Matt182

Thankfully, I can now say that shaving the lip off solves the problem. Reducing the size of the turret ring would also solve the problem but is certainly a more involved solution! I've read a review on the Trumpeter kit and was surprised to see all those bolt heads provided in PE. That would drive me mad! Like you say, PE for the sake of it.

I managed to get started on the hull this evening. The upper hull is a one large single piece and the lower hull is built up of 4 pieces. The fit of the parts is generally good but the upper hull was slightly warped. Added to the upper hull are the fuel cells, ZIP boxes, exhaust, drivers hatch and mesh screens. For the screens Zvezda provides a couple of sheets of plastic mesh instead of PE. You have to cut these to shape yourself and are glued in from underneath. PE would of been a better choice here but the mesh is ok Here is a close up of the exhaust which is nicely detailed. Finally, when I test fit the turret I noticed the it didn't sit straight on the hull. The right side of the turret is slightly higher than the left which is quite noticable. This is due to a small lip that is present on both sides of the turret ring. The lip on the right side is set too far inboard The result is this I think it I will just be a simple case of removing the lip to allow the turret to sit properly. Not a huge issue but one to keep in mind. Cheers Matt

Thanks for the comments guys. I can certainly say you won't regret dropping £23-25 on this one. This kit has even got me thinking about the Meng kit. That one looks like a real beauty, very tempted indeed! Thanks for the info Tim. I must note that the pictures above don't show just how rotated the barrel is. I would say it is more like a 20 degree rotation. I think if you were building this kit for accuracy it would still need some adjustment. I went ahead and glued the barrel in place last night. Oh well, thankfully i'm giving accuracy a miss on this one! Magman2 informed me that RB have just released a new barrel for the T-90. So if you haven't already purchased your barrel you might want to get that one Cheers Matt

Hi guys, I've got some more work done. The turret is pretty much complete. The only things left are the aerial and commanders machine gun. I also decided to use the kit barrel as it cleans up quite well with a little care. This is when I encounter a problem with the kit. In the picture below you can see a notch in the ring on the mantlet cover. This helps align the barrel. Left as it is the barrel is rotated to the left To fix it, simply shave off the notch and manually align the barrel. Finally, a picture of the completed turret, minus MG and aerial. Cheers Matt

Looks fantastic Paul

ha ha, don't tempt me Paul! I will almost certainly get the kit if it includes the full interior I'm hoping for. As for super detailing it, that depends of how good the kit is. I would hope that Trumpeter do a better job on this one then what they did with the Tiger II. The panzer IV is a relatively simple machine so they surely can't get it that wrong. I'm hoping the release date is towards the end of the year, might actually finish the Tiger II by then!

Thanks for the info. From the picture you posted they look dark grey / black to me. I might paint the lenses later in the build. Also, thanks for pointing me in the direction of the new RBM barrel. I'll certainly get one if the kit barrel isn't up to scratch. Cheers Matt

Thanks Paul. I will be trying my hardest to keep this one simple. Although I may just have to replace the barrel. I must say I'm rather enjoying this build so far. It makes a nice change of pace. One thing to note is that the plastic Zvezda have used is very soft. On the plus side it makes it easy to clean up the parts but the downside is that it reacts with liquid cement rather quickly. It's not a problem if you dry fit first but you have to be careful not to melt some of the smaller parts!

Hi all, Got some more done this evening. Step 7 involves adding some more ERA to the turret roof and building part of the mounting brackets for the Shtora laser guided weapon defense system. Steps 8 & 9 deals with the Shtora IR 'dazzler' boxes. They are very nicely detailed and come with clear lenses. I've painted the inside of the boxes red to give the impression they are active. Step 10 involves adding some more ERA panels and one of the side boxes. The IR dazzlers are also added at this point. Well thats all for this evening. As you maybe able to tell, I've been doing a little research Cheers Matt

