howdy guys, here i am trying to get a tad more involved rather than just posting finished builds, to be honest i am at best an average builder so i dont feel the need to bore anyone with my build pics. what i think most of us like to share is everyones painting and finishing techniques so i try and do just that though it wont be easy i tend to get carried away sometimes

anyway this kit is one of the worst ever, only god knows where they came up with the different sprues for this, they could have cast ten models with the amount of plastic used in this one but it is a spg and i had to have it so ,,,,

the inside was a total mess so i opted for the fighting compartment cover which was scratched out of rolling papers and acrylic exterior craft paint and i kinda like the uniqueness it adds,

all the delicate parts were either broke or not worth useing so i used different tools from the spares box, the fender supports and tow cable brackets were courtesy of a recently finished diet cola can and the tow cable was picture hanging wire, funny the kit didnt have a tow cable.

i used some screen i scavanged from an old makeup purse of the wifes for the vents, maybe a tad over scale but looks better than it was,

and some other bits and bats here and there but nothing fancy just enough to try get it together and finished,

i will be adding some extra stowage at the end to give it a used look,

paint used was mm enamel olive green drakened with flat black the panels faded with straight olive green.

all comments are welcome as always.

I agree with you Biffa.
The Maquette SU-72 is THE worst kit I have ever seen.
When I bought it I was ready for a challange, but upon opening the box, I simply tossed it in the garbage bin.

Considering the problems you had with it, you turned it into a real gem. It looks great.

thanks guys heres a quick update,



next step here is a quick dry brushing of titanium white, nothing fancy in the end not much will remain but i find it adds a bit of variance in some areas.



now before the weathering starts its on with the decals, im not modeling any particular vehicle so just used generic numbers.





next stage will be a trip to the basement (where spraying takes place) for a good coating of dullcote of the testors variety then the weathering can begin in ernest, i always apply my weathering on a dull finish i do not use future except for decals and when i want to not have a totally flat finish,



here are my weathering weapons of choice



the thinner i use for my oils it works well for me and i havent had any bad reactions at all with any paint job acrylic or enamel, i get it at the hobby lobby and it is odorless



here are my oils and the premixed washes i use most



tommorow after the dullcote i start on the mud

You have indeed made a silk purse out of the proverbial sow's ear. Congratulations! Putting the weather cover in place was a slick move, since that means you didn't have to replace all the side armor panels with thinner styrene, and rework the interior. I have one in the stash. I mentally catalogued all the work it would take to make it presentable, threw up my hands in despair, and just passed on the whole thing.
The blame for this kit actually lies with Alan--it was their first product, and was pretty dismal, even for fifteen years ago (about as bad as Zvezda's freshman effort, their awful T-60). Maquette still deserves a rap on the knuckles, though, for continuing to propagate this monstrosity. On the plus side, Miniart is set to release an all-new version shortly based on their excellent little T-70M.

Wow, still making a heck of a model out of it. At least the work going into it is ending up with a good looking build of a unique subject. Keep us updated!

thanks guys, getting a bit of bench time in this week got rained off work again so heres a quick update

making and applying the mud



1st wash



adding some minor damage/chipping with a toothpick and van dyke brown oil paint



a little dusting with airbrush around lower hull and running gear and wash #2



wash#3 its starting to pull together a bit



hey gerald, thanks for the background on the kit i never knew that also i was unaware of the impending miniart release :-) if i had known this before,,, but im still glad i went ahead there must be a lesson in it somewhere.

Hey Ron. Couldn´t agree more with ya about the quality (or lack of) on this kit. I built this a few years ago ... and basically everything needed work or replacing. I used the eduard PE and also replaced the gun with the Zvezda/Italeri ZIS-3 field gun, plus scratched items and replaced items from spares. All the wheels had to be filed thinner from the back side to fit the indy tracks. But the thickness of some of the parts was the thing that stood out most, for me also.
I like what you´ve done so far ... using the tarps was a great idea and it looks great. IMO, you should fade the tarp colour a little, adding sand colour to show wear/bleaching but also to break up the mono colour. Otherwise top job considering the basemodel. Literally a silk purse!
Its a cool model and thank God for miniarts new version ... which I will build to compare. Below is mines!

su-72?
Is this not a su-76-m?

hey frank, yes you are correct it is the su-72m a mistake on my part, i see you are someone else who wont be beat then hehe i had the same issues as you described and i think yours turned out great and i think sometimes the reward for actually finishing a kit like this is greater than finishing a state of the art kit.
also i agree the tarp needs lightening thanks for the feedback.

couple of decent progress pic these were taken after the 3rd wash its still wet in spots but gives a better idea of how its looking





and one with the details painted

hey guys here we are for the final installment, since the last wash (#3) all i have done is a few touch ups using the same washes and a little cleanup of the washes using a q-tip and thinner then some final touches, a log, a bedroll and then a very very light mist of future so it was'nt totally flat and im calling this one finished

few last touches


finished deal




thanks for looking guys if you have any comments or questions feel free to ask.

hey,
oh! i feel your pain ,when building Maquette's stuff ,wait till you try and tackle thier ZIS-30 or German 140/1.

The extra work you put into your SU-76 ,shows. Outstanding!!weathering is just right you took a rough stone ,and turned it into a real GEM.

Joe

thanks joe, the zis-30 i built and binned it was too dradful for words the 140/1 i built it took some filling and fixing but i was eventually ok with it heres pics