nightshiftmodeller

And she's ready!

My friends, I added the loose dirt, dried mud and everything, and I think the model is ready to be cast in resin! 

The inspirational photo shows the tank rather clean, I suppose this is due to heavy rains washing off most of the mud on the sides, but then again... not all WW1 tanks were completely covered in mud all the time! 

I tried to post-shade the mud just like on the diorama, but this resulted in a rather smooth, airbrushed look. Who would expect that, right? 😁 ...

Grimy, thirsty

My friends, the next step was streaking, griming, greasing, name it whatever you want to call it! 

The "lighter" streaks were done with AK Dark Streaking Grime. I don't even know why I decided to use that concoction, it's so much easier to paint fine streaks with oil paints. I guess so I could use it at least once before the paint deteriorates 😆 

The dark grimy runs around functioning parts are done with Shadow Brown 502 abt. oil paint. 

I also painted the ...

The act of rustification

My friends, finally a model where I don't have to hold back with rust effects! Because it's all shot-up, abandoned, rotting in water and all.... 😁

Of course, because there's so much rust, I tried to give the exhaust a different texture so I went with a white acrylic base coat, some dark brown chipping and both tones of enamel rust washes from Ammo. 

On the rest of the tank, I tried adding some subtle contrast between a few parts by blending a rusty gradient on neighboring ...

Early video

Oil paint rendering and rivet popping! 

HD photos

Some pin washing, rivet popping and detail painting :) Next up is rustification! 

So I managed the unmanageable

My friends, today I imported all video files on my computer and was shocked that all the footage capturing HOURS of work on pin washes, rivet popping and terrain painting was kinda... eh. Simply not enough interesting stuff for one video! But what should I do more that would add more valuable content? Something that can be managed in one day? The only logical thing that I should to next is chipping... so what now? Well... let's do it in one day! 

That's right. I mean, it's not perf...

Some rivet popping and terrain chipping

My friends, as if pin washing a WW1 subject wasn't tedious enough, try brush-painting every individual clump of earth on a bombarded landscape! 😆

But it wasn't just that, I also painted the barbed wire anchors, wooden poles, and the blown-up tree. This makes the scenery pretty much done and ready for all the loose accessories, and, of course, water. 

The tank has only one extra step added - I picked out the rivets with a lighter color of the base coat, mixed from Vallejos,...

Pin wash = endless task

My friends, if you hate pin washes, don't pick a WW1 subject! 

This simple technique is what I've been putting all my effort into during the past 3 days. 

Well, I've also applied some filters over the tank first! Some browns, dark browns, greys, ochres over individual panels, and voila, there's some very subtle variation and the tone has also changed into something more historically accurate! 

Washing the model = countless hours. Washing the flimsies and other...

Early video

HD photos

Everything's painted and base coated, it's time for some brush-painting stuff! 

Airbrushing done!

My friends, say goodbye to airbrush fumes, at least for this project :) 

From now on it'll be about washes, detail painting, weathering. Is it weird when the thing I'm looking the most forward to is the figure??? 

Also, as I mentioned at the beginning, my goal was a "low saturation" color scheme for the entire scene. I don't know if I succeeded, but I kept most of the colors rather dull. Looking back at the Mark IV paint job, I'm glad I went with Khaki, some dark yellow,...

Yup, I couldn't resist

My friends, although I wasn't planning for it, I couldn't help myself, so here's the airbrushed pinwash at it again! 

But hey, instead of using my homemade mix of black and brown Tamiya paints, I opted for the Ammo Shader Grime. I haven't used it since the Syrian T-55 but today I was much more comfortable with it! 

I purposely focused on the rivets, and rivets only. I think this gives a more balanced finish compared to every crevice, panel line and access hatch outlined ...

Posh shading at it again!

My friends, it feels like I've got my mojo back. 

Yesterday was pretty weird, because I didn't feel too good and I had to overcome one huge issue. I knew I ran out of black Mr. Surfacer, but what I didn't know that I'm also running out of the Mahogany one! So how the hell would I dark coat the entire scene? My first idea was to give everything at least a mist of the regular grey Surfacer and then paint everything black with Tamiya. I didn't want to waste such a good paint so I star...

Early video

Let's get this show on the road! 

Ready for the painting booth!

My friends, today I'll start airbrushing the entire scene! 🥳 

I only added the metal "pigtail" anchors for barbed wire and a shoulder strap for the Enfield rifle. Editing the video was a ton of work and I spent the last 2 days on that - never done a model + diorama build on such a scale before 😁 

I want to try "composing with color" because this is the perfect scenario - being able to paint the model and the groundwork at the same time. Basically, my idea is a gloo...

