badger Posted July 28, 2021 Author Share Posted July 28, 2021 3 hours ago, Silenoz said: That is something I still need to learn.. one day... Me too - never done it before so we'll see how this goes. 24 minutes ago, sardaukar said: The fix looks like it is coming along nicely. Out of interest can the Revell turret be corrected? I suspect this would be a massive pain to do and may end up destroying any detail. At this rate you will have a collection of unused Revell turrets. I've been pretty pleased with some of the black dog extra parts as they have been very useful. The extra turret was due to an incorrect one being supplied in my T-54 conversion. Luckily I bought it from them directly so a polite email resulted in a replacement being sent. The incorrect one (an Enigma one) will be used on the Trumpeter mine roller as it has the mantlet cover and a few other details added that the kit one lacks. Not sure about correcting the Revell one, it is very much an incorrect shape being shorter and rounder than the Trumpeter (and indeed Italeri) one. I do have a fair few in the spare box. Suspect they may end up going to Pete in Lincs on here who scratch builds all kinds of cool sci fi stuff from spares. The seperate top plates have been useful as a source of detail parts and replacement cupolas for various builds though. More soon Ben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted July 29, 2021 Author Share Posted July 29, 2021 Last nights progress saw more fiddly bits applied to the Italeri kit. Its getting close to being complete now. Main items left to do are the front turret grab rails, towing cables, headlight guard and turret tie downs. The lower hull and engine have also been primed. Unusually for me I will need to paint this in subassemblies due to the resin tracks which will have to be fitted before I can glue the hull top and bottom together. More soon 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted July 30, 2021 Author Share Posted July 30, 2021 If anyone is looking for an Ace T-55 Enigma, then Dorking models in Surrey have one - £10.50. Its a bit of a drive but I had a run out there earlier and an Ace T-62 may have found its way home with me. https://www.dorkingmodels.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old pro Posted July 31, 2021 Share Posted July 31, 2021 A quick word of warning, when fitting the Italeri engine, it sits too far to the rear and should be mounted central in the access hatch behind the turret, or better said the exhaust on the engine should line up with the exhaust on the fender! simon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted July 31, 2021 Author Share Posted July 31, 2021 35 minutes ago, Old pro said: A quick word of warning, when fitting the Italeri engine, it sits too far to the rear and should be mounted central in the access hatch behind the turret, or better said the exhaust on the engine should line up with the exhaust on the fender! simon. Hi Simon Thanks for that - luckily I had picked that up from an online review, so have removed the pins from the hull floor. Its also the reason I've only opened the smaller hatches If you spot anything else please feel free to let me know. Its been a minefield trying to sort out the different versions. All the best Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted August 1, 2021 Author Share Posted August 1, 2021 Had a play with resin casting last night. Seemed to go ok - turret is a bit rough but that is down to the mould. I had another try with the last of my silicone putty but the same thing happened. It is fine for smaller, thinner moulds so I assume it is silicone that gets trapped during the curing process and then leaves small indentations as it dries. If I do this again, I'll invest in some liquid latex instead. However considering I'm planning on some pretty serious modifications that involve removing most of the detail anyway, this is usable. My era blocks didn't turn out so well. Again I was struggling to get a decent mould of them without air bubbles. No matter as there are two packs of these in the post instead as these are much better than anything I could make : https://www.scalemates.com/kits/sg-modelling-f72021-blocks-reactive-armour-era-konakt-1--1299722 I worked out I need about 195 in total, and yes they are applied individually!! The plan is to use these, and a scratchbuilt laser sight to make a T-55 AMV. I rather like Soviet tanks covered in ERA blocks and as far as I know no-one makes a kit of this version, so I thought I'd make my own using one of the Revell kits and a homecast turret as a base. More soon. Ben 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 2 hours ago, badger said: I worked out I need about 195 in total, and yes they are applied individually!! Good luck with that Ben, and watch out for the little men in white coats!! John. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted August 1, 2021 Author Share Posted August 1, 2021 44 minutes ago, Bullbasket said: Good luck with that Ben, and watch out for the little men in white coats!! John. Weirdly enough I'm quite excited to do it. Yes I know - I need to get out more!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted August 1, 2021 Author Share Posted August 1, 2021 So an hours work this afternoon led to this: I've wired up all 12 cylinders on the engine block and added some detail to the oil tank. More soon Ben 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sardaukar Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 Do you think casting the turret could work with a push mould and something like miliput? I've been watching some casting vids on YouTube and they all seem to go for a vacuum pot for casting resin to eliminate the bubbles. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted August 1, 2021 Author Share Posted August 1, 2021 1 hour ago, sardaukar said: Do you think casting the turret could work with a push mould and something like miliput? I've been watching some casting vids on YouTube and they all seem to go for a vacuum pot for casting resin to eliminate the bubbles. It might work with milliput but not sure if you would then get the resin out. To be honest I've had very few bubbles in the casts - certainly no worse than some kits I've bought. I'm using a quick setting resin with a 3min working time which doesn't seem to allow time for bubbles to form. The silicone was under £2 and the resin was £7 from this ebay seller: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mouldcraft-Fast-Sil-16g-1kg-Mould-Making-Silicone-Putty-RTV-Food-safe-Sugarcraft-/264801369979?