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Armor/AFV: Modern Armor
Modern armor in general.
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JGSDF Type 74 MBT
bison126
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Correze, France
Joined: June 10, 2004
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Posted: Thursday, September 21, 2006 - 11:07 PM UTC
All this looks excellent Michaël but you killed me by showing how the MK tracks are to be built !
I intended to buy the kit and those tracks but now I guess I may think about it longer :-)

Those tracks are a kit in the kit but they sure look far better than the Tamiya tracks.
I'll certainly use your article when I make up my mind. Keep on the good job.

Thanks for sharing
Olivier
FichtenFoo
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Pennsylvania, United States
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Posted: Thursday, September 21, 2006 - 11:47 PM UTC

Quoted Text

All this looks excellent Michaël but you killed me by showing how the MK tracks are to be built !
I intended to buy the kit and those tracks but now I guess I may think about it longer :-)

Those tracks are a kit in the kit but they sure look far better than the Tamiya tracks.
I'll certainly use your article when I make up my mind. Keep on the good job.

Thanks for sharing
Olivier


Thanks Olivier! I was beginning to wonder if anyone was even following this. :-)

The tracks are great so far and I've not had much problem with them. It's a repetitive task and you tend to get into a groove. I think what would help speed things up (for the way I work at least) is having a jig for the 78 tracks and not just 10 at a time. I've gotten 70 tracks together though so just 8 more and 1 side is done.
FichtenFoo
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Pennsylvania, United States
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Posted: Friday, September 22, 2006 - 06:41 AM UTC
I finished one whole side of the Modelkasten tracks so I took some shots of how it looks with the sag. I also figured out how I'll connect the 2 ends together and show images of how I'll do that.

http://fichtenfoo.com/02GiantRobots/02b-JGSDFType74-tracks.htm
bison126
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Correze, France
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Posted: Friday, September 22, 2006 - 08:46 PM UTC
Hi Michaël,
considering the wheels are not glued but put in force on the suspension arm thanks to the polycap, i think it should be easy to remove them, put the completed tracks around the sprockets and the idlers and then only set the wheels back in place.
I always do that with the vinyl tracks and that works pretty good.

Olivier
FichtenFoo
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Pennsylvania, United States
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Posted: Saturday, September 23, 2006 - 08:36 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Hi Michaël,
considering the wheels are not glued but put in force on the suspension arm thanks to the polycap, i think it should be easy to remove them, put the completed tracks around the sprockets and the idlers and then only set the wheels back in place.
I always do that with the vinyl tracks and that works pretty good.

Olivier


I just worry that it would be harder to paint and weather them that way. Having them flat until the near-last steps would ease that.

A lot of progress today. The Modelkasten tracks are done finally. I got my Trumpeter Type 82 and Type 87 so I used one of the driver heads which were nicer than the Tamiya kit supplied one. I also finished priming everything. As such I have 3 sections of this build updated...

MK Tracks:
http://fichtenfoo.com/02GiantRobots/02b-JGSDFType74-tracks.htm

Painting/Weathering:
http://fichtenfoo.com/02GiantRobots/02b-JGSDFType74-paint.htm

Figures:
http://fichtenfoo.com/02GiantRobots/02b-JGSDFType74-figs.htm
FichtenFoo
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Posted: Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 03:55 AM UTC
Figure Painting Time! I did a step-by-step with photos on painting the 4 figures faces. So far so good. When the oils dry I'll add some more highlight and shadow to them.

http://fichtenfoo.com/02GiantRobots/02b-JGSDFType74-figs.htm

FichtenFoo
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Posted: Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 06:58 PM UTC
Last night I set the suspension into place so that it matches the uneven terrain. Click below for pics and info.

http://fichtenfoo.com/02GiantRobots/02b-JGSDFType74.htm
Plasticat
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Idaho, United States
Joined: September 03, 2003
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Posted: Monday, September 25, 2006 - 12:48 AM UTC
Wow, Michael....that is turning out really nice.
It is a very dynamic yet simple pose.

FichtenFoo
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Posted: Monday, September 25, 2006 - 08:58 AM UTC
Thanks Seaman!

I added progress of painting the JGSDF brown/green campflage scheme. Sticky-tack is your friend!

http://fichtenfoo.com/02GiantRobots/02b-JGSDFType74-paint.htm
FichtenFoo
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Posted: Monday, September 25, 2006 - 10:03 PM UTC
Last night I started the camo on the figures since the oils were dry. Gotta love a simple lightbulb for that!

http://fichtenfoo.com/02GiantRobots/02b-JGSDFType74-figs.htm
FichtenFoo
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Posted: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 07:23 AM UTC
Here's some more progress on painting the tools and such, paint chips, and a clearcoat before decals.

http://fichtenfoo.com/02GiantRobots/02b-JGSDFType74-paint.htm
armorjunior
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California, United States
Joined: August 03, 2006
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Posted: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 07:32 AM UTC
th future is the

