Remco, any pretty markings for this beast that you have before us?

Bob

Bob,

There are big decals to place. The numbers 236 are planned to place on the turret side walls on the front. And on the front plate also a big 236 decal.

I saw a photo in the book Soviet tanks in combat 1941/45 from concord publising. On page 50 is a blury photo of a T-34 in Vyborg june 1944.

I find it a funny thing becouse the tank has also some vegitation on it in the city and its missing its 2nd and 4th wheels

Fun to build...

Regards,

Remco

Remco,


That sounds like some of the vehicles that I see in line for their driving test here I cannot wait to see those big numbers on your build.

Bob

I am nearly there with this T80 I just need to tone down the rust pigment on the tow cable on the left side.

Hi Darren, very realistic model. Good job. Bud rust effect ?




good idea Darren

My T-55 and weathering stage...

Erhan,
Now that is a TOW cable.

Bob

everybody,
Apologies for not having been around for a while, sorry - both personal and private.
But having picked up an evilbay bargain a couple of weeks ago in the shape of Dragon's 1/35 M4A2 (76) Red Army - now seems to be a good time to get my campaigning boots back on again.
Pictures and words will follow shortly.

I have decided that this T80 with era is now finished, I hope you like it.

Well, having just completed my entry for the KV campaign, I'll now turn my attention to this one. Currently, my short list to do consists of 2 choices:

1) Skif t-55, backdated to a T-54
2) Tamiya T-72, backdate to a T-72A using the Miniarm conversions

Decisions, decisions, decisions....

Sorry about the 3 deletions - it's been a while and I forgot how to post pictures...
Here's my project:

A few issues stand in the way of this kit being superb: The welds on the hull are too low, the metal barrel is not intended to take the muzzle-brake and the 'instructions' are more of a guideline (Dragon has added a separate sheet with two corrections, but there are many more, ranging from parts being mis-numbered to not being mentioned at all)
Added welds by ET model:

I was determined to use the metal barrel, so I drilled a 2.5mm diameter and 5mm deep hole into the muzzle brake and filed the end of the barrel down by about 0.5mm.
Construction's pretty much complete, time to hone my airbrush skills...
Dierk

Here’s where I am with this project to date.

First, the hull . . .


And the turret . . .


If you’re interested I went ahead and started a detailed build log over in the Braille Scale Forum here.

@Bigrip-Bob, that’s some heavily textured amount of mud whooping you’ve got going there on the lower hull chassis. Looks effective to me so I’ve noted your formula for future use, thanks!

@4-BO-Green-Remco, that is a nice base color. I couldn’t help but notice that only half of the front fender is missing. I understand how you could lose the side fenders due to damage from trees, boulders, buildings or another tank but it would be hard to shear off only half a fender up front? Compromising the fender with that kind of damage would wipe out the entire fender leaving the tracks exposed.

@CMOT-Darren, this campaign is just beginning and your already done! Nice job on the T-80.

@erhntly-Erhan, you’re already down to the weathering stage on your build. Soon you’ll be finished too. Did you encounter any assembly issues with this kit?

@Maeusemelker-Dierk, I was looking at obtaining the 72nd scale version of the kit your building and until now I was unaware that a 35th scale version of this kit was available.

-Eddy

Thank you eddy but I didn't have a lot of free time to let things build up on me.

Hi everybody!!!
I'm planning on building an MTLB, artillery, tractor. The kit is SKIF's and is coming from the bottom of my stash..
I'll paint it in a green-gray camo used in Afghanistan!!!

Hello Orestis,
Will your stash fall over when you take this kit out? What is the name of your build.


Bob

Hi Bob!!
Actually, this is how it resurfaced!!!
I was searching something, the stash collapsed (fortunately, without any major loses), and the kit saw the daylight again!!!
As for the name, I might as well named it "The Mule"

@ Eddy: It's a nice kit (with a few pit-falls to catch out the unwary), but full retail is a bit steep for what it is IMO.

Only fed the carpet monster with one part - the very last one I sawed off the sprue but found a suitable replacement in my spares-box.
I haven't had my AB long - this is the second model I'm using it on. Pre-shading and main colour went swimmingly:

More next time.

Hi Eddy, no problem for PST kits. (only, there is no TOW cable in box )

Hey guys,

@ Braille (Eddy)- I genneraly agree that it is a strange damage on the fender.
I looked at it with a magnafier lens but came to the conclusion that the size compared with the right fender is smaller. Even stranger is the fact that on a other photo from the same unit, a model 1941 has the same damage but on the left fender... .
The base collor in the photo is a bit to light, its is in daylight a bit darker.

@ Maeusemelker (DIERK)- Looking good dierk! Nice color!
I lost 3 parts of my T-34 while building... Never lost so many parts on one kit...

@CMOT-Darren- Your armor looks nice! Love the wooden log on the rear!

Bigrip74 (Bob R.)- The decals are in place and the T-34 is now being ''faded''.
I never used dry markings for decals. It almost went wrong because the numbers stick to my desk while cutting them out .

Regards,

Remco

For the log I used the stem off of a Fuschia that was last years growth, because it has a skin on it which mimics bark quite well a wash was all it needed. Thank you for the comment.

everybody,
Things were obviously going too well, then I stupidly followed some tips I found in an article called 'The complete Future' which stated that 'some modellers dip decals in Future before applying them which not only eliminates the need for setting fluids but also silvering' or words to that effect...sounds too good to be true, and unless I did something wrong, it is
Shinier than a really shiny thing:

A coat of matt lacquer had no discernible effect
As I really liked the slogan (which BTW reads 'For (the) Motherland') I persevered, so next I covered the lettering and turret numbers with masking fluid and applied another coat of paint - partial success. Partial, because there was no more silvering, but removing the masking fluid also removed fragments of the decals
I managed to patch up the decals with paint (I had to redo some of the letters completely) and by adding some chalk dust pigment disguised the fact that the red paint didn't quite match the red lettering

The 'logs' are stems from last year's Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis or Solidago virgaurea) - insects go wild for them and now, I love them too (the centres look less white in real life)
I'm quite pleased with the way the headlights turned out: I painted them with a metallic silver enamel and covered the lenses with masking fluid prior to airbrushing, as I considered the PE light guards to be too flimsy, but the plastic parts to be too chunky I had no option but to spend hours putting them on a diet by very carefully using a flat and round file as well as a very sharp craft knife:

Unfortunately, the metal barrel provided in the kit is not suitable in combination with the muzzle-brake - at least not OOB...something I found out after attaching the brake to the barrel with CA, then finding out it's 5mm longer than the styrene barrel. Removed the brake and gradually drilled a 2.5mm hole - any more would've destroyed it, so to get the barrel to fit I had to file the end down by 0.5mm. Where there is a will, there is a relative


Just got to sort out some stowage for the rear shelf and attach the chains holding on the logs properly.

@Maeusemelker-Dierk,

Excellent save on the decals. With all of the extra work you've put into the parts to bring them up to better render the scale size of the real vehicles parts and detail your build is turning out to be a real treat.

Since you have the model right in front of you I thought you might be interested in checking to see if the length of the kits barrel with muzzle brake are or near the correct length after modifying your barrel to get the muzzle brake to fit? PMMS did some kit and aftermarket barrel / muzzle brake comparisons here.

I like the logs and rust effect you managed on the running gear and suspension!

-Eddy