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sardaukar Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 I've had some luck casting stowage and bits using miliput and oyumaru (blue stuff), only one way to find out I guess if it can cast a turret. The good thing about oyumaru is you can re-melt it after the putty has set which could help prevent any damage while removing the mold. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted August 4, 2021 Author Share Posted August 4, 2021 Time for some progress. After a couple of nights wrestling the Model Miniature resin tracks are on. These were a bit of a nightmare as the resin is quite crumbly, they weren't cast in particularly straight sections and the locating pins for the wheels on the Italeri kit are very weak and the slightest strain will snap them. Luckily some strategic churned up soil and grass will hide the worst of it. More soon Ben 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted August 7, 2021 Author Share Posted August 7, 2021 Haven't posted an update for a few days but I haven't been idle. I've been slowly adding the tie down points to the turret using an old Eduard etch set for the Revell T-72. This has taken an age as they are very fiddly. Finished the last couple tonight and have added the searchlight linkage, small spotlight, and some other small details. I've replaced the panel on top of the mantlet as the Revell one had better detail and have added the searchlight cable from lead wire. I've also been working on a base using my usual cheap interior filler covered with a mix of fine sand and shot blasting powder for texture. I'll paint this tomorrow hopefully. The toolbox arrived today and is from the Brengun etched tools set. A selection of these will be added along with a rag or two and a mechanic figure I'm converting at the moment. Only a couple more things to do on the tank before its ready for paint!! More soon Ben 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted August 7, 2021 Author Share Posted August 7, 2021 Oh and a Miniart 1/35 T-54-3 (non interior) arrived in the post today as I found it for an absolute bargain on ebay and couldn't resist!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted August 8, 2021 Author Share Posted August 8, 2021 A quick overview of how I paint my groundwork: First a coat of a suitable earth brown. I tend to use Citadel colours for groundwork as they brush well and dry quickly. I went with Steel Legion Drab for this. Once dry I heavily drybrushed it with a lighter brown, in this case Baneblade brown. Again, once dry, I applied a very thinned down wash to accentuate the texture. I used Agrax earthshade mixed 30:70 with water. This will take a while to dry so I'll be back soon. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted August 8, 2021 Author Share Posted August 8, 2021 To finish the soil I drybrushed a sandy shade (Zandri dust), followed by a final highlight of a pale cream (Screaming skull) to represent dusty, sandy soil. Just need to paint the rocks, then it will be ready to add the foliage. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted August 8, 2021 Author Share Posted August 8, 2021 Rocks painted and various applications of 2mm, 4mm, 6mm and 10mm static grass applied to build up the foliage to represent this: I was a bit concerned the 10mm grass was too tall, but as can be seen here some of it reaches the stowage log so mine is not too far off. I then added some bushes / leafy plants and some white flowers as these are very noticeable in the video screenshot. Mine are perhaps a bit overdone but they were all I had to hand. More soon Ben 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted August 8, 2021 Author Share Posted August 8, 2021 Whilst all the groundwork has been drying I have painted and weathered the engine. Quite happy with how this has turned out 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted August 8, 2021 Author Share Posted August 8, 2021 Tracks are base painted and the engine is installed: The rough edges of the track will be hidden with some churned up soil. More soon 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted August 9, 2021 Author Share Posted August 9, 2021 A significant job has been done tonight which has been a bit of a stumbling block as I knew it was going to be a pain, as it's seriously fiddly! I've added all the fuel lines to the external fuel tanks. I used some brass tubing this time which was a bit thicker than the wire I used on the Kladivo and I think it looks better for it. More soon Ben 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 You're getting some great detail into these builds Ben, especially the fuel lines. I struggled with those in 1/48th scale! John. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echen Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 (edited) On 8/8/2021 at 7:25 PM, badger said: The rough edges of the track will be hidden with some churned up soil. I rely on mud a lot. 2 hours ago, Bullbasket said: You're getting some great detail into these builds Ben, especially the fuel lines. I've got some IBG and Trumpeter kits with detailed engines coming up that will need pipes and wiring - in 1/72........................😅 Edited August 10, 2021 by echen 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted August 10, 2021 Author Share Posted August 10, 2021 3 hours ago, Bullbasket said: You're getting some great detail into these builds Ben, especially the fuel lines. I struggled with those in 1/48th scale! John. Thanks John - seemed slightly easier this time to do the fuel lines as the brass pipe was a bit more rigid and easier to handle. I've been enjoying this one - not much more to do on it now and it'll be ready for paint (which I've just ordered as I didn't have the correct colours). 1 hour ago, echen said: I rely on mud a lot. I've got some IBG and Trumpeter kits with detailed engines coming up that will need pipes and wiring - in 1/72........................😅 Mud is an AFV modellers best friend!! For the wiring I found copper wire worked best. For pipes I used brass rod as this is more rigid and less likely to bend inadvertently. Be interested to see what you are planning - the more 1/72 the better!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sardaukar Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 Good progress, nice to see that italeri model looking so good. Basic question but what diameter brass rod are you using for the fuel lines? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now