Smoo's Workshop presents - Tamiya 1:35 35257 T-55A Russian Medium Tank

Post by **TheSmoo** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 7:02 am

This is the first of two builds I would like to enter into the "From Russia with Love" group build, please bear in mind that I have not built any armour pieces for over 30 years and have never done weathering before thanks....

Boxart

Side Boxart

other side

and other side

Some sprues

some more sprues

just making sure i get them all

all done this is the bare kit no extras and trying my best with the limited resources I have

My Video inbox review can be seen here -

[youtube]_0RmDz_oO4I[/youtube]

I'll just keep adding to this post, thanks for any encouragement,I usually do 1:12 Tamiya motorbikes and havent done an armour buid in 30 years so yeah!...lol
regards

Terry

Post by **TheSmoo** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 11:06 am

duplicate/deleted

Post by **Timplastic** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 2:10 pm

You will have no problem building that
The weathering we can help you with

Post by **Paul** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 2:47 pm

Nice entry Terry, you should get Frank helping you too

Post by **TheSmoo** » Sat Jan 09, 2016 9:02 am

Sorry for the lack of updates, I have started the build and am doing a video build series to go with it so it took a bit of planning on my part.

I have done 3 build videos so far as well as the unboxing one so will split the photo sections to correspond with the videos.

Build Part 1

Starting with one side of the wheels and suspension

and a close up

Prepping the other side

other wheels made and prepping suspension

Also prepping the front and rear armour pieces

Rolling chassis completed

So thats build part 1 done of the rolling chassis, I also videoed this section of the build and it can be viewed here -

[youtube]k4OrGALURZs[/youtube]

Build part 2 to follow in next post

regards

Terry

Post by **Smiffy** » Sat Jan 09, 2016 10:04 am

Very nice work Tony, enjoyed watching the video for part one of the build too

Post by **TheSmoo** » Sat Jan 09, 2016 1:29 pm

Smiffy wrote:Very nice work Tony, enjoyed watching the video for part one of the build too

thanks I had fun making the videos

regards

Terry

Post by **TheSmoo** » Sat Jan 09, 2016 1:40 pm

The second stage of the build where I mate the upper deck to the rolling chassis and fit the associated parts, I also filmed this part of the build.

Build part two

Parts laid out ready for assembly

upper deck bonded on and completed

The link for the 2nd build video is here -

[youtube]r1SrAKNbyUU[/youtube]

part 3 comming shortly

regards

Terry

Post by **TheSmoo** » Sat Jan 09, 2016 1:56 pm

Here is how far I have gotten with the build to date, this section is the main turret assembly and final build before paint, I filmed this build section also.

Build part three

All the parts laid out for assembly

Turret constructed and other parts ready for final fitting

closer view of the turret

Completed tank ready for paint

The build video for section 3 is available here -

[youtube]c9HDF8lnFXI[/youtube]

So thats me prepped for paint and the first time using my new airbrush on an actual model -

getting excited now, paint this afternoon woohoo

Full playlist of the unboxing right through the 3 build stages so far is here -

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... kGJ_AzxdFq

To be continued ..............................

regards

Terry

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Sat Jan 09, 2016 1:58 pm

Nice progress so far Terry. Looking forward to seeing some paint on this.

Post by **TheSmoo** » Sat Jan 09, 2016 2:00 pm

Gav0909 wrote:Nice progress so far Terry. Looking forward to seeing some paint on this.

Thanks Gav, time to test my novice airbrushing skills lol

Post by **Smiffy** » Sat Jan 09, 2016 2:15 pm

Great set of videos and build log so far. Seems a great model to christen a new airbrush with too.

Post by **TheSmoo** » Sat Jan 09, 2016 2:25 pm

Smiffy wrote:Great set of videos and build log so far. Seems a great model to christen a new airbrush with too.

