Takom Mk.IV photos

Jens Andrée
Here are a few photos of the Takom Mk.IV Male tank I've built the last four days in front of the TV in the evenings. I like to have a "TV-kit" and this was a fun one! Tomorrow I shall begin the real work - weathering!

Rui S
Looking GREAT, Jens 👍 and those fascine... beautiful😎
Are you going to weather it over a matt varnish???

Jens Andrée
Cheers Rui! Yes, I'm weathering over a matt varnish - but the Vallejo "matt" varnish isn't all that matt to be honest. Especially not in 1/35 scale. Also all AFV's I've been in contact with are very matt and they still weather somehow...😉
Jokes aside, I've been trying to work out how to weather with cheap acrylics instead of artists oil paints and it seems to work better on slightly dull surfaces. I don't know yet if this is the way to go or not but we'll see?! It's been a fun build so far with more than a few fit issues, but these early British box tanks were more or less armour plates just bolted together and I'm sure a couple of the plates weren't 100% aligned after seeing some action...
I will start the weathering process tonight and we shall see what it looks like tomorrow morning?

Rui S
Cheers Jens,
I thought the tanks came out of factory as glossy as a rolls from the stand, hehehe.
I've just asked because normally the used gloss varnish smother surface permits more and easier corrections of excess paint and capillarity in wash's (also easier to apply the decals)...
I've also bought some cheap acrylic tubes to use as washes/filters but I didn't try them yet.
I look forward to see your progresses.😎
P.S. Just yesterday I saw a photo of a Stug in working order with a big gap between to perpendicular plates and I thought. If I let this happen in a model kit...??? someone would ask "do you know that those plates, where welded in the real thing"? So...

Jens Andrée
I've got a rattle can of glossy lacquer but it smells really terrible and it's really miserable and wet outside so I've been using my Vallejo varnish instead, but I agree with you that it certainly helps having a shiny surface when applying washes etc. Will add some to the next order!
The Germans spent too much on making their tanks over engineered whilst the Russians churned out whatever as long as it worked-ish. That led to large numbers of T-34 meeting up the Germans in Kursk and they withheld the attack due to their sheer number of tanks compared to the over engineered German tanks that broke down instead... It's funny that you saw a StuG with a gap between the plates since they were the ones that really tried to make everything perfect?! I've seen two T-34's in good condition and they are a bit rough to say the least, but they did the job!

I've just done hairspray chipping on the Mk.IV and the cheap hairspray I'd bought for the job almost wrecked the whole build... Not did in not just work but it also caused the varnish, base coat and primer to lift in a couple of places... I'm a bit upset right now but it can be salvaged with creative weathering, but I'm never using hairspray again that's for sure! It's better to stick with commercial weathering products if you're unsure of the stuff you bough at the stores... Lesson learned - try on scrap before you use it on a real model...

...but every hobby is about learning new skills and techniques so even if I didn't want this I know more now than I did a couple of hours ago😉

I now need to plan the weathering since it's going to have to be heavier than I'd planned to cover the damage, but I think I'll just start and see what happen?

Cheers for now! With a bit of luck I might have something, or not, in a couple of hours!

Rui S
I'm sad to hear your troubles. I hope you can sort things out.
I've never used the hairspray technique yet, but I've heard people saying that a cheap one it's enough...🤔

Jens Andrée
I think I've salvaged the "hairspray disaster" with creative weathering. In fact it made me use materials I hadn't planned to like a graphite pencil for example - which turned out great, and failing means that you've learned something so with this model I've learned new things about CA glue (disaster 1) and hairspray (disaster 2). I don't need to learn anything more on this build so please, no more disasters...😉
Tomorrow is a dirt & mud day. Less is more and I hope I can stick to that mantra...
Keep your fingers crossed and I might finish this tomorrow! That would make it 7 days in total in front of the TV. This is one of the "TV kits" I build every evening whilst watching TV. I admit that I didn't see much TV the last week though...

The hairspray I bought didn't work at all for weathering and in fact it attacked both the paint and varnish and that's why it failed. There are marks on the hull where the hairspray had started to dissolve the paint?! And people put this on their heads?!?! My bottle is going in the bin!

Rui S
I think you've saved it pretty well. 👍

The only thing I noticed, is the 2 side top horizontal plates looking a bit to "clean" without weathering. IMHO Looking a bit uneven with the central horizontal top (photo 36).

