Super Model International Nr 2

8/19/2019 Super Model International Nr 2

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C O N T E N T S :

Przemysław Szymczyk

BMW R75Master Box 1:35Page 4

Rafał Bulanda

SU-122-54Scratchbuild 1:35

Page 36

Łukasz Kapelski

JagdpantherDML 1:35Page 16

Łukasz Orczyc-Musiałek

T-55Tamiya 1:35

Page 66

Super Model International 02 • First edition • LUBLIN 2012 • ISBN 978-83-62878-40-6

© All rights reserved. With the exception of quoting brief passages for the purposes of review, no part of this publication

may be reproduced without prior written permission from the Publisher.

Series editor: Maciej Góralczyk • Translation: Kazimierz Zygadło • Proofreading: Maciej Góralczyk • Design: Tomek Wajnkaim; KAGERO STUDIODistribution: Kagero Publishing Sp. z o.o. • www.kagero.pl • e-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Editorial Office, Marketing: Oficyna Wydawnicza KAGERO, phone/fax (+48) 81 501 21 05, Akacjowa 100, Turka, 20-258 Lublin 62, Poland


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S u p e r M o d e l I n t e r n a t i o n a l N o . 24

BMW R75 | Master Box | 1:35


BMW R75


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S u p e r M o d e l I n t e r n a t i o n a l N o . 2 5


MOTORCYCLEThe BMW R75 Master Box kit could bepurchased in two versions – with or with-out the photo-etched sheet. Mine was without that addition, so from the very startI was afraid that the complete model mightlack subtlety. It was mainly about the spokedrims, which if made of photo-etched ele-ments, look much better. However, it turned out that the plastic rims look quite well and moreover, the original also quiteoften had quite thick spokes. The kit con- tains two sand-coloured sprues. Although the plastic is softer than in e.g. DML kits,it is irritatingly brittle, especially if you takeinto consideration the fact that the kit hasmany thin, long and delicate parts, whichare easy to damage even when removing them from the sprues. Another flaws arerather poor reproduction of the cylinder’shead cooling fins and complete lack of tyres thread – it is possible that the producersknow something about the racing versionof this motorcycle with slick tyres… The

lack of part numbering on the sprues is alsoannoying and forces one to look up theinstruction all too often. The ejector pinmarks have been cleverly confined to areas that are not visible on the finished model,but flash is a problem, especially on spoked


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rims. Its removal requires a sharp blade anda large amount of patience, since it is quiteeasy to damage the delicate parts. Onemay be under the impression that the kithas only disadvantages (and I have not evenmentioned poor decals…), but in reality it isnot as bad. I have no objections to the qual-ity and level of details, the fit is also good.During construction process I de-cided to recreate the tyre thread. Us-ing a Czech-made serrated razor sawI carved lines in the wheels. I laid thesaw flat on a piece of one- and two mil-limetre styrene sheet and rotated the wheel la id flat on the tab le and pressedagainst it. Thus, I managed to carveeven threads along the tyre. Later, usinga sharpened mini-screwdriver, I notchedcrosswise threads on the entire circum- ference. The result is not ideal , but itis still better than what the producerhad to offer. I also added some cablesmade of stretched sprue, replaced the

seat spring with one made of wire andmade some smaller elements on therear mudguard. Finally, I made the frontnumber plate – it was easier to make itmyself that to “slim down” the one pro- vided with the kit . The miniature wasready for painting.

FIGURESTo make the vehicle more attractive I de-cided to add two motorcyclists wearinginteresting looking winter gear. Gas maskand scarf, which cover their faces, make them look l ike the “Star Wars” series char-

acters. I received the German MotorcycleCrew (35030) figures set courtesy of theMantis Miniatures, for which I am thankful to its owner. It is of exceptional quality, the sculpting and casting is flawless. Theonly thing that has to be done is a carefulremoval of the casting seams, as they arereally tiny and easy to overlook, whichmay cause an unpleasant surprise duringpainting.The figures were designed for the Great Wall Hobby kit, therefore I was afraid if they would f it my miniature. It turned out to be feasible, but not without some ef- fort. First of all, the connection between the motorcycle and the sidecar in theMaster Box kit is not as wide as that in the GWH kit, thus the figures placed at their respected locations do not fit sideby side. Removing some creases in theirgarment and sanding does the trick. Thedriver figure required a slightly differentplacement of the arms, which triggeredsome additional joints processing, filling in the gaps and creating detai ls with model-ling compound. I also cut part of the handholding the handlebar and sculpted a new

one which fit my model. The f igures were finished with adding a few folds of the ma- teria l on the back of the passenger, thusreducing the space between his back and the seat.


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PAINITINGTHE VEHICLE As usual, I started with covering the whole kit with Citadel Chaos Black prim-

er. Next was a layer of rust paint, becauseI wanted to show the rust appear ing fromunderneath the final Panzergrau colour. A mixture of the Vallejo Model Coloracrylics (Brown Sand, Burnt Cadium Red,Chocolate Brown and Panzer Grey) wasairbrushed and then coated with Mi-croscale Micro Satin varnish. The Vallejopaints layer is not especially resistant, sobefore applying the “hairspray technique”it is necessary to secure the acrylic layer with other medium, otherwise the paint would be rubbed off down to the primer.The protected surface was covered with two layers of hairspray and then I applied Vallejo Model Air German Grey, addition-ally shading it with the base colour mixed with white or b lack paint. I waited a mo-ment and started removing the outerlayer with a wet brush and a sharpenedstick. It was easier to achieve the resultof thin, sharp scratches with the latter.The resulting scrapes were coloured lightgrey. Next I painted the details like theengine, tyres and seats and then I began weathering the motorcycle.I almost forgot about the decals which

were of really poor quali ty. Those I hadchose first did not want to stick and soondisintegrated into pieces in water, while the next ones required a lot of additionalpainting corrections. The model was thengiven a wash of MIG Productions Dark Wash, while the damp patches werepainted with Vallejo washes – umber andsienna. Later, I applied a mixture of MIGProductions Europe Dust and Concretepigments with white spirit on the chassis.The pulp was applied with the help of theair stream from my airbrush. Live the motorcycle appeared nice, but on the close-

up photos it still looked flat and dull. It was nagging me, so I decided to paint the vehic le as if it was a f igure, shading it andrecreating the play of light. With a brushdipped in MIG Pigment Fixer I removedmost of the pigments and started making the corrections. All the areas exposed tosunlight (upper surfaces of the fuel tank,headlight, mudguards and even the individual spokes) were appropriately shadedand highlighted. Analogically, I darkenedall the surfaces which wouldn’t be ex-posed to sunlight and strengthened anycolour contrasts. The BMW logos were

hand painted, because I did not want torisk working with the decals again. Thehours spent on corrections paid off. Themotorcycle looked much more impres-sive.


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Thus, I achieved a base for the brush work. Preliminary shading saves a lot of work – you can see the shadows layoutright away.

I started brush painting by applying firsthighlights with a mixture of Brown Sand, BasicSkintone and a lot of Talens retarder. Theretarder simplifies getting a smooth colours transition by making acrylic paints behave like the artists’ oil ones. It also causes the paint to remain glossy until it dries, which makes judging the final result quite difficult. To expose

the effect only the left side of the figure ishighlighted in the photo.

Next, I applied subsequent highlights, with the same mixture enriched with

more Basic Skintone. This time the rangeof application was smaller than at theprevious stage. The photo shows the leftside of the figure after the procedure, while the right side is stil l at the previousstage.

