Split barrels can be made to look good. It just takes some time and effort. So far I only ever ordered one replacement, for the horrible Trumpeter T-54/55.
Shadow coats down. Thatâs the last of the batch painting. From here on out each tank will be done independently since they will all be different shades of green.
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I loved building the Trumpeter KV2âs My favorite was the angled mantlet version
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Base colours are down. And werenât the tracks fun to installâŚ
This vehicle will likely have some mud on the tracks to hide the plethora of injection marks. Just awful. Each link has up to 4 marks. I couldnât be bothered to sand/fill them all
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Certainly canât say no to a Russian build-a-thon, makes up about half my stash
Base colour is down on all 3 vehicles.
The pre-shading on the JS-3 didnât come through nearly as nicely as on the other vehicles.
The T-55A came out looking really nicely though once again, the tracks were an adventure.
And the Trio.
T-55A painting in Mission Models Russian Green (Modern)
KV-2 painted in Ammo by Mig Russian Green 4BO
JS-3 Painted in AK Real Color Protective 4BO
Brief hiatus as I travel out of state for the next week. Will do the detail painting, decals and washes when I return.
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Good luck on the campaignâŚlooks like you could probably do another 2 or 3 before years end
I am really quite annoyed with Takom right now.
See if you can see whyâŚ
Going to have to go rummage through spare decals and other kits to see if I can find something suitable.
Sigh.
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Those look chunky enough, could you scribe them onto some tape and just spray them? Thatâs pretty galling though. Could also try getting some replacements from them, though theyâre probably all blackâŚ
Is that their painting/marking instructions in the background? Youâd think they could at least match their own shiit!
Ken
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It is. All the black decals should be white. Complete screw up on their part.
That is per their instructions but do we know if the instructions are correct? Might be a happy accident that the profile is incorrect and the decals are correct.
Love this - am a fellow Russian armour nut and have a probably fifty Russian armour kits in the stash from WW2 to present day.
I must say, the most fun Russian build Iâve ever done was the Trumpeter KV-1 Simplified turret. Absolutely flies together is just a few hours, accurate, has the heft and weight of the real thing in the way it looks and is an absolute dream to weather because of all that flat space and hard edges to chip. Its just a brilliant kit, i absolutely loved it. The Trumpeter KV-2 and KV-85 are both in the stashâŚ
Question - will you be building the Trumpeter T-90S Modernised?
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Unfortunately not. All the photos I found of T-55âs in the Afghan war have white markings.
@BringupthePIAT I donât have that kit. I do have the Zvezda T-90 which I am hoping I get to before the end of the year.
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You could use the decals as a mask or a template for a mask?
Its all good. I was able to find some white numerals in my T-72 kit that did the trick. Looking at photos of tanks in Afghanistan I noted many that just had the numerals and no other emblem so I am going with that.
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Decals, such as they are, are down
Not exactly the same as the callout but close enough for me.
The red star is not technically accurate since the number and the star come from 2 different decal schemes. Also the provided stars didnât have the hammer and sickle. However I am a sucker for the Hammer and Sickle stars and I had some spare so on they went.
And lastly, good 'Ol KV-2 with its very elaborate decal scheme 
Since I basically only have washes to do to complete these vehicles I have started building Trumpeters T-62 Mod 1975. I will be doing this tank for the Curvy Tanks Campaign.
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Initial hull construction complete. I am definitely not following the instruction build order on this one.
Pretty straightforward build but also pretty typical Trumpeter kit. LOTS of sprue gates and flash to clean up.
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Update time: Majority of hull is constructed and the road wheels are on. Lower sides of the tank and fenders have been painted. Once the tracks are painted and installed, I will add on the fenders, then mask off the tracks etc for painting.
Speaking of tracks, thatâs what has bogged me down right now. Slowly cleaning up the 186-ish links the vehicle will need. I am about 3/4 of the way through. Luckily I have the original RMSH tracks that came with the Takom T-55A and while they are still a pain to clean up, they are way better than the kit supplied tracks. Also they fit the sprocket perfectly so total win for me.
I started the turret just to do something other than tracks. I had planned to do it with open hatches but the injector holes on the inside of the hatch quickly dissuaded me from that idea. They are pretty bad and in very awkward places.
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Update time. Tracks are on and looking pretty darn good. Really happy with how they came out.
I am not sure where or when I saw this (I believe it was on a build log on Armorama) but decided to try something new with covering the tracks for painting.
Cling film. Have to say I am really happy. Went on easily and donât have to worry about tape or anything pulling up paint by accident.
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