Dragon 1/35 M4A2 Sherman and IJA Type 95 on Tarawa

[ScaleModelJedi]

Great work! I look forward to the big reveal.

Sincerely,

Richard

Thank you Richard . Maybe sometime before the reveal still loads to do on the dio/base.

[ScaleModelJedi]

Got the figures and a type 95 kit for the dio. Hopefully I will be able to make a start on these tomorrow. I have only painted one figure before so looking forward to having a go at painting these.
The type 95 will be done as a knocked out tank.

[gustavlekstal]

Well done! Looks great and good luck with the figures.

[ScaleModelJedi]

Well done! Looks great and good luck with the figures.

Thank you

[AdamLuscombe]

All looks awesome!

[ScaleModelJedi]

All looks awesome!

Thank you

[ScaleModelJedi]

Sprue shots for the type 95

[ScaleModelJedi]

[youtube]LVmfFL_C2zU[/youtube]

[ScaleModelJedi]

The first page of the instructions including the sprue map.

Nearly all of the parts are used with some depending on whether you use the photo etch.


First step is the wheels and one of the machine guns.


The parts for the wheels and bogies. A slight seem line around the wheels was all the clean up other than the tabs from sprue gates. There is some small lettering on the tyres, really impressed with the detail.



One of the bogies assembled. There are 14 parts in total for one of these. All went together really well.


The four wheel sets all done.


The parts for one of the machine guns. This one fits into the hull.
Some really nicely molded detail on the gun.


The parts for the gun assembled. Again all went together really well.

[ScaleModelJedi]

Step 2



The parts for the rear plate and the two idler wheels. Some photo etch aswell.


The parts in place. From what I have heard the instructions for this step are typical of dragon in that some parts just have arrows pointing to a place with no real indication of the exact location of the part.

Step 3

Fitting parts to the lower front section and the sides for the suspension and wheels.





All of the parts in place. The idler wheels where made up but I will leave them off to paint separately and fit after. No fit issues and only clean up was the tabs after cutting from the sprue.

[demarcation]

Fantastic work buddy!!

[ScaleModelJedi]

Fantastic work buddy!!

Thank you

[ScaleModelJedi]

Yesterday's progress on the Type 95. I managed to get quite a lot done on this. So far for a small kit it's really well detailed and still has a fair amount of parts.
Step 4




The wheels are only push fitted at this point, I will remove them to paint separately and then fit permanent afterwards.

Steps 5 & 6





That's all the photo's for these items have I either forgot to take some of the progress or lost them . All the parts fitted really well and you get options for parts depending on if you have the hatches open or closed.

[ScaleModelJedi]

Steps 7 & 8







The parts for the upper section of the hull and the lower hull assembly.


The fit of the two upper parts and the lower section are excellent, The tank is really taking shape now.

Step 9

Building up the main gun and the hatch for the turret.

Step 10 & 11



The parts for the main gun. There are a couple of options for this and the internal part of the gun is fully detailed.


The main gun, second machine gun and the hatch all ready to be fitted to the turret.



The completed turret. There would be very limited space in there for the gun operator. You can see the internal parts of the gun and having the hatch open will show it off. The instructions show the hatch open in the position I have fixed them in but looking at photos they open further and more parallel to the top of the turret. I will leave them as they are.


The tank with the turret and wheels in place. These will be removed for painting. I need to add the exhaust system and the two rear fenders next. Not far off from being fully built.

[ScaleModelJedi]

Steps 12 & 13



The exhaust built up ready to be fitted. The photo etch cover will be left off till after painting so I can rust the exhaust.





The last two steps of the build.
Steps 14 & 15






That's the build all done and ready for paint. The tracks will be painted and fitted after along with the wheels and exhaust cover.
Overall I have enjoyed the build it's a great little kit with excellent detail. It may be small but still has a fair amount of parts and gets the thumbs up from me
Next is getting some paint on. Hopefully I can get the primer on tonight ready for top coat tomorrow. Thank you for taking the time to look

[ScaleModelJedi]

I got the primer on last night and I will make a start on the top coat today. For the primer I used Ultimate grey.