I had started with rather dark base, therefore I decided that gradual shading was not necessary. Next, I softened thecontrasts and colours borders. I paintedcolour boundaries or even the entiresections of the figure with a really thinmixture of Brown Sand, Chocolate Brown

and Basic Skintone with addition of theretarder. As a result the contrasts weresmoothed, which can be seen in the photoon the left side of the figure.

Like in case of the vehicle, I started with the Chaos Black primer. To make paintingeasier, I placed the figures on sticks.

I airbrushed the driver with the basecolour, a mixture of Vallejo ChocolateBrown, Brown Sand and White.

The figure was provisionally shaded– first, from the top, airbrushing the base

colour with a drop of white…

…and then from the bottom, with thesame colour mixed with more ChocolateBrown.

F I R S T A I D FIGURES PAINTING


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Delicate filter of Brown Sand slightlyenlivened the coat’s colour.

I painted the coat’s trims with Buffcolour…

…and then “trimmed” it with darkstrokes.

The gas mask was painted in OliveGreen shades.

Other details like the bread bag,map case and boots were painted and

shaded with Vallejo Model Color paints.It is important to treat even the smallestpart as a separate model and not toleave all the details in a single shade ofa given colour. Any pieces of the gear,

clasps or belts look much better whenshaded. Finished with an adequateattention they make the figure lookmore li vely.

The second crew member was paintedin the same way, but with a different setof colours. The coat was covered witha mixture of Vallejo Model Air RussianGreen, Tank Dark Yellow plus OliveDrab and then highlighted with the samemixture enhanced with Basic Skintone.The blanket was painted with theshades of grey, using a different shading

technique – instead of smooth shading,I applied tiny dots with a gradually lightershades. It resulted in an composite fabric texture effect.


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THE BASEI wanted to exhibit the miniature in an impres-sive way, so I decided to build a small base.I made a box using a three-millimetre balsaplate and trimmed its edges to the desiredshape. Then I filled it with fitting foam. Whenit dried, I trimmed the excess and started working on the ground. I applied a layer ofplaster, which was immediately covered withsoil that I quietly walked off from a flower potstanding on the window sill. Before the plasterset, I made ruts using a wheel from an old kit. When everything was dry, I secured it with

Uni-Grunt priming emulsion.The shrub was made of thin copper wire.Several dozen, few-centimetres-longlengths were twisted together forming sep-arate “branches”. Finished one was placedon the base and covered with MIG AcrylicResin to hide its “wire” origin. I appliedshort electrostatic grass in some places us-ing thinned white glue (Wikol) and then air-brushed the base with the shades of brown.I thought that fallen leaves would brightenup the scene, but since I did not have thelaser cut ones, I went outside and pickedup a few dry leaves in different shades lyingin front of my house. First, they were ad-ditionally dried in the oven and then crum-bled into small pieces. Thus created foliage was glued to the base and the shrub.Creating snow was the next challenge. Ini- tially, I planned to buy Vallejo Foam & Snowpaste, but the economy pushed me towardsbaking soda which was at hand. With a brush,I applied the MIG Productions Acrylic Resinon the base and then sprinkled it with soda.The result was quite convincing. Fine snow was achieved by smearing the base with thinned white glue (Wikol) and sprinkling it

with soda. The chassis of the motorcycle was“snow-covered” in the same way, but hereI used light grey pigment to soften the contrasts. Finally, I glued the vehicle to the base with UHU two-component adhesive andmasked the joint with snow.


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KITS AND AFTERMARKET ACCESSORIES:

• German Motorcycle, WWII – Master Box 3528

• German Motorcycle Crew –– Mantis Miniatures 35030

SELECTEDTOOLS AND

MATERIALS:• Styrene sheets

(0,25 to 2mm thick)• Magic Sculp and Greenstuff

modelling compounds• UHU cyanoacrylate gel glue• White glue (Wikol)• NOCH grass• Plaster, plant soil, leaves• Baking soda• Uni-Grunt priming emulsion• MIG Acrylic Resin

PAINTS AND WEATHERINGPRODUCTS:• Citadel Chaos Black primer • Vallejo acrylic paints• MIG Dark Wash• MIG Thinner for washes• MIG Pigments• MIG Pigment fixer • Microscale Decal Solvents:

Set & Sol• Microscale Micro Satin varnish

F I S H , C H I P S ,& T O O L S


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PHOTOSNIPER N E W


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Jagdpanther | DML | 1:35

JAGDPANTHER

Łukasz Kapelski

The Jagdpanthertank destroyer isone of my favouriteGerman armouredfighting vehicles of

World War II.

Low and compact silhouette makes you think ofmodern designs. The excellent 88mm gun turned that vehicle into an almost invincible opponent on the battlefield, especially at long range, for which the tank destroyer was designed. Only severalhundred were built, however, they were not able to turn the tide.


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There are a couple of 1:35 scalekits that we can choose from,starting from an ancient Italeri,

through an excellent Tamiya, to a cou-ple of DML kits. I chose the Chineseproduct. Ever since the DML had be- gun issuing models with imitation of the zimmerit coating texture, I knew that the release of the Jagdpanther kit with this feature was just a question of time. Finally, the kit No. 6494 saw thelight of the day. As soon as I found one

at a bargain price, I did not hesitateone second to purchase it and I had to admit, that I was not disappointed.The box contained grey plastic sprues with exceptionally detailed parts. Thezimmerit has a subtle texture andI like it a lot. The kit is supplemented with a single sheet of decals, a smallset of photo-etched grilles, DS rubber tracks and steel towing cables. Thereis also a transparent plastic sprue with the periscopes.The kit is a pleasure to build – those who had a chance to work with anyof DML’s latest releases know whatI am talking about. The body of the Jagdpanther itself was quite simple,so the most time-consuming task was assembling the suspension. Thefit is good, there is also no flash, sinkmarks or ejector pin marks in vis-ible areas. Only the joint between the front of the body and lower hullrequired some putty to fill in thezimmerit texture. Moreover, I re-placed the plastic equipment claspsand lines with a bit complicated to

assemble Aber photo-etched ele-ments and Karaya copper lines re-spectively. I also imitated weld linesat the base of the periscope guards with Wamod two-component putty,

THE KIT IS A PLEASURE TO BUILD– THOSE WHO HAD A CHANCETO WORK WITH ANY OF DML’SLATEST RELEASES KNOW WHATI AM TALKING ABOUT. THE BODYOF THE JAGDPANTHER ITSELF WASQUITE SIMPLE, SO THE MOST TIME-CONSUMING TASK WAS ASSEMBLINGTHE SUSPENSION.


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forming it with a sharp modellingspoon tool. The entire building pro-cess took only a few pleasant eve-nings.Before painting, I protected all transparent parts with HumbrolMaskol. I will paint them later withsome clear paint. I sprayed the entire model, including wheels and tracks, straight from the can with the Citadel’s excellent Chaos Blackprimer. It gives a nice, satin layerand spills well; it has never run orclogged up any intake grilles.

Then I used the appropriate Tami- ya and Mr. Hobby paints. Productsof these Japanese manufacturers thinned with Mr. Levelling Thinnerare a perfect mixture which doesnot clog the airbrush. The brownbase colour for further paintwork was Tamiya XF-52. It was followedby XF-60 Dark Yellow, mixed almostone to one with white. I tried to ap-ply it more generously to the areas that were supposed to be lighter,leaving those that were to be darker with the brown undercoat showing

through. The next step was high-lighting the upper hull, sides and theback plate. Again, I tried to highlight the top surfaces the most. Once

THE IMITATION OF THEZIMMERIT TEXTURE IS

FINE AND CRISP, BUT NOTOVER-SCALED.


