BAMBOO VENETIAN BLINDS

Ergo Lounger Personal Face Shade, Green

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Another vintage kit I started building maybe 15 years ago, but this time it not a restauration, rather true working progress after a long break and completion of an idea I had in the late 90ies.

This kit is actually a real Takara kit, not one of the Revell re-releases. I am not sure where I got it from - I suppose I found this kit at a comic shop or model kit fair. Anyway, a color illustration in Takara's assembly and painting guide showed a modified Crabgunner which carried extra rocket launchers on mounts located at the mid section's sides, and other changed details like a larger commander cupola, a different gun and differences on the hull. This inspired me to modify the kit into something similar - but half way, I did not finish it and it went to the basement... until now! I just took up the project where it was, and decided to move ahead with the grittier look of what I know today is a F44C, according to a Dougram source book called "Fang of the Sun Dougram - The Comprehensive". From there, I also tried to translate its name's kanji, which should be "Fu-A-I-Ya-Gu-N-Na", so I suppose this mecha is officially called "Firegunner"?

Some details like extra weapon stations and armor reinforcement had already been added years ago, but I mostly changed them. Anyway, despite these changes on the basic F44A kit I found that something was missing, a personal twist... Snooping through the internet for ideas, I came across a 1:72 kit (from AER of Moldova, a manufacturer specialized in obscure Russian military vehicles) of an Egyptian self-propelled gun carrier SAU-122, which is actually a modified T-34/85 from the 80ies with a new huge, box-shaped turret, carrying a massive 122mm howitzer.
This turret and gun not only looked intimidating on the tank, it would also blend well with the F44's retro look! It would, by the way, also be a nice replacement for the relatively small original turret and its flimsy main gun - even though a "stock" F44C seems to use it. But, heck, field modifications are common even in the Dougram world, so this personal assault version would not be totally off topic. And the turret just looks cool...
I was lucky to get my hands onto the SAU-122 kit, which is, by the way, of very good quality - the turret parts are made from resin and very crisp. Implanting the new pieces was no problem, and even though the result IS bulky, I like the new look: heavy metal! The whole thing looks much beefier now.

Other kit modifications include the side weapen stations, which had to be built anew - I used spare parts from a 1:144 scale Gundam kit ("Serpent Custom", from Endless Waltz) and wheel parts from a 1:35 scale M4 Sherman. The resulting arrangement is not an exact replication of the original F44C's weapon carriers, but for the overall impression it is IMHO O.K, since the turret is not original, either. Other details like the improvised reinforcements and storage boxes came from the scrap box, some ladders and steps on the hull were made from thin brass wire.

For painting I wanted to stay true to the Dougram look: a single color finish, and then emphasize the lines and details through dry painting and weathering, much like the recent Tequilagunner. I did not want another mecha from the F44 family in a sand or brown tone, though, but still an "ugly", murky tone. After long search and pondering I finally settled on RAL 7002 "Olivgrau" (Olive Grey) as main color - a tone which immediately makes you think of boogies... For shading and light effects, I went for RAL 7006 "Beigegrau" (Beige Grey) for undersides/shaded areas, and RAL 6013 "Schilfgrun" (Reed Green) as highlight tone for upper sides - a lichen green which looks pretty much like sun-bleached olive drab.
As a weird coincidence, RAL 7002 comes close to the grayish green used on many Russian WWII tanks - this historical touch was not intended, esp. with the parts donation from a Russian tank kit, but it adds up to the intimidating look about this mecha!

Basic painting was done straightforward with rattle cans, including the shading. Then, a black ink wash was applied, and another thin wahs with a mix of acryllic paint in black and raw umber, simulating dirt and dust. After drying and rubbing with a cotton towel to free surfaces from paint residue, decals from the original sheet were applied. Hull details and wear were emphasized through dry painting with mixed Humbrol colors, 83 (Ochre) and 151 (Interior Green) respectively, plus a little 64 (Light Grey) at edges and corners. Finally, a matte varnish coat sealed everything in place.
For final touches, some dirt/mud was added to the kit's feet, with a mix of fine sand, white glue and acryllic paint, and light dry painting with silder was done on some edges, letting metal shimmer through. Rust and oil were painted with a fine brush, with acryllic paint in Burnt Sienna and Burnt Umber. Some more dust was sim

Eagles Nest parking lot
Wilson, NC

Aaargh! #@&#! Why is there pixelated garbage in the dark grey patch (middle right edge) when viewed at original size on here????? None of the viewers on my laptop (not even Windows Picture and Fax Viewer for goodness sake) show it? If anyone knows the answer please let me know. I've tried replacing the photo with an original size in case the artifacts are a result of resizing but no go. Update (day later): Seems the pixelated garbage has vanished... good riddance!!! Wish I knew what caused it? Or was it really there to begin with? But there really was a sunset right? Too many questions... Update: Pixelated stuff showed up again, but it appears this is due to my laptop bumping "color quality" down from highest (32bit) down to medium (16bit) - probably from docking/ undocking at work?


Overlooking the above, this is probably my favorite sunset cloud shot that I've taken. Nothing to do with the photographer, just a point and shoot type snap, let nature overcome the inadequacies of composition etc by supplying some marvelous details and colors.

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