Old Dominion Open - IPMS Richmond

On February 25th I attended Old Dominion Open Hobby Show, hosted by IPMS Richmond.
It was good show, a lot of good models on the tables, and quite impressive vendors' area.
As always it was great occasion to meet some old friends, and make some new ones.
The only unhappy  thing was how armor categories were divided :( My beloved braille scale armor was joined with 1/48th scale in Tracked Armor Vehicles, and to make it worse in Armored Cars, Softskin and Artillery categories it was placed together with 1/35th. Very unfortunate decision, which may keep away braille scale modelers from this show.
However I was quite lucky, and 3 of my models received awards in other categories.

28mm Demolition Team

1/72 Fighting For Vodka!

1/35 M4 Early Sherman, Italy, 1944 

It was good start of 2012 season, and I hope it will get better along the way.

1/35 M4 Sherman Early Tamiya - Completed

After previous episode I had Sherman sealed and ready for the DIRT & MUD TIME. First I built up layers of mud with different tones, with help of AK Interactive products. To achieve volume of it, I mixed them with white plaster (Plaster of Paris). When all the layers dried up, I added some more dust using various pigments. At the end, despite my earlier resolution, I eventually decided to make small base for Sherman.

1/35 M4 Sherman Early Tamiya - Workbench Part 4

While working on Firefly, I also gave some attention to bigger Sherman. I slowly started weathering process, which is in its very initial stage. I applied oil wash and first filter from Winton artistic oils.

1/35 M4 Sherman Early Tamiya - Workbench Part 3

Another update. Maybe it's a small progress, but in fact it took me a while. First I applied clear glossy coat, which resulted in rough texture. After sanding and several coats of clear I was finally ready for decals.

1/35 M4 Sherman Early Tamiya - Workbench Part 2

While working on braille scale Firefly, I also did some work on his bigger brother.
Painted tracks and rubber bands on road wheels. Following the pattern, I painted all hand tools.

1/35 M4 Sherman Early Tamiya - Workbench

Upon one of my friends request, I decided to deal with Sherman in 1/35th scale, and M4 Early made by Tamiya landed on my workbench.