M109A2 in MERDC Gray Desert cammo build

[paulh.]

Meant to say: to tracks are incredible!
P

[Mence]

Very nice work, liking those tracks...a lot.

[wbill76]

Tracks look brilliant, very nice progress here DJ, very nice indeed.

[ceresvesta.]

Thanks for the info DJ! Really apreciated.

[bullardino]

Great looking 109 there, DJ.

Those tracks look real, thumbs up

[DeskJockey]

Thanks, guys!  Well, I continue to plug along slowly but surely on this kit. In the past two weeks I've finished the stowage and started the weathering. For the stowage, after talking to my friend I settled on the duffel bag, the rolled-up tarp, and a camo net. I had a couple of camo nets in my drawer, so I took them out to see if they would do the trick. One was Echelon's Barracuda camo net in brown and green (it looks like a decal and is just as fragile), and the other was a Pegasus green camo net made out of gauze-like material. This is what the Echelon net looks like once unpacked:



And here are part of the instructions--you basically treat it like a huge decal:



And this is what the Pegasus net looked like:



I first tried using the Echelon net, since it looks the best. I succeeded in separating it from the carrier sheet, per the instructions, without any damage, but when I tried to roll it or fold it, it just shattered into hundreds of tiny flakes. Scratch that. The Pegasus net could be easily rolled up, but it just looked like rolled-up green gauze. I finally decided to combine the two, since the Echelon net has an adhesive side. Right after removing the Echelon net from its backing, I laid down a piece of Pegasus net over it, tamped it down with a soft towel to make sure it stuck properly, and set it out to dry. Once dry, I tried rolling the combo net. I had better luck than with just the Echelon net, but it still shattered and tore in many, many places. I had wanted to display the net with the Echelon side out, but that was clearly not going to happen. I opted to instead display it with the Pegasus net facing out. I then used Vallejo's Dark Green Wash to darken the color of the visible parts of the Pegasus net once I put the rolled-up net in the turret basket, as the Pegasus green was way too light. The combo net still looks better than just having a roll of gauze, since Barracuda nets have a mesh woven into one side, but I'm disappointed with the results. Oh well, it will have to do.

Here's what the combo net looks like:



I have also been busy with the weathering. First, I used MIG's rain marks to subtly stain the surface of the whole vehicle. It's barely visible, but it helps break up the surface and give it some depth.





Next, I airbrushed some AK Africa Dust Effects on the lower areas of the hull and immediatelly stumped it with a flat brush to create dust streaking.





Finally, I used AK's Rainmarks for NATO Tanks to create rain marks/dust streaks on both the hull and the turret:









On the spades, I drybrushed Testors Steel to simulate the worn edges where the spades dig into the ground for firing.



On the turret (and on a few other areas of the hull, such as handles, I used a graphite pencil along edges to create worn areas. I kept this effect very restrained, as I did not want to go overboard:







If you look carefully at some of the hull shots, you will see I also painted some rust around the exhaust and that the paint on the front mudguards is chipping. It turns out that the vinyl parts in this kit (the front mudguards and the cloth cover for the mantlet) will simply not hold paint, no matter what. I tried several different painting methods, including priming with Alclad primer, but the paint always chips or flakes off at the slightest provocation. That's why I'm not using the mantlet cover--every time I tried to put it in place, it shed paint like crazy. Even if I had managed to get it on and repainted it, moving the gun would have caused the paint to come off again.

The next step will be dust buildup on the rear of the hull and mudguards, then I will mount the running gear, fix the hull and turret to the base, and add pigments. Once that's done, I will call this build done!

Let me know what you think.

[wbill76]

I like the subtle weathering effects you've achieved so far, nice!

[deafpanzer]

Agree with Bill... nice work on the dust streaks!

[bbd468]

Lookin real nice DJm just love that camo fella!

[Leon]

Nice work on the weathering effects DJ,Looking good.

[bullardino]

Outstandig jod, DJ. Dig the camo netting, I really think you nailed it.

[ceresvesta.]

As alway DJ: Brilliant work, weathering is really giving life to this build.

[rbaer]

This one is looking really nice.

[DeskJockey]

Thanks, guys! Well, I've nearly reached the finish line. We were snowed in on Thursday, so I got extra time to work on the model. I weathered the exhaust with black pigments, splattered some dried mud on the rear of the hull, put on the wheels and tracks, chipped the paint lightly, added straps to the stowage on the top of the turret (thanks, Paul!) and dusted the horizontal surfaces of hull and turret. Oh, and I added a carbon fiber antenna from Accurate Armor. Now all that remains is to attach the M109 to the base and present it to my friend!

Here's a shot of the tracks while they are being glued down. I placed superglue on the top of the roadwheels and pressed the track down on them to make sure it would stay firmly in place. I used foam earplugs to keep the track in the correct position while the glue set.



In these shots, you can see the straps I added to the stowage using lead foil.









For the exhaust, I masked the area around it, then put on black pigments and fixed them with Tamiya X-20 thinner. I then added an oily stain running down below it using AK's Engine Grime. Here's what it looks like.



I couldn't resist putting the hull and turret together for pictures, so here are the first ones of the whole howitzer put together:















I'll take more pictures with a neutral background later tonight and post them tomorrow. Let me know what you think!

[bullardino]

What I think? It's a fantastic job DJ. Thumbs up

[Leon]

Fantastic finish DJ,Very nicely done.

[DeskJockey]

Well, here it is. I finally finished after four and a half months of off-and-on building (it's hard to get bench time with two toddlers competing for attention). Thanks to everyone who helped me out during the build with research and pointers! I have now mounted the kit onto its base and I'll deliver it to my friend in the coming weeks.





















You may notice the pictures are a bit different this go-around.  That's because I started playing around with the manual settings on my camera and shot in RAW format instead of JPEG for the first time.  It was a learning experience (and not in a good way--I will not be making photography my second hobby!).

I hope you like it! Let me know what you think either way!

[deafpanzer]

DJ, this is one serious great looking gun! Love the dusty look especially the dust steaks. You did GREAT!!!

[wbill76]

Very nice work on this one DJ. I'm sure your friend will be very pleased to have this one on his shelf!

[Leon]

Excellent finish DJ ,one you and your friend should be proud of.

[ceresvesta.]

AWESOME! Congrats on this superb build DJ!

Really tought that the ear plug was a carrot for a second....

[pantherf..-Email Not Valid]

Awesome work as I really like the dusting effect! 




Jeff

[Deleted]

Nicely done!

G

[bullardino]

Great looking big gun

[DeskJockey]

Thanks, guys!