Hello all,

I am about to start Tamiya's Char B1 bis French tank, am studying the plans and all the other pre build rituals I go through and was looking at the schemes available, and was wondering how any of you who have built this kit with the 3 tone camo that has the thin black lines separating the colors did it? not sure if my shaky hands could do it justice with a paint brush, have tried a fine sharpie marker on a spare model hull to experiment but it either stopped writing after a bit or smeared. Anyone have a good technique for this? Thank you in advance for any help anyone is able to provide.

I read somewhere that a permanent black marker was used by some modelers to make the mark.

As I would still like to know a good technique for the thin black line for future reference, I have decided after more reading of reviews and build logs to go for the D: No.22 “Vercors”, 2nd Company, 13th Dragoon Regiment, Free French Forces, La Rochelle, April 1945. In overall Olive Drab scheme. I have some late war figures in mixed US and French gear that would go nicely with this tank. Unfortunately I have the first release of this kit and the markings I need are in the German version.

I used a fine point sharpie on my practice hull, after a few minutes of drawing across the plastic, which is covered in Tamiya primer it stopped working, scribbled on a scrap piece of paper, got it going again and it did the same thing, Maybe the fine tip wasn't meant to be used on a hard ,smooth surface? plus is smeared a little in couple of places. Any idea what brand of marker they used?

No I don't know what brand of marker they used. I'm trying to remember where I read about this. I'll post if I come up with it. Other wise I would suggest searching on the web for any char builds. They might have something. I have two Tamyia Char kits in my stash to build and would be interested in this info too. I'd look now but just snuck in the house to check the site. Doing yard work while I can.

Mike

Thomas,

I have not built the kit, though what I have in the stash is the beute version. IIRC the paint scheme you're aiming for is hard-edged. If this is correct my suggestion is to mask it -- either with tape (challenging as its contoured, but not impossible) or use silly putty. I would go for silly putty though, as its easier to work and shape -- roll it into lengths like how a kid does wriglly / wormy creatures using modelling clay. Paint backwards -- start with black all over, and put on the mask. Go for the second color, mask, and so on. It will look something like this:





Just be sure to let the paint dry in-between masking. In the end, all the silly putty goes off at the same time -- again be sure the paint has really dried and cured.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Tat

Thanks tat, that is a very good way to do it, only thing I see might be a little trouble is the black lines, the photos I have seen show them to be a consistent thin, even line, but the putty would work for the hard edge of the 3 camo colors.

Ok I had a chance to search the marker issue. Right here on armorama is the link that talk about black markers.

http://armorama.com/forums/165290#1388300

Great! thanks Mike.

Gr iz...;

Hi.

Here is a shot of my WIP Renault R-35 1940 in 3-colour livery. I base-coated the entire tank in the ModelMaster "Vert" French green, followed by spraying fairly tight-edged patterns with MM French chestnut brown and a khaki colour.

I did the black demarkation with a Sharpie Ultra-fine black perm marker around the patches. I next followed up with a little brushing with the chestnut and khaki to even-up places where the patch-edges were "smeary". This paint step also fixed up places where the marker line had jiggled too much or looked too thick.

The marker worked A-OK. Makes a nice consistent and opaque line and had very little "clogging" or dry-out and skip problems.

The total lining took maybe 15 mins- it's pretty easy and fast. The biggest problem is that the marker does not reach around tools and get fully into tight corners.

To complete the lining and fix the above problems, I followed behind the Sharpie marker with an 003 brush and Floquil oily black- flows on very fine and consistently and matches that marker colour.

A recent trip to Hobby Lobby and Michael's revealed a number of other black fine-tip markers, including both hard felt and gel-roller ball tips, and a number of ink types- so there's room to experiment!

The following pic is before some line-fixes were done. Please bear in mind that this was (is) my first attempt at doing this, and in using markers on tanks, so please be kind and judge it accordingly! I hope it may encourage you!

Bob

Thanks for the tips Bob, the tank is looking awesome! and no i won't be hard..lol I'm not a purist, if you find tools to help you achieve the effects you want? more power to ya. So what manufacturer is this kit from?

Griz;

It's that old Heller R-35 kit- which I had bought back in 1972 (imagine! darned thing was parked in my stash boxes for about 37 years before oncit again surfacing to see some table light!). It's actually a pretty nice kit and gives a lot to work from, albeit details are soft, etc.

I did a web-based pic research and viewed various pics of extant tanks- learned about various bits that could be fixed up. I have done a bunch of scratch on it using styrene sheet and stretched sprue. Some of the details include lids for the sponson boxes, the crank-holder and tool holders and various clips, mud-spats and bolt-heads on the bogies, exhaust heat-shield, etc.

It's still a ways to go- I have no good decals (think about 37 years of colour change and aging...), so I'll have to find some set AM- or I'll have to paint them on (blah )- and the kit tracks were aweful black vinyl stuff... and actually getting slightly sticky feeling...

I lucked out and a very nice guy sent me some Fruilies for the similar Hotchkiss H-38-39 tanks. They are pretty cool, but more than slightly slow and tedious to assemble. So this remains a WIP until the left track is completed.

I've always wanted to try my hand at one of those line-demarked French paint schemes, and this old kit was sitting around waiting for love, so... Just jumped in and tried the Sharpie and it worked well!

I just got one of those Tamiya Char B1 bis for a really cheap price, and, having had what I think is some success with the R-35, am thinking of tackling one of those similar schemes for the B1.

Since doing the R-35 scheme, I have learned that some tanks had hand-painted black lining, and others had sprayed lines. I am thinking of trying the spraying with my Iwata set to a very fine line with the pre-set handle... It's good (I did say IT is- not necessarily so, me) for very thin lines.

Happy Modeling and Good Luck with whichever way you go on your build and painting! Hope to see it posted!

Bob