Oh goody. I have this in my stash and look forward to watching a WIP.

Yeah, cool! 

Always thought this was a good looking tank even if it was a bit of death-trap due it's thin armour. 

Nice work! 

[Spoken in a Darth Vader voice] T-34, I'm your father! :-)))

Yeah, it's a very interesting design with strong US influence - Christie! Looking forward to this WIP - good luck with your build and have a nice day

Paweł

Got some more done this weekend. The only part of the build that has been less than stellar were the radiator intakes. The PE was both too wide and too long for the plastic slots they were supposed to fit in. This means gaps when put onto the model. I mitigated that as best I could and because of the angle the gaps are at, it'll be hardly noticeable if at all in person once it's done (hopefully).

You'll notice my bungled attempt to snip the PE after I realized the lack of proper fit. I've never dealt with PE before so I'm not sure it was my technique or tools that messed it up. Oh well 

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

In August I moved to an apartment and in doing so misplace notes I took when I was researching this project. All that is left (that I can find so far) was what I originally posted in the GB this is for. Since I keep forgetting what page it is on I'm posting here:

I'm going to try to depict an incident, that happened during the larger battle at Nomonhan (known as Khalkhin Gol to the Russians), on the night of 3/4 July 1939.

Main source of my research is from:

Coox, Alvin D. Nomonhan: Japan Against Russia, 1939. Standford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1985. 

The incident I'm going to depict is described below in Coox's work.

"From a distance of 50 meters, a Japanese superior private saw a tiny black dot jump aboard a tank, illumined by an enemy flar. It was Major Adachi, opening a hatch and trying to grapple with the tank crewman. Tracer fire from another tank shot him off the tank; he fell backward and was run over. The time was about 1 A.M. on 4 July (p. 333)."

You're making good progress there Josiah.

And cool idea for a scene.

There's an interesting but somewhat fanciful recreation of the first and second Battles of Khalkhin Gol in the Korean movie 'My Way.'

More progress, I'm moving on to the turret. I really wish I had my airbrush here. I need to think more carefully about when I paint now. Also going to have to work on the tracks, they aren't the rubberband tracks so this will be a first.

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

You're moving right along!

I guess if you're going to brush paint something this would be a good choice considering it's not all that big a tank. 

Thanks! I'm not going to brush paint, my airbrush is down at my parents'. They're only an hour south (near Fredericksburg), but I'm used to being able to just crank it up and go. Now I have to be prepared because if I can't just re-paint it the next day.

Anyways...I've started the figure. Never modified figures before (and I've painted only a few) so this will be interesting. But I figure (haha figure!) the TC won't be seen as much so it'll be a good learning experience. Ordered a Japanese figure too. Resin...another first.

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

Got started on the wheels/tracks today. All wheels are done, port side tracks done...not easy, but easier than I thought it'd be. I've never done any other than vinyl/rubber band tracks. 

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

Cool, always great to see the wheels on and the model sitting on her own feet as it were.

And nice work on modding the figure. It takes guts to take a razor saw to a perfectly good figure but at least you're starting with one of the cheaper plastic ones. Were you going to modify the resin Japanese guy too or is he closer to what you have in mind?

I know what you mean, finally starts to come together when wheels and tracks come on  

I will probably have to modify it in some way but not sure yet. I’m not familiar with resin figures as I’ve never done one. The pose its supposed to be in may work perfectly but it really depends on how it fits on the tank as that’s where the Japanes Office will be. I have a lot of artistic license to work withas the only account I’ve found specifically of this incident is from the one quote by the “Japanese Superior Private”. And that it was a silhouette of Major Adachi on top of the tank....I have my own idea of what that looks like but I’ll see how it looks once I open that package and know what I’m working with. 

Hey Josiah, been watching this build, so thought it was time I commented.  You are doing a great job on this kit, especially considering so many first time aspects to it.  I am a fan of Russian armor, and believe I will own this kit at some point, so thanks for the WIP.

The tracks look fantastic!  Again, great job on something you haven't tried before.

Looking forward to seeing the dio come together.

Yes, so far so good. It looks great with the tracks. I have this kit so I love watching it come together.

Update on the figure:

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

And here he is posed in the turret:

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

Got the paint on. It was done in three layers. An almost black green, the base color, and a few (maybe a little too many) drops of white added to replicate the fading. Painted it by mixing craft acrylics that I bought this weekend. Trying to practice mixing colors for the figures when I graduate to oils. Green isn't quite the hue/tone I wanted it to be but for first time mixing my own colors I'm happy with it. The fading is a little too light, almost looks like a winter vehicle, BUT I'm sure when I weather with the dot filters it'll darken it down. Outside and indoors.

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

Really nice work there on the modulation. Looks pretty darn perfect to me! 

And the Soviet commander looks good too, looking forward to seeing him all painted up.  

Hello!

I think the colur is OK - a bit on the light side, but taking scale, fading and dust into account, like I said, it's OK. A little black wash and it will be just fine. Good luck with your build and have a nice day

Paweł

Here he is...used craft acrylics. Vallejo (with some white red and black mixed in) for the face.

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

And tentative positioning in the turret.

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

Nice work!

Thanks! 

Started the Japanese Officer today. Here it is from the box And what it'd look like as is.

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

So I modified it:

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

Untitled by Josiah McDonald, on Flickr

Wow that is looking good. Great action scene. Very different. I like it! 

Oh neat, great job there modifing the Japanese figure too!