Jump to content

Type 74 lowrider


Ernst

Recommended Posts

Hi Ernst,

the cable looks more suitable, as you say is an advantage to save things before throwing them, without exaggeration, of course ...
I will really like to see him with his "slippers" on ...
Cheers and TC
Francis. 👍

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

This whole project has been plagued by setbacks and last week was no exception. The (fragile) plastic chain broke.:angry: I thought about replacing it but I couldn't  see this happening without damaging the paint and weathering so I made a decision. I stripped away the paint. I must say that after I started working on the IR box cable the little solid plastic handles on the side and back of the hull started to annoy me. At the time I left them in place because the primary objective was a two tone semi soft edge camo and I expected some blue tac masking.

 

Since I already have done that I intended to extract more and new experiences from this model. I made some handles with thin copper wire and a common pair of pliers. The chain is made from the electric wire I initially planned to use for the IR box, I gutted it and used about two thirds of these thin threads, turned them and voila, a new cable. It's a bit scruffy compared to let's say an skp aftermarket piece but it will do.

The more experienced scratchbuilders will have me tarred and feathered for my fledgling attempts at "improving" a kit but one has to start somewhere. In fact I actually enjoyed the process. I secured the copper wire with two component putty underneath and it's remarkably strong. After I washed the model and left it to dry near an open window a gust of wind blew it on the ground and and broke the rear mudflap into 3 pieces:wall:. I guess this old japanese lady demands some kintsugi. We'll see how it goes.

 

In the meanwhile I discovered that there's a "new" type 74 kai in 1/35 on the market by a company called Areon Models. Out of nothing they came up with 10 models in this scale.

 

spacer.png

  • Like 1
  • Sad 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Ernst,

Sorry to see what has happened with the kit, sometimes, the model seems to be "cursed", because for various reasons, we could not "tame" it, either because we did not find the color that it should have, we ruined it with weathering, or even, going from strength to strength, the result is not what we expected, because that model (the real one), once finished or almost, simply does not fit our conception of what "cool" us or does not stop being something passenger...
I say this from my own experience, there are still kits that end up in the spare parts box (it is the most productive, at least you save some of the disaster), and when my other stage of modeling, which was an authentic "piranha" of kits, obviously, There was a lot that I should not have bought, knowing that the kit was not even good, or I decided to try it, so when I finished it, forget it ...
I don't know if you mean that specific kit, but I have seen that there is a new model from a brand that seems to have been launched jointly with Tamiya, so it looks like an update of the one you have. I imagine it will be better.

If you are going to give the model a second chance, I include a couple of photos of how I would try if I bought one of these again. I really like that combination of winter camo, if you also add a little snow ... cool! ((in the widest sense of the word ... :cool:+:cold:lol)

2uytNFm.jpg

 

gPAV1BM.jpg

Edited by FrancisGL
  • Like 5
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

All credit to you for sticking with it Ernst. I'd have probably put it into the "box" of shame.

 

John.

 

Thank you John, I already threw away an RPM lorraine last week. I still think I can make a presentable model out of the type 74.

Ernst.

 

14 hours ago, FrancisGL said:

Hi Ernst,

Sorry to see what has happened with the kit, sometimes, the model seems to be "cursed", because for various reasons, we could not "tame" it, either because we did not find the color that it should have, we ruined it with weathering, or even, going from strength to strength, the result is not what we expected, because that model (the real one), once finished or almost, simply does not fit our conception of what "cool" us or does not stop being something passenger...
I say this from my own experience, there are still kits that end up in the spare parts box (it is the most productive, at least you save some of the disaster), and when my other stage of modeling, which was an authentic "piranha" of kits, obviously, There was a lot that I should not have bought, knowing that the kit was not even good, or I decided to try it, so when I finished it, forget it ...
I don't know if you mean that specific kit, but I have seen that there is a new model from a brand that seems to have been launched jointly with Tamiya, so it looks like an update of the one you have. I imagine it will be better.

If you are going to give the model a second chance, I include a couple of photos of how I would try if I bought one of these again. I really like that combination of winter camo, if you also add a little snow ... cool! ((in the widest sense of the word ... :cool:+:cold:lol)

Hi Francis, the kit is very good especially given it's age. It's never the kit's fault, at least that's what I keep telling myself (after a while). I suspect the various washes 'attacked' an already weak part of the chain, it has a few tension points.

The new Areon kit is on the same scalemates timeline as the tamiya and asuka but it has some extra's like metal individual tracks, two sets of PE parts (?) and resin accessories. I expect this won't be a cheap kit.

Thank you for the included photo's, white indeed looks pretty. I'll prime it later today, put it in a box and focus on some other unfinished projects.

