nightshiftmodeller

Very shady and ready for more!

My friends, good morning 😊 The base cost is ready and now it’s time for decals, varnishes, and the rubber mats.

I saw these in a black rubber color, but some panels appear to be sprayed in a green tone in my references. They have a very complex surface, so I’ll have to combine spraying and brush painting.

Hitting this model with a pin wash is going to be such a trip! 😁

Shading underway

My friends, the Puma is almost there… at least in the post-shading department. This is gonna be the most surreal NATO camouflage 😁, but it’ll be hella fun to weather. Just the black patches remain!

Every paint is highlighted with Tamiya Buff and reduced with Unicorn Tears (Mr. Leveling Thinner)

I’ll report back with the finished base coat!

PS: don’t mind the rubber mats on the roof, they’ll be painted in a different color

NATO camo blocked in!

My friends, today I sprayed the remaining brown patches and the model is ready to be post-shaded. I wanted to continue working, but other duties had to be taken care of and left me completely drained 😪 Oh well, it’s gonna be a rainy weekend, so plenty of bench time!

The NATO colors from AK are great, IMHO even better than Tamiya. Adding a good amount of Tamiya clear improves their flow and there’s very little sputtering. Also, these colors don’t have much contrast between each...

Early video

I tried a few new things with this video... for example, stopped being lazy and used a camcorder to film myself instead of a webcam :D Enjoy! 

Also, an entire video written, narrated, and edited in one day. Just like the old days :) 

Black camouflage

Alright, my friends, last quick update from today 😁 Black camo is blocked in, sprayed with AK RC NATO Black. I tried to replicate it as closely as possible from reference photos, and then connected the remaining parts that are not visible in my references.

Good sign is that spraying behind the SLAT is not that bad! Next up is NATO Brown and then fun with post-shading.

Good night!

And it’s green now!

My friends, another quick phone post! I sprayed the first, darkest layer of NATO green from the AK RC range, with a hood amount of Tamiya clear. Then I had to leave the studio for a few hours but now I’m headed back to spray at least a small bit od the camouflage.

The plan is to lay out the three-tone camo first, and then post shade it. One reason is the factory application, so the camo would fade/shade the same everywhere, and second is the opportunity to fix oversprays and sputteri...

It’s black!

My friends, here’s a quick update I’m posting from my phone 😊 Puma received a good soapy bath, then a blast of model degreaser from Modeller’s World, a generous coat of metal primer from VMS, and finally a tedious application of black Mr. Surfacer. All the textures are just 🔥 And I’ll be back with another quick update once it receives a bit of color!

HD photos

Some nice photos with the shiny PE before it all becomes dark and gritty :) 

Ready for paints... at last!

My friends, this build has been plagued by many things... an unexpectedly complex build (even though I was sure it was going to be a simple brick on tracks), PE armor which became a model on its own, broken soldering iron, vacation (I planned to finish the model and the video before I left - what a fool I was!), and lastly, another house remodelling session, this time the staircase. 

But having the model all built up and everything kept in reasonable subassemblies - the turret, hul...

Butt armor finished!

My friends, this Trash Panda is finally taking shape, and it's actually starting to look quite menacing! Although the soldered SLAT armor isn't German-factory-perfect, it definitely makes a difference when compared with the thick plastic parts. 

In many cases, soldering SLAT is rather easy because you're dealing with flat, rectangular pieces, and it's not hard to keep the geometry in check. Things get complicated when there are curved parts and other exotic shapes. Everything might...

I'm back home! With some desert weathering references

My friends, I'm back from my vacation in Jordan, and I took some reference images for you. These trains are parked in the Wadi Rum desert and show some really nice weathering effects - especially paint chipping, dust build-up (when combined with moisture), and wood deterioration. 

I started to really miss the workbench toward the end, and I'm glad to be back home. I'm still going through things that I missed out while I was away, but I'll be back soldering the SLAT armor on the Pum...

A quick update before I go!

My friends, I'm leaving for the airport in 3 hours, so it's time to check the luggage one last time and drop you an update. One side of the SLAT armor is done, and it quickly went from "Aight this gonna be my finest soldering job to date" to "Why can't you just be a normal SLAT and fit together?!" But I'll be damned, although the engineering makes it look more like an improvised anti-RPG cage from a Syrian tank, it sure does look the part - especially compared to the thick plastic cage! ...

Almost there, but then... disaster struck!

My friends, I'm reporting back after another couple of days of hard labor at the workbench! And I'll be honest, this model almost broke me! 

First off, it's the impending doom of my leave for a week-long vacation tomorrow. I'd just love to finish the model before I leave, but I can already see there will be a few parts left to finish. Then it's the ever-present complexity of these modern subjects. When I was buying the kit, my thoughts were: "original, simple, quick". Yeah, we all ...

This giant hull!

My friends, the hull is progressing steadily. One of the most interesting parts of this model is the running gear - it comes with functional tracks, but I don't see a reason for them. You see, the only wheels that somewhat hold in place are the idlers in the rear. Road wheels and sprockets just fall off immediately. Also, the design of these modern tracks doesn't really allow you to disconnect and reconnect them at any point, as is the case with most tracks. But hey, they work, although they'...

Crazy German turret strikes again

My friends, I was able to find some bench time every day over the weekend and managed to assemble the unmanned Puma turret. 

