Vickers No.1 Tank

The Vickers No. 1 and No. 2 infantry tank prototypes were developed in 1921 - 1922. They combined the trench crossing capability of the British heavy rhomboid tanks with features from the light French FT-17. Neither the No. 1 nor the No. 2 prototype were accepted for service.

This is another obscure subject from the prolific Vargas Scale Models. Vargas specializes in esoteric subjects from WW1 and the Interwar periods. The kit is 3D printed in a flexible gray resin. The print is very clean - no additional cleaning or curing was needed. The supports are very fine and easily removed and the parts smoothed. The 3D print striations are very minor. As with most Vargas kits the parts count is minimal - in this case only 8 parts! As such it builds very quickly, allowing the modeler to focus on painting and weathering. I had the Vickers removed from it supports, built and primed in a whopping 2 hours.

I primed the built kit with rattle can Mr Surfacer 1000. This is a magic potion for 3D printed kits. It is a sandable, self-leveling primer which fills minor 3D striations. After checking for defects and striations, I black based it with a coat of Mr Surfacer 1500 from the rattle can. I preshaded with Tamiya XF-2 White. I used AK Real Colors RC023 Khaki Green No. 3 as the base coat. This is my go-to for the nebulous British "Service Color". Tracks were brush painted with Tamiya XF-84 Dark Iron and given filters of AK Track Wash and AK Light Rust Wash. I applied a dot filter with Winsor & Newton oils to the flat acrylic base. After allowing the oils to dry, I sealed it with Alclad Aqua Gloss. I pin washed the model with AK Streaking Grime. I used AK Kursk Earth to apply streaks. After dulling the model with AK Ultra Matt, I applied a mix of AK pigments to the tracks and fixed them with mineral spirits. The cleats and edges of the tracks were polished with Uschi Chrome pigments applied with a rubber shaping brush. I applied a fine layer of splatters on the lower parts of the AFV with AK Dust Effects, AK Kursk Earth, and AK Dark Earth. The oh so delicate machine guns were glued in place and the model moved to the photo booth and then the display case.

My total time commitment on the Vickers was 15 hours - a very small investment to add a tank to the display case. These low parts count, obscure subjects from Vargas make an ideal "palate cleanser" between my larger and more complicated builds.