Got the chipping on the lower hull done. Letting the paint dry overnight really helped, the effect is much more controllable. I had to actually use the soft stipple brush to get anything happening. The surface is still a bit damp in these photos, I took a couple outside to give you a better idea of the actual tone.





I also worked on the test hull. This has now dried 2 days. I used the stiff stipple brush and got some really nice looking worn patches.



Compare to this and you can see what the extra scrubbing did.



I think the process is becoming fairly obvious. The longer you let the paint dry, the better control you have over what sort of effect you can achieve. The only caveat at this point is I don't know how long is too long for letting the paint sit and of course you need to use stiffer tools. So with this info in hand I coated the remaining hull (I also applied more in heavy wear areas and just sort of dry brushed on others) and the sprockets and idlers and will throw some paint on and tackle it hopefully tomorrow. It may not be until Monday, but I should be able to manage.

Kimmo

What I wanted to ask was after the chipping medium had dried will water will reactivate it again ? Have you ever tried Humbrol decal fix and pigments ? The decal fix dries but will reactive with water again . I was thinking abouth how you did the exhaust ? Or maybe after it's fully cured so many days it's dry and won't reactivate anymore ?

Water will reactivate the chipping medium in the sense that anything painted on top will chip, it will not lift off from the base coat if that's what you were wondering. The question remains to be seen how long it will remain reactive, I'll keep scrubbing the test hull as I go along and pass on observations. I was going to try the Humbrol decal fix route (I don't have any handy), but I found that the glaze medium works quite well. It will sort of reactivate the next day, at least to the point where you can easily remove excess pigment with a stipple brush. If you let it sit for an hour or so, it will still reactivate and allow blending. I wanted to seal the exhaust to see what I had going and am quite happy with the results so far, a few touches with some light orange might be needed.

Kimmo

Thanks .

More progress. Got the hull painted up and some more chipping done. It's starting to take shape nicely. Need to let the paint dry a few hours. I did a bit more testing on the spare hull, it is getting harder to actually achieve any noticeable difference. One thing to remember, this had the paint striped and scrubbed, so it probably affected the chipping medium. Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with the overall results so far.







I also need to get some grey on a few parts and a coat of medium on the turret. With some luck, this project will get wrapped up soonish, I have some major bench time allotted this week to press ahead.

Kimmo

Chipped the hull, its still a bit damp. Got the turret coated with medium, I should get some paint on it tomorrow and chip on Wednesday.






Once the chipping is done, I'll go over the whole thing and fix anything that looks overblown. There are a few patches that came out a little large. Fate finally caught up with the indicator on the turret so I'll have to do up a new one or thin the plastic version that came with the kit. I fixed the suspension in place by running some primer into the back of the units. Next major step will be the tracks, I should get those done Wednesday and then get them painted on Thursday. After that, it's a bunch of small details, the road wheels/spares and final weathering.

Kimmo

Now she's starting to look like a desert tank. Turret mostly painted, front armour just stuck on for a couple of snaps. I'll need to do some chipping tomorrow and probably a filter glaze. I'm noticing some variance in paint coverage/sheen on the hull, though that will probably disappear under a flat coat. I'll need to do some light sanding on the front edge of the turret halves at the triangle wedge. Ill also need to check my refs to see whether the vision blocks/mounts would have been over painted on the turret hatches and of course paint the inner faces.






More tomorrow.

Kimmo

Interesting experiment with the chipping options. Thanks for posting it.

No problem, I had to figure out what the deal with the stuff was so I figured I'd pass it along.

Kimmo

Got the tracks sorted, took some doing and a few naughty words, but got them done. First the road wheels were completed, then I did the bottom runs so I would have any possible play on the top runs, easier to fudge that way. Glued up an approximate number of links, let set for a bit and hung them on to set some more, then did the same for the top runs. I thought it might be a clever idea to pre glue a few curves to fit over the sprocket and idler, in the end it made life a little more difficult. I used the jig provided in the kit for one of the runs and it worked reasonably well to help get the sags going. Next time I do this, I'll make sure to do the tracks at the beginning of the build before the fenders are on. It obviously can be done, it would just go smoother I think.I made sure the ends lined up nicely, then taped and used clothes pegs to hold them in place with the return rollers removed to set over night. I removed them to make sure there wasn't any unnecessary stress on the links.








While the tracks were setting, I did the chipping on the turret. I discovered a sink mark on one of the front triangles, filled it and shaved down one of the joins on the upper turret half slightly.





