Nice work so far Ron, very clean build and nice handling of the minor faults that have cropped up, am gonna watch with interest how the rest pans out fo you...

Alan, Nico is correct everything comes in the kit it is quite impressive also choice of a nicely molded plastic barrel or metal (which does have a fit problem which i will deal with later ).
Nico, i was under the impression (probably wrongly) the bedspring armor was also a field mod and could have been found on different varients but to be truthful i couldnt find any images which show a vehicle with any fenders on it at all so i will probably leave it the way it is, i do appreciate your comments.
Hi Diesel, im from england but i now live in Clinton just north of Knoxville,
Mark i appreciate the support.

I see you attached the tracks... how are you going to paint them?

Hi James, tracks will be painted on the vehicle this is the way i always have done it

A small update.

Steps 8 & 9, these went well with no major problems except for he hull mg see pic, point 1 is supposed to fit over point 2 and trap the ball to make the mg movable but it does not fit and i didnt see the need for it too so i just solid glued the whole deal


Steps 8 & 9 completed


Step 10, this is nothing more than the exhausts and covers, now here you have a choice dragons new slide molded ones which are a tad long or the two piece which are correct length i used the new ones. (top one)see pic below


Step 11 & 12, 11 consists of the external fuel tanks which i will not be using because of the bedspring armor so i skipped this step and 12 is the the handles and hatch on the engine deck and rear access hatch i also filled in the holes where the fuel tanks go.


Step 13, this is where i start getting into new waters part of this step consists of removing the plastic handles for the straps which hold down the ice cleats and replacing them with PE ones, now i knew i wouldnt be using the ice cleats because of the bedspring armor but i still put the handles and straps on for visual effect.


now needing a break from the small stuff i decided to put the turret together which is steps 16 & 17, and also address the issue of the metal barrel being too small for the hole, although the plastic barrel is nice being done using the slide mold technology it just isnt shiney like the metal one
So i first filled the hole with filler and squished the barrel in and left to harden.


I then cleaned around the hole and scraped a slight indention then dropped a little thin CA glue in and she looked good to go i also taped off the seam around the turret and used the same filler to create a weld bead i want to make this one look a little rough the weld seam in the pics still needs a little cleaning up.






this thing is starting to look like a tank

Ron- Don,t worry about the fenders, they are correct for your -34 !! Your kit is the T-34/85 UTZ = Ural Tank Zavod (factory) #183. Many of their T-34,s rolled out of the zavod with the rounded front fenders in 1944! The Ural Tank Zavod was formerly known as the Kharkov Locomotive Factory until 1941, it was then moved to Nizhny Tagil in the Urals. Cheers-

Rob-

MiG-17

Looks great so far!
And the weld seam on the turret is fantastic!

Hey Ron

I´m also thinking that the bedsprings are also some fieldmodifications, so it could be. But as you said, I don´t know any picture of this combination

If it is not to late, please add a further weld seam around the "filler" panels on both sides of the turret

regards Nico

You're making great progress on this one Ron, I'm enjoying seeing the factory assembly line in action!

Thanks for the comments guys,
Rob, appreciate the info that eases my mind
Nico yes i will add the small weld beads had to let the others harden so the tape didnt pull them off.

Steps 14 through 16 finish up the details of the hull all except the bedspring armor which will go on after the basecoat and decals everything goes on well through these stages there is a little pe work on the tool box and a nice kit supplied tow cable

for the tool box instead of cleaning of the plastic ends i just replaced them


tool box with PE fittings


tow cable complete and grab handles added


toolbox fitted and the rest of the tools, handles, lights etc,,


and here is where we are at as of now with steps 1 through 17 completed




thanks for looking and feel free to comment in anyway.

Just a short update today i couldnt get motivated so i piddled with the PE bedspring armor a little, the instructions are very vague for the pe parts but its not overly complicated luckily and i soon figured it out.
All pieces are just posed for the time being.

ok guys this is the last update on the build because its ready paint

Steps 18, 19, 20 and 21 were the turret details which went ahead perfectly without issue. I also finished the small weld bead on the turret.






Steps 22 and 23 are the final build steps which is the bedspring armor for the turret, again the instructions are not very clear but can be figured out. Here are the final images of the built tank as its sits ready for painting, the bedspring armour is loose and will be removed for this.








Thanks for stopping in and stayed tuned for the painting and weathering.