HD photos

Get ready for some eye-burning whiteness 😅 

It's headed to the painting booth today! 🥳

Getting that 1917 vibe...

My friends, I'm almost done with the basic construction. This weekend was full of family birthdays, but at least all the food was good for some creative thinking! And I could let the 3D printer run while I was away and the result are these sweet, sweet flimsy cans. Yeah, those are the same I modeled for the Crusader in 1/48th scale, but this time the results are day and night thanks to a better 3D printer (classic Photon vs Mono SE) and proper calibration. 

I also prepared some woo...

Groundwork... done?

My friends, it's weird when the groundwork is basically finished but it covers only about 20% of the diorama. 

But what's more interesting is the magic lightweight putty I used to create it, including the flooded areas! It's a foamy acrylic putty from Bergswerk (thanks Marco!) and it's excellent for groundwork. It's not sticky at all, so it doesn't mess up your tools, fingers, or models. Thanks to this, I was able to sink the Mark IV into it, hiding most of the uneven cuts - and I ...

A diorama is born!

Well, it's just a diorama fetus right now, but it already gives you a clear idea about the finished scene 😊 

First of all, thank you for being patient with me. I think my personal struggles are behind me, and despite not being able to focus on modelling at all over the past two days, today I was finally able to be productive, and more importantly, creative! This being a third, and final, composition of the scene should be a testament to that! 

I decided to break the r...

Some detailing and...

... I think it's ready for the diorama! What I love about this Tamiya kit is how well made it is. True, it's not as detailed as the ones from Takom, for example, the details under the tracks are completely missing, but overall, there's not much you could add to a WW1 tank that isn't already well replicated in the kit. 

Yes, the track guide rails are very simplified in my "version" - they should be L profiles riveted to the hull, mine are simple half-tube styrene strips, but hey, th...

Early video

Paint smart, not hard!

And it's cut in half 😱

My friends, I've added the shrapnel damage, cut the model in half (that was a funny series of misadventures and I captured them on video, lol), and let me tell you, it was painful! It physically hurt me to treat this beautiful kit in such a rough way... but it had to be done, for diorama purposes! 

I wasn't able to make a 100% straight cut, not even sand it flush, but I'll try "sinking" the model in lightweight acrylic putty when I'm building the scenery, and it should be fine (plu...

New projecto starto!

My friends, I ultimately decided against the AMX-50 vignette because I'd be forcing it real hard, but it only meant a start for a new project! And it's gonna be that WW1 diorama with water! 

Not much to report for now, I've been playing around with the basic hull construction and some minor detailing here and there. After all, I'll be cutting the model in half because it'll be submerged in water, but first I have to add some shrapnel damage to the sides and build the sponsons, so I...

HD photos

My friends, here's the finished figure, and, in fact the entire AMX-50B project! I decided that the scenic base would be very "forced" from my perspective, so the best course of action is to put it in a display case and move on to a new project. WW1 diorama, here we go! 

French bro is finished

My friends, our little friend over here is done and he can now proudly show off with that thicc oscillating turret behind him. 😁

I used the glazing base coating method on his skin tones as well. Same way as I did on the Jagdpanther crew, but this time I tried to keep the highlights at bay so he wouldn't look so pale. Glazing with more radical tones - blues on the stubble, reds on the cheeks, ears and eyes, greens on the temples, and yellow on the forehead, was also much easier when I...

Early video

Heavy mud treatment, here we go! 

Yup, this method is SO legit

My friends, I was never this excited about a figure painting technique before! 

I simply picked out the most washed out highlights with a more vivid tone, emphasized the shallower details that were too "weak" for an airbrush, outlined the details and the uniform was pretty much done!! 

This method also works on smaller details if they have enough definition - for example the "socks" or whatever they are were painted in the same way. Fast and easy! 

The black a...

This might be the real deal

My friends, another figure, another (new) technique. This time I decided to go with the standard black and white pre-shading, but instead of messing around with an airbrush, I went with GLAZES! 

Glaze, as you might know, is a very diluted paint, basically a filter. You can see the consistency of it on the cork base - the translucent stain on the right. Depending on what paints you're using, you might need to apply 3-10 layers to obtain a satisfying finish. On this one, I went with ...

Final touches

My friends, I've got the last details finished and the video is also ready! 

The final touches were just about polishing the metal edges, tools, and machine gun, and, of course, adding antennas made from 0.3mm copper wire. 

Now onto the figure! 

HD photos

All muddied up, the post-shading feels almost right :) Enjoy!