Thanks, I'll soon find out i'm mixing the primer now

Post by **TheSmoo** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 1:29 pm

Another wee update,

Build part 4 - paint

I painted with an airbrush for the first time today on a model (I have been practicing but not on a model before) and laid down a base undercoat of Mig's Russian green primer MIG-2009. First I applied a mist coat on all the parts, waited 30 minutes and applied another coat, waited 30 then a final coat of primer and let the whole lot dry for a good 24 hours.

I then decided I might try my hand at the "hairspray technique" for the first time and thought a good foundation for the rusty spots would be to use MIG-2006 rust primer around the areas that I thought might rust and perhaps create a little bit of pre-shading in the process. In hindsight I should probably of just primed the whole model in the rust primer but as I am new to airbrushing and weathering I didn't and was quite happy with the results. green on green is not an easy task for a novice airbrusher!

Some Pictures of my results thus far -

everything was given a green coat and then I thought parts like the drive wheels and idlers would rust a lot and also some of the road wheels so i went over them with the mig rust primer

The underneath of the tank was given the same treatment and although you won't really see this, it was good practice for me and might add some pre shading areas, thats the thought behind it anyways and at least I know it will be there lol

I used the same method on the turret concentrating on areas that I thought would rust more than others

The fuel drums were just primed with the rust primer

The commander figure and anti aircraft gun were primed using MIG-2005 black primer, looks like a really shiny metalic in this picture but it is more of a semi-gloss black to the naked eye, the commander figure is supposed to be painted in tamiya xf-1 matt black, i thought the primer might have given me that kind of result on it's own but it appears I will have to go over it with xf-1 after all

Upper deck was primed green then rust over parts I thought might rust

along with the suspension and running gear

I havent tried any effects or weathering before and am just trying techniques I have seen on youtube, if I get it wrong, my thoughts are that I can just top coat it anyways...lol. The next stage for me is to use the MIG rust effects set with different tones of rust on areas i might unmask using the hairspray technique and then coating with hairspray and allowing to dry, then the top coat of MIG-019 4BO Russian green.

It is not my intention to make this a hugely rusted tank but, as I havent done these effects before, I'm covering all the areas I might want to have rust on before the top coat so that I can basically play it by ear when uncovering it.

I also did a video aimed more at either people who are considering getting an airbrush, or for the novices like myself, hopefully it is some use and covers my first time spraying a model and the results pictured above I have achieved so far.

here is the video -

[youtube]4frQG4Xs9Cg[/youtube]

now off to try my hand at some rust techniques, I'll update part 5 soon

regards

Terry

Post by **TheSmoo** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 7:41 pm

Build part 5 Tracks n' stuff

Ok decided to tackle priming the vinyl tracks and the painting of the commander figure in this section of the build. Had a reccomendation from a friend that priming tamiya vinyl tracks with acrylics did not always provide a favourable effect with the paint flaking off and such like and advised me to use some of the tamiya primer which I did, spraying the tamiya x-10 gun metal on the gun gave a much lighter eefect than I am used to when i brush paint the stuff so looking for advice on that one as it seems to light a colour for an anti aircraft gun, i was going to go in with a lighter colour using drybrushing but it has turned out too light for my liking.

here is the tracks after a coat of tamiya grey rattle tin primer

the commander figure with the paints I intend using on him, xf-1 flat black will be airbrushed, rest will be hand painted detailing

weird line through this pic...lol, but the anti aircraft gun and the paints ill be using x-10 gun metal through the airbrush

Tracks primed, figure looking a lot more matt now and the gun painted

really not sure about the x-10 tamiya gun metal through the airbrush, seems a lot lighter than when i brush paint it on, any ideas guys?

thats it for now, currently editing the video where I discuss painting the tracks, the commander and the gun, i also put a quick section in for people new to airbrushes like myself about cleaning the airbrush between colour changes.

video coming soon

regards

Terry

Post by **fly1ngdutchm4n** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 7:53 pm

Nice progress so far Terry, looks like a great kit!

