Wow. Thanks for all the comments guys. You really made my day.
I must confess, though, that I cheated on the sandbags and tarps. They came with the Model Victoria conversion kit. For $45 CDN, you do get a lot of good stuff. All the stowage came from that kit, and I never used it all! The sandbags have especially good texture on them. Far better than I could ever have done myself. All the tie-downs I did myself, however. The stowage was painted with artist's oils, with the exception of the jerry cans. I don't know why I decided to do it this way, but it was fun mixing all the colours
.
The conversion kit also came with the ends for the chain, but did not include the chain itself. I couldn't find any model ship builders chain so I used a necklace that I had found on the road a while ago and had kept for this very purpose. It was the perfect size and shape, I just hope it wasn't real gold
. I sprayed the chain gunmetal, then drybrushed with aluminum. It later recieved a fine coat of dust with the airbrush.
The chipped paint was simply applied after the model was airbrushed with the Italian Sand colour. I used Model Master Gun Metal and basically drybrushed it on with a fine brush. I elected to go with this dark colour because I knew the following wash, drybrush, clear coats, and dust would tone it down somewhat.
The exhausts were something new. I tried that Instant Rust stuff I heard about here on Armorama. It worked really well. The coats were thin enough that the detail was still visible and the rust was a dark brown colour, perfect for exhausts. I added black pastel dust with a little graphite to the ends of the exhausts as I did at the ends of the gun barrels.
For further weathering, I brushed some dark red brown pastel dust making some verticle streaks coming down from some of the bolts. As stated earlier, I also airbrushed some dust on. Using a technique from a recent TMMI issue, I lightly sprayed Tamiya Deck Tan over the gloss coated model. Afterwards, I removed the dust from some areas using a Q-tip dipped in acrylic thinner. This dust coat also faded down the white air identification marker slightly.
This is my second Italian subject to date, but it will not be my last, I really enjoy building them. You may have seen my other one as I wrote an article on it. This was my Fiat Topolino. It was in the Dromedary Dilemma diorama. There are not many Italian kits out there and most styrene ones are of relatively poor quality. With companies like Model Victoria, however, we are offered a number of excellent resin products and kits. If you are willing to pay the price, they are great kits.
Bob--This tank will eventually be in a diorama. I have ordered a figure (Model Victoria, of course
) to go in the turret . I already have the other three members of the crew. Like the kits, if you want good Italian figures, you are forced to go with resin ones.
Paulo--Thanks for the advice. What I did with the trakcs was paint them gun metal, then drybrush with aluminum. I then mixed up a wash using pastels and paint thinner and put that over the trakcs. It settled nicely into the recessed areas and looks like dust or sand. I didn't think much rust would be appropriate for a tank in the desert. What do you suggest? Maybe just a sand coloured drybrush?
Tread--LOL! Thanks for the points
.
Dave--Well I lied, the model isn't completely finished as the lights have no glass in them! These came with the resin conversion kit and are very nice, but there were no lenses with them. I did paint the inside silver. Right now, I'm waiting to get my hands on some Krystal Klear. They don't have any here, so it might be a while.......
Well, i think I answered everyone's questions. If you have more feel free to ask, I love sharing
. I guess I don't have to write an article now
.
Nic
