The Ostfront (eastern front) GB 2010/11

Finally some time to build . Love this BT-7 by Tamiya, fits well, not too complex. The top panel is not glued yet, hence the gaps.

Cheers...

Ok, time for me to start number 2. I'll be doing a 1/72 ICM Soviet I-5 biplane from the early days of Barbarosa.

Nice looking progress guys looking good

Rob, WOW, thats awesome mate, love the weathering and whitewash those tracks look the part, outstanding work

Richard, nice looking tank you have there...Sorry for my absence latley, i'm a postman and it's Xmas, you get the idea....

Castelnuovo, 

Looking good there mate! I have been eager to get my mitts on that BT-7 myself. They say it's pretty good. Can't wait to see what you do with this one. Does it come with chains/ towcables?

Aaronw,

Putting you on the frontpage ASAP! Looks like a neat little kit. These ICM kits are really catching my interest lately but still have to take the gamble

Julez,

Oh dear... Yes i suppose this is not the modelling season for you then... Hope your winter is mild sofar. Take your time buddy and thanks for stopping by!

Been not so very busy on the T34 lately but the paint is on and i selected some decals from my spares box to make it look slightly more lively (completely fictional though...)

Somehow my camera really dislikes anything green. I suppose it is my lighting setup... Sorry about that but it is a nice russian green that i am pretty satisfied with

Time for these magic tracks... Looks like a longterm fiddly thing to do and i am not too confident about it at the moment but i will give it my best (first) shot.

Richard

Aaronw  Not the sort of aircraft we see around here very often, makes a nice change. What do you make of the kit. The only ICM one i have is a 1/35th Panther OP tank and i have no idea what it builds up like.

kermit T-34 is looking nice. I assume you decided to leave those side bins off.

I didn't know what to expect, but I asked for some recommendations for Soviet aircraft sometime back and the ICM I-5, I-15 and I-16 kits were highly recommended for their subjects. I've built a few Eastern European kits, some took some real effort to build and some were very nice. 

I bought all three and they look to be made to a similar standard. So far the I-5 appears to be very good, with nice detail, and crisp castings. It does have a bit more flash than you would expect in a Revell or Italeri kit, but it is very thin and easily removed. Fit has been decent, I had to trim and sand in a few spots but most parts fit well and the areas that needed attention were easy to fix.

If you have built a Roden or Eduard kit, I'd say this is comparable.

Bish,

I have spent considerable time looking at wartime pictures of t-34's to discern wether there was some kind of standard or "always present" attachment to the tanks but ten pictures showed me 10 different setups. So i decided to make the big decision later and probably end up scavenging for parts in my spares box as the ones in the dragon kit look too "german" to me for some obscure reason

Aaronw,

Interesting read and it makes me wanna try a ICM kit even more. The I15 is a subject i'd very much like to build.

Richard

I have built the ICM MiG-3, my only grips about the kit was the bad, as in unclear instructions, and a lack of locating pins. Oh almost forgot the decals suck, they are ultra thin and shatter even with Microscales liquid decal film. The great parts of the kit are the plastic is soft but easy to work with, and it built up into a very nice model in my opinion. The kit had a surprising amount of detail to it, so much so that I think the MiG was 3 kits in one really, the engine, cockpit and airframe. Liked it so much I went and got 2 more of them, too bad they are OOP at the moment and getting hard to get ahold of.

The Yak-7 looks to be the same way loads of detail to it also.

Just my worth

Ok,... time for the so called " pants down" post...

I binned the T34, or at least put it away while i hope to someday aquire vinyl tracks for it. Magic tracks are difinately NOT my cup of tea.

My sincere apologies to everyone but this kit can't motivate me to go on at the moment... It will be properly noted on the front page.

Richard

Kermit -- I can soooo understand how you feel! I'm faced with building up indie tracks for the Dragon StuG III/F-8 and this'll be a first for me. I don't trust them, for one thing, they look flimsy and wide open to disaster. But there are no vinyl ostketten to be had, by the looks of it, so I must persevere.

You might be able to pick up vinyl T-34 tracks from the parts service that Tamiya runs -- there's an outlet in the UK, Time Tunnell Models, that has a parts service, I'm in process of buying some T-72 tracks to replace the shocking link and length monstrosities in Zvezda's edition of Dragon's early-mold T-72. Their plastic is brittle as hell and doesn't react very well with glue, so after an abortive attempt I shelved the project, and this was three or four years ago -- a pity as this tank wearing ERA is probably the most detailed armour build I've done to date. Be warned, tracks are a more exspensive part of the kit, it seems, TTM want ten quid for a pair of T-72 tracks...

Cheers, Mike/TB379

The Stug III F is done.  I finished a couple of weeks ago but my new computer didn't have a card reader.  But here she is.

Built OOB with a card stock Nazi flag added, some wire for hooks, and some strips for the rear deck rails.

Grossdeutschland Stug Ab Kursk build up, Summer 1943.

Hope you like it.  Thanks for looking.

Satch

Satch- nice looking Stug. I was surprised to see the tank in grass, then realized you are in Texas. I can't see where you were having some problems with fit.

Kermit- nooo! Don't give up on it when you are so close! Get some Fruil tracks- they are simple to use and look great. I agree with the Magic tracks-I hate them and there is nothing "Magic" about them.

