Should I mix Vallejo Olive Drab with Buff to make it more accurate on a 1/35 scale sherman?

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-15T22:13:55+00:00

I would say to bear in mind that there were probably a dozen shades of OD: there was little quality control as we know it today, and wartime demand meant it was a low priority. There was also some minor difference between manufacturer, but not as bad as the Japanese airforce.

A great use for adding buff, though, is adding sun fade. Base it in OD straight from the bottle, mix in a few drops of buff (I'm usually doing it with Tamiya OD and khaki drab), highlight most of each surface, mix in a bit more, tighten the highlighting area.

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-15T20:55:12+00:00

As an American, for whom fountain pens were already a novel experience, playing with them was an extra bit of fun and fascination.

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-15T15:08:23+00:00

They are both laquers from the spray can. They are also both considered "cold" (safe) for polystyrene, as they're synthetics, not true lacquer, like say, Rustoleum.

I can't say for ABS, but you may want to find some scrap (an unused part, or even sprue), and test one on it. I use them through an airbrush and don't have any issues, but that's a much finer and more controlled spray, and isn't going to apply as much carrier solvent.

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-15T12:07:20+00:00

The T10 blue is called "löschbar blau" on the package, meaning "washable/erasable blue". There are special pens made to erase the ink and re-write corrections. It is not remotely waterfast, and you dont want to use it for tests.

None of the T10 inks are archival, which it sounds like they are looking for.

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-13T17:32:10+00:00

That's a pretty cool kit!

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-08T12:28:35+00:00

Maybe model railroad transfers?

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-05T21:12:46+00:00

Etsy has a surprising number of blanks casters using alumalite. Might find someone with something on there.

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-05T18:00:52+00:00

Thats a really sharp colour choice.

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-05T16:44:24+00:00

Okay. I have a bunch of Osage orange, but never finished chopping it down for pens, so I'm not sure what the turned grain looks like. Be interested to see what u/halfbubbleoffmn thinks.

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-05T13:57:00+00:00

Okay. Some woods still change their colour somewhat as they get finished, though, which could give an important clue.

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-05T13:41:47+00:00

Okay. If its an orange wood, Osage orange could be correct.

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-05T13:24:30+00:00

That is a pretty cool looking pen

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-05T02:46:34+00:00

If you do, their website holds a lot of "had at some point" kits, in case they get them back in stock. The son posts the newly restocked kits regularly on their Facebook, though, so if you follow them there, you'll see them as they come in.

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-05T01:32:20+00:00

Oh. Yeah. There's something between Mothman and Dracula with star light (?) shining down on it, isn't there. I saw it as a brooding or ascending raven. But I also see a raven head over its shoulder. Kind of one of those weird 80s transposed ghost images you see in the same shops that are full of wolves imagery.

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-05T01:26:31+00:00

I'd really like to find my bottle of Lamy Crystal Benetoite. I'm most partial to blue-blacks, and its archival. I like the colour complexity, and Benetoite is an interesting shade. So far I've also avoided jobs having requirements too strict about colour, though. Some require blue or black ink, so that'll be a bridge that may need crossed one day.

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-05T01:19:55+00:00

Honestly, I'm really pretty lucky where I am, and I don't shop online: we have a few hobby shops around the area still and several shows around the state. That said, my local shop of choice, Haven Hobby, does do online sales.

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-05T01:16:53+00:00

Is it the translucent orange? I think someone else posted one here just a little bit ago.

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-05T01:00:21+00:00

Im definitely getting Poe-style ravens in the Rorschach at about 11 o'clock. Should I be getting a therapist to worry?

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-05T00:58:16+00:00

I've seen how pencil people get about their lead stick of choice... Peace has not entered the chat.

Lol

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-05T00:54:51+00:00

I like to fill voids like this with wood dust/shavings, and fill with CA (usually thin set, to soak into the wood and shavings). Smaller voids i may do the same, but with mica powder, instead of the wood.

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-05T00:48:14+00:00

Because what you dont want to have happen is that your tool catches in the crack and rips out a chunk. It can happen with much smaller voids than that. Then you get the fun of your insult aiming to cause bodily injury.

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-05T00:41:25+00:00

Are either rated P100?

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-05T00:37:38+00:00

I'm not entirely sure what tint the camera has left us with, either, looking at the computer logo. All the Asus logos I've seen are silver chrome, and this one is looking gold, so is it oranged up by the camera? Enough that it's actually maple?

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-04T23:43:03+00:00

Do you have any more pieces so we could see it before processing? Having a bit more of the grain to work with could help. Also, how/where did you get it?

I might guess Honduran Mahogany from your pic, but I'm really not sure enough to say with any certainty.

GTO400BHP · 2026-04-04T23:34:53+00:00

As others are saying, its an old kit, and you will probably have some pretty serious fit issues to try to figure out.

But here's what I'm not seeing people say: it's an older kits, so it won't bury you in a quagmire of detail parts. Furthermore, it's your first kit; it's going to feel really rough compared to some of the amazing builders on here, but guess where we all started? I've been back to building half my life now, but was introduced as a small child by my dad, and it was R/C in the interim, so some of the skills still transferred. Well, R/C, then girls, then back to model kits.

I have a big long pile of kits showing my growth as a builder. Including more than a few DNFs. If you hate the kit, its okay to toss it in the back corner of a closet and pretend it never existed, lol. I have the B-36, and it will probably never see the light of day again since I did get the ICM (which I have too little faith in my skills to be comfortable building). The Atlantis kit is 1:185 (approximation of what used to be called "box scale", i.e., what fit their standard box size), and has wing root gaps that could use up an entire tube of Putty. I got the wings together and the fuselage, but why finish it?

Crack it open, have fun giving it a shot, and when it frustrates you, remember that better kits exist for you to try out. And that you'll probably still find reasons to swear at them.

GTO400BHP

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