Thanks Gamera!

Now to proceed to the virtuous soldier the thermodynamic power inhibit, in that backstroke break war!  (Or a gloss coat, decals, and some weathering.)

Painting continues.

Try #1, wrong color:

Try #2, bad execution of shading:

Try #3, highlighting strengthened, but still not adequate:

One more go, and it should be OK.

"You want see tank?  Is big, like Mother Russia."

"Nyet Comrade.  Nyet."

Some Tristar figures I was planning on displaying the KV-2 with.

GreySnake,

Tristar figures are not bad.  The relief detail is not super deep, but what is there looks good, and the mold parting lines are light and clean up fast.

The box art for the set I’ve taken the figures from is a little deceptive, since the female figure looks like Martin Short.  Fortunately, as you can see, the actual figure looks nothing like him!

They look pretty nicely molded to me. Looking forward to seeing them all painted up. 

"In Soviet Russia, you no make model kit.  Model kit make YOU."

I got some gloss on the quick fried tower last night.

Before:

After:

Decals next!

Looks good to me. The pre-shading looks perfect. A few pin washes and that detail is really going to pop out. 

Gamera,

Yep, a deft hand will be needed to do a paint job worthy of these figures.

The big “For Stalin!” decals go on tonight.  I feel patriotic fervor welling up in my heart...  Or is it the onions from dinner?

All four decals went on last night - it sure beats fully stenciling a hi-viz Phantom!.  Trumpeter's decals were reasonably thin, strong, opaque, and conformed to details with the help of Gunze's Mr. Mark Softer.

At high magnfication, I can see that the decals even conformed to the light rolled steel texture molded on the turret sides.

The figures had a little seam filling and seam cleanup as well.

I'd better switch back to a regular camera, as my phone seems to have a hard time photographing small figures.  Camera phones have made me so lazy.

The decals look good- even Boris and Natasha seem to approve! 

Dear Comrades,

The State is pleased to report that oil pin washes are progressing.

Mig's "Starship Bay Sludge" oil brusher was used, but put in a pallette, thinned with dirty old paint thinner, and applied with a fine brush.  The applicator in the oil brusher lays way too much paint down, which results in excessive cleanup and waste.  I am using a combination of brushes and pointed cotton swabs to clean up excess oil paint.

 Wow very professional. Looking good.

Thanks Panzer Joe!

This is the first tank kit I am trying the oil paints on.  I did a sci-fi kit in oils about 2 years ago that fell short of my expectations.  I recently tested out a more controlled method of oil wash on some small Star Wars kits that turned out well.  What I am trying to do is to move to a more modern weathering approach.  I am seriously behind in this department.

Oh nice!!! She's coming along great! 

Thanks Gamera!  The scary part is after the pin washes are done - the weathering that follows is unknown territory for me.

Oil pin washes are complete topside.  The model is getting grungy already, so the filters that will follow will not have to do so much work!

I started painting the putty "mud" that was applied during construction, using Mig's "Starship Filth", to contrast with the "Starship Bay Sludge" pin wash.

The running gear has also been pin washed, but the lower hull still needs to be treated.  I have been out of this so long I forgot how tedious and time consuming it is to weather so many wheels!  I may need to switch to stamp collecting or macrame!

Again, she looks good. After all that the wheels can't be that much work! 

Thanks Gamera!

I got lazy and just slobbed on the oil paint on the lower hull, then used a clean brush dampened with thinner to work the paint where I wanted it.  It went surprisingly fast - I'm learning more and more how to use oil paints every day!

Now on to the chipping and filtering stage!  Maybe I'll try some "mapping" on the horizontal surfaces first.

I'm re-learning how to weather armor kits all over again