Sunday, July 25, 2021

Empress M422 "Mighty Mite" Light Vehicle

 I am not sure when I ordered the Empress M422, but the first photograph I have is at the very end of 2020.

It was a very easy kit to put together, the only issues I had were extraneous texture on the bonnet and some issues with the "grill" on the front. I did add a small tarpaulin rolled up on the bonnet (clear of the grill on the top) to reinforce the windscreen, a a bed roll in the load space to reinforce the rear door.

I undercoated it with Citadel Chaos Black and then removed the (still separate) wheels from the box I use as a base for spraying. The body (and various figures) were then sprayed with Humbrol 155 Olive Drab.

The wheel hubs were then hand painted with Humbrol Acrylic 155 Olive Drab.

The wheel arches and the underside were given some muddy texture with Citadel Stirland Mud texture paint, a bit of Citadel Typhus Corrosion for additional texture and plus a coat of Humbrol 29 Dark Earth to bring it all together. Citadel Agax Earthshade brought out the final texture.

The seats were painted with Humbrol 29 Dark Earth.

The decals were provided by Rubicon again, probably the wrong numbers (WW2 Jeep numbers)
And I managed to seriously mess up one of the USMC prefixes, so had to use one from another set which was more yellow and thicker.
That rear axle needs looking at.

Well, the interior. Well...

After trying some of the Humbrol Weathering powders on the Empress T-55, I thought I would add some interior weathering. I again used Army painter Dark Tone as the medium, but it sort of got out of hand...

It does look either like a shag pile carpet, or someone has been making mud pies in it.

You may ask "where is the driver and crew", to which I have to reply "somewhere in a box, undercoated". I will eventually find them and paint them.