1/35 "Hell Hound" hover truck - Complete (for now...)

Well, I'm calling it done, at least for now. It's not weathered yet, I'm waiting to figure out what kind of display I want to do first, so I can avoid handling it once the powders and such go on.

After that, a final layer of Dullcote to seal it up and level out the color layers.

Have to ask. I got the impression that, (the way you worded, with all between these quotes) you were going to weather, after the dullcoat. Did I read that wrong?

Model Railroaders who use pastel chalks/powders to weather, dullcoat after, because the rolling stock "gets handled". There is a different procedure there, as dullcoating has a tendency to greatly reduce the weathering effect of powders, and the model has to be "overweathered", before dullcoating, to compensate.

(note to self) refer to this thread before painting, lots of good info here, and great looking paint job!! 

This is why I'm scared to get a tank kit, I can't do the weathering.  Mine would look like your base coat shot.  One of these days I need to stop being scared and try.

SG, the best way to try, is to start on something where success or failure is unimportant, as in some piece of junk like an old car kit, or something scrounged up at a garage sale, or even some toy, that has the kind of detail that represents "tank detail". Paint it, and then weather it. If it turns out "less than desirable".....strip it and repaint, or trash it and start with another. The beauty of this is that once you have developed the technique, you can go back and weather things you have already built, with less apprehension. 

I'm a "day or two" into model building, and I still look for new techniques, and materials, and I'm still willing to give them a try. Learning is living, when someone like Cosmic J documents the procedure from start to finish, take advantage of the "instruction", and try it! It's how we all get better at what we do. 

sumpter250 wrote:

Well, I'm calling it done, at least for now. It's not weathered yet, I'm waiting to figure out what kind of display I want to do first, so I can avoid handling it once the powders and such go on. After that, a final layer of Dullcote to seal it up and level out the color layers. Have to ask. I got the impression that, (the way you worded, with all between these quotes) you were going to weather, after the dullcoat. Did I read that wrong? Model Railroaders who use pastel chalks/powders to weather, dullcoat after, because the rolling stock "gets handled". There is a different procedure there, as dullcoating has a tendency to greatly reduce the weathering effect of powders, and the model has to be "overweathered", before dullcoating, to compensate. (note to self) refer to this thread before painting, lots of good info here, and great looking paint job!!

Uhm, yes. I always weather after the final application of Dullcote.

I weather my models by using Tamiya paint that has been heavily diluted, then airbrushed on the lower parts of the vehicle (or whatever). Then I use pastel chalks to somewhat exaggerate the effect.

Now on occassion I've had Dullcote react badly w/ Tamiya colors.They get glossy and kinda pasty looking. In the Testor's technical manual, they say you shouldn't spray Dullcote over Tamiya paints. It doesn't always happen I'm sure, but it has to me twice, so now I don't risk it.

Normally, I never handle a model after I weather it. Usually, I attach it to it's base, and then just handle the base from there on out. With this particular model, I intend to put it in a sealed plastic display case to protect it from dust and whatnot, but until then I'll be handling it periodically, and I don't want to accidentally leave fingerprints all over it.

 Does that make any sense?

Thank you for your compliments. I really appreciate it.

 

Does that make any sense?

Absolutely! I assumed using a display ruled out any further "touching/handling" of the model, and it also sets the rule for what kind of "weathering" will be used ( dust, mud, color fading from sunlight, etc.) but you know what they say about assuming, so I had to ask.  I don't use many Tamiya paints, so I'm greatful that you mentioned how they sometimes react with dullcoat. . . I use dullcoat a lot! BTW that model looks good enough to demand a protective environment, good to hear that you intend on providing that.

psstoff995 wrote:

Cosmic J wrote: Hmm... looks like there's a lot of room, and plenty of attachment point looking thingers in there. If it doesn't I'm sure some styrene and spare parts could dress it up nice enough to open the doors. The 8th MS series has quite a few episodes that spend a good bit of time with the "camera" in there, plenty of reference at least.