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more I used the XF-60 mixed with white, but at that time the proportions were reversed in favour of thelatter paint. The mixture was sup-plemented with XF-57 Buff. That was done to achieve the light andshade effect. Naturally, I did it withmoderation, since what I wanted

was a really subtle colour modulation.It was time to apply the camouflage.I went for the green and brownstripes, that can often be seen on the archive photos of the Jagdpan- ther. I tried to make them rather thin and delicate, while at the same time, also slightly transparent. Thepaints used were Tamiya XF-64 RedBrown and Mr. Hobby H405 OliveGreen. The wheels were painted with a mixture of XF-60 with whitein one to one ratio.

The preliminary painted model was then varnished with Mr. Hobby ClearGloss to prepare its surfaces for de-cals. These were applied with helpof Czech Agama liquids. When thedecals dried, I could start to work with the artists’ oil paint. I use thosemade by Renesans. Here I used twoshades of both yellow and brown,

I USED THE APPROPRIATE TAMIYA AND

MR. HOBBY PAINTS. PRODUCTS OF THESE JAPANESE MANUFACTURERS THINNED WITHMR. LEVELLING THINNER ARE A PERFECTMIXTURE WHICH DOES NOT CLOG THE AIRBRUSH.


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plus sometimes also white. Initially,I wanted to do the fading, but it wasalmost impossible to do on a porouszimmerit. I had to use more thinner(Zippo lighter fluid and MIG Thinnerfor Washes) to make the paint spillon the kit as it tended to stay in thezimmerit grooves. On vertical sur-

faces I tried to recreate vertical fadesand stains, while on the horizontalones, I rubbed the paint with circularmovement. At that stage I was alsosticking to the rule of applying lightershades of paint to the upper surfacesand darker ones to the bottom areasand in recesses. When everything dried well it was time for oil wash. This time I mixeddark brown with black, thinning it with Zippo lighter fluid. Thus com-posed mixture was applied to allrecesses and slits. I also applied it

to the zimmerit in some places, butin small amount, as I did not want the model to look dirty. Then I began painting the tools with Vallejoacrylics, which are very good for this purpose. For the wooden el-ements I used the light yellowand two shades of brown, trying to imitate tree rings. Spare tracklinks, exhausts and the shovel were


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painted with various rusty shadesof Panzer Aces paints.It was time for all the paint chipsand wear and tear signs that appear while the vehicle is being used. Thechipping was mainly made with thehelp of a sponge and also with finebrushes. I kept the sponge half dry

and I gently applied the paint in ap-propriate areas. Brushes were usedfor delicate scratches and in places where the sponge could not be used,as well as for applying darker painton lighter worn out areas. I used Vallejo paints for that task. Lighterscratches and wear marks wereimitated with Buff paint from ModelColor range, while the steel showingup from underneath the paint waspainted with Panzer Aces Dark Rust.I applied it mainly on all protrudingedges and handles.

Then, I started applying the mud, dirtand dust. I mainly used MIG pigmentsfixed with lighter fluid and AK-inter-active weathering products. Pigments were applied to the lower hull tub and to vertical surfaces of the hull. I want-ed to achieve the effect of a dustedsurface with damp discolouration.Lighter pigments were applied to thelower hull tub as a base and darkerones to imitate the wet spots. To rec-

LIGHT ANDSHADE EFFECTTo get a really subtle colour modulation I used mixed Tamiyapaints. The brown base colour for further paintwork wasTamiya XF-52. It was followed by XF-60 Dark Yellow, mixed

almost one to one with white. I tried to apply it more generously to the areas that were supposed to be lighter, leaving those that were to be darker with the brown undercoat showing through. The next step was highlighting the upper hull, sidesand the back plate. Again, I tried to highlight the top surfaces the most. Once more I used the XF-60 mixed with white, butat that time the proportions were reversed in favour of thelatter paint. The mixture was supplemented with XF-57 Buff.

BASE COLOURS

F I R S T A I D

XF-5255% XF-6045% XF-2

45% XF-6050% XF-25% XF-57

MR.HOBBY H405OLIVE GREEN

TAMIYA XF-60DARK YELLOW

TAMIYA XF-64RED BROWN

I WENT FOR THEGREEN AND BROWNSTRIPES, THAT CANOFTEN BE SEENON THE ARCHIVEPHOTOS OF THE JAGDPANTHER.I TRIED TO MAKETHEM RATHER THIN AND DELICATE, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME, ALSO SLIGHTLYTRANSPARENT. THEPAINTS USED WERE

TAMIYA XF-64 REDBROWN AND MR.HOBBY H405 OLIVEGREEN.


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reate the dampness I also used MIG Wet Effects and Damp Earth Mixture.It is a colourless, rather thick gloss var-nish mixture, which was thinned a bit with lighter fluid with small addition ofdark pigment and then applied to themodel. That way I tried to get verticaldamp spills.The upper parts of the vehicle and the rear plate were dusted with lightpigments. Small amounts were ap-plied with a brush and generously washed with lighter fluid. It was pos-sible to see the results almost im-mediately, since the fluid evaporatedin an instant. If there is too muchpigment, it should be washed with

lighter fluid and if the effect is notsatisfactory, more pigment shouldbe added. I wanted subtle dusting, therefore I tried not to exaggerate with the amount of pigment. A mixture of AK-interactive Fresh Mud andlighter fluid was applied to all recess-es to create damp stains on dustysurface. The tools, spare track linksand cables were also weathered.I followed the same steps weather-ing the back plate. I made splashesin places with wet brush and theair stream from an airbrush. Both

the lighter and darker colours wereused to break the monotony of the weathered surface. The wheels were treated in a similar fashion,

I WANTED TO DO THE FADING, BUT IT WAS ALMOSTIMPOSSIBLE TO DO ON A POROUS ZIMMERIT. I HAD TOUSE MORE THINNER (ZIPPO LIGHTER FLUID AND MIG

THINNER FOR WASHES) TO MAKE THE PAINT SPILLON THE KIT AS IT TENDED TO STAY IN THE ZIMMERITGROOVES. ON VERTICAL SURFACES I TRIED TO RECREATE VERTICAL FADES AND STAINS, WHILE ON THE HORIZONTALONES, I RUBBED THE PAINT WITH CIRCULAR MOVEMENT.


