Lots of scribing and texturing

My friends, the running gear has been successfully snapped off and re-glued into correct position. But another tedious task was scribing! Yes, there are the obligatory weld lines (the turret has some CRAZY welding!), but also some of the panel lines are strangely reproduced as raised details, for example, the entire engine deck. This isn't a limitation of the technology, rather a very strange creative decision. I simply didn't like it, so I rescribed what I could. 3D printing resin is actually a very good material for scribing, but when it comes to removing details such as bolt heads, it's very brittle and it's easy to damage the surface.

I also fixed the distorted turret basket with a strip of copper - a pretty simple yet effective solution! 

Texturing on the cast parts was done by adding imperfections with a rotary tool, then stippling very small amounts of acrylic wood putty and finished off with Tamiya putty. I noticed how the wood filler creates very nice and gnarly textures as I was working on the JP diorama and thought it could be used for cast metal as well. The rolled steel plates were done in the usual manner 😊 Because resin doesn't get attacked by modelling cement, the putty had to be stippled more than usual. On the other hand, it's easily removed from unwanted spots. Also, the acrylic putty underneath keeps everything "alive" for much longer, so I'm letting it all dry overnight before I smoothen the surface with a sanding sponge.

Lastly, this resin is weird. As I said in the first post, the tracks have a very tight fit. Well, after I washed the model in water (not hot, not even warm), they became loose! As if the resin got softened with freaking water! Luckily they returned back to their regular "consistency"! I was this close to supergluing the entire running gear to the hull because it's giving me nothing but grief 😆 But let's hope it's gonna be alright from now on.

Next step: adding weld beads and various details made from wires.