Breaking Out The BIG Guns

[Green KreationZ]

This is a really cool kit! The two that you have painted look identical to the real thing. Hats off to you!

[tcoat]

Next up is the good ol' Vickers



Base coat of Tamiya NATO black on main body, medium grey on barrel jacket, brass on receiver and Citadel base paint Leadbelcher (seems like an appropriate name) on the bands around the barrel. Main body then got a light overcoat of Runefang Steeel layer paint.




Bare metal wear points on mech done with silver marker and whole works given a heavy wash with the Nulin Oil shade paint.

[keavdog]

These are looking fantastic. What a fun project - and vey nice paint work.

[kyledehart5]

And the vickers looks awesome too. I’m having fun watching you recreate these.

[tcoat]

And last is the Parabellum


Target



It stayed overall NATO black with just some very light dry brushing to bring up rivets and a bit of wear. Wood is some brown acrylic with woodgrain streaks of Citadel Earthshade and black. whole gun was given a wash of the Nulin Oil. Drum and rack were left NATO black with a tinted future wash then inside was done with silver marker. While ink was still wet I vigorously rubbed the silver with my thumb to get a rotation wear effect. Then the ink residue on my thumb was rubbed on the outside of the drum to give a very subtle metallic sheen. Since I did not want the long belts on everything anyway I cut down the ammo belts from the other two guns to fill the drum.

Base paint



Finished

[stikpusher]

Quite a realistic finish!

[kyledehart5]

Outstanding!! Love the loaded drum too

[tcoat]

Jan 7, 2024 17:27:56 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

Outstanding!! Love the loaded drum too

The ammo belts are sort of funny actually. They use the same belt for all the guns so is sort of generic. This means they are not completely right nor completly wrong for each type of gun.


They are so neutral they are the Switzerland of model parts!

[tcoat]

And DONE

This build was no walk through the park with all it's flash removal, horrible fit and multiple levels of paint but I am more than happy with the results. I would recommend this to anybody that can lay hands on one and doesn't mind hours with their knife trimming parts.

[armornutii]

  Well dang that didn't take long. Those look awesome Tony thanks for the Coke can for ref as they could be seen as full size from your pix. Well done and I think you are the first finish of the BSGB.  Bears to ask....whats next???

[tcoat]

Jan 7, 2024 18:55:03 GMT -5 armornutii said:

  Well dang that didn't take long. Those look awesome Tony thanks for the Coke can for ref as they could be seen as full size from your pix. Well done and I think you are the first finish of the BSGB.  Bears to ask....whats next???

yep posted up in the Gallery already. Miserable winter weather so nothing to do but build models. Probably around 20 hours working time on them so longer than it seems.

Next up is my Shelf Queen rescue 1/32 Lindberg '40 Ford Convertible for the Born In The USA GB.

[eaglecash867]

Wow!  Those are freakin' beautiful!  Such amazing quality of workmanship in a very short amount of time.  

[keavdog]

Such a cool display. Great job and in record time!

[deafpanzer]

I really love how they came out! Definitely one of my favorite builds of yours.

[armornutii]

   In regards to the " ammunition" being the same for all guns. I thought both sides in WWI used Spandau and Vickers...something to do with a 3rd party supplier? That might help explain why ammo is same.

[tcoat]

Jan 7, 2024 21:30:38 GMT -5 armornutii said:

   In regards to the " ammunition" being the same for all guns. I thought both sides in WWI used Spandau and Vickers...something to do with a 3rd party supplier? That might help explain why ammo is same.

Both the Vickers and the Spandu were based upon the Maxim which was indeed used by both sides. The two "new" versions were close to the maxim but were not the same and other than some captured equipment were used only by each side. The Vickers fires a .303 (7.7mm) round and the Spandu a 7.9MM so the ammo was not interchangeable between the two. Because of the similarities in design (by both ripping off the Maxim) those two guns had almost but not quite identical belt feeds. Even then there were something like 3 different styles for each of them. 
The Parabellum gun used a completely different belt than the other two.

[stikpusher]

Great work! You really nailed the look of both the guns, and of the fabric ammo belts.

[2whl]

Without the coke can, they could pass for a 1:1 display at a museum. Outstanding job.

[Real G]

Holy moly Tcoat, you "banged" that one out fast! And the guns look GREAT! When I built mine, they just looked sort of okay-ish. Your finish really makes them stand out!

[tcoat]

Jan 8, 2024 15:59:08 GMT -5 Real G said:

Holy moly Tcoat, you "banged" that one out fast! And the guns look GREAT! When I built mine, they just looked sort of okay-ish. Your finish really makes them stand out!

Thanks but the finish is amore the texture of the Citadel paints as my ability to put them on. They are actually meant for gaming figures and the layer system is designed to give depth and texture to things like chain mail, plate armour and huge bladed weapons. They act way different than "normal" model paints but the metal effect can not be beat.

[tcoat]

OK I have a question and I know I could delve into a rabbit hole of research but have little doubt somebody here will have the answer right off the top of their head.
Are there 1/72 scale kits for one aircraft each for all these guns? My knowledge of WW1 aircraft is very limited.

EDIT:
Would this cover them all? Is it really this easy?

www.ebay.ca/itm/162201316306

Edit of edit: Never mind they only have one of the kits available

[Whiterook]

These are gorgeous! What a cool build!!!!! Just amazing detail.

[tcoat]

Feb 21, 2024 10:56:01 GMT -5 Whiterook said:

These are gorgeous! What a cool build!!!!! Just amazing detail.

Thanks! This is probably in my top 5 favourite builds of all time. They didn't exactly fall together but the effort paid off.

[lyle]

Those look so good.

[speedgraflex]

Beautiful work recreating the tonalities of each metal finish! A superb rendition of a classic kit series! Bravo!

[tcoat]

Request for opinions.
I am thinking of giving the stand a darker shade and high gloss to make the guns pop more and blend the brass nameplates in better. It is just sort of "meh" the way it shows now. My query is do you guys think it may distract or compliment the guns?

[TOWGunner]

This is an outstanding project. The metal finishes you have achieved are fantastic. The overall effect is hyper-realistic. The wear marks are excellently rendered and the whole display is just superb. Improving the stand could go either way - I think I would leave it as is.

[garybrantley]

Those machineguns look fantastic!   That was such a cool project and unusual too! I like the wood stand as it is now, but that's a matter of taste.   Folks might enjoy seeing my submachinegun in action.   It's a Sten MkII, with myself and my first cousin Thomas, on the trigger.

Yours truly:




My cousin having a go; as an old Vietnam "jungle fighter", he had a close relationship with automatic weapons!

[tcoat]

Feb 23, 2024 8:41:29 GMT -5 garybrantley said:

Those machineguns look fantastic!   That was such a cool project and unusual too! I like the wood stand as it is now, but that's a matter of taste.   Folks might enjoy seeing my submachinegun in action.   It's a Sten MkII, with myself and my first cousin Thomas, on the trigger.

Yours truly:


My cousin having a go; as an old Vietnam "jungle fighter", he had a close relationship with automatic weapons!

This was my service weapon as a Canadian Army vehicle operator in the 1970's. I pumped untold thousands of rounds through the poor old things. 

[406 Silverado]

I don't know how I did it but I missed the heck out of this thread. What a neat kit and one I haven't ever seen at that Tony. That'd make for a cool display in ANY home especially with the work that you put into these. This is just too dang cool!!