SC johnson brand right?
FichtenFoo
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Pennsylvania, United States
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Posted: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 08:46 AM UTC
Yes. It's a clear floor acrylic that's just perfect for modeling. Here's a small write-up I did on using Future for Gloss, Satin, Semi-Gloss and Flat coats. What isn't in the write up is that I now thin it with Tamiya Thinner. About 60:40 FFA:Thinner

http://fichtenfoo.com/02GiantRobots/02c-future.html
FichtenFoo
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Posted: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 06:57 AM UTC
The figures are almost done. Just a few details to apply such as the rifles and goggles. I ended up using watercolors in the end to add a wash and drybrush and it really helped highlight aspects of the figures that were hidden by the business of the camo pattern.

http://fichtenfoo.com/02GiantRobots/02b-JGSDFType74-figs.htm
LeoCmdr
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Alberta, Canada
Joined: January 19, 2005
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Posted: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 07:17 AM UTC
Everything is looking very good.

I don't know how concerned you are with accuracy for your Type 74 but the searchlight actually has two cables running from the search light to the power sockets...one thick one and one thinner one.
FichtenFoo
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Posted: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 08:01 AM UTC
Thanks! Heh... there is 2 cables there. The thinner one must not be showing up. I believe that's not a serchlight, but some kind of IR sensor if I read correctly. As far as accuracy... mostly I just added detail the kit was lacking to make it look better. Being totally accurate would be a true headache and make it take longer to get to my favorite part... the painting and weathering! :-)

Check out this pic and squint... you can see the thinner cable.

http://fichtenfoo.com/images/prog-Type74/type74-31.jpg
LeoCmdr
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Posted: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 08:28 AM UTC
Thanks,

Taking a closer look at your build photo I see the second cable...good job.

The searchlight is an Infra Red searchlight not a sensor. It just projects out a beam of IR light and the IR sights for the gunner and commander will see what the IR light has illuminated....very old outdated technology on today's modern battlefield....it doesn't pick up thermal signatures, it's just light a big invisible to the naked eye flashlight. It in fact really heats up and makes a great thermal signature itself.
FichtenFoo
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Posted: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 08:45 AM UTC
Good to know. I knew I saw IR somewhere! :-) Yeah, heat signatures are never a good thing. Probably why half the images of the Type 74 I've seen are without that searchlight.
armorjunior
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California, United States
Joined: August 03, 2006
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Posted: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 09:51 AM UTC
are you gona dust up your model with mig pigments?

how do you fix the powder on the surface ?

i read somewhere you have to apply the powder then cover it in turpentine ?

or is it turpentine 1st then powder?
FichtenFoo
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Posted: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 06:59 PM UTC

Quoted Text

are you gona dust up your model with mig pigments?

how do you fix the powder on the surface ?

i read somewhere you have to apply the powder then cover it in turpentine ?

or is it turpentine 1st then powder?


Yeah, I'll make good use of the Mig Pigments. Fixing-wise it depends... usually I don't fix them and they stay put. I wear plastic gloves after pigments are added though to avoid fingerprints even if I've fixed them with mineral spirits. As for order, that also depends on the application. For general dust, I just dust it on. For thicker caked on dust I sometimes mix it with water or mineral spirits, apply, dry, then blend with a dry brush.
armorjunior
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California, United States
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Posted: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 07:28 PM UTC
so do i aply the pigments then cover in spirit or spirit first?
FichtenFoo
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Posted: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 07:45 PM UTC

Quoted Text

so do i aply the pigments then cover in spirit or spirit first?


I usually apply the pigments first then add some spirits if I feel it's necessary. I've seen it done the other way around in the Mig FAQ book as well... apply some spirits, then pigments and swoosh them around almost like a wash. It's something you'll have to try out on some scrap to see what works best for you.

I'll post progress as I apply them on this kit as I'm doing this as a sort of tutorial for the Gundam modelers at my forum. Most have never done 1/35.
FichtenFoo
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Posted: Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 08:08 AM UTC
The next update is for decals, filters, tool chipping, and the first wash on the tank. I thinkI need to go back and write some more details about the filter process and why it's done though.

http://fichtenfoo.com/02GiantRobots/02b-JGSDFType74-paint.htm
FichtenFoo
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Posted: Friday, September 29, 2006 - 07:05 AM UTC
Today I applied the fading to the model with oils and mineral spirits. This is an effect that I think truely brings out the realism in a surface. The way it adds subtle color changes and tones really looks great.

http://fichtenfoo.com/02GiantRobots/02b-JGSDFType74-paint.htm
FichtenFoo
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Posted: Saturday, September 30, 2006 - 07:53 AM UTC
Today I added 2 washes to build up the layers of dusty weathering. Looks great and just like some of the Type 74 reference images I've seen.

http://fichtenfoo.com/02GiantRobots/02b-JGSDFType74-paint.htm
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