Post by **TheSmoo** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 8:29 pm

fly1ngdutchm4n wrote:Nice progress so far Terry, looks like a great kit!

thanks, usual Tamiya quality fit, that bit's done, now venturing into totally unknown territory - painting with an airbrush for the first time and trying effects and weathering for the first time...lol

Post by **TheSmoo** » Wed Jan 13, 2016 7:34 am

Here is the latest video footage to go with the last lot of photos about the vinyl tracks n' stuff. I also did a quick section on doing a quick colour change in the airbrush aimed at those new to airbrushing, not trying to teach anyone how to suck eggs...lol

[youtube]k_dHqauHIMs[/youtube]

I'm having a bit of a rethink about how I want to do the rust weathering on this beasty, I was going to use the "hairspray method" but after talking to a few people and seeing the results of my experimental dry brushing of rust colours (which turned out quite nice), I think I'm going to go ahead and spray the top coat without hairspray and add any rust detailing in by dry brushing (i am totally new to weathering so it is an evolving process with a lot of trial and error on my part).

So the next set of photos and video will cover my experimenting with rust effects and maybe laying on a top coat.

regards

terry

Post by **TommyKillander** » Wed Jan 13, 2016 10:01 am

Great job sofar, Terry

Awesome buildthread, I really enjoyed watching the videos aswell, great stuff!

Tommy

Post by **TheSmoo** » Sun Jan 17, 2016 5:57 pm

Hi guys, just another wee update on the progress of my build so far -

Build part 6 Rust effects and topcoating

As I mentioned before I am new to airbrushing and haven't done any weathering before as I usually build tamiya motorbikes, so all this rusting and washes etc is totally new to me.

I started off by practising my rust on one of the two fuel drums -

The drum on the left is in rust primer and the one on the right is after me trying some dry brushing on it

I wasn't too sure of which paints in my sets I would like to try and use for the rust effects so I made a swatch to see what paint gave me what

I then tried my hand at rusting up one of the drive gears, the one on the right is just the rust primer and the one on the left was dry brushed with three different tones of rust and then some steel colour on the teeth that would be in contact with the tracks, I had intended to use the hairspray method on these but changed my mind, I used the wheel for practice before painting it all russian 4bo green

I tried the same with the road wheels but decided to go green with those too

I tried my hand at putting a rust effect on the exhaust, this is the underside

and this is the top, I'm quite pleased with the result

finished the two drums with a mixture of dry brushing and stippling, these will be getting the hairspray treatment

despite being new with the airbrush i thought i did ok with the topcoat on the turret

i also topcoated the wheels and other bits with mig's russian 4bo green

i then detail painted my commander figure, just some drybrushing of highlights on him and he is done

i added some rusting effects to the two tow ropes and was happy how they turned out

i then detail painted all the rubber on the road wheels, no masks invloved, it was quite theraputic actually

i then dry brushed a wee bit of rust and some steel to give the drive and idler gears a worn but not too clapped out a look

So this is the stage I am at now

still to paint the AA gun but overall I'm happy with my progress.

Next for me will be painting and weathering the tracks, painting and detailing the aa gun, wee bit of work on the commander figure, gloss coat and decals followed by another gloss coat and a line wash to be starting off with.

I also did a little update video to go with this section -

[youtube]GYMt7i465Ec[/youtube]

Thats it for now, off to practice some more weathering techniques

regards

Terry

Post by **stellamonster** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:31 am

The rusting effects and the worn edges on the wheels look great Terry, superb

Post by **TheSmoo** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 2:42 pm

stellamonster wrote:The rusting effects and the worn edges on the wheels look great Terry, superb

thanks, still experimenting but I am pleased with the results so far

Post by **wookiee76** » Tue Jan 19, 2016 7:55 pm

Looking good so far Terry, keep up the good work, perhaps if you build a british bike you can put the rust skills to good use in the future!

