Hi guys (this WILL work sometime)

This will be my first attempt at creating a diary of one of my builds. I am not an expert modeller or painter but I enjoy what I do and am happy with my end results.
I use some PE when it's available and try to add very minor scratchbuilds if it will enhance the model.

On this occasion I will be building Trumpeters SA-8 'Gecko' almost straight OoB. There is one piece which I will try to replicate inside the hull but since it can't be seen once the hull top is on I won't worry if it turns out wrong.

Hi Rich, great to see something new and looks like an interesting kit. Looks forward to seeing how this turn out and it doesn't matter about modelling skills, its the fact you enjoy what you do that is most important, its what the hobby is all about..... .. Thanks for sharing....

Regards

Alan

Hi Richard,

Good choice of kit and painting the detail was the best decision.
Great result.

Looking forward to the next instalment.

Congratulations on your "Blue" medal.

Regards
delboy271155
(Derek)

Thanks for the comments guys.

Completed the second of the main cabin panels using a few decals that have dial representations too small for me to paint.

Continuing with the interior cabin detailing i now move on to the crew seats. As in most cases in standard plastic models the crew seats are re fairly basic with little or no showing of wear or use. To overcome this I tend to cover the padded part of the seats with kitchen foil. Initially screwing it up and then gently teasing it out to get a sort of texture. This is then superglued over the kit part and folded down the sides of the seat. Any overlap is removed with a sharp craft knife. The result is then undercoated and then given a coat of the required seat colour. This now gives you a rougher surface which can be drybrushed to bring out the detail.

thanks Birda.
It has a basecoat of car primer followed by the general interior colour coat before the black went on. A light drybrush of Rubber/tyre black brought out the subtle shading.

Results of the interior. The panel at the rear was taken from the only reference photo I could find of the rear interior of the cabin. Cropped the image to the required size, printed and glued in place using No More Nails glue.

Whoops, forgot photos.

Thats a fantastic idea and looks really effective!

I will remember this method as I have a few builds in my stash that will have seats that need doing

I picked up the tip from a build on a BTR60PB, and tried it for the first time on my own kit. The foil can be cut and folded to show rips on the seating.

Moving on to the suspension. The instructions do not tell you that the front and rear wheels are steerable, albeit individually. I discovered this after cementing part D7 to parts D15 on my first sub assembly. Sub assemblies (A-A) & (B-B) snap fit onto D15 and E10 respectively. The centre wheels are fixed so sub assemblies (E-E) and (F-F) can be cemented throughout but you need to ensure that the wheel hub is at right angles (90 degrees) to the suspension. The first photo shows where not to cement, the second is the suspension units ready to be undercoated. I plan to spray the wheel arches and suspension units with Base Russian Green before moving on. In that way I'm not going to have to fiddle around big wheels to get it all coated with paint..