The American built Grant was a very important tank. It was a stop-gap measure in that it added a 75mm gun in a sponson. That was needed to fire high explosive shells at German anti-tank guns,
The Grant was a key weapon in the British Army's victory at El Alamein. It was later used by British forces in Burma where modern armour was unnecessary and it was highly valued for its reliability and robustness.
This example is in the colours of the 7th Armoured, the famous desert rats.
The kit is an old Airfix 1:32. This is not a great kit and it is interesting to see what Tom has had to do to make such a great model.
Firstly, he has filled all the gaps. Secondly, he has added baggage. Real tanks are home for the crews but there is very little room inside and so luggage goes on the outside - lots of it.
Tom has also added rivets. I hate adding rivets and never get them right. So, Tom, how did you add the pox-cursed rivets?
John
Tom's work is great - his tanks look so realistic. No fancy non-metallic metal, no complicated source lighting, no wild color scheme. Just good ol' realistic painting (which I'm sure is much more difficult to do than it looks).
ReplyDeleteRealistic painting is something that's lost on most 40k painters (myself included), so it's nice to see some realism up close and in detail.
Dear Techpriest
ReplyDeleteI agree. Tom's work demonstrated the anchor point. We should be able to do this before we try fantasizing our models. As you say. It is a damn sight more difficult than it looks.
John
Than you gentlemen for the complements, would you believe I used silly putty as a maske for the line between the green and sand, the brown was hand painted. As for the rivets, it was the left side which had a nasty seam that needed filling, The resulting sanding lost a entire line of rivets.For small amounts i try to steal them off of old kits with careful scraping. This time i took some rod in the chopper(a tool with a razor blade on a swing arm) and cut several dozen. The spots marked in pencil then a dot of glue and placing the rivet with a #11 X-acto blade.
ReplyDeleteWow! I love this model! Would be a great stand-in Malcador or something. Do you have an image of it with a 40K soldier next to it to show scale? Or do you know the assembled kit's dimensions?
ReplyDeleteSlaveToDarkness, The Grant was the same size as a Sherman Tank. If that helps. the kit is about 9inched by 5 inches. But this vhicle is availale in 1/72 scale that might be better for gaming.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean, the Airfix 1/32 grant is not a good kit? It still is one of the best representations of a Grant available, proportions and detail are very good indeed. It was very high quality back in the seventies and still stands up well against modern kits. That kit is built from-the-box with only one extra pack added. If only they made more 1/32nd kits of this quality!
ReplyDelete