Not happy about the way the way the fender supports are not touching the hull, did not really notice this until obvious in the pictures - crap!

Will fix that somehow. Super glue to close the gap?

Yes superglue would work to close the gap. A less risky solution would be to dilute white glue with water. It dry's flat and can be removed with water and a Q-tip if you are not happy with the results.

Another solution is to camouflage the error with stowed gear, possibly a rag or tarp draped over the support. Its a common AFV solution to minor flaws.

And yes get the mud out! That KV attracts more mud than my 3 yr old son.

Zack: to fix the gap, I would do it fully and not compromise. Carefully remove it, add a plastic shim, sand it to match, re-attach and repaint.  A blob of super glue or white glue will look just like that, not a smooth piece of metal, IMHO.

Alternatively, detach them and mount them closer, making sure they abut the hull.  Follow up with new paint.

 But then, I'm crazy picky and maybe you may save yourself some sanity by ignoring me!  LOL

Zack,

Looks like a nice, clean build. Congratulations. If those fender supports were welded on, you would have a weld seam at the join. If so, you can easily address the gap by using some putty to simuate the weld seam. Of course, you would need to do that with each support, but if that is how it was done, then you should consider adding that feature anyway. If they were bolted on, or if you just don't want to bother with making little weld seams, then I think you could simply take something pointed, apply some super glue (CA) to the tip and carefully apply it to the end of the support. Gently push the fender up toward the hull for 15 seconds so the support touches it and that should solve it. Once you dirty up those spots, which would be bound to attract some dirt, I would think, it will never be noticed.

On the oil wash, I don't think you need to pour on spirits first. You should however, apply a coat of clear gloss. That will make sure the oil pigment mixed in with the spirits runs to the corners and crevices. Maybe dousing the model in spirits would do the same thing, but I would be concerned about the possibility of either having it evaporate before you apply your oil, which will then leave the oil sitting wherever you apply it, or diluting your oil pigment so much that lots of it runs off entirely.

Don't worry about the glossy appearance of your oil wash. You are going to want to hit the whole thing with a matte clear coat anyway. It seals everything you have applied and makes sure it doesn't rub off every time you handle the model. And that will pretty much take care of any unwanted sheen.

Barrett

Hi,

First off all: Thank you for taking your time, your support and kind comments!

SupressionFire: White glue is paper glue (wood glue) I guess?

Will see how that works out on the less obvioues areas fist, your suggetion is much appreciated!

A friend over at ModellBau suggested using wax, I guess I go with your suggestion before I start mixing in another media completely. 

And I will get more mud on the thing :)
Thank You!

Roy Chow: I get picky too, so fare in other areas of life, but this is just so fun.

It definntly grabbs you.I am grabbed!

These supports have to have been welded on. If not there would have to be a flange that would allow a set of bolts to the hull.

So I am going to go easy and do a weld seam. No clue how to do that but I will figure out :)

Thank You!

Barrett: Thank you for your kind comments! I thought I was way off :|

A.) Close the gaps in a way that would make sense from an engineering point of view.

B.) Clear coat to make sure the wash flows nicely.

... I noticed "The Doog" sugested adding a drop of dishwasching agent but that would be for an Acylic wash?

c.) Dont worrie about the gloss appeance off the Oil Wash, later dull coats will fix that!

Thank You! 

Party On!

Thank You for taking your time Friends!

Happy Modelling!

Zack

Pictures can be a good tool for finding mistakes. Almost like a second set of eyes. Good build so far. Bob

Zack,

I think Elmers white glue or its equivalent dries a little clearer than wood glue, but if you are going to paint over it, it probably doesn't matter. Making weld seams is pretty easy to do, just tedious. Apply a narrow line of putty and then use a flat tip, (I use the tip of a square-tip tweezer) to make shallow indents in the putty to replicate the uneven look of a weld seam. It's not an exact replica, but it looks pretty good to me. The biggest challenge in those tights spots you're going to be doing is getting the putty in that narrow confine without getting it all over the place. I recently found a plastic putty that comes with a long tip so you can control how much putty you're laying down, and where it goes. It's by Deluxe Materials, and it's called "Perfect Plastic Putty." Makes the job a lot easier. Others here can probably give you some better tips and recommend some things as well. Here's a picture of a weld seam I made on the vertical seam that runs up to the antenna. I wish I could give you a better closeup of it, but the camera on my phone isn't capable. :-( Best wishes, and enjoy.