For the camo I have the Mig ammo WWII Japanese early colours set. I haven't previously tried Mig's paints and thought this set would be good to give them a try. I'm going to pick a scheme off the instructions and do something similar, Well that's the plan

[ScaleModelJedi]

Base coat sprayed with A.MIG-071 Khaki. First time using the Mig paints, I thinned with Ultimate thinner and found they sprayed really well with no issues with clogging or tip drying but the paint seemed to sit in small puddles on the surface. I then tried with vallejo thinner with the same results. I did find that it did dry to a reasonable finish but not perfect. I then tried again with a drop of vallejo airbrush flow improver and this seemed to work really well and the last coat went down really smooth. I did shake the paint a lot more before this attempt than usual so maybe that made a difference.



Next I started the camo with A.MIG-070 Medium brown. I decided it would be easier to brush paint the camo by hand rather than using the airbrush mainly because of the size of the tank.



Next was the green A.MIG-069 Blue green.


The last colour is A-MIG-048 Yellow. I left gaps between the medium brown and green so I would be painting the yellow over the top of the Khaki to make it easier. Still took a couple of coats to get it to cover enough but as I will be weathering the tank I was not too fussed about getting perfect coverage with the yellow



Got the wheels on they have still not been fixed in place as I want to do the weathering with them off. I still need to do the detail painting on the tools and the machine gun barrels. Will hopefully have this all done tomorrow and will make a start on the figures and dio.

[MarkVerploeg]

It looks pretty good so far
I'm not really into Japanese vehicles but the colors are pretty intresting
And thanks for the tip of the flow improver
I don't have a lot of Ammo paints left but i will try that
The only reason i stopped using them was because of the way they sprayed and the puddles so maybe i should give them a second chance

Keep uo the good work

[ScaleModelJedi]

It looks pretty good so far
I'm not really into Japanese vehicles but the colors are pretty intresting
And thanks for the tip of the flow improver
I don't have a lot of Ammo paints left but i will try that
The only reason i stopped using them was because of the way they sprayed and the puddles so maybe i should give them a second chance

Keep uo the good work

Thank you. It's beven a fun little build, the colour scheme is a little different with the bright yellow. Will need toning down a bit, I will do that with the weathering. Think I will give the other Ammo colours a go through the airbrush to see what they're like only sprayed the Khaki so far.

[ScaleModelJedi]

I got all the detail painting done on the Type 95 and also the chipping. I used Vallejo cam black brown for the chips and the Ammo tools colours set for the tools. The exhaust was painted cam black brown then I stippled on some Vallejo brown iron oxide and burnt sienna pigments dampened with a little bit of thinner. This was then sealed with a clear coat.



I managed to break one of the hatch doors on the turret
I'm not going to try and refit it will leave it off and probably fix it some where as though it's been damaged.
Next will be a wash and then some dust effects. Need to do the tracks aswell.

[Always48]

That is looking incredible, the exhuast especially so. A very interesting camo pattern really makes this tank pop.

[ScaleModelJedi]

That is looking incredible, the exhuast especially so. A very interesting camo pattern really makes this tank pop.

Thank you. I'm really pleased with how it's going so far. Been a nice build and something a bit different.

[OliveDrab]

You just don't see much Japanese armor being built, which makes this very interesting to follow And everything is looking great too!

[ScaleModelJedi]

You just don't see much Japanese armor being built, which makes it this very interesting to follow And everything is looking great too!

Thank you . It's a great little kit, only the fifth armour I've built and my first japanese tank. Would definitely do some of the others.

[ScaleModelJedi]

Had a go at fading the paint work a bit using a dot filtering. Not sure I like it but will stick with it. Still need some practice with the technique.


I will give this a coat of acrylic matt varnish and start on doing some sand/dust on the lower parts. I will then fit the wheels and tracks. Not much left to do on this, I can then make a start on the figures and dio.

