Zvezda 1/35 T-35

[scottie3158]

Andy
Looking very nice.

[Jim R]

Hi Andy

It was a busy day what with Zoe's car getting towed away by a breakdown truck :unamused: and a roofer coming to look at how the rain was leaking into the kitchen

Ain't that always the way. We burble along quite happily and then fate decides to mess things up with a few problems all at once :rolling:
Anyway tracks and suspension all looks really nice.
Jim

[Guest]

Thanks chaps.

Yes Jim, and it came off the back of a pretty hectic shift at work too as our team leader bailed after only a couple of hours. I think it finally got on top of him and the poor guy had some kind of breakdown, so I was asked to fill in.

I did the job for years before stepping down when the stress started affecting my health, so it wasn't too much of a stretch, especially since my old role has now been divided between 3 people: painter, team leader, manager. However when the new owners took over they installed 3 new computer systems to keep track of cars, keys & work process for the up to 1000 vehicles we might have on site at any time, so I had to learn those in a flash. Good job I know my way around a keyboard :smiling5:

[stillp]

Are the car and the kitchen sorted yet Andy?
Twice in my career I was asked (told) to take over a job from someone who'd had stress-induced health issues. The first was a development task, which I manged to prove was impossible to meet the spec. In the second case, it was down to a particular manager... so I left.
Pete

[Guest]

Car is away being fixed Pete. He's been a mate of mine for 20+ years so I know he'll get it done as soon as he's able.

Roofer's granddaughter went to school with my lad so we know him pretty well too. He's suggested a few things I can do cheaply and see how it goes. It only leaks during very heavy driving rain (like the two recent named storms) and can be fine for years on end, so it might be some time before we know if it worked!


Back to the build and I first joined the upper and lower hulls, which went very well. Then a bit of masking to stop the tracks getting covered in paint. I think the Russians went a bit overboard on the winter tracks!

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After a coat of primer I mixed up a red oxide type colour from what I had lying around. It looks a bit bright in the pictures but better in real life. I sprayed this around the hatches, edges, and everywhere the paint may get chipped off to reveal the underlying primer. The colour could also be a good base for rust in some areas so it keeps my options open.

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Next step is to start the hairspray chipping. Previous attempts haven't gone that well so maybe you'll see me on the other side, or maybe I'll be giving this the JR treatment and will present you with a burnt out wreck :upside:

[Guest]

Most impressive work Andy, and top marks for working with those tracks, that's something I've yet to be able to achieve.

As a point to the primer mentioned earlier.
There was not a massive use of red oxide primer, most tanks were just painted in 4BO Green, and in layers of paint, and that could vary in shade.
When in 1941 many of the factories were moved , as many as 50,000 may have been transported east. ( These of course included many small workshops..) In 1941, the Soviets built 6274 tanks. In 1942, they built 24,639. Newly transported factories contributed materially to these numbers, as they were reassembled with the same speed at which they had been dismantled. One Ukrainian factory was rebuilt in the Urals and delivered its first shipment of tanks (25 in number) at the beginning of December, some three months after it had been evacuated. Later during the war there may have been a move to use primer as in a red oxide but it is not mentioned in any of the articles I have read.
There is no mention of tanks not being painted in any of my research. The Russians had large numbers of labour available, forced or other wise, If you were told to go you went !

[Guest]

Thanks for that John, very helpful.

Although after 2 weeks of debating with myself I finally decided to go with primer, and minutes afterwards you confirm what I'd read elsewhere, about it not being commonplace lol.

[scottie3158]

Andy,
Hope all gets sorted with work and home. Great work on the paint.

[Guest]

Cheers Paul.

So, chipping. I started with the side skirts since they'd be the easiest to strip and repaint if it all went wrong. Definitely not the best I've seen but with tips from Steve it's certainly my best attempt so far. Please feel free to give honest critique. Or point and laugh as you see fit.

Some of the largest chips where I'd imagined the most wear & damage would occur will be getting extra work with a brush, to simulate the primer being removed too.

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[Mini Me]

I wouldn't be unhappy with that result at all. A very nice effect and subtle as it should be...just normal wear and tear. Rick H.

[Guest]

Thanks for that John, very helpful.

Although after 2 weeks of debating with myself I finally decided to go with primer, and minutes afterwards you confirm what I'd read elsewhere, about it not being commonplace lol.

Well Andy I normally put a brown primer on, just in case I think about doing some chipping !!!!!!! :smiling::smiling: So much for doing what you read !

What you've done looks great, anything different this time other than following Steve advice?

[scottie3158]

Andy
That has worked very well and just the right amount.

[Jack L]

Looks spot on to me Andy

[Guest]

Thanks everyone! It's one of those things where you think you've done a good job but someone else comes along and says Nah! :smiling5:

Nothing majorly different John, just tweaks. I warmed the hairspray can up first which helped it give a much more even coverage. Then, although Steve had advised me to use thin coats of paint over the HS it wasn't until I saw him doing it on video that I realised just how thin he meant! That, and being more delicate about the whole thing made a big difference.

It's a pity I haven't cracked the lighting/photography thing yet as there's a lot of tonal variation going on too that I haven't really captured. One coat of 4B0 through the Uschi Splatter template, another light coat over that, still letting the black & oxide colours peek through in places, then a "cloudy" misted coat of a highlighted 4B0 (with added yellow & a flesh type of colour) over that. Much more interesting than the solid blocks of colour I was using when I first started out.

[Guest]

Some more chipping this morning, first the turrets then the upper hull.

Following the usual up & down nature of my armour builds this turned into the most stressful thing I've done yet. Yesterday the chipping was easy, today it was a nightmare :smiling5: I can't think of anything I did differently but I might even call it a day and go for a lie down after the ordeal. If it continues to be this inconsistent then it may be a technique I only use as a last resort. Painting on the chips, while less realistic maybe, is at least enjoyable and controllable, so I'll probably stick with that.

I've edited the pictures and turned the brightness waaayy down so you can get a more realistic idea of what the colours look like to the eye. Even with almost all the lights out in the shed the pictures are still coming out far too light and bleached. Maybe I should join a photography forum for some tips!

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Decals and detail painting next I think.