nightshiftmodeller

Ready for painting!

My friends, the Ferdinand has passed the final inspections and it's now ready for a fresh coat of camouflage paint! :D

In other words, I added all those tasty grime effects all over the model and finished the running gear. Again, acrylic dust effects might've become my new favorite thing, and they get along so well with grease stains painted with oils. This time I used Sepia and Engine Grease from 502 Abt., and Engine Grease is especially interesting because it's glossy and translucent...

It's gotten a bit dusty!

My friends, I finished painting the details (and tracks!), and added some dust... with acrylics!

Now, there's the obvious question - why would a factory fresh tank awaiting a layer of paint get dusty? Well, the reference photos show that the tank was really filthy. You can see spots of dust all over it (pretty thick in some places) and it's also covered in stains of oil and grease. But I didn't get that far yet! :)

My theory is this: it's possible that they drove each vehicle fo...

Some extra work done!

My friends, here we are with a pin wash, some work on the chalk markings, and a few details painted.

In my very humble opinion, the best wash for oxide red is black or black-brown because it gives it a grimy, factory-like feeling. Funny enough, it didn't make such a huge impact here because of the intense pre-shading!

The decals were fun to integrate. I mixed an oxide red color very similar to the base coat using oil paints, diluted it down a little, and used speckling to apply ...

The most decals I've ever done!

My friends, the decals are done and I'm very happy about that! They were very easy to apply. The carrier film is very thin and it reacts beautifully to softening solutions! Luckily, VMS Decal Softener is pretty aggressive, so all I had to do was brush it over the decal and let it do its magic. No touching! The entire decal would nicely sink into the rough steel texture. Worst case scenario - I had to brush it twice. But no stippling or other brute force was required.

Some of the decals...

Basic colors on!

My friends, here's the pre-shaded surface covered with the basic color shades. The irony of this technique is how you spend 8-10 hours messing around with black and white, and then about 30 minutes with the red primer.

Now, obviously, the model is extremely shiny because I added about 50% of gloss varnish into each color for extra translucency. It also creates the perfect surface for the decals! Oh yeah, the oxide red recipe is 8 parts Flat Red, 1 part Flat Brown, 1 part Deck Tan. All...

Black and white!

My friends, the pre-shading is finished. This is the so-called Black and White Technique developed by Jose Luis Lopez.

It has quite a lot of applications, and it's basically the same method as figure painting, just adapted to armor.

I'd say it's excellent for single color base coats and for people who are not very confident with mixing their own colors for post-shading. Here you're just working with black and white, so the process is very straightforward.

There are some a...

HD photos

Just a set of studio photos before the model receives some paint. Again, the superstructure is just dry-fitted for the time being, and it creates that ugly gap in the back :)

Ready for paints!

My friends, I wish every PE set was as simple and straightforward as this one from Eduard!

Okay, it's not the most detailed one out there, in fact, it somehow misses the important hooks for tow cables on the sides of the hull, but I was able to build them from the leftover PE sprues.

But the real treat was the fenders. I was worried that soldering would be required, and that I'd had to assemble them fully and only then attach them to the model, but that couldn't be further from ...

And the only thing remaining...

... is the photo-etch! My friends, the build has progressed steadily, and all the important details are in place.

The Friul tracks were the usual ordeal, but I didn't have to drill out anything. A set of firm tweezers and pliers was enough to do the job and push the 0.4mm copper wire through the openings. It took a good few hours, but still, they feel and look good on the model!

The remaining details from the kit were glued in place as well. The hatches on the roof are just as b...

Welded and armed up!

My friends, Ferdinand has been progressing steadily until a certain point. I did all the major welding in one day, then focused on the running gear and then on some of the details that also needed additional welding.

The running gear is recreated as fully functional, but some aspects aren't executed in the best ways. For example, the road wheels are so clunky that it's easier to glue them firmly to the bogies. Also, the bogies themselves, while they move like on the real vehicle, are ve...

Off to a good start!

My friends, I started assembling the Ferdinand yesterday and so far it's been a fun model. After a long time, I was able to ignore the construction steps and focus on the main body of the vehicle. There are lots of weld lines that had to be re-scribed with chisels, and some welds that weren't even represented in the kit! Those are located on the lower rear plate.

I also added the basic steel textures with a combo of Tamiya putty and Mr. Cement S. These were gently polished with a spong...

Early video

This one might have the best bloopers so far, enjoy!

It’s settled!

My friends, sleep did help, and also the realization that the summer is here and that calls for something not overly complicated.

So we’ll finally paint oxide primer, make a factory fresh tank, explore the black & white technique, and try a minimalistic factory diorama 😁

Onto the next project!

My friends, the bike workshop facade is already hanging on my staircase wall, and I can clean the studio and start working on the next model! This time we'll go back to WW2, but I'm not yet sure which tank should it be. I have 3 candidates picked out, so I guess I'll decide in the morning :) Either way, the next project will be something fresh and something we haven't done yet!

HD photos

My friends, these might be the best outdoor photos I've taken so far! Shot on a balcony at my parents' house where I waited for the sun to peek out from the clouds! :D Video tomorrow!

Finished!

