Still plugging away on the Lend Lease Armor Project. Next set of vehicles out of the gate was my M2A4 and a 20mm Stuart. For some reason, I included a few 20mm vehicles into the project… One of those was a full metal 20mm Stuart from SQR Miniatures. It required a similar painting style than my other M2A4s, so they were finalized at the same time.
I wanted some M2A4 tanks for use in the Philippines in 41 and Guadalcanal in 42. Just something different on the tabletop that I always wanted to have. These are of coarse to supplement my future marine force (which is a bit a way off to complete..). These tanks are sold by Old Glory / Skytrex. I picked some of these up some years ago. I was not happy with the miniatures, so I bought some PSC M3 Stuarts and kit bashed the models. I used the PSC kit for everything except the tread sections, which were from the Old Glory kits. I am happy with the outcome. I will probably use the remaining bits to make some wrecks at some point.
These tanks are painted a little different than the other models in the series. Most of the other vehicles have healthy amounts of mud on the lower wheels and running gear. Since the M2A4s are for the pacific, that does not make any sense. I felt the same on the 20mm kits, so no mud. That means I had to paint the treads and rubber road wheels separately (which I did).
So, when these hit the mud step, I set these aside. Once I finished mudding up the other vehicles, I started painting the remaining vehicles running gear. I started with GW Black contrast paint. This flows so easily, it is much easier and faster to paint around these areas. I panted all the treads and wheels with this color. Since the base is so dark, It gives a nice almost black effect. I these painted the exposed track links on the treads with some London Gray. I thought about going with rust, but figured the sand in the pacific fighting would keep the metal clean and dull. Since the treads had rubber pads, this just means going along the outside and inside edges, which is not too time consuming.
At this point, the tanks were entered back into the in progress line. I painted the tools at the same as other vehicles. I pulled them out again and applied the decals (after some gloss coat). I hit all the models with some Iraqi Sand asa a final drybrush. Some Tamiya dull coat and these are done!
- Manteuffel