It doesn't do you much good at this point, but over on Michael Fitchenmayer's blog he has a series of articles about building the hovertruck as part of a diorama, showing the interior he built into his. From the few images I've found so far for reference to use (admittedly, only a couple hours' looking), it's a "looks good enough through the doors" interior, rather than a serious attempt to model the interior accurately -- which would be an exercise for the completist given the limited sight angles into the vehicle, even with everything opened up. But it does show what could be done with it.

sumpter250 wrote:

Absolutely! I assumed using a display ruled out any further "touching/handling" of the model, and it also sets the rule for what kind of "weathering" will be used ( dust, mud, color fading from sunlight, etc.) but you know what they say about assuming, so I had to ask.  I don't use many Tamiya paints, so I'm greatful that you mentioned how they sometimes react with dullcoat. . . I use dullcoat a lot! BTW that model looks good enough to demand a protective environment, good to hear that you intend on providing that.

You're welcome. I hear what your saying about Dullcote, I used up a whole can on this kit. I love the stuff.

Another heads-up: I've also had Dullcote mess w/ Archer dry transfers, melting them a little.

Thanks for the compliment.

srmalloy wrote:

psstoff995 wrote:  Cosmic J wrote: Hmm... looks like there's a lot of room, and plenty of attachment point looking thingers in there. If it doesn't I'm sure some styrene and spare parts could dress it up nice enough to open the doors. The 8th MS series has quite a few episodes that spend a good bit of time with the "camera" in there, plenty of reference at least. It doesn't do you much good at this point, but over on Michael Fitchenmayer's blog he has a series of articles about building the hovertruck as part of a diorama, showing the interior he built into his. From the few images I've found so far for reference to use (admittedly, only a couple hours' looking), it's a "looks good enough through the doors" interior, rather than a serious attempt to model the interior accurately -- which would be an exercise for the completist given the limited sight angles into the vehicle, even with everything opened up. But it does show what could be done with it.

 

LOL! I just saw that this week. Man, he does good work. And fast too.

The interior can definitely be spruced up. All the upper hatches can be left movable, making for some interesting display options. I'm surprised there have been no aftermarket interior sets made for this kit yet.

There are some things I would do different if I built another one of these:

A) Add some detail in the cockpit and turret housing, and leave some of the hatches and doors open.

B) Get the headlights correct. During assembly, I decided to use MV lenses for the headlights, but when I drilled them out, I drilled out the wrong side of the fixtures. I then compounded the error by gluing them to the wrong sides, making my headlights both backwards and upside down. This causes them to angle inward too much.

C) I'd glue the sides of the engine covers together, and fill in the seam between them. They don't quite match on the kit, and the difference is noticeable. You can see what I mean in the lower-left quadrant of this image:

D) Stencils, stencils and more stencils. My Ma.K.s always have a ton of little warning markers, maintenance instructions, etc. all over them. This kit just cries out for that treatment.

E) More weathering. It's a truck after all. Trucks are supposed to be beat up.

Who knows? In the future I might revisit this kit, and make a few changes.

Starting on this kit this week, thanks a lot for posting all of this information !

Hey when you say stencils do you mean those warning aren't all decals?  I think a sheet of different stencils to paint on would be cool. 

cthulhu77 wrote:

Starting on this kit this week, thanks a lot for posting all of this information !

Yer welcome! Please post pix of your results. If you have questions you'd like to ask me, please feel free.

SkullGundam wrote:

Hey when you say stencils do you mean those warning aren't all decals?  I think a sheet of different stencils to paint on would be cool.

Yup, all those little warning markers they cover aircraft w/. I've been putting them a lot of my recent builds, and I like how they look.

They have them as decals, but I've been using these dry transfers from Crossdelta lately.

http://www.hlj.com/product/CRSMK20001

http://www.hlj.com/product/CRSMS10001B

They have them in different colors (black, white, grey, red) and scales too (1/100 and 1/60).