Post by **TheSmoo** » Wed Jan 20, 2016 3:15 pm

wookiee76 wrote:Looking good so far Terry, keep up the good work, perhaps if you build a british bike you can put the rust skills to good use in the future!

thanks, i haven't found a decent british bike that i would consider rusting up yet, off to clearcoat everything now which I have been putting off as I haven't done that with my airbrush yet, been putting it off for two days now...lol

Post by **TheSmoo** » Wed Jan 20, 2016 6:33 pm

OK I have been putting the clear coat off for long enough (new to airbrushing) and finally clear coated all the main tank parts ready for decals next

The good thing about using Johnson's Klear is it smells nice and only takes an hour to dry

Tracks and AA gun to get another coat of paint, hairspray to be applied to fuel drums, some dry brushing on the commander figure, just have to figure out how to make the unditching log look like a log, never done these sort of effects before

two coats of hairspray on the fuel drums ready for topcoat sometime tomorrow

hopefully I will get the decals on tonight and clearcoated and maybe started with my oil pinwash

regards

Terry

Post by **wookiee76** » Wed Jan 20, 2016 6:52 pm

From a lot of the "research" i have been doing it seems that quite a few unditching logs were painted at the same time as the rest of the tank so are the same colour, the one on the T80 scheme I'm building follows the same camo pattern.

Post by **TheSmoo** » Wed Jan 20, 2016 11:54 pm

wookiee76 wrote:From a lot of the "research" i have been doing it seems that quite a few unditching logs were painted at the same time as the rest of the tank so are the same colour, the one on the T80 scheme I'm building follows the same camo pattern.

yeah I had thought about doing that too if I couldn't figure anything out but I think I may have found a solution thanks to some weathering washes i bought from Ultimate, I'll upload pictures soon, some more painting and clearcoating to do 1st

Post by **wookiee76** » Thu Jan 21, 2016 12:52 pm

There is a relatively simple method for doing wood grain using oils, i nicked it from Michael, not sure who he nicked it from!

Post by **TheSmoo** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 4:20 pm

Time for another wee update, tried a few more techniques that are new to me such as hairspray chipping and got some of the other fiddly wee bits out of the way ready for doing the main weathering on the tank itself.

Finally found a decal setting and softening solution that works so 1st decal on (there is only 4) and its wrinkling up nicely

all the decals are on and wrinkling up and conforming nicely with the micro sol

really happy the decals settled into the rough texture of the turret, off to klearcoat them to seal them in for the next stage of weathering a pin wash

now for some experimentation with the unditching log, tried some Ultimate mud wash on it and was impressed with the effect but it didn't look as good after clearcoating it so had a rethink

I decided to drybrush it in several shades of brown and lighter wood colours and am now happy how it has turned out, i think it is kinda realistic now? any thoughts? just going to matt coat it now.

put my attention back on the commander figure, I haven't really done figures before, so I dry brushed his matt black uniform with tamiya xf-63 german grey to bring out the highlights on his uniform and i really like the effect it gave

the drybrushing gave a really subtle highlight

I then brushed some klear on his face and hands and did a wash with some brown and ochre oils to highlight his facial features and his fingers. i also added some mud pigment to his boots even though you wont see them so i think thats him done now

after two coats of hairspray i lightly dusted on two coats of mig's russian 4bo green topcoat the same as the rest of the tank, onto the fuel drums

after wetting the drum with water all the paint started to wrinkle up and ai carefully started chipping away using a soft brush at first, then a stippling brush and then a chewed cocktail stick until i got the desired effect

really pleased how the drums turned out, i havent used this hairspray method before

i went a little heavier with the chipping on the rear of the drum as i thought this part would take more of a bashing when the guys were lifting the fuel barrels onto the tank

concentrated more on the bottom edges of the drums as they sit on the tank as that is where the water would collect

so now I am going to flat coat them and maybe add a little spilled fuel effect on the filler caps to simulate spilled fuel but thats the drums about done

i gave the AA gun a coat of semi-gloss black then detail painted the 4bo green and russian red star before dry brushing with mig steel colour to highlight the worn parts

all the painting finished on the AA gun and really happy with the effect, next is a klear coat and will weather the same as the rest of the tank with a pin wash and some chipping

so thats all the greebly bits done, i'm concentrating on the next stage of the vinyl tracks now and an oil pin wash on the body of the tank next

there will be a video uploaded soon to go along with this section which concentrates mainly on applying decals and what I did to the parts in more detail

thats all for now..................to be continued...............

