While waiting for some paint to cure and cement to set up on other builds, I decide to drag this one out of mothballs tonight and revisit it. I started it quite a few years ago and have changed plans several times as to what I want to do. Originally it was a pristine restored unit, then a weathered captured USAAF WWII look, but now I have decided to use it as a test bed for some weathering techniques I need to work on before I launch into my big-scale Chev project.
Box and sub assemblies-


Olive Drab painted from my "Captured and Weathered" phase-


Interior done and exterior painted Tamiya Acrylic Red Brown XF-64 as a rust base for chipping-


Glass masked, Dullcoted in preparation for hairspray-

Dullcote cured for several weeks (no rush here), but the hairspray did some strange things to it. Not bothered, I like the effect. It will add to the weathering variations. One of those happy accidents we have from time to time-

And tonight the first coat of paint, SMS Italian Red-


As always, all ideas, critiques and feedback gratefully accepted.

Cheers, D

WOW!
That's a mass kit production program you're engaged into.

Great subject - I didn't even know it existed and excellent choice for weathering techniques. I liked the hair spray effect too - let's see how it will turn out.

Note on color: WW2 (and post) German home defense units had green as the choice of color (Feldgendarmerie, Polizei, Fire Brigades) - all these had usually green vehicles. I agree tough the red is more suggestive and allows you more chromatic space for a rusted vehicle.

Interested!
Gabriel

Outstanding work! Love your effect on the leather. (Never thought of treating the lower door inside panels the same as the seat!)
Am excited to see how the hairspray affects turn out !*!*!*!*!*!*!

I have never understood why Italeri did not make this one available in 1/35th ???? (I certainly wish they would!)

Damian, I am sure you must already have these references from a currently restored vehicle in Europe but in case not:

(I apologize to the owner of this vehicle and to the photographer for I have lost their information somewhere in my notes.)






I very much like the unusual off-center placement of the "trailer in tow" warning sign on the roof of this truck. (I being somewhat of a asymmetrical kind of guy myself!)




Some of these photos may have been taken by Robert Blokker or Sante Candia.

Not the same vehicle as shown above but an often overlooked detail on the Blitz. The trailer in tow lighted sign could be raised and lowered using a handle installed in the roof of the cab over the driver's head.
(Why do I suspect every Blitz truck slowly dropped rain water onto the driver's lap!)

Great choice of subject. This one have been on my wishlist, for years. Really looking forward to seeing the various weathering technics you will apply to it.
That "accident" looks pretty cool. Would be a great patina effect, if possible to replicate.

A general photo reference on the German wartime Opal Blitz is available on the Armorama website at:

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/218643&ord=&page=1

Many thanks for the interest and feedback guys, I'm looking forward to tinkering with this in between my Chev builds.

Michael, as you suspected I have seen a few of those images in my trolling for references over the years, but many thanks for taking the time to drop them in the thread. They are always very useful.

Cheers, D

Painting, masking, painting, unmasking, it's kind of a "circle of life" thing!





Next step, attack it with water and bristly/pointy/sharp things!

Cheers, D

Hi, D.!

At least your circle of life is closing, not spiraling down like mine

Looking good and I'm eager to see what you get from that oil weathering set and from hairspray chipping.

Question: how many hours has one day in Australia? I'm suspecting the Earth (which is flat by the way ) turns much slower down there since you have so much bench time!

I'm amazed how many builds you can juggle in the same time and with respect for quality at that!!

Cheers!
Gabriel

D,
Wow!! another ongoing build and this time a truck of WW11 vintage. While I know less then nothing about trucks, especially fire trucks, I'll be following your build as it's really caught my attention.

Like Gabriel said, those lazy summer Aussie days must really be long as you've got more builds going now on AutoModeler then I'll finish in two years time. I just gotta keep reminding myself that I'm the one who retired.

The hair spray effect and magical accident really should produce a most realistic finish coupled with your weathering.

So do you have any more build surprises for us

Joel

Yes, I agree. I surprise myself sometimes but it is a double-sided coin. I have been having trouble sleeping lately (work and real-life stresses) and I find that sitting down to tinker with these projects de-stresses me. Doing it late at night (into early morning) means that I am not troubled by the kids.




I actually find it easier to have 3 or 4 projects going at various stages as it allows me to put one aside if I hit a snag that I need to think about before proceeding, or even if it is getting a bit stale and motivation is fading. Having another within reach allows me to change focus and renew my energy. I had a look at my Scalemates profile recently and it turns out that I actually have over 20 in-progress builds hiding in the stash.

I suppose everybody approaches this hobby differently and as long as you get what you want and what you need from it, there is no right or wrong.

Cheers, D

Nice one Damian, I'm going to follow this with interest as I have always wanted to attempt a rusty vehicle, so I shall learn a thing or two with your method.
Andy

Hi Andy. Thanks for checking in mate. This is my first attempt at hairspray chipping and serious weathering, so I am learning as I go. There are only so many videos you can watch and step-by-step threads you can absorb before you just gotta dive in

I will try to put as much detail as possible in my posts on each step as I go, but as always I am open to any and all thoughts, suggestions and critiques.

I'm really looking forward to making a big dirty rusty mess of this truck!

Cheers, D

I am in complete agreement with that! How many modelers, so many "bench habits". In the rare occasions when I start more than one build at the time, inevitably one of the two becomes side-lined and after that I find very difficult to re-started again. Right now I have my Fokker Eindecker undercoated and ready for the first paint. Although doesn't require too much time, I just cannot reconnect the wires... I completely lost my drive with that build and it has witnessed already the near completion of my Porsche 959, the completion of New Beetle and now it's watching haplessly how the Chrysler progresses.

Cheers!
Gabriel

I'm really Old, Old school, and just have one project at a time on my workbench. I've tried two a few times, and I kept on getting the two intertwined, and lost all sense of focus. Like I said, it's just another old school method that's become ingrained in my head.

Sometimes I really envy you guys that can just put down one project, and let it rest till the urge or answer to an issue just surfaces. Many a night I lay in bed trying to figure out an answer or a reasonable by-pass solution, but just can't put it down.

Joel