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but their rubber bandages were firstpainted black and all the surfaces touching each other or the tracks were dry-brushed with Tamiya XF-11 Silver.The tracks were the next step. Simi-larly to the rest of the vehicle they were primed with Citadel Chaos

Black. Their base colour was VallejoPanzer Aces Track Primer. When thepaint dried, I dusted it slightly withMIG pigments well thinned withlighter fluid. Then I mixed AK-inter-active Earth Effects with a pinch ofplaster and applied it to the tracks, trying not to overdo. I wanted toimitate remains of soil sticking to thelinks and not coat them entirely withmud. When it all dried a bit, I re-moved the excess by hitting it witha stiff brush and I gave the mixture the right texture. Later, I applied

some darker AK-interactive Streak-ing Grime in all the recesses. Finally,I dry-brushed the edges of the tracks with Tamiya XF-11 and also wiped them in places with a 4B soft pencil.Mounting them on the wheels wasa mere formality.The only thing left was to removeMaskol from transparent elementsand painting them with Tamiya X-23


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Clear Blue. I also wiped the inside rimof the open hatch with a soft penciland did the same with cables and han-dles. The wash at some places neededcorrection, so I did a pin wash there.The Jagdpanther was almost ready,but I decided to put it in some context.I made the base from a piece of cut

styrodur foam, which was taped withbalsa. Plaster was applied at the top,sprinkled with dark soil and fine graveland immediately covered with Uni-Grunt priming emulsion. Next day, the base was strong and hard. I carveda section of stone wall from a piece ofplaster, glued it to the base and sprin-kled some fine crushed granite aroundit, which I fixed with thinned white glue (Wikol). The wall was painted with Vallejo paints, trying to make thecolours look natural.Then I started to work with vegeta-

tion. I used Heki grass mat, which canbe torn into appropriate pieces. It was applied with white glue (Wikol).Longer blades of grass were pieces ofan old brush painted green. Smallerblades were again glued with white glue (Wikol). I also added a few brush-es made by Polak company and some tufts of dried natural herbs. The latter had to be partially tinted, to retainsome natural colour. The only taskleft was to place the figure, which was painted in the meanwhile, and fix the vehicle to the base. I added somemore soil near the tracks to merge the vehicle with the base. In the end,I painted the balsa “frame” with hazelshade wood stain lacquer.

THE CHIPPING WAS MAINLY MADE WITH THEHELP OF A SPONGE AND ALSO WITH FINEBRUSHES. I KEPT THE SPONGE HALF DRY ANDI GENTLY APPLIED THE PAINT IN APPROPRIATE AREAS. BRUSHES WERE USED FOR DELICATESCRATCHES AND IN PLACES WHERE THESPONGE COULD NOT BE USED, AS WELL AS FOR APPLYING DARKER PAINT ON LIGHTER WORNOUT AREAS.


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I WANTED TO IMITATEREMAINS OF SOILSTICKING TO THE LINKS AND NOT COAT THEMENTIRELY WITH MUD,SO WHEN IT ALL DRIED A BIT, I REMOVED THEEXCESS BY HITTING IT WITH A STIFF BRUSH AND I GAVE THEMIXTURE THE RIGHTTEXTURE.


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I USED HEKI GRASSMAT, WHICH CANBE TORN INTO APPROPRIATEPIECES. IT WAS APPLIED WITH WHITE GLUE(WIKOL).

I MADE THE BASEFROM A PIECE OF CUTSTYRODUR FOAM, WHICH WAS TAPED WITH BALSA. PLASTER WAS APPLIED AT THETOP, SPRINKLED WITH DARK SOIL AND FINE GRAVEL AND IMMEDIATELYCOVERED WITH UNI-GRUNT PRIMINGEMULSION.


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• German Jagdpanther Early production with Zimmerit – Dragon 6494

• Tow Cable – Karaya TCM 03• German clasps & clamps (2 choice) – Aber 35A93

SELECTED TOOL AND MATERIALS:

• sponge• 4B pencil• styrodur • balsa

• plaster • soil and fine gravel• Uni-Grunt priming emulsion• fine crushed granite• white glue (Wikol)

• Heki grass mat• Polak brushes

PAINTS AND WEATHERINGPRODUCTS:• Humbrol Maskol• Citadel Chaos Black primer • Tamiya, Mr.Hobby Hobby Color series, Vallejo Model

Color and Panzer Aces series paints• Mr.Hobby Clear • Agama decal fluids• Renesans artists’ oil paints

• Zippo lighter fluid• MIG Thinner for Washes• MIG Pigments• MIG & AK-interactive weathering products



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www.kagero.pl


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SU-122-54 | Scratchbuild | 1:35


SU-122-54Rafał Bulanda

WHILE LOOKING FOR REFERENCE MATERIALS FOR THE SU-101 SELF-PROPELLED GUN,I CAME ACROSS A PHOTO OF AN ARMOURED FIGHTING VEHICLE THEN UNKNOWNTO ME, YET VERY INTRIGUING. THE VEHICLE WAS ОБЪЕКТ 600 OR SU-122-54. THESE

NAMES STAND FOR A 122MM SELF-PROPELLED GUN BUILT ON THE CHASSIS OF T-54TANK. IT WAS QUITE UNIQUE FOR RUSSIAN CONDITIONS, AS THERE WERE ONLY 80BUILT BETWEEN 1955-1957. I WAS FASCINATED TO SUCH AN EXTENT THAT I DECIDEDTO BUILD ITS MODEL.


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To

make my work easier, I usedT-55A kit released by the Ukrai-

nian manufacturer Skif. I onlyneeded its lower hull tub and suspensionsystem. I also purchased some aftermarketaccessories, including turned barrel for JS-2 tank, a couple of 14.5mm heavy machinegun barrels, towing cables, grilles, outlinemarkers and a metal antenna. I decided toinvest some money in Trumpeter’s tracklinks (#06622), because those from theSkif kit were different from the ones usedon SU-122-54. Of course, I also acquiredEvergreen plastic sheets and shapes of vari-ous thickness. I only managed to get few,not very accurate sketches and a modest

photographic reference of a couple of exist-ing museum exhibits, therefore my modelhas a combination of features of various ve-hicles shown in the photographs.

ENGINE COMPARTMENTPLATEI started with removal of the fenders andmaking new ones from a 0.5mm Evergreensheet. The Skif’s kit engine compartmentplate was nowhere near the real thing, so first I removed the sides and then the platein order to build that section from 1mm thick polystyrene sheets. The lids, hatches

and the engine intake shutters were madeof 0.25mm plastic sheet. The meshes turned out to be a bit more complicated.I started with a frame made of 1.5mm anglebars in which a photo-etched mesh of anappropriate size was installed. The meshes were slightly bigger for the scale, becauseI wanted the elements like e.g. engine in-

take shutters to show through. The netting was strengthened on the inside by a few

small pieces of wire, which were even- tually replaced by plastic strips cut froma 0.25mm sheet. In the end I made all thehinges, handles and bolts.

SUPERSTRUCTUREDue to the really poor reference materi-als, the shape and dimensions of the su-perstructure plates were estimated usingmy Mk I eyeball. The structure was builtentirely of 1.5mm plastic sheets and thengenerously covered with cyanoacrylateglue on the inside for additional strength.The cast texture was achieved by softening

the surface with Tamiya Extra Thin glue and“beating” it with an old toothbrush. Next,I made the superstructure details: cupolas,hatches and periscopes.I started with a hatch with KPVT heavy ma-chine gun mount. All the circular elements were cut with Olfa Compass Cutter. Themulti-layer construction was covered withdetails. The counterweight attached at theback of the mount was glued with CA glue from a few pieces of polystyrene and sand-ed into a small cubical shape.The commanders hatch required somemore work. I glued a small, thick circle in the

centre of the circular base and four blocksaround it, which were cut slightly at an angleand located between the periscopes. They were later filed into oval shape. The hatchitself was made of 1mm thick circle profiled to the appropriate shape. Then the periscopehoods made of 0.25mm sheets, glass imitation, hinges, etc. were added.


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Building the rangefinder guard turned out to be a really laborious task. That rather in-conspicuous structure had to be made witha couple of various thickness sheets glued together. Then I had to dril l the bolt sock-ets. The rim along with the bolts was gluedboth at the back and at the front. Next, the rangefinder openings were drilled andsome more details added. To imitate thecast texture the surface was softened with

Tamiya Extra Thin glue and “beaten” witha toothbrush. When the glue was dry, the rangefinder was sanded. Making theremaining hatches was a formality. Longi- tudinal strengthener located between thehatches in the central section of the super-structure was made of two sheets of vari-ous thickness glued together. The bottomsheet was slightly larger, so I could laterpress the weld texture.

