T-80 BV (1/35)

[Ernst]

 

After some weathering I consider this one finished, it was a joy to build and paint. You can find the "making of" in the WIP section right here.

Cheers,

Ernst

[JeroenS]

Nice, especially the low angle shots from the front. 

[Ernst]

1 hour ago, JeroenS said:

Nice, especially the low angle shots from the front. 

Thanks Jeroen, I'm starting to like the photography aspect of modeling as well.

Cheers,

Ernst

[Bullbasket]

Well painted and weathered especially the side skirts. Nice one.

 

John.

[Ernst]

Thank you John, it's my second fully weathered tank. My next projects will revolve around painting and weathering to gain some experience before I'll commit to more detailed kits.

Cheers,

Ernst

[JasonC]

Lovely build and weathering. Were those ERA blocks individual? Must have taken an age to assemble! 

 

J.

[Ernst]

2 minutes ago, JasonC said:

Lovely build and weathering. Were those ERA blocks individual? Must have taken an age to assemble! 

 

J.

Thanks Jason,

Some of those era blocks were individual but others were grouped together in a similar fashion as link and length tracks that were present in the kit as well. For instance, those blocks in the mid of the glacis plate were a bunch of them in one single mold, same goes for the mid turret section. The ones at the sides were molded together in a pattern but proved remarkably difficult to align properly. Here is a link to the sprues, since I skipped the build part in the wip. All in all, given some PE alternatives this was one of the easier options. These entry level kits are ideal for practicing because they are quite resilient to abuse. The plastic might be thick here and there but it means is has much surface to bond. By coincidence I bought a T-72 with era blocks last month on an auction for a bargain....... with the same exact blocks . It won't be my next project, or the one after that but I might have found a way to skip the blocks altogether through scratch and conversion but you'll read that in the future.

Cheers,

Ernst

[FrancisGL]

Hi Ernst,
I see that you finished your model, and the result is quite good, you have paid a lot of attention to detail in painting and weathering, and from what you say, it has been very useful for you to practice techniques and your skill.
No doubt models like this can serve as guinea pigs, but you run the risk of ending up very well ... lol, there is no "little enemy", any kit with skill and proper materials can result in something above models with add-ons and much more expensive ...
Cheers mate 👍

[Ernst]

11 hours ago, FrancisGL said:

Hi Ernst,
I see that you finished your model, and the result is quite good, you have paid a lot of attention to detail in painting and weathering, and from what you say, it has been very useful for you to practice techniques and your skill.
No doubt models like this can serve as guinea pigs, but you run the risk of ending up very well ... lol, there is no "little enemy", any kit with skill and proper materials can result in something above models with add-ons and much more expensive ...
Cheers mate 

Hi Francis,

I've painted and weathered it twice so this kit has a lot of mileage. I tried pigments, acrylic , ink, enamel and oil washes, to figure out their respective strengths and weaknesses. At some points I really thought; "Ernst you jumped the shark here", but next day.....mwoa, let's dust this part up a bit 😁. It's fun slapping some pigments on this baby. In hindsight, I should have exercised a bit more restraint but I will not put it in the oven cleaner again. At this very moment there's another tank here at home, a german one,  covered in oven cleaner but that's another W.I.P.

Cheers, Ernst

[Buzby061]

Nicely painted & weathered. Those ERA blocks look challenging.

 

Pete

[Ernst]

42 minutes ago, Buzby061 said:

Nicely painted & weathered. Those ERA blocks look challenging.

 

Pete

Thank you Pete,

Once youŕe working with those ERA blocks it really falls together. It does take some afford especially the blocks attached to the racks on the turret. If you want to gain experience with ERA blocks in 1/35 I would advice you the Revell or Zvezda T-72 with era kits (they are the same). Cheap kits and a bit more simple ERA wise than the T-80. They don't have enough ERA blocks to do it properly though, but I worked around that by making it a Syrian one with some sideskirts removed so I could place the blacks elsewhere. You might as well make it a Novorossian one, same recepe.

Painting wise they are a good excuse to differentiate between colours, especially in a monochromatic model, but some of those tanks in action have a wide variety of different coloured blocks, almost like digicam,

Cheers,

Ernst