Ernst.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fantastic job.  When I was stationed in Japan in the early 1990s with the U.S. Army, each winter we'd deploy to Camp Asahikawa, Hokkaido to exercise with the 2nd Division of the JGSDF.  I've always wanted to model a Type 74 in whitewash.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Last months I only found a few opportunities for painting so I'll give a small update on the progress thus far. After the semisoft two tone I really wanted something different. I have the tamiya xf-74 jgsdf olive drab but in the back of my mind I've already reserved that for a Vietnam era vehicle so I had to come up with something else.

 

Urban camo for type 74:

spacer.png

 

Tritone with black:

spacer.png

Note how the tracks don't look bling bling at all on previous photo. Maybe it's volcanic ash that sticks really well.

 

But I opted for this one:

spacer.png

 

I loaded the last photo in Gimp (free photoshop). I had to adjust the front side to correct for the angle using guiding lines You can scale the selection up to the dimensions of the model. I found out that only a little extrapolation will cause some blur but that can be fixed.

 

 

spacer.png

 

 

After printing my work out is was time to make some masks. I placed the prints under a piece of glass so I can cut accurately with a hobby knife. The tape is sufficiently translucent to see the lines but the photo doesn really show it. These result in fairly accurate diy masks, however, this whole build is riddled with problems. Following airbrushing I removed the tape carefully and a chunk of the base-coat as well. After depleting my vocabulary of dutch curse words I opted for a different approach. Instead of masking tape I decided to use silly putty instead. For some reason it's called intelligent putty over here. When I bought it at the toy store the cashier asked me if it's a gift but I replied it's for my own use. I've stopped trying to explain this hobby to others long time ago.

 

spacer.png

 

I rolled the silly putty on the glass like dough and with some toothpicks I outlined the shape of the camo, removed it with a sharp blade and put it on top of the tank. You do lose some accuracy compared to tape but it works. On top of the model you can still carefully make some adjustments.

After three of the four colours the results look like this, I only have to correct some alignment issues:

 

spacer.png

 

The dark brown on the drawing is so delicate and thin that I will have to use a marker or a brush. Molotow markers are very good for this purpose, very good coverage in one go but the colour range for their markers is limited so I'll be practicing my brush skills first.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Bullbasket said:

Well, you were certainly thorough with the planning of the cammo, and it payed off. It looks really good Ernst. Nice work.

 

John

Thank you John, I wanted to gain some experience with masking tape for future projects as well. I'm afraid the paint stripping with oven cleaner caused the (laquer) paint to peel of this easy.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

When I applied some oils the thinner ate away the basecoat. I contemplated destruction it but I found a way to deflect my anger so I tried my hand at a distressed paintjob on an old abandoned "type 97 chi ha".

 

spacer.png

 

With a brush and some vallejo I repaired the damage done on the type 74, applied some decals and sealed it with varnish, quite a lot of varnish.

 

spacer.png

 

The decals don't belong to each other but I liked the white numbers and the silly cartoonish picture. In fact I honestly think this whole cammo scheme is a bit silly like these dark brown meandering shapes on the side of the turret and barrel. It is as if the painter thought "hey this towing cable kind of contrasts with the rest, let's elaborate on that". The scheme apparently lacks the composition that another 4 tone scheme like MERDC has. It's time to apply some weathering. Something in me wants to dirty this one up with loads of mud but to be frank. I want to finish it asap and be done with it.

Edited by Ernst
typo
  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hammers!  Well I'm certainly glad it didn't get the hammer treatment. You must have been angry. 

It's looking really good and I like the cartoon figure...very Japanese.

Are you not tempted to install a motorized suspension system? 🤭

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, StuartH said:

2 hammers!  Well I'm certainly glad it didn't get the hammer treatment. You must have been angry. 

It's looking really good and I like the cartoon figure...very Japanese.

Are you not tempted to install a motorized suspension system? 

Hi Stuart, thank you for your kind words. I've learned the hard way that revell enamel thinner is a lot more aggressive than regular turpentine but it dries faster and doesn't leave a greasy film behind. I want to minimize the amount of layers so I put the artist oils directly on the paint. Usually a layer of varnish binds the contrasts together by toning it down. A motorized suspension would be awesome, it's one of the defining features of this tank.

Cheers,

Ernst.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Final update.

I Applied some pigments to the wheels and hull. Although I wanted to do a little vignette for this tank because it would add some context for the stance I really couldn't find any motivation to do that. My interest kept gravitating towards new and different projects.

 

spacer.png

 

Although I wasn't unhappy with the result, it kind of left me cold, I think I spend too much time on it. I had more fun messing around with the old type 97 Chi Ha. In the end I sold them both. Thank you if you have taken an interest in this build. I want to give a special thanks to sensei @FrancisGL for the advice and support. I've learned a ton and I took my first baby steps in scratching.

Oddly enough, if someone would decide to build this great kit in the near future I would be highly interested in it, because it would be fresh. In fact I'd probably be be taking notes.

Cheers,

Ernst.

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...