MiniArt 1/35 SU-122 build review p4.

You can find the previous parts of this review under the following links:

part 1.
part 2.
part 3.

You can find the review I wrote of this MiniArt model on armorama, and another review of a simplified version of the same kit here.

 

In this post we’re taking a look at the interior- and hopefully finishing it. (Well, most of it.)

 

The steering mechanism in the transmission

Most of the components are installed; the basics are done. I’ve put in the engine for the photos sake, but will display it outside of the vehicle. The gun is installed, and only a couple of small bits and the fuel tanks were missing at this point. The assembly went together without any issues; even the bits on the steering mechanism fit into the transmission without any problems. (In other words: they fit like a glove with is pretty good considering we’re talking about a multiple part assembly.)

 

I’ve also put in the finishing touches for the interior. By and large it went together fine; the fit is remarkable. Two issues I ran into: the back of the fighting compartment is one of them. The issue is simply the following: it is made out of three sections. Once is the large firewall between the engine compartment and the fighting compartment. The second is the edge of the top of the engine compartment (which, unfortunately, is not covered by either of the back sections), and the third is the back of the superstructure. I did not anticipate that the armor plating on the engine compartment will be visible, so I had to paint the edge white after I installed it. The best would be to fill in the visible seam, but unfortunately I could not figure out how to do it. (I’ve already painted and weathered the to larger parts.)

 

 

 

At this point the fuel tanks, the oil tanks, the compressed air bottles, the handle of the fuel priming pump (which was blue in the T-34 I saw, so I painted it blue instead of red), the ammunition, and all the other bits and pieces are installed. The one issue: the ammo on the racks. They would need to fit into corresponding holes on the top of the fighting compartment, so make sure you align them perfectly. (Not like I did.) What I suggest you do is to leave them out until you’re ready to attach the top of the fighting compartment. This way you can gently adjust them while the glue sets into their proper position. Since I’m not planning to glue the top on, it’s not really much of an issue.

I finished the final touches of weathering on the transmission and other interior parts. I blended in some gun metal darkened with black paint onto the transmission, and highlighted the edges with steel color. It received several dark washes; I have used a damp brush to adjust where the washes flowed. I used some oil stain AK products with some dark grey pigments to make it looked used and dirty. The metal bands on the two sides, which help with the steering got a light Citadel zinc overcoat to simulate oxidation and heat damage (as these parts overheat a lot, which encourages oxidation).

The fighting compartment only received a moderate amount of weathering as I wrote in the previous post, since these vehicles were not in use for the years to develop heavy rusting, and the crew kept them relatively clean.

The sides of the superstructure were fitted with all the details. For some reason the propellant cases are marked to be painted green instead of the brass color every other case has. The crew light was painted using a Citadel technical paint. I first painted the bottom of the part silver, and then used the Citadel paint to stain the face of the light fixture. Since the paint flows more like a wash, it left the protecting wire frame relatively free of paint. (The extra was scraped off with a blade.) The effect is pretty good in my opinion. (I just noticed that there are no photos of the walls; will rectify the situation in the next post.)

 

The first step was to add the frontal armor plate. It’s a bit fiddly, and it’s easy to break off the suspension’s springs while you’re trying to navigate it into its place. (To be honest these springs will not be visible even from under the vehicle, so if they break off, they break off. Only you will know they’re not there. Once the front is on, you can attach the top of the engine compartment. It’s a large piece of plastic which has most of the fenders as well, and you will need them in order to attach the side plates.

I would have liked to do a cutaway version of the engine compartment, but could not really figure out how to, so I just closed it in. The flaps over the cooling vents can be positioned; however they would be invisible in the finished vehicle, as the armored vents completely cover them. The two pieces that go over them (Ca13, Ca14) have apparently three alternative placement (about 2 mm from each other), but the instructions do not give any indication what these options are, and why you would want to position these parts differently to begin with. Strange.

I’ve finished detailing the sides and the back of the fighting compartment, and glued them to the model. I’ve added some wires to the light and the electrical switch box on the right hand side to make them look a bit busier. Interestingly the pistol ports are not operable, unlike in the T-44. They are simply molded on the plastic, but it would have been nice to have this option.

The fit of the sidewalls and the back armor plate is tight but good; I did not have to use putty, or trim anything.

At this point the model finally looks like a proper tank destroyer, with the interior mostly finished. The hatches allow only a limited view of the interior, so I think I’ll display the model with the top of the fighting compartment lifted up. I’ll use either stiff wires or plastic rods to hold it off-center above the model, as a “cop-out cutaway”. (I was a bit reluctant to start cutting and sawing. With the next model I’ll do a real one, I promise, with the sides and top cut out.)