THE KPVT MOUNT AND ITS ATTACHMENTThe KPVT heavy anti-aircraft machine gunmount and its attachment were entirelyscratchbuilt. I based my reconstruction onlyon the photos of the preserved museumexamples of the SU-122-54, so I had tosimplify them a bit. The barrel was from RBModel, while its runner’s guard, lock cham-ber, receiver cover and handle attached to the barrel, as well as other smaller details were made from pieces of sprue andpolystyrene sheets and shapes. The rivetsand smaller screw heads were made witha needle.

FUEL TANKS, STOWAGEBOXES AND SMOKE FLARESThe shape and dimensions of the fuel tanks were estimated from the photos, taking intoconsideration their proportions to other el-ements of the vehicle. Each tank was made from 1mm thick sheets, which were glued with CA and sanded. Then, I cut the shapeof the front and rear wall of the tank from0.25mm thick sheet. With Olfa straight l inecutter I made the X-shaped grooves and then punched a 5mm circle in the middle.The top surfaces of the tanks were made ina similar way. The whole was covered with

Tamiya Extra Thin and after curing, sanded.Finally, the fuel fi ller caps were added.It was time for smoke flares located in therear of the vehicle. Building those relativelysmall details turned out to be an extremelylaborious task, as only the third attempt was satisfactory. The imitation of over-pressed ribs on the sides was made byglueing consecutive layers of polystyrene together. All the strips were cut from Ev-ergreen shapes, while the circles on thesides were punched. To complete theseelements, I added triangular side handlesmade of wire and slightly thicker plastic rod.

The main structures of the side stowageboxes were made of 1mm thick sheets.I glued various polystyrene shapes on thesesmall boxes. These components requiredsome sanding to soften the edges and

STOWAGE BOXES AND FUEL TANKMOUNTED ONTHE MUDGUARDS.


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better imitate the overpressed metal. For

that task I used the nail polish block. I fin-ished the stowage boxes by adding clamps,hinges and side handles made of wire and0.25mm plastic rod.

GUN MANTLE AND COLLARMaking the gun mantle was quite diffi-cult, because at first, I did not estimate itssize right, so during the second attempt,I temporarily glued the front section of the mantle to its base on the collar. Next,I worked the oval shape of the gun mantlea bit, making it look more like the real thing.Then, I glued 0.25mm sheets to the outer

part of the mantle’s shield. When I got theshape more or less right, I started glueingon 1mm sheets, trying to fit them appro-priately. Then, I covered it with CA glue to strengthen the entire part and smoothaway any holes or irregularities. When itdried, I sanded the mantle to give it the ap-propriate, oval shape. Finally, I drilled all thenecessary holes and added bolts, drip railsand welds.The collar, after initial fitting, was cut froma 0.5mm sheet. Then I cut another one froma 0.25mm sheet and drilled the bolts open-ings in it. Both parts were glued together, and thus I got the imitation of bolt sockets. Otherparts of that distinctive element were madeof 2mm sheets. Naturally, the completed parthad to be sanded with a polish block to makeit look like a metal cast.

THE KPVT HEAVY ANTI- AIRCRAFT MACHINEGUN, ITS MOUNT AND ATTACHMENT WERE ALMOST ENTIRELYSCRATCHBUILT. ONLYTHE BARREL CAMEFROM RB MODEL SET.


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HULL TUB When I consulted the reference material, it turned out that the second and third axle of the suspension system had to be moved for- ward by about 5mm. Photos show the axlesin that position, as they were probably relo-cated to move the vehicle’s centre of grav-ity. Therefore, I cut the part of the hull tub’sbottom plate with the aforementioned axles.I damaged them in the process, so I had tobuild these details from scratch. The bottomplate of the hull tub was strengthened with1.5mm plastic sheet, while the control armmountings were cut from two 2mm sheetsglued together. Their round bases werepunched. The bolts were added at the end.

DETAILSI quickly managed to put together theheadlights. I started with their guards.I cut two strips from 0.25mm polysty-rene sheet, rolled them and glued, add-ing semicircular bottoms at the back. After sanding, I added their clamping

rings made of polystyrene strips andsome smaller details, as well as the base to which the headli ght was mounted.The lamps were adapted from Skif ’s kit.I thinned their inner edges and glued the imitations of light bulbs in the mid-dles. The inside of each headlight waspainted with Mr. Hobby Aluminium andclosed with lamp lense, punched froma transparent sheet and corrugated with a scalpel . The ent ire elements were sanded to get the appropria te,oval shape of the lamp lenses. Then they were pol ished with Tamiya Polish-

ing Compound. Headlights bases weremade of 0.5mm sheet and glued to the armour. The headlights themselves were mounted on 0.5mm rods. I alsoadded the bolts.

THE GUN MANTLE WITHRB MODEL BARREL.THE BARREL WASSUPPLEMENTED WITHTHE BORE EVACUATORMADE OF A WIDE STRIPCUT FROM A THIN SHEET.


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Next, I added the bore evacuator to thegun barrel, made of a wide strip cut froma thin sheet. Smaller mounting rings wereadded at the front and at the back and the whole part was sanded. Periscopes werecut from 0.5mm transparent sheet. Theirrims were made from tiny strips of polysty-rene and their hoods from 0.25mm sheet.The hinge was made from a plastic rod andits cover was made from a thin strip. ThenI glued them to the armour. Smaller screws were pressed with a needle. I also made the remaining welds. Their positions hadbeen softened with Tamiya Extra Thin and then pressed with a scalpel that had its tipbroken off. Corrections were made witha small drill bit.Fender curves involved a lot of trouble.The rear ones were the corrected parts from the Skif kit, the front ones had tobe scratchbuild. I cut them from 0.5mmsheet and bent into an arc. Then, I glued the sides and added thin strips at the top

to imitate the overpressed metal . After that, the parts were sanded. All the imitations of overpessed metal were gentlysoaked with Tamiya Extra Thin glue ap-plied with a brush, which gave themadditional roundness. Tiny fender limit-ers, that prevent the fenders from fall-ing, when in raised position, were alsomade. The fenders were enhanced withhinges made of 0.5mm plastic rod and wire spring, as well as triangular braces

THE MESHES ARE SLIGHTLYBIGGER FOR THE SCALE,BECAUSE I WANTED THEELEMENTS LIKE E.G.ENGINE INTAKE SHUTTERSTO SHOW THROUGH. NOTE ALSO THE SMOKE FLARESMOUNTS.


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that connect them to the hull and armour.These braces were cut from 0.25mmsheet and reamed. The shapes of theopenings were corrected with a scalpel.The braces at the rear had additionalbolts glued on. I also made fuel tank andstowage boxes mounts. These tiny cubes were cut from 0.25mm sheet and hadbolts glued on. Finally, I made the fender’srim from polystyrene strips.

It was time to tackle the towing hooks. Therear ones were Skif’s kit parts and could beused after some correctiones, but those at the front had a completely wrong shape

and had to be replaced. I made new ones from 0.75mm sheet using a scalpel anda polish block. All the hooks were glued torectangular bases at the armour, then the welds around them were recreated. Thereare stops above the hooks, that prevent thecable from slipping out. They were made from thin polystyrene strip and 1-0.5mmplastic rods. A piece of sprue and polystyrene shapes of various thickness were used to made the towline holder and the antenna mount, locatedon the right side, just above the stowage box.Round shapes were also used to imitate the

wiring insulation in the front section of the ar-mour, on fenders and in the rear, close to theclearance lights. The said lights were adapted from the Skif’s kit, but I had to scratchbuild their mounts and bases.

