Very fine BT.  That green with the weathering looks great.

F Matthews - yeah those MasterClub tracks kicked my butt, but such an improvement over the kit tracks.  I've been checking out Spade Ace and I just may have to give them a try!!  Thanks for your comments on the BT-5, I'm eager to see your BT-7!  Those early war tanks are so interesting!!

Karl  - Thank you sir!  I tried to remember what you did with the Waffentrager (sp?) you did some months ago and how you dirtied it up!!  I had a vision of the BT-5 looking all stained and dirty, but I'm just too chicken to go that far with the weathering!  One of these days.....

Ernesto, I've always said don't be too concerned with so-called "correct shades"; modeling is about "Art" every bit as much as it is about "accuracy", and you've produced a real beauty here. N-I-C-E!!!

SMJ - wow!  High praise coming from someone whose work I've always admired and learned from!  I took that bold step and tried the oil paint fading method that I picked up from your WIP posts!  Just a little Buff and White oil paint on the upper surfaces and carefully blended in to subtly bleach them a bit.  Well, maybe not as bold as your technique, but I'm getting there!!  Thanks for stopping by and commenting, it means a lot to me! 

hercmech - Thank you sir, I appreciate your kind words!

Tony - I'll try to keep them coming!  Hopefully they'll all turn out as well as this one, but the next one could be another clunker!! Thanks for commenting!

It's a real  beauty! In every aspect! Keep'em coming!

/Tony

That is incredible...fantastic build! I am speachless.

wow...I mean WOW!!!  Exquisite work.  The chains, spare tracks and belts supporting the fenders are especially convincing.  The subtle rust streaks did not go un-noticed either.  No constructive criticism to offer you Ernest, you nailed it...this is truly an all-around tour-de-force of modeling and weathering!

Mark - thanks for stopping by and taking a look.  I had fun with the light green paint; it offered a lot of weathering possibilities! 

Eric - yeah, the left side is a tad tight and doesn't want to touch the wheels., which actually brings up a cheat I forgot about!   The track length on both sides was way too long with the correct number of links (can't remember how many).  Because the BT series uses two types of track shoes, one with a guide horn, the other without, you can't just remove one link, you have to remove two which made it so tight I couldn't get them on.  So I had to cheat and remove one shoe with the guide horn on each side.  I hid the missing link behind the last roadwheel and only a sharp eye can notice the horn spacing is off!   The tracks still were a bit short so I moved the front idlers back about 1mm.  This worked well on the right side, but for some reason not on the left.  Oh well, we can't win the all!! 

IIRC, I got the MasterClub tracks from Hobby Easy and they cost about $18-$19.  Definite less costly than MKs or Friuls!  They're pretty robust and I didn't have any problems with them falling apart or anything.  I might try MCs again, but I'm leery about them curving like the BTs did....

Carl - LOL!!

Ernest , quick hands Glad you didnt go ballistic on it . You know how that worked out for me ..............

I noticed the tracks on the left have a hair of lift. Did you try an extra link? How much did they cost? You're the first i know of that has used them.

Looks just fine by me, an experiment gone right everyway possible. I'd not be too worried about historical accuracy as it's a Soviet vehicle, the same guys who sent unpainted T-34's into combat at Stalingrad straight from the factory. Hard to tell what crews scrounged up for a bit of tone down. Anyway, great work there thanks for the look.

Regards,

Mark

Carl - Yeah, I was being fumble fingered wthen the darn thing slipped out of my hands while putting on the tracks.!  Fortunately I was quick enough to catch it, but not before it hit my knee knocking off the left front fender, the muffler and and breaking the carefully assembled PE engine screen!  I almost went ballistic ....almost!

Anthony - I'm glad you liked it, I tried hard to make it worthy of these forums! 

Bill - thanks for your kind words!  Always a plearue hearing from you!

Terry - I learned some of those weathering techniques from some of your great WIP posts!  Thanks!

Gamera - production and quality wise I don't come close to Bill and others, but I'm glad you like the finished product. 

ice_spy - Thank you!  Believe me, I was nowhere close to achieving some of these results a few years ago.  I spent a lot of time on these forums, reading, learning, asking questions and being brave enough (or crazy enough!) to tackle some of these scary weathering techniques!   Good luck on your quest, you'll have fun!

Eric - Ya know, the painting and weathering started out OK, then before I added the pigments to the upper hull I felt the upper surfaces looked to bright.  So I took the plunge and tried my hand at SMJ's oil paint fading technique and I'm glad I did!  It defintiely imparted some much needed fading to the upper surfaces and dulled the bright green effectively.  I'm glad you like it!

Marc - not as big as your garage!!   The chain was actually easy and fun!  Just some brass hobby chain I picked up at HobbyTown, dunked in BLACKEN-IT for a few minutes (same time I did the tracks for the M-13/40), then slathered some thinned MIG Brown Wash, followed after drying by some localized applications of MIG Standard and LIght Rust pigments heavily thinned with enamel thinner.  Oh, and then quickly dusted with the same pigments as the tank.  The metallic sheen was achieved by simple handling with my fingers.  I wish all things were that easy and fun!

Brian - wow, I almost never keep track of color mixes but I actually posted them in the orginal GB's WIP thread.  Go here: http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/29/t/130500.aspx?sort=ASC&pi240=59  its about mid-page.

Darren - Thanks for stopping by for a look and your nice words!

Looks just fantastic Ernest and I love the color and the weathering you've done, great job

Ernest, I really like the colors you used on this tank.  Since I like to build Soviet armor, I was wondering what Tamiya colors you used and what the mix ratios were?

Thanks,

Brian

jeez... just how big is that garage of yours?

Looks great.  Really love that chain with a few bright spots to show it's being used.

Every time I think you've outdone yourself, you step to the plate again. I love the color, fading and weathering on this guy. Just beautiful.

Very nice.  I hope one day i can achieve the same level of build. Im trying to learn the techniques and effects of weathering. It brings them to life !

Another winner there Ernest!!! Wish I could turn 'em out like you do!

Hi, Ernest, another great project finished, as always inspiring work,

Oh , those chains do look perfect !

Glad to see you avoided disaster and got this one across the finish line Ernest, definitely one to be proud of. Very nice work all around.

Nice overall weathering Ernest.The look of the tracks came out great as did the chains.Also like the chipping and fading.

Anthony

Well i'm glad that this litttle bt-5 survived the fall and made it too its completion here ! Very well done all around . Your quality of pics is impressive also .