jasper - welcome to the GB!  The Tamiya JS-2 is a great kit!  It builds up nice and easy and really needs no aftermarket parts to get super results!  If I recall, the link&length tracks had ejector pin marks on them that need to be cleaned up, but other than that its pretty much shake and bake!

modelcrazy - the PT-76 is looking good.  I like your PE work, it adds so much more realistic detail to the build!

Gamera - is that the MiniArt T-44?  Never seen the inside of one but your's is looking sweeet!  Keeping an eye on this one as I plan on building mine sometime this year!

Nick - the Friuls are awesome!  They'll make that old Tammy T-62 really shine!

dutch - the SU-85 engine interior is rocking!  Great paint work!

Dwayne - hope you're feeling better and better each day! 

*WIP UPDATE*

I completed the Model Kasten tracks for the JS-3.  85 links didn't work out...came out a tad too short so I settled for my original 86 links.  I'll live with the track sag!

With the JS-3 tracks done, I want to switch over to the Tamiya T-62 and get it up to the same point.  Right now its about 25% done with the original suspension and tracks.  First the motorization holes in the hull bottom needed to be filled:

The roadwheels, idlers and sprockets built up quickly and the kit tracks are the old melted pin vinyl versions .  The back plate is just dry fitted and not glued in place yet.

This is where I will turn to some aftermarket parts that have been sitting around in the stash...might as well use them!

I'm going to replace the roadwheels with these resin wheels.  More accurate and much better detail, but lots of cleanup required.  Not sure who made these....Tank Model??

Those sucky kit tracks are going bye-bye!  Replacing with an old, discontinued set of Armour Track workable links.  They  build up much like the Model Kasten tracks although they are a step down in quality (and price!).  Took a pic during the build process:

One set complete.  The Armour Tracks set also includes replacement resin sprockets and idlers....very nice indeed!  Compare to the kit parts:

Like Nick's Friuls on his T-62, these should improve the old kit quite a bit.  I'll post the next update when the replacment tracks are done.

Ernest: I like Tamiya quality but yeah those aftermarket tracks and sprockets are a big friggin' improvement! 

And thanks, yes the MiniArt kit. Embaressed I haven't gotten much more done, I needed a rest after all that tiny PE on the one fender. And I still have to do the other one.... 

Ernest those after market parts look good I tried those friul tracks for the frist time and I realy like them. it makes my kit look like a cheep suit with expensive shoes lol !!

gamera is the miniart kits better then tamiya in your appinion?

Nick: Well, guess it would depend on defining 'better'. The MiniArt kits are more detailed with a lot more parts but the newer Tamiya kits look almost as good without anywhere near as much work. I guess it would depend of what tank you want to build. 

Gamera

Nick: Well, guess it would depend on defining 'better'. The MiniArt kits are more detailed with a lot more parts but the newer Tamiya kits look almost as good without anywhere near as much work. I guess it would depend of what tank you want to build. 

 

Gamera Your kit looks like a lot of work and your pushing through and doing a terrific job. After seeing yours and Dutchmans, also looking great, builds I am afraid to buy a Mini Art armor kit! I don't think I have the patience for it. I see me burning out in flames. Keep up the good fight, bud.  

bufflehead

jasper - welcome to the GB!  The Tamiya JS-2 is a great kit!  It builds up nice and easy and really needs no aftermarket parts to get super results!  If I recall, the link&length tracks had ejector pin marks on them that need to be cleaned up, but other than that its pretty much shake and bake!

Thank you!! I was afraid that my post had gotten missed because it had to be approved by a moderator. Once it was approved, it got posted at it's original time, and subsequently got buried under some more recent messages.

I finished up the suspension, road wheels, etc. on the JS-2. I haven't looked at the track links yet but hope to start tackling those this weekend. I've never done link and length tracks before (in fact, never completed an armor kit before!) but I'm looking forward to the challenge!

Hi Jasper that is a nice kit i Hope to see some pics 

Jasper: Welcome and sounds like a cool kit! Love the JS-II, what a friggin' brute of a tank!!!

Griffin: Thanks. But to be honest I don't think I'm building anymore MiniArt kits for awhile. Even the most complex Dragon and AFV Club kits aren't the kind of work this thing is!

It's great to see some new people joining the build and everyone's progress. I havnt been getting much done but I have been piddling around with the Ethiopian crew figures. I'm trying to have them look like they don't have official government issued uniforms just what they threw together themselves which is what I get out of my research. I'm not sure about the boots but I'm saying it's Soviet surplus. Buy one T-55 get two used pair of boots..... Freeeee

 

 

Gamera

Ernest: I like Tamiya quality but yeah those aftermarket tracks and sprockets are a big friggin' improvement! 

