Miniart 1/35 SU-76M

[digger303]

I too expected better from miniart and this originated not that long ago in 2008 and I just thought this would be one of the better ones of recent orgin.

[Tomcat64]

Off to a good start Neil, with some nice modification work.

I wouldn't expect that with Miniart, the do get good reviews.

Almost ready for paint!

Nicely done and looking the part now

I too expected better from miniart and this originated not that long ago in 2008 and I just thought this would be one of the better ones of recent orgin.

Thanks for checking in guys

I have to admit I did start this with a little trepidation as the Budapest kit it came in had some fit issues on the vacform pieces, and the injection moulded house & street furniture sprues weren't overly great either. As Digger mentioned this kit is from 2008, but having done a little digging I found out that Miniart didn't release their first kit until 2003 so I'm guessing they were still working out some teething troubles with the moulding etc five years later.

As for the reviews I have to be honest and say I find them a little baffling sometimes... take this one for example - Review
The end result is absolutely superb, but he initially refers to the kit as "excellent" and then goes on to replace a fair amount of it with after market or scratch building to rectify the problems with it

Anyway it's more or less the right shape but I'd personally hesitate before buying another Miniart kit without a lot of research - I do have some more of the vac-form buildings in the stash but I know what I'm getting into there!

[Tomcat64]

I broke out the airbrush yesterday and decided to paint the interior of the fighting compartment first and in pieces as I think trying to get into some of the tighter angles will be tricky if it's all assembled. This may present a bit of a masking challenge later but I think it should be ok.

I picked up this set on a whim a little while back and thought I'd give it a go. I didn't realise at the time but the bottles in here are much smaller than the usual Vallejo 17mm droppers, but I reckon there should be enough to cover one afv even with my hosing technique!


Here's the lower section with the seat picked out by brush in a medium brown


And the gun - this'll get some metallic detailing in places


And a final question for those that know about Soviet armour - are these panels (and the seats) made of wood or yeti hide or something far more sinister?


That's all for now - I'll go on to detail and weather the compartment and then install it ready to take a squirt at the exterior this weekend with any luck!

Thanks as always for looking

[Stokesy44]

I can hear that gun breech whispering, wash me, dry brush me, chip me...….

Paint has gone down nicely mate. Well on the way to 'silk purse' status now.

[digger303]

[BigWall]

It's looking great!

[Kevthemodeller]

Some reviews are a bit confusing, contradictive, even misleading at times. I all about a person view or take on something, what one person thinks is fine another doesn't sort of thing. I'm tend to follow one persons/reviewers view or take in many of the same kit if my chosen person hasn't reviewed the kit, sometimes it's just take a gamble as I want a particular model.

Paints going on very smoothly

[digger303]

Some reviews are a bit confusing, contradictive, even misleading at times. I all about a person view or take on something, what one person thinks is fine another doesn't sort of thing. I'm tend to follow one persons/reviewers view or take in many of the same kit if my chosen person hasn't reviewed the kit, sometimes it's just take a gamble as I want a particular model.

Paints going on very smoothly

Yes with Cookie's review I think he used the word a model for a craftsman. Translated I think means you have to do some work to get this looking right, but it ends well. You would not look at it like that though unless you had followed a build thread like Tomcats...with a more jaundiced eye.

[TheNordus]

And a final question for those that know about Soviet armour - are these panels (and the seats) made of wood or yeti hide or something far more sinister?

I'm not an expert on this or pretty much anything, but my best bet would be that they are some sort of canvas. I tried my best to find photos of an actual SU-76 interior but it was of no use. T-34s sometimes had canvas-covered seats, which is what I'm basing my guess on.

This build has been really nice and informative to follow, props for that.

[digger303]

I have nothing on SU-76'S sorry.

[robwuk]

very nice SU-76. I have gone mad and purchased the Interior Kit SU-122 (to build on a rainy day) so will be back to see how you finish this one off

[CygnusX1]

Looks great so far.
And unfortunately I don't know what those pads/seats/etc were made out of.

[Tomcat64]

I can hear that gun breech whispering, wash me, dry brush me, chip me...….

Paint has gone down nicely mate. Well on the way to 'silk purse' status now.

Thanks mate I think it was actually whispering wash me, dry brush me, ping a bit off

It's looking great!

