It's taken me a while to get back to the bench. I lost a little motivation as I just had my 22nd birthday, the Chicago Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup, and watching tons of World Cup action (go USA!), but I made it back to the bench today.

I started work on the diorama and began by crafting the gate house out of styrofoam from my new compressor I didn't want it to be a plain box so I added some variation to the picture on the first page of the blog as well discovered that the base will need to be a tad bit smaller so I will go out looking for a new picture frame.

I also added a base coat and a deep warm shadow to the figure's pants. I've read alot on painting figures and dioramas and color theory has made its way into this project as I am focusing on warm tones for shadowing rather than dull blacks and greys.

Anywho, here are the progress shots. Still need to finish the T-62 but finishing very soon.







As always, thanks for looking!

Happy birthday Sean Can't wait to see what you have in store for us. Are you planning to do an urban setting or some backwoods village? The pants on your figure looks pretty good so far. I can see what you are saying about the base, something smaller would work out better as you would have alot of space to fill out and you don't want to take too much way from the main focal point of the tank. But it seems to be a great idea from what I can see.
Chris

Thanks for the birthday wishes. I plan on doing a park gate using cork for brick. Something small but I've always wanted to do something from scratch to test my skills.

Hope you had a good Birthday Sean , if you know what I mean!

Is it just me or does that block of styrene look like the strut of an overpass?
Figure looks good by the way and the placement beside the barrel is good as it will add that sense of scale that always goes well in dioramas.

Here is the makings on the mud that you will see on the bottom of the vehicle. It looks overdone now but with a VERY stiff brush, it can be removed gradually in a controlled manner and give me the desired effect i want.

The mud is looking good so far. Did you use plaster and pigment mixture as I can see some white in the mud? Very simple and not too over done, mud is something that can ruin a good paint job. But I have to say this is not the case. Loving it
Chris

I did use plaster in the mix but that was a preliminary coating which really made the red show through. So now I took the very stiff brush and went to work toning down the mud.

Here are some shots of the mud before adding pigments:





And after the application of various pigments I got this. I don't know if I'm totally satisfied so I set it down and will come back to it tomorrow. Also, I went back to the trusty old technique of dry brushing Tamiya Buff and possibly will return with Flat Earth, Red Browns and a few other tones.






Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Once again, thanks for looking!

That mud/dust looks perfect. Simple as that!

Can you post a 'step by step' explanation of how you did the mud?

Hey Sean the mud looks really god and has nice tonal variations to it. Hey if you want to add more tones to the color of the mud and don't feel like wasting your pigments, you can use some filters and washes to get different colors. Also windex works great for making damp earth or a gloss varnish. You can look over at th mud I started on my 62 to so how I canned up the colors. But other than that, your work is looking pretty good so far.
Chris

I totally forgot about filters! Great tip

Glad I could help. I know pigments aren't cheap, 8-10 dallors a peice and throw in shipping and handling, it can add up real quick. At least with filters it won't turn the mud into a soupy mess and still achieve the look you are going for. And nothing more if you don't like the looks you can apply another coat of pigments to blend everything in some, that's what I did with mine.
Chris

After the filters on the mid effect I find my self more satisfied.

I'll post a step by step tomorrow as its just about 3AM here and I did some decent amount of work on my T-72, but here is a small update on this T-62:

I started to rust the fuel drum. I wanted to make it look as if the rust was creeping through the paint but without using the hairspray method. I will tone done the rust for now but if anyone wants to know I have a nifty trick and it only takes about 10 min at a time over the course of a few hours.





As always, thanks for looking!

Fuel drum looks ace.

Great rust affects Sean, how did you apply them? Dry pigment directly over the textured surface?

The rust looks great Sean>. Looks like a none hazmat certified personel picked up a drum from a junkyard and slapped on the rear of the tank. It defiantly goes with all the other paint job you did that looks like pit and peices from other vehiles
Chris

I'm finally back and want to apologize for the delay. I haven't lost base on this project but taking the advice given to me by Carmen Manning I decided to take a break from all the T Series Russian/Soviet vehicles for a week or so. In this time I began a Leopard 2A6M and an ASLAV 25 Phase III with bar armor.