 

And finally, work has started on the tracks. The tracks are not workable (regardless of what the instructions claim), but they are fine nevertheless. The pins are too small to hold them together with glue, so they actually do fall apart once you assembled four-five pieces on their own. Hence: gluing. Normally I’m using Tamiya’s lemon based Lemonene cement; the only problem I have with this product is that it looks just like the retarder they sell… and the first couple of pieces I tried to glue with the paint retarder. (Yes I was curious where the brush from the jar disappeared, but not really focused on the issue. No, I’m not a very smart man.)

Anyhow, the best method to glue individual links together is to work in sections: do doubles first, and then assemble those into larger and larger sections. You have at least a couple of hours to adjust the sag before the glue sets completely, so it gives you time enough to assemble half section, wait a bit, and fit it over the running gear. (Every side is usually made up by two halves- at least this is how I prefer to do it. It’s easy to mix up the different sections for the two sides if you work with smaller ones.)

Now, onto the colors. I’ve chosen black as a base color simply because most of the Russian tanks I saw had trans that were black. No doubt it is a museum-related thing and not historical. First of all, why would anyone paint the tracks? Any paint and rust would rub off very, very, very quickly indeed once the tank starts moving. I’ve made this choice, however, because I wanted to have a “distinctive” look for my Russian tanks, and not use the same track painting and weathering methods that I use with the German tanks. (In reality most tank tracks have a very dull, steel color -they are a steel-manganese alloy-, which is covered with dust and rust in the recesses. Most of the rust, mud and any other contamination simply rubs off as the tracks rub against each other, the running gear and the ground.) I go with these “artistic licences” as if I really, really wanted to be accurate, I’d be working with only 50 shades of brown mostly. A little color here and there (even if it’s black) livens things up a bit.

Once the tracks were assembled, I used an acrylic spray paint to paint it black. (Grammatically incorrect, however it had to be done for the reference’s sake.)

After drying the first thing to do was to add a neutral wash by Mig. (I’ve got it in a discounted set for painting primer red, and have no idea what to use it for. It looks nice as dust/mud deposit.) The next steps will be adding a good thick slurry of pigments/oil paints to simulate the slush of snow and mud, and I’ll rub a silver pencil along the surface to simulate the parts that were worn to the bare metal. The guide teeth will be treated in a similar manner, since the drive wheels rub them shiny as they turn the tracks. (Silver pencils are great for simulating worn-down metal.)

MiniArt 1/35 SU-122 build review p3.

I’m continuing the MiniArt SU-122 build and review- you can find the previous parts below:

Part 1

Part 2

You can find the photos of the parts and the instruction manual on armorama in my review, and you can find a comparison with the non-interior version of the same kit here.

If the gods will it, I should be ready in two more posts -and about two more weeks. (I hope.)

I had some constructive feedback which mentioned photo sizes. In further posts I’ll be experimenting the different options WordPress offers- thumbnails, galleries, etc. Please let me know if you have any suggestions -length, number of photos, quality of photos, style, anything. (I also would love to read comments on the models… after all, this is one of the reason for the blog.)

So, without further ado, onto the build:

Gun

The gun is not really difficult to build -except for the broken recoil guard, which I had to fix with glue. It was whole when the model came, but it snapped into three parts sometime during the build. I suggest you put this part aside before you touch the model, because it’ll break as you move the sprues around during the build. The hydraulic tubes elevating the gun are working (the two parts can move), however the way they are attached to the gun (glued to a PE holding bracket) makes this feature more like an option to fix the gun in any position you desire, than to make it adjustable after the gun is in place. In other words decide what position you’d like the gun in, put the it in place, and then glue the hydraulic tubes into place. Alternatively you can just forget about them, as they would not be visible, anyhow, and this would leave the gun movable. (In the non-interior version of this kit they are not included.)

A side-note: the wheel controlling the elevation of the gun is on the right side, between the gun and the wall of the fighting compartment… ergonomics was not a main concern when the vehicle was built.

I painted the gun in the “Russian” green color I’ll paint the whole vehicle with, and weathered it with oil washes, filters to make it look used and less uniform. Some wear-and-tear was simulated with painted chips (both black-brown and some metallic). The gun shield (not sure what it is- the fat protective shield around the base of the gun) is a three part assembly, with a prominent seam going along its length. Because the lifting hook is molded with one of the parts together, the filling and sanding requires a little care.

As you may notice the gun barrel is missing still- it is added once the gun is in its place. The plastic barrel has rifling on the inside; a pretty cool feature. One thing to mention: attach the gun barrel before you add the gun shield protecting it…

 

Engine and transmission

The building of the engine is pretty straightforward affair. The detail is pretty good, although no wiring/cabling guide is provided (which is a shame, really, but there is available reference material online). The transmission looks exceptionally well detailed; it is quite easy to see how the real thing worked once you assemble the model. The fit is really good; things snap together once in place. I painted the engine in a dark aluminium color, dry brushed it with brighter metallic shades, and weathered it using oil washes and Vajello’s engine grime product (I could not resist to try it). Some of the cabling was done using thin solder wire or Champagne bottle wire painted black (I used it to simulate cabling in the fighting compartment as well).

