Hobby Hint

by Brian Cavet

This is the Tamiya 1/35 Bradley used in Operation Desert Storm. I did a few modifications to it by adding rubber flaps on the side and straps for hinges. I also removed the mounting points under the shovel for the armor shield.

In the never-ending quest to find products that can be used for my models, I went to a fabric store and "discovered" prismatic paper. These are ribbons that change colors depending on how the light hits it. I used some for the lenses of the periscopes. You can see in the photo has some are red, while others are green. It changed colors when the flash from the camera hit it - - just like it does in real life. The real M2A2 uses the prismatic lens so crewmen looking through them don't get blinded if someone is painting them with a laser beam; the prism reflects the beam.

Using "shoes" from Calibre 35, I dirtied up the surface with footprints. I applied Mr. Surfacer 500 with a stiff brush for the anti-slip surface. Since it is a lacquer based fluid, it etched into the plastic, which is what I hoped it would do.

The primary color I painted the Bradley with was Testors 2136 US Army/Marines Sand. The kit comes with the standard Tamiya glueable rubber band track and the Kelly's Heroes decal. After-market parts used were a Model point barrel and Grief Headlight Lens (2.3mm). The polyfoam base is by Custom Dioramics.

Photos by Jeff Junker