Rob

Satch - that's a nice Stug! If I posed armor in my yard I'd have to watch out for the "logs" that seem to be everywhere...

Kermit - I second Rob. Get some Fruils. Maybe walk away from the kit for a bit, but certainly don't give up on it!

Kermit, i've got an extra Tamiya T-34/85 in my stash.  It has vinyl tracks.  I'll be happy to send them to you.

Satch

Some progress on the ol' BT-7

Castelnuovo:

Great work! Especially the first pic stands out to me. How did you accomplish that battered look? Tell me tell me tell meee!!

First of all i wanna thank you all for your offers and support. Really kind of you guys, really! But i think, if my plan works i can still finish the Dragon T34...

This week i received a Tamyia T34 1943 version from mr. Postman.. If i can finish this one to my liking i can scavenge the tracks from a previous one i did as my first armor build and use those for the dragon one.

The Tamyia is old but IMHO still builds up very nicely:

Still looks the part:

And lots of stowage provided as well as some figures:

Makes up for lots of finish options as depicted in the manual:

So, if all works out i will have two gorgeous T34's standing on my shelf in a few weeks

Richard

Well let us know if you need them Richard. My are just sitting there and won't be used so will be happy to send them over if things don't go to plan. I think my SU-85 is the same vintage as that T-34

Bish,

You are very very kind to offer and i will keep it in mind sir! Thanks alot!

Been tinkering with my T34 since yesterday morning and most assembly is done. I will be hitting the paitbooth shortly i guess. I decided on an early 1943 model with one periscope, steel roadwheels and hatches open. The kit supplies figures and even though i can counrt the figures i painted in my entire modelling career on one hand i still wanna give it a go

Everything you see is dryfitted btw...:

Still looks the part methinks, even if this mold is stamped 1987. It even has texture on the turret.

Richard

Castelnuovo: Wow- amazing weathering!! It looks like it has been through....a war! Please let us now how you did it! Armour is pretty simple to build, but the weathering is what makes it stand out.

Rob

Kermi, Maxfax...I'm glad you like my BT-7 (Beaten-up Tank-7  ).

The weathering was acctualy quite simple. The fenders were bent with a pair of pliers and the glass on the lights were broken with the pointi end of the said pliers, simply pushed it through before instaling. The rest is just ground brown and yelow chalk mixed with a bit of water and white glue. The edges were painted with Golden's burnt sienna.

 I build models on cheap, no pigments, fancy stuff etc.

Thanks again guys, more pix hopefully soon.

And mary Christmas to all.

Well, lets call this one finished. Comments, suggestions, jokes...all wellcomed

Cheers...

castelnuovo

Well, lets call this one finished. Comments, suggestions, jokes...all welcome

Jokes eh, well you realise that in the first pic the headlights and the chain kinda make it look like a big smiling frog right In all seriousness though that is an outstanding model, the weathering is simply stunning...Well done

Richard, i like the look of that molding, especially the turret texture...Looking forward to seeing some more

castelnuovo -- PRIMO weathering! Very realistic, heavy but not overdone, the broken headlight is a marvelous touch, and the chains are super-convincing! Top job!

Mike/TB379

castelnuovo - that BT looks FANTASTIC! Just added this kit to my stash, and I'd be happy if I can come half as far as you did with the weathering!

hey, Im finally back on break from school and have a chance to do some modelling. and am about to begin on my first armor project. Im planning on making this t 34 with a winter scheme on a vignette based around Leningrad in 1943. heres the kit I will be using. I'm new to modelling and have some questions. how much of the tank should I build before i start painting it? does anyone have a good formula for winter white washes? and what is a good way to make snow?

Julez72

Jokes eh, well you realise that in the first pic the headlights and the chain kinda make it look like a big smiling frog right

Frog, eh? ...LOL, yeah, I see it now.

Thanks for the kind comments gentlemen, I am glad you like it. For now, this is it for me for this GB. My stash is empty but it may fill up, hey, it is Christmas and wife knows what I would like.

Cheers...

castelnuovo  The BT looks very nice. What you have done bending the fender is great. An empty stash, now thats not good is it.

Hey Skaggs,

As for the white wash, just use some heavily thinned flat white paint, and airbrush it thinly over the basecoat. skipping heavily worn areas. Vary the thickness of the white to add some variation.  Dry brush with basecoat to add more wear. All those whitewashed  tanks did start off at almost pure white- you could just paint it white and hit worn areas with the basecoat, then weather it accordingly. My next Russian tank will get a full white paint job, with highlights of green. There was a Stug III that was dug up in the ? Ukraine a few years ago- pics are on the net. It was completely white, with absolutely no hint of basecoat colour, even after being buried for almost 60 years. I have seen the armour guys skoff at such a tank if someone made it all white, but history clearly shows that that is what they looked like at some point.

Rob

Julez72

 

castelnuovo:

 

Well, lets call this one finished. Comments, suggestions, jokes...all welcome

 

 

Jokes eh, well you realise that in the first pic the headlights and the chain kinda make it look like a big smiling frog right

Castelnuovo must have had our fearless leader in mind don't ya think ?? Lots of green there too Hummm I wander if froggies rust too

But really, I love that beat up rusty tank, the weathering is spot on the money, very very well done indeed.

Skaggs welcome to the group and to the hobby I cant help with your tank build, having never done one, but you will find lots of help here. Don't be afraid to ask questions, and have fun.