Hi all, I've decided to have a little break from my Tiger II project and build something a little less demanding. I was looking around a couple of weeks ago for inspiration and came across the Zvezda T-90. The kit looks like quite an interesting subject, had good reviews and retails for only £23 so I thought, why not! I must say I'm quite impressed with this kit. Apart from the odd bit of flash the parts are crisply moulded with plenty of detail. This is certainly a kit that will lend itself well to the weathing process. As I'm using this a break from the Tiger II I want to keep it as simple as possible. I will be building it OOB bar maybe an AM barrel. I'm also not well versed on modern armour or any Russian armour in general so it will all be new to me. So, I got stuck in this evening. The instructions start off with the turret so I followed suit. Step 1 has you build the (loaders?) hatch and add a few small details to the turret roof Steps 2 to 5 concentrate on building the commanders copula and associated hardware. If you are careful with the glue the copula can rotate after construction. Both hatches come with nice internal detail but as I've decided to have the hatches closed I didn't add it. There is also quite a few clear parts which adds some nice detail. The turret is then built up out of six parts. Unlike most modern kits the turret comes with seperate top, sides and bottom. It goes together quite well but needs a little filler at some of the joins. There is also a couple of pin marks which may need filling but I think they may be covered with additional parts. Step 6 concentrates on adding the canvas mantlet cover and some more details to the roof. Thats all I managed to get done tonight. Hopefully I will get some more done tomorrow night Cheers Matt

Wow, that OrangeHobby barrel looks like a real nice piece of kit. Looks like it might be quite an effort to get it all together though. I'm planning to build it pretty much OOB as a break from my Tiger II. I might go for the accurate armour barrel as it looks very simple to construct and also looks very similar to the OrangeHobby barrel. I'm not concerned with accuracy on this one, so as long as it is built well and looks like a T-90 thats good enough for me. Cheers Matt

Hi all, I've just picked up the Zvezda T-90 and i'm looking to replace the barrel. It looks like the kit gun will be a nightmare to clean up so I thought i'd look for a replacement. The only problem is I know nothing about modern tanks, especially Russian ones! Can anyone point me in the direction of a good barrel? I did some googling and found this: http://www.accurate-armour.com/ShowProduct.cfm?manufacturer=0&category=11&subcategory=186&product=2175 It's named D81 but the info I've found states the T-90 is armed with the 2A46M barrel. Wiki states the 2A46 barrel is the other name for the D81T. Are they the same barrel? would it be fitted to the T-90? Or am I completely wrong here? They look very similar to me! Cheers Matt

Nice work so far. looks very cleanly built and painted, especially as it's your first model. Any chance of some clearer photos? As for colour modulation, I agree with Martin that it would be a OTT in this scale. The whole concept of modulation is to alter what may be a rather flat colour to give it more depth and variation. It is mostly used on afvs to depict weathering effects such as faded paint. Colour modulation also ties directly into scale. I think the best way to describe scale is viewing distance. Think of the size of the model you are building as how it would appear viewing it from certain distances. 1:1 the object is right in front of you. 1:35 you would be standing a fair distance away, 1:350 you are standing a long way away. So, your model is the same size as what the real ship would appear to be if you were standing a long distance away from it. At that sort of distance the human eye wouldn't be able to see any imperfections in the paint, you would just see a solid colour. So, if you were being realistic, your paint job would be mostly solid colours with little variation. The only problem is that a realistically painted model can be a rather boring one. This is why many people use colour modulation to make the model look more interesting. Personally, on a 1:350 ship I wouldn't go as far as colour modulation but I would give it a pin wash. A pin wash will help give the impression of shadow around raised details such as the bulkheads, doors, port holes and even the seams of the deck planking. it helps the detail stand out a bit more and can really help make the model look more interesting without looking over done. Of course, having said all that it is down to you at the end of the day. You are building the model for your enjoyment so do what you feel will give the best results for you. Hope that is of some help Cheers Matt

Thank you all for your comments I'm also learning quite a lot as build goes on too. I think one of the main things I've learned from this build is that scratch building is far less intimidating than it appears. This is the first project that I've done that needs extensive detailing and I have surprised myself with some of the stuff I've managed to put together. Of course there is also all the things I've learned about the real tank which I find just as interesting as building the model. I'm glad you have found this build log helpful. Having read so many build logs on here and other forums it's nice to give something back. Thanks Mike, it's all in subassemblies as you though. The engine and cooling system can be completely removed leaving almost no parts in the rear compartments. Needless to say that engine has been in and out of the hull more time than I care to remember already. The term dry fitting couldn't be more apt for this kit!

Looking good. Have you considered painting the camo rings?

Some of you may be happy to know Trumpeter have listed a 1/16 Panzer IV Ausf H for release this year. It appears it will also include a full interior although full details are not availble yet. Cheers Matt

Absolutely fantastic. Such a clean build and paint job, easily better than many 1/35 efforts i've seen. Looking forward to seeing this one finished.

