ICM Moskvitch 1:35

[reini]

Hi there!

 

I make aircraft models - but wanted to try out some cars too. I'm mainly interested in the weathering aspect of cars and adding them into diorama environment. So honestly, I'm not much of a 'car guy' but I suspect this will be fun and different kind of challenge in any case.

 

So the kit that I have is this:

 

 

And this is what we have in the box:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a fine looking model for sure. Pretty crisp details and quite a lot of details overall. Not your average Heller 1:32 Volvo truck, eh @JeroenS ?  

 

In addition to this being my first car kit ever, it's my first ICM kit ever. First impression is good, nice box art, good sturdy box, crisp looking model and a manual that makes sense.

 

 

 

So let the building commence.

 

 

 

I thought I'd make a sacrifice to the carpet monster early on, before I lose something important. One of the pedals went missing so I made a new one from a piece of sprue.

 

 

 

It's not completely straight forward kit, the exterior of the car is made from quite many pieces, have to think about a little in what order I will qlue the the parts down or do I need to paint them first. Planes tend to be bit more simple, you just paint the cockpit separately and once it's done you will put the fuselage together.

 

 

 

Started putting together the engine too.

 

 

 

Not much of this will be visible but it's nice that the underside of the car and the engine are well detailed too. There are lot of skinny parts - and the plastic is bit on the soft side so  need to be extra careful not breaking anything. 

 

Next, some paint.

 

 

 

 

 

[JeroenS]

@reini Welcome to this end of the street! This should make a nice little model. Nice detail on the engine so far. It's probably best if you try to paint the body as a whole. Will that work for this kit?

[reini]

3 hours ago, JeroenS said:

@reini Welcome to this end of the street! This should make a nice little model. Nice detail on the engine so far. It's probably best if you try to paint the body as a whole. Will that work for this kit?

Thanks! Yeah, kinda. It's just that the body is made of about 10 parts that have to be glued onto the chassis - plus the clear parts. So It takes little bit figuring out that I'm painting stuff in the right order and so on. But the main color will go on once the whole body is together yeah. Just need to do some masking in the end as it is a soft top and I'm planning to display it roof down. 

 

- - - - - 

 

 

The insides got some rubber black and some of the details aluminium, engine was painted with duraluminium.

 

 

Some basic shading with Tamiya Panel Liners.

 

 

Some more details & grime added.

 

 

 

A note to self, Flory Models washes stick REAL hard on a flat surface, really likes to bite down. But I actually don't mind, it's kinda cool effect that can later be added to with pigments etc. I'm putting this down as a happy accident and move on.

 

 

 

Burned Rust from Lifecolors 'Rusty' set. Have not used Lifecolor before but they seem fine. Quite thick so they need quite a lot of thinning - similar to Vallejo Model Color. 

 

 

 

The 'Rusty' set comes with three paints and three pigments. Still learning how to best use them, I tried painting, making a wash out of them, sticking pigments with a binder and dry. After all that, I'm not much wiser but anyways, fun to experiment 

 

 

 

This is how they turned out. Needs bit more refinement here and there. Could have gone with bit more darker rust but hey - if I have a set of six different tones, gotta try out them all, right?  

 

 

 

Seats and side panels got some brown.

 

 

 

Dark Brown panel liner to bring out some of the details and create shadows.

 

 

 

After some drybrushing and a filter.

 

 

 

It's funny how your cleaned up desk always gets crowded after a while...

 

 

 

Engine and seats in place.

 

 

 

And the undersides. Needs refinement still, like hiding the glue marks and bringing out some of the details. Not really a critical part of the build, but fun to try out stuff. 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 31, 2020 by reini

[Mr Mansfield]

Nice rusty suspension & like the interior washes. You seem to be at ease in the car world, the kit looks well detailed. What do you normally build?

[reini]

 

Seats felt little one dimensional still, so I added some streaking effects.

 

 

 

Side panels glued and ready to go onto the car.

 

 

 

The fit? Not great...

 

 

 

Other side was not any better. It felt like the whole chassis was bent out of shape (the plastic is quite soft) but I couldn't make it fit properly.

 

 

 

So some putty was required. Next, some sanding and masking so we can start the exterior paint job. I'm gonna go with quite rusty look with this one, thinking of painting it with rust colors first, apply some chipping medium and then the main color.

[reini]

 

Masked and ready for primer.

 

 

 

Tamiya NATO Black as the primer. 

 

 

 

After three different shades from Lifecolor's 'Rusty' paint set.