And thanks, yes the MiniArt kit. Embaressed I haven't gotten much more done, I needed a rest after all that tiny PE on the one fender. And I still have to do the other one.... 

 

Gamera, so I decided to look at the MiniArt T-44 kit in my stash and was totally surprised that its the same kit as yours.....WITH the interior!!  Yikes!!  I could have sworn it was the exterior only kit!

What was I thinking buying this kit?? 

Griffin: Those are looking really good. Nice work! 

Ernest: Don't get me wrong, it's a good kit. Just not the relaxing simple build I could probably use right now.

I'm thinking of pulling out a good ol' Tamiya one after I finish this just to decompress. 

Jasper

 

bufflehead

jasper - welcome to the GB!  The Tamiya JS-2 is a great kit!  It builds up nice and easy and really needs no aftermarket parts to get super results!  If I recall, the link&length tracks had ejector pin marks on them that need to be cleaned up, but other than that its pretty much shake and bake!

 

 

 

 

Thank you!! I was afraid that my post had gotten missed because it had to be approved by a moderator. Once it was approved, it got posted at it's original time, and subsequently got buried under some more recent messages.

I finished up the suspension, road wheels, etc. on the JS-2. I haven't looked at the track links yet but hope to start tackling those this weekend. I've never done link and length tracks before (in fact, never completed an armor kit before!) but I'm looking forward to the challenge!

 

OK D, back to the bench for the moment.

I cut out the silhouette from hard Styrofoam for the water base and created small swells using a lighter and cut out the small wakes. This doesn’t need to be much, just enough to divot the Styrofoam a little.

Then using medium acrylic gel and wet strips of paper I applied the strips to the base.

Once this is all dry I’ll add some more gel over the base and sides.

Jasper  At my Centennial IPMS Christmas party I stole a Trumpeter IS-II after having my helo stolen. Ended up swapping it for a HobbyBoss French 4x4 Milan VBL (i do A LOT of warwheels). I do have an option to swap it back from a future stash item.

Even though i prefer the lighter green (OTS BA-6) over the darker green on my BA-10, i think i am not going to overspray it. I have a BA-6 for a later contest i will do as a Spanish Civil War Republican vehile with red and yellow turret stripes and use the lighter green on it. 

should have BTR primed this weekend and will check on bleached UN decals. i am pretty sure all my 1/35 modern BdW trucks have UN decals. i may steal from them and do it in UN white. 

modelcrazy

OK D, back to the bench for the moment.

I cut out the silhouette from hard Styrofoam for the water base and created small swells using a lighter and cut out the small wakes. This doesn’t need to be much, just enough to divot the Styrofoam a little.

 

Then using medium acrylic gel and wet strips of paper I applied the strips to the base.

Once this is all dry I’ll add some more gel over the base and sides.

 

What a great looking kit and I love the way you are going to present it. That looks just the right size base/body of water to not overwhelm the center piece. Great work bud. 

Sailing_Dutchman

My Friulmodel tracks arrived today, so I am taking a break from painting to build the suspension.

 

Those Friuls are going to really make that SU 85 come to life I'm thinking. That's a hulk of a vehicle and the Friuls are going to do it justice. 

That's what I am hoping, this is my first thime using them and I am not quite sure how it will turn out.

This build is my first time using them as well. It's a bit of work but I found it enjoyable to build them for some reason. They are so realistic and have gravity to them. 

modelcrazy - can't wait to see the end result of your little water based vignette! 

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

I've pretty much completed the lower hull on the JS-2...

question for you armor experts.. the part in front of the drive sprocket, I assume this is to clear mud and debris? I had heard once about Russian armor having something that was attached to the hull that kept the track pins in place. However this does not look like it would be in the proper position for that type of purpose.

I started working on the upper hull earlier today, up until I spilled a bottle of plastic-weld on my workbench. No casualties aside from half the contents of the bottle and my pride.. along with maybe a couple of brain cells from the fumes. I'm gonna grab some of the kids' Legos and make a holder.

bufflehead

If I recall, the link&length tracks had ejector pin marks on them that need to be cleaned up

WOW! you weren't kidding. I took a look at the tracks before starting the upper hull. A lot more ejector pin marks than I expected (4 per link!). Is this common on link & length tracks? Any tips on an easy way to take care of them? I've seen white out pens used on seems before, might give that a try.

