Zvezda 1/35 ISU-152

[RonBurgundy]

Hi guys,
I wanted to bring you up to speed with my work on this model. I've been working on and off this thing for about 4 months (1 month waiting for AM tracks, lol). So I decided to finish it finally after my tracks arrived last week. This Zveza kit is not bad at all, ofcourse there is a lot of cleaning up the parts, but I actually like doing this. The tracks are a downfall of this kit, they're awfull. So, let's take a look what have we done so far.

First, after assembly, I covered all the panels with Mr. Surfacer 1200 to give it texture, because it had none. Gun mantlet was covered with Mr. Dissolved Putty for much harder cast steel apearance.




After that, priming with Revell Acryll Matt Black.



Mig's Russian 4BO.



The tracks. I ordered Trumpeters Russian 650mm steel track for Russian KV/JS tank. They are workable. A lot of work was put in this tracks assembly. I managed to finish it in two days, around 8 hours of work. You get a jig and after cleaning up the tracks from sprue attachments, you insert the pins in tracks to make it workable. I secured the bond with Tamiya Extra Thin. I had to expand the sprocket width for about 2 mm to make it fit with the tracks.



Comparison with kit tracks.



Now on the weathering. This was my first real try with pigments, and honestly, I was scared of them. After seeing a lot of Youtube tutorials, I wanted to try it. So here are the results. First I mixed AK Kursk Soil Nature effect with AK Dark Earth pigment and applied it with stippling motion onto the undercarriage. Then I stippled mix of AK Dark Earth and AK Sienna Soil pigments onto the top of undercarriage for "dried mud". Last I stippled some AK European Earth pigment here and there, just for some variety. Wheels were treated in a similar fashion. Oh, and also, I used Mig's Rust effects and Streaking grime for the first time on this model. I like how it turned out.










Tracks were first primed in Black, then covered in Mig's Dust, and then I applied Mig's Tracks Wash. First diluted, then straight from the bottle for a stronger effect on random spots.



I still have to cover them with some pigments.

Finally, I used Valleyo Natural Iron Oxide for exhaust grime.



Chipping was done with Mig's 4BO + White, and applied with a sponge. Then I added Mig's Chipping on larger chips, really like the look of it. Also my first try with this technique haha
From all that, I think you can conclude that this is my first real try at armor in 1/35th scale and I think I'm in love with it. Allready sold my 1/72 stash and starded on building up the 1/35th one. That is it for now, I'm hoping to finish it by the end of the week. University exams could prove to be a slight problem to finnish it this week thou haha
Feel free to comment, like or whatever you want. Have a good one.

[ForTheWatch]

cominig along nicely, looks like smth out of War Thunder with that perfect amount of dirt and weathering.

[OliveDrab]

Fantastic finish and weathering, very well done

[RonBurgundy]

cominig along nicely, looks like smth out of War Thunder with that perfect amount of dirt and weathering.

I actually want to finish this for my brothers birthday. It is his favourite tank from World of tanks. It is just a pity that nobody is making BL-10 gun in metal. I know for Dragon kit, but I heard it is not that great.

Fantastic finish and weathering, very well done

Thank you, sir !

Just waiting fot the Tracks wash to completely dry. Should be done in a couple of days if some university stuff doesn't poop of all of the sudden

[localjedi]

Dude, this is you first 1/35 armor??? I think it looks fantastic! I'd be super proud of this build so far if I were you. I always thought I'd stay away from Zvezda models but seeing this I might change my mind... Keep us updated about the building process.

[RonBurgundy]

Dude, this is you first 1/35 armor??? I think it looks fantastic! I'd be super proud of this build so far if I were you. I always thought I'd stay away from Zvezda models but seeing this I might change my mind... Keep us updated about the building process.

Well, yes, first one 1/35 model that I started building, but never got the time to finish it properly. I'm actually quite suprised how it turned out, I thought it will be awfull, but it is great so far. It is amazing how much you can learn from Youtube tutorials, if you got the time to watch them a lot.
Everybody thinks Zvezda models are bad, but it is not true. I mean, they are not great, but you can turn them into nice finished product. This ISU, for example, everything is out of the box, except for the tracks, they are bad on almost every Zvezda kit. I was amazed how the bun barell turned out, it was two piece, but with carefull sanding it can be put to order. I always thought that we modelers are little princesses when it comes to our models, everybody wants aftermarket barrels, aftermarket tracks, aditional PE parts. If the kit doesn't need it, why order it? Well, I'm arguing with myself here a bit, I always want the best parts available, aftermarket or not. All things considered, we are spoiled little brats haha
Anyhow, big exam in like 10 hours, so when that is over, I can turn my attention to finishing this little baby Over and out...

[RonBurgundy]

Well, university stuff went pretty well, so I got a full 2 weeks until next semester starts, weeeeeeehaaaaaa...time for celebrating, and some modelling ofcourse.
So, let's see what we have done today. Added pigments to the tracks, AK Dark Earth and a mix of Dark Dirt+Sienna Soil to random spots.



Glued all the wheels. They don't look straight, but they are.



Aaaaaaand after that, time for final assembly, at last. Fiting the tracks was pain in the a**, but everything was allright in the end. First time working with workable tracks, and I have to say that I love them. Here are the pics.





I am really happy with this build. It turned out the way I wanted it to. For my first finished 1/35 model kit, I am extremely proud. When I say finished I may do a diorama out of it at some point, but it scares me as I have never done that before. Let my show you a little teaser for that.




First time painting figures. A lot of things were a first for me on this build. Tutorials on Youtube really helps a lot. I painted them after Hamilkar Barkas's video on his figure painting techiques. I am happy how they turned out, I learned a lot from this try.

In conclusion, I have to take some better pics for a final reveal, but that comes later. Hope you guys like it. Feel free to comment. See you on the next one. I'm going to pop open a few beers now, cheers guys...

[Svenne009]

You need to be proud of the result, real nice looking weathering. The aftermarket tracks are a good addition to the build.

[InitialProduction1]

What an awesome build/paint work. You really captured that monsters massive size. Great figures. Is it going on a dio? RonBurgundy lol, funny movie.

[RonBurgundy]

You need to be proud of the result, real nice looking weathering. The aftermarket tracks are a good addition to the build.

Thank you ! Tracks were a bit fiddly and tedious to assemble, but they look great in the end.

What an awesome build/paint work. You really captured that monsters massive size. Great figures. Is it going on a dio? RonBurgundy lol, funny movie.

Many thanks Initial. I'm planning on doing a dio for them at some point in the future. As I have never done it before, it is quite scary for me to start doing it.

[RonBurgundy]

Final reveal here: http://www.intscalemodeller.com/viewtop ... 46&t=16600
Thanks.