My first large scale tank

M M
Well after going back and forth on clear for my car project I decided to start a tank instead. I had a ton of fun with my tiny T-34/85. I spend an hour putting together wheels and cleaning them up and working on a few things on the Hull. I imagine I will actually make some progress on this tomorrow.

M M
Anyone know if those areas in my second photo are suppose to be painted like periscopes? The instructions don't say and looking over tons of photos online it's hard to tell. Photos of the tank at museums show the area painted the body color but photos of other models show them painted sometimes. I'm not sure

Chris
Yes, this are periscopes used by commander and gunner.

M M
Thanks Chris! I will paint them accordingly

Chris
Thump up! And keep on having fun with the build.

M M
Ok time for my update. I actually started this over the weekend. Other than a number of seam lines this has been a joy to build. This is my first "full sized" kit I am building while using an airbrush. I am finding there are still parts that need to be hand painted but I enjoy that part of the build. Plus the AB speeds up building quite a bit. I just need to seal the turret and it will go into weathering stage next. With the kiddos finally coming home I think it will be put on hold for a few days. For my 3rd model of the year, I am noticing a marked improvement.

M M
@James C for continuity I am going to paint them the same way I did the windows around the cupola. The instructions called for silver... That looked wrong. So I put some gunmetal down over it and plan on using a little pin wash in there to darken it up further. I like that its metallic gunmetal because it catches the light but isn't as bright as chrome or silver.

Thomas K.
I need for the periscop clear blue from ammo. Nice color. First you paint silver and than blue clear. 😉

Martin Oostrom
Ammo also has periscope green. Also a clear over silver.

Chris Greathouse
This is cool, watching for sure... Good luck M!

Bart Goesaert
nice tank, looking good so far...

M M
Made some progress over the past few days. Finished up the tracks (for now) and got the tank clear coated. I then added some wash and panel liner followed by the decals. I will clear over the decals and then add another wash over them so they don't look so "new." Then it will be time for a matte finish and pigments. I just learned there is a pigment adherent that I need to see if they have in the LHS.

Chris Greathouse
You should edit the album to use last image, so it's easier to follow along, then set it to your favorite picture at the end of the project 🙂

Martin Oostrom
You can also mix a bit of wash with the pigment. Test first on a bit of scrap 😉

M M
@Chris. Will do

@Martin that's good to know. I have seen you have use odorless mineral spirits to fix the pigments too. Should I skip purchasing pigment fixer?

Martin Oostrom
Try first, then decide 😄

Chris Greathouse
@Pic 27 I agree, he looks like Lurch 🙂 Probably a good ally to have on your side, he can't die!.... *The Addams family.... **SNAP SNAP***

M M
Flat clear is going down! I finally feel like some real progress is being made. Weathering has taken some time for me, plus I have had to work. It's cutting into my modeling time ????

M M
I messed this one up 🙁 Because I ran out of clear coat I used some Future Floor polish over my decals to seal them and it reacted with the AK enamel wash. I couldn't tell the damage until I put the matte finish down. I will try wet sanding this with some 3000 grit to see if I can knock back those spots and seal it with Matte coat again. Just when I thought I was nearing completion

M M
James, It is :-/ But it was a good learning experience. I tried to gently sand down an inconspicuous spot and it didn't work. I also tried a little thinner and it didn't work. It had reacted all the way down to the base coat. In the end I decided to dry brush (the heck out of) this and call it finished. I will be getting another tank in the future though because I really enjoyed this whole build.

I will be following your order on the next build though! Plus I want to try some different highlighting and low lighting technics. I liked how the yellow highlighted the upper sections and I wish I would have painted the panel lines darker instead of using so much wash. I liked using the AK washes because they really made this thing look more interesting though.

Thanks for following along!

rich esquivel
VERY DOPE

Chris Greathouse
Great job for first large scale... even with the hiccups, looks fantastic!

M M
Thanks for all the kind words guy. James, I really admire your work so thank you. Now I need to decide if I should put together another inexpensive kit for practice or raise the bar a bit on something a little more pricey.

Carlos Cisneros
A great starter kit for armor builds. You did quite well with it!

Chris Greathouse
Improve with cheap kits, then bump up the quality once you get technique better.

Jean-Michel Tilquin
Nice job for a 1st time... Keep on like this!

Bart Goesaert
nicely done...