ISU 122

[Ernst]

Hey guys, here's my ISU.  It was a fun kit to build, the instructions were just one sheet of paper. I replaced the plastic grilles with microdesign PE. The replacement tracks are trumpeters workable tracks and they go together quite nice. I think about making a vignette for this one with some angry Russians on top but that won't be anytime soon so I leave it here. Cheers,

Ernst.

[Stef N.]

Really like that Ernst. Great painting and weathering. The subtle chipping works well. Top job.👍

[Ernst]

1 hour ago, Stef N. said:

Really like that Ernst. Great painting and weathering. The subtle chipping works well. Top job.

Thank you very much Stef, I really appreciate that. I try out different techniques to see what works and what suits me. I bought this kit together with the ISU 152 for 17 pound total and I enjoyed every second of building, painting and weathering.

Cheers,

Ernst

[FrancisGL]

Hi Ernst,
I really like what the weld joint looks like in some parts of the model, and without a doubt the tracks have greatly improved it.
Zvezda's ISU-152 was the first kit I bought on my return to the hobby, and it was a perfect guinea pig to "catch up" on new techniques and materials. I read that you have the 152 ready to mount it.
Later, I changed the tracks for metallic ones, the barrel for another metallic one, and a much more extreme weathering.

If you have not seen it and you are interested, tell me and I will pass you the WIP and RTI link.
Cheers and TC
Francis 👍

Edited April 19, 2020 by FrancisGL

[Ernst]

54 minutes ago, FrancisGL said:

Hi Ernst,
I really like what the weld joint looks like in some parts of the model, and without a doubt the tracks have greatly improved it.
Zvezda's ISU-152 was the first kit I bought on my return to the hobby, and it was a perfect guinea pig to "catch up" on new techniques and materials. I read that you have the 152 ready to mount it.
Later, I changed the tracks for metallic ones, the barrel for another metallic one, and a much more extreme weathering.

If you have not seen it and you are interested, tell me and I will pass you the WIP and RTI link.
Cheers and TC
Francis 

 

Hi Francis, 

I painted some metallic colour on the welds because they never rust, mainly drybrushing to keep it somewhat subtle so it's not visible from every angle. I have seen your model before I was a member, it's the title that made me recall. I've been frequenting this forum for ages.

I hope you're doing fine. Folks in Amsterdam are getting clumsy somehow, like they're all having a hangover from an epic party but there are no party's. It's weird. Feels like I'm the only normal chap around, but maybe they feel the same.

These plastic workable aftermarket tracks are fragile and don't have any weight so whenever you move the model you have to rearrange the sag. Zvezda is upping their game and their new models have link and length and Microdesign is a Russian company geared primarily towards zvezda kits but they are very affordable. Zvezda nowadays seems to prefer these nylon mesh over PE. Jadar is the easiest way to acquire Microdesign.

But these kits really invite you you to smack em up. Fender's ? Who needs em😁.  Their' s quite a few modeling tutorials with the ISU and I understand why.

Francis, TC and cheers,

Ernst

[PlaStix]

Hi Ernst. I hope you are keeping well. Well you have done an absolutely stunning job with your build of this Zvezda kit. And your weathering is really brilliant!! Awesome all round!

Kind regards,

Stix

 

[Ernst]

2 minutes ago, PlaStix said:

Hi Ernst. I hope you are keeping well. Well you have done an absolutely stunning job with your build of this Zvezda kit. And your weathering is really brilliant!! Awesome all round!

Kind regards,

Stix

 

Many thanks Stix, I'm still the same dude but most other folks aren't. I sanitize my hands but from time to time the inside as well 🍺 just for health reasons. All these hurdles a man has to take in order to stay healthy. When it's time the lights go out but that time is nowhere near, as you Brits know, "keep calm and carry on", I tend to agree. The weathering actually started with the painting. I had this vallejo 4bo modulation kit but I didn't really modulate all that much, I used the hairspray method for a distressed look but it reacted unexpectedly so worked on that.

Cheers,

Ernst

[Bullbasket]

Nice work on the 122. The painting and weathering are first class.

 

John.