 

 

 

A wash to bring all the colors together and add a little definition. Yeah it says 'Filter' but it's just a fancy way of saying 'watered-down wash'  

 

 

 

And some 'Tracks Wash' for some details and splashes. This is fun stuff and I could keep on going - but as this all will be covered with another color (after a layer of chipping medium that is), I'll leave it here and continue detailing on the parts that will actually be showing. I'm not even sure this is going to work for that matter, have not done rust stuff with the chipping medium but I'm pretty confident that it will work out OK. We will see

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Old John]

Nice looking little model. Not my scale unfortunately. Remember being hurled around in one in Bulgaria ( & wishing I was out with just a leg off). Guy across  from me had one many years ago,there are still depressions in the road where it used to stand.

[johnlambert]

Not what I was expecting when I saw it was a Moskvitch, but I love the attention to detail of the build.

[reini]

On 08/06/2020 at 20:36, johnlambert said:

Not what I was expecting when I saw it was a Moskvitch, but I love the attention to detail of the build.

Thanks  This has gone experimental.  I had a vision when I started the build - but now that I don't quite seem to reach that - I'm not even sure what was the original vision in the first place.

 

But. Paint has been applied in different shades. 

 

 

First some Steel Blue. Nice shade, but bit darker than I hoped.

 

 

 

Let's chip it!

 

 

Well, it's been chipped but it's not quite what I was looking to achieve. Not that I'm certain anymore what it was that I tried to achieve but anyways... The blue is too dark and I don't like the colors together aand...  I don't know, just doesn't work for me.

 

 

So, more Chipping Medium!

 

 

 

Let's go lighter this time. Some Blue Green first lightly.

 

 

 

Followed by a mix of the two.

 

 

 

Oh boy. Yeah, it's official - I don't know what I'm doing anymore  I guess I was bit too heavy handed with the chipping among other things.

 

But, when in doubt, add more paint? Right? No idea. But I guess I'll keep adding to it and see what comes up.

 

If you don't hear from me, Moskvitch has found a permanent place in the Shelf of Doom... 

 

 

 

 

 

[johnlambert]

Forgive me for saying this, I think it's the lack of wheels but at the moment it looks more like a well-worn Dinky toy but I'm sure you'll pull the build together.

 

If it were me, I'd probably go for a less weathered look.  Have you got a picture of a real Moskvitch that you'd like to replicate?

 

It seems like too nice a car to end up on the shelf of doom.

[reini]

@johnlambert I agree with your view so I appreciate the feedback. The model is not where I want it to be...

 

I think I had something like this in mind when I started:

 

 

 

But now I think that maybe I should try something more like this:

 

 

Less is more. Those colours are quite fun too.

 

(Images from the internet, used without permission.)

 

I think some paint stripping next...

[JeroenS]

Don't worry @reini this weathering thing is not something you learn without practice! Just dive in and try diffent methods. In this scale, less is certainly more and you can do a lot with just paint. I'd use some small (!) spots and specks (applied with slightly sharpened end of cocktail stick or something) of liquid mask over a rusty base (you can just create some small patches for that first). No chipping fluid, just paint the colour over it. Then remove the liquid mask and you'll have some rusty bits. After that you can do a lot just drybrushing different paints over it, or use a sponge with a little bit of paint on it for texture. You can also do that before adding paint, some (thinned) putty applied with sponge makes good texture.

 

But whatever you do don't give up 🙂 

[Anteater]

Doesn't look too bad to me. I'll second the belief that it'll come to life when add wheels, lights, radiator grille etc. The good thing about heavy weathering is that you've no danger of ruining a perfect shine by mistake.

[JeroenS]

Indeed. Use what you have now as a basis and proceed from there. 

[reini]

Thanks guys, I did put the model aside for few days - before starting over. I painted it with rust color, applied chipping medium and painted the main color. I did not bother to strip the paint as I figured that the additional layers would only add to the look I am after.

 

 

 

So here is the car after the repaint and chipping done. As can be seen, I tried to be somewhat more subtle with the chipping. Also can be seen the very rugged paintjob, but I thought it would be only fitting with a paint in such a poor condition. Looks bit weird still overall, but let's move on...

 

 

 

Let's start with the washes, applied thinned & quite wet enamel wash to various areas, basically just slapping it on. But not all over the model, I used one color on other places, and other color on different spots. This creates some variation and that is the key with weathering I think, don't do just one thing, don't do just one color - it will look much more realistic that way. I continued to work with it using a brush and a tissue as long as it started to look more like I wanted. The chipping medium is quite nice stuff - it's real easy to make the paint come of with a brush slightly moistened with water - but I could apply as much enamel thinner over it as I wanted and it would not move.

