Gerald, Dani... thanks guys.

Gerald.... 16 straight days of bench time between 2 and 3 hours each day. Gotta love the holidays

Great work Marc! I love WW2 stuff, haven't done any for a while now, seem to keep getting myself into new modern armour projects!

The painting is superb, the chipping of the paint is excellent and the all round weathering very impressive. Is the slogan on the turret from dry transfers? I used some Archers set on a 1:48 T34/76 a while back that had similar phrases in red font.

Hi Jon... sorry for not replying sooner. 1st, thank you for the compliments
The writng on the turret is the kit decals

Hi Marc,

Stunning work!

You certainly have cracked it.

I find that doing a whitewash scheme is the most difficult effect to do.

I must attempt the hairspay method, your build is a benchmark to work to.

Cheers

Keith

hello

i must say this model is fantastic, i have just started the same model but will probably do a german version. I hope it turns out remotely as good as yours.

FANTASTIC !

Keith, Dez... thank you for the compliments. I really do appreciate them.

Superb work Marc, I like this one a lot

One quick question (seeing as I missed this before): How did you do the lightbulbs in the headlamps?

Thanks

Chris

It's a very nice model, Marc. I like the the way you have weathered the winter camouflage and added the mud. It turned out very well.

Cheers
Scott Fraser

Thanks Chris, glad you like it.

The reflectors are made from a punched dot of lead foil with shiny metal HVAC duct tape stuck to it, then cupped by taking the end of a brush and making circles form the middle out. All you need is a tiny hole in the back.

The bulb is made by dipping a thin piece of wire into some zap-a-gap CA glue. 1st I sand off the plating to roughen up the wire. That is a glass nail file BTW. It’s a very handy little gizmo. It just seems to never wear out. Put a couple small puddles of CA on a palette. Dip the end of the wire into some accelerator, let it dry for a sec then dip the wire into the CA puddle. The pic is a bit misleading because you really should dip it straight down for the best shaped bulb. Moving quickly, dip that back into the accelerator then into the glue again. Keep doing this until you get the size you want. The reason for the 2nd puddle of glue is the 1st one will harden from the accelerator. You may only get 2 dips before it skins over and if touch that, it’s real ugly and you have to start again. This works great for gear [auto-censored] levers for a 251 or 234 for example. Makes great width indicators too.

Scott... sorry, we posted atthe smae time... Thanks.

Hello Marc

could you please tell me about this hairspray method or show me a link to learn how to do it, it looks like a good way of achieving the weathered look

regards

Try this Dez:

HairSpray Technique

Hey Dez
Here is cut and paste of a post i put in another forum a few days back. After that, just google the term ... hairspray technique... and you will find lots of articles to read.

It is a pretty simple process. What you are doing is putting a water soluble layer between 2 coat of paint. Dissolve that middle layer and the top one flakes off.

Before you start you need to have a good idea in your head what you want the end result to look like.

1st thing to do is put down your base coat . It can be enamel or acyclic as long as you let it cure completely. Next is the hair spray. Personally, i but the stuff in a pump bottle so I can pour it in a cup for the airbrush for rear smooth coats. I put 2 coats of HS. Let that dry. Now comes the top coat.

Depend if I want something that is really badly worn with a lot of paint peeled, I will use and acrylic top coat and let it dry for maybe a 1/2 hour. Take a somewhat stuff brush dipped in water and start brush the surface. The water will get under the paint and start to dissolve the HS an the paint will start to flake off. Amount of water, brush stiffness and how hard you brush all affect how the paint peels. Be careful because once it starts it really get going and it is easy to over do.

If I am doing something where I really want to control the peeling, for example the distressed white wash on a T-34 I am working on. I am at that stage just now and I top coated with white enamel. Let it dry the same as before but since water will not react with the enamel paint you need to get it started. I decide where I want the peeling to be and I lightly scratch the surface, sometimes with a hobby knife blade or with a coarse sanding stick, being careful to just scratch the top coat. With a soft brush apply some water and wait about 5 minutes. If is starts to dry add more water. This will start to attack the HS and will start to peel with the stuff brush. This take a bit more "scrubbing" but you can keep it very localized.

It takes only a little practice but it's a lot of fun.

Great job. Looks like the real thing to me.

Thanks Mark.