Beautiful work there Zack, don't see many clean Soviet tanks but it helps show off the angles and lines of the vehicle. I wouldn't call the KV-I the most attractive tank I've seen but I do like the styling.

Good luck with the fender supports, lots of good advice here!

Hi Bob & Gamera,

Thank you for taking interest and your supportive comments!

Fixes are in place and I am trying washes now :)

@ Barrett, thank you for your suggestions!

I tried Cisco white wood glue but it sort of flakes off.

So I got myself some flexibly pipettes and a bottle of super glue.

End point of the felxible pipette is like .3 mm

So-so effective, the super glue is not gap filling really, but better then before.

First ever oil wash is on, it looks crap at the moment but I will learn ;)

Sorry for this late reply, bogged down with boring money making stuff :|

Happy Modelling

Zack

Hi again,

Here is an update for the KV-1.

Not completely happy with the result of the wash - this is Oil colour diluted in mineral spirit over Tamiya acrylics.

No protective clear cote.

Lessons learnt:

Finish the basis before applying the wash...

* pre & post shading

* skuffs, scrathes, worn metal and rust

* Decals and markings (need clear cote?) - big misstake!

Buy good quality Oil colour - this "noname" was dark brown on Monday and umber on Tuesday, the pigments segregated somehow in the bottle.

But hey - good fun anyway and - Ubung macht den Meister right ;).

And half of the supports are secured :)

Happy Modelling!

Zack

Congratulations, Zach, and lots of lessons learned for the next time, just like me. :-)

I like the look of the dusty color wash on the turret.

Lower portions around the tracks and running gear tend to be darker as they attract more earth & mud.

Another thing you can do is add wear to the steel road wheels, sprockets and return rollers. Even if painted the heavy tracks would wear it off before the tank left the factory! Most were not painted on the wear surfaces to save paint.

If the tracks can be removed it will be easy, if not just 'paint' them with a soft pencil, the flat paint will take the graphite - lead (if a vintage pencil) and you will like the results!

I would try a dot filter next time. Simply add little dots of different colors of oils and take a flat brush dipped in mineral spirits and simply brush up and down until the paint disappears. This should leave a streaking dirty look.

Well -  Thank you for your kind comments guys!

Thank you Barrett for taking your time and sharing your build.

@ SuppressionFire - I will use your advice - already have actually ;) and it looks much more interesting now!

Thank you for your tip tigerman - this looks to be the way to go on monochrome vehicles.

The local Arts Shop has a number of different brands, Winsor & Newton, Rembrandt and other less expensive ones - wow! expensive this stuff!

Will use an old StuG III from Dragons 39-45 series as pallett - should be fun...

Back to the bench ;)

Happy Modelling!

Zack

Thanks for your kind words, Zach. We are all learning from each other...well most of us are learning, I'm trying. :-) The Winsor & Newton is expensive, but one tube will last you for years. The weathering and detailing is where the real fun is for me. I can't get enamels or acrylics to behave as well as oils for washes, though. They want to cling too much to everything, and the oils wipe right off if you don't like what you did. They tend to darken the model some, though, and I don't like that.

#1 finished :)

Happy Modelling!
Zack

Hey Zack- looks good!

Yeah, I wouldn't worry too much about the price of oil paint - consider it an investment. I'm still using tubes I bought about twenty-five years ago, the stuff if kept capped and sealed never dries up!

Thank you Gamera!

I followed your advice and went with the Rembrandt line.

I will do the Stubborn E 12,8 in WH Tropical Scheme - this should be challenging enough for dot filters and oil washes  ;)

Happy Modelling

Zack