Background on how I got into this build.

As you might gather, I rather enjoy the more unusual aspects of modelling, i.e. motorcycles, WWI tanks and obscure softsides, which might be the reason I was asked to build a BT-7 (no. 2), but not any BT-7... one from the final Manchurian campaign that routed the Japanese in September 1945.

In this blog I'll talk about the tidbits I discovered about the final campaign and the Russian practicality, plus the odd resilience of this tank destined for scrap as early as 1940.

Part of the subject challenge was leveled at me by my building partner John B. who does figures, another came from a chance e-mail with Shiao Qi of Voyager Models after I wrote to them (well, my wife wrote them in Chinese) about what a treat it had been to use some Voyager PE on my Panzer IV build for an Armorama Campaign. I got back a note thanking me and asking what was next on the bench. Well, my wife being Inner-Mongolian and I always looking for historical items connected to her and my son's homeland this lose connection with the BT-7 was my first armor reference within my level of possible builds. I had already done a series of Hawk biplane fighters in Mongolian warlord colors sent to my father-in-law in Hailair.

I noted to Shiao Qi I wanted to build a BT-7 (again) but as rare as they come. So what better and odd piece than a 10 year old tank used effectively in the last battles of 1945. Onward Manchuria!

Shiao Qi wrote back that a parcel was on its way. What I got was this and I knew there was no turning back!




Ya Gotta Love Tamiya!

The Tamiya kit is a great weekend romp and out of the box is a solid representation of the BT series. It goes together well and no glaring errors, simple instructions and enough small peices to make you humble. To be truthful I stay as far away from PE as I can get because of eyesight (lack of) so when I stared at sheets of brass, and resin parts then at the Bt-7 made up hull and turret I really had to gird the loins to attempt this... so what was the first thing I try? The compound curves of the front fenders with a cold roller (I need my head examined).



Above is the result. No annealing was done, and no solder. Whatever Voyager uses for their 'brass' is remarkably forgiving with great 'memory'. There are 7 bends with a 'Hold and Fold' and then a couple of hours with a mini-roller using the Tamiya fenders as jigs. Here is a later test-fit picture of the fenders prior to final attachment.


Another nice thing about Voyager is they assume we have carpet monsters and alternative PE-dwelling universes around our work benches. All the smallest and trickiest parts have at least one spare and sometimes two.

The fenders are close to scale thickness which means they are thin with tiny attachment points, but what you lose in frustration placing the parts you gain in a delicate and scale rendition of the part you are replacing on the kit.

With the fenders in place and the hinges done, in my next installment I'll move to the back and the engine screen. As you can see, this too seems daunting, but turned out as forgiving as the fenders.



Two notes:

* I wish the photographs were better and more of them, but I use them to 'see' before and after an hour's work. Along with the vision aids I use I rely on a computer monitor and my digital camera to help me see what I'm doing. Consequently, what once took me 4 hours to do now stretches to 4 days. This allows me to model even if considered visually impaired.

* Please, ask anything you want either in the forum or via PM about the 'hows' of getting around disablities. I'm also always open to tips and tricks.

PadrePete

Pete,

looking good so far, but what is this mini-roller thing you used on the the fenders?

Thanks!

Hi Scott,

The mini-roller is a work in progress, but the principle is I took two stainless steel identical spoons (back to back) and a vice-grip and C-clamp and pressed and loosened the pinching surfaces while pulling the brass through like a fender maker (I used to restore old cars for fun so I learned about the hand techniques).

I want to make one with variable ball bearing slots to gain more curving options. I also made a little sandbag where I could use a jeweller's hammer to beat in the initial shape prior to the roller smoothing out the curves.

Really, this was too complex, but it proved I can scale down the old body makers' principles. This is also affected by the quality of the PE, some is too brittle. One company I tried this with using scraps literally 'tore' and shattered. But Voyager's PE seems to accept the stressing without going out of shape.

