When the coat of Alclad Aqua Gloss dried, I started applying the oil-dot weathering, using Yellow, White and Raw Umber oil colours. This step not only blended the colours together but also lightened the green and black and darkened sand a bit. Overall it also gave a bit of dustiness feel of the whole model.
A lot of work has been done since last time. First the model was painted in its camouflage colours, followed by a few coats of Alclad Aqua Gloss varnish. For the first wash I used The Detailer Black wash, which is very easy to use and gives great results. The two Guards decals were also applied at this time followed by another protective coat of Aqua Gloss. The model is now prepared for oil colour weathering.
Since I figured it out mounting rubber tracks would be nightmare when the body was assembled, I decided to paint the lower parts and road wheels before hand. Copious amounts of pigments were also used, as this parts will be hard to reach when everything will be glued together and tracks attached.
Same goes for the parts that will be visible from front and rear above the tracks.
Tracks mounted with a little persuasion and some CA glue.
Before attaching them permamently tracks were first primed, followed by black colour. When this dried, I gave them a brown wash followed by drybrushing of steel colour over the raised details. Of course further weathering will involve pigments as well.
And here she is, ready for some paint!
And here we go, my first armor kit in some two decades. I remember building a German Leopard 2A4 when I was 15 or so but my modelling skills have improved since then and I hope I’ll be able to implement them in this build. And learn something new in the process.
The hull might seem of one piece but was actually made of several little pieces that fit very nicely. Reference photos showed that some machines have that famous wooden log mounted by the side so for added interest, I attached it as well. Fact is that instructions are a bit simple and don’t tell you about all the pieces where goes what.
Turret and the launcher are finished as well. Some smaller gaps appeared on the launcher and there were some crevices on the mounting arm which were filled with Mr. Surfacer 500 and when dry wiped with Tamiya Lacquer Thinner. But nothing serious and I have to commend modelcollect for creating a really nice fitting model.
And there she is, dryfitted and ready for some primer.
I forgot to mention there are also several parts in the box that are not mentioned in the instructions. These include rocket launcher covers, stability arms in extended position if you wish to pose your model ready for launch (though you would have to scratchbuild a plate below the front chassis that lowers before firing) and several other items, including fuel barrels (probably for the T-90 models).
All in all it was a nice and quick progress and I totally forgot the pain that usually comes with aircraft models, first finishing the canopy and then all the masking of the clear parts. With tanks, you just glue, glue, glue and than paint and weather the whole thing – the most fun part of the build I reckon. Anyhow, this is the end of part 1, next post will be about painting.
