Build #3 finished: Plain Russian ugliness

Thanks Manny, MgM, Ron and Tigerman, drilled and cut out the engine covers on the upper hull and added some evergreen strip for the PE covers to sit on. Blanked off the mudguards so that you don't see the tracks through the engine covers, so far so good . Problems arose with the lower hull box consisting of three very warped pieces of plastic and a rear engine bulkhead that, as far as the fit goes, would appear to have been made for a completely different kit. Have got it together thanks to the brute force of superglue, clamps, evergreen tube to strengthen the box and deft use of a varied selection of curses aimed at Zvezda . Going to have to use a lot of sanding, puttying and Mr. Surfacer to get this thing ready for spraying . Certainly not Tamiya or Dragon quality (can hardly expect that for this though). Challenging build? you bet

Julian

Thanks Bill, a challenge for me in more ways than one (all green finish, so different approach to weathering). I have just given the Thing a spray of gray ground to see if the sanding, puttying etc. isn't visible after painting and I must say that it turned out pretty well ( if you don't tickle yourself no one does ).

Still have to add the cast effect to the crew compartment and the welds still need touching up with the trusty pyrogravure so still "light years from home".

Cheers,

Julian

Hi Julian,

THis is looking nice, I like green, ever since my SHerman, I like monotone a lot more than I though I would.

Bill

Psstoff995's lbro: thanks for taking a quick peek.

Bodge: yep although its an E-10: /forums/1155956/ShowPost.aspx and the E-100 is here: /forums/1135642/ShowPost.aspx

mg. mikael: Your build showed what can be done with Zvezda kits if you take some time so here I am

Thanks Bill, the montone scheme and weathering are going to be a bigger challenge on this build. Just finding the right shade of green etc. etc.

cheers,

Julian

  Julian if you ask me ugly can be very pleasing to the eye.

 For a Zvezda kit it looks to be going together rather well and those am goodies will bring it to a whole new level.

Thanks Panzerguy, superglued and puttied the Thing into submission so far Thanks for the kind comments and yes, the Friuls alone will make a world of difference to the build.

Julian

Hi, Julian maybe a single colour but your more than capable of putting the icing on this cake. Good luck.

Terry.

Thanks Terry, very kind of you !

Julian

Weld seams and plate textures added, more grey ground to see what it looks like. Needs some sanding IMHO:

Ugliness power !

Julian

Looking very nice, Julian, I can't wait to see this one painted and weathered.

Bill 

  Julian good to see that you're able to get some work in on this guy. Nice job on the texturing.

   One suggestion on the welds, using some 180 grit paper sand them down a little and then go over them with some 000 steel wool. Next go over them with some liquid cement. Once that dries go over them again lightly with the steel wool. I used this method on my BA3 and it works real nice at smoothing out the welds.    

Very fine progress Julian...Great work...

This is my 152..About a year ago... :)

mg.Mikael: thanks for the kind remarks. The grab handles are all scratched because it is easier to "bash them up" when they are made of brass wire (joins to the hull still need some work with mr. Surfacer).

Citadelgrad: Thanks Bill, very kind of you and I must admit I am looking forward to washing and weathering this model as well.

Panzerguy: Thanks for the tips on toning down the welds. They look rather stark at the moment so I'll give that a try this weekend.

Guney: That is a very mean looking ISU-152 you built ! Nothing subtle about this Russian design is there? just good old utilitarian "tractor factory" Russian building. Love the way you weatherd it (tracks look excellent as well). Where did you get the mot on the side of the crew compartment?

cheers,

Julian

It may be ugly now but the story of the ugly duckling comes to mind

looks good

Marc: thanks, I'll try an coax  a beautiful Russian swan out of this very ugly duckling.

Bill: I followed up Steve's advice and have smoothed out and filled up the weld seams somewhat. They seem very stark and rough in the photo's i put up but that is using the macro setting camera so it really blows up every spot and blemish. Using the old eyeball mk.1 the seams look very pretty and I have a very good feeling about how they will look with some "Dutch pea-soup green" paint and some weathering. Worst part was making the "banana-shaped" hull parts fit together

Julian 

Have been back at work after my holiday this week so not much time for browsing the armour forum or building. Today I managed to squeeze in some time and have now reached the stage that I can start weathering this beast of a Russian SPG. Base coat was a mix of Tamiya olive drab and flat yellow. Shading coats have progressively more deck tan added to lighten the mix. Welds recieved a light wash with Mig brown and Vallejo dark umber (or is that burnt umber?). The chain I added on the righthand fender and the two shackles on the left fender recieved a coat of Vallejo umber too. I added a rear fender made of winebottle foil so I could mistreat it accordingly and also bent one of the front fenders. The running gear and lower tanks sides I have already treated with a Mig pigment wash (European earth). Friuls tracks are underway and will look gobsmackingly great when fitted. For now let the washes and dots begin . I must admit that I find the mono camo a lot more sexy than the tri-tonal German camo's I have done up until now. Maybe go for an all yellow build next time? (I also have an Israeli Sherman in my stash though and that could be very tempting too )

The "Beast " has some pimples and warts at the moment but I'll work on those as move along. Comments and advice always welcome from all the "experten " hier on the forum.

Thanks once again for taking a look,

Julian

Hi Bill, thanks, yes the Beast is underway. The horn and light are painted black because I read a 3 part article by Marcus Nichols of Tamiya Model Magzine on building the JS 2 tank. He painted them black and I like the different colour. They still need toning down (at the moment shiny Citadel "chaos black").

Julian

wing_nut wrote:

It may be ugly now but the story of the ugly duckling comes to mind looks good

 Duckling! Are you comparing an ISU 152 to a duckling? Buddy that's not the ugly duckling thats the ugly Elefant (the animal not the tank).