1/72 Revell StuG 40, my first ever armour

[UKscalemodeller]

Alex from Alexmodeling is a 'plane guy' as am I but he seemed to get so much enjoyment from building armor that I thought I'd give it a go.

I'm SO glad I did.

the pictures of the building process are on my external HD so won't be on here at the moment but they will be on the building review when I post it on Youtube.

Here are the tracks, painted black and drybrushed

IMG_2123.jpg

I then flooded them with 'mud'

IMG_2124.jpg

then removed most of it and let it dry in the details

IMG_2126.jpg

[UKscalemodeller]

I then snipped them off the runners. (When I left them on the sprue I made sure that half were attached on one side and half on the other, the attached parts will be facing inwards when put onto the vehicle)

that is where the realization that this was really relaxing and enjoyable, placing the link and length tracks on. Also super pleased that I got a straight section of track to sag.

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and then with the upper hull on top

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I am REALLY please with the look of it so far. Although the camera seems to have brightened the colours somewhat.

[Coen]

Holy crap Ian, that looks amazing.
Those track and the sag if awesome. Wow. great job Dude.
A really really fantastic turn out for your first attempt at armour.

[UKscalemodeller]

Thanks, Ill. start on the detailing soon and then give it some washes.

Still deciding if I should damage it or not.

[T3hGuppy]

Great work dude.

Whats the plans for weathering?

[UKscalemodeller]

Great work dude.

Whats the plans for weathering?

unknown as yet, I have some pastels I can shave for mud effects,

Not really sure how to best attempt chipping.

any advice welcomed.

[T3hGuppy]

Great work dude.

Whats the plans for weathering?

unknown as yet, I have some pastels I can shave for mud effects,

Not really sure how to best attempt chipping.

any advice welcomed.

Coen or Paul would be the better people to ask about chipping I've got the theory but have yet to put into practice.

[UKscalemodeller]

I have painted all the details, a hammer, shovel spare tracks and machine gun as well as a few straps.

Then given it an oil wash.

IMG_20130824_093414.jpg

Next deacals an weathering

[T3hGuppy]

Looking great dude,

[DC87]

Looks really good, nice to see your skills branching out to armour, your now officially multitalented .

[Coen]

Ian, before you put the decals on, if it's possible, you might want to give a coat of acrylic gloss or semi gloss clear to the surfaces. The decals might not want to make friends with the oil wash and the clear will create a nice barrier.
I hope that I've caught you before you got to that point.
It's just something to consider.

[UKscalemodeller]

It is currently drying from its coat of clear, thanks

[wappynutter]

It is a fantastic looking little "first armour" build Ian.
Did I read right? This is a 1/72 scale?
Looks bigger. I thought 1/48 at least.... Either that or you had listed it wrong...
Well done mate, how are you going to weather it?
Good luck with whatever way you go...

[UKscalemodeller]

It is a fantastic looking little "first armour" build Ian.

Did I read right? This is a 1/72 scale?

Well done mate, how are you going to weather it?

Thanks for saying so I am rather pleased with it, even.though the hull has split apart a little at the front.

Yes 1/72, doing armour was out of my comfort zone enough, let alone changing scale

As for weathering, not sure. I have some pastels I git for the purpose though.

[wappynutter]

Looking forward to seeing your pastel work mate.
I grabbed some cheap pastels from "The Works" about £3 I think for the same reason so could do with seeing how you handle the technique.
Well done again Ian.

[UKscalemodeller]

Right, so I had my first ever go at weathering a tank.

Please everyone be brutally honest about this, as it is my first attempt I would like to know if it is Fantastic, good, ok, rubish, diabolical.

I want to start doing more armour and I want to get good at it.

At this point I really wish I had bent the (for want of a better word) 'fenders' a little but hey ho, maybe next time. Here is one of the 'damaged' bits.

w1.jpg

there are a few placed around the upper hull.

I am not convinced that they are very good but I do think I have done a good job on the mud

w2.jpg

w3.jpg

[UKscalemodeller]

w4.jpg

w5.jpg

I really like how it looks.

I am planning on dusting the rest of the model lightly to blend it a little but once I have done that and matt varnished it to keep it all in place I'll call it done and post a build video.

one question to the wise however.

I am never convinced as to how much actual varnish is going on when I matt my model, would there be any harm in glossing it first and then matting down after just for my piece of mind or might a gloss varnish alter the look of the pastels?

Thanks for reading.

[Tamiyasnob]

It look,s superb as it is mate,really,really good.just some highlighting and it,s a winner. For your first armour build you have nailed this one,cheer,s Dave.

[UKscalemodeller]

It look,s superb as it is mate,really,really good.just some highlighting and it,s a winner. For your first armour build you have nailed this one,cheer,s Dave.

Thanks,

What highlighting would look good and how would I do it.

I can feel myself being dragged towards more AFVs. ahh the pull of the darkside is strong.

[Lee]

Looks like a good job well done to me Ian

[Tamiyasnob]

For the highlighting on AFV,s I tend to use Buff, whichever brand of paint you use is up to you. Dry rush all the sharp edge,s, just get as much of the paint of your brush and brush it over everything that way the paint will cover any raised area,s as a rule less is more , that way if you need to put more on you can. I am pretty sure Paul cover,s this in his Airfix Bf 109 build video,s,anyway hope this help,s ,cheer,s Dave.

[Coen]

Hey Ian,
She looks great buddy, for finishing touches I'd stay away from the gloss varnishes, especially if you're brushing them on. Sprayed matte before the pastels is usually the best way of doing things. There's less chance of knocking off all the pastels and mud that you've put on. But before all that, if you drybrush all of the upper areas with a teeny tiny bit of a sand colour or some of the base paint (and I mean teeny) you'll highlight all that raised detail just enough to show it off without looking over done.
Then you can sit back and call her done.
So... a light dry brushing,
A light spray of flat clear (matte), if you have to brush it on that will be tricky since there's already mud on the tank, careful not to brush it off, and you don't need much.
Then some pastels for a bit of dust. Not much.. less is always more. About an hour or so worth of work, depending on how long the matte coat takes to dry.

For a first tank Ian you did a really good job. I don't have picture of my first one.. but here's my second.
It's a bit rough around the edges. Yours is a few steps above mine so you're certainly ahead of the game.
I couldn't even weather mine.
So I think that you should seriously explore the armour road haha.

[UKscalemodeller]

Ill dry brush it this w/e then thanks you two.

Ill be spraying the matt on so should be OK.

My next armour is the IDF Merkava III

[Coen]

Oooo... the Merk.
If that doesn't get ya hooked on armour nothing will

[Nige201980]

Looks great Ian really good job for your 1st bit of armour.

[gosselin2112]

Nice work, Ian!

So, what is the next piece of armor you're going to build? The StuG looks great!

[UKscalemodeller]

Nice work, Ian!

So, what is the next piece of armor you're going to build? The StuG looks great!

Just about to start a Merkava III thread

[AchtungPanzer]

Nice Stug.

[Twistedsniper42]

nice job for your fist bit of armour

[alextheblue]

Really nice job there Ian!!

Not only did you nail it, but it's your first bit of armour and it's 1/72!!! The damage looks good and really liked the mud. Looking forward to seeing the Merk.

[JayCub]

if i can build a plane as well as you do armor than i will be very happy with myself, great job

[UKscalemodeller]

Thanks all.

I'll post Merk pictures tomorrow or Wednesday.