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Sunday, May 28, 2017

The Magic Bus


This is probably the most unique vehicle that I have painted so far for our armies... the tiny little Bren carrier!  While it is quite small, it hold quite a bit.  The combination of tracked vehicle, rivets and several troops inside was quite interesting.

Here's a link to the kit itself:




There are a lot of vertical pieces to deal with on this, which means that the weathering and discoloration of some sections takes a different approach than the angled surfaces of a T-34 for example.


Since it is smaller, the weathering effects can get out of control in a hurry.  I tried to target just a few spots with key effects... a tiny bit of rust here, some mud there, etc.


The track assemblies and other bits are far smaller than regular tanks and transports, so I kept the track mud to a minimum.  One of the mud guards kept falling off, so I thought it might be interesting to leave that one off, and just call it as extra weathering! ;-)


Some views from above to show you what the crew compartment looks like.  The oil washes from Mig Ammo certainly helped to get down into the deep crevices.


The horizontal surfaces on the interior needed to have a touch more of the rust, since I figured that the water and other gunk would have more chances to sit there and interact with the paint, and the machine gun mount would also rough up the surface.

  
I took a few ground level views so that you could get a peek at the crew faces.  It's not easy to get at them while they are in the vehicle, but it was certainly worth it!  I have one more of these to go, so stay tuned for some side by side pics!


8 comments:

  1. Brilliant stuff, mate - exemplary!

    Nice one; keep 'em coming, eh?

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    1. Sure thing! Can't wait to see the whole collection of British vehicles together ;-)

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  2. Been carriers were neat little vehicles. Completely unarmored and unsuited for reconnaissance-in-force: their training manual had to stress "this is not a tank!" with a cartoon of an alarmed crew being shot at... Lots of them supposedly ended up as farm equipment after the war. Anyway, great job, you didn't overdo... anything, really. Perfectly weathered, nice human figures, and a little splash of red to catch the eye and keep it from being Just Another Green "Tank" ;)

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    1. Many thanks for the kind words! Yes indeed... I could see these even being quite soggy in the rain ;-)

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  3. That is nice! The crew look full of grim purpose. I've always had a fondness for the UV and would buy a real one if I could afford it, just for the hell of it.

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    1. I would have to debate with myself if I wanted the mortar carrying version or the MMG ;-)

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  4. My grandfather owned two after the war and used them for just about everything in the bush here in tasmania. Great vehicles.

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    1. These little guys could have all kinds of uses!

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