PRE-ASSEMBLED VEHICLE WITHOUT THE GUN MANTLE AND CHASSIS. THE SMOKEFLARES ARE ALREADY INPLACE ON THE LOWERPHOTO.


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I also scratchbuilt the shovel and the saw.

I carved the shaft and handle with a scalpel from a thick, round shape. The shovel bucket was shaped from a piece of 0.25mm sheet.The clamps fixing the bucket to the shaft weremade from thin polystyrene strip. The saw was fashioned from a 0.25mm strip, with anoval shape at the bottom and teeth cut witha scalpel. Handles made from round styreneshape, had their tips appropriately sanded tomake them round. They were connected with the saw by small pieces of polystyrenesheet, while the rivets were pressed witha needle. Apart from that, I added spare track links, which were mounted on the right side of thesuperstructure and on the front armour plate.Their attachments were cut from sections ofplastic rod and stops with imitations of bolts were made from plastic sheet. On the backplate of the superstructure, I attached handlesmade of wire and plastic shapes, as well asother fine details. Towing cables shacklescame from Skif’s T-55A kit, and the cables themselves were manufactured by RB Mod-el. RB Model outline markers were made tolook like the real thing by adding the springsmade from thin wire at the base and pieces of

sleeve glued at the top.The final stage was the correction of wheels.First, I gently sanded the slightly too thickidlers. The drive wheels, on the other hand,had to be thinned from the inside by almost


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2mm, because the tracks used in SU-122-54 were slightly different from those used inT-55A. Since I wanted to use openwork road wheels used in T-34 and earlier models of ОБЪЕКТ 600, I had to correct the diameterof those from the Skif kit. I glued the strips ofplastic on the outside and then sanded themgently. I also corrected the bolts on the hub

caps. The completed wheels were mountedon the suspension arms and then I glued on the Trumpeter’s track links. When they wereready and got appropriate slack, Tamiya ExtraThin was generously applied. When it cured,I removed the tracks to prepare them forpainting.

PAINTINGI started with priming the model with Mr.Surfacer 1000. Then the base colours wereapplied – wheel tyres were coated with blackand the entire vehicle was coated with TamiyaOlive Drab. Next, I airbrushed the highlights with various Mr. Hobby greens, starting withH422, through H312, until extra thinnedmixture of H312 with white. I added somespot highlighting with thin mixture of VallejoPanzer Aces German Uniform 1 and SilverGrey. Then I applied a delicate Tamiya XF-51Khaki Drab filter.

THE ALMOST ENTIRELYSCRATCHBUILD VEHICLELOOKED SO IMPRESSIVE,THAT I FEARED PAINTINGIT.


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COLOUR MODULATIONTHE BASE COAT OF TAMIYA OLIVE DRAB WAS HIGHLIGHTED BY AIRBRUSHING VARIOUS MR. HOBBY GREENS, STARTING WITH H422, THROUGH H312, UNTIL HIGHLYDILUTED MIXTURE OF H312 WITH WHITE.THEN I ADDED SOME SPOT HIGHLIGHTSON THE EDGES AND DETAILS WITH THIN

MIXTURE OF VALLEJO PANZER ACESGERMAN UNIFORM 1 AND VALLEJO SILVERGREY, APPLIED WITH A BRUSH. NEXT,I APPLIED A DELICATE FILTER OF HIGHLYDILUTED TAMIYA XF-51 KHAKI DRAB TODECREASE THE COLOUR CONTRAST.


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The miniature was varnished with glossy clearand van Dyke bronze oil wash was applied.The effect was secured with satin clear, mixed from Mr. Hobby’s matt and gloss, which fundamentally changed the shade of the ve-hicle. In the next step, I made scratches andpaint chips, but their number was a bit exag-gerated. At least, that was how I saw it, soI muted them with a few layers of Mr. HobbyH422 Light Green mist. Then I applied the

rain marks composed of a few shades of oilpaints: yellow, van Dyke bronze and white. When they dried, I airbrushed a layer of satinand started applying pigments, starting from the lightest (MIG P234 Rubbel Dust) to thedarkest (Kremer Raw Umber). All were fixed with MIG Pigment Fixer.Tracks were painted with a mixture of Vallejo German Grey, Red Brown and GunMetal acrylics in 2:2:1 ratio. They were later weathered with various shades of Kremerand MIG earth pigments. The edges weredry-brushed with MIG Metallic Pigment.

I USED VAN DYKE BRONZEOIL PAINT THINNED WITH WHITE SPIRIT. THEMIXTURE WAS APPLIED WITH A BROAD BRUSH ONTHE WHOLE VEHICLE AND

WIPED OFF WITH COTTONSWABS AND BRUSH AFTER ABOUT 15-20 MINUTES. AFTER NEXT 24H THE KIT WAS COATED WITH SATINCLEAR.

OIL WASH


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PAINT CHIPPING


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THE DARKER PAINT CHIPS WERE PAINTED WITH AMIXTURE OF VALLEJO’SGLOSSY BLACK, SMOKE AND A BIT OF GUNMETALGRAY, WHILE FOR THELIGHTER ONES I’VEUSED A HIGHLY DILUTEDMIXTURE OF GERMANUNIFORM AND SILVERGRAY. THE CHIPPING WASMAINLY MADE WITH THEHELP OF A SPONGE AND ALSO WITH FINE BRUSH.


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PIGMENTS

I APPLIED PIGMENTS BY AN AIRBURSH, STARTINGFROM THE LIGHTEST (MIGP234 RUBBEL DUST) TO THEDARKEST (KREMER RAWUMBER). AFTER REMOVING

THE EXCESS WITH A BRUSH, ALL WERE FIXED WITH MIGPIGMENT FIXER.


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BASEMy friend Kamil Feliks Sztarbała gave mea frame, which was a perfect fit for mymodel. I filled it with styrodur foam, which was fixed with acrylic resin. When it cured,I shaped it with a knife, cutting the excessstyrodur foam in one corner, as I wanted to place the vehicle in a slightly raised position. The ground was a mixture of pot soil,pebbles, earth pigments and Uni-Gruntpriming emulsion. When it dried, I air-brushed consecutive pigments, highlighting the surface in some places. Then, I startedplanting the grass. First, I glued some tufts,made of cut brush bristle, here and there.Next, I sprinkled Polak electrostatic grass of various length and colour. Vegetation was fixed with airbrushed Uni-Grunt primingemulsion. The areas with trampled downgrass were corrected with lighter pigmentsand the grass was gently dry-brushed with Vallejo Light Green. Tracks were made witha sharp scriber. The only thing left to do,

was to glue the miniature to the vignette with thick CA glue and add some pigments to make it more cohesive.

