This is why I'm scared to get a tank kit, I can't do the weathering.  Mine would look like your base coat shot.  One of these days I need to stop being scared and try.

SG, the best way to try, is to start on something where success or failure is unimportant, as in some piece of junk like an old car kit, or something scrounged up at a garage sale, or even some toy, that has the kind of detail that represents "tank detail". Paint it, and then weather it. If it turns out "less than desirable".....strip it and repaint, or trash it and start with another. The beauty of this is that once you have developed the technique, you can go back and weather things you have already built, with less apprehension. 

I'm a "day or two" into model building, and I still look for new techniques, and materials, and I'm still willing to give them a try. Learning is living, when someone like Cosmic J documents the procedure from start to finish, take advantage of the "instruction", and try it! It's how we all get better at what we do. 

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Lead me not into temptation ..................I can find it myself

Does that make any sense?

Absolutely! I assumed using a display ruled out any further "touching/handling" of the model, and it also sets the rule for what kind of "weathering" will be used ( dust, mud, color fading from sunlight, etc.) but you know what they say about assuming, so I had to ask.  I don't use many Tamiya paints, so I'm greatful that you mentioned how they sometimes react with dullcoat. . . I use dullcoat a lot! BTW that model looks good enough to demand a protective environment, good to hear that you intend on providing that.

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Lead me not into temptation ..................I can find it myself

sumpter250 wrote:

Absolutely! I assumed using a display ruled out any further "touching/handling" of the model, and it also sets the rule for what kind of "weathering" will be used ( dust, mud, color fading from sunlight, etc.) but you know what they say about assuming, so I had to ask.  I don't use many Tamiya paints, so I'm greatful that you mentioned how they sometimes react with dullcoat. . . I use dullcoat a lot! BTW that model looks good enough to demand a protective environment, good to hear that you intend on providing that.

You're welcome. I hear what your saying about Dullcote, I used up a whole can on this kit. I love the stuff.

Another heads-up: I've also had Dullcote mess w/ Archer dry transfers, melting them a little.

Thanks for the compliment.

srmalloy wrote:

psstoff995 wrote:  Cosmic J wrote: Hmm... looks like there's a lot of room, and plenty of attachment point looking thingers in there. If it doesn't I'm sure some styrene and spare parts could dress it up nice enough to open the doors. The 8th MS series has quite a few episodes that spend a good bit of time with the "camera" in there, plenty of reference at least. It doesn't do you much good at this point, but over on Michael Fitchenmayer's blog he has a series of articles about building the hovertruck as part of a diorama, showing the interior he built into his. From the few images I've found so far for reference to use (admittedly, only a couple hours' looking), it's a "looks good enough through the doors" interior, rather than a serious attempt to model the interior accurately -- which would be an exercise for the completist given the limited sight angles into the vehicle, even with everything opened up. But it does show what could be done with it.

LOL! I just saw that this week. Man, he does good work. And fast too.

The interior can definitely be spruced up. All the upper hatches can be left movable, making for some interesting display options. I'm surprised there have been no aftermarket interior sets made for this kit yet.

There are some things I would do different if I built another one of these:

A) Add some detail in the cockpit and turret housing, and leave some of the hatches and doors open.

B) Get the headlights correct. During assembly, I decided to use MV lenses for the headlights, but when I drilled them out, I drilled out the wrong side of the fixtures. I then compounded the error by gluing them to the wrong sides, making my headlights both backwards and upside down. This causes them to angle inward too much.

C) I'd glue the sides of the engine covers together, and fill in the seam between them. They don't quite match on the kit, and the difference is noticeable. You can see what I mean in the lower-left quadrant of this image:

D) Stencils, stencils and more stencils. My Ma.K.s always have a ton of little warning markers, maintenance instructions, etc. all over them. This kit just cries out for that treatment.

E) More weathering. It's a truck after all. Trucks are supposed to be beat up.

Who knows? In the future I might revisit this kit, and make a few changes.

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When you open your mouth, you allow others to see into your mind.

Hey when you say stencils do you mean those warning aren't all decals?  I think a sheet of different stencils to paint on would be cool. 

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If at first you do succeed, try to hide your astonishment.