nightshiftmodeller

Big Pics!

Here we go gentlemen! 

This is gonna be a long video - over 20 minutes, but it's a total BANGER! The new light setup helped so much, it's gonna be day and night compared to previous videos. Also these photos were shot on my workbench, not in the light tent I was using before. They're probably not as dramatic as before, but they're more consistent with what's shown in the video, so overall I think it's a win win. 

Not to mention this new setup will allow me to photograph ...

More rust!

Okay, the turret is done (I mean, the rust is done) and the model is ready for some detail painting! 

I also quickly added some rust on the tracks, this was done by simply drybrushing them with Lifecolor Dark Rust and now it acts as a base coat (along with pre-dusting) for actual weathering effects. 

But now I feel it's a good time to wrap this all up in a video. I want to make this series shorter because the model won't be anything spectacular, but I got a little carrie...

Getting a little rusty

Evening gents,

so today was super productive, I actually managed to chip the ENTIRE tank 😱and also apply the rust effects on the hull. My back was getting a bit sore towards the end so I decided to finish the turret tomorrow. 

Tanks get beaten up like crazy in Syria, even these new ones, but of course I'm taking some liberties here and I'm actually using another T-90 as a loose reference for the chipping and rust. And yeah, I wasn't going for the best chipping job ever, yo...

Rubber... and the real thing...

Evening gents,

today was a typical weekend day, so I took a small break and did some stuff around the house, enjoyed the sun, the usual stuff... 

At least I managed to chip the side skirts - hopefully it'll be clear now that they're made from rubber  😄 And while I had that color mixed I also painted the wheels and some small surface details. Tomorrow I'd like to paint the steel chips and once those are done I should probably wrap it up into another video. 

...

El Progresso

It was another busy day! 

Finished the wash on the turret (damn that took like 4 hours!) and then I went ahead and started the chipping process. T-90 is made of various materials, so I began with aluminum. Because I don't have any good brush-ready color for this effect I had to do it in 2 steps, first with a very light grey Vallejo paint (I actually tried mixing Oily Steel and White, but the result was just light grey) and then went over the biggest chips with Chrome Silver from MR...

Early video

Here we go gentlemen, muddy Tiger tracks

I'll be back with more updates in the evening!

https://youtu.be/jXUAs_4Y8hI

Wash... and a lot more!

Good evening! 

So today was kinda productive... let's take it step by step:

1. some details painted with a very thin layer of different Lifecolor olive and green paints

2. markings (these seem to be hand-painted serial numbers, or shipping numbers when these tanks were sent to Syria)

3. satin varnish

4. textured earth (yes really!)

5. pre-dusting with buff (yes really! Like I mentioned, trying a little different, hopefully more efficient approach here....

MEGA texture

So I was able to lay down the base coat 😊This is the AK Real Color 100 - Russian Grey Green + Tamiya white. 

The first layer was mostly white and some green, the second was the first batch mixed with the real color (to get a "somewhere in the middle tone") and the third was pure grey green. And they were obviously sprayed over some chipping fluid. 

One of the things I wanted to try was to reverse the color order, starting with the lightest tone. This way it seems like...

New workbench is ready!

It just needs to get a little more "lived in" 😋

Let's now start painting the T-90 

Look at this!

Uncle postman brought this today! 

Also, I'm about to finish the video tonight, this one was a bit more difficult and took longer than I expected, but I think it'll be worth it. 

Also also, tomorrow I'll be changing the layout of my workspace so I can finally use those studio softboxes. I'll keep you updated on that and I'll start painting the T-90 right after I'm done! 

So she's ready for some paint

Evening gents, 

so not much of an update, because I took your advice and didn't attempt to rework anything,  so these photos won't be really updating you on anything except maybe the rear of the tank which I didn't photograph earlier, but...

The decision actually lead to a couple of good things... first that I spent the entire day doing pretty much nothing, which was super refreshing, also managed to squeeze in a quick bike ride into that, which I didn't have the luxury ...

Big pics before the primer drops hard

Evening gentlemen, 

well here are some proper pictures. It sure ain't a top tier wallpaper material, but they actually make the model look better? Like, when you have a bad model, quality pictures are not gonna do you any favors because they'll bring up every little doo-doo that you, or the manufacturer made. 

But despite that it feels like this will be a fun model to paint and weather! Anyway gentlemen, following the new tradition from last HD post, these are all the ph...

Done (?)

Evening gentlemen, 

well after today's rather short workbench session (had to do some work in the backyard), I want to say the build is done and ready for painting, but I'm not quite sure...

Basically I only added a few more very tiny details and that's that. The rest was more about... regress rather than progress 😅 

I made the ghetto fender from copper, but didn't like how it looked so I tore it off and kept the model without it, because there are photos portra...

Almost done!

The turret is completely done, and only a few things left on the hull! Unfortunately the hull isn't as busy as the turret 😄 but that at least means less work! And I almost forgot, there will be a true ghetto fender welded from pieces of scrap metal, which was on the real tank. 

And then there's of course the stowage, so sandbags and probably some wrinkled tarp tucked behind one of the turret baskets... or something like that. But I'm keeping that for the very end. 

Al...

