Italian light cavalry tank 1/35

[moondrome]

great job on your tankette!  I will keep as reference for my next project.

your model is 7 years old but is still spot on 😉

[Milan Mynar]

Very well done, figures and tank. Great paintwork.

[Muchmirth]

Nice choice of tank and the figures look especially brilliant. 

[Homer]

Congratulations on a fine piece of work, those figures are exceptional well done.

[NIK122]

Fantastic. Great model and I'm envious of your figure painting skills

[Nenad Ilijic]

Beautiful work Jack. Those figures are just stunning. One of the best figure painting jobs I have ever seen. 

 

I was looking for this model to complete my NA collection, but it seems almost impossible to find these days.

 

Nenad

[JackG]

Thanks all for giving a second life to this thread.

 

In 2010 Tamiya also boxed the Italeri molds under their brand, and included two figures.  Except for one listing, Ebay prices are nutz, making the resin version by Model Victoria a bit more  tolerable.

 

 

 

regards,

Jack

 

[Nenad Ilijic]

18 hours ago, JackG said:

Thanks all for giving a second life to this thread.

In 2010 Tamiya also boxed the Italeri molds under their brand, and included two figures.  Except for one listing, Ebay prices are nutz, making the resin version by Model Victoria a bit more  tolerable.

 

 

Is Model Victoria version worth buying? How is it compared to Italeri/Tamiya kits?

Never built resin kit, and after following some resin build threads here in WIP section, I am not sure I am ready for the pain

[JackG]

I can't say if Model Victoria kits are worth the $$, but they must be doing something right for being in business now for 25 years?   Resin is pricier, but does provide crisper detail.  I've not come across any build reviews specific to the L6/40, but one comment found is if you want a simple build with quality, then this is the kit to opt for.  They also add it goes together like a Tamiya ...

https://archive.armorama.com/forums/18957/

 

My Italeri build used Friul metal tracks, but seen a comment that the kit ones have fit problems around the drive sprocket.  The other problem area is  the conical bolt detail is a bit under represented, as well as some of them totally missing on the turret:

 

 

Was just skimming through my build progress posted in a group build over at Finescale seven years ago, and it reminds of the problems I had with the Italeri kit, as well as using about 200 resin rivets!  Going by the photo, 0.8mm was the main size used, but they probably should have been 0.7mm.  Overall though there should be three different sizes utilized, going by museum photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another factor to consider among price and availability, is the interiors.  Italeri/Tamiya provides a partial one, while the Model Victoria has none, but they do offer a complete interior set separately.  The resin set is what I used inside the Italeri kit.

 

 

regards,

Jack

 

 

[Nenad Ilijic]

Thank you Jack, this is very useful.

Maybe I'll try Model Victoria resin kit after all. It looks like it's a good choice as a starter resin kit and it is actually cheaper than Tamiya/Italeri if you take shipping into account.

 

Nenad

[S. Uehlinger]

Beautiful. Work!  The Figures are First Rate!

[Muchmirth]

Forgot to ask before but would be interested to hear how you tackle your figure painting? Oil or acrylic or both? Would you be able give a brief overview as many have also commented on how good these are? 

[JackG]

Hello @Muchmirth, thank you for the interest in the figures.

 

They are painted with water based acrylics, such as Vallejo, Andrea, and LifeColor.  My one rule is never use an overall wash on the figure. specially on clothing, as this does not properly imitate shadow in the folds.  It does have it's uses to pick out particular details, like belts, pocket flaps, etc.  Basically, any area that is in shadow, you add a dark wash with a fine tip brush, but is done methodically. 

 

Same thing with highlights, I don't use the drybrush method - wide brush with a lighter shade of paint.  It just does not look natural, and can quickly result in an awful buildup of paint.  So again, a small size brush that holds it's point, and apply highlights, always keeping in mind that the light source is from atop the figure.

 

If you have an airbrush, good method for first step is spray the main uniform colour first.  This is easier with some figures than others.  Having separate head (sometimes even hands), and a subject with a single coloured uniform is advantageous.  Once the base uniform colour is applied, mix a little white (or some other lighter colour) in the airbrush cup with the original paint.  Now spray from on top downwards, don't go beyond 45 degrees.  This picks up highlights like you were holding a light source over the figure.  You can go a second round of this directional spray, with an even lighter shade of mixed paint, but do not angle the airbrush.   Let this cure for a day, then you can follow up with pinpoint applications of highlights and shadows with a good quality paint brush.

 

Skin tones at this scale probably not able to use the airbrush method, but same principals.  I always reference this youtube link by Marion Ball as a good basis for flesh painting.  Essentially after a base skin coat, the skin tones are applied by building up layers of successive lighter tones (and the opposite for shadow areas).  Key is to keep the paint thin, but don't load your brush so much that it can't be controlled.

 

 

 

regards,

Jack

[Muchmirth]

15 hours ago, JackG said:

Hello @Muchmirth, thank you for the interest in the figures.

 

They are painted with water based acrylics, such as Vallejo, Andrea, and LifeColor.  My one rule is never use an overall wash on the figure. specially on clothing, as this does not properly imitate shadow in the folds.  It does have it's uses to pick out particular details, like belts, pocket flaps, etc.  Basically, any area that is in shadow, you add a dark wash with a fine tip brush, but is done methodically. 

 

Same thing with highlights, I don't use the drybrush method - wide brush with a lighter shade of paint.  It just does not look natural, and can quickly result in an awful buildup of paint.  So again, a small size brush that holds it's point, and apply highlights, always keeping in mind that the light source is from atop the figure.

 

If you have an airbrush, good method for first step is spray the main uniform colour first.  This is easier with some figures than others.  Having separate head (sometimes even hands), and a subject with a single coloured uniform is advantageous.  Once the base uniform colour is applied, mix a little white (or some other lighter colour) in the airbrush cup with the original paint.  Now spray from on top downwards, don't go beyond 45 degrees.  This picks up highlights like you were holding a light source over the figure.  You can go a second round of this directional spray, with an even lighter shade of mixed paint, but do not angle the airbrush.   Let this cure for a day, then you can follow up with pinpoint applications of highlights and shadows with a good quality paint brush.

 

Skin tones at this scale probably not able to use the airbrush method, but same principals.  I always reference this youtube link by Marion Ball as a good basis for flesh painting.  Essentially after a base skin coat, the skin tones are applied by building up layers of successive lighter tones (and the opposite for shadow areas).  Key is to keep the paint thin, but don't load your brush so much that it can't be controlled.

 

 

 

regards,

Jack

Always good to hear another technique/approach. Still finding my feet with figures. I’ll check out the vid. Thanks.

paul

[bissyboat]

Second to none. This is incredible work. Picture perfect if you ask me. ⚓🙌