Congrats on your getting PhD! Must have been a lot of work. Great build and I enjoyed the progress photos.

Nice progress on this Sean, I'm really looking forward to seeing you paint it up, those schemes are real exotic!

Oh no, I'm not there yet, but getting there slowly but surely. Grad school is up next.

On a modeling note, I should have an update tonight with the whole thing primed and possibly preshaded. Depends on what color scheme I plan on using.

Looking good Sean. Cant wait to see some paint on this!

Did you ever manage to find a T-72B turret? My order from hobbyeasy arrived last week, been sat looking at the wonderful miniarm turret, but sadly with no model to stick it on as I left all my model stuff at home. I too am doing my studies, just finished my final year at university, very eager to get home and continue work on my many ongoing projects! Good luck with your work.

Thanks Rob. I got everything I need to complete a T-72B. I got my things from Historica Books and from Hobby Easy. I should get a primer on this thing tonight, as I am adding small details as we speak

Here's a small update:

I took a combination of Squadron White Putty and liquid cement to give a rougher texture to the turret and rear fuel drum.







Also, I got Voyager's new modern russian antenna mount for my upcoming T-72B build and it looks great! I had 4 so I could spare one for this build.





Primer goes on tonight if this headache goes away...my room isn't very well vented and the fumes got to me as I wasn't wearing my respirator today

As always, thanks for looking!

O, oops. I didn't read your posting carefully before. Congrats on finishing undergrad then- still a lotta work. Keep us updated b/c it's looking better and better.

Just a small update. Got some primer on there to tie it all together. I also nicked the rubber on the wheels.

I plan on adding a tarp and a figure as well to go along with the base as I think I will make the vehicle look abandoned.

Here it is with some primers. Once I have the little things fixed I'll add some preshade and a base coat.

Does anyone know what colors Soviet made African tanks were?
I'm assuming colors that were applied before shipping them out.







As always, thanks for looking!

Hi Sean great to see some progress.

That Voyager antenna set looks great! I have Modelpoint ones at home but they lack the PE plate for the bottom that these ones have, thats a real nice little touch.

As for original colours I had thought that most export tanks were just shipped out in the standard Soviet Dark Green, and then repainted. But I maybe wrong. Export models isn't one of my areas of expertise. Well nothing is really, I'm still learning as I go along!

Here we have a base coat of Tamiya Nato Green and glossed up ready for fading with oils. This is something totally new to me so please bare with me.





Also, has anyone else had an issue with the sprockets? Mine are terribly out of alignment and its been a pain trying to pry them apart. I may have to saw it in half but I'd rather not. Can anyone offer some AM sprockets or advice as to prying the glued haves apart?

As usual, thanks for looking!

So I started the weathering process. This will be my second finished model since my restart into the hobby so this is vehicle is for the purposes of experimentation.

First, I corrected the sprocket issue by sawing it in half and then joined them again by using the tube from the ink pen with a correct alignment.






So I began with a semi gloss coat and did a little oil dot fading to see how the affect would be. I am missing a few oil shades so I moved on with a subtle wash and dusting by beginning with MiG Brown Wash and then the dusting was done by adding Buff oil by MiG to the mixture and then laying it over.






So I corrected the over dusting and sprayed Gunze Mr. Flat from the can and am getting ready for the next phase, which I believe will be adding some lighter and darker tones to break up the monochromatic paint scheme.

I understand I am out of order in terms of weathering order but this is a big learning experience for me as I do not want to mess things up when I move on to better projects this summer.

If there are any tips please don't hold back and let a "brotha know" any suggestions you may have.

As usual, thanks for looking

Sean I completed this model myself OOTB only a few weeks ago. My weathering was to depict a fairly well used but not ancient tank in Soviet service. I thought I would show a couple of pics rather than trying to explain with loads of writing.






Basically my weathering operation is this:

Once painted I then drybrushed with a darker green and then on some areas a lighter green to get a 'used' look. Then I gave it a coat of matt varnish. Then came some random paint chips which I do with a sponge creating them with a light green color and then picking out areas with a rust color and a fine brush. Then comes a dark brown wash (Mig Productions) and then some more earthy tones drybrushed where dirt would accumulate. Then I stipled a mix of pigments in various likely places before setting them with the Mig solution. Then I just used a pencil to outline the metallic sheen on some surfaces.

