Well, here it is. My in progress Trade Federation Tank. After much puttywork and sanding this is what I've got. There's still a lot of puttywork and sanding to do.
Here is one of the side blaster cannons. I've drilled out all of fthe barrels. (A) Do you think I should add some sort of detail to this, or just paint it nicely?


How odd... I need advice from the Rivet Review Board on, what else, rivets! I tried these with drops of white glue (Elmers). Someone suggested that I try wood glue as it would hold its shape better. (B) Any other suggestions?


Here we see what this machine looks like! For a kit with plenty of problems, it sure will look good when done! (C) Here, I'm looking for suggestions about what kind of details I should add. This will be painted as a tank that has been re-fitted by pirates who stole the tank from the plains of Naboo...


Please post comments on points A, B and C, as well as any other suggestions you may have about the following:
-paint scheme
-battle damage
-stowage items
-added equipment (i.e. rangfinders, targeting devices, antennae, etc.)
Thanks!

YodaMan

It looks great Yoda but where are the tracks?

Nic

You must of put alot of hours into it yoda man
Brandenus Pimpus It looks great

Looked very nice Yoda Man, besides the track question, where will the mud guard and fenders sit?

Awesome machine, Yoda master!

It sure is a looker! Now...how do we classify "Trade Federation"....Allied or Axis?LOL This thing would look soooo cool with a few droid tank riders.Sieg Heil!

Looking good there Yodaman! I never realized how big the model was.
Here are some comments: A) I would leave the guns ass they are right now. You have done a pretty good job at drilling them and it sure adds to the overall look of the model.
B) I like the rivets, they look kinda beat up which would be a nice look for this model.
C) DUDE, THAT THING IS HUGE....... #:-) I think it would look really nice painted in diferent shades of natural metal, as if it had just rolled out of the assembly line.

Keep us posted and may the force be with you!

Cheers,

CDT Reimund Manneck
U.S. Army ROTC

Yodaman,

Great looking start! I have one of these sitting on my shelves, just begging to be built. How has the construction been? It sounds like you have had a lot of fit problems.

As for your questions. I think you should leave the gun as is. The rivets look good, they should really stand out after the painting and weathering. From what I remember in the TPM, most of Naboo was pretty darn green. If it is a pirated machine, you could go for a splinter camo scheme that you see on modern military vehicles like the S-tank, or the STRV-122.



Can't wait to see it finished.

Yodaman, I'm not into this type of stuff but you have done a real nice job and I want to see it when you have finished.

Cliff

Hola!

great job so far, I wouldnt mind building one of these my self, would be awesome to paint and weather!! As for another solution to rivets, maybe some brass pin heads? THats what Ive been sing for my Dio competition project. All you do is go to Walmart, go to the crafts section and they have small packages of (purple lables) pins, I think they are used for pinning patterns etc to cloth. It will be in a section with a bunch of products made from the same company (same purple lables). To use them just drill small holes where you need the rivet, cut to appropriate length and super glue it in place and you will have a perfectly shaped rivet!

I don't think I would do anything different with the rivets. They look awesome! Great technique. I love the way they aren't all uniform. In scale, it looks very convincing and after weathering will be even better.

Steve

Thanks guys!



To put it nicely, there's a seam or gap whenever you glue two peices together! Hull halves, turret, gun barrel, blaster cannons... ugh! Make sure you have lots of putty before starting this kit. It's not really that fixing the seams is hard... it's just that there's so many - it's annoying! :-)

I was thinking of having some of the panels as a natural metal finish. That way I could use blue pastel powder to simulate heat stress near the guns on the 'dish'. (kind of like what motorcycle modelers do)
As for general paint scheme... I like camo, but don't know what colors should be used.

Droid riders.... Hmmm. I like it! But since this will be a captured tank, the riders will be human in form. I may have to hold off on the figures until I can sculpt them... There'd be one hanging on to the side handles, another one would be laying down on the 'dish' taking aim with a rifle, and the last one would be on top of the turret.

