SoftScience

Thanks! I was really trying to capture a used but not wrecked look.

Thanks, John. I've been here the whole time. 2024 was just an aircraft focused year. I know, I know.

Hi all. Been some time since I posted a proper scale armor build in this subforum, so here we go. First completed 1/35 AFV since end of 2023. This is Italeri's T-34 in the Korean War boxing. In the US, the kit is priced similarly to the RFM T-34, which is generally considered to be the best on the market. So what do you get in the box? This is a reduced version of Italeri's full-interior T-34 kits. That was fine with me, as I don't really get the appeal of AFV kits with full interiors. But if you're buying this because you want to build each of the stations, and an engine, you'll find yourself disappointed. You get some basic bulkheads and some turret/gun details, but that is about it. You get SOME of what you might expect on a post-war T-34. There are separate roof vent domes, you get smoke pot canisters for the back, angled front fenders, and from just eye-balling it - a "fuller" turret bottom. But Italeri only gives you the solid wheels. Too bad, since many, though certainly not all, North Korean and Chinese T-34s were fitted with the spider style wheels. Italeri would have also expanded the range of options by adding the handful of parts needed to build a Chinese modified T-34 (Type 89 I think they called it?) with the raised loader's hatch and DshK mount. In terms of detail, this kit is okay, but not great. There are no weld lines on the hull and the welds on the turret are very basic. The turret cast texture is a little pedestrian looking, and there is no texture on the hull parts. You get A PE engine grill mesh that looks nice, but the four vent grills further forward are molded solid, which looks okay, but is another missed opportunity. The finer details are fine, but few. There are PE straps for the track grousers on the hull sides, but I left these off my tank, as I don't know if I've ever seen them on in a historic photo. The tracks are link and length and look nice. Italeri also give you rubber tracks, if you prefer. There are a few marking options for North Korean tanks, which all feature large white turret numbers. There is also one Chinese PLA option, which I chose. The decals are FANTASTIC! Thin, stretchy, strong, and with great adherence. All in all, not a terrible model, but somewhat basic. I give it a solid C, mostly because it was very much overpriced. The kit is probably on par with the Academy T-34s in terms of quality and detail, but is priced like an RFM kit. I understand that a lot of the price is set by Steven's International setting the import price, so maybe it is a better bargain elsewhere in the world. I painted the model in standard Mr. Surfacer black base-coat and then applied lightened shades of some sort of greens. The base painting happened a while ago. So I don't remember. But I applied lighter colors at the top surfaces and at high points as if a single light source was over the tank. I paint my armor after they are fully assembled. The lower hull and tracks were painted with a black/brown mix, and then some green was misted onto the wheel faces. Tyres were semi-dry-brushed with a dark gray. Weathering was kept simple and included a dark brown enamel pin wash, and acrylic filters of vallejo dark sandy and earth brown colored paints suspended in matte medium. Some steel was drybrushed on the track. Now, how about some pictures?

Outstanding work! I love the scuffing exposing the wooden wing.

Thanks, guys. Cheers.

I've taken a few swings at wooden ship models, but never saw them through to the end. They look great, though. I look forward to seeing this go together. No masts or rigging greatly increases the chances of this one getting finished. And then you get to go around bragging that you have a 32' pinnace. There. Now that we have that joke out of the way, you're clear to go.

Thank you, everybody for the really positive responses. I didn't think this model would generate this much response. I'm really happy you liked it.

Hil all, it's been a good while since I posted anything here, so I'd like to share one project from 2024 that I'm most proud of. Airfix's 2010s era He111 is was what you Brits might call a curate's egg. Some aspects are excellent. There are great interior details, things scale out just right, and the complex curves of the wings and canopy are captured perfectly. The engineering of the complex landing gear is done very cleverly, and I like that Airfix gives you the option to open the unique vertical bomb bay (curiously, there are no bombs provided). On the other hand, fit was a little tricky in places, and I used more filler than I have on other Airfix models from the period. I had a very hard time fitting the four piece glass nose, but I think much of that was due to user error. My advice is to glue the three main pieces together BEFORE you add them to the fuselage. The fit of the lower wings and flaps was also tight, and the fit of the side windows was extremely tight side windows didn't fit at all without major shaving. What really surprised me was the low quality of the decals. Airfix has established a track record of supplying excellent decals printed by Cartograph. Indeed, the box side says Cartograph. But these have a thick flat finish, and were a little stiffer than any Cartograph decals I used before. They reminded me more of old Italeri decals. They also had very poor adhesion, and some of the smaller stencils fell off after they had dried. I hope I just got a bad batch, because this was totally uncharacteristic. As for the build. It went quickly. I think I finished the model in about three weeks, which is very fast for me. Despite some of the fit issues, the kit is designed to be quickly assembled. I added some paper belts, and replaced the stick-like Airfix MGs, with the somewhat overscaled, but more MG-ie looking guns from the old Italeri heinkel. I also used a set of resin wheels I had laying around. The model was painted with Mr. Color RLM 65, 70, and 71. I also applied several shades of green, brown, and drab colored oil paint filters (basically dirty thinner), to shift the colors and add some tonal variety. The exhaust stains are Tamiya smoke. I lightened the greens just a touch in an effort to achieve the look of an airplane under sunny skies, and I didn't want the model to turn into a heinkel-shaped black hole on my display shelves, with the two very dark greens. These might look too bright for some color purists, but I think they make the model visually more interesting. Alse the colors have a lot less contrast when not under my bright photography lights. So there we have it. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this one a 6. The fit issues were one thing, but the poor decals really brought this one down by one or two points.

I'm super impressed. I tried building this kit once, and modelled it in-flight; right into the trash can. You really turned it into something beautiful. Too bad it's such a crap kit, because the LaGG was a pretty little plane.

The Judy was a beautiful airplane. Your model captures that beauty very well.

Very nice work, Mr. Igor. How wide is the rotor span of this beast in 1/48? It looks like a huge model!

Aside from a few minor niggles, the kit holds up really well, given its age. italeri armor was really good in the 70s. @Milan Mynar I love the texturing you added. That alone brings things up the next level. I think this kit can look really great, out of box, with just a few of these kinds of modifications. Is that really out of the box, anymore? Doesn't matter. It's going to look cool. Already does. Only thing I might suggest replacing is that rock hard track. It doesn't work particularly well with the rocking horse bogie assemblies.

Beautifully executed! The FM 109 kits are great models.

This might be your best work to date!

Oh yes! The multi-hue panels are a great touch.