Today I present the pictures of the tank PLA ZTZ99B finished.
This model took me a lot of time. It was started in October 31st past year, and finished in April 10th this year.
So in total, almost 6 months in which one of them the project was stopped in a crucial moment of the build without knowing if it would be finished, however there was so much time an effort invested that I decided to try my best and finish it.
The process of deleting original plastic parts and replacing them with metal (photo etched) was very entertaining and challenging. Most people find this painting scheme to be very complicated to paint, but having a great layout like Hobbyboss supplied, it made things easier. Also, due to the amount of small photo etched parts, it was extremely complicated to place the masking tape over these small details without pulling them.
I did have some problems with Vallejo primer, I primed the entire tank and side skirts with Vallejo primer but after the painting process and removing the masking tape, the primer didn’t hold on the photo etched sideskirts and the paint striped away, so I had to repaint the areas affected.
Talking about the paints, I used Tamiya’s XF-65 Field grey for the main color, XF-69 Nato black for the darker patterns and Vallejo’s light green 942 and buff 70976 for the other two colors, Model air (Vallejo) matt varnish was used to give a mat coat to the entire model, a very good mat varnish.
The most complicated things I found, were to remove the original plastic grills and the process of building the rear section structure of the turret with photo etched parts.
This build consists in the tank from Hobbyboss (1/35 scale)
-Full photo etched set from E.T. Model:
Excellent photo etched set in my opinion, it has many parts, also a lot of patience is needed with such a small parts, very delicate process with the turret which I find that the instructions for that process could have been better, but overall I will give a 9/10, a negative point was that some sheets were a bit rusty so from here, I would suggest to E.T. Model, to use latex gloves when holding and packaging their products as the grease of the hands or the sweat may cause the metal to rust.
-Side skirts from Voyager Model:
Excellent product, I was going to buy E.T. Model side skirts but they were out of stock, so I had to pick the ones from Voyager Model. This was a major problem… because the side skirts tips didn’t fit on the E.T. Model rear fenders so I had to add a prolongation to them. Anyway, Voyager Model like E.T. Model have an absolutely excellent finish and is highly recommended, lucky they do lots of photo etched sets for Chinese armor.
-Tracks from Bronco (rubber type)
Great choice I heard from here, the first day when I registered, I asked about this tank and members of this forum told me about the different choices and tracks so since I was doing the “Parade” version, I decided to use them, all the parts of the track fitted very well to each other, but as always in this hobby, a lot of patience mounting each link.
-PLA figures from Dreamodel:
Excellent figures I must say, good details, they even include photo etched parts for their microphones as well as for their helmet and belt emblems.
I have to say that although the box has a picture with the helmet of the Parade version, the models were the ones used for training, so I had to add putty to them, not a big deal in the end. Negative note was that their instructions have some mistakes regarding the number indication for photoetched parts, but not a big problem, instructions are clear but only in Chinese. On the positive point I have to say that their decals are excellent, 10/10, very resistant to the softer product used to soften the decals, but yet thin enough to completely fit to the surface.
Well friends, no more writing, I post the pictures right now, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask, also if the forum stretches the photos, please to right click and click on the option “see image” in order to see the real size picture.
Thank you very much to everyone for the support during the build and I’m looking forward to post here my next projects.
Photoshop effects
Guillem