[ScaleModelJedi]

The type 95 is all done. The tracks where done the same way as the sherman. I've done some rust streaking using Mig Ammo streaking rust. I had already broke one of the turret hatch doors and managed to break off the other one so I fixed them both back on, There's not much holding them so more than likely they will get knocked off again.



Next up I'm going to make a start on the figures. I want to get them built up at least so I can plan out the positions on the dio.

[ScaleModelJedi]

Made a start on the figures. I was a bit worried about being able to do a good job painting them now I'm worried about putting them together .
I'm going to clean up and fit together each figure separately so I don't get limbs and body parts all mixed up.
First time working with resin figures and with only the picture on the box to work from its a bit of guess work with some of the detail as you can't see where it fits.

Making a start with these.


All the parts for the two figures.


The first figure all cleaned up and ready to assemble.


All fitted together. Will need to add some filler in a few places as the fit is not great. I will do this once all the figures are assembled.
Only five more to go

[AridTalons]

This is coming along very nicely. I look forward to seeing it finished.

[ScaleModelJedi]

All done for tonight. Got four of the figures assembled. I've left off some of the canteens and knifes as this would make filling more difficult. I will fit them after I have done all the filling. Not as bad as I thought they would be to put together and clean up was not that bad either.



Thanks for taking the time to look

[ScaleModelJedi]

This is coming along very nicely. I look forward to seeing it finished.

Thank you

[ScaleModelJedi]

Got the last two figures built up. I will do all the filling on the figures and then add the weapons and other small parts. Didn't take me as long as I thought which is a bonus. Hopefully get them all done and ready for primer over the weekend

[HamilkarBarkas]

i like it when people build dioramas and think everything through! Very well done so far, i am inspired now.

[ScaleModelJedi]

i like it when people build dioramas and think everything through! Very well done so far, i am inspired now.

Thank you . It's kind of evolved over the build as I keep thinking of things I would like to add/do but I've got a good idea of the final dio just hope I can do a decent job.

[ScaleModelJedi]

Documentary of Marines on Tarawa
[youtube]6he73u5a5vo[/youtube]

[ScaleModelJedi]

A mock up of the dio. This may change before I finalise it.



I need to finish the filling on the figures and clean them up a bit before adding the rest of the parts to them. I can then get the primed and ready for painting.
I Plan to do that before starting work on the dio itself but just wanted to see what it may look like to give me an idea of size and what I can fit in the space.
[youtube]_vcBxnkZUxM[/youtube]

[ScaleModelJedi]

I got all the figures filled cleaned up and added the weapons and other small parts. Alloyds the figures were built up using Bob smith industries extra thick.


I then drilled a 0.5mm hole in the foot of each figure using a drill bit in a pin vice. I then added some 0.5mm wire into the hole with a drop of superglue. This will help hold the figures while painting and also to locate the figures on the dio.
They were all sprayed with Ultimate white primer.


Before I start painting them I will check over the figures for any imperfections and remedy them now.
I've bought some AK figure sets for the painting and as I have little experience painting figures I bought the 'Painting guide for figures of world war two' book.


Next job have a good read through the book and attempt to paint some figures

Thank you for looking More to come!

[ScaleModelJedi]

I did a bit of research ton find out the colours to use for the uniforms and came across a good site with loads of info on various different uniforms used in WWII.
http://www.militarymodelling.com/forums ... p?th=23796

Picture of uniforms used on Tarawa.

Image from military modelling.com

Images of Marines on Tarawa showing the camo uniform


I started off painting the eyes and then the flesh on the figures
I used Vallejo white and black for the eyes and the AK flesh tones set for the flesh.

I need a bit more practice at blending the tones but don't think they look to bad for a first attempt. The Japanese soldier needs adjusting to give a different skin tone.

I painted the US uniforms with a base of vallejo model colour pastel green and then used flat earth, flat green and flat brown for the camo. The figures with out camo were painted with Vallejo grey green. The Japanese soldier was painted with Khaki.
I then faded the uniforms with a white oil filter.