 

And the finished engine with the radiators attached.

 

Since I “dirtied up” the engine compartment, I added the transmission at this point because I wanted to display the model with the back folded down. I left the engine out so that it’s not going to be hidden once the model is done. (It’s a shame only the very top of it would be visible once the engine compartment is finished. Because I could not figure out how to create a realistic-looking cutaway of the engine compartment, I’m going to display it in front of the model like I did with my Hobby Boss T-34/85, and the MiniArt T-44.)

The steering mechanism in the transmission

 

Some other parts: a really bent cover of the transmission… (Only my sample, apparently. I’m reviewing another SU-122 kit and the SU-85 by MiniArt, and they seem fine.)

The cooling flaps on the engine deck are positionable; it’s a pity only the back ones will be visible; the rest will be covered up by plastic parts covering the engine deck.

Well, that’s it for now. Next steps: putting the interior together.

 

MiniArt 1/35 SU-122 build review p2.

Well, the vacation is over, and the work resumes. (I also had to start going to the office which tend to hinder the work that matters…)

One issue is that I’m working on several sub-assemblies parallel, so it’s difficult to show how one particular one was worked on from start to finish in one go. This is how a build normally goes, but it does not lend itself very well to a thematic review.

To start with: I’ve done some work on the ammo… I counted how many I’d need and only used that many -I don’t want to work extra when it comes to cleaning and painting identical pieces of ammunition. Aside from cleaning track links this is my least favourite part of building a model. Tiny details, multiple copies make a repetitive and very delicate task. MiniArt supplies extras of both, so it’s worth making sure you don’t do extra.

 

 

Sorted… there are two kinds of ammunition provided: one type goes onto the floor of the back of the fighting compartment, the other goes on the rack by the commander. They are supposed to be painted differently (faint green and olive green), and the ones on the floor receive a small plastic disc on which they will stand. I’m not sure what the different colors signify. Perhaps high explosive and armor piercing rounds were painted and stored differently, but the instructions do not shed light on this topic.

Disclaimer: I have deviated from the instruction manual’s sequence of building, as I think it makes more sense to first build the overall structure of the vehicle and then fill it in with details. Should there were some minor fit issues, they’ll be easier to deal with as well.

The Tamiya white on the interior looked really artificial. To make it less uniform, and, well, less white, I used a very, very diluted filter (just burnt umber oil paint in turpentine). The effect was pretty good -the interior suddenly looked much more realistic.

The engine compartment is looking better and better. Almost time to fill it up.

Adding smaller parts to the fighting compartment: instruments, ammo holders, compressed air bottles, etc. I also used different dark-rust colors, and different types of paints (acrylic, oil) to simulate wear and tear. This is one contentious issue: most real tanks are pretty clean from the inside. Paint chips, rust streaks take an awful lot of time to develop; more time than these vehicles were in service -or indeed survived in a war. So while I do make it look a bit worn and rusted, I do it with the understanding that it is not how the real vehicles looked like. (Maybe the SU-100s still in service all over the would do look like this after 70 years. But not a tank that has been in service for only a couple of years.)

I’ve used my favorite Vajello German Camo Black-Brown for paint chips. This color is great for simulating old, rusted metal. I applied the paint chips using both a very fine brush and with a sponge. Where the effect was too stark, I went over with some white using a sponge. (Key thing about using a sponge is to make sure you dab most of the paint out of it onto a piece of paper.)
I also used various rust colors (from reddish brown to yellow) to simulate the different colored rust, and made some light washes using these colors to stain the lower part of the hull’s interior (to simulate dirt smears). It’s important to keep in mind that the smears are not applied in one step: you add the wash (usually oil paint and turpentine), then using a clean, moistened brush you blend the stains, and carefully adjust the amount of paint on the surface. Oils are great because of they are translucent, and have a long drying time.

I made the bottom especially worn where the driver’s feet are resting.

I think I went overboard with the dirt and rust on the front of the hull, but I rectified it since then using the base color.

I’m not sure how I will display the engine- it’s simply too hidden in the engine compartment. I might go the same way as I did with the T-34 and T-44: display it outside of the vehicle. The transmission, however can be built in; I’ll simply open up the back as if the tank was undergoing maintenance.

I have ordered a couple of new products: Vajello’s engine grime, petrol stain and diesel stain. I’ve tried the petrol in the middle of the engine compartment, and the diesel next to it… I have to say they look pretty convincing.

Well, that’s it for now. The next post will be about the assembly of the gun and the engine. Please don’t hesitate to leave comments below; I always appreciate some constructive criticism. (Layout of the blog, the length of the posts, the size of the photos, the writing style, the amount of information, the techniques used… anything is free game. Just be gentle.)