But the model It's looking great.😎

Jens Andrée
Yeah, they're not done yet because I couldn't figure out how they would wear in real life and I decided to consult some photos to figure this out. I know how mud and dirt will collect on top of them but not how they take damage, so better to leave them for time being and figure out how to go ahead than to gamble and weather too much...
In fact the whole "roof" only has some basic weathering but I'm going to track down some reference material to give me some inspiration!
Thanks for your kind comments! 🙂

Wim van der Luijt
It is starting to look good....the fascines being hollow they look kind of weird to me

Jens Andrée
Wim van det Luijt - they are filled with putty since last night, but they are a wee bit too large for its scale so I'm looking at alternatives... The bristles on my broom looks really promising, but it would be rather useless without its bristles so the search goes on. I do want to do a fascine because it adds a bit of realism
and non-square to the model I think, and something I wanted to do from the beginning. I could use just the tips from the dead and dry grass outside, but it's going to take a long time to collect, and it might be too thin so we'll see.
This was my first mud & dirt weathering so I wasn't exactly confident whilst doing it, but a bit of tweaking and I think it can work. It's a start anyway😉

Alexander Grivonev
That looks great! Nothing to see from the "hairspray disaster"

Jens Andrée
Thank you Alexander! 🙂
The "hairspray disaster" was really depressing and I cursed myself for attempting it without testing the hairspray on something else first, but that's how we learn. The bigger the mistake the quicker you learn! At least you won't forget it anytime soon...😉
I've ordered some Scratches and Chipping effects from AMMO - but they are going to be thoroughly tested
before they are used on any model!

Jens Andrée
New "work in progress" photos added. Description in the project.

David Thor
Amazing. The bad german ufo kit seems to be forgotten.😉

Patrick Hagelstein
And just how long have you been in this hobby Jens??? Wow! Looking at the progress you made during a couple of models you really have a talent for this!!! 👍

Jens Andrée
Cheers guys! 🙂
I've been doing this for almost 9 months now so I'm slowly getting better at things but I want to learn how to make realistic vignettes and dioramas so I made this piece as a learner and it wasn't just plain sailing...
But it really complements the kits and it's now possible to tell a little story and it suddenly just makes sense!
I've now bought a couple books on vignettes and dioramas to get both inspiration and to learn "why" you choose angles and levels and I think I was lucky with this vignette for making it like I did, but it felt natural with things a bit askew so perhaps it's just all about things looking interesting?
Anyhow, yet again many thanks guys and yes - I've almost forgotten the dodgy UFO by now...😉

Rui S
Looking just beautiful 👍

Jens Andrée
Thank you Rui! 🙂
Being my first meant lots of errors so we're talking a "few" hours spent on it - and there are a few issues that bothers me - but at the same time I'm pleased I got something at all and I really want to start another vignette where I hopefully won't make the same mistakes again...😉

Rui S
The weathering job in the tank come out Great, but the wood floor in the trenche looks to clean and bright, IMHO.
Unless the planking was new, it would be darker than the sides?😉

Jens Andrée
I've been going back and forth with the duck boards and when they looked right I decided to make them look a bit worn in the centre and that's when I sadly sanded most of the weathering away... :/
I've not yet weathered the figures with regards to mud splashes and pigments so there's still chance to fix it. Weathering is an awful lot of going back and forth and I often wish I stopped 30 seconds earlier and I think I'm not alone in thinking this?!

Huge thanks for constructive criticism! It's hard to get to be honest and it's ever so important when you try to learn and improve. A fresh set of eyes will spot different things yourself sees!

I'll address the duck boards when I sort out the figures. They should be a lot dirtier than they are right now for sure!

Cheers! 👍

Rui S
Hi Jens,
How I understand you, mate.
Sometimes I stop 30 seconds to early, because I don't want to risk ruin everything, but than I start thinking 🤔 I should had gone a bit farther in the process. 🙁
When you look to perfection, you'll never reach it, whatever way you go, hehehe.
Keep on with your great work 👍

Tim Heimer
I feel your pain! Then you go a little longer trying to get that look and then it's CRAP I should've stopped 3 swipes ago! I love Dio's and vignettes also, most of mine are done so. Jens, I wish my first few were as good as yours! Looking great for a first, and I know sometimes thee months later you look at it and see that final tweak that you missed and it puts a smile on your face. Hey how's your health doing? Better I hope!

Jens Andrée
Rui - duck boards are fixed with burned umber and I've done the final touch-up to the mud tracks (famous last words...) so I'm only fixing a few minute details and I'm done. I have to route and paint trim pieces to frame the vignette too... Regardless I'm almost done and it made a big difference fixing the duck boards so huge thanks for pointing it out!!!

Timothy - Huge thanks for your kind comment! I've never done anything like dioramas and vignettes before so I was really going in blind. The plan was just to make a vignette base for fun and practise, not to put the tank on it so I just sploshed on not caring if it looked like crap or whatever. The same happened with the Mk.IV in the vignette when I had a total disaster with hairspray chipping and I almost threw it in the bin. Instead I used it to experiment with, not caring what happened, so I probably relaxed a lot more and just "sploshed on" there as well... In a weird way that worked out - probably from not over-thinking any steps, and in the end I had both a base and a tank that wasn't too bad for first attempts?!