They Pete great build got to love Voyager got one question way did you use the kits exhayst and not Voyager?
dave

I was going to damage the exhausts, so I bored out the Tamiya ones and applied some pressure and heat. I felt more comfortable going that way. I also use a jig (metal coat hangers) to support my builds so I can move the lights around and get a better view for painting and weathering. Having 'klutz fingers' I knew (as I found out with the side skirts) that most PE has to be reglued and/or straightened several times when near da Padre.

Padre,

I love those fenders and the other PE work - very inspiring! Voyger is good kit and very well engineered. I've only ever had good experiences with their sets.

Please keep sharing.

Great build so far Pete


This sounds fascinating any chance of a pic of the WIP mini roller

Thanks everyone,

Regarding the mini-roller, I'll build it back up again (it was something I tried and it worked although slowly). It was a 'proof of concept' kinda thing while I sat staring at the curves that were needed.

The concept is very simple. There needs to be two smooth curved surfaces. Big cold rollers have the capacity to change the two surfaces to any number of combos. The 'C' clamp was used to increase and decrease the pressure and the vise-grip was used to hold the spoons together.

I'll make up another one and maybe we can brainstorm it.

Back End Trickiness

The next area I went after were the engine baffles (ultimately unseen) and the engine cover. As you can see (sorry about the quality of the image) by Voyager's instructions the Tamiya photo-etch is a single piece and one bend in the jig they supply. Voyager's is several pieces and I thought I might have to solder.. but then I'm too lazy.



Once again I used Tamiya's parts and jig to help form and position the pieces into a proper shape. Although it can be considered trickier to do than the fenders the results are very striking. I took these pictures way ahead of the damage and wear-and-tear I wanted to portray in the tank's final form.





Also, I love seeing a bare kit with the resin and PE on it. To me it gives me a sense of accomplishment because the contrasts allow me to see it better.

I usually make my tank models near complete before I begin painting. It allows me to feel areas with my fingers and lay down consistent base colors and effects. Bogeys are the area where much of my trouble occurs. Getting the 'rubber' right using all the tricks can still mean I respray the bogeys back to their base color and start again.

Once the Nato Black (XF-69) goes on I am then at the mercy of all my vision aids and the computer screen.



This picture was taken with enough candle-watts to cook eggs and cause chemical fires, and as much as I dislike doing the base 'black' it does give a nice subtle effect as the build continues.

Next was the Russian green (okay everybody laugh . We all know there's no such color, at least consistent).



This was a mix of yellows and grays and Deck Tan. It looks, and IS way too light, but bear with me... this allows you to make mistakes because trying to lighten a mistake is more difficult than darkening one... and this light over the Nato Black gives me a really nice scale effect. I also, towards the end of the weathering use a mix of ModelMaster Sand (.5 parts), tap water (.5 parts) and Testors Thinner (9 parts) and spray protruding and elevated areas.

Well, I think I've bored you enough for this installment. Next time I'll talk about how I weather before creating damage (the intentional kind) and wear to surfaces. Here's a taste of where we're going. It's the engine area after base color, dry brushing and initial damage to the screens.



Beer time!!!!

Whether Or Not Weathering Is Done Where and When...

I used to adhere to weathering with oils and washes at the last, and I also used to use Future quite a bit too, but I got away from certain steps and inserted others in odd places. Once I have a uniform color on my model (tank, plane, motorcycle; it doesn't matter) I play around with shading, wearing down and weathering. I started doing this to be able to clean up stuff that looked wrong once dry, but I do it now as it keeps the creative process going.

With the BT-7, it was the back end that stumped me for several reasons. One, this was a different build than most tanks I do. The tank had to look operable but also neglected for several years. The story behind that is the Russians parked many BT-7s as outmoded, and those used in the earlier Chinese/Japanese campaign were mothballed almost where they stood in 1942. Amazingly, when they came back to these depots in 1945 many of the BT-7s were able to run after oiling and greasing, therefore a rusty car look was needed.

