So I am almost done with my first ever 1:35 scale model tank. I am a huge fan of tank killers (Russian ISU's, jagdpanther, etc) so I decided for my first project to make a tank I do not like at all, so that when I inevitably messed up on something, whether it be during construction or painting, I would not feel sick to my stomach. The cheap Tamiya M5A1 kit fit the bill perfectly. I would like to note that while my next project (StuG III Ausf. G, MIAG production 1943)will constructed whilst taking into account historical accuracy, this project was not, AT ALL something I spent time on. This was meant as more of a test kit. So anyways I bought my tools and slapped this bad boy together.


It actually came out nice with no aftermarket parts, although if I had a little more invested in this kit, things like thinning the lamp protectors (sure there is a name for those things), in ALL reference photos I found they are much thinner than they are in the Tamiya kit. I effed up the ball mounted mg by sanding it unevenly, but it ended up ok as it just look like the mg is turning a bit to shoot left of the tank. I used squadron fast dry putty, which ended up drying and granulating way to fast for my taste. I think I'll have to find a better putty to work with, especially if I decide to home make the zimmerit coating for my stug 3g, any suggestions would be great, I read that squadron green putty is much better, but also read if possible, two part epoxies are the way to go. I removed the mounted mg because it was giving me problems, and I was getting lazy.

Onto painting. The construction of 1:35 tank isn't what scares me, hell I look forward to working with PE and Resin aftermarket parts in the future to make some stunning kits, it's the painting. I had never used an airbrush, as much as held a paintbrush since I was in elementary school. First thing I did was spend days, if not weeks reading internet sources on how to properly paint and weather a scale model. Anyways, when I was ready I went out and bought a NEO Iwata and an affordable airbrush compressor for Harbor Freight tool store. I gave a base coat of black acrylic, then went over with olive green. I then decided to go over exposed surfaces with a slightly lighter shade of OG. Well, here is where things went very wrong for me. Due to my first time airbrush use, I didnt think to look at the front nozzle cap thingy (screws in to protect the needle), which was becoming clogged. On top of nozzle cloggage, I was using my airbrush from way too far. I ran into splattering, and my paint coagulated before it hit the model and made the entire vehicle look cast iron'y. I used future to set the decals (one of which I destroyed, the star on left side panel). I then sealed with a few light coats of future from the airbrush. Normally I would've given oil/enamel wash a try, but I was working a lot and couldn't find the time to hit up an art store this past week. So I use kids water colors that I bought for $3. On any other kit, I think a water color wash would suck, but my rough and grainy surface was perfect for this. I gave a wash of orange, brown, and white tones. Added putty around lower hull to double as mud. And that is currently where I am at.

I will probably paint and weather the tracks, add chipping with graphite pencil, touch up the mud in some places, seal with tamiya matte clear/future, and call it a day, as the point of it was to give myself a kit to eff up on and learn to use the airbrush properly. With that being said, when I am happy with my modelling skills, the M5A1 has endeared itself to me, and it will be a kit I revisit at some point, although certainly not tamiya's, as I wasn't really impressed with the quality.



Anyways my next kit is DML 6581, the dec 43 production stug 3g. I have done my research and hope to make a historically accurate MIAG StuG IIIG. Once I get the kit, figure out whether I want to buy PE or resin zimmerit or make my own, and also figure out whether to buy PE back upper hull storage rails (if you know what I am talking about) or make some myself using styrene (or even balsa) I will begin on construction and will be posting a build "blog". I plan for it to be way more involved than my m5a1, and I plan pulling out all the stops when it comes to painting it. Priming, pre shading, oil/enamel wash, hairspray method chipping, filtering, pigment weathering, awesome camo on the schurzen, and hopefully a gallery worthy final product! I look forward to having people join me for the build so I can draw upon the ideas of others and get advice along the way.

You know what, that is a damn fine first effort. My early attempts were nowhere near as good. Well done.

- Steve

Good looking M5; welcome to the club!

Very nice first effort Ed!

cheers
Brent

Much better than my sad effort!

Yeah, Tamiya's M5A1 kinda sucks but it looks enough like the subject to fool the average person. For your next M5A1 effort, AFV Club's M5A1 will be much better.

Tops my first five. I painted them one color with rattle cans. I'm not sure if the barrel was cast, but tend to think it was milled. I foresee great builds, in your future.