Thanks Joe! Appreciate you dropping in

Some reviews are a bit confusing, contradictive, even misleading at times. I all about a person view or take on something, what one person thinks is fine another doesn't sort of thing. I'm tend to follow one persons/reviewers view or take in many of the same kit if my chosen person hasn't reviewed the kit, sometimes it's just take a gamble as I want a particular model.

Paints going on very smoothly

Cheers Kev, yep if you can find a consistent reviewer who matches your own expectations then that's definitely the way to go. There's a wide range of approaches to this hobby and I know there are some purists out there that see even the best kit as just the starting point of a build.

Yes with Cookie's review I think he used the word a model for a craftsman. Translated I think means you have to do some work to get this looking right, but it ends well. You would not look at it like that though unless you had followed a build thread like Tomcats...with a more jaundiced eye.

Yep I think you're right Digger, and maybe I do have a jaundiced eye but I guess my starting expectations of a production run 21st century kit are that they should be well cast and fit together - this one fails on both counts unfortunately. If I'd fished out a limited run kit or an Airfix classic from the '70s then that'd be another story altogether. All I can say is that I'll try and give an honest opinion on any kit I've got a build thread for - good or bad and taking my own abilities into account.

And a final question for those that know about Soviet armour - are these panels (and the seats) made of wood or yeti hide or something far more sinister?

I'm not an expert on this or pretty much anything, but my best bet would be that they are some sort of canvas. I tried my best to find photos of an actual SU-76 interior but it was of no use. T-34s sometimes had canvas-covered seats, which is what I'm basing my guess on.

This build has been really nice and informative to follow, props for that.

Thanks Tommi - I think canvas is probably a good call In the end I just went for a medium neutral brown as I've seen pics with it everywhere from a light tan through to almost black.

very nice SU-76. I have gone mad and purchased the Interior Kit SU-122 (to build on a rainy day) so will be back to see how you finish this one off

Cheers Rob and welcome to the forum I look forward to seeing how you get on with the SU-122, it's another fascinating adaptation to meet the requirements of the time.

Looks great so far.
And unfortunately I don't know what those pads/seats/etc were made out of.

Thanks for stopping by mate

[Tomcat64]

I've made some more progress... I had hoped to install the ammo bins after closing up the fighting compartment, but after dry fitting that wasn't going to be an option so I switched over to painting up the ammo; the good news was that they were all single piece castings so no halves to get aligned, the not so good news was that they all had a nice seam line up and down each side. I left them on the sprue frame and worked through them with a scalpel before painting & masking


In the previous photo the top row are part 45 (14 of them) and the bottom row are part 71 (17 of them). But checking the instructions reveals that there should be more 45s than 71s if you want full bins, or simply put the tall (45s) at the back with the 71s in front. One last note on the instructions is that part 73 doesn't actually reach the ends of part 23 even though there are notches for it


All the photos I've seen show the taller shells in front with the shorter ones behind so I chose to leave gaps where "used" ammo had been, this also helps if I install a couple of the figures as two of them are handling shells. Anyway this is how they ended up


Installation was a little hit & miss as the backs of each rack have a couple of small locating nubs with associated dimples in the hull sides. The front right rack actually went in ok and hit the location without too much bother, but for the other two the rear right only had one dimple in the hull side, and the long rack on the left has four nubs but only two dimples... so in the end I sanded them flat and aligned by a bit of dead reckoning.


I've also done some initial weathering with streaks in the fighting compartment but that's not showing up too clearly in the photos


The main gun was picked out and weathered a little and here it is installed along with the rear bench


And then it was time to bolt it all together...


This was done with Deluxe CA Gel and worked from front to back "persuading" the parts to bond with a little pressure


After tidying up some of the excess CA where it had been pushed out of the joins, the fighting compartment was masked and I gave the whole thing a coat of Ultimate black followed by the first of the greens in the Vallejo set.


I'd previously painted up the hull bottom and sides to give me somewhere to hold onto while working on the upper hull which is why there is masking along the bottom of the fenders.

That's all for now, hopefully I can get the greens finished off and decals on over the next couple of days. A couple of the seams are still a little scruffy, but hey - it's Soviet armour right

Thanks as always for looking in and commenting

[Stokesy44]

Great paintwork, love the ammo too.

[Kevthemodeller]

Great looking ammo, the casings look superb Niel

[digger303]

[robwuk]

Nice progress. Watching the green application for mu SU-122 and also how you approach weathering

[Tomcat64]

Great paintwork, love the ammo too.