regards

Terry

Post by **wookiee76** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 6:59 am

Looking good Terry, especially like the log and barrel chipping, did spot a tamiya 1:10 triumph bike in my local model shop yesterday if you werent aware there was one, bs3 i think although probably wrong, still recovering from last nights hangout.

Post by **TheSmoo** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 10:09 pm

wookiee76 wrote:Looking good Terry, especially like the log and barrel chipping, did spot a tamiya 1:10 triumph bike in my local model shop yesterday if you werent aware there was one, bs3 i think although probably wrong, still recovering from last nights hangout.

Thanks, a lot of trial and error and got there in the end, all new to me this weathering stuff, I've got about 20 or so 1:12 Tamiya bikes in my stash to be getting on with this year so rusting up and old bike might be something for a future date

Post by **fly1ngdutchm4n** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 10:28 pm

Realy nice progress.
For a newbie in weathering you did a splendid job

Keep up the good work!

Post by **patrickroos** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 10:36 pm

Looks fantastic so far, the log looks very nice and the rust on the barrels also!

Post by **TheSmoo** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 11:59 pm

next wee video in the series running in line with the previous pictures, a wee bit about applying decals and where I am at now with the build, getting there -

[youtube]8Hj4sL_F1iE[/youtube]

regards

Terry

Post by **OliveDrab** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 1:48 am

Super clean build and looking great, more armor could be in your future

Post by **TheSmoo** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 2:00 pm

thanks for all the nice comments guys, means a lot and gees me up to carry on with the next weathering steps, tried a rusty acryllic wash on the tracks last night but I over thinned it so off to try again....lol

if at first you don't succeed.............................

tracks laid out ready for my 1st ever attempt at a rusty acryllic wash

I must have over thinned the paint as the pigment only settled lightly in some of the recesses, I think it will give me the effect I want so off to try it with a less thinned down wash, mig paints are quite thin anyways.

regards

Terry

Post by **TheSmoo** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 6:14 pm

2nd coat of rusty wash on the tracks so hoping for better results when that dries. Took the weathered fuel drums and tried them on the tank to see what they looked like, just a pity the tank bracket part of the barrel straps don't really match up properly but it lets me see where to rusty up the brackets a bit to match the drums, now off to attempt my first pin wash wish me luck...

obviously the drums are still matt and the body is glossed for the pin wash etc but they don't look too heavily weathered I think, thoughts? Obviously I have to weather the tank body too

I'm hoping the drums don't look to heavily weathered bearing in mind the tank body hasn't had any yet?

Shame the bracket on drum doesnt quite line up with tank bracket, makes it look kinda disjointed, might have to muddy that up some

regards

Terry

Post by **TheSmoo** » Tue Jan 26, 2016 8:41 pm

right, really getting on with the weathering now, currently waiting for oils to dry whilst concentrating on the tracks, so here is the next installment of my 1st time doing an oil pin wash and dirtying the tank up a bit -

I 1st made a pin wash up using AK odourless thinners and MIG Abteilung oils abt160 engine grease (black) and abt080 (wash brown), i added the brown as I thought the black on green would be too harsh and mixed it roughly 2 parts black to one of brown.

pin washed with the oils and a dirtyish rear end

it's amazing how much depth is added to a model with a simple oil pin wash, 1st ime trying this, went for not to heavy a look

really starting to pop with panel lines etc oil washed

on the rear end I also tried some Ultimate rust wash on the fuel drum hangers, impressed with the stuff, might use some more later along with some drybrushing

I tried rubbing the oil off in line with how grime runs down the bodywork for a touch of streaking

even though the road wheels will be muddied up later the oils added definition to the hubs and recesses

I did the same with the drive gears

I was particularly pleased how the turret came out

really chuffed wth the turret

picked up the detail on the end of the barrel too.