Came out pretty good, each effort will get better.I really love your call sign, pretty funny !

Usually, we get "this is my first model" followed by "I am ten years old." Can we ask your age?

Hi Ed,

Very good job! But first of all, welcome in this wonderful club. You have the right skill, I like very much your job.

Now, leave the M5A1 where it is and make a jagdpanther

Regards
Giovanni

You Tube has a lot of tutorials and tips on how to paint and add painting details. If you have a modeling club near you join them, they will be helpful.
Good luck and have fun.

22, just graduated from college!

Thanks for the replies everyone, glad to see how active this community is!




Hmmm, I seem to have found an Orange County chapter of IPMS. I'll definitely check it out. Do they have competitions where you can win awards and prizes?

Pretty good for a first build. I remember mine didn't look that great, some old Lindberg T-55.

22? Think that's when I started too, all because of a Mi-24 kit.... 26 now.

Man, you just missed out on a OC IPMS meeting at the hobby shop I go to in Garden Grove. Was on the 13th.

Hi Mick ...Great to see some new blood in the modelling community.... Great start and welcome to the awesome world of armor modelling.. A word to the wise.. Take your time and don't put too much pressure on getting everything right the first time .. You are so lucky to have the internet and access to all these people who are ready and willing to help .. When I started way back in the time of the dinosaurs, all we had were a few magazines and I couldn't wait for the next months issues to show up. All you need to do is ask here and I'm sure you'll get answers right away.. How cool is that ..
Good luck on your Stug ... If your stug is before September 43 then you don't need zimmerit .. might be a better option since making your own is not an easy thing to get right.. If you want zimmerit then I might suggest you pick up one of Dragon's zimmeritted kits ..They look great and much easier for someone starting off..(or not so new as well).
Any questions ..just ask ..

Well come to the club fellow (somewhat) youngster. Great job on the M5. Much better than my first kit... All I did was build it no paint, no nothing. Just plain plastic and GLOBS of glue everywhere. I recently finished the same M5 kit too. For starters, Tamiya kits are great as they are easy builds, but they're expensive.

If you don't have them already, I suggest investing in some detail brushes. They are great are almost anything you need to use brushes for. They don't have to be an expensive set- AC Moore, if there's one near you, sells a good 4 brush set for about 4 bucks here in New York. I just got one set and they are very useful. Especially when painting figures.

On a side note, I don't know what kind of paint the olive green was but in general you don't want to use an enamel wash. Enamel paints, and especially the thinners for enamel, can, and will, strip the already set paint and Future. You'd be better off using acrylic or, like you did out of circumstance, water based paint. They thin easily, a lot with water, especially the aptly named water based paints, but with Tamiya acrylics I think it's best to use Tamiya thinner as sometimes the paint doesn't play nice with water, and they won't strip the finish or paint.

For putty, although I never used it before (if only I had the finances...), Mr. Hobby Mr. Surfacer, by Gunze Sangyo, seems to work well. Also Tamiya white putty. You just have to read up on the products because you may have to thin the putty before using it. I know with the Testors tube putty you do (at least the ones that I have, though they are kind of old...).

And yeah... With the airbrush it's a lot of maintenance. After every use you have to clean it throughly otherwise you'll find what you experienced: a lot of gunked up paint and/or it won't spray as the airbrush will be clogged. You will want to keep a few (at least one) test kit around to, well.. Test on. Weathering techniques, airbrushing techniques, whether or not your paint is thinned right, etc., etc. You never want to test anything on a new, and probably expensive kit. Maybe a $5 kit you picked up in the discount bin that's or some other cheap or old kit you have. If you do want to find some good deals, eBay does have some. Just beware of shipping as sometimes sellers can stiff you there. They may have a GREAT selling price but the shipping may be 3x or more the selling price. One reason why we call it EvilBay here. There's more but that's not to be gotten into now. Also, check out the Buy/Sell/Trade section here. We have a lot of great sellers who will, usually, work out a deal with you.

Again, welcome to the club. Take your jacket off and stay awhile. Pretty soon you'll be like the rest, or most, of us... Just piles of kits, paints, and accessories lying around in your room.

Oh... And the lamp protectors are actually called brush guards.

Pretty good first effort! I love that rough texture. I'll bet you will have times when you wish you could achieve it for some effect you are trying replicate.

I too am in Orange County and know we used to have a local club that met every month. I have lost track of them but I'll bet they are still around.