First I decided to see if I could pull off the effect using oil washes, graphite and chipping, with the following results.





The pictures of the turret are a bit more advanced than the hull because I got fascinated by the night lamps and how to incorporate and age the only area of color outside the asparagus green I mixed up. The Voyager PE once again makes a world of difference if you have the patience. This build was the first time I really felt I could not have bent all the PE without something like the Mission Models 'Hold and Fold'. The parts are so small and the clean bends will make or break not only the quality of the model, but how well the PE blends into the model.



A note on the picture below, that bent up side-skirt was not intentional, but after being a klutz and knocking it up, out or off several times I thought I'd better leave the repair until I was a bit more nimble-fingered, and less ham-fisted.



I've learned to always give the oil washes several days to mature, unless I wanted a more disruptive effect as if burned or scarred by a shell. I was happy with the results and I consider the model at this point to be what people might call the base coat. The more imperfections to blend the better.

My oil washes are done in only one of three possible combinations and lots of thinner. I use Winsor & Newton Series 1 Burnt Umber, Raw Umber, and Burnt Sienna. I dab the brush in thinner and mix the oils then before I touch the model, I dip the brush again in thinner and apply. This gives be broader 'shadows' and discolorations.

If any remember the Panzer IV I did, I also use a similar method to expose paint under paint and to make the topcoat uneven. I also use a Q-Tip sometimes (always get the cheap Chinese q-tips from the dollar store because the ends are hard and the cotton doesn't come off easily).

If it works out right, I get a rather gritty effect without too gritty a residue.



Next time I'll write about where I went from here, and get some interesting pictures of the BT-7 in action that gave me some ideas. Time for a beer!

Nice work Pete! PE galore! I'm glad I'm not the only one who keeps knocking off parts already glued on...

Cheers!
Stefan

great build Peter, i'd call this project a PE brass kit with plastic upgrades there's so much metal on it haha. look forward to seeing this one painted up. cheers, bd.

Phenomenal work. Very inspiring!

Thanks everyone. It's been a fun build even under some pressure to get it done (2 K800 Vulcan Models motorcycles are calling me). I find once I stop being scared of really screwing up (i.e. knocking an irreplaceable piece of PE into the carpet monster, or mixing two brands of paint that will not play together [I've got a tale of woe to tell on that note some other day]) I use the vision aids to slow me down and really look at detail and go 'what if'.

I don't think I can ever reach the level of detail where rivets are replaced or hatches moved, but taking to the Internet using Google images (no filtering) I can find pictures and drawings and sometimes schematics of what I'm building. I blow them up and print them out and keep them near the work bench. It saves me from many a poor instruction sheet!

That being said, the build is almost done and I'm adding some PE I didn't think I'd use. I found some great pictures of the BT-7 that showed me why the parts were important (like the leather belts on the fenders). Here they are below.







Now, if I can only figure out why CA glue runs up the shaft of a toothpick I could unstick these fingers....

COMING ROUND THE BEND AND TO THE FINISH LINE!

After allowing the model to really dry (couple of days) I find the colors settle, or it might be my eyes settling; either way a couple of days helps me get my perspective on what I want to accomplish refocused. My next step was to tell a story on the BT-7. With all the character these vehicles have I always admire the various, creative ways modellers tell stories in colors, incidentals, positions, what's added versus what's missing. It feels like a real language, and I've been blown away seeing what the Armorama folk can do with that 'art'.

For me the story of the BT-7 was more anticlimactic suggesting an ending was imminent. This was one of the reasons for the surface rust I wanted over much of the exposed surfaces. That being said, the Japanese rout that occurred was not going to be easy, so some damage has to appear. I always begin at the pointy end of the vehicle or tank; the one the be 'blooded' first so off to the hull's nose I went.





