This is the DML kit OOTB, with no added details. The fit of the kit is pretty good, with not very many pin marks. Some gaps had to be filled when the turret halves came together. I cannot make much comment on the accuracy of the kit as my references are completey limited. However, I have grown a fondness for this beast, and now have two more on the shelf.
Kit was primed with Citadel Black, then basecoated with Tamiya Buff. Subsequent shades of Buff were applied lightened with white. Obviously, this is not an exact color match for Iraqi vehicles, but the variation in them is so wide, I think we can get away with it.
Next a filter of Burnt Sienna was applied, then a filter of Prussian Blue...if I recall correctly. After that thin washes of Burnt Sienna and Raw Umber were applied. I think in all, that I layed down about four of these.
Chipping was next with Model Master Russian Armor Green. This was the most difficult part of the project, and very time consuming. I had never done chipping before, and it's a learned skill. Eventually, as I moved up the turret I got more use to making inrregular scratches upon the paint surface, instead of the round it looks like a paint blob "scratches" that I was applying to the chassis.
Moving on, we went to rust streaks. Big debates rage on this topic, but I think it's a pretty safe bet that an Iraqi vehicle sitting on the ground during the war accumlated some rust streaks pretty quickly. To render these I put small points of Burnt Sienna paint on the model, then with a clean brush dipped in a bit of turpenoid, blended the paint down the sides of the model. At first, I was a little alarmed with what I had done, but it grows on you.
At this point, I attached the tracks which I had assemled early on in the project and removed from the model for ease of painting. They were base-coated in flat black, then give multiple washes of Burnt Umber, and Sienna. This was followed by a thick mix of MIG Pigments trying to replicate dust. It worked out ok I guess. I then added graphite to the areas of wear on the tracks, but in the end was not satisfied with them. Need more practice I suppose.
I then painted the small details on the model, shovels, axe, etc. All this color was popping out on the model, so the final step was to make a very thin mixture of Tamiya Buff, Desert Yellow and white, and airbrush it lightly on the model to bring it all together. I still think I need to do some additional dust pigments, but being unhappy with the tracks has made me leary of this step.
All in all, I am satisfied with the build..mostly because I completed it!! I see a lot of errors looking at the photos, but will improve on those as I go along.
One more note, sorry for the long thread, but I am trying to model this as I would like to see what others do when they post their work. A sort of mini-article I suppose.
A link to the photo album:
http://stuartsowle9954.fotopic.net/c94322.html
Any criticism welcome. I've got lots of improvements to make.
Stuke