[Ernst]

50 minutes ago, Bullbasket said:

Nice work on the 122. The painting and weathering are first class.

 

John.

Many thanks John, I'm still trying out lots of different approaches, but it was so much fun. Can't wait to start working on the 152 but I'm already working on 5 projects.

[FrancisGL]

15 hours ago, Ernst said:

 

Hi Francis, 

I painted some metallic colour on the welds because they never rust, mainly drybrushing to keep it somewhat subtle so it's not visible from every angle. I have seen your model before I was a member, it's the title that made me recall. I've been frequenting this forum for ages.

I hope you're doing fine. Folks in Amsterdam are getting clumsy somehow, like they're all having a hangover from an epic party but there are no party's. It's weird. Feels like I'm the only normal chap around, but maybe they feel the same.

These plastic workable aftermarket tracks are fragile and don't have any weight so whenever you move the model you have to rearrange the sag. Zvezda is upping their game and their new models have link and length and Microdesign is a Russian company geared primarily towards zvezda kits but they are very affordable. Zvezda nowadays seems to prefer these nylon mesh over PE. Jadar is the easiest way to acquire Microdesign.

But these kits really invite you you to smack em up. Fender's ? Who needs em😁.  Their' s quite a few modeling tutorials with the ISU and I understand why.

Francis, TC and cheers,

Ernst

Hi Ernst,

Around here I would not know how to tell you how people are, because I have not been out in more than a month, only the fundamental services can do it at the moment, to walk the dog, and make the purchase from the market or pharmacy (if you can justify it in case of that the police stop you) ..., but surely they are not happy ...

On the other hand, you comment that the tracks are very light and they lose their shape every time you move the model.
Almost the same happens with metal, since the lower part hangs, and you have to reposition the teeth between the groove of the wheels.
For my part, since this is static modeling, and not RC, I have no problem giving an AC point at the point of contact of the track with the wheel, that way it is always as we like ...

Cheers and TC

Francis

[Ernst]

1 hour ago, FrancisGL said:

On the other hand, you comment that the tracks are very light and they lose their shape every time you move the model.
Almost the same happens with metal, since the lower part hangs, and you have to reposition the teeth between the groove of the wheels.
For my part, since this is static modeling, and not RC, I have no problem giving an AC point at the point of contact of the track with the wheel, that way it is always as we like ...

Hi Francis,

Out here daily life moves on but at a slower pace that doesn't suit the northwest European mind. We have long lost the art of doing nothing, we have to be taught meditation  to approach such a state, or a pot for that matter. Most shops have plexiglass windows at the counter and ques at the entrance. But the weather is nice and people are enjoying themselves but more scattered in small groups of two or three.

It is an excellent opportunity though to deplete my stash 😃, just make the best of it.

 

Good to know about those tracks, it is indeed a static model  but I noticed it during photography so I kept rearranging them. A few trackpins snapped but that was my fault. You build them up in  batches on a small jig but I inserted the trackpins on one side and the other half rather than back and forth at each link. This way you get a small bend and all the errors add up so there is some tension here and there. Well lesson learned.

Cheers,

Ernst

 

[Vaastav]

Great work. Looks very real.

[Ernst]

2 hours ago, Vaastav said:

Great work. Looks very real.

Thank you, I'm glad you like it. I used the hairspray method but it is a bit unpredictable. Just one of those things I'm tinkering with.

Cheers,

Ernst.

[diablo rsv]

Excellent work Ernst! 

Like you I've been messing around with the hairspay. I found the type of paint/thinner can make a difference.

 

Wayne

[FrancisGL]

24 minutes ago, diablo rsv said:

Excellent work Ernst! 

Like you I've been messing around with the hairspay. I found the type of paint/thinner can make a difference.

 

Wayne

Hi Wayne,

 

I have also tried the hairspray technique, and the product for chipping, but I have not finished obtaining the result that I would have liked (the one seen in the tutorials ...).
Maybe it was due to the drying time, little or too much, but from what you are saying, maybe it's the products ...
Cheers and TC
Francis.

[Ernst]

1 hour ago, diablo rsv said:

Excellent work Ernst! 