Not a bad day's effort. Tomorrow will be a day of paint and some pigment for the interior and maybe a few minor details.

Kimmo

Got a fair bit of painting in. Tracks are base coated and ready for pigments. I'm going to give them a shot to try for a light rusty look instead of the darker look of tracks in Europe. The running gear is all done, hatches painted and chipped (I just chipped fresh paint, no medium) and the tow cables are done too. Doesn't seem like a whole lot for 6-7 hours worth of painting. Oh well, it takes as long as it takes I guess.







Got more bench time this weekend, stay tuned.

Kimmo

Another minor update, surprise! more chipping. I used chipping medium on everything except the hatch interior, I just scrubbed the fresh paint.






Not much left to chip, mainly detail painting now. I'll do the tracks when I know I've got plenty of time to work with. I was hoping for more time today than I got, and tomorrow looks like a couple of hours.

Kimmo

Finally getting some pigments into the interior. Some of the effects are very subtle and aren't really showing up that well in these pictures. Some of the pigment is still damp, but you should get the idea. I'm making sue to get a build up in corners and in places where the dust would build up. Using thinned glaze medium as my fixer again. When everything is dry, I'll simply go over areas that I don't like with my stipple brush and scrub away what I don't want and reapply if necessary.






That's probably it until Wednesday.

Kimmo

Actually got to sneak in a bit more time so I started on the spare tracks. Did these the same way as the exhausts. I'll wait for it to dry, then get some more light orange and tan on and then some washes.

Base of reddish brown and a light coat of orange tan



Blended with some more browns, tans and oranges



And more tan and orange worked in after the base had dried a little




This is a good test to see if I can control the amount of texture to do the main tracks. I don't want too much texture, but I do want the flexibility that pigments can give for subtle changes in the amount of rusting. I worked the tracks with a moist and dry brush to get some of the excess pigment off and to smooth down any rough spots. We'll see how it goes.

Kimmo

I managed to sneak in an hour today. The spare track saga continues.

Here's what they looked like after drying over night.



Excess cut back with a brush.



New lighter layer in progress






Selective light orange splotches




I also added some light orangy splotching to the exhausts




Semi dry




You can see how different it looks as it dries. You get pretty much the tone of the dry pigment so don't panic if it looks dark or weird. Case in point, here's the dry interior, compare it to the still damp pictures from yesterday and you'll see what I mean.





I'll let these dry overnight and see where we're at. I think it's close to what I was hoping for. Then a clear coat and some washes and maybe a touch or two of paint.

Kimmo

Thought I'd get more time in today than I did, no such luck. Still managed to get something done.

Yesterday's efforts, I'm liking it. I noticed I got a bit too much pigment into some of the recesses between the tracks.




And with a bit of sepia wash added. No point adding much as the final pigment dusting will obscure most of it anyway.



I went with paint/filters for the spare tracks. I saw a good pic of tracks yesterday that gave me a bit of pause on how fresher tracks should look. The basics done



And with a final light orange/tan pigment wash and the clamps painted up



It's kind of hard to make out the details, they'll stand out better when they're on the fender. I think I'll paint the main tracks instead of going the pigment route. I don't want to clog up the recesses and with the practice on the spare tracks, I think I've got a good method worked out. More tomorrow.

Kimmo

Getting the tracks going. Over the red brown base, a mix of steel, black brown and black to get a brownish dull metal look. Next more steel, less brown and then more steel again. I'm applying the coats as thick washes rather than paint, if that makes sense. You get some nice layers building up that way. After the initial base coat, the steel layers go on contact points only. That also means the edges of the holes where the sprocket teeth would make contact.






The next steps will be to add a black brown wash, then orange and tan washes/filters for rust.

Kimmo

Finally managed some bench time, I've been itching to get back at it. Continued with the tracks, they're basically done apart from a final pigment coat. Also started detail painting, got the metal base down on the tools and the jack block and wooden handles on the axe and shovel done. I'll need to get some shots outside to show off the grain effect better. I also gave the tow cables a light orange/tan filter.

Here you can see the difference the orange/tan makes on the left track.



And with the light rust added to all the non contact areas and a touch up and dry brushing of the wear areas.I mixed Vallejo rust wash with a bit of flat flesh and applied it as a paint rather than a wash. If I had some tan washes, I would have just slathered it everywhere and removed the excess. Need to get some more washes.




Tools and so on






Slowly but surely. This is the stage of 1001 little details. Next to building, I enjoy this bit the most, you can do as much or as little as you like. The output per session is a little on the low side, but I think the effort is paying off.

