BringUpThePIAT

Agree with you on the PE - it really improves it. I went the whole hog and got the resin stowage etc and it looks great. I've got some pics on my Insta - @bringupthePIAT What's the bar / slat armour on the Meng one like? Is it cast styrene or PE? I took one look at the PE set I got for the Academy one and longed it right off, made me need a drink just looking at it.

Yeah I struggle with this too. For German WW2 we know the primer was always red oxide but I always feel the red oxide chipping on panzer grey looks really lurid. I tried it and hated it. For panzer grey I have a two step chipping process. Firstly instead of red oxide I prefer Burnt Umber so this goes on over the black primer coat and grey preshaded primer highlights for the whole model in a layer thick enough to be visible through the primer but thin enough to mist it on and be a tinge to the primer coats rather than a flat layer per se, if that makes sense, as you want the preshaded primer highlights to still be very stark. Couple of coats of medium chipping fluid and then the base layer of quite thin panzer grey plus three or four progressively lightened post-shaded highlights. Then toothbrush, cocktail stick and knackered old brush out to do the paint wear areas. Second step is sponge chipping. I just use a nice light grey. I quite like the VMC Neutral Grey for this as it is lighter than it looks in the bottle if that makes sense. I tried Tamiya Sea Grey for this recently and didn't hate it but the chips need to be absolutely minute. Once the light grey chips are down with the sponge, I just use Burnt Umber again for the brush chipping. I tried using MiG Chipping colour over a model I'd already done first stage fluid chipping/wear using Burnt Umber and it doesnt look right at all - its way too brown and looks really different when you put it down, so I think it is important to use the same brush chipping colour as you use for the first stage fluid chip/wear if that makes sense. The colour difference doesn't look good. In your case the Mig Chipping colour paint is much closer to Red Oxide than it is to Burnt Umber - doesn't look it in the bottle but I have found it does dry a bit lighter. Anyway that's my opinion. Ive only been modeling since September 2020 so most probably others know a lot better than me.

Ive got this in the stash - i loved the Academy one so much i decided to spring for the Meng which i hear is another exceptional one from them. I'll be following with interest.

Love this. I think the texturing looks great - Instinct would be that I'd have sanded it down a little before priming but it does look great like that. Its one of those things that require a little bravery. I've only been modeling since September 2020 so haven't developed the instinct yet to know when to leave stuff and when to tone it down. It means sometimes new builders like me build within themselves a bit as they are worried about over-doing it. The only way we learn is by seeing other builds such as here online. Next Sherman I do I will push the boat out on the texturing like you have.

Meng do that. It appears in this case though that the pins are long enough. Which cannot be said for the Meng ones I had on a Buk launcher build a while back. Lovely idea in theory and they do go together nicely but as soon as you push the pins in all the way and snip them off, the tracks fall apart with the pins still inside.

See that I can 100% agree with. They aren't for beginners or even intermediate modelers. I used to think AFV Club was the pinnacle of challenge when it came to assembly but I think Miniart has them beat hands down. Both are difficult. I wonder if i'm the only one who puts aside a couple of months to build a kit like that but needs a couple of mojo builds in the middle to keep my interest - nice Takom blitz StuG or a Tamiya etc. Just to stay fresh and not get bogged down.

I must say you are a more patient and gifted modeler than I. I'm on a self-imposed ban of Miniarts as I don't like anything about them - Am scratching and battling my way through their Werkskraftwagen bus/mobile workshop right now and it is giving me nightmares. Not the tools and equipment etc as they are great and are straightforward, great detail. I'm on about the vehicle itself. Fit is a case of guessing correctly with the instructions, the squillions of parts are ludicrously over-engineered, laughably brittle and come on so many sprues you need the Dewey library coding system just to keep track of them all. Plastic is somehow both soft and incredibly brittle and doesn't like TETC as much as say, Border etc or Tamiya. The sprue markers are too faint, the sprue gates are in stupid places and are way too thick, the instructions are akin to being screamed at in Ukrainian by ten different people at the same time, the carpet monster got so fat he needs to go on a diet from his cardiologist... its just not fun. It has six tyres. Each of these are eight (yes really) flat pieces that do not sit ideally well and have the merest hints of guide points and so require a lot of putty and sanding to look even vaguely decent. I spent almost an hour on one tyre and had to go for a whiskey and a look online for some resin aftermarkets.... 🤪 You know when you look up from the cutting mat and give your head a wobble and think "am I enjoying this?" - was that sort of moment. I haven't enjoyed a single minute of it and I LOVE modeling. I've got several 1000+ trumpeter kits under my belt, a couple of the really serious Dragons and I've even built tracks by RFM out of the box (hahahahaha) so am hardly a newb, but these were at least enjoyable if not always fun and even the difficult areas on these were doable and didn't make me want to put my hands in a breadmaker. Miniarts I find akin to ritual self flagellation - some folks are into it but I struggle with putting myself though it. I am impressed at the quality of your build - it looks sensational. As you say the one thing Miniarts do do is provide oodles of detail and its all there. Very nice, amazing effort. Are you enjoying it though? Fair play to you if you are. I'd love to be the kind of modeler who can make kits like this good decent.

That 1:35 Topol-M is going to ruin me. Oh my gosh. Ive been excited about this one for a couple of years now and I wonder if this year will finally be the year. Fingers crossed.

Truly amazing so far. Keep us posted!

Super work, mate. Keep the updates coming.

Do keep us posted on how it goes - i have this in my stash so will watch with interest.

Seems a shame to paint it. I'd leave it as it is on the shelf to highlight your stunning work.

Spot on, yes

Yah - give it a satin coat before you do the oil dots otherwise the enamel thinner you use on them will ruin the coat below. Re modulation, (and in this i mean post-shading modulation not pre) the best way to approach it (i find) is go dark to light. Looking at your pics above you've already done this but for the benefit of any noobs reading this, this is how i do my modulation. So you spray your base coat, let it dry. Important to do that as layers on top of wet-ish paint can crack. When your base coat is down and dry, take the same colour and add a drop of Iraqi Sand if you're using Vallejo or Buff / Deck Tan if you're using Tamiya. Turn your pressure down to 10-12 but don't over-thin it as it doesn't go down well if too wet. Then get in close to your flat surfaces and really gently spray the flat areas and exposed edges lightly with the lighter shade. Rinse repeat getting lighter and lighter until you're happy. Trick is to stop right at the point where you start to wonder if its too much, not after. I find when fully assembled and with weathering and washes, filters added, etc the modulation is always slightly too subtle even if it looks too much when you're doing it. Ive seen some guys do the lightest shade through a mottle template on the flat areas to simulate sun bleaching but thats mainly on aircraft and I'd struggle to imagine using that on 1/35 tanks but i'm sure some do.

Thanks a lot mate, appreciated. I think in this day and age you could make an argument that no armour is survivable, and the same Kornet/Konkurs/Chinese copy that will do for a Boxer or Ajax will also likely do for a C2 or C3. Armour can only get you so far. After that its all about APS, mobility, stealth and targeted lethality. A real step change in how armoured warfare is conducted.