belugawhaleman

Decided to finish the PLA tank dude today.

I should have left the bogies unassembled as you did for painting. painting them that way would have prevented a lot of trouble. I chose Tamiya Nato green for my model. I'm not sure how much weathering I'll do on this model as ,frankly, I really don't have those skills right now. I would like to try chipping techniques but I'm not sure what colors to use to achieve this. Thanks; Paul here's a picture of PLA tank guy. Notice he's wearing the same uniform as the figure in the Takom kit......but,........he doesn't appear to be as friendly!

what color or color mix do you use when you chip your models?

After a long absence from the hobby, I'm finding clear coats and more recently hand painting tires on model armor. My eyesight and now aged and unsteady hands. Also, I think I chose the wrong paint. I used tamiya Flat black with a little ( probably too much) of retarder added. I got an uneven finish with areas coming out glossy and taking a long time to dry. Next time I'll either mask and airbrush or use tamiya Flat black without the retarder that I clearly don't know how to use. In my younger years I used to mix a semi gloss dark gray that looked like rubber. I had much better luck then.

I've been working on and off on this little tank for about a week now. I had a little trouble hand painting the tires. The tamiya Flat black gave me a little trouble. Next time I'll mask and airbrush the tires before assembly. I'll do this on the Takom panzer 1 ausf b. Anyway, here are some pictures.

Finished The Magic Mountain . Now reading The Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger. Great WW1 reading. highly recommended.

The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann.

Thanks I'll give that a try.

I purchased some of the tamiya retarder for acrylic paints but haven't used it yet. I was wondering how much was added to the paint to improve brushing.

Sounds good. Thanks for the tip

Thanks. how do you decant the testors spray? On the Tamiya spray cans the nozzle protrudes a bit... it fits perfectly on some tubing I have ...easy peasey. I'm open to all suggestions.

looks great. Dusty little thing. As I'm writing this I'm watching the movie Sahara and, of course, I suddenly have the urge to build a Lee. the grant must be very similar to the Lee differing mainly in the turret. What is your opinion regarding the takom kits? For the rest of you what do you think is the best lee kit available?

So you mix the flat clear with the gloss instead of using the flat base? That makes sense. I'll give that a try. thanks .I wonder if that will work with tamiya lacquer gloss and flat?

I used to mix a little Flat base with the clear gloss to make a semi gloss it was a little tricky but it worked. I just don't remember the exact amounts I used. I tried the tamiya spray can clear flat by decanting it and using it in my airbrush but in places it frosted. I used my Iwata eclipse gravity fed airbrush with .35 mm nozzle. later I resprayed with a wetter coat with my Paasche h #3 nozzle and this improved things a bit. I don't know. I'm going use a sheet of styrene painted with tamiya lacquer as a test piece until I get it right. thanks for your input. I'll keep you posted. improved

Thanks for your reply. I really like the photos provided. The rust effects look really convincing. In the past I used dullcote In spray cans but I would prefer to use my airbrush. My other option would be to use the Tamiya flat base and clear to make a Satin finish. I did this in the distant past with some success but I don't remember what the ratios were. I will experiment. I don't want another frosty model.

Considering using Testors dullcote for next model. How and with what do you thin this with for airbrushes? Can you use Tamiya lacquer thinner? Is "hardware store" lacquer thinner an option? Paul the Belugawhaleman.

Very nice! Well done. I've just purchased Takom's Panzer 1 b and the Breda modification of the Panzer 1 a used by Spanish nationalists sold by Ammo but made by Takom. Both look like great kits.

Always liked this little Bristol fighter. I'm curious about the Special Hobby kit. I'll be sure to watch your build.

A very detailed and complex conversion process. Impressive!

Thanks guys. Here are some pics of the tank with tracks on. I didn't quite get these right. I'll try something a little different on my next build. Real ft pictures don't seem to be as rusty! I'll think ill try a dark iron Paint on the surface of the tracks next time. I used tamiya hull red on the inside of the tracks and spaces between the links after which I oversprayed with Vallejo rust. I then dry brushed with tamiya metallic gray the edges of the cleats but this doesn't show well in the pics. The markings are for a Brazilian tank of the 1930s.

That's cool! You really captured the action of the scene. Well done!

Thanks, and thanks for the tip. After these photos, I thinned out my clear flat with tamiya lacquer thinner and applied a wetter coat of clear to some of the problem areas and it worked like a treat! In the future I will try less air pressure, and apply a little wetter. Also I think I'll use my Paasche H airbrush. I used my H for the clear gloss and it worked out ok. Anyway, like I said before this is a first attempt at a model in about 20+ years and it is my re-learning modeling experience

Here's some photos of my Renault ft nearing completion. I used tamiya clear flat lacquer decanted From the can and I had some issues with frosting. Most of the offending frost was removed by gentle Polishing with a damp cloth. I still need to do the tracks and final details to finish the beast. This is first model I will complete in many many years. I used to use testers flat from the spray can with much better results. I'll have to find a solution to the clear flat issue. Anyway, I think it still looks ok.

Thanks.

Never mind. I'll just paint the whole thing.