discussion Steves shilka

[Steve Brodie]

Started on the cannons the other night, i had purchased the RB brass barrel se,but when looking at real vehicle photos and the Meng instructions it dawned on me that the brass set are not accurate for the variant i am building, plus the 'gas extractor pipes' (?) are not bulky enough !!. One thing i would suggest if anyone else contemplates building this kit is to attach the rubber hose to part H44 before attaching H44 to the gun cannon as its a very,very tight fit, trying to get the hose on and then the other hose attached to the actual cannon. Also ensure part D24 is fitted before part C47. besides that all going well.

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Their are call outs for painting the system, but again looking at references, Shilka's from the middle East have the gun System painted in the same colour as the tank, so that what i will be doing to mine;

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[Steve Brodie]

Finally got the four barrels together to finish off the cannon system (front) . Not an easy thing at all, trying to line up 2 pivot point on each side when the top and bottom cannons which are only held together by a swing arm, creating a swinging 'mess' and then you have to glue on the back plate at the same time. Best way was to glue the rear and sides together, leave the Tamiya cement to set for a few secionds the gently prise open and attach the pivot points, still took quite a few deep breaths and some cursing to get both side lined up and the pivot arm to stay put . Even now i am not convinced its all together properly. Think i will pick an attitude for the system and glue the pivot points, after all its not a toy !!

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[grumpa]

Have been watching, great work so far Steve.............Jim

 

[Guest]

This really is coming along a treat Steve, looking forward to the next update

 

[Steve Brodie]

After spending 3 days at RIAT Airshow (http://www.scale-models.co.uk/threads/royal-international-airshow-2017.28647/) and a couple of days getting my photos down to a reasonable size, i got back to the Shilka, sprues starting to look a lot more managable. Didnt bother installing the ammo bins, as its going to built shut up. Glued the cannon assembly into one position, test mounted on the hull and spins nice and smoothly, no snagging anywhere !!
Note - the scratch marks have been sanded smooth, so wont show when painted

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[papa 695]

Looking good Steve. And great work on the gun system it doe's look fiddly.

 

[Steve Brodie]

Added a few more bits and bobs onto the turret, starting to come together now.

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A few more parts have the Meng sprue point issues as can be seen by the red circles on this part, means a double cut, once of the sprue tree and a double clean to remove the stub. Not a biggie, just a pain and sometimes they are not in the best place.

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I have seen a few photo ideas for the dio, so have ordered the Paracel NVA driver for the shilka, i will modify his head to disguise his origins, a Shemagh round his face should sort him out, then some generic painting and he will be done, not that you will be able to see that much of him once he is in there.

 

[col68]

Nice work steve

 

[Guest]

Beginning to look the part now Steve mate

 

[Steve Brodie]

Work progresses on the Shilka and end is in sight now.

The commanders Cupola is a great bit of construction, don’t get me wrong the search light is a right fiddly bit of model building, but looks great once complete, patience been the order of the day.

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Like the Cupola the search radar is a nifty bit of engineering and goes together without any issues at all. Impressed by the split in the piping between the scanner and the control box, very neat.

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Starting to look like the ‘sewing machine’ it’s meant to be !

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[Guest]

Really coming together now, nice work.

 

[Steve Brodie]

Well with the final few pieces added to the turret the sewing machine is complete, funny as the last few times at the bench, didn't seem to be getting anywhere near the end, then bam it's all done, won't get in the paint shop till next weekend, as by time I finish work in the week, get home walk the dog have a run, tea it's nearly 7:30.

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[monica]

great progress on this one,Steve,has a lotof detail as well,your doing a top job of this build,
liking it a lot,

 

[Steve Brodie]

This little chap turned up from Vietnam today (Paracel miniatures), he is the shilka NVA driver, once I have put an shemagh on him you won't be able to tell his nationality

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[Steve Brodie]

Finally got some paint on the shilka; Tammy xf69 for a base
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Then misted on xf5 green followed by highlights;

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Not sure if it's to light, so will let it dry over night before I decide if to cover it all over with an darker green before the desert yellow goes on

 

[Steve Brodie]

So this morning it has darkened down a bit, so tonight i think i will mist on a mid tone to cut back some of the highlighted panels and then get the yellow onto it.

 

[Steve Brodie]

flattened down the bright green and then applied the camo yellow, had to touch up some over spray by hand (didn't need to as checked sources on a big screen and you can see the over-spray on the real thing - damn it !!), added a wash / filter of Vallejo European dust, to darken things down a bit and add some tone. Next will be a dust wash, oil pin wash and rust.

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It may look like the camo doesn't match, but that's due to the turret been slewed 180 and then pointing of the side of the tank body

 

[Guest]

Looking really good

 

[Steve Brodie]

Looking back at my references and a few of the models in the excellent 'Bear in the Sand book by Abrams squad ( http://www.bookworldws.co.uk//bear-sand-p-7257.html ), and not been happy myself with the yellow, i decided to revisit the colour and sprayed on a mix of Tamiya yellow + desert (about 60% - 40%) this looks so much better, maybe a bright at the moment, but once weathered it will flatten down. Also painted a few of the tools, shovels, saw, tow ropes, etc and added on some decals from Echelon designs.It may not be historically correct, but have used a bit of artistic license, mind seeing photos of the real things, they all have different slogans painted on in random places.

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[Steve Brodie]

Spent relaxing afternoon with rust oil colour (mig oilbrusher)

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