I'm now toying with the idea of doing a dot filter on the tank to add some streaking effects and tonal variation as the decals are too white, doing a dot filter would be another new effect for me, I have an idea of the 3 different shades of oils I would use, and I know they need to be done on a matt surface but wasn't sure if it was worth doing on a 1:35th scale model? thoughts guys? I don't mind giving it a try but not sure if it would add much to the model so apprieciate any input on this?

Also going to do a Ultimate mud wash on the underside of the tank.

that's it for now, will do an update video to coincide with what I have just done, still plagued by the tracks, the 2nd thicker acrylic wash didn't quite turn out as expected so I am now experimenting with stippling and dry brushing rust tones on the vinyl tracks

regards

Terry

Post by **TheSmoo** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 7:43 pm

Right another quick update, progressing really fast on this build now and it is almost finished and really happy how the crappy vinyl tracks that come with the kit have turned out, I am going to add some dirt and mud but it is not going to be an overly dirty build.

tracks glued together well using Tamiya cement the white pot gloopy stuff and the high parts were dry brushed with Mig-045 gun metal, just some re-painting required where the joins are

spare track setion fitted to tank along with the fuel drums and tow cables and unditching log and clearcoated again ready for chipping and some mud treatments

I think the ditching log will look sweet once it is matt coated and the drums i think are looking good

now the clearcoat is on the turret it's really showing up the oil pin wash, the AA gun has been glossed ready for it's pin wash

next step is chipping the tank and muddying up underneath then I will matt coat it all and do a dot filter on the upperside along with any other grime and rust streaking just waiting on a couple of more oil colours coming from eModels. once thats done it's a final matt coat and the tank will be finished.

just uploading the next video section that covers the previous batch of build update photos

nearly there

regards

Terry

Post by **Smiffy** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 7:45 pm

You've made great progress Terry, the drums along with the rest of your build are looking very good indeed.

Post by **TommyKillander** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 8:25 pm

Awesome !

Great job sofar, this is gonna be a stunner

Tommy

Post by **TheSmoo** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 8:31 pm

Smiffy wrote:You've made great progress Terry, the drums along with the rest of your build are looking very good indeed.

thank you very much, I'm quite impressed myself how this is turning out considering this is my 1st armour build in over 30 years and I have never attempted any kind of weathering before

TommyKillander wrote:Awesome !

Great job sofar, this is gonna be a stunner

Tommy

thanks

Post by **TheSmoo** » Fri Jan 29, 2016 2:36 pm

[youtube]UCk53GXnf7M[/youtube]

Post by **TheSmoo** » Tue Feb 16, 2016 3:21 am

I'm at the final wee bits of painting and weathering now

Started muddying it up a wee bit nothing excessive just light mud and grime

made sure i got underneath before the tracks went on

[youtube]lxGK-KXAUBI[/youtube]

next lot of photos and video will be the final reveal hopefully later this week

Terry

Post by **TheSmoo** » Wed Feb 17, 2016 1:40 pm

did some more of the final detailing such as rust streaks and fuel leaks/spills and some pigments on the exhaust, nearly finished -

popped the commander figure in to see how he fits, not the best looking figure compared to you guys stuff

added a few rust streaks here and there

close up shot of some of the chipping and rust streaking on the turret

sooted up the exhaust and added some fuel spillage on the drums

added some more general wear and tear

added some fuel leaks/spillage

so I just have to matt coat it again tomorrow when the oils dry, gloss touch up on the fuel leaks and that will be it done I think, not as good as some of the tanks I have seen on here but for my first tank in 30 years and for my first ever go at weathering such vehicle, I'm reasonably happy how it has turned out.

Final reveal in the next day or so yay

regards

Terry