 

 

 

Some streaking grime added to the mix and cleaned off the excess. I wanted rather well worn and dirty look. Enamels are real nice to work with as you have plenty of time to work it and you can wipe off the excess easily. And even if it has dried a bit, you can reactivate it with enamel thinner and continue working on it. Just important to have an acrylic layer under the enamels - either a gloss coat or acrylic paints. I applied and cleaned the washes & streaking effects couple times until I was happy with the result. They are glossy as they are still wet but they will dry matt.

 

 

 

One more color added to the mix, also made some splatters with it.

 

 

 

Here is the result of the washes after it has dried a bit. 

 

 

 

Then, we add a bit of definition. Metal parts painted and adding some chipping with the original color. It stands out just right, as the washes has stained the original color to a darker shade. I'm concentrating mostly on the edges of the rust spots. Using acrylic thinner to make the paint flow nicely and Airbrush Flow Improver to extend the drying time, as acrylics have bad habit of drying real fast and it makes painting fine detail quite difficult. Especially if doing something like this that takes a bit time.

 

 

 

Chipping on the rear end.

 

 

 

Also added some mud, but just a little. 

 

 

 

Wheels got some Flory washes and rims a basic enamel wash, I will continue to work on them once they are attached so I can make them fit the overall looks better.

 

 

 

With the fabric roof painted I think I got most of the smaller bits done and can start assembling the car and start figuring out the final details.

 

Wow, considering that I thought this was a lost cause and complete disaster - I've had a lots of FUN with the weathering, just what I wanted when I started this build, have fun with the painting & weathering  I'm not even worried about the numerous errors that I made in the assembly - but considering this is going to be an abandoned vehichle, I'm not worried about it. I just continue to work on it so that I achieve the overall looks that I'm after  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JeroenS]

Good recovery there, and I think you managed to get the abandoned look you wanted!

[CrazyCrank]

Stunning weathering work 👏 my jaws are on the floor 😲

[reini]

Thanks guys for the comments

 

 

 

This is the model before the final weathering - ie. pigments & some nature stuff to make it look more abandoned.

 

 

 

Real fine rust shades from Lifecolor, I used all three mixing & matching them quite randomly.

 

 

 

 

 

I use pigments mainly dry - you tend to loose the 'dustines' if you add pigment fixer. One method is to add pigment dry, then drop a tiny amount of pigment fixer/acrylic paint thinner to it and drop small amount of dry pigment on top while it's still wet. You get pretty nice '3D' effect with it and different textures. I concentrated mostly on some corners and highlighting areas that already had rust spots. When applied dry the pigments will stick to your fingers - but these are not really models meant to be handled - rather than sit in the cabinet so it's not an issue atleast for me. 

 

 

 

Then some MiG leaves. Pretty expensive - but I gotta admit that they are pretty nice too...

 

 

 

 

Lastly, I added some real plant material. Tiny roots as small branches and some dried up moss. After taking the photos, I added tiny amount of color to the leaves and added another layer of leaves and little bit dirt to add bit more volume.

 

And so, it's done!

 

 

 

 

For more photos - RFI is here

 

Thanks for looking & not making me give up on this build!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CrazyCrank]

Absolutely gorgeous 👏

[John Masters]

This is excellent.  I am currently doing something similar to a Soviet artillery tractor, but in 1/72nd.  Your work makes me rethink the staining...

[reini]

... on a second thought, I'm not done yet.

 

 

No, it's not a chocolate cake gone wrong...

 

 

... but a display base for the Moskvitch.

 

 

I used different sand products - some taken from the yard and some store bought.

 

 

 

[JeroenS]

Chocolate cake would be nice though

[reini]

30 minutes ago, JeroenS said:

Chocolate cake would be nice though

With or without a Moskvitch?

[reini]

 

Muddying things up - first some heavy dried up mud - MiG Heavy Earth.

 

 

 

Then some MiG Fresh Mud to the mix.

 

As much as this is a creating display base for Moskvitch - this is also testing up some diorama/scenery methods and products. I want to add some vegetation, little bit water and so on - trying stuff up with a small base. All aiming towards creating something little bit bigger with the Zil I'm working with.

[reini]

Right, let's finish this one!

 

 

The sand is pretty much done, added some tall grass from a large paint brush.

 

 

 

 

 

... and added bunch of other stuff. I got quite carried away (as can be seen from the desk) so not many in-between shots. But there's bunch of stuff added, some are natural ingredients and some are bought. During the summer I picked up some stuff from the garden and let them dry, they are great addition to the scenery, like the small roots as trees.

 

 

 

Then added some Vallejo Water Texture to create a shallow water.