Great looking ammo, the casings look superb Niel

Nice progress. Watching the green application for mu SU-122 and also how you approach weathering

Thanks for checking in again guys

I've decided I'm going to give this a whitewash so just debating whether to do any weathering before the white coat goes on so it shows through the whitewash...

[Tomcat64]

So while I'm debating the whitewashing & weathering I've moved along a little more and added the next couple of greens from the Vallejo 4BO set. The green looks a bit vibrant to me, so I'm definitely thinking of dulling this down a bit. As you can see from the photos I've also added the running gear


Looks like my maths was slightly out on the right hand track run as I've had to insert an additional link - luckily I had enough foresight to keep the spares


Then onto the five decals, I was half-expecting these to dissolve when they hit the water but they performed really well


I used the gallery photos from Miniart's own site as a guide to placement here


We've got quite a busy weekend coming up but hopefully I'll make a decision on the weathering before & after the whitewash and move it along a bit more. I can also make a start on the pioneer tools & exhaust system so it definitely feels like we're getting there now.

Have a great weekend and thanks as always for checking in

[BigWall]

It's looking great! A white wash will definitely add more visual interest to it.

[Tomcat64]

It's looking great! A white wash will definitely add more visual interest to it.

Thanks Joe

[Tomcat64]

Last weekend I got the oils out and gave the base green colour some basic weathering primarily with dark earth tones; this won't show up much when I've finished but I wanted something more than just a flat coat under the whitewash as I'm thinking it would have been put on over whatever state the bodywork was in


This was then left to dry before a coat of Ultimate white wash was applied with a brush


And then this coat was manipulated with damp cotton buds and then given a coat of AK Ultramatte. I've also run a Tamiya black panel line wash into the grilles.


Next I'll paint up and attach the pioneer tools & exhaust systems before getting started on the final weathering.

Thanks as always for looking

[Kevthemodeller]

Looking really good Neil

[Donkeywalloper]

What a stonking job you have done on the White-Wash.
Its one of modellings Dark Arts, and I think people get very hung up on how it should look.
I always visualise that its a tired, scared, young chap in the middle of a Winter, where frost hangs off his nose and touching metal is an absolute no, no.
The poor s@d is slopping White-Wash from a bucket, all over the Exterior surfaces cuz thats what he's been told to do, and the brush is not a Decorators 2" Brush from his local Dulux / B&Q.......
Your depiction of this process is spot on and bang on the target.
Great job Neil.
On a sad note, I used to play this little terror in WOT and it was for its level a super Tank Destroyer
DW

[RangerNeil]

And a final question for those that know about Soviet armour - are these panels (and the seats) made of wood or yeti hide or something far more sinister?

I'm not an expert on this or pretty much anything, but my best bet would be that they are some sort of canvas. I tried my best to find photos of an actual SU-76 interior but it was of no use. T-34s sometimes had canvas-covered seats, which is what I'm basing my guess on.

This build has been really nice and informative to follow, props for that.

I'll second the canvas covering. Depending on where and what the use is - seats, crash pads etc. they are stuffed with horse hair, some find of foam that doesn't last awfully long or have a hard to medium rubber like padding. Circa 1950's they changed to a kind of rubberised canvas that the Sapogi boots were made from then in then late 60's early 70-'s a similar kind of "leatherette" to that used on NATO vehicles. Padding was still dire though - hit a bump and your bones hit the seats metal components - do not ask how - or indeed how many times - I know this!!

[Stokesy44]

Nice work on the whitewash matey. Running gear still looks a bit clean though!

[robwuk]

thats a great whitewash. I was going to try hairspary & MIG white but have seen this Ultimate product, may try to get some and try it on the M3A1

[digger303]

It's come out exceedingly well and as the others have said nice white wash.

[Quax]

this is looking great Neil with some nice tonal variance in the whitewash which makes it very believable, I'm looking forward to the final weathering bringing it all together!

