A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: BUILDING TANKS IS EXHAUSTING!

If only it were that simple. Removing the guards damaged the surrounding paintwork, so that meant I had to touch-up the rear hull and engine deck.

5th March 2025

Best laid plans and all that, today was meant to bring my Centurion project to a pleasing conclusion. All was going so well until I started to paint the exhausts, lost my way, hated the results, lost my temper and in the process of doing all of that, broke off one of the carefully placed sideskirts. It was, as you might imagine, not the most productive of days.

Honestly, I have no idea why every project has one small part that always crashes headlong into a ditch. In this case it’s not as though the exhausts (or rather their metal guards) were either large or particularly involved. Having been painted in camouflage, I figured that a few areas of rusty metal, some chips here and there and perhaps a simple layer of dust to blend them in with their surroundings, would be enough. It was only when I started to paint those four little plates that everything turned to crap and the dominoes started to fall, one by one…

Such was my dislike of the painted exhaust guards, I decided that rather than paint them for the fourth time (which was doing little for the smoothness of the finish, as layer upon layer of acrylic paint, oils and weathering powders, turned my delicate paintwork into something more akin to a concrete path) I would remove them, strip the paint off (being brass that was easy enough after a dip in acetone) and then paint them separately, before fixing them back in place. Phew!

If only it were that simple. Removing the guards damaged the surrounding paintwork, so that meant I had to touch-up the rear hull and engine deck. Getting them back into exactly the same spots as they were in before I began this charade, was also problematic, and though they are now back on the model, I’m utterly unconvinced that they are where they once sat.

The model is at least in one piece, the sideskirt that I unceremoniously removed being reglued in place and the paintwork touched up. Given that my model is less than tidy, touching up the finish was the least tricky part of my day, needing little more than oversprays of colour blended in with washes and some dust. Had it been rather cleaner, the process would have been trickier and my blood pressure that is still being monitored, higher than I, or the GP, would have been happy with.

Tomorrow, this model will be finished. I’m now at a point where I feel it is starting to be overworked, the results getting worse rather than better and my patience, thin at the best of times, is now at breaking point. As I’ve really enjoyed it so far, so I want to keep it that way, so pushing the work in directions unlikely to result in a better model, will be wholly self-defeating. Better to cut my losses, like the results as they are and move on. How knows, the next build might be a little easier and any exhausts, less problematic than they have been today. Fingers crossed, eh?

See you tomorrow. 

• A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: STILL UNWELL…
• A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: LURGY, LEGO AND A TAMIYA TOMCAT…
• A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: UNWELL…
• A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: SNOW DAY AND FAMILY…
• A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: STUDIO REBUILDS AND WHY I CANNOT WORK IN A MESS…

1. 

   Hope you feel better soon!

2. 

   My home in Sweden this evening. 25-30 cm snow, all within 24 hours.

3. 

   That certainly resonated with me Spencer, my work area is invariably a tip and also working on one kit at…

4. 

   With respect, disappointment is when you get beaten when a victory was on the cards. It’s known as supporting Brentford…

5. 

   Ah… where the magic happens! Looking really great Spence; mine is overdue a good looking at.