The most obvious thing to me was that it would've looked a little bland without some subtle steel texture - although in this case it's quite unrealistic. The real Puma is very smooth! But then again, texturing is fun, it's fun to paint over a textured surface, and it greatly improves the contrast between the individual components of the model. In the case of ...

Early video

Let the resin troubles begin! 

This 30mm German autocannon...

My friends, this weapon is just insane. Not the design, although it looks like from the future, but the photo-etched replacement from Voyager. That thing is a model on its own, and it was one of the best exercises in precise bending, soldering, and careful work with superglue. 

Also, what a great way to start a new project, right? Straight into the heat of delicate photo-etch! :D This little thing took me an entire afternoon to finish. I hope the turret will go much smoother tomorr...

The absolute madladdery of 3D printing!

My friends, I just finished editing the vignette video, tomorrow I'm starting to build the Puma from Rye Field, and in the meantime I wanted to share a few pictures of these beautiful 3D printed accessories that I received over the past few weeks. It's unbelievable how far the 3D printing (but also 3D modelling and sculpting) technology has progressed! 

The 3D printed tracks from Panzerwerk seem to be a solid competition for metal tracks, and it's probably the only company apart fr...

Big, shiny photos

My friends, here are a few cute snapshots of the finished vignette. I just finished editing the video, so it'll be all ready for you this Friday :) 

What's next?

Finally some modern armor again! The German SpZ Puma from RFM :) 

Just ordered the kit today, it should arrive right as I'm finishing the video with the vignette. This is gonna be one of those simpler, more straightforward projects, similar to the BMR-3M I did a couple years ago. No figures, just a simple scenic base, and lots of fun with mud effects. 

My original plan was to start working on a large diorama (and it wouldn't feature a tank for a change!) but I'm going on...

I saved my own skin, to a degree!

My friends, let me start by saying that the vignette is finished! And I'm gonna call it "Gone Fishing" :) 

The resin situation from my last post remained strange, but solvable to an extent. Thanks to all of you who contributed with your own experiences, it's a worthy read! 

Basically, I ran out of patience right after I dropped you an update, and decided to solve the problem, whatever the solution might be. I found out by poking the tape that the resin below the surface ...

I see trouble on the horizon!

My friends, this is NOT turning out to be one of those chill projects where everything goes smoothly from the beginning. The resin REFUSES to cure!

It's been more than 24 hours since I did the pour, and there are spots where it feels tacky, and like a jello. Also, if I push against the tape, the edges shrivel up. Now, gotta say, it feels much more solid than it did yesterday, so I'm hoping it will eventually cure (tomorrow, I hope!), and here's what I think went wrong. So far I always m...

Turret on the way!

My friends, yesterday I started painting the turret, and plan on finishing it today. Hopefully there will be some resin action in the evening! 

I decided to slightly violate the historical accuracy on this one, and give it a Soviet 4BO camouflage. Two reasons for this - I didn't want to paint the same finish as on the Mk IX again, and I thought a green camouflage would fit better with the color palette in this scene. Plus, it will contrast better with the murky water in the creek. ...

After a LOT of trouble...

... I've got the scenery ready! My friends, I want to apologize for jumping from a raw base with no vegetation to the fully painted scenery. The reason for it? A TON of trouble during the painting process. 

I was doing everything "by the book" per my usual style, and every technique worked as it should... but somehow, nothing worked together! The ground was too greyish, the grass too vivid, the tree bark was almost the same color as the ground... pretty much the only thing that loo...

Terrain... and a tree!

My friends, here's some progress from yesterday. Although I decided to compose this scene without a tree at the time of the last post, I ultimately found a good spot (and a good twig) for a small, broken trunk. Yes, it kinda looks like a Heptapod from the movie Arrival (lol), but you never learn unless you try! :D 

So, I was on a hike during the weekend, and I collected some nice, straight twigs from various conifer trees in the forest. Some of them are nicely broken, and one of th...

New mini vignette

My friends, yesterday I completed the Valentine diorama video, and started cleaning my studio. And would you look at it, there was a spare Valentine Mk IV turret from Tamiya laying around! Not to mention an entire Mk IX hull with full interior, but hey, a small turret is more vignette-friendly and less time consuming :) 

Okay, jokes aside, I planned to make a small creek vignette with the Mk IV turret from the beginning. The Tamiya kit is very simple, and because I already assemble...

Early video

Full diorama construction and painting. Enjoy and have a great weekend, friends! 

Cool pictures!

My friends, here are proper studio shots of the diorama. I decided to name it "Helping Hand" because not only is the soldier on the tank helping his comrade with the DT machine gun, but also the Valentine was aid from the UK. 

I'm uploading the early video release right now, it was another late night shift the other day :D But it'll be a nice one, almost 35 minutes of diorama material. Enjoy! 

Another diorama finished!

My friends, it took me a couple of days, but I wanted to do a final reveal with the water and figures :) Also, take a look at the first two pics - how a simple block of foam can be transformed into a busy diorama. That's something I'm always concerned about when I'm creating the initial layout - is this basic shape gonna be interesting enough in the end? 

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. My first big goal since the last post was creating the completely flooded road. This is somet...

Ready for water!

My friends, saying that this autumn tree was the most fun I've had in a long time would be an understatement. In fact, this whole scene was a total blast and the results so far surprised me. Especially the effort/result ratio was strongly on the fun side.

But hey, the tree required some patience, not gonna lie there! I painted the basic colors with acrylics, then gave it a heavy enamel wash, and then brought out the bark texture with more acrylic work. I gave it some moss, per usual, an...