Greetings folks!

Has many time since my last post. My job is consuming all my time.

With some stuck builds, I decide start to finishing all my half done jobs.

The first is this:

Dragon's (decade old) ZSU-23-4M Shilka.
With the recent release of the new Shilkas kits, I put this one aside, a bit upset. But retake and finish the job.
The idea is replicate a vehicle from middle east, from arabic civil wars, without specific country

I had some photos of the build, but a virus (damm cerber) infected my laptop and I loose all.

The Kit:
I bought the Eduard set of PE for this kit and the RB Models metal barrels. To make him more interesting, I decided to cut off the suspension arms from the lower hull, and using steel pins and plastic tubes make new articulations, so I can reposition the arms according the terrain.
Periscopes and observations blocks was drilled and filled with resin to replicate glass. The upper hull grill was sawed off, the grill beneath was scrath bulid and the PE mesh was finaly put over. Wiring was added for the lights, and I also made the weldering with putty for the upper hull. Some areas was heated and bended to replicate damage, also in some PE parts too.

The base:
The base was build over floral foam, the pavement has three different layers of plaster ro replicate the cracks. The fence is telephone wire and plastic strips, the ruined wall is styrofoam, and debris are made with plaster. The water is two part epoxi resin. All colors in base are painted with handcraft paints.

Painting:
I sprayed two thin layers of Vallejo gray primer, followed by a coat of dark brown, and then hairspray. Next come the green and sand yellow tones, so I do the scratches to replicate wear. All colors are handcraft paints, mixed to match the references and sprayed to achieve a fadded an weathered look.
Some acrylic and oil washes come next, to enhance fade, color variation and volume. Everything was sealed with enamel matt varnish. I use a homemade powder (dust from dyed plaster), of diferent colors mixed with matt varnish and glass cleaning product to make the dry mud in the lower hull, coarse powder comes first, and thinner last.
The same kind of mix was made to do rainmarks, and deposits of dust in the recessed areas, the difference is the the proportion of liquid, varnish and powder (the thinnest one) for each effect. Almost the same steps was do it in the base. No further varnish coat was applied.

















I hope you enjoy, comments and critics are wellcome!

Thanks... Audren Dbó.

Wow. Great job Audren! I really like it.

Looks great. Really beat up and fits in with the base perfectly.

Thanks for sharing

This turned out very nice! Great job!

great job! speaking of shilka,during the soviet's afgan war,soviet strip the radar in order to carry more ammo,turning the shilka into a gun carriage.but to date, I have seen one image of afgan's war shilka without the radar.

Excellent work; a magnificent build

Realy Thanks guys, by the comments and the views.
I'm feel honored with the positive feedback.

I found two pics from the unfinished build. One from the model only painted and One of the base without dust, wear, etc.

Audren, incredible build! What did you use for dust on the base and vehicle? How did you get it to adhere to the surface?

Thanks, Bill

The layered plaster for the base and the wire for the fence are excellent ideas! I think I might "borrow" them if you don't mind

Cristian, feel free to borrow anything.



Bill....
I cast various blocks of plaster dyed in different earth tones. From light sand to dark earth. And I use according the needs. Ex: For mud, I grate the blocks coarser, and general dust finer. For recessed areas I use a motor tool (like Dremel) to "sand" a very fine pownder from the block, that I collect in a plastic bag.

The trick is: I mix the three different grits accordin the use, the proportion determines the use. I also mix different colors to achieve a subtle variation in colors. To apply I mix a handcraft varnish (from a local brand, he is very thick and white, but dries clear) with a glass cleaning product (has less superficial tension than water, and dry faster), and the powders, applying with a old brush. The Varnish bonds the powders to the model, and seal too, so, no further varnish is necessary (if varnish is applied after the mix, he hide almost all the dust effect). The ratio of liquid, varnish and powder determine the result. Few varnish and powder do rain marks (+/- 85 % cleaning liquid). More varnish and powder do mud (+/- 40% cleaning liquid). Get the idea?
Try on some scrap kit or old toy. A friend of mine tell me a time ago, that a I have a very intuitive feeling to do my builds, now days I understand what he spoke and now I agree.

Another exemple of the same technique:





PS: One think I need to say.
I use this kind of techniques and materials because the shortage of appropriate materials here where I live. No hobby store in the town or nearby, the closest is two hours car driving, and the prices are 3, 4 even 5 times more expensive than stores in China or Europa. Sometimes is hard to work without supplies: paints, washes, pigments, plasticards etc... We need to improvise with we have on hand here, but we don't quit.
I LOVE the hobby, so..... I do what i can to make my models, with I'm can.