Hey everybody,

I thought I'll post some images of my Trumpeter KV-1 WIP hoping for your constructive feedback.

This is the first time I applied "damage" to the fenders so feedback on this would be very nice to have. One of the problems with this is that the box that is near the rear damaged area seems a bit too "clean", don't you think? What could be done here?

Many thanks in advance!
Cristian

Here a couple more images...



Please let me know what you think! Thanks!

Thanks Matt!

Putting some kind of damage on the box is a good idea I'm just not sure how to do it... Another thing I was considering was to give the rear box a steel, unpainted look as if it would be a new/spare part or a different painting like camo to suggest it's taken from another vehicle.

I also like what you've done with the fender, but I might also suggest using a rotary tool, like a dremel, to thin down the exposed edge a bit. Might just be the angle of the photo, but looks to be too thick for scale. Busting up the fender like that really saves on the hassle of getting the tracks on later!

I also like how your paint is coming together.

Thanks Mark!

The fenders are indeed a bit thick for the scale. I actually thinned it down on one end but not the other three. It's still not too late, tough!

Cool ideas! Thanks!
Unfortunatelly, the part is already glued in place so it might be too late for that... but next time!!!

I have been able to work some more on this over the past couple of days. Here are the results...

What happened:
- some dry brushing with a 50/50 mix of anthracite (Revell 9) and metalic color (Revell 91)
- a gloss coat (Revell 01)
- decals
- another, protective layer of gloss (Revell 01)
- pin washing with a mix of 30% lamp black and 70% burnt sienna oils (my very first time applying a pin wash!)
- some work with pigments (Vallejo burnt sienna), acrylic colors (Vallejo German red brown) and a regular pencil on the exhausts

I especially happy with the way the mufflers look like. It is also the very first time I managed to get 0% silvering on the decals so that's another milestone

By the way... Can someone please translate what the decals are reading? Thanks!







Many thanks in advance for any feedback you might care to share!

Cristian

Christian,
If I may suggest, I think a filter of your base color highly thinned and lightened slightly will blend the decals in nicely. Right now the decals look too perfect and aren't showing the wear the rest of the tank is. Just a thought. Looking real good overall.

Thanks, Mark! I totally agree with you!

The next steps would be to add a a dull coat and some oil washes, streaks and so on, followed by some dust and dirt.

Christian,
I was able to figure out the second word means "Fascists." The first word is pronounced 'Bey', and based on the context I have to imagine it translates to something like "Die" ("sterb du" in German, yes?)

Thanks, Mark! I thought it would be somekind of communist slogan A bit harsh, tough...

...and yes, your German is perfect!

According to Mr. Stokes' book, the phrase translates to "Defeat Fascists". Not sure if you know but the return rollers had rubber tires.

That would make sense. When I tried to Google it in Russian, it just kept coming back saying it was a title used in Turkey. Clearly not applicable...

Thanks for the information about the return rollers. The few reference images I looked at seemed to have steel rollers. I'll double-check that!

Also, thanks for the translation(s)!

Apparently the KV series had two different types of return rollers; one with rubber, and one without. Near as I can tell the rubberless rollers would have been on the KV-1S, which has a more minimalist suspension, ostensibly in order to save weight.

Some further progress... The weathering is not yet 100% finished and the rollers are now metallic. Thanks, Mark!


Comments, critique and insights are more than welcome!
Thanks everyone!

Very nice work looks similar to my heavy cast turret KV-1.

Thank you, David!
Here are a couple more images of the finished model. More details in my blog post at http://armored76.wordpress.com/2014/06/28/building-trumpeters-135-kv-1-small-turret/








Thanks again for all your help!
Cristian

Fantastische!

Danke, Mark!