A thin wash of Grumbacher Raw Umber artist’s oil serves to deepen recesses and creates a brownish filter which helps integrate the various colors.

The finish should matte down to a low sheen as the oils dry.

Holy smokes, Tim! That's just amazing!

I'm amazed the air brush didn't blow it away!

Love the camo job Tim.

"DITTO"

Thanks guys!

Actually, I did mount the tank on a block of wood with tape to paint it because the airbrush really would have blown it away!

Waiting for the oil wash to dry, I set about preparing a base. Starting with a stand from an old Pyro Santa Maria kit...

I filled the hollow pegs and front plate from below with super glue, then nipped them off to level the surface. I also added a piece of .060 inch plastic sheet to seal the bottom.



Sanded smooth and primed, the former ship stand is now a handy base for the tiny tank.

Really an awesome job, Tim. You;d definitely want a base to make it more difficult to lose the little guy.

The base was airbrushed with Tamiya Desert Yellow (XF-59) acrylic paint followed with a streaky coating of Winsor & Newton Burnt Sienna artist’s oil to simulate the look of a wood plinth.







Gary, you're right - I normally don't put my armor models on bases, but this one is so tiny there really is a danger of losing it!

I still can't get over the effect you get with your simulated wood bases Tim.

Thanks, Peter. It is a simple technique, and I actually find it easier than working with real wood!


For the groundwork I began with a piece of Evergreen .040 inch plastic card with the edges smoothed and rounded down.


Once shaped, the plastic was covered with Squadron green putty thinned with Testors liquid cement. A pinch of model railroad “snow” (i.e., marble dust) was also added to give it a slightly rough, more earth-lke texture.


When dry, the groundwork was given a coat of Tamiya Flat Earth (XF-52) with Noch static grass flocking added on top.

The ground base looked reasonably good, but the tiny tank seemed lost in it, so I added a fence to fill some of the excess space.

The fence was made from .020 X .020 inch plastic strip posts with small gauge wires strung between them.


The lines came from a copper transistor coil I often use for ship model rigging. The thin wire has a film of wax which causes enamel paints to bead up unrealistically; I usually remove it with lacquer thinner before painting, but in this instance I used the effect to suggest barbed wire...


Tucked in behind the tank, the inconspicuous rusted fence gives a nice bit of background atmosphere.

With the addition of some tiny bits of railroad foam scrub and set on its base, the Renault FT is complete!

Wow! That's just awesome, Tim. Congrats!

Tim,

Another masterpiece completed!

Mark

Yes a masterpiece indeed. Great work Tim. I have really enjoyed watching this one come together.

Tim, you have really put together a subject that I love and in a scale that I am not able to see or work on since my fingers are too big.

Again, nice job.

Bob

Dear all,
Just a quick question: am I making a huge mistake with a brown-grey camouflage on the Pz IV ausf.B, or the early two-tone camo was completely omitted by the time of the French campaign? Some source says this, some says that... What is the consensus here?
Thanks in advance!
Cheers,
Zsolt

Hi Tim,

Great job on that micro tank! Painting looks amazing.

Hello everyone! I've made some progress on my R35. I have a lot of interior kits in my stash but this is the very first one that I actually worked on so, this is all practice for me. I also have a collection of scale modeling books and magazines that I used as reference. I feel that they have finally paying dividends, even for just a bit. Please pardon that this post is picture heavy. I am going to post before and after shots. On the plus side, I have followed Tim's tutorial (Thanks Tim!) to reduce the pixels, so, hopefully that helps.

Here are pictures of the engine. I have elected to paint some as rusted to vary the tone.












Here are pictures of the interior without the engine. I was only able to take one "Before" shot. Here it is.



And here are the rest without the engine.








And now with the engine.












And finally, pictures from the top.



Again, apologies for being picture heavy. I thought it would be great to see them side by side. I am pretty happy with the results. Thanks for viewing!

-Joseph

Zsolt.

The change to all over Dunkelgrau was not issued until July 1940 after the fall of France. Even then, the vehicles had to be repainted by the units themselves, after they received paint supplies, so many would have been two tone for some time after.

Joseph, she looks amazing. The finish on the engine and transmission components is fantastic. Love the before and after pics.

Joseph,
That interior looks stellar!


Gaz

One picture is worth 2,300 educated guesses.

...or get it from original documentation dated 31/07/1940.
(HM 1940 No.804) Painting of Equipment: In order to save paint the following instructions will be observed for the duration of the war: 1. Equipment previously painted dark-grey/dark-brown will be painted in dark-grey only. (OKH. (Chef Ruest u. BdE) 31.7.1940.

This was an order to repaint existing equipment, but new equipment had been being painted grey only for a while, so older tanks could/would have been in the old scheme as well as overall grey.

The problem is the colours do not stand out in black and white pictures unless there is exactly the right light conditions and the photograph is sharp. Unfortunately there are not many of those.

Thanks for the info, Peter! I scanned through a lot of pictures on the net but had not really spotted one with a clear two-tone pattern. It is extremely hard to see the dark grey - dark brown patches on a BW photograph. So I am still undecided which way to go - maybe the overall grey...

In the meantime I cut&clean the track links. I've changed to Miniart's early Panzer IV tracks from the kit tracks as I got mad trying to click the Tristar links together. After ten or so try I gave up and decided to go and shop some aftermarket stuff.

Miniart links are crisp and nice but are molded with 5 (five!) attachment points each so there will be A LOT of cleaning before I can start to attach them together.
Cheers,
Zsolt

Joseph,

Very nice work with the assembly and paint work. With driver sitting in with the engine it had to be hard on hot days.

Mark

Zsolt, there is a trick to getting the Tristar ones together, but still not the best option:
https://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/tristar/tri35021.htm

Have you checked the Miniart ones go around the sprocket properly? They seem to be a little different. Hate for you to do all the clean up and then find they don't fit!

Peter, thanks! I'm pretty happy with the results.




Thanks Gaz, I never thought I could come up with this kind of finish.




Hi Gary, thanks for the comment. I don't know much about the R35 but it seem pretty cramped. I don't even know where they store the ammunition. Nothing was provided in the kit.

Hi All,

I have completed the build phase of this kit. Some details are pretty intricate. Here are a couple of examples.

The rollers have been provided with PE parts. But, the PE parts did not come with bend guides. I think these are not necessary, but I went with it.


Another complicated piece is the driver's viewing hatch. The instruction was out of sequence but it was not hard to figure it out.


Anyway, here are pictures of the R35 ready to be primed.









And some detail shots.








Thanks,

Joseph