Just a few reminders of the other side fighting back were needed, and the fact that antenna was never going to see service anyway (by 1943 all Russian radios had been switched over, some with 'lend/lease' that gave them a broader range. This antenna was more a reminder you could hang laundry off it, or a tarp when you were at rest.

Inside the BT-7 headlights I rusted up the Vallejo high polish silver paint and put in a M.V. lens so that there's some reflection.

I then started dusting with AIM pigments. I can't say enough about this small American company's product. As much as I like MIG powders, the AIM pigments need no fixative for the surface and stay where you put them. That can be a problem until you realise that you don't have much recourse except washing the model if you want to remove them.



AIM have been around the model railroad scene for quite a while, and they have a limited palate, but for value and the fact that you can mix them to anything you want I think the railroad guys knew a good thing and didn't want to tell us.

Here is an example where toning down my exuberance for pigment caused me quite a bit of work. My engine covers suddenly took on that cheap 'floosie' look. I finally got it down with q-tips and water, but the repair added another couple of hours.



I finally got this coat of pigments to where I wanted it. When you look at the picture it still looks garish, but further building and oil washes were going to happen. The AIM pigments stayed in place even with the washes and the colors changed with the hue of the oils used.



FINAL BITS AND PIECES... A WASH... A DUSTING... AND???

I'm sorry I didn't take any real 'in progress' shots to show you technique, but I promise that I'll be setting the camera up to take the workbench shots in the near future so they're not an afterthought.

I decided to add things like the shovels and the belts because the lazy side of me was saying to get this done and out of the way, when everything you add really comes back to that story you're telling on that plastic and brass canvas.

The shovels are the Voyager PE and the handles are Chinese toothpicks we can get in Toronto. They're thinner than regular, and often better polished so I not only use them for holding, and gluing, but also when I need some real wood in the scene.





The picture above also shows why I kept the Tamiya plastic exhaust pipes. I'm still not good at bending flat brass into cylinders, so if I can thin out good plastic ones I'd rather do that.

Into the home stretch I began to think the story was being told. An outmoded vehicle pulled from the depot in the middle of nowhere; greased, lubricated, internals cleaned and batteries charged for one last chase. Funnily enough, these BT-7s were so small that you can't call them 'war horses'... they were more like obstinate donkeys! Yet they were so simple, that inaction for 3 years and parked on the unforgiving plains did minimum amounts of damage apart from what the elements could reap. Here they were, coming out for the last time, still able to give the foe fits!







For the little that's written about those final days it's easy to imagine this as a battle at land's end fought with machines from a Buck Rogers film. The bug-like quality of the BT-7 with the night spotlights really adds to that.



Eventually, I'll have this on a base with the red soil of the area and the Chinese scrubs of Manchuria, but I leave that to my building partner John who has a real good touch for that.

CONCLUSION

All good things come to an end, but great stories live on. From the tenuous start and the 'what the hell have I gotten myself into' to Voyager's always positive comments and your encouragements and tips I think I'm satisfied with what I've done.



There are flaws, and mistakes but in the end it was a story best told before forgotten. Eventually, my semi-pro photographer friends will take some better pictures of the whole thing complete. With it's job now done I am off to another story waiting on the bench.



Turn for home comrade, you can now rust in peace...

Pete, that turned out looking great.

Very nice! I hope you'll post pictures of the Manchurian diorama when you get it done.

BTW, how did your Fiat 3000 effort turn out?

That got stopped because of other builds I had promised. Don't worry it will be done only later rather than sooner. I owe Vulcan a K800 and Leadwarriors a cobbled Kubel. Also... I've got to get a really large dio done for a book coming out which will take me a good six to eight months to complete.

Peter, it turned out great! Very good weathering!

Looking forward to your next project!
Cheers!
Stefan

Thanks Stefan!

It's on the bench (actually there are several on the bench). I'm at it almost nightly, but the eyes are getting 'funny' again so it is taking me longer. There are some great releases promised this year that also catch my fancy... now to convince my wife that these are 'essential' purchases.