That was an interesting read, I’ll take some time to ponder the decision.
I do have some italeri colors for desert camo, one specially for allied vehicles, the other one is a desert color labeled “NATO” vehicles, I wonder how close is to what I need. I’ll post a pic tomorrow.
Edit: the name is “Flat Desert Tan”.
Today, I made some retouches, painted some neglected cranny (no matter how throughly I am, something always manages to escape) and painted some details.
Machine guns, I made them flat black, they are so tiny I don’t think is even worth to drybrush the metal color.
I also painted the back red light, manual said red and I managed to revive a 20 years old citadel red I had when I had bought a cheap Warhammer starter set (I think it was 3 colors, a brush and 3 space marines). The paint was rock solid, but with some drops of Vallejo airbrush thinner it revived enough to paint the tiny light.
And then there were the air filters.
Manual said “black” and I made them black, my first attempt at brush painting.
However, I noticed that all the models I find on the internet have them paint as green as the hull.
What do you think:
(you can also see my attempt at fixing the turret back panel botched paint, as you can see it’s much better now but I’ll still smear some pigments on the worst parts (lower left)
Next weekend I am going to apply the gloss, and I was wondering, since the model has a very big and complex decal, and I want to have the time to set it up correctly before it sticks, what can I use to do that?
I read that distilled water on the model surface works fine, but is there any other product that can be used for that purpose?
It went better than I expected but I did have lots of trouble including plenty of bubbles and part of the decal folding and gluing to itself, but I like the final result.
This side I am showing is the troubled one, I discovered too late that the gloss film wasn’t uniform (bet it was an airbrush sputtering) and it caused lots of bubbles I had to pop.
The mess is particularly evident under harsh light.
However I think that after the matte varnish and the weathering it will be enough masked.
The other side is close to spotless, almost perfect I dare say.
Guys, I really don’t know what is this A23 piece. It doesn’t show up in the next model’s pictures on the instructions and I really don’t know how to fit it
Maybe it a prop to hold the hatch open to look at the engine? I would leave it off.
@Nightgaunt
Use this image as reference for attaching the part:
Image for reference purpose only
And as Tank_1812 states, a cable for holding the engine cover open.
Cheers,
Oh, that’s clear now! Thanks.
Those track links in the picture aren’t on my model but I could easily add them, got a lot of spares…is that “historical”?
Although the Russians did not in general carry any stowage on their tanks, there are
many photographs of spare track links mounted on the fenders.
Cheers,
Armor_Buff, followed your advice and painted the tracks with Tamiya Dark iron, 1:1 with Tamiya thinner.
The session was amazing, it is by far the best paint I’ve ever airbrushed, had zero clogs or sputtering, really flawless.
Also, cleaning up the airbrush was much easier than other paints, a little window cleaning solution melted it instantly.
I think I’ll make full switch to Tamiya once I use up all the Vallejo and italeri I have.
So far my only gripe is that maybe it looks a little less dark than I expected, is that normal?
Yes, I can look lighter with thinned coat. The base plastic color could be coming through. You could apply a 2nd coat.
Your dark iron pics did not come though if you posted one.
I do like Tamiya and have a bunch, the main draw back is color selection but depending on what you like to build it might not be much of an issue. I also use Vallejo to get the other color mixes easier.
Strange, I can see the pictures…
Maybe do I need to thin it 2:1 instead of 1:1?
I see pictures but they look like the track just has grey primer or no paint.
Then 1:1 it’s too much, I will try 2:1. Maybe even 3:1.
Yeah, I guesstimate with more paint then thinner. Experiment with what works for you and write it down for future use. Some variables like humidity can make a difference. I also will add a drop or two of Tamiya paint retarder to help with tip drying especially on the lighter colors.
Here is one coat of dark iron on my T-34 tracks.
Now you can see my confusion when you said that those pics are good.
HTH
I wouldn’t thicken the mixture, I would just apply another coat. Dark iron can look light on light plastic like light grey but two or more coats and to comes out very dark brownish black
@Nightgaunt, I’d apply another light coat or two as mentioned above. Looks like a good start.
2 parts paint to 1 part thinner should spray well and cover well
Definitely better, I think that’s enough.
The direct light really made it look much brighter than actually is:
That’s what I am talking about. 
