nightshiftmodeller

How about that

Painting has begun, and even though the mine rollers seemed like the least fun part, I decided to start with them. 

Everything was sprayed with black Mr. Surfacer, this was very important because it'll help to establish fake shadows in those tight places (and there's a lot of them!), and as a small test, I sprayed the metal tracks with mahogany primer. I think it's a pretty good base coat for subsequent mud weathering! 

So, paints. I only managed to lay down some sort of...

Back to modelling!

My friends, holidays are over, I hope you had a great time and found something sweet under the tree! 

It was nice to take a few days off and just focus on family stuff, presents, movies, a couple of hikes etc. but now it's back to business! I just finished a video about primers, paints and thinners today and tomorrow I'll start painting the BMR-3. I also completely cleaned up and reorganized my workbenches and stash... there was a lot of stuff to throw out - old dried up paints, em...

Early video

Second and last Q&A of this year, enjoy my friends and again Merry Christmas! 

And we're ready for PAINTS!

My friends, it's all done and ready. I have honestly no idea how I'm going to paint this thing, especially how I'm supposed to handle the mine roller arms while airbrushing them 🤣

One thing I know for sure: it'll be green, there will be a ton of post shading, different tones of green and olive, a lot of pre-weathering, very little chipping, and loads of mud and natural debris. 

I'll try to complete the video tomorrow so it'll be all out of the way before Christmas. Now her...

This thing is just massive

And it's almost done! I just need to finish the mine plow (or plough?), add the electric cables and do some final adjustments here and there. 

The mine roller assembly is a model on its own and it's just huuuge! There were more weld beads on this part than the rest of the model 😆

Also, the model is so long... at this point I'm starting to doubt the original vignette idea. This one might be better off without a scenic base, not only because it would be massive, but awkwardl...

3D printing thread

Alright, let me write down all that I've learned in the past week or so. 

First, 3D printer choice. If you're on the market, definitely look for printers with mono screens instead of the old RGB. They print 3-4x faster. If possible, get one with dual rail Z-axis which is more stable and will prevent layer shifting, which was a common issue on my old Photon. Most printers will have this mentioned as a feature so it's not a hidden secret you'll be looking for. I bought the Photon Mon...

There's only one major thing left!

And that's of course the mine roller! 

But first, let me say sorry for not being too active for a few days. I didn't feel very good over the past couple of days and I spent most of the time resting. But it's all better now so I'm back at the workbench. 

There's not much to say about the rest of the build, the side skirts were assembled without any modifications except the subtle rubber texture which will give them a slightly different look once they're painted. I also gl...

Early video

Time to get into that proper holiday mood 😁⛄️❄️

New nerd corner 😁

My friends, I finally got rid of that old worn casting couch that was in the corner of my, I guess I can call it studio now 😅I didn't know what I'd like to put there instead, one thing was sure - something functional. I ended up with this, looks like it was taken in a hobby store 😆

But damn, I feel like it'll be the perfect backdrop for vlogs and talking head videos. I'd like to get a few more of those black fabric "drawers" so I can have everything diorama-related in one place an...

This is the busiest model ever

My friends, the details are piling up and there's still a lot to add, it's insane! Even if you're building this thing out of the box you're still gonna have fun if complex models are your thing. 

It's also gonna be too complex to paint as a whole. I'm keeping the whole crane assembly removable - the main part on the roof and also the extended arm on the left fender. Those are quite obvious, however the more problematic part is the large storage box. Not only I want to add welds whe...

Some welds & lots of details

My friends, this kit takes tiny plastic details to another level, there's so many of them! But we're getting there, it's gonna start taking shape soon. Tomorrow I'll start adding all the stuff to the sides, like smoke dischargers, ERA blocks etc. 

I'm also kinda uncertain about the whole engine deck part because this huge mine roller storage rack is blocking quite a lot of it. I didn't want to keep it removable (except the highest part, I'm keeping that separate) because it has to ...

New project

My friends, after much deliberation on what the next model should be I decided to deliver on my promise to build a super modern AFV in 1/35th scale 😁

This is the result of today + a quick evening work on Friday. It's such a beautiful kit! I knew that it would be an OOTB build since there's no PE available for it, but damn the details are so nice. Even things you'd normally replace with wires are so well done, flash is non-existent and mold parting lines are extremely small. 

Early video

Jagdtiger diorama, and this project is officially over 😁

HD photos

Well my friends, proper pictures are here. This is one of those works which aren't supposed to be looked at from up close, something similar to small scale railroad dioramas, but I don't mind 😁

It might seem like this was a quick exercise in terrain modelling, and I'm not gonna say it wasn't 😊

The best thing is that this video marks the end of 2020 for me, as it'll come out on 25th. I'll take a break on the first week in January, so feel free to ask questions for another Pat...

Well. That was fast

My friends, it's actually done! Took exactly 2,5 days 😁 I'm sorry for not updating you yesterday, but truth be told there actually wouldn't be much of an update! What I had yesterday can be seen on the second to last photo... not much, I know. Needless to say I was spending way too much time with pointless stuff like post-shading the panzer grey base coat. Like, why?? I have no clue 😆

Ironically I feel like the StuG is the least interesting part of the scene, and that's saying som...