Like you I've been messing around with the hairspay. I found the type of paint/thinner can make a difference.

 

Wayne

 

1 hour ago, FrancisGL said:

Hi Wayne,

 

I have also tried the hairspray technique, and the product for chipping, but I have not finished obtaining the result that I would have liked (the one seen in the tutorials ...).
Maybe it was due to the drying time, little or too much, but from what you are saying, maybe it's the products ...
Cheers and TC
Francis

Hi guys, I used to have a Billy Idol haircut back in the days, this guy rocks by the way. But I digress. Suffice to say it was kind of a novel experience to buy hairspray again. I decanted it and sprayed it through my cheap fengda airbrush until I got a satin finish. There are many variables to this equation such as amount of hairspray and drying time, paint, thinner.  And Tamiya vs Vallejo, tamiya requires much more force twhen scratching than vallejo even after a short time and the effects obtained are different in my experience. In Tamiya's case lacquer vs x20a or isopropyl (much cheaper) makes a difference as well, lacquer doesn't lend itself very well for chipping whilst xf20a or isopropyl is a bit less durable. That's why I always use lacquer primers, it is durable so I don't have to worry about that later on. Tamya gives a more scrathes effect and vallejo a more peeled effect if that makes sense.

 

So drying time with vallejo makes a difference as well. If you start scratching too soon you peel away the paint line skin on boiled milk. If you wait a bit longer it kind of breaks down in small particles so you get sort of a pixelated oil rendering effect. In the end it is always a guess but maybe I need more practice. In the case of whitewash you can always smack some oils on top of it or these new workable acrylics but I would suggest adding a layer of varnish before you reactivate the previous hairspray/chipping fluid. Thanks guys, happy modeling,

Cheers,

Ernst

[diablo rsv]

I would say it also depends on what you are trying to achieve with the finished result. I made up a white wash from Tamiya flat white thinned with water and a drop of dish soap for a Churchill which worked very well to my eye.

Wayne.

[Ernst]

15 minutes ago, diablo rsv said:

I would say it also depends on what you are trying to achieve with the finished result. I made up a white wash from Tamiya flat white thinned with water and a drop of dish soap for a Churchill which worked very well to my eye.

Wayne.

True, but I'm still in the process of investigating and tinkering about. Dish soap is necessity to prevent Tamiya paint clogging to a goo, this recipe has been used for streaking mud and the natural flat finish gives a visual pleasing contrast to a a (usual) somewhat semigloss paint job. But I know this from observation and not from experience. I really like Tamiya paints for airbrushing, more than vallejo in spite of the fact that vallejo has an ease of use straight from the bottle and can be easily  brushed by paintbrush, at least for smaller surfaces but that has more to do with my my handbrush skills (or lack thereof) than the inherent qualities of the paint. When it's time for test runs on old cd covers and scrap plastic I'll add a drop of soap. I really like these common household solutions. There's a labyrinth of products out there but I'd rather work with a smaller arsenal of tools but equipped with the know how in terms of making the best of it.

Cheers,

Ernst.

[Buzby061]

You’ve captured the look of this brute very well indeed, nicely finished & weathered. Some interesting comments on this thread, would never have thought of using soap although I have tried flow improver. 
 

Pete

[Ernst]

6 hours ago, Buzby061 said:

You’ve captured the look of this brute very well indeed, nicely finished & weathered. Some interesting comments on this thread, would never have thought of using soap although I have tried flow improver. 
 

Pete

Thank very much you Pete, I'm glad you like it. In all honesty when I posted this one I wasn't quite sure, I thought I'd I might have umped the shark on this one.

Soap is in interesting element to add to the equation when using tamiya paint. Tamiya is a lot stickier than vallejo, and the time window seems to be a lot shorter. I have only done three hairsprays using tamiya. One of those with laquer, one with isopropyl and one withx20a in ascending order of "chipability". Maybe Tamiya added some retarder to the x20a, at least not enough for hand brushing in my case but some more experienced modelers can pull it off. Tamiya has acrylic paint retarder in their range now but if common household products can do it I'm all for that. There's such a plethora of products out there and if you try them all you'd spend an amount of cash that might have bought you a decent kit.