However TODAY (more like tonight), I was able to put some work in. I had a side of tracks built already but the hardest part mentally was the painting of the road wheels. I didnt want to cut masks so I decided to spray Tamiya NATO green everywhere and hand paint the rubber. I used Valejo's Black Grey thinned with distilled water and this only took about 15 minutes, much less than what I thought it would take. I fitted the tracks and am debating how I want to display them.




So here is how I was able to get the affects on the fuel drum:

I began with the plastic and textured it by stippling on putty and liquid cement to bring sharp texture as well as a look at made the surface appear as if it was part of the barrel.

Next I applied primer and then this fancy stuff:
http://www.dickblick.com/products/instant-iron-and-instant-rust

Its is an acrylic paint with real iron as a functioning pigment. So when you apply the rust solution it actually rusts.

I applied it a few times to make sure it was in a healthy amount and let it dry over night. Then I sprayed the Tamiya NATO Green all over, completely covering the iron.

Now with the rusting solution apply and wait. It will penetrate and rust the iron and after a few coats will show through as if it were the real thing. The more you apply the more of a rust appearance you will see. Its very easy to control. Lastly, I applied pigments and oils to blend the effects together as well as tone done portions I thought were too loud.




So thats all for tonight. I will weather the wheels tomorrow, assemble the other track and hopefully get a basecoat on those, although these Masterclub tracks really piss me off at times .

Thanks for looking. The vehicle is starting to come together and I suppose I'm doing things right as each build is over taking my last by becoming the best build I have ever done.

Feel free to voice any criticisms and comments!

Until tomorrow

Shaping up, not much more to do now I would say.

I would still like to know how you created the dust/mud on the lower parts of the tank??

Sorry Karl I thought I explained it.

I mixed various MiG pigments with MiG Acrylic Resin, Plaster, and Vallejo Brown earth. I made sure I added much less than they recommended and with a stiff brush put it everywhere and let it dry overnight.

After drying I took a household paint brush and cut it very close to the base of the bristles where I had about 10mm or so of bristle left. Then rubbing vigorously with the trimmed brush portions came off and others stayed. It is very easy to control.

I wasn't really satisfied with the color of the mud, so upon the advice of Chris I applied various oil filters and was able to get the result I wanted.

Hope this helps Karl

Here are some progress photos from yesterday/today. I weathered the wheels making sure you put some variation on the green.

Here are the products I used with turpenoid not pictured.


I also placed cardboard around the whole shape that would become the pillar for the park gate.

All thats left is to let the paint set up before I start the weathering process on the drive sprockets and tracks. I want to allow the tracks longer drying time as I dont want to risk ruining the base coat.

Here are some progress photos. It's almost done





As always, thanks for looking!

So as the weekend comes to a close I have just about finished the T-62. The clickable tracks were a hassle to work with although painting and weathering them were a breeze. All that's left is for me to make a tarp to add as well as the tow cables and some spare track links.







Also with work on the vehicle coming to an end I continued work wiht the figure by laying a base coat on the upper body and after I finish shading and highlighting under the arms I will attach them and hopefully progress into the finishing stages.

I've been reading alot about color theory and figure painting so this is all new to me so any tips are highly appreciated. Here are some photos of my progress






So thats all for now. More work tomorrow!

As always, thanks for looking!

Thanks for that 'mud how-to' Sean.

Tank looks ace. Very dusty and weather beaten.

As for the figure it looks good so far. My advice would be to remmeber to drybrush- very simple yet it will produce that subtle color change to produce the effect of real fabric as well as dust and dirt.

Tell me about it, my T-80 tracks are giving me a lot of work!

All I have to say is WOW Sean it's really starting good. Things are blending pretty well with the mix and match paint scheme and the dusty apparence. I really liked how the fuel drum turned out, nice and rusty. The figure is going to add some nice color to the scene and help break up the solid green. Keep up the good work!!!!
Chris