I guess we're ready for painting 😆

Well, that was fast 😄 1/100 scale has its benefits! 

Seriously, I spent like an hour assembling the StuG, and that was mainly because I devoted waaaay too much time to cleaning up all the mold lines, especially on the tracks and wheels. The only "improvement" was drilling out the gun barrel and exhausts. 

I guess it's obvious that I was more stoked about another vignette. This time I tried a different kind of foam which I bought a few weeks ago. When you cut it, it ha...

It's a real banger!

Hello friends, here's the super quick kit I'm gonna build now 😁 The Jagdtiger series is finally done (finished the last video yesterday), I cleaned both workbenches, so it's time for that quick weekend project! 

Check out how nice the details are for a 1/100 wargame kit. This one even has track detail on the inner side, something which I haven't seen yet on these simplified kits! Obviously it's not perfect, but it surpasses track details in other 1/100, even some 1/72 kits. ...

Early video

Hans... 😁

Ready to POUNCE!

Oh booooy, these pictures turned out real good 😁I made them slightly more dramatic - stronger contrasts, shadows etc. since the Jagdtiger was already photographed in a more authentic way on its own :) 

Also yeah, the first picture will also be a thumbnail for the video... gotta try it out :)  

I'm also including detailed photos of Hans just for your viewing (dis)pleasure lol... close up shots clearly show he's not that good of a figure and he looked much better on pho...

And we're done!

My friends, it's unbelievable, I know, but this project has reached its conclusion! Yes this was the most involved project I've done on Youtube so far... it was tough at times, but also fun, and most importantly, a big learning experience because there's a lot of things we haven't explored until now. 

So what did I do to finish the scene... well, obviously painted the sides, this is definitely the worst part of the entire vignette, the angles are all over the place because of my sa...

Wooden fence & other misadventures

Hello my friends, Patreon seems to be having some problems again because I can't scroll through posts and also it doesn't show me previews of the pictures I'm uploading here. I hope it all works okay on your end! 

So today's update is mainly about the fence and groundwork. I wanted to keep the fence in a natural color because if it was painted white, blue or any other color, there would be "too much" of it, if that makes sense. However when I used the same colors and methods like b...

Paints!

My friends, the base received some colors. The photos are in reverse order as usual 😊

I was able to spray the basic earth and grass tones and apply some quick enamel washes using the same colors used on the Jagdtiger. I'll be playing around with them more today, I'll also paint the loose stones, outline the track marks etc. 

Here's an interesting fact: if you base coat the whole thing with a dark color (Mahogany Surfacer in this case), it'll create fake shadows, adding a l...

Ready for painting, I guess?

My friends, I think the base is ready for painting, but it doesn't mean everything is in place - here's the thing. I've pretty much come to a point where I don't know what to add first, more foliage or more random garbage 😆 Static grass is all in place (I zapped myself with the applicator, holy shit it packs a punch, I literally felt my heart go into overdrive for a beat or two), note how I made a gradient from one corner to the other, it's way less dense in the lower right corner where sp...

Early video

Let's finish the Jagdtiger 💪💪💪

On today's episode of The More You Know...

My friends, the vignette is starting to take some shape...

There are several new things I tried, some intentionally, some not so much, so let's go through them: 

Softening the insulating foam with strong white spirit - this is fantastic if you want to shape the terrain or impress the model's tracks deeply into it, making sure it'll sit nice and tight. The Manger's White Spirit which I use softens it for a few hours, then it goes back to normal. Modelling specific thinner does...

Dirty Hans

Well my friends, I added some weathering on Hans so he would better fit on his muddy tank destroyer 😁

This was all done with acrylics (Vallejo Flat Earth and Light Mud) and it was a pretty nice experience. I can imagine using these to weather a model... like completely with acrylics. 

I didn't glue him to the model - luckily he holds in place without glue for whatever reason. Just in case I decide to not use him once the diorama is finished 😅 But I don't think that will...

Now I'm happy

So I tried a a slightly different approach in some places and as it turns out glazing is so much more efficient and also easier. You can just lay down strong lights and shadows and then  smooth them out with a glaze and the results are great. It worked especially well on the belt and pistol holster where I used Black Brown as a base coat, Flat Earth as a highlight and then blended it all together with a black glaze. 

Same thing with binoculars. I wanted to paint them yellow bu...

Early video

Hmmm, tree branches!

Now I'm the one who's not happy

The head is finished my friends. That makes me happy. However the uniform makes me very unhappy 😆 Well, not really of course. 

As it turns out, painting small areas such as the head with brushes is fun and efficient. But large surfaces like the rest of the body, that's the exact opposite! Not only it takes very long time to finish each pass over the whole uniform, but also the shading is getting more difficult in some cases. For example - adding large gradual highlights on the s...

Hans is not happy

My friends, it looks like something is bothering Hans. Is it the incoming Shermans? Did his Jagdtiger's transmission break again? Is it the way he looks? Who knows! 🤣Before I describe my experience with Hans, I apologize for being quiet for a few days. But I managed to edit both videos (I think they're slowly getting  better and better!) and also spend some time outside.

Anyway, here's the result of my first serious try. I haven't painted figures before this. The only ones I mad...