THE END – FIGURESBoth figures are from MiniArt set. Al- though they looked quite well, I decided that sharpening some details would do them good, as would the replacement of the heads with resin ones. Thus prepared figures were primed with Tamiya beige.The real painting was done with the reli-able Vallejo Model Color acrylics. In bothcases I started with painting the trousers

with thinned Russian Uniform, which in re-cesses was darkened by consecutive layersof Black Glaze, while the folds were high-lighted with the base colour mixed with Sil- ver Gray. The cap was treated in the same way. Jacket, worn by one of the armourcrewmen, was painted with Brown Green,and shaded similarly to the trousers. Thesecond figure was dressed in a black leather jacket, the folds of which were enliven witha mixture of black and blue. The same wasdone with the boots worn by both Sovi-ets. The map case straps were correctedby cutting and glueing new ones, because

the original ones didn’t fit the figure well. Allleather elements of the gear were covered with bronze brightened with Silver Grey.Faces and hands were coloured according to Ortiz’s formula with Brown Sand, FlatFlesh and Burnt Cadmium Red. Hair waspainted with light beige and then washed with Brown Glaze. When all the detailsand shades were painted, I fixed them witha few layers of Mr. Color clear matt. Thecomplete figures were glued with CA to the base and the joints were retouched with pigments to make them look natural.


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THE MODEL IS NOTPERFECT, BUT I HADFUN BUILDING IT ANDLEARNING A FEW NEWTRICKS AND TECHNIQUES.IT WOULD HAVE NOTBEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUTSUBSTANTIVE ANDTECHNICAL SUPPORT OFKAMIL FELIKS SZTARBAŁA AND PAWEŁ CZARNOCKI,TO WHOM I AM GRATEFUL.


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• T-55A – Skif No. 221• 122 mm D-25T gun barrel – RB Model 35B32• KPVT machine gun barrels – RB Model 35B21• outline markers – RB Model 35A01• antenna – RB Model 35A02• towing cables – Eureka LH-04• figures – MiniArt 35009, 35027• track links – Trumpeter 06622• Mesh Gauze/Square 8x8 – Eduard 00105

SELECTED TOOLS AND MATERIALS:• glues: CA and Tamiya Extra Thin• polystyrene sheets: 0.25-2mm• polystyrene shapes: angle bars 1,5-2mm, round 0,5-2,5mm• styrodur foam• Polak electrostatic grass• acrylic resin• Uni-Grunt priming emulsion

CHEMICALS:• paints: Mr.Hobby Hobby Color series, Tamiya, Vallejo Model Color • Mr.Hobby Gloss & Matt coats• MIG & Kremer pigments• MIG Pigment Fixer


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Each volume of the series is basically a big

decal sheet with individual markings for air-

craft or vehicles in three most popular scales.

Each painting scheme is depicted on beauti-

fully drawn colour profiles and described in

the guidebook with English and Polish text.


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T-55 | Tamiya | 1:35

THE KINGOF BALKANBATTLEFIELDS

Łukasz Orczyc-MusiałekT-55


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T wenty years ago, Europe was shak-en by the bloodiest war since theend of the global conflict in 1945.

The former neighbours Serbs, Croats andBosnians stood against each other. TheBalkans ran with blood of thousands andentire cities were reduced to rubble. Armed forces of all the belligerents based their mili tary strength on the equipment taken over after the break up of Yugosla- via. There are hundreds of photos of oldT-34/85, T-55, T-72 and other, not onlyRussian vehicles on the Internet. All sidesof the conflict used every vehicle capableof moving to strengthen their forces. Itcan be said, that that conflict is a treasure trove of ideas for a modeller interested inmodern military vehicles. It sounds a bitawkward, but it is true.

I have not planned to build this vehicle, butlife is full of surprises. Unexpectedly, I laidmy hands on Tamiya’s kit. As usual for thatmanufacturer’s kits, the quality was excel-lent. However, that does not necessarilyguarantee the same excellence of the fi-nal build. I was not interested in any paintschemes presented on the box. Originally,

the vehicle was supposed to be single co-lour, but I did not want to build anotherusual green Soviet tank. Thus, a laborioussearch for an interesting looking example was initiated. Quite early in the process,

I found a inspiring photo taken during the war in the Balkans. It showed two tankson a muddy road, standing among shabbybuildings and surrounded by a few soldiers.One of the vehicles had rubber side-skirts that were supposed to protect it againstRPG fire, since most of armoured vehicles fell victim to that weapon. The configura- tion of those protective measures was themost interesting. It was a standard to attach them to the hull, to protect the sides, but the vehicle in the photo had them on the turret as well. Moreover, there were twoadditional skirts on the front armour plate.Streaks and mud intensified the militant lookof the vehicle, so one could not resist build-ing its miniature. To learn about the way the side-skirts were attached, I looked foradditional photos of T-55s that took part in the Balkan conflict. As it had already beenmentioned, in a standard version threeside-skirts were installed on each side of the hull only, with the third one being tri-

angular in shape to protect the tracks and at the same time to prevent it from being en- tangled with the links. In combat conditions these shields were often lost or damaged,similarly to those on the German WWII tanks, which can often be seen with incom-plete side-skirts or even completely with-out them. The crews often covered the front armour plate with additional pieces ofrubber mats, cutting openings for hatchesand headlights. Some archival photographsalso show such skirts installed in the rear.The turret skirts were usually cut out from the side ones, bearing in mind not to cover

the periscopes, because without them thecrew was as blind as a bat. My idea fora model had crystallized and it was time tobegin the assembly!

SIDE-SKIRTS, MUD AND

DAMPNESS – THE MOSTINTERESTING THINGS!

ACCORDING TO SOME

SOURCES, ALMOST100,000 T-54 AND T-55

MAIN BATTLE TANKS WERE BUILT AND

USED BY UP TO 50 ARMIES WORLDWIDE.


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T-55 | Tamiya | 1:35

CITADEL CHAOS BLACK IS REALLY A MAGICPRIMING SOLUTION. EVEN IF WE SPRAY TOOMUCH OF IT, WE WON’T NOTICE ANY SPILLS

WHEN DRIED. THE EXCESS SPREADS AS IF IT WAS TOUCHED WITH A MAGIC WAND.

BUILDING BLOCKSThe excellent fi t of Tamiya kits can be eas-ily compared to LEGO® bricks, so thereis no need to write anything more about that. Generally, building the kit out of the box shouldn’t take more than threeevenings. Naturally, if we assume that westart after supper and finish around mid-

night, which gives us about four hoursa day.The offer presented by producers of vari-ous aftermarket sets is tempting. If one wanted to build a “de luxe” version of


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T-55 | Tamiya | 1:35

T-55, it would easily mean spending even250 EUR. Photo-etched or resin upgradesets, metal track links, barrels, towingcables, antennas, fuel drums, decals – the

list is so long, that it almost seems never-ending, since every major manufactureroffers some detail sets for that kit. I re-stricted myself to “mini” version, buyingRB Model turned gun barrel and antennaplus Eureka XXL towing cables. That wasenough, since Tamiya provides a suffi-cient level of details. I regret not buying the Friulmodel tracks, which would haveenabled me to build a working suspen-sion. However, the rubber tracks offeredby Tamiya were a pleasure to work with,so there was no reason to complain! Apart from the aforementioned photos

of the Balkan war vehicles, the first vol-ume of “Model Detail Photo MonographNo.9” about T-55/55A was a valuable ref-erence, as were the various walkarounds found on the Internet. Actual ly, the photos show a multitude of various designsbased on that tank’s chassis. Some of them were really interesting and uncom-mon, as e.g. a vehicle armed with 40mmanti-aircraft cannon.

PAINTINGI started by spraying the entire model with Citadel Chaos Black primer. The

turret , machine gun, hull, side-skirts andchassis elements were painted separately.Luckily, there was no need for corrections, that are usually necessary after the first layer of primer or paint is applied.

