with the application surface and generate professional results, as well as make the decal resistant to tearing. There are websites (I'm not readily familiar with them) that make various decal patterns in various scales that you can purchase, then print out to make your own decals. Aftermarket decals are also sold via mail-order and I've included a link to some below. Hope this helps!

http://www.badcataviation.com/hicodebyla.html

Great! Heading for my HobbyTown, just as soon as they reopen!

But you forgot to tell us how you decaled your repaint....

Once again...a great job!

John

The national markings, the white squares, are simply masked and painted with an airbrush. I used Archer dry transfers for the name and number. The dry transfers are hard to use on surfaces like the Matilda. It took a number of trys to get a completed number and name affixed to a degree that I was happy with. I would have much prefered to use water set decals as they can be moved and staightened before they set in place. The Archer sets were British Army letter and number sets. That was the only advantage to using them. I had a list of vehicles sent to me from a fellow over on the Missing Links forums. He is compiling a list of tanks, coordinating the names to the numbers of various vehicles in the British Army. This vehicle is from the 7th Regiment, 23rd Brigade of the Royal Tank Corps. Thanks for the interest in my project.

TJ

Appreciate the link...used BCT to correct the tail of my Stuka, and the end result was well worth it. I have always 'liked' the finished look of dry transfers, but never knew where, of if, they were sold after market. If you are interested, I have figured out a way to reproduce battle flags, and maps, in any scale for use with my dioramas. If I knew how to include a picture, I would!

John