Great work Tim, brilliant paint job

Thanks for the comments guys I've been working away on the engine which is almost finished. I've made a few modifications, such as replacing cabling with my own scratch built items. Here is what the engine currently looks like. The two 'arms' coming off the engine are the main coolant hoses. I had to scratch build the hose clamps as the kit detail was pretty poor. Here is a comparison The engine could quite easily be super detailed but I've decided against it. Once the engine is fitted and the air filters on there isnt much to see. The entire area around the carbs will be hidden, along with any detail below the exhaust manifolds. Before fitting the engine I had to re-work the top of the firewalls. One area that did needed quite a lot of attention was the connections between the fan boxes and the engine. As I have completely changed the fan boxes all the connection points have moved. To do this I modified the fan boxes again, adding new connection points. The two coiled parts connect to the engine at the rails for the air filters. The two linkages are the drive shafts that connect the engine to the fans, giving them their power. I had to lengthen the shafts as the kit parts no longer reached the fan boxes. Heres how it looks with the engine in place The engine is pretty much complete. All thats missing are the air filters and some ducts/hoses. Once thats done I can complete all the engine bay plumbing and call this part of the build complete Cheers Matt

Not sure on the Famo but for the Panzer IV you definitely want to get a Dragon kit. They are by far the best on the market. Which one you get will depend on what period of the war you wish to depict. Take a look at this review http://modelarmour.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=978:dragon-pzkpfwiv-ausfh-wzimmerit&catid=37:kits&Itemid=60 It gives a good idea of what to expect from the newer Dragon panzer IVs. For the most part you won't need upgrades unless you really want to go nuts on it. Cheers Matt

Hi guys, Thanks very much for your comments. John, I know exactly what you mean about reference photos. Sometimes even the most obvious things aren't obvious from a photo. Fortunately for me, there is an entire forum dedicated to this kit where just about every detail has been discussed in detail. So, thankfully, I don't have to do too much on the research side of things. As for your Academy Tiger, I think an hour or so on google will bring up some good results, it's still quite a popular kit despite it's flaws. So, I finished that conduit (which I forgot to photograph) and moved on to the centre tanks. This is what Trumpeter provide you with. On the left is the fuel filler tank and on the right is the coolant header tank. Surprise surprise, they need some work. First off, the fuel filler tank. Trumpeter did manage to get the shape pretty much spot-on. The fit of the parts isn't good though and requires plenty of filler. Trumpeter forgot to include the retaining straps so these had to be scratch built. Attached to the fuel tank is the snorkle tube which I made no changes to. Finally, I had to replace the handle on the filler cap. This actually quite annoyed me as Trumpeter didn't even attempt to mould a handle, instead chosing to mould a big lump of plastic. I would be a little hacked off to see this in 1/35 scale but in 1/16 scale, it just stinks of pure laziness. Anyway, here is the finished fuel tank. Now, onto the coolant header tank. Trumpeter got this completely wrong. The whole thing had to be rebuilt and reshaped to even remotely resemble anything that would of been found in a Tiger II. I think the picture says it all to be honest! Finally, a couple of of pictures of the parts fitted into the engine bay So, now that is out of the way I can move onto building the Maybach engine. I've had a good look over the engine parts and it looks very good. It's a kit within a kit so to say. Looking at the engine parts and comparing them to the tanks I just built, I have to wonder how Trumpeter can deliver great parts and utter rubbish, all in the same kit! Cheers Matt

Cheers for checking that. Think I may have to order one and get some the late style single link tracks. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to seeing what you make of this. Cheers Matt

Hi all, Small progress update. Last time I posted an update I had just finished the wheels and had started to clean up the main gun ammunition. All I can say is that didn't last long, such a boring task. So, after my christmas break I got back to work on the engine bay. First I increased the thickness of the side armor which would be visible behind the fuel tanks. I also took the time to clean up all the added side armor and the upper hull in general. Next I decided to rebuild the main cooling fans as my previous attempt wasn't quite right. Here is what the two fan boxes and fuel tanks look like when fitted. Next I finished off the detailing of the the left side fan box. I haven't bothered with the right side as I will be fitting the roof plate which will pretty much hide everything below it Finally, i started building the conduit for the rear convoy light. So, next up I will finish off the conduit. Then it will be the two centre tanks and then onto the engine. Cheers Matt

Nice work so far. What will you use to make the zimmerit? Milliput? Love the zimmerit tools, great idea!

Hi guys, Firstly, thanks very much for all your kind comments. I really do appreciate it Apologies for not having posted any progress for a while, Christmas and new year pretty much took away all my building time. I have managed to get going again the last couple of days and have made a little more progress. Hopefully I will have an update in the next day or two. Cheers Matt