New model, let's go!

My friends, it's that sweet, sweet moment when you crack open a new kit, and it was the perfect start of the week 😁

I technically started last night when I did a quick Zimmerit test on my guinea pig SU-122. This one will have a square pattern, something between the MAN and MIAG patterns (MAN has large squares, MIAG lots of small ones, this one is something in between). I used Tamiya Epoxy Smooth Type putty and it's excellent for the task. It has the consistency of a modelling clay, it's very easy to spread into a thin layer and it dries very slowly. I could work with the Zimmerit for more than an hour without any issues! 

The model from Meng is very nice, but I have a few criticisms. Instead of giving us one-piece lower and upper hull, they break the tank into individual walls. That's nothing terrible, but it led to some fit issues on the roof plate. It was probably a mistake on my end, but it would never happen if the model was broken down into a more "traditional" layout. Luckily, most of this will be hidden as the roof was welded, which is quite an interesting detail! 

So far I did the basic assembly, removed some parts which will be replaced with photoetch, filled some locating holes, scribed the weld lines which are nice, but a little shallow if you want to rework them, added the armor texture and also had some extra time to add flame cut marks. Tomorrow I'll add the welds and it'll be ready for Zimmerit. The reason I decided to rework the welds even though most of them will be invisible is because a thin layer of Zimmerit needs an even surface. Welds are mostly flush with the surface on this tank and deep weld lines would affect the final look of the Zimmerit. 

I also added a "mount" for the Octopus M2M tool. I managed to find about a dozen nuts of the appropriate diameter in my garage, so I'm set for a year or two 😁