RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Hi,

This post is a WIP report for the painting and weathering of the tank itself, minus installation of clear parts, accessories and figures.

Here, the tank is given an acrylic coat of AMMO MIG-081 US Olive Drab Post WW II.
And then after markings applications, it was a whole morning of pigment application. I used AMMO AK-141 Vietnam Earth, then some AK-042 European earth and some MIG-3019 Army Green to create some green ondulations. As this build represents a vehicle long time in service in Vietnam, the original Olive Green needs to be faded because of the sun and wear. Be real careful about the amount of Vietnam earth you dilute in the pigment fixer, putting too much will ruin the model in my view. Being overly realistic with lots of red Vietnam mud and earth on a tank does not necessarily make it good looking... You will end up with a red tank...
Tamiya provides markings on a small sheet for only one vehicle, a known vehicle of the 25th Infantry Division seen in many pictures. This is really weak from Tamiya considering the multitude of units that used the vehicle in Vietnam and elsewhere. I choose instead to make my own vehicle of the 11th ACR, reuse what I had available in store, and make a few Vietnam war gratifies that would be realistic for the time. This makes the model truly unique.
Only the Tamiya US ARMY and serial number decals for the sides were used. Decals of cold war and modern US vehicles in 1/16 are simply non existant.
It was normal for Sheridans in Vietnam to be given 2 names, one on the shield for the MG, and one on the main gun. Let's say that this commander named his machine gun "Sabrina", likely in honour of his favorite R & R girlfriend in Long Binh.
The tank itself is sarcastically named "Birth Control" and is applied on the main gun. Both names were done with Archer Transfers.
Good frontal view.
A good looking weathering can be made in a couple of hours using pigments. It just take practices. Don't try to do application of a specific color all at once, you might ruin your pain job. The idea is to mix a bit of pigments in pigment fixer and do a wash on the vehicle. Apply light layers incrementally on top of each other until the appropriate weathering has been achieved. The fixer takes a few minutes to dry between applications so it is a fast method. Then some light application of black pigment is done on lower areas. Then the raised sections are dry brushed with Dark Steel pigment, without overdoing it. Some pigment light earth dust is brushed freely on the model. Then a final application of pigment fixer is sprayed directly with on the tank with the airbrush to seal the whole thing.
Tamiya has created turret halves to open the turret and access the electronics. Although practical, the joint shows at the front, which is not ideal.

A few more pictures.
Next step is to install the clear part, and paint the accessories and figures.

Regards, Louis

Amazing work as always Louis.

lmcq11 wrote: My vision of the future for guys like me with multiple RC vehicles is a unique and very good RC electronic pack, enclosed, removable and protected, and that can be switched to any vehicles within a 5 minute plug and play config task with the pre-wired static components. By pushing the concept further, even the tank gearbox could be made to be plug and play, connecting to standard shafts attached to sprockets.

I also like this idea as I am slowly building up a collection and it doesn't make sense for me to have a few hundred dollars worth of electronics and gearboxes in each model sitting on a shelf. I will be sharing the elmod fusion pro from my jumbo with the tamiya jagdpanther I have on my bench and then whatever I build next. The elmod bluetooth dongle should make changing the tank profile quick and easy but I haven't thought too much about the cables yet.
The gearboxes are a bit more of a challenge. The PDSGB is easily shared between tanks but until they start making tamiya compatible shafts it limits their use in builds like this one.

Louis,

It looks fantastic!

The overall look and weathering effects are quite convincing.

Barry

Thank you B_Man and Barry !

This post is for the painting of the figures and accessories.

I am a RC tank builder, not a figure painter. We all have our strengths. So, the finishing of the figures is always on a best effort basis with the two hours I am willing to put on each. I have found that the simpler I keep the faces, the better they seem to be... From experience, me trying to apply shadows and highlights on faces just create a big mess. So, I keep it simple.

The scenario for this build is the US invasion of Cambodia during April-June 1970, which makes me realize it is the 50th anniversary. This was a limited incursion to destroy enemy bases. Sheridans of the 11th ACR (Armored Cavalry Regiment) accompanied by its M-113 ACAV spearheaded the operation. The build is showing a vehicle of the 11th in this operation as seen in references. As such, it needs to have a lot of stowage to be realistic. Can't show a clean vehicle as if it was on a week-end show of force on a German autobahn, or on a short patrol around base. It needs to be messy and everything really dirty, men included.

Overview of the stowage and the crew that were prepared so far. I am still waiting for a few items in the mail and to build a few myself, but this will have to do. I order to determine what to show on the tank, I put myself in the shoes of the commander to determine what I would bring for at least a month long operation, in the middle of nowhere, thick jungle, bad roads, in the heat of summer. Need to be able to sustain operations for a few days between resupply, length of mission and enemy strength undetermined. I addition to the few items that the tank can carry internally, most of the stuff will have to fit in the turret basket and around the hull.