 

I'll keep this in the back of my mind. If I'll do a side by side comparison on old plastic I'll use the same hairspray but add variation to surface area (matt vs semigloss), time (15 min 1, 2 and 24 hours), paint to be chipped (tamiya vs vallejo) with and without added soap/flow improver. Might give some insight so we can use this technique in a more controlled fashion. At first I thought these chipping fluids were a scam but AK does have heavy chipping and worn effects. But if time or soap gives you the same variability, hmm we'll see. First finnish my project that's lagging behind.

 

Cheers,

Ernst

[phildagreek]

That's very smart work, good job!

[Ernst]

2 hours ago, phildagreek said:

That's very smart work, good job!

I have only now discovered the thank you button, Thank you Phil and thanks to all of you guys who took an interest in the ISU.

[kiwitrogg]

Hi Ernst

Very nice, I like the weathering and your mention of soap is very interesting; I must give it a try.

Being new to these tank things, I haven't seen or heard of these before.  I'll have to do a bit of reading.

Cheers

Gaz

[Ernst]

2 hours ago, kiwitrogg said:

Hi Ernst

Very nice, I like the weathering and your mention of soap is very interesting; I must give it a try.

Being new to these tank things, I haven't seen or heard of these before.  I'll have to do a bit of reading.

Cheers

Gaz

 

Thank you very much Gaz,

It's Waynes idea (Diablo RSV) to use soap with the hairspray technique. I saw this video a couple of months ago so I knew about soapy water but I don't have many tamiya colours so I never thought about is for hairspray use. Although after a very frustrating airbrush session with vallejo this morning I'm considering tamiya more and more. I like those ak real colours as well. 

I I'm always very interested in methods to extend the usability of tools and products. This morning I've primed 4 old cd covers, I'll keep you guys updated.

Cheers,

Ernst

Edited April 22, 2020 by Ernst

[diablo rsv]

On 20/04/2020 at 22:13, Ernst said:

True, but I'm still in the process of investigating and tinkering about. Dish soap is necessity to prevent Tamiya paint clogging to a goo, this recipe has been used for streaking mud and the natural flat finish gives a visual pleasing contrast to a a (usual) somewhat semigloss paint job. But I know this from observation and not from experience. I really like Tamiya paints for airbrushing, more than vallejo in spite of the fact that vallejo has an ease of use straight from the bottle and can be easily  brushed by paintbrush, at least for smaller surfaces but that has more to do with my my handbrush skills (or lack thereof) than the inherent qualities of the paint. When it's time for test runs on old cd covers and scrap plastic I'll add a drop of soap. I really like these common household solutions. There's a labyrinth of products out there but I'd rather work with a smaller arsenal of tools but equipped with the know how in terms of making the best of it.

Cheers,

Ernst.

10 hours ago, kiwitrogg said:

Hi Ernst

Very nice, I like the weathering and your mention of soap is very interesting; I must give it a try.

Being new to these tank things, I haven't seen or heard of these before.  I'll have to do a bit of reading.

Cheers

Gaz

7 hours ago, Ernst said:

 

Thank you very much Gaz,

It's Waynes idea (Diablo RSV) to use soap with the hairspray technique. I saw this video a couple of months ago so I knew about soapy water but I don't have many tamiya colours so I never thought about is for hairspray use. Although after a very frustrating airbrush session with vallejo this morning I'm considering tamiya more and more. I like those ak real colours as well. 

I I'm always very interested in methods to extend the usability of tools and products. This morning I've primed 4 old cd covers, I'll keep you guys updated.

Cheers,

Ernst

Using water to thin Tamiya paints on a heavily worn finish such as a winter white wash or a quickly applied camouflage such as a Tunisian Churchill that I've just completed definitely yielded decent results. However the finish is a little rough and delicate so I wouldn't use this technique on less worn finishes.

As you say Ernst the same heavily thinned recipe can be used to create very convincing dust effects.

I should add that I borrowed the Idea from Mike Rinaldi as shown in one of his excellent Tank Art series of books.

https://www.rinaldistudiopress.com/

 

Wayne