Choosing the right base colour took mesome time. The photo that I base mymodel on, shows a tank painted ratherdark, but standard T-55 colour was faded,

light green. I decided to mix two shades, Vallejo Model Color acryl ics 892 and 886in 3 to 1 ratio. Although a single colourmodel is a great base for popular ColourModulation technique, I decided not toapply it. The reason was simple – I amnot convinced by the effects thus created.To be more specific, the highlighting and toning down of the hull s ides and the tur-ret does not look natural. On the otherhand, I like highlighting small details with various shades of a given colour. Let ussay, that this is my idea of colour modulation.

I didn’t use any decals that time, all themarkings were hand painted on the basisof available photos and drawings. It tookme quite some time to find an appropri-ate name for the vehicle. The internetproved useful, as I found a list of Serbiannames along with their translations. “Bo- jana” stands for a woman-warrior and it was an excel lent name for a tank. Apart from it, the barrel was also graced withSerbian flag and Serbian cross on the tur-ret’s searchlight. The last hand-painteddetail were the remains of an inscriptionon the rubber skirt in the front section of

the hull. Originally, it was supposed tocome from a destroyed tank, which thecrew passed by on the way. After applying the MIG Dark Wash andhighlighting some of the flat surfaces

I ENHANCED THE KIT BYSCRATCHBUILDING THEFOLLOWING DETAILS:• fuel lines connecting the fender

tanks (wire),• loosely thrown blanket

(Milliput),• new texture of the cast turret

(putty),• rubber side-skirts (thick

cardboard),• straps holding extra fuel drums

(thin cardboard),• first road wheel’s ribs (wire),• fenders’ details (various wires,

photo-etched and cardboard),• steel flats at the side skirts

(cardboard) and clampingscrews (photo-etchedelements),

• tools (Dragon set),• headlight cables and driver’s

periscopes hoses (wire).


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T-55 | Tamiya | 1:35

with fi lte rs and oi l paints , I fixed it al l with a delicate mis t of sat in varnish.Then, I could easily start with recreating vertical streaks, for which I aga in used the oil paints . At tha t stage I used tur-pentine as thinner, which tarnished theprevious varnish layer. The most timeconsuming task was painting scratchesand paint chips. To avoid monotony,I divided the model into sections. Fend-ers, top of the hull, rear, turret and theremaining bits and pieces were “paintchipped” separately, first with lightgreen paint, using a sponge and a finedetail brush, and then with dark bronze.Thus, I avoided any possible mistakes,mainly overdoing, which often happensduring such tiresome procedure. Otherobvious examples of dividing the paint-ing process into sections are the wood-en beam, so typical of Russian tanks, as wel l as the heavy machine gun on the turret and ext ra fue l drums instal led in the rear.

DUST OF THE BATTLEFIELD

Now for the best part – pigments and weathering! I love this phase. Streaks and wet spots start to appear on all sort ofplates; rain marks and fuel stains, mud lefton the armour by the crew’s footsteps,rags stuffed between the stowage boxes

DURING THE WAR THE RIGIDRULES OF ARMY REGULATIONSCOME DOWN TO SECOND PLACE,

WHICH IS MOST EVIDENT IN THECUSTOM MARKINGS OF THE

VEHICLES. THIS TRADITION DATESBACK TO WORLD WAR I, WHENTHE FIRST TANKS HAD ALREADYCARRIED THEIR NAMES.


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– they all make the model look like a rep-lica of a real vehicle.I started with the chassis. First, I air-brushed the “initial” coating of dust.I usually use US Field Drab paint for that.Only after that step, I used the pigments.In case of tracks these were MIG TrackBrown, Europe Dust, Russian Earth andDark Mud. I applied them more or lessin that order to finally fix them with MIG

Pigment Fixer. To speed up the dryingprocess, I used a hair dryer. I am moreand more convinced that it is an essen- tial tool in the modeller’s workshop. The wheels were treated in a similar fashion,but I didn’t use Track Brown pigment there. Then I could attach the entire sus-pension system to the model. The tracks were attached to the wheels, simulating their slack (although on one side theyare almost completely hidden) and finallyI glued the rubber side-skirts which wereprepared earl ier.

The time had come to start the proper“dust covering”. The aforementionedset of pigments was supplemented withDry Mud, Rubbel Dust and Light Euro-pean Earth. With such a set, I managed to achieve the desired effect on all themodel’s surfaces. Additionally, I appliedexhaust marks with Agama black pig-ment. Most of the vertical streaks weremade with pigments diluted with water, while some others with MIG Rainmarks.Greasy stains were made with MIG Thin-ner for Washes mixed in various proportions with the same MIG Oil and Grease

Stain Mixture. Pigments were also used to imitate rust on the spare track links.The DShK heavy machine gun and tow-ing cables were dry-brushed with metal-izer. Finally, with a knife’s blade I made fine cuts on the side-skirts, imitating smallscratches, like those made by roadsidebrushes.


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DO YOU REMEMBER THEKITS YOU’VE FINISHED15-20 YEARS AGO? I’MCURIOUS WHAT WOULD YOU THINK ABOUT THISMINIATURE IF YOU SAWIT THEN. I ALSO WONDER WHAT CHANGES IN MODELBUILDING AND PAINTING WILL OCCUR WITHIN THENEXT 20 YEARS. THESEREFLECTIONS DON’TCHANGE THE FACT THAT ANY AFV MODEL SUFFERED

FROM APPLYING SOMEMUD…

EPILOGUEI am not going to write that building that kit was pure entertainment, assembly wasexcellent and I will build it again someday. I always chuckle to myself when I read things

like that at the end of an article, since I am convinced that majority of the authorsdoes not do such things! There is no need to mention that it was another valuableexperience, because it is obvious. However, I have already opened another box and this time it is not a tank!


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• T-55A Russian Medium Tank – Tamiya 35257• RB Model 35B41 turned barrel• RB Model 35A14 antenna• Eureka XXL 3506 towing lines

SELECTED TOOLS AND MATERIALS:• various gauges of copper wire• cardboard• Milliput• modelling putty

PAINTS AND WEATHERING PRODUCTS:• Citadel Chaos Black primer

• Vallejo Model Color paints• MIG and Agama pigments• MIG Pigment Fixer, Thinner for Washes, Dark Wash, Rainmarks,

Oil and Grease Stain Mixture



78/80www.sklep.kagero.pl

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31 years old, I live in Łódź, Poland. Myadventure with scale models had started at the age of 10, couple of years later I gave up the hobby and returned to it about 8 yearsago. I’m mostly focused on AFV models and

figures (I’m also a beginner sculptor), but ain’tavoiding other domains of this wonderfulhobby.

Rafał Bulanda

I’ve become a modeller many years ago.

I usually build 1:35 scale AFV kits, butsometimes I choose other subjects likesci-fi spacecraft or civil motorcycles. RecentlyI also started to scratch build due to the lackof certain models on the market. Music and film are my other passions. I work in theprinting industry.

Łukasz Kapelski

My modelling adventure started a few yearsago after an accidental visit in a hobby shop.Colourful boxes drew me forever. I prefer

to build WW2 armoured vehicles in 1:35scale, but also don’t avoid 1:72 and 1:48kits. I like to place my models on dioramasor vignettes as I feel that even a small baseenhances the visual impact of my works.

Łukasz Orczyc-MusiałekMy first kit was made almost 20 years agoand it was a paper plane. So far I have builta lot of models but my favourite are AFVs

Documents

Super Model International Nr 2