YodaMan

I know the perfect scheme, Dunkelgelb, schwarzgrau. and rottbraun :-)

Rob

Jeez ! Good job, Joe !
For painting,
- I'd start with a layer of metal,
- then add masking fluid or other masks where you want chipped pieces (those HI-tech SW alloys just never rust, do they ?)
- spray several layers of brightly colored paint, refer to some of the feature articles here. I think the article about the German railway armed wagon shows exactly what you should do.
- remove masks
- drybrush
- add weathering.
I think bright colors and weathering are the key word here. Weather in sandy colors for tatooine, in mashed mudcrawler colors for naboo

two words "ambush scheme"
actually a variation of it with a very dark green, a lighter green, and a light brown. Maybe kinda stripey as opposed to the large blotches.

Epi's Tank:

Ok Yodaman,
I tried to post my picture myself, but Jeep came to the rescue. DAMN COMPUTERS!!!!
Well maybe you can get some sort of an Idea of how to paint yours. #:-) #:-)

Here we go! Photo update #2... more detail shots....

These are the two side blaster cannons. The top one is the kit part, and the bottom one I drilled out the grill and added some tubing detail... the putty is there because my scribing tool ran away from me. Maybe a mesh is needed over the tubing?


A side view. Here you see how much putty was used on the turret.


A closeup of the turret. I'll get around to sanding this darn thing later...


The underside of the tank, home to *surprise* many fit problems!


A closeup of the previous shot. I'm considering ripping this part out and scratchbuilding the detail. It's just a bit too soft and rounded for me. I want grungy and dirty! :-)


This is the location of the most horrible seam/gap in the kit. I tried putty, but .010" styrene is the way to go! BTW - notice the size of the rubber band ball in the backround!


Any new observations/suggestions/thoughts?

YodaMan

man it looks great, cant wait to see it when finished

Bender

Yeah, stop wasting so much time with rubber bands :-) :-) :-)

Rob

(:-) Yoda Great job So Far.. I like that you drilled out the guns I did not think of that on my first one. In fact I had alot easier time with it than I am with the new one that I am working on currently. LOTS OF SANDING AND PUTTY WORK. *&%#*%!** If you know what I mean LOL
As for color scheme. I will be using a Soviet Green and Black Highlighting.. And you just gave me an Idea on using the Jolly Roger as it's Unit shield. (Yep Another Rebel Pirated Ship.) So keep on working. Pete is adding a little something extra on his...BUT I'm not telling what it is... I wil let him tell you guys... It should look really cool. IF it comes out right.!!
Anyway, Good Work, Keep it up.

DAGGER-1

Dagger, do you need any slogans translated into the Star Wars alphabet? I've got a translation key from a Star Wars insider... it'd look pretty cool scrawled on a tank!

YodaMan

(:-) YODA:
Absolutely, Yhat would be cool.


DAGGER-1

Just passing through the site and had to tell 'ya I'm liking the TF Tank YM! It's looking good so far...

Gotta go spend some money at Best1Hobby.com now...

Gunnie

Dude, that's like two tubes of putty!!! Thanks for the pics and the head's up. I have a feeling that mine is gonna sit on the shelf for a few more years. I guess I should've realized this after my AT-ST Walker took so much dang filling and sanding.

I like the extra work you did on the weapon...nice touch. Some Star Wars slogan on it would be pretty intereting looking. Kinda like Soviet WW II armor.

Stuke

STUKE:
OH MAN dont do that; I really believe that once you get started on it you will enjoy the work that you will put into it. BESIDES If you check out the one that I have posted here. Which I did a few months ago. IT went easily, With only a little more work than normal. And came out great. So not all the kits require so much more detail work. Anyway As soon as you have some spare time take it out and start on it. It will go alot easier than you think. Besides. It worth the effort.

DAGGER-1