Paul

[Tomcat64]

Looking really good Neil

Thanks Kev

What a stonking job you have done on the White-Wash.
Its one of modellings Dark Arts, and I think people get very hung up on how it should look.
I always visualise that its a tired, scared, young chap in the middle of a Winter, where frost hangs off his nose and touching metal is an absolute no, no.
The poor s@d is slopping White-Wash from a bucket, all over the Exterior surfaces cuz thats what he's been told to do, and the brush is not a Decorators 2" Brush from his local Dulux / B&Q.......
Your depiction of this process is spot on and bang on the target.
Great job Neil.
On a sad note, I used to play this little terror in WOT and it was for its level a super Tank Destroyer
DW

Thanks DW - yep I think it was really effective for its size!

I'll second the canvas covering. Depending on where and what the use is - seats, crash pads etc. they are stuffed with horse hair, some find of foam that doesn't last awfully long or have a hard to medium rubber like padding. Circa 1950's they changed to a kind of rubberised canvas that the Sapogi boots were made from then in then late 60's early 70-'s a similar kind of "leatherette" to that used on NATO vehicles. Padding was still dire though - hit a bump and your bones hit the seats metal components - do not ask how - or indeed how many times - I know this!!

Thanks for the first hand experience Neil!

Nice work on the whitewash matey. Running gear still looks a bit clean though!

Cheers mate! As for the running gear...

thats a great whitewash. I was going to try hairspary & MIG white but have seen this Ultimate product, may try to get some and try it on the M3A1

Thanks Rob - it can take a little experimentation to get the effect you're after but it's generally very forgiving

It's come out exceedingly well and as the others have said nice white wash.

Thanks Digger

this is looking great Neil with some nice tonal variance in the whitewash which makes it very believable, I'm looking forward to the final weathering bringing it all together!

Paul

Cheers Paul - stay tuned

[Tomcat64]

I've got this to the point where I'm calling it finished this afternoon but here's a few of the stages along the way.

The tow cable in the kit was very flimsy and had already broken in at least three places on the sprue before I'd looked at it, but the kit did include a couple of spare eyes in case you wanted to add your own cable. So I fished a length out of the spares box and used that; there was no connection on the eye other than a butt joint so I used a piece of 2.5mm tape to wrap around the join on each end


I picked up from the review I posted earlier that the exhaust system was generally lagged in asbestos roll, so to try and simulate this I wound 1mm tape along the pipes


Then the various pioneer tools were picked out by brush and added to the hull


Here's how the exhaust turned out


I then gave a final weathering over the whitewash using winter streaking grime


And finally added some MIG Russian mud pigments mixed with water & white glue to finish it all off


The kit does include five figures, but the casting on them was terrible. I did however try and build one up to see if he'd fit into the fighting compartment as it shows on some of the photos but that was a no go. I think to man the fighting compartment you'd need to build this with the seats folded down and plan to install the figures earlier in the build.

I could carry on tinkering with the weather for a while on this, but I've decided to call it a day at this point - so here's a quick look around








Thanks to everyone for dropping in and offering encouragement & support through this one - it's been a challenge

[Stokesy44]

Brilliant. Text book example of turning a sow's ear into a silk purse.

The final hull details and the mud on the running gear see this across the finish line in fine style. Superb stuff.

[BigWall]

The weathering and white wash came out magnificent. Great job!

[ElCapitan]

Looks great! Good call on the exhaust lagging - details like that really make a difference.

[digger303]

great work, nice perseverance and the mud really made the whitewash that much more realistic.

[Kevthemodeller]

Brilliant. Text book example of turning a sow's ear into a silk purse.

The final hull details and the mud on the running gear see this across the finish line in fine style. Superb stuff.

I couldn't put it better myself, I love the exhaust wrap top job Neil

[Tomcat64]

Brilliant. Text book example of turning a sow's ear into a silk purse.

The final hull details and the mud on the running gear see this across the finish line in fine style. Superb stuff.

The weathering and white wash came out magnificent. Great job!

Looks great! Good call on the exhaust lagging - details like that really make a difference.

great work, nice perseverance and the mud really made the whitewash that much more realistic.

Brilliant. Text book example of turning a sow's ear into a silk purse.

The final hull details and the mud on the running gear see this across the finish line in fine style. Superb stuff.

I couldn't put it better myself, I love the exhaust wrap top job Neil

Thanks guys - really appreciate your support through this one

I've gone back and brightened up the reveal photos a little as I realised when I looked this morning that they looked a little gloomy.

[RangerNeil]

A truly excellent job - well done!!

[Tomcat64]

A truly excellent job - well done!!

Thanks Neil - appreciate it mate