So, here we go, just for the fun of it;

- 6 boxes of C-rations, 12 meals each. checked.
- 7 cases of Carling Black Label beer, checked.
- 22 boxes of .50 ammo for the M2s, checked.
- 5 extra boxes of 7.62mm ammo for the coax mg, checked.
- 4 boxes for 40mm grenades, actually used to carry the crews personal stuff, its waterproof, one each. checked.
- 4 20L Water jerrycans, for crew and radiator. checked.
- 4 20L Fuel Jerrycans, emergency reserve, checked.
- 1 small cooler, filled with frozen Ram steaks and a few cold beers, checked.
- Tent, waterproofed sheets, covers. checked.
- Pack with stove and mess kit. checked.
- Commander's M-16, checked.
- 4 cots, missing.
- 1 case of 5.56mm rounds, missing.
- 2 cases of 81mm mortar rounds for the mortar platoon, missing.
Starting with the crew;

This is the commander. He will be on the lookout in the birdcage with his M2, covering the frontal area. He got 5 gooks already.
This is the loader, sitting outside with his CAR-15 carbine, tired, fed up with the whole thing. As the tank is navigating through thick bushes, he is on the lookout on the left side for anything in the bushes where his M2 is not well positioned to suppress, shoot first, ask questions later. His uniform is very dirty from being in operation for the past month.
The driver, resigned to his fate in case of mines.
For the drive through a thick jungle trail, the commander invited 4 soldiers of the M-113 platoon to ride on his Sheridan. This has the benefits of providing extra eyes and firepower for the tank, and freeing space on the crowded M-113.

This rifleman will be assigned to checking the right side with his M-16. He is also armed with an M-72 rocket launcher and can't wait to blast anything with it. He carries Malboro cigarettes and what seems to be bug repellent and oil jugs on his helmet cover strap.
A Vietnam war scene is realistic when presenting black soldiers. He is armed with an M-60 machine gun and a M-1911 pistol. He is covering the back and right of the tank.
This rifleman is equipped with a M-16 rifle / M-203 grenade launcher combination, and will be covering the front right of the tank as point man who will shoot at anything that moves. He will also look for any trace of footstep in the mud that would indicate potential mines.
This soldier is armed with a single shot M-79 grenade launcher and shot gun. He is short, tough and stocky. He will cover the rear and right area. He likes to use devastating buckshot rounds at close range with both, perfect for bush clearing and stir up anything hiding in there. He also chain smoke Malboro's and carry Vietnam death cards on his helmet as business card.
Close up on the 7.62 ammo boxes
Close up on the 40mm grenade ammo boxes.
continuing on following post.

Close up on the M2 .50 cal ammo boxes
Water Jerrycans, modified from Special Ops
Fuel Jerrycans, modified from Special Ops
Small cooler, special ops
Carlings Black Label cardboard cases, from RMP
The tools were painted and installed.
Last step of this build is to install the clear parts, place all the prepared accessories and figures on the tank.

Regards, Louis

I didn’t think it was possible, but your builds just get better each time. Those detail photos look so realistic. Congratulations on whatever Tank of the Month competition this will win.

Another superb build Louis the crew and accessories top it off nicely

Cheers, Lee.

Thank you Eastnische and Lee.

The building of Vietnam war era vehicles allows the modeller a lot of liberties that are no longer possible with current environment and vehicles. Uniforms and equipment of professional modern armies look very much the same now. As much as I would like to make Bundeswehr or any western army soldiers look cool, different from on another, or have something special, its difficult. The gypsy looking style of conscripted or mercenary armies has been replaced by professional "Tacti-cool" soldiers loaded with complex standard equipment, lots of padding, same body shape, all very controlled and politically correct.

Here is a link for a Vietnam themed Black Label beer TV add from the 80s I saw while doing some research. If anything, it shows how the world has evolved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2E-EzYhOuA

Hi, the model is finished. I was a really quick build considering I started it one month ago exactly.

It was simple to convert the static Sheridan into an RC version. The only design challenge was to make the Tamiya sprocket shaft fit the Mato 5.0 gearbox as seen in the first couple of posts. The rest was real easy and the Sheridan runs like a charm. As I already had electronics available, I must have saved about $500 which I partly reinvested into figures and accessories for a unique build that is both RC and display scale model.

I took the model out in the sun for a warm weather look and feel photoshoot. Although I painted it Olive Green, the Vietnam earth pigments made it turn into Olive Drab instead. Vietnam offers a variety of Sheridan weathering options, the longer in country, the more dirty and customized it was.