And as a last touch I added some “wet effects” by Mig Ammo to the mud, in order to create a little more visual interest, and I also painted the drive wheels’ teeth and the tracks with some metallic paint in order to show the wear
All in all, a great little project, not complicated, like a MiniArt kit would be, and the interior gives a nice little extra.
Semi-gloss varnish, decals, pin washes and some further weathering.
Well, that’s it, really. I left the wash dry for a day (Mig Ammo’s dark wash), and then used a turpentine-moistened* brush to remove the wash from the unwanted places, leaving it around raised details, such as rivets, and to create an illusion of depth in the deeper areas.
*Yes, it sounds horrible. Yes, it was intentional
Important to mention that it is not possible to remove the wash completely even from a gloss surface, so you will get darkening -a sort of filter- and streaking. Both of these side-effects can be used for weathering. (And this is why I do not like the whole-wash method, when a model is drenched with washing liquid, and then subsequently cleaned up.)
Since it is a solvent-based wash the model will be sitting like this for a couple of days, and then I will add a matte varnish layer to protect the wash from the subsequent solvent-based steps (further oil filters, streaks and whatnot). Once that is done, I will finally do the thing I wanted to build this model for – mud on the sponsons…
Until then there are -again- a ton of tanks and three Mandalorian figures (among others) to be finished, so hopefully I can do some headway on them, too. I am currently preparing for taking an exam for a PMP certificate, so most of my precious little modelling time goes for studying project management. Apart from some career prospects of minor importance, maybe this would enable me to plan my model building better…
Finally, painting.
Priming was done with Vallejo’s dark grey primer, and then used AK’s protective green for the base color.
Painted some of the smaller detail with a lightened version.
After this the main course of the day: drybrushing. I bought some special brushes from Army Painter, and made a dry brushing palette, so it was time to try them out -after all we have a TON of rivets here.
The results are not bad -if you do the effect a bit heavier, you can also modulate the base color to simulate fading somewhat on the edges and sides. I quite like the results – would be curious hearing what others think.
And then came the oil paints and ready-made AK filters. This is where I am at now: oil filters applied (dot method), and added the different greenish/brownish filter hues using AK’s products to different parts of the model.
The Vickers Medium looks nothing like a tank. It looks like a child’s toy, or one of those “egg models” -when I first saw it in Bovingdon I fell in love with it.
The only real problem is that the Hobby Boss model (the only one available) does not have any interior detail. On a whim I did a google search, and got absolutely floored – there IS a set available! (It can be purchased on IMA’s website.)
Well, the interior first: the set is pretty nice, I have to say. It fills out the spaces inside the tank, so you can leave the hatches open. It is easy to assemble and reasonably cheap- however it is not a superdetailed interior that is for sure. It is probably what Hobby Boss should have provided us with so we do not have a large, empty hole in this quite big, boxy tank. If you want to do a cutaway, you will need some serious scratchbuilding to do, though. It does not have anything for the turret, doesn’t have the engine, and all those tiny details that really dress up the interior. Word of caution: it fits very well inside the hull once completed, BUT the bottom needs some trimming – otherwise it does not allow space for the bottom of the hull. I did not notice it, only after gluing.
The set comes with some resin parts -no surprises there- but some parts are actually plastic -these are the long, narrow parts that need to be stiff and strong. Very good idea not to use resin for every purpose.
The Hobby Boss model is quite simple to build -it is a typical Hobby Boss model. No-nonsense, well designed, OKish detail, low part number and easy to build -with the exceptions of the tracks. The tracks are not fun. They are not as horrible as the Toldi’s, but close. First, you have to attach the guide horns individually. Second, the links do not really click into each other -it is a chore to build them. (My strategy: use the boring video conferences while doing them.)
If you can, get some replacements -any Valentine 2 type tracks would do; these tanks used the same set.
Overall, it is a decent model, but not a Tamiya-level one, though -there are small annoying things. Apart from the tracks, the most prominent one was the locating pins for the PE-brackets for the mudguards – they are simply too thick for the holes on the PE parts. (On the other hand you DO get individual links and PE -not something Tamiya normally provides.)