Making some headway I see. Good job. Looks like a nice kit. I like the color of the plastic. It will help in the painting and weathering process. Beats grey or tan. Wish I could help with your question but I'm sure there are more knowledgeable people than me that will answer it. 

Steve: That looks awesome!

Dutchman & Wayne: Sounds really cool, looking forward to the photos.

Jasper: Looks good! I think the prog thing was for clearing mud and the 'pin knocker thingee' was a wedge looking thing mounted on the hull where it would brush the tracks as they went by. I am no expert though and don't take my word for it. Most link tracks aren't quite that bad but I'm not sure there's any way to tell how bad till you open the box and look.

Jasper - The JS-2 is looking good!  Yep, you and Gamera are correct in that those devices in front of the sprockets are for clearing out mud and debris.  It was the T-34 and SU tanks that had the device to knock pins back in place.  It was just a metal hump welded to the hull...on the Dragon T-34 kits you have to glue those in place.  Not sure if they were used on the KV series, but I think the tracks on the IS/JS series didn't need it.

As for the ejector pin marks, I've also heard that white out can work, depending on how deep the recess is.  Standard fix is to use some form of putty.  I tried using thick CA glue, like the gel type, and it seems to work pretty well too....just a lot of sanding required.  I have a special tool for sanding small areas like that so that the surrounding area doesn't get deformed from all the sanding.  Its an electric toothbrush with the bristles cut off and replaced with a sprue stub with sandpaper superglued onto the flat surface:

Does an amazing, quick sanding job....if you don't mind the cost of the toothbrush!

Oh, and I totally hear you on the spilled plastic weld!! I've spilled enough myself that I finally made a spillproof holder from a mayonaisse jar lid, fishing sinkers, molding epoxy and a small length of PVC pipe.  I had all of these laying around so fortunately it didn't cost me anything.  Maybe this will give you an idea for your anti-spill holder!!

Hey Ernest, your toothbrush sander is freaking brilliant!! Going to have to do that.  I have heard of gluing a piece of cardboard to the bottom of a glue jar, but I think your solution is better.  Now where did I put that extra pvc?

Steve, watching your build with keen interest.  Have not done any dios, and this will be invaluable at some point!  As mentioned earlier, your water dios are incredibly well done.

ManCityFan

Hey Ernest, your toothbrush sander is freaking brilliant!! Going to have to do that.  I have heard of gluing a piece of cardboard to the bottom of a glue jar, but I think your solution is better.  Now where did I put that extra pvc?

 

Dwayne, I can't take credit for the toothbrush sander.  Read about it a few years ago either on these forums or in the Finescale magazine itself!

Alrighty!  Here's an update on the Tamiya T-62.

Those resin wheels took a bit to clean up, but they look so nice!  The set even included two different size spacers for the wheel shafts and one size fit the Tamiya kit perfectly (must have been designed for Tamiya kits).  Installed on one side:

The rest of the tracks assembled rather quickly.  The links had pin marks, but they were raised and easy to slice off and clean up.  Somehow I lost quite a few connector pins so I had to use wire to connect some of the links.  I'll figure out a way to fix the ends so they match the rest of the links.  The size of resin idler caused the tracks to sag too much so I went with the kit idler which is a bit larger....tracks looking good!

I did some work on the upper hull.  That molded on shovel is a holdover from olden days....I ground it down with a Dremel and sanded it smooth.  Not sure if I'll replace it though...I might cover that area with something else.

The kit comes with a piece of black nylon mesh to use on the engine deck.  Uhhh.....no. These are notorious for being hard to glue in place.  I replaced it with some generic photoetched mesh.

I'm replacing the kit turret with a resin one from MB Models, but the turret race is too small for the hull opening.  I simply cut the appropriate sized hole in a sheet of styrene and glued to the hull from underneath.  Now the turret will have a perfect fit.

Here are the two kits with the upper hulls dryfitted in place!  Amazingly the T-62 is larger than the JS-3!  You can see where I removed the molded shovel.

I'm hoping to get most of the work on both hulls done this weekend.

Gamera -  Thanks. This must be an older kit as some of the sprue attachments are rather thick on the grab rails. I broke one of the headlight brackets but was able to fix it. The silver on the left side is to check on the fill in slots for the brackets that were not on the Ukrainain BTR. Usually it is one step but sometimes i get a seam that does not want to filll in and sand. 5 fills and sandings later and i finally got it but that canceled priming in the garage. Sunday is snow and cold so it may be a figure and acrylic paint day on other builds in the bunker.

BTR-70 TO PRIME (2) 

BTR-70 TO PRIME (1)