Early video

https://youtu.be/1KYxmO8zG7c

Hey guys, here's the early vid, I'll get back to you later tonight 😉 

It's finally starting to look better

Evening guys,

so I think the project won't be a total failure after all. At least the turret finally feels like a T-90 turret to me. Of course it's still a really poor representation of the real thing, but it's luckily better than I anticipated... and all it needed was to sculpt the dust shroud from epoxy putty, reshape the front plates with a file, add some details and remnants of the blown off ERA, and a few wires. It's all obviously simplified as I'm not going to give this model more...

Alright, it's not as fun as I expected

This model is officially cursed. What a fool I was when I picked it as a "nice, fun, relaxing project, just what I need after that Tiger". But it's too late to quit now... technically speaking, it's almost done, the turret "consumed" the most parts and there's not too many left on the sprues. 

So today I decided to focus on assembling rather than making more small details from scratch, to sort of... get motivated. Well that's of course nice and all, and I can at least see the light...

New lights!

So this just arrived today! 

These boys came with the largest light bulbs I've ever seen... 3x 125W, the electricity bill will be through the roof! 

Needless to say, I'll have to rearrange the entire modelling room in order to actually use those softboxes! But first I need to finish building that cursed T-90, more on that in the next post... 

This is getting more fun every day!

And just when I said the tracks were probably the most obnoxious part of the build, I completely forgot about the headlight cages!  But luckily they're out of the way and the rest should be pretty simple, just a few added bolts here and there and some extra armor texture. And I'll most likely have to sculpt the gun barrel dust shroud, because the plastic part is just... flat 😐 

Oh and yeah, the gun is gonna have the reactive armor blown off on one side, just like on the rea...

I guess it'll be fun after all!

Good evening my friends,

there was some unexpected work today at my garage (after a long time lol) so I got a little distracted, but I managed to put on the tracks and some other bits. Also, I'm pretty much ready for bed, so please, accept my apology, I'll respond to messages tomorrow morning! Just wanted to drop a quick update before I hit the hay.  

Well, the tracks were pretty bad, hot water didn't bend them at all so I had to use a hairdryer (and actually managed to captu...

Sunday night update + more turtle

Hey guys, so yeah I actually managed to do some work last night! Because the turtle from the previous post sparked some interest I'm posting more close-ups of him/her/whatever. It's a Common snapping turtle that I've had since 2014. Back then it was a 4cm long hatchling, now I can't properly measure it anymore, but it's roughly 45 cm from tail to head 😄

The T-90 progress is about 2 hours worth of cleaning, gluing and aligning of the running gear. As I expected, the fit is very loose,...

Sunday cleanup

Hey guys, hope you're having a wonderful weekend!  

I'm officially done with the Tiger series, the last video is complete, and now I need to clean up the chaotic mess that I call my workbench (or workbenches to be more exact 😃).

Yeah, I've accumulated a lot of junk around me during these past few months as I was working on it, for example that large cardboard box is packaging from the 3D printer I received what... a month and a half ago? And it's been sitting there ever si...

Moar Tiger

Aight folks, here are the remaining photos. These will all appear in the final video, but not in full resolution... and also no Patron subtitles running on top of them 🤣

Early video

Shorter than usual, hope you'll find it interesting 😊

https://youtu.be/OaBLvBtB5xU

TON of final Tiger pictures

Hey guys, 

well I just spent an entire day processing these photos, I made a LOT of them. This makes me wonder, as you know I've been always separating these pictures into Patreon-exclusive and "public" which are for videos. I was wondering if it wouldn't be better to give you Patreon exclusive photos and the public ones in one place, all in full resolution? Because 1, I always must decide which photo will go here and which into a video (and sometimes I really can't decide) and 2, ...

100%, but barely visible

Hey guys, so I finished it today, but the last effects are barely visible (aka the polished metal edges 🤣) but yeah, it's done, so at least I'll post some more up-close pictures. HD photos coming tomorrow! 

98%

We're pretty much there guys. 

Seems to me like the only thing left is the polished metal effect around chips and edges. 

So... finishing tomorrow?! 🥳

I haven't shared some raw fresh thoughts from the workbench in a while, so here goes... I often call those final effects like grime, spilt fuel, smoke residue and water stains as "small, fun, but effective" or something along those lines. Yes, they're pretty small in their amount and time needed to perform them, c...

Almost done!

Well, my friends, I'm glad to report the Tiger is very close to being finally complete! 

Today I definitely finished the entire running gear and other lower portions of the tank. Also completely reworked the mud splatters at the rear. This was done by mixing the same enamels used before with VMS Pigment Texture and just speckling them on. The result is very fragile and easy to rub off, but it's one of the finishing touches and it's not smart to touch the finished model too much any...

Spare track video!

All secrets in one link 😁

https://youtu.be/_uZa-dUexNE

So proud lol

I'm so proud of this lad, he's like finally standing on his legs, ready to take his first step 🤣

Anyway, just a quick update that yes, the tracks are in place forever, the entire running gear is glued to the model, so I'll do some work in the editing department to get the video done and then we'll be back with the final effects and touch-ups!

Also sorry for the photos, especially the strip-club-like glow in the background... I often clean these up a little bit just to make them...