Saracen from the Garrison

Mossie · March 06, 2008, 03:11:28 PM

Thanks for the tip Gary. There's just enough room to rub down the masking tape over the ribbing with a fingernail, for the tighter spots I've used the back of an Xacto blade.

It's taken along time to get the masking right, to start with I prepapred a painting diagram. I found a front & rear view from the instructions to add to the profile I had. No top view, I've had to do that ad-hoc. I did another one first as a 'rough guide', then did this one to refine it. It still took several rubbings out before I was happy & even then I haven't copied it exactly onto the model.

Masking the white portions. This has been a ball-ache to do on such a small model & I've still got the grey portions to mask once the paint is on, not looking forward to that! Then with so much masking, there's bound to be plenty of touching up to be done......

Mossie · March 09, 2008, 04:10:27 PM

Grey Coat on (Humbrol Hu.27) & masked up. Finally finished masking & I've got to admit it's been a bit of a chore. Looking forward to painting the brown coat & getting the masking off, even though I know it's going to need a lot of touching up. One thing I'd do differently if I was to do a similar scheme would be to leave the smaller parts off until later, they've made the masking job that bit more difficult.

Brian da Basher · March 10, 2008, 06:04:02 AM

I really like the look of this monster, Mossie!

Brian da Basher

TsrJoe · March 10, 2008, 06:16:17 AM

looking forward to seeing this one completed (iv a Harrier GR.3 on the go in a similar scheme, def somat different!) just a thought were there any Land Rovers painted in the 'Berlin scheme' too?

cheers, Joe

Mossie · March 10, 2008, 07:04:41 AM

Thanks guys! I got the brown coat on last night & in the rush to get off to work this morning, I just had time to take the masking off the turret. Looks like a big touch up!

I expected several bleeds & rough edges, but the masking has taken some of the grey with it. I suspect it'll be the same for the truck body, I'll post pics when I get home. Trouble is, because of the nature of the masking you have to handle the model a lot & even though I took the precaution of washing my hands before hand, it seems like a little something has maybe got on the surface. That & I find acrylics tend to damage much more easily, if I was to do the scheme again I might use enamels.

Joe, I'd love to see that Berlin GR.3! If it's any help I've dug around & identified the grey (RAL 7031) as Hu.27 & the brown (RAL 8025) as Hu.186, they look right against photos as well. It seems there were some Landies painted up in the Berlin scheme, I'm sure I've seen a pic somewhere but can't remember where (the book I've got focuses only on armoured vehicles). There's a paint diagram on Don Color for a Berlin Land Rover, but it only shows the left & rear sides.

http://www.jpsmodell.de/dc/draw/rover_lwb_berlin.jpg

Mossie · March 10, 2008, 04:16:21 PM

The wrappings off. Not pretty, but recoverable. It was kind of how I was expecting & a bit better in places. I've already started touching her up (

), the grey overuns were pretty easy taken care of, it was just a case of gently using the back of an Xacto blade as the white primer is very robust.

I've yet to touch up the white patches, that's going to be the most difficult. The primer I used is very white, which was in a rattle can so I'll have trouble brush painting it. I might be able to spray some in a pot & thin it with cellulose thinners. You can guarantee any other paint I use will be slightly off the same colour & probably quite noticable.

More pics when the touch ups are done.

Ed S · March 10, 2008, 04:49:28 PM

Quote from: Mossie on March 10, 2008, 04:16:21 PM
The wrappings off. Not pretty, but recoverable. It was kind of how I was expecting & a bit better in places. I've already started touching her up (), the grey overuns were pretty easy taken care of, it was just a case of gently using the back of an Xacto blade as the white primer is very robust.

I've yet to touch up the white patches, that's going to be the most difficult. The primer I used is very white, which was in a rattle can so I'll have trouble brush painting it. I might be able to spray some in a pot & thin it with cellulose thinners. You can guarantee any other paint I use will be slightly off the same colour & probably quite noticable.
More pics when the touch ups are done.

You can always weather it heavily and that will help cover up an disparities with the colors.

Ed

Mossie · March 11, 2008, 04:28:55 PM

Thanks Ed, that's a possibility as vehicles that were used for training & irregular duties tended to get a little battered & the age of the Saracen may lend itself to this. Machines in regular use tended to be pristine as they were paraded often & were regularly repainted. I may just about have got to a standard where I could display at as a front line vehicle.

Looking better, if not perfect. Close up shots don't help, it looks better in "real life"!

Here's the image sized down to give a better representation, this pic is not far off life size.

Mike Wren · March 12, 2008, 06:38:09 AM

that's looking really good now mate

ysi_maniac · March 12, 2008, 06:44:13 AM

Love that kind of scheme

John Howling Mouse · March 15, 2008, 07:25:45 AM

Looking great. What a different scheme! I never would have had the patience to burnish down all that masking tape on such a small subject with all that surface detail. I would've taken the lazy way out and simply handpainted the squares using a 000 brush but you have certainly raised the "diligence" bar, Mossie.

Mossie · March 18, 2008, 01:49:05 PM

Thanks Baz! For me, this is the lazy way, I just couldn't imagine painting the squares by hand! I managed to do it for the Bren mounting ring, but that was it & it took several attempts. The steadiness of my hands seems to vary, one time I can put a dot of paint right were I want it, another time I'll slop over an inch of masking. Very frustrating!

Not far off finished now, some of the extras on & highlights done. Smaller pic to hide the worst 'sins', but I can still see a couple of touch ups I've missed!

Not happy with the thickness of the kit aerials, if I can find some stiff wire thin enough I'll replace them.

TsrJoe · March 19, 2008, 09:58:13 AM

http://emlra.org/articles/berlin_brigade.htm

cheers, joe

Mossie · March 24, 2008, 03:04:15 PM

All done!

It'd have been finished several days ago, although I made a classic error. I was desperate to get it finished & decided to put the wheels on while the matt varnish was still drying. Thought I'd left it long enough to get away with it, BIG mistake. The white portions just ended up looking a dirty yellow. I had to touch it up & I was kind of gutted, took me longer than it should because I was pretty disheartended. The touch ups just don't look good close up, brush marks a-go-go. Should have kept my mucky paws off.

Still, it's done now & I'm not too worried. In my book it looks pretty close to the real world Berlin Brigade Armour. I even managed to scratch up a rough Berlin Brigade unit badge using scraps of decal of various sheets. The exhausts got brick red finish, some of the FV432's had their exhausts painted in a heat resistant primer. I figured the old Saracens exhausts would get pretty hot so I followed this idea. It looks like I've forgotten to paint the spade, but all the ancillary equipment on Berlin armour was painted according to the body work. If it didn't move, it was painted!

Some small shots, again to hide the 'sins'! Doesn't look too bad with the six foot rule!

Brian da Basher · March 24, 2008, 03:13:05 PM

Your Saracen really looks the part, Mossie! I can't tell where you did your touch up painting. I'd say you pulled this one off rather skillfully. This has gotta be one of my favorite armor camo schemes and it's a treat to see you bring it to life.

Brian da Basher