¹⁄35

M60A1 in the Austrian Army, 1968

Painting the Kit

Received a base coat of Tamiya flat black XF1. Next question was how to represent RAL 7013. I checked some internet pages and they recommended Tamiya Khaki Drab XF51. I doubted that this colour is suitable, but after a test and the final apply to the kit I was convinced. I took care that the black base was transparent on edges and panels. I added 2 other layers where the Khaki was mixed with Gunze Sangyo Flat White accordingly.

Next round was to add the decals. As the decals provided in the kit are only suitable for later versions, which would have require some modifications on the kit, I have chosen an earlier version which required the use of the prominent, full colour red-white roundels. I used those from Heller’s 1/72 Fouga Magister and numbers from Gunze Sangyo’s Somua S35 kit. As the numbers were covered with mud during the employment where I settled my scene, I did not take too much care on their accuracy.

I sealed the whole surface with Gunze Matt 20 and did some washing with black oils. Next was the weathering, according to the “MIG trick”, where brown, sand and white oils were dabbed on the kit. I removed them with a wide brush which has been diluted with white spirit.

The next day I added some pastels to resemble dust. The running gear was covered with a mixture of wet MIG powders and a pastel named Bohemian Earth.

Please test such mixtures in advance on the kit, as the result of the dried pastels may not suit your expectations. When the pastels were dry, I scrubbed off the recess with a stiff brush. I find this procedure far more easier than the application of dry pastels.

I added only a few scratches and only rust colour to the tracks, as the vehicles were maintained carefully. I could not resist to use the footprints set from Calibre 1/35 ! I pressed the foot-stamp into pastels and soon noticed that it is necessary to make the first prints on a towel to remove any excess of the pastels before it goes to the kit.