This was always something of a holy grail for me … The obscure and unknown TOG-II achieved a mythical status thanks to World of Tanks, where it is a playable premium tank , giving birth to a multitude of memes.
I also had the fortune of seeing the original in Bovingdon… (Follow the link for photos.) It looks so absurd, so strange, you just want to have a scale model of it.
There is only one company that I know of that produces this tank in a model form, Giesbers Models.
I have been aware of this model for a long time, but the really high shipping costs always held me back from ordering it. However in 2021 I finally took the plunge and ordered this model and the Vickers Independent (another strange tank on the list of must-haves).
The model is a classical small-scale resin model in the favor of Cromwell Models, Armory, or Hunor Models – a sturdy little box, a few parts, lots of flash, and some pouring errors… The biggest problem with the model are some casting issues: on one side where the side-sponson would have been mounted it looks like the resin poured into the edges. Also on the turret the resin looks like it is flaking off in layers. The gun itself has some problems, too. The shape is a bit of an oval, not circular, and the “peeling” effect you can see on the turret is very much prominent there, too. The detail on the muzzle break is not exactly sharp, either, and will need to be drilled. These are just your bog-standard “garage kit” issues. The other big problem is surface. This model has a lot of it, big, flat surfaces, and they are far from perfect. The master of the model was obviously produced using 3D printing, and the layers from the printer have not been smoothed away. They are very prominent after you prime the model. Obviously you can sand them off, but then you have to replicate all the fine little detail you just destroyed. Very unsatisfactory, honestly; you would expect some pre-production work on a model.
The cleaning of the parts took about thirty minutes, assembly approximately twenty… so not a complex model for sure. (It is a hilariously long tank when put next to other small-scale models.) I did some sanding, but decided against spending hours and hours with a sanding stick, so some layer marks stayed. They are very prominent on close-ups, but when you view the model with a naked eye it is not that bad.
It took me some time to figure out what sort of paint scheme I want to use -since I did not like the one it actually has in the Tank Museum, and I decided against the usual “boring” green. I just “stole” a desert pattern the British used in Africa -although I highly doubt this tank would have been transported to that theater. (Maybe the in-doors swimming pool I always supposed it had inside would have been useful there.)
Overall I really am happy with this model since this was always something I wanted to have on my shelf, regardless of the issues it presents. However, just as with the Independent, the HMS TOG would also benefit from a 1/35 full interior version.
This tank is one of those strange ones build between the wars. by the British. When I first saw it in Bovingdon, I really liked how it looked -the riveted, domed turret, the long shape, the multiple gun-turrets… as if someone tried to build a steam-punk tank back in the 20s. It wasn’t ver practical, but hey – looks beat practical. Naturally I wanted to have a scale model of it, so after much deliberation I ordered Giesber’s models’ offering.
The model is made out of relatively few parts, and assembly is quick once I finished cleaning up all the flash and pouring blocks. There are a couple of bubbles in the resin which is not welcome; correcting these is a pain, but what are you going to do? This is part and parcel of resin kits.
The model is reasonably accurate: a few viewing ports are missing from the main turret -the rest of the detail is there and accurate. The detail on the machine gun barrels is somewhat soft, but in this scale it is probably expected. As a side-note: there are no hatches on the main turret, so the only way out would be the two hatches on the side of the tank. The very thought of being in that thing without an easy way out gives me serious claustrophobia…
The assembly is quick as I said, although the fit is not perfect. Regardless the tank can be built in an hour once the cleanup is done.
Painting was done using the usual acrylics (Tamiya) over Vallejo primer. I tried not to go overboard with weathering since in this small scale it can look quite bad; some careful pinwashes, some filters, oils and pigments were added -and my own little HMS Independent was ready to sail.
It is an unique tank with an unique design, so not surprisingly I really would love to have a 1/35 version of it with an interior. Since this is not actually an option now, I am content with this option.
The Butterfingered Modelbuilder's Adventures 