fdat345

Hi all, I've recently been building the Hobbyboss 1/48 T34/85 (brilliant kit btw) and am nearing the end. Therefore, I'm starting to think about my next build! I have a thing for Soviet Armour and I thought as I recently bought all the paint required for soviet tanks, the next build should be in the same direction. I have a real interest in the battle of Berlin and have been doing some research on the soviet tanks used during it. T34, IS2, ISU-122 seem to be the main contenders, but is there any I haven't found? Reference seems to be limited, so is there any others that would've been in the battle? I'm a big fan of the soviet tank destroyers however I've struggled to find the ISU-122 in 1/48. Were any of the other tank destroyers used? all and any info would be great! Thanks guys.

So I've been building a T34/85 recently, first model in several years, so I've had quite a few rookie issues! I've painted the tank, with a brush, using Mig Ammo acrylics and am ready to move onto the weathering stage. I'm using oils to produce washes and oil dot weathering, however my thinners strip the paint straight off. I initially used humbrol enamel thinners which removed the Mig acrylic in a heartbeat. I read Humbrol thinners are pretty aggressive so just went out and bought some white spirit to give that a go. Same issue, paint comes right off. It was my understanding that most acrylics would survive thinners due to the whole oil and water not mixing thing? My question, therefore, is whats the best way to weather my tank using oils that wont strip the acrylic paint? Im guessing a clear coat of varnish but which do I need? Acrylic varnish or enamel? Does anyone with experience using Mig Ammo paints know whats the best option for me? Sorry for the rookie question, hopefully this will be an easy answer for most!

So I've been building a T34/85 recently, first model in several years, so I've had quite a few rookie issues! I've painted the tank, with a brush, using Mig Ammo acrylics and am ready to move onto the weathering stage. I'm using oils to produce washes and oil dot weathering, however my thinners strip the paint straight off. I initially used humbrol enamel thinners which removed the Mig acrylic in a heartbeat. I read Humbrol thinners are pretty aggressive so just went out and bought some white spirit to give that a go. Same issue, paint comes right off. It was my understanding that most acrylics would survive thinners due to the whole oil and water not mixing thing? My question, therefore, is whats the best way to weather my tank using oils that wont strip the acrylic paint? Im guessing a clear coat of varnish but which do I need? Acrylic varnish or enamel? Does anyone with experience using Mig Ammo paints know whats the best option for me? Sorry for the rookie question, hopefully this will be an easy answer for most!

After a recent discussion with some members of the forum about model making on a budget, I was given a few pointers for sources and good value kits. Namely Kingkit and the Hobbyboss 1/48 russian tank series. I ended up picking up the 1/48 T34/85 secondhand for just £11! it arrived quickly and looked very exciting. The model would be my first kit in around 8 or 9 years and ticked all the boxes for me. he idea of a full interior was exciting and i always loved engine builds so this kit seemed perfect. upon opening, I was impressed, over 400 parts, a little PE and link and length tracks! For £11 the kit seemed like a steal. Upon closer inspection the kit was nicely detailed though a lot of parts had flash and sink holes from manufacture. A lot of cleaning, filling and dry fitting was needed, but hey, I asked for a time consuming kit! Once cleaned up the kit came together well and and was nicely engineered. At present I've built up and painted the interior and the road wheels, a nice amount of progress but still plenty to go! I've worked on the kit for about 3 days straight now so that gives you an idea of how time consuming the kit is. In the name of keeping to a budget I visited my parents house to pick up all my old paints from when I was a kid. I luckily had a good range of humbrol enamels that would work well for the kit and surprisingly, despite being over 8 years old, nearly all of them were in usable condition. The only new paint I bought was a Mig Ammo 4BO green which I'm really pleased with. About the painting, I don't claim to be the best painter in the world and as usual I brush paint. I've never used an airbrush but one day hope to, so for the time being its the brush life for me! weathering has been a tricky one. I don't have any washes so I resorted to thinning some enamels. It's worked okay, and on the whole I'm happy with how the interior weathering worked out. I maybe went a little over board on some areas and sometimes I feel like it just looks like a really bad paint job haha, but on the whole I'm happy with it. The paint job isn't finished yet, theres some details that need adding and areas where they've been cut off the sprue that need a retouch so please excuse those minor issues. Also I haven't painted the escape hatch yet! Ooops I'd love to hear your thoughts so far, as usual, any feedback is helpful and if anyone has any pointers or tips for someone getting back into the game I'm all ears! Photos have been taken on my iPhone so excuse the quality! jeez seeing the photos blown up so big highlights a lot of the issues haha, I'll be doing some tidying during my next build session! Thanks for taking a look