It's all about learning and gaining experience - and having fun! I'm doing all of them and even if they turned out really bad I would still be having fun so it's a win either way😉

Health has been a bit up and down lately. I was going to have major spinal surgery after Christmas but the discs in my lower back are in too bad shape to risk it so I've reached the end destination for surgeries sadly. They will only do it if things suddenly get worse than they are now and I'm facing the wheelchair again, permanently. At least I know where I am and what to expect! I'm ok with it though and honestly I wasn't looking forward to another major surgery and 1-2 years in major pain and being immobilised...
I've got my modelling and there is no better therapy! 😄

Cheers everybody for your kind words and suggestions! I'm now trying to decide what to make next? I'd like to attempt an urban scene with lots of rubble and bricks but I also would like to learn how to use static grass properly... I've got more than enough of kits to populate vignettes and dioramas with😉

Tim Heimer
Life is like a bad model kit...you have to make the best of it! Hey a diamond was once a lump of coal! 🙂

Rui S

Well said, Timothy 👍
Jens, I hope you are better from your pains and I'm really glad I could help.
I will wait for your constructive critics on my dios or vignettes.😉

Jens Andrée
Cheers guys!!! 😄

Kim Branders
Amazing.

Jens Andrée
Many thanks Kim!!! 👍

Jens Andrée
Uploaded three new phone pics with the fixed duck boards. I need to put the whole thing under some proper light, take a few photos and check that things are painted properly. I think I have to fabricobble some sort of lightbox so I can take proper photos in the future?
That's for tomorrow though...

Cheers!

Jens Andrée
That's it - I'm calling it done now, otherwise I'll never be finished...
Done or "done", we shall see but now I move on to the corner of shame and those massive project I've started😉
Many thanks for all of your kind comments!!!

Tim Heimer
That is too cool! Nice work! I got one of those corners too! If I could only stay focused on that instead of doing more! At least the one I'm on now will soon be done.

Jens Andrée
Cheers Timothy!
I don't think there is a modeller who hasn't got a corner of shame, that's just how it is.
Some kits are abandoned because they are wonky, others because we can't decide how to progress?
I've got a few that simply were super fun to build and I almost finished them in the first sitting and I stopped so I could enjoy them more but then never go around to start them again... Weird, I know!
I've also got two kits in the corner of shame because they are overly complicated and I get frustrated building them because they are very hard to put together and I don't do my best work when I'm frustrated.

But I've said I will finish 50% of my corner of shame before I start my Schwerer Gustav diorama so I better crack on!😉

Michael Kraft
Isn't that weird? We are feeling bad for the kits we started and left in a corner (which happened for a reason in most cases). I know that feeling as well. But it's for our entertainment, so those kits should just leave us alone, not bothering us 😉
Some time ago I finished a kit that someone started in 1996, so it's never too late 🙂
Cheers Jens, go and have fun!

Jens Andrée
Michael - Your comment really made me think. Why should we feel responsible for abandoned kits? In the end of the day they are, like you said, plastic kits made for us to enjoy - and when we don't enjoy them we are under no obligation nor contract to finish them! Perhaps I should no longer call it the corner of shame and instead call it the corner of blame...😉
Some kits aren't meant to be finished, or finished another day?! I build because it is fun and it is creative. If a kit hasn't got these values then I often park them somewhere and start something different - but we learn something from every build - even the bad ones!

Thank you Michael! Best comment ever I think! 🙂 👍

Tim Heimer
I agree as well but most of those kits I do really want to finish! I think we get bored or another kit gets us more excited. I'm still trying to figure out how a kit that I wasn't all that excited about compared to the other 4 I was working on got under my skin and to where I'm almost done with it.!? So I think it's just the corner of unfinished kits, no blame or shame, just the lost interest pile. I used to open a kit, finish a kit and go to the next, now this insanity takes over and WTF! LOL

Michael Kraft
Thanks Jens, but you made me think as well 😉 As a result, I grabbed one of the kits from my corner of shame - and soon it will be finished! It's an IBG Einheitsdiesel truck that I've started almost a year ago and that gave me a very hard time. But now I'm ready for it. Maybe I've learned a few things in the 1,5 years since I returned to this hobby after decades of absence 🙂.
Looking forward to your next build!

Jens Andrée
Nicely done Michael!!! 👍 🙂
One day one of us might actually work out why these kits end up in the corner of shame, but whenever I take one from there and finish it I feel really good about it and at least two such kits are builds I'm really happy with today?! Perhaps they need to sit and "mature" a bit, like a good cheese? 😛

I'm very much like Timothy where I get bored with a kit after a while when the initial excitement has gone down... I just love opening a new kit and getting into it and that's why I often have 4-6 going on at any given point in time, not including corner of shame... But it's just a hobby at the end of the day and whatever makes you happy is what you should do!
At least we're trying to build the kits unlike so many others in this hobby?! Nothing wrong with collecting kits - not at all, but I am a modeller first and that's it I think. Or do I also collect?

I'm going to put up a large whiteboard so I can visually see which kits are on the go. That will hopefully make it easier to organise my builds and perhaps even make me aware of some kits I've forgotten... 😉

Happy modelling!!!