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Tamiya BT-7 Review and Build

Back to business

Moving back onto to where I left off, the time has come to start laying down some primer. Typically I will use whatever is within reach when it comes to primer. I have most recently been using new AK Interactive primers and thinners. I found these primers have a nice smooth finish, dry quickly and are dead flat in appearance. This is not to say that I will not also use Vallejo, Tamiya, as well as a wide selection of auto primer rattle cans, from time to time.

Once the primer coat is down, I inspect things for any major issues that will undoubtedly crop up during the finishing stages. It is much easier to correct any problems now rather than later. Nice and clean, it is time to move on to shading and base coats.

For starters, I used the Shadow paint from AK’s 4BO Russian Green Modulation set. Since I will be painting this tank in Dunkelgrau, or German Grey if you will, I paint in thin layers, and some of the greenish shadows in the corners and near some edges will enhance the top coats of paint.

With the pre-shade done and out of the way, it is top coat time. I chose to use Vallejo’s AFV Painting System: Dunkelgrau. I was lucky enough to have done a review for this here on Armorama a while back, and I really liked the color shade of this set.

Taking three of the four colors I laid down thin over lapping coats, not necessarily trying to apply a modulation, but more to find what felt right for what I was painting. I left the corners darker, and lightened flat panels, trying to blend thing cohesively throughout the model.

After laying down the top coats I applied some of the lightest highlighting color from the set somewhat randomly to high points. As I move through the subsequent stages here on this kit I revisit some of the colors in brush form over the high points to tone them back for what some of the weathering does not catch.