Armortek

Stephen,
Lovely job. Really getting hard to tell apart from 1:1 shots. Bravo!
cheers, Fabrice

i second that fabrice the look is very convincing, well done to get to that degree of detail, regards simon

Stephen

Great research work as always, seeing all the different aspects of your build research, engineering, painting and just getting every detail right is very inspiring for me.

This model is a true master piece, I am really looking forward to see how you do your mudguards and exhausts.

Regards

David

Fabrice Le Roux wrote:Stephen,
Lovely job. Really getting hard to tell apart from 1:1 shots. Bravo!
cheers, Fabrice

I would say it is almost better than the real thing!
Congratulations, Stephen, excellent job.

Thanks for the kind comments. Now down to a hard grind, in two senses. Firstly the tracks -'nuff said.

Secondly, the exhaust elbows:



I've supplemented my trusty Proxxon cutter:



with a Proxxon Long Necked Angle Grinder. I'm impressed with Proxxon and thought this could help with cutting, grinding and polishing. The grinding wheel made light work of reducing the kit parts and getting close to shape:



I then used the corundum disks to prepare the surface. I was surprised how effective the disks are:



Finally, back to the trusted cutters for the surface texturing:



I've still to drill and tap for the exhaust pipe mounting flanges. Mounted:






Regards

Stephen

Stephen,

I have always wondered why the exhaust ports were so generously sculpted, almost harking back to the aerodynamic fairings of 1930's land speed record breakers. Or a Gothic architectural detail. Or maybe the designer was just a "Flash Gordon" fan. Anyway for a vehicle full of straight lines and sharp corners it is a lovely artistic detail, well executed!

regards
Fabrice

One sixth scale track bashing is every bit as mind numbing as the real thing. At least on the real thing, you don't need to add rust. Here's what works for me. Firstly the real thing:







Stage 1 - thoroughly clean all parts with a degreaser such as Upol System 20:



Stage 2 - prime with an etch primer such as Upol Acid 8:



Stage 3 - light coat of red primer. This is a good move for German tracks but not strictly necessary for British and American. Nevertheless, I wanted a dull base for painting the base colours and red is compatible with the next colour, which is Vallejo Track Primer. I leave 24 hours between coats, where possible:





Stage 4 - Now to develop the overall metallised patina with very thinly sprayed coats of colour, starting with the darkest. I'm using Alclad 2 varnishes. They're superb, spray direct from the bottle, dry quickly, great colours, as long as they're not sprayed too heavily in one go. First up is a ALC120 Gunmetal overspray:



Next, to highlight worn bits, an overspray of ALC112 Steel:





Finally, ALC103 Dark Aluminium for further highlights, especially at the ends of the track spuds which are really noticeable on original photos:



That's the base colours on, now to do the second track and then the weathering. Trial fit. I found the recommended 111 links too slack and have removed two but the real test will come with weight on wheels:









Regards

Stephen

Hi Stephen

Brilliant job on painting the tracks, thanks for showing how and what colour paints that you have used. Spray painting and electronics are areas that I have no knowledge or experience in so I have taken a note of all this and I will practise this on my spare track links and perhaps strip and repaint the main tracks later on.

Again many thanks for sharing such a detailed build (and all the other members who manage to find the time to participate on this forum)

Regards

David

Here's a bit about how I finish the tracks. It's only my way of doing it and I've learnt lots from the Forum, so I don't claim any originality.

In their present state, the tracks are too pristine for an operational tank in Vietnam, a climate which could do bone dry and tropical downpour in the same day, so a combination of dust and mud appears on the photos of Australian Cents. Bogging was common and a lot of photos show tracks heavily coated in mud but I wanted to preserve the great detail of the kit tracks so I've opted a middle course, dusty but with some recent mud still clinging.

I used the following stages:

- overall dust layer: airbrush misting of very well thinned Tamiya XF57

- dust in crevices: enamel washes, using AK Dirt and Dust Deposits

- dust accumulations: pigments from Promodeller and Mig Productions

- mud build up: Mig Productions Mud (acrylic mastic)

The following photos show the same sequence:

Light dusting:



Dust deposit washes:







Pigment dusting:







Mud:







Finished?







One weathered, one not:



Hope that was of interest. Stephen

Hi Stephen

Thanks for showing a lot more detail on how to paint and weather tracks I am going to have give this a go. (but first I have to try and get head around the electronics workings and installation process)

I think one of my problems is that I am applying the paint a bit to thick to start with so I am now starting in much thinner coats and I can see some improvement.

Again many thanks for the extra info

Regards

David

Stephen,

Why not just run the tank through real mud ?

Dennis.

Dennis - I'm surprised you even asked - it would be the wrong sort of mud......

Stephen

If my memory still serves me the mud in the Far East is a red clay colour and totally different texture to what we find here in the UK, which I think Stephen is trying to achieve.

Best of Wishes

Rob

For Red soils, the New Red Sandstones found in Devon might achieve a suitable accumulation of a red mud. I am going to take my Mark IV to the Ridgeway for some Chalky soil/mud to run it through, although Dennis might say that The Great Dorset Steam Fair might be a good place to take it.... Last year was spectacularly muddy with the result their WW1 trenches had added realism!
Steve

Robin, Steve, many thanks. I'll book a weekend at Fawlty Towers in Torquay on a rainy day. Should do the trick. Stephen