German KV-1 with Pz. IV tracks - Part 02 -

Hi guys,

please excuse my long abstinence from modeling.
Lots of thing changed during the last month, I moved to new city and started a new job.

After these busy days I finally got back to my workbench. Here you can see the current status of the KV.

There are still some parts missing, like the wall between the engine and the transmission, and various wires and tubes.
I will add those details after I painted the main modules. This is the first time that I’m painting an engine so I’m really curious if I get all that metal shades right.

But first the parts, here we go:




The green parts are from the Revell KV kit, the bright parts are scratch and the resin ones are from the old Verlinden KV engine set. The transmission and brake parts are from AFV’s T-34. (All details are fixed with Blue-tac).

Here you can see the Verlinden engine with some added details. This detail set was made for the Tamiya kit and has some major issues. The KV and T-34 engines were V 12 engines, Verlinden shows just 10. There are also a lot of things missing, and because you won’t see much of these issues I didn’t correct everything. I should also mention that it doesn’t represent a full engine, as you see in the picture it’s just the upper section, without any real dept. To bring it to right position and still keep it removable I simply glued some plastic tubes at the bottom of the element.





Now it’s time for color.

As my airbrush collected dust over the last two month I picked an old model from my shelf. I build this SU-100 about one year ago but never painted it. Because of the green main color it was the perfect choice to get back into business. The last two days I applied the main color and played around with oils. My main inspiration was a captured SU-100 from the 4.Pz.Div. in 1945.




I tried several new things with this model. It was the first time that I aimed for a rich and colorful base coat and so far I used exclusively oils for the chipping and weathering.




It’s far from being finished and I tried the new techniques only at some spots, like the engine deck.




Till now I had lots of fun with this beast and I will try to finish it during the next construction phase on the KV.


It’s good to smell glue and thinner again.
Thanks for watching!
Manuel

German KV-1 with Pz. IV tracks - Part 01 -

Hi all and welcome to my next project!


When I discovered the picture of this KV-1, I knew I had to build it.
During my research phase I came across two other pictures showing the same tank.

This is the subject:

(For discussion only, found online)

The story behind this tank is somehow unclear.
It's an early KV, captured and used by the Germans, and it seems like the Germans tried to pull it to a new position
after the tank received some serious damage.

There are rumors on some websites that this tank was used as mobile bunker,
I've never heard that tanks were used in such manner, and the flat terrain would also make this tank an easy target.


So let's start gluing some plastic.
As base I grabbed the Trumpeter KV-1 small turret kit, rebuild the weld seams and cleaned the hull (in and outside).

It's really hard to find good interior shots of KV tanks, but my main reference for the interior are the pictures from the Tankograd books,
pictures of destroyed KV found in the internet and some pictures from the vehicle found in the Neva river.

I'm not aiming for a 100% authentic interior, therefore the available reference material is not enough.

Starting with the turret I build several interior details. There are still some things missing, the seats, some electric controls,...

Here you can see the carrier for the DT magazines.
Sorry for the bad pictures, I think I will change the background for the next ones:




I will not go crazy with detailing the hull interior as almost nothing will be seen.
To fill the empty space I rebuild the front fuel tanks and the cross beam which connects the hull sides.




I also started to build some optical instruments, the main gun and mg ball mount:




Still a lot to do, but till now I enjoyed every second. Here an overall shot, the parts are just dry fitted.




Hope you like it, stay tuned!
Cheers
Manuel

Befehlspanzerwagen 38(t) finished!

Hi all, find below the pictures of the final model.
Hope you like it!

Cheers
Manuel

Befehlspanzerwagen 38(t), Just a few more tweaks...

Hi all,

just a few more tweaks and I call this one complete. I still need to paint the MG and add some details to the Rahmenantenne.

I had some issues with this model. It all started as a test for the hairspray technique, so I took an old model of mine and started repainting it. I always had in mind that this is just a test, and probably I won't finish it. That's why I didn't care about a lot of things like fine chipping of the basecoat for example. After spending a few hours on the whitewash I started to like the model and started to add all the stuff I should have taken care previously. This caused a lot of trouble but finally I managed to achieve the look I was aiming for. I'm really looking forward to start my next paint job from scratch :)

So stay tuned, pics of the final model will follow soon...
Manuel

Befehlspanzerwagen 38(t) Update: crew belongings

Just a short update, I worked on the crew belongings.

I also worked with the HS method on this parts.
Base colors, next time I will work with a darker, more brownish color:



After the HS I applied the base coat. I also tryed to work with different shades of gray:


Water and a stiff brush was used to get rid of the previous applied layer:


And the stuff after weathering- ready to find its place on the vehicle:



Cheers
Manuel

Befehlspanzerwagen 38(t)

Hi all,

I built this one 2 years ago and finished it in overall darkgray. I never liked the result of the first paint job, and now in my "whitewash fever" I decided to take this model and start the airbrush ones more.

Here the original model (Rahmenantenne removed for better handling during the painting process)



After a layer of HS I added a thin layer of acrylic white:



Getting rid of the white wash with a stiff brush and water:




And this is the progress so far. I added darkbrown washes and a first mapping:



Still a lot to come...

Hope you like it,
Manuel

Playing around with the Hairspray technique

Since my last built I'm really interested into the whole whitewash thing. I did several experiments and want to share my results with you:

- I found out that the most important factors are amount of HS and amount of the top color layer.
- More HS means bigger chips
- I did several test and it seems that the longer you leave the top layer, the harder it will be to remove.
- The surface has a slight impact as well, on glossy surfaces the paint is easier to remove.
- The difference between a matt or semi glossy surface is minor


Here some pictures:

A couple of styrene shets were primed with black primer from GW:


Lifecolor grey as base coat applied:


Hairspray applied, for better control I spray the HS with my airbrush:


Top layer of Tamiya white, thinned with water.


You can see clearly the difference between the samples.
Less HS means smaller chips (good suited for rust, on some areas effect similar to dry brushing)

Trumpeter KV-1 (Model 1942) Heavy Cast Turret Tank

After a few month break from modeling I wanted a simple kit to get back to business.

Trumpeters KV-1 was almost perfect for this. A quick build and beside Friul tracks, some Aber PE for the meshes and a quick rework of the cast texture on the turret I kept it out of the box. Because I didn't liked the empty motor deck I added a Maxim machine gun from Tank and a tarpaulin made from Magicsculpt.
Here the final tank, primed with Tamiya superfine straight from the can. Also note that I changed the layout of the tarpaulin during the project.Acrylic basecoat and kit Decals added, using Hobby Color FS 34102After that two thin layers of hairspray, followed by Lifecolor matt white. A damp brush, toothpick and an old toothbrush were used to get rid of the white paint. Lifecolor Matte White was also used for the first mapping.Added washes made from oil and MIGs ready to use filters. Different colored pigments were used to build up the mud. I call this one complete, although I could still spend some more hours on tweaking smaller things.

But I want to move on to my next already started project.

Hope you like it,

Manuel