My friends, I finished the facade on Thursday, but then I was suddenly struck by a nasty sickness on Friday morning, leaving me with my head in the toilet bowl for two days and a visit to the ER on Sunday. It's strange that these things keep happening to me pretty much annually, but it is what it is.

But the finishing touches were really fun. I painted a lot of the loose elements on the ground during the earlier stages. For example, the bricks and roof tiles were painted along with the...

Almost there!

My friends, this is that moment where every component of the model turns into a model on its own.

The window was a small project, and the second floor was quite a lot of work!

What I find funny (and fun) is the randomness and chaotic nature of each plank - I chose the wooden upper floor as the demo subject for the video (the rest was done off-camera), but I quickly realized that there's no universal step by step guide for painting old wood, it all depends on the effect you're ai...

Finally, some good mortar lines!

My friends, I finished the barn door and the enameled signs are such a wonderful detail! And they’re such a pleasure to weather! The while door is pure happiness condensed into a small model on its own 😊

But the real win this time are the mortar lines. I think I finally nailed the look of spilled mortar. Each one was meticulously sculpted from acrylic wood putty, applied and shaped with a tiny brush. I then added a couple of enamel washes to add shadows around them, and white acryl...

One bigger project

My friends, here's a brand new Hobby Zone modular workbench that kept me occupied for the entire day yesterday... and for a few hours today as well!

My old drawers (MOPPE by Ikea) were great and compact, but they weren't so good for organization. The drawers were tall and I had all kinds of stuff piled on top of each other in them. Now I have all the tools thematically organized - for example, there's a drawer with wires and wire benders, another with hobby blades, another one with san...

Barn doors!

My friends, just a mini update before I go… had a lot of fun with these barn doors! But they’re not 100% finished yet. Some more rust and a few enameled signs… soon 😊

PS. the best part? No airbrush needed! Not even for the VMS chipping fluid. It brushes beautifully!

Moar wood... now with some paints!

My friends, I've been on a bit of a painting frenzy over the past couple of days. To make a long story short, I've applied a base coat to almost everything (except the metal details, really).

Now, how about a different wood painting technique... in all the previous cases, I started with acrylics over a white base coat, and then continued with inks. What if I told you that this method is much easier than that? And it's done with oils!

It's basically the same thing as an oil dot f...

Ready for paints and the metal signs arrived as well!

My friends, today I finished the construction and that includes the preparation of some accessories that will lay on the ground. Probably not all of them, but it's good to prepare some extras just in case.

The whole facade is easy to break into sub-assemblies: the main wall, barn door, ground floor window, the boarded up panel of the window, the wooden attic, the lamp, and, of course, the ground and all the clutter associated with it.

But it was the arrival of my custom enameled...

Some exquisite wood

My friends, we already saw on the Sherman that making wood from styrene is fun and effective. But subjects like this barn allow you to truly go to town with textures and various states of decay.

And it's always satisfying to know that most of it is made from a single sheet of styrene! The process is straightforward: cut out the shape, mark and scribe the individual planks, add damage with a hobby knife, add the wood grain texture with a metal brush, enhance the splintered wood at the e...

Another passion project!

My friends, as I was finishing the WH tank, I was becoming obsessed with another facade mainly because I discovered new materials that are real game changers.

The first one, the one used on this facade, is called Forex. It's a lightly expanded/foamed PVC that's very similar to plastic sheets, but it's more malleable. Something between styrofoam and Evergreen sheets. This allows us to create very intricate details that would otherwise be impossible with other materials. In this case, th...

Early video

Enjoy some sci-fi! :)

Final pictures

Here it is, my friends, a CAT dozer/Warhammer tank thing :D Enjoy!

I think that settles it!

My friends, I'm so glad to report that the Sicaran tank is finished. The last few days were all 10+ hour sessions at the workbench because damn, even if the weathering is somewhat simplified, it's so much work when the model is big.

I gotta say that I kinda deviated from my original plan with the weathering, but I'm not complaining. One would call it a project that takes you on a journey, someone else might call it a failure of your original vision :D I guess each one of us can put it ...

Finally ready for earth effects!

My friends, in the end, I combined that realistic and stylistic style on this model. Not just with the basic painting effects such as post-shading, but also with the main body of the tank and its armament. The side-mounted guns are really cool and full of details, so I picked them all out with different textures and shading. Basically, the same way a Warhammer miniature would be painted, but then I gave them some rust effects here and there.

Some of these surfaces give the model a very...

Washes and some details

My friends, the tank is in the process of detail painting! 😁

The washes were so much fun. I used a wash for German Yellow and a Dark Umber wash for the deep shadows and panels. The post-shading helped a lot! It just works so great with washes.

I didn’t have enough energy to finish painting all the details with acrylics, but after these are done I’ll hit the model with rust colored oil paints. As an example, the light colored exhausts are a preparation for the rust treatmen...

The longest spraying session so far!

My friends, I dropped off the grid for several days because I was very busy with airbrushing... and I wanted to present you the finished base coat that's ready for some enamel, oil, and acrylic treatment!

The thing is... the tank looks weird, and painting it in unusual colors makes it look even weirder :D It was hard to get used to the whole thing after I finished the hairspray chipping, so I decided to power through the process and apply some post-shading and a quick layout of the wea...