 

 

 

Revisiting an old model: Hobby Boss’ 1/48 T-34/76

 

There is always a good case for going back to finished models: no model is ever finished… There’s always something more, something else you can do, you can add – and in this case I definitely did not finish the tank. I was so happy with the experiment of painting the chipped paint on the armor, I somehow neglected the dust and other weathering effects. I also put the engine aside thinking that I’ll display it once “I build an appropriate jig to hold it”, but never got around to actually do it. So here was the time – I wanted to experiment with dust and streaks.

First, I used evergreen strips to make a simple holder for the engine, painted it tan, and then covered it with burned umber oil paint. After a day or two I used a stiff (very stiff) brush to remove a lot of this oil paint; this gave a nice wood-like grain. (I failed to repeat the procedure on the inside, though… kind of embarrassing.)

The engine itself received some washes with black and burned umber mixed together. I also used “engine grime” from AK Interactive diluted in Zest It (a turpentine alternative) in several layers. One thing I did not know about AK products -because I don’t really use them- is that you have to dilute them… lesson learned.

So that’s the engine taken care of.

Next the tank itself. I’ve used oils (black, burned umber, burned sienna, even yellow) to make faint stains that are running down on the side of the turret. Essentially just added some paint to a piece of cardboard and left it there for about an hour – this was enough for the linseed oil to sweep out of the paint. (It’s important because this way the oils dry matte.) After that I applied small dots on the top of the turret, and used a flat, moistened brush to pull it down, creating a streak. This was then tidied up with further downwards/sideways strokes using a clean brush. The secret is to leave just enough paint on to be visible… Takes a little time to get the hang of it, but once you get it, it’s not difficult. Patience is the key: big, ugly streaks don’t look very real. I also did it in several layers; obviously this meant at least four-five days of waiting between coats.

This same procedure was repeated on the flat surfaces as well. I used greens, yellows and some white to blend into the base coat, using a similar process. A dot of paint was added, and then blended using a moist brush. The results bring the surface to life; I was pretty happy with it.

I always see the auxiliary tanks on the T-34 depicted with serious fuel stains; using AK Interactive’s fuel stains product diluted with Zest It I gave it a try myself. (It’s probably not very realistic; this much spilled fuel would not be very safe, even taking the low flammability of diesel fuel into consideration.)

First I prepared a very diluted mixture, which was applied in a wide streak. Once it was try, I prepared a less diluted mixture, and added on top on a narrower streak, and repeated it a couple of times more. The same logic was applied to the oil stains on the engine deck: large spots were prepared using very diluted oil stains (black/brown mixture of oil paint), and progressively smaller stains were added using progressively thicker paint/Zest It mixture.

The last step was to add dust to the model. I used different mixtures of brown pigments wet (using Zest It). Once the pigments dried on the surface, I used a moist brush to remove most of them, leaving dusty spots and areas. Again, layers are the key: different shades, different subtle layers will give a more realistic result, than one heavy layer.

I have to say the results really were worth the time. I can honestly say I’ve finished the tank, mere seven years after starting it… (I remember buying it in the hobby store at Military Road in Frt Lauderdale after taking my flatmate to the dentist…)

 

T-34/85 with full interior (Hobby Boss 1/48)

I have a fetish for interiors… They make an interesting vehicle (let it be an airplane, a tank or a car model) even more intriguing -after all, you get to see under the hood (in a very literal sense). You get to see where the crew is located, where the engine is, where they keep the ammo; you get some idea about the general ergonomics of the vehicle, and of course, some vague idea how the whole machine works.

I have an ongoing project to build all German tanks in 1/35 with full interiors. This is not always a cheap option, as many models require resin interiors, and only lately did plastic models came out with full (or partial) interiors. (The Bronco pnz I. F. comes with one, for example.)

When Hobby Boss came to the market, they started churning out incredibly cheap and incredibly well made models in 1/48. They cost as little as a 1/72 model, and half of a Tamiya model in the same scale. One of the most incredible thing they did was to start selling T-34 series with full interiors. I could have bought all the models they came out with, but since I already have a 1/16 Trumpeter model in storage, I restrained myself. (Talking about the Trumpeter kit… the Hobby Boss kit feels like a shrunken version of the Trumpeter offering.)

The interior is simply amazing. So without further ado: the gorgeous T-34. I have to say: even if you are an SF modeller, or you only build airplanes, give a shot to this kit; you won’t regret it.

The V2 diesel engine is really well detailed. I’ve left it out of the tank, so I could display it on a stand in front of it. (A future plan…)

I used filler to make the surface irregularities on the turret. (The casting process left the metal rough, and due to the demands of the war, they were not very particular about looks, anyway.)

My very first attempt in chipping: light green base, and some dark brown on top of it to give the illusion of depth.