I need to do some dry brushing to highlight the raised areas and then finish painting the weapons and packs before giving the figures a wash to darken the recesses.

[ScaleModelJedi]

Decided the camo was a bit to sparse so cleaned of the white wash and added some more flat brown.

Think they look alot better now. Need to fade the uniforms again then paint the weapons.

[ScaleModelJedi]

I faded the uniforms on the figures using Abteilung 502 ABT035 Buff. This was applied in small dots and then faded with a brush and some odourless thinners.
The difference between the faded uniform on the left and one yet to be done.


All the figures faded and all the weapons and other bits painted. I used the AK us army set for the detail painting and the Mig ammo weapons set for the weapons. I managed to break off the end of the one figures rifle Not sure where the piece went so may have to leave it as it is for now.
Need to give the figures a matt coat and then they are done.


Quite pleased with how the figures have turned out for my first proper attempt at doing them. I have certainly learned alot from doing them and have more of an idea about doing them next time.

[ScaleModelJedi]

On to making the palm trees for the dio. I made a couple of these awhile back as a test to see how they turned out. As they didn't look to bad I made some more the same way. I think next time I have an Idea about how to improve on them but happy with how these have turned out.

I started of with working out how tall I wanted the trees and then cut some 0.75mm wire into lengths adding approx 20mm on the bottom to go into the base and 40mm on the top to attatch the leaves. The trees all vary slightly in height but are approx 180mm tall. I cut ten pieces per tree and taped them together with some masking tape.


I cut 5 smaller lengths of wire about 80mm long and taped these in at the top to give a total of 15 pieces of wire. I do it this way to keep the thickness of the trunk smaller as I find more than ten pieces all the way down gets a bit to thick. Some trees have more wires at the top than others to vary the amount of leaves.
I then taped the top part leaving the wire about 40mm from the tape. These pieces will be bent outwards and the leaves attached to them.


I then used some 0.5mm wire a wrapped this around the trunk trying to keep it quite close.


The trees are covered with DAS modelling clay and as this tends to shrink slightly as it dries the wire thats twisted around the trunk helps give it some texture when its dry. One tree that has been covered and one thats not.


The clay is applied in very small bits at a time trying to keep it just above the wire and work up to the top. The base has some more applied and tapered down to the thickness of the trunk. This part was textured before drying using a flat headed screwdriver.

The leaves are made from paper which I first cut into 20mm wide strips.


I then fold the strips in half and cut them approx 50mm long.


These are then cut into leaf shapes.


I the cut the slits in using scissors while the leaf is folded in half.


The leaves are then stuck on to the wire with some super glue.


One tree with all the leaves on.

[ScaleModelJedi]

The leaves were painted with various different shades of Vallejo model air green thinned down and misted on. I used field green, olive green and dark green. I also painted some of the lower leaves a brown colour to show leaves that are dying off.




I panted the trunk with Vallejo 70.994 dark grey and then 70.991 dark sea grey dry brushed over the top.


Ive made up some seperate leaves as well which will be placed over the dio. Also one of the trees has been made in to halves to show a tree that has been damaged during combat.

I did a rough mock up of the dio on a piece of blue styro foam that I will use for the base.


I then used a bread knife to slope the front section of the base to give it some variation.


The base was painted black using Ultimate black primer. I then covered the surface with fine white sand sold for use in terraniums. This was then misted with water that had a drop of washing up liquid in it and the misted over with mod podge diluted 50% with water. I then added some 4.5mm Mininatur summer static grass to the back of the base. This was fixed with the mod podge and then the whole base was misted with hair spray to help seal everything in place.



Thats was everything for the build. Just need to put all the trees and figures on and the vehicles in place and its all done

Final reveal : http://www.intscalemodeller.com/viewtop ... 92&t=19475

Thank you for looking

[stellamonster]

Wow Si, great build, this is going to be an amazing dio.!!!!!

[Davethepitch]

I agree with the above great build and paint work.