Just getting back into modeling after many years hiatus. Decided to start with an older Tamiya kit to practice some of the painting techniques that I've been reading about for the past few years. I used to just spray paint the base coat and do some (heavy) drybrushihng. Now doing some base coat highlighting in the center of the panels (hard to see in the pics). I've basically put a pretty good coat of dust on it with highly thinned Tamiya Buff. Plan on adding some fuel stains and maybe some dirt on the road wheels, tracks, and lower hull with Mig pigments. I know there are some problems but just wanted a "quick and dirty" to get back into the swing of things. Any comments appreciated.

Steve

Hi Steve

Nice test piece.

You can certainly be a bit more heavy-handed with the dirt around the running gear, comparing it with this North African M3.

M3

David

Nice looking tank, the one thing that jumps out at me is the commander's hatch. It should be leaning forward over the front of the cupola. I don't think it was able to rest straight up.

Thanks for the comments. As far as the hatch goes, there is a figure that is going to be put in the turret. He is holding onto the hatch. It's basically how the instructions show it, but I'll remember that when I build my Academy Lee kit.

Steve

Very nice, David. Good work on the paint and shading. A bit of rust here and there, some chips in the paint. A dent perhaps and a figure or two and ready to rock, buddy.
Keep going as you haven't lost the touch.
Mike

Looking great. I noticed no one mentioned a wash.
I see a knob on the right rear track. Did you use the Mig pigments on them? Or paint?

Bob

Thanks again for the comments. I see the knob on the tracks. Sometimes these things are hard to remove on the rubber tracks. Also see some rust color on the rubber part. Will fix that too. I did do a wash with black oil paint. It's kind of hard to see in the pics (it was very sunny and the sun washed out some of the paint details). Have not used any pigments yet but plan on using some rust and European dust pigment. I also want to add some dirt (w/ oil paint) running down where some of the rivets are.

Steve

Those kits tracks are awful (the kit is WRONG by aligning the end connectors with the track blocks ... and many other dimentional errors), though you did a nice job of finishing them.

Also, you should paint the MG in the commander's copula and make the similar item under the turret gun into a counterweight -- it was not an MG.

No paint chips on these -- they were well-maintained and didn't last long enough in combat to develop paint chips. Dust scuffs and maybe a bit of worn metal on the heavily used areas are all the "advanced" weathering this might need..

Hey nice Lee you got there

Not bad for a 20 something year old kit. Unfortunately, the number one flaw of this kit are the track pins

I have the Grant but, I have yet to paint it.

Again, a very nice build for your Lee!

Way to go Steve, it looks great! I like the clean presentation and subtle blends of tonal variations. I'd put it on my shelf

Hi there

I'm no expert on the Lee; I think you've done a nice job on that old kit. Not often I see this vehicle - always nice.

Well done, and thanks for sharing it.

Cheers

Simon