Hi armorama fans!

I have never built an armor vehicle in my entire life. From now on, I want some change.
For the most, I build 120mm (1/16) scale figures, but I am going to do a diorama, witch going to have a armor vehicle, but I don't know witch one. As I said, I have never built a vehicle, so I need some tips and tricks, and a lot of them. Please Armor fans, help me!

/Jamal

What scale of vehicle are you going to be building? 1/35 or 1/16?
We can't tell you everything here, so I definitely suggest checking old threads on this site as well as some articles here and on other sites. Nevertheless, I shall try........

Generally, building the model is pretty straightforward. It is best to try to build as much of it as possible before painting. Some people even build the whole thing, tracks and all, before painting, but I like to leave the wheels and tracks off. Make sure to fill seam lines, especially along the gun barrel.

There are three types of tracks that companies use with their kits: vinyl (rubberband), individual link, and link and length. The first two are most common and you will most likely be using one of them. If you get a Tamiya, Italeri, or Academy kit, it wil probably have vinyl tracks. Dragon (DML) supplies individual link tracks. Both have their advantages. The individual links can be a bit intimidating and certainly take a lot of work, but they look much more realistic and you can get the proper sag in the tracks with them. Vinyl tracks are supposed to be easier to use (though I have certainly had plenty of trouble with them) and you might have to glue or tie them down to the roadwheels or return rollers to create the proper sag.

Once the model is painted and you are ready for decals and weathering, give it a gloss coat. This will help the decals adhere properly and aid with the wash. After the wash and before the drybrush, spray a dull coat on.

The part of the model you will find most difficult will prbably be the weathering. Since this is for a dio, you must decide how badly weathered your vehicle should be and how it would be weathered depending on its environment, time in service, etc. There are many techniques people have developed for weathering and there are a lot of articles on the internet on this topic. Generally, people will use a drybrush and a wash. You probably know how to do these from your figures, but I'll explain anyway. The wash usually goes on first. I like to use a dark brown for my wash, adding enough of it to "tint" the thinner. I use a fine brush and run the wash down panel lines and over detail, like boltheads and antenna bases. In conjunction with drybrushing, your model will receive some depth and a more weathered appearance. Take a flat brush and tip the tip in some paint. Most people use a lighter shade of the basecoat, but I actually just use a light tan in most occasions. Wipe the brush off until hardly any is left and then go over the model, concentrating around edges and detail. Be careful not to overdo it and put too much paint on, though.

For further weathering, you can try chipped paint by taking a dark brown, the base coat, or basically whatever looks best, and painting various sizes of chips on with a fine brush. Again, don't overdo it. You can also spray a dust coat on, or apply pastel dust. For the latter method, you need pastel chalks. Scrape along the chalk with a knife and you will get some powder that is just like dust. Then apply with a brush. Black pastels can be used in the same way around exhausts and gun muzzles.

This may look long, but a lot has been left out. If you have any particular questions, just ask.

Nic

Exactly Nic, btw, nice pics in your Gallery!

Folgore, you said it all, it's very good stuff! And welcome Jamal to this wonderful site.

Just to add a bit, you can also build your armor out of box or with a lot of after market items:

PE Ugrades : Due to the very nature of plastic injection, some part cannot be replicated to the finest detailed level, PE is thin metal sheet which you can cut out and fold to reflect the fine details.
Metal Gun Tubes : The biggest advantage is they are seamless.
Metal/Modelkasten Tracks : They are workable and can creat nature sag
Resin upgrades/corrections: Some Plastic come out with minor errors, those resin stuff can correct it and make your model look more accurate
Interior kits : to give your model some "Guts"

Anyway, welcome to Armor modelling, and have fun, say what you like to build? German stuff?

Hi Jamal,
if you are new to armour building, I'd stick to the "easy" Tamiya kits T-34, M13-40, Chi-Ha, etc...basic kits that are cheap, easy, build into acceptable SOB models....
Cheers,
Dave

Jamal, I don't know what kits you are interested in (modern, WW2, US, German), but I'll take a guess that maybe a Leopard 2A5 would be a good starter kit for you. You should have local references in Sweden to get for the kit. Tamiya's Leo 2A5 is one of their best armor model kits and their best modern armor kit with the Japanese Type 90 as a close second. Superb kit that builds nicely and is extremely accurate.

Thanks for all replies! SS-74, My main interest is WW2. It is a terible time, but it has very nice vehicle and so on... Thanks for the tips Sabot and Kraftstoff - I can see what I can find at my local hobbyshop!

/Jamal

And I almost forgot! Nic, a very nice description, thanks for taking time to write to me! A big thanks to you Nic!

/Jamal

And I almost forgot! Nic, a very nice description, thanks for taking time to write to me! A big thanks to you Nic!

/Jamal

Good Call Jamal, I build WW II German Armor exclusively, but later on I will venture into some allied stuffs, I have my eyes on the T-35.