Italeri M60 Magach 6

[Hillbilly]

Ok,here's my second entry in this GB,It's my first ever armor build, Italeri's M60 Magach 6. This one has only been on the S.O.D for a few months and the reason was Italeri's crappy length and link tracks.I gave them a go and to be honest.... they suck,so back into the box it went.When this GB started I decided to get it back out,buy some Friulmodel tracks and crack on with it.Here is where it stood when it went on the shelf.




The lower hull is 100% complete and the upper hull is 90% done.The stowage basket is complete and I started filling the huge gaps on the two piece turret.The Friulmodel tracks and burnishing fluid are here now so I guess I have no excuse not to get this pig done.To be continued........

[MikeyKb]

cool build.
do you add the burnishing fluid directly to the tracks?

[Hillbilly]

cool build.
do you add the burnishing fluid directly to the tracks?

You soak the tracks in a burnishing fluid/water mix.Here is a great vid Paul did on the procedure.

[youtube]eoWI7HP0A2Q[/youtube]

[Hillbilly]

Ok,I have gotten a little bit more done on this build.

There was a HUGE gap between the two turret halves that needed filling.


Here it is after a LOT of sanding and some Squadron green putty.


And after some Mr Surfacer 500 stippled on with a brush.


I also got most of the odds and ends on the hull and turret and ready for paint.The only things left on the turret are the MG's which will be painted separately.And if anyone else builds this kit be aware that the instructions for the ERA are wrong,I didn't catch it untill I had all ready started them so I used some artistic licence and they look alright I guess.



With everything ready for paint and after watching Paul's Friul track vid I figured it would be a good time to start on my first ever set of Friulmodel tracks.So far so good,they build up pretty easily and have nice realistic sag to them.A nice touch with this set of tracks is they come with some links that are bent/angled for use around the drive sprockets,nice touch I think.I still have to trim the link wires closer once I remember where my small side cutters are



Thats all for now,thanks for looking

[Hillbilly]

Hi again everyone,I have a 3 day weekend with neither kid having football or volleyball games so I found some time to move this project forward a little bit.

I finished building the Friulmodel tracks and blackend them with some Uschi burnishing fluid.I don't know what I did but they didn't turn out as dark as I had hoped for,and I followed the instructions to the letter oh well I have some AK track wash I have been wanting to try.




I got the MG's painted and hit them with some Mig gunmetal pigments and they turned out ok I think.





I also got all the little odds and ends painted.




The headlights were another head-scratcher.My reference book shows one light should be red near as I can tell,so how to replicate a red light that is not turned on?I tested a few paint combinations on some plastic spoons and settled on a coat of XF-69 NATO black with a covering coat of X-27 clear red.The effect doesn't show real well in pics but looks spot-on in real life.



While researching the main hull and turret color I stumbled onto an IDF modelling forum,and holy crap I have never seen more gnashing of teeth over a simple sand colored paint scheme in my life,those boys take their modelling serious! Instead of wading through that vipers nest I narrowed my choice down to Model Master armor sand acryl.After getting the paint down it was time to break my weathering cherry and do some chipping.I will tell you all after building autos for years and trying to make them look pristine,it was tough re-training myself to make something look beat to hell.I tried the sponge technique first on the turret and I didn't like the lack of control I was getting.After that I used the brush painting technique and felt I had better results.I chipped the ERA with aluminum and everything else with olive drab (after all the Magach 6 is based off of a US M60,so it sounds good to me ) All my references showed that the IDF kept their Magach's pretty sharp so my chipping is a little bit over the top,but being a testbed to learn weathering I'm ok with it.



Being I have never built an AFV before I am using Coen's method of building so that means the next step is a gloss coat and decals.It looks like I have the whole day to myself tomorrow so I hope to have another update soon.If anyone has any tips or pointers please don't hesitate to let me know,thanks for looking

[Hillbilly]

Ok,this pig is in the home stretch now I got in a building frenzy and forgot to take many pics Anyway,I got the decals on and then gave the hull and turret a pinwash,dot filter and then sprayed everything with some AK Interactive Africa Dust Effects then stumped it with some white spirit.





I also used some Mig Productions black smoke pigments to replicate the exhaust stains on the rear engine covers and gunpowder stains on the end of the barrel.




Then I added some stowage including some extra links from the Friul track set washed with some Mig rust effects.Sorry rivet counters,I know the IDF stored spare track links on the fenders but I liked them on the stowage basket better



All that is left to do now is to add a few fuel and oil stains and then finish up the track weathering.Hopefully I can get this thing wrapped up tomorrow

[UKguyInUSA]

Looking fabulous so far mate!

[Unit53]

Really great job, looking the business... Never used them myself but the white metal tracks look all good to me!


Martin

[Hillbilly]

Ok,hopefully this small update will be the last before the final reveal.

I've finished weathering the Friul tracks.After using Uschi burnishing fluid on them they weren't as dark as I had liked so I used some AK Interactive track wash on them and after that dried I shot them with some AK Interactive Africa dust effects and stumped that with some white spirits.After all the weathering dried the rubber track pads didn't look quite right so I used a makeup sponge and brushed them with Mig Productions black pigments.Once all the weathering was dry I gave the tracks a spray with some flat clear and then used a thin sanding stick to shine up the parts of the track that make contact with the road wheels.



Then I added a couple of grease stains on the road wheels using a mixture of Vallejo black,olive drab and gloss varnish.





I am getting ready to do final assembly as we speak so hopefully in a couple of hours this thing will be done!

[AchtungPanzer]

Very good work. I look forward to finish

[Hillbilly]

Thanks for the comments guys

I have got this thing wrapped up now.Here is the final reveal thread link http://www.intscalemodeller.com/viewtop ... 296&t=8767