Damn, thats some fine construction work there! Tracks look great especially.

If I may repeat an earlier question, how are you going to paint the tracks? Yes, you're going to paint them on the model, but how?

Biffa-- I have the same question as Neil, how are you going to pint the track? I assume you glued it to the road wheels.
thanks
DJ

Very interesting and informative blog. Thanks for sharing.

I have a question about the engine deck intake. The review on PMMS talk about a fitting problem when you use the PE louvers as is. It seems that they didn't thought about the thickness of the deck intake and end up with a little gap. Wich seems to be the case from looking at your model?

Thanks guys, i will be showing step by step the paint process it will be easier to show than explain

Richard, the intake cover fits fine, mine is not fastened yet i need to remove it to paint and may have shifted a tad in some images, the only bad fitting vent covers i was aware of were the one for the vents pointed out below, everything else it fine.
*edit* Richard, having just gone back and checked the pmms review and retaken my steps in that area it seems i without even thinking about it when cleaning this part or cutting out the grill hole scraped along the inside edge to alieve this very slight gap thanks i will add this point to step 7.

Very nice build Ron. I'll be very interested to see the painting process. I've always painted the wheels and track seperately and have always wondered how you guys that do the opposite actually do it.

Cary-- could not agree with you more on how these guys paint the tow cables, track and road wheel after assembling the entire model. Good question.
DJ

Hey Biffa

I'm in Knoxville - you should swing by our IPMS meeting sometime. We meet at the new Hobbytown in Turkey Creek @ 6:30pm 2nd Tues. of each month. We have a few great modellers, including David Lakin, who does outstanding figures and has had some of his stuff in Fine Scale's Great Scale Modelling Annuals - some good plane guys too. Really just myself and one other guy into armor. Would love to meet you and talk shop.

I'm a transplant too - from Dallas, Texas. Moved here about 2 years ago. Take it easy - come visit us!

Hi guys thanks for the comments and for following this, K S i know the place and might just try make it out next week if the wife isnt working that night i like to hang out in that place anyway heh

well painting has begun now since the tiger is now out of the way.

first thing everything was primered with flat black auto primer of the cheapest variety


next up the basecoat which is mm acrylic dark green i let a little of the black show through in places and using my airbrush close in i painted the wheels while leaving the tires black this is important because they would be hard to paint later.


then i lightened up the dark green with a little mm desert tan and did a little fading here and there just to break things up a bit


now the fun begins, i did a filter of yellow ochre and ivory black oil paint working the filter in using a brush and oil thinner dont worry about making a mess it will all clean off if need be also make sure not to do this on an enamel base without some kind of sealer.




once all worked in i then began cleaning it a little with downward strokes to create a little streaking


now then its time to paint the tracks, to do this i use a small brush and acrylic craft paint from walmart yes the cheap stuff works fine this is just a basecoat, i made sure to put a couple of thin coats rather then a thick one this makes it easier to get close into the wheels without touching and it wont dry and cover all the track detail up.


with that done i painted in the small straps and put a base coat on the mufflers and next up is a coat of future on the turret to ready for decals, this is the only part i am kind of anxious about getting them to lay across all those handes and what not.

I'm enjoying watching this one come to life Ron, keep it up.

Hi , a point of engineering , the weld seams on the turret are not welds , but are the overspill of the casting material from the poorly fitted wooden patterns as the mold is made. It is impossible to weld cast steel . This is based on 37 years in heavy engineering . This is one of the urban myths about tanks esp the T 34 series . Otherwise a very good build . I hope I have not offended you in any way cheers ian

I've enjoyed watching this build also, and the 'paint after build' sbs is especially interesting to me. Thanks for sharing.

This is really nice.
Thanks for the effort.
Shaun

I'm curious about the ochre and black spot technique. Why did you do that and what is the purpose??

Alan, This technique ustilizes oils and solvent to add depth and filtering other colors into the finish. You can use different colors to acheive the deseried effect. Missing-Lynx has an article by MIG that explains the process.
I use this technique quite often with great results, tou just have to be patient. I prime my finished model in black or dk. brown, paint base color then seal in Future Floor wax. After letting dry for 36 hrs its just about bullet proof and can handle any application of oils. I use Windsor and Newton oils and Artist's Gum Turpetine for cutting. Avoid the natural turpentine- it can ruin all your hard work on your model in an instant!

Nice T34-85!!

Chris