1/48 Hobbyboss T34/85 WIP

[fdat345]

After a recent discussion with some members of the forum about model making on a budget, I was given a few pointers for sources and good value kits. Namely Kingkit and the Hobbyboss 1/48 russian tank series. I ended up picking up the 1/48 T34/85 secondhand for just £11! it arrived quickly and looked very exciting. The model would be my first kit in around 8 or 9 years and ticked all the boxes for me. he idea of a full interior was exciting and i always loved engine builds so this kit seemed perfect. 

 

upon opening, I was impressed, over 400 parts, a little PE and link and length tracks! For £11 the kit seemed like a steal. Upon closer inspection the kit was nicely detailed though a lot of parts had flash and sink holes from manufacture. A lot of cleaning, filling and dry fitting was needed, but hey, I asked for a time consuming kit! Once cleaned up the kit came together well and and was nicely engineered. 

 

At present I've built up and painted the interior and the road wheels, a nice amount of progress but still plenty to go! I've worked on the kit for about 3 days straight now so that gives you an idea of how time consuming the kit is. 

In the name of keeping to a budget I visited my parents house to pick up all my old paints from when I was a kid. I luckily had a good range of humbrol enamels that would work well for the kit and surprisingly, despite being over 8 years old, nearly all of them were in usable condition. The only new paint I bought was a Mig Ammo 4BO green which I'm really pleased with.

 

About the painting, I don't claim to be the best painter in the world and as usual I brush paint. I've never used an airbrush but one day hope to, so for the time being its the brush life for me! weathering has been a tricky one. I don't have any washes so I resorted to thinning some enamels. It's worked okay, and on the whole I'm happy with how the interior weathering worked out. I maybe went a little over board on some areas and sometimes I feel like it just looks like a really bad paint job haha, but on the whole I'm happy with it. The paint job isn't finished yet, theres some details that need adding and areas where they've been cut off the sprue that need a retouch so please excuse those minor issues. Also I haven't painted the escape hatch yet! Ooops 

 

I'd love to hear your thoughts so far, as usual, any feedback is helpful and if anyone has any pointers or tips for someone getting back into the game I'm all ears! 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos have been taken on my iPhone so excuse the quality! jeez seeing the photos blown up so big highlights a lot of the issues haha, I'll be doing some tidying during my next build session! 

 

Thanks for taking a look

 

Edited August 1, 2020 by fdat345
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[Model Mate]

welcome back - it's looking really good. Try getting some cheap oil paints for washes. If you coat the parts with Klear floor polish before applying washes, they'll sit nicely into details and leave the highlights relatively clean.