I'm not sure if all of that comes through in the photos as the camera I used is way below par.

Sorry to go on, hope this helps.

For what its worth the build is looking great so far. I love the texture and look of the turret. It will look great weathered.

Thanks for the help...your T-62 looks amazing and I will take you advice.

Does anyone else have some tips as well?

So here is an update finally. First I want to thank those who have assisted me with the project thus far. I asked Alexandre (kaiserine) for advice about weathering and based on what he said and a little more experimenting I was able to achieve some results I never thought I would have imagined.

I took a slow approach and used the oil dot filter method using MiG oils and then pigments on top of them while still relatively wet. This fixed the pigment to the surface and allowed for really great control. Thanks Alexandre!

Here are pictures of my progress thus far:








As usual, thanks for looking!

Hey Sean your painting is looking really good so far. Your dust effect looks very convincing and not too over done. Here’s a quick tip, something I don’t know if you have tried or not, but fading with oils. I forgot what the exact term is for it, but something I use and many others within the model world use too. Radom dot of oil paint applied to the surface of the model to create faded and streaky paint job. Here a quick example I have done for you, it’s a little harsh and once applied to an actual paint scheme will look much better. You can use and kind of oil paint for this process, darker colors towards the outside of the panel and lighter towards the center. For Greens you can use white, yellow, light green, or light and dark browns. Just apply dots with a paint brush, it doesn’t have to be perfect, but don’t let it dry out or it’s going to be a real pain to work with.


Once applied just take a brush and moisten it in paint thinner and streak the paint downwards. You can repeat the process a couple of times until you get the effect you want. If you mess it up, can always remove it and start over again, providing your base coat is sealed.


But other than that, your model looks really good to me. Keep up the good work.
Chris

Thanks alot Chris. I did use the method you described. People refer to it as the oil dot filter or fading method. In conjunction with pigments it yields a very nice streaking effect which I can't really capture with my point and shoot digital camera.

I got more work done today and ordered a few more things to get what I need to complete my model.

I also started on my figure as well, which is my first time in a long time painting a figure...

Thanks everyone else for looking

Glad I could help Sean. It's just a great way to add more constrast to a simple paint job. I can't wait to see the rest of it. I have order some stuff my self, I need some nuts and bolts so I can have for the plough which a little bit more work than I first thought. I keep changing out parts and working out better ways to construct some of it. But keep up the good work on your 62
Chris

The weathering is coming along really well Sean.

Thanks Karl.

Here is the latest installment as I finally start to mess with composition for the diorama I'm planning.

I am looking at the landscape of Ethiopia and basing my diorama from there.

I also started painting the figure and its a very nice consuming process to say the least in which I have to dedicate time for only painting as my dexterity seems to go out the window.

Anywho, where are some photos!




As always, thanks for looking!

It's starting to look good Sean. Yhe way you have it painted and weathered makes it look like parts have been pulled from other vehicles and breaks up the simple one tone green. I can't wait to start painting mine, I've started to prep the wheels and hope should have some paint on them tomorrow. Great to see some progress on your build, waiting to see the rest of the build.
Chris

Thanks Chris!

The wheels are by far one of the most frustrating parts of this build. Please be careful with the sprocket alignment and check it before you glue. I made that mistake and I had to cut them in half and reglue them.

Thanks Sean, but I don't have to worry about the sproket. I'm using friulmodel T-72 tracks which comes with a new sproket for the tracks. I also made the same misstake you did with the kit sproket though. Thank god I'm not using them on this build.
Chris

Like Christopher said, the way you have painted it looks like the operators have pulled parts from other vehicles to keep her running.

The turret looks like it has been walked over by the crew with dusty boots- good stuff.

What sort of setting are you planning?

Lovely painting Sean.

By the way I forgot to ask where did you order your Voyager T-72 PE from? I'm having trouble finding a stockist at the moment.

Karl and Jon, thanks a lot for the comments, slowly but surely I think I found a nice method of weathering the vehicle, and making it look as if they pulled parts from other vehicles was what I was going for but I wasn't sure thats what I was getting.

Karl I kind of have an idea. I just found some scrap styrofoam from my building and will be using cork and plaster for brick.

Lastly, Jon, I was only able to get the antenna base, charged, and discharged smoke launched from Hobby Easy and Lucky Model. I am anxiously waiting their side skirts and basic PE set.

Thanks again everyone!