Some consistent progress on this kit at last. In the midst of a mountain of marking I did at least get a few days off over Christmas and took the opportunity to get the airbrush out for one of the most enjoyable painting processes I can remember for some time.
As you can see I took some care with masking the tank interior. I could have masked the driver's hatch by fixing the doors in place but I really don't like doing this, for a variety of reasons including the desire to give them my full attention. So the spaces were masked with Tamiya tape and sponge pieces.
A couple of layers of Vallejo grey primer were used, although as you can see the care I took over this didn't prevent some wheel surfaces escaping. Because the wheels turn they obviously rotated after I applied the primer, despite my best efforts. It doesn't really matter.
I also took the opportunity to use some new photography equipment, notably a new tripod and a new reflector. The result is better lighting but also a more enjoyable process.
The primer was left to dry overnight and then I pre-shaded with XF-1 Flat Black.
This wasn't done with especial care, as you can see, because it's a pretty muted effect under the various layers of paint and weathering.
This was followed by a layer of XF-60 Dark Yellow as the base colour. Is this the correct shade? I really don't know but then I would suggest neither does anyone else, as Dick Taylor's excellent volumes on the subject will attest.
Maybe I needed a lighter colour, or a more yellowy shade, but the colour will be altered by the weathering stages anyway so obsessing about getting the shade exactly right is pointless. Dark Yellow seems as good an approximation as any so I've gone with that.
This was left to dry, then I mixed one part XF-60 and two parts XF-57 Buff, heavily thinned and applied to upper surfaces with the Harder & Steenbeck Infinity at a fine setting. As a third highlight I then added XF-55 Deck Tan to this mix.
Is this colour modulation? Well of a sort but it's pretty rough and ready. With some honourable exceptions such as Jose Brito I've seen the modulation technique and the black and white modulation method applied in really over the top ways and I don't want to do that. In addition on this kit I'm using a colour scheme with mottled camouflage colours which will render the modulation technique less useful. So what I'm doing here is experimenting with a combination of subtle effects including modulation of sorts, pre and post shading, highlighting the centre of panels, hairspray chipping, etc in an attempt to get some variety. I'm not interested in being beholden to one method or another, but I want to try to get elements from different approaches which help to give some depth and interest. That's not some kind of manifesto either, rather it's more a question of wanting to have fun and try things out.
I should also take a moment here to mention the excellence of the Infinity airbrush. I've mentioned before that it tends to flatter the user and its precision is a constant source of amazement to me. It does need to be handled with care, like any thoroughbred, but it's a delight to get it out of the box. Its so accurate that I can write my name with it and you can see the fine lines and dots in the above photo as testament to its wonderful handling. There is a great deal to be said for using nice tools and it really doesn't get much better than this so I feel grateful to be able to use it.
At this point I applied a layer of Vallejo gloss varnish with the Iwata airbrush - I never spray primers or varnishes through the Infinity but prefer to use the Iwata since this is more of a workhorse. Why apply varnish at such an early stage? Well next I want to do some chipping and I've found that applying the chipping solution and then the paint without a protective layer of varnish tends to result in damage to the base colour, whatever the instructions might suggest. So with this in mind two thin layers of Vallejo Gloss varnish were applied and left to dry overnight.
This is where it gets interesting and I've really been looking forward to this stage. I applied two coats of AK Worn Effects fluid and left these to dry.
The weather in Britain has been atrocious over Christmas so humidity levels have been high, with the result that it took quite a long time for the chipping solution to dry. We got there eventually and at that point I applied the first layer of mottled camouflage.
With the Infinity set very fine and with the colour chart from the instructions next to me I worked methodically across the different parts of the kit with XF-65 Field Grey thinned about 60/40 paint to thinner.
I had thought about applying masks for this process but the kit surface is so tiny and complex that I felt I wanted to apply the camouflage free hand. I've found that thinning the paint too much means it doesn't have sufficient 'grip' and coverage, while having too much results in overspray, so a 60/40 mix appears to be about right for fine work. This was applied with the air compressor set at about 18 psi, which might seem low but is my preferred setting since higher than this means you get a gush of paint which is difficult to control.
The base colour was then lightened with XF-15 Flat Flesh and this was applied to the centre of the camouflage, so adding an aged effect. This took quite some time but it was worth the care.
I didn't start chipping at this point because I didn't want to get the kit wet before applying the next layer of paint. As a result I moved straight on to XF-64 Red Brown which was again applied free hand, followed by a layer lightened with XF-57 Buff again in the centre of the base colour. Is the final camouflage pattern completely accurate? Again, that's not clear and while it certainly deviates from the exact pattern suggested in the instructions, but it's clear from photographic evidence that a fair amount of artistic licence went into the patterns on these tanks. I've produced a decent approximation of the suggested pattern and that'll do.
Now for the chipping, which was done with warm water, a stiff brush and a pair of tweezers for the score marks on the side panels. I've always found that it takes quite a while for the water to soak through sufficiently but once this had happened the chipping effect got easier. I didn't want to overdo this effect - it's about chipping some paint off rather than giving the kind of effect one gets with Soviet winter camouflage. I'd say this is probably the best experience I've had with this effect and the tank is starting to look more realistic in its finish.
I should add that the chipping effect takes some time to dry out so you need to leave the kit in the open air for several hours once you're finished. I normally put kits into sealed plastic boxes in order to keep dust, our one true enemy, away from the surface. Boxing up a kit after the chipping method, however, simply means puddles of water on the bottom of the box because the condensation has nowhere to go. This does nothing for the paint surface in contact with the bottom of the box and means that the paint on the rest of the kit doesn't dry out.
Next I'll work on the exhaust and then the whole thing will be sealed in with gloss varnish before sorting our the decals. We're on our way with this kit and so far things are looking good.
Happy modelling.
Nick
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