Kimmo

Continued with detail painting again, this should go on for a few updates. The fire extinguisher got a chopped decal from the Orange Hobby update set, you can almost make it out under the glossy flare Added a strap for the bino case and decided my commander needed a canteen. I think I'll do up a headset as well to make the storage bin look busy.



These shots should show my wood handles a little better. The sun isn't quite co-operating today so a few edits in Photoshop later:





More tomorrow.

Kimmo

Got another short session in today, finished off the mounted tools and started the rear lights and added some wear on the hull with dark grey in places where the chipping medium didn't give me enough. The lights still need some work as do the chains, they're just base coated with black/brown.







Here's the extinguisher, needs a touch of satin to get the shine off the decal.



Should get a good session in tomorrow.

Kimmo

Only 2 pics today, most of the stuff I got done is so subtle there's no point in putting up pics until its all done. I think I got the hull more or less finished in terms of wear, so the turret is next. Started on a set of headphones and managed to get the jack and cleaning rods done, so that just about does it for painting the tools. A few more bits and pieces and the missing parts for the clamps and a final pigment coat, 2 or 3 more good sessions should do it.




Hopefully I can get a couple of hours in tomorrow.

Kimmo

Another couple of hours in the log book. Got on with the turret. I fixed a few spots where the chipping didn't look quite right and added some edge wear as I did with the hull, basically you run the side of the brush down edges and lightly accentuate panel lines, hinges etc. I find this to give you more control than dry brushing, it of course takes a lot longer, but allows for much more flexibility and precision. I also did the wear on the hatch openings.





The openings got several layers of treatment, first the camo layer was worn off appropriately and then I added some elfenbein chips. I figured there would be 3 layers of paint on top of the primer: elfenbein, grey and tan.




Then some dark grey and finally some red brown/black brown was lightly sponged on in the heavy wear area.




Then some warm metal tones for the edges, more to the inside and lighter on the outside.




I need to think over the hatch edges, not sure if they need more wear or not, but a similar process was used. I like the hint of off white peeking through here and there on the openings.

I also started on the commander's hatches.



That's probably it until next week, I should be getting a couple of days of bench time to hopefully get this wrapped up. Knock on wood.

Kimmo

Back in the saddle again today, headlights, minor touch ups and flat coats. I think the cupola is done apart from pigments and adding the vision blocks and an aiming stake that goes on the forward block. You can see the patchiness has been toned down significantly with the clear coat.I actually added a layer of camo to the cupola because it looked too worn compared to the rest of the tank.I also shaded in the turret, it's not like they would have lifted it up to paint. I just traced the outline of the lower turret half and filled in.







Still some work to do, but it's getting there. Next update later in the week.

Kimmo

Seems I wasn't done with the cupola after all. Something was bugging me until I realised there should be some sort of padding in there. Tanks in Detail has some great shots of the cupola sans padding, and I think these are what Dragon used as reference. I had gotten as far as adding the glass blocks and the aiming stake/sight before it fully dawned on me. Fortunately no harm, no foul. This will certainly have to done before any painting the next time around. I'll have to dig around for a good shot of what it actually looks like, I sort of fudged it just to keep moving along. The sight thingy was a piece of 5 thou that had the slot cut in and then trimmed to fit. I was surprised it worked on the first go. I also painted it with a marker so I wouldn't have to worry about paint on the glass blocks and attached it with gloss varnish. The next time around, I'll also need to think about the glass blocks, they aren't quite right but I'm not positive what's wrong. When installing them, don't seat them all the way in, they should sit flush with the frames. I found the best way to glue them in place was to plop them in place, push them in a bit, run some varnish around the frame and push the blocks back from the front. I ran a moist brush with gentle pressure over the blocks to get them to sit flush.





I also managed to get some other stuff done. The wheels are now on, the exhaust and straps got sorted out and attached some gear on the right fender. I was going to use the Griffon straps, but they're too short so I went with 10 x 40 strips. I needed to trim the exhaust stubs a fair bit to get the exhaust to sit better. The straps should have wedges on one side at the bottom for additional support, but I can't be bothered to try that at this stage. Another thing to bear in mind for the next time around. A couple of bolts from sliced rod and voila.





And the spare tracks are in place, but not glued down yet.



More to come later today and tomorrow, it looks like I can get this done by Sunday.

Kimmo

Happy Easter , don't run over the Easter bunny .