Well time to get started on the Dragon SU-76i.



Starting it off, it has the feel of a Pz.III kit from Dragon.

For those who want to make the suspension workable, cutting off the pins would work, with the exception of the first and last swing arm due to the suspension. And just a note if building, to ensure the end of the torsion bars that the flat side is up.




Now Dragon would have been nice if they had provided fenders without the holes for mounting the tools, cause filling the wholes with the non-skid is a pain. But, to fill them, I used Tamiya putty, and then cleaned up with Tamiya Lacquer Thinner and a cotton swap. This won't fill in the pattern, but in my mind, the Russian would have cut the tie downs off with a torch, thus leaving a mark.



With most of the Pz.III lower chassis done, I like to spray a little primer color under the rear deck and into the radiator intakes, this covers up the color of the plastic under the photo-etched grills.




Now for the taunting cut. Dragon does not provide a new upper mid deck, thus a section needs to be cut out for the gun. They provide measurement, and the drawing are not to scale, so measuring will need to be done.




Next update will be mounting the upper deck and building the gun.

Very cool; just bought the Tamiya SU-76M but haven't started it yet; looking forward to seeing how your build of the Dragon kit goes compared to reviews of Tamiya's kit; different versions but plenty of similarities; looks like a good kit

Glad to see this one. Following along!

Some more work completed.

With the lower chassis almost done, minus the wheels, time to start on the upper hull. I assemble the breach, no big issues, bu not alot of details.



Now mounting it to the upper hull, there is an issue with the instructions. Parts K3 and K4 are not needed. These will impede the pivot brackets holding the gun in place.



Mounting the upper structure is no big issue either, but there is a gap when mounting the mantlet. It does look like the mantlet is a little warpes, but I applied some Tamiya Putty and cleaned it up with Tamiya Lacquer Thinner, issue solved.





That's all for now.

Kevin,
Nice job of geting that mantlet to fit right around that angle. Nice texture too.

Gaz

"Now Dragon would have been nice if they had provided fenders without the holes for mounting the tools, cause filling the wholes with the non-skid is a pain. But, to fill them, I used Tamiya putty, and then cleaned up with Tamiya Lacquer Thinner and a cotton swap. This won't fill in the pattern, but in my mind, the Russian would have cut the tie downs off with a torch, thus leaving a mark."

What a great idea! I just did Dragon's Stug III A which like this SU-76i is really a kit of something else with a conversion kit included. I just left my holes as they were because I couldn't think of any way to sand them without destroying the detail. I'm remember this idea for my own SU-76i build, thank you!

So it has been a while, but work has been progressing, track and barrel finally arrived from HobbyEasy.

After assembly, tank was primed with Ammo by Mig Dark Yellow primer and preshaded with Black. This was followed by a thin coat of Ammor by Mig Russian Base.




I applied some chipping using Vallejo German Grey before moving on to pin washes with Ammo by Mig Dark Brown and my favorite thinner, AK White Spirits.





No onto finishing the detail painting and assembling the MasterClub resin track.

correct me, you use mixture of yellow green and NATO green to spray brushed the kit.

Kevin,
Glad there are more photos here. It's definitely And ibteresting looking war machine!

Gaz

I used a Dark Yellow primer with Black preshading, then applied Ammo by Mig Russian Base.

So the run to the end.

So many of you may know if you have followed my previous blogs, I am not a fan of DS Track. So for this kit I decided on a MasterClub resin set. While I am 50/50 on their resin tracks, this set was not too bad, but had to drill out every link for the pins, but my Dremel with a #74 bit made quick work of it, plus a bit of a mess.



With the track assembled, a coat of Ammo by Mig Track Primer was added with some pigments and washes. This was then detailed with AK Interactive Dark Steel pigments.

The final weathering on the tanks was accomplished with Vallejo's new weathering agents: Streaking Grime, Rain Marks, Fuel Stains, and Oil Stains. With some assorted pigments, I call this one done.






I must say this is not a bad kit, and a great subject from Dragon. I would definitely recommend this kit, and it is a fun build.

Kevin,
Great job! I'll be using this as a visual reference for weathering.

Gaz