Model Armour

It really needed some oil paint washes to simulate that oily look of a main gun. But the Vallejo had to cure first.

Punch set with a couple of back-stops taped in place...

All the punched styrene chopped in half...

A couple of trimming steps to get the size right...

I made a couple of jigs and cut all the corners at 45 deg. Corners on the rear of this part had more material removed that the front; hence two different jigs....

You are looking at a heck of a lot of cuts to get here. Here are the cut-offs...

Here are the "uprights"...

Starting the assembly...

Coming together now...

Spacer and brass rod- the assembly jigs...

And a couple finished parts...

This is what I am making...

One of those jobs that you get into and wish you had figured out an easier way to do it beforehand, but I was happy with the results! I was modelling these empty and that is important to the way I want to display the model ultimately. Hatches open, ammunition gone, interior ransacked...you get the idea.


Chips!

Everything was done in Vallejo Acrylics thinned with water. I believe the largest brush I used tonight was a 5/0. Chipping was entirely new to me then, so I would

improve over time. I think the driver and gunners seats looked good and the oil spills on the floor, but the chipping itself? Looks OK in person but through the camera lens it looks horrible! Gives me more appreciation for the guys who build models specifically to be photographed. That camera doesn't miss much.

Next up was to finish the turret interior. I was getting close to closing the hull up. I marked the locations of the vision slits and pistol ports on the inside of the turret side. Tough to judge the location just by eye. I used a scrap of clear styrene and a permanent marker to make a template- then marked the locations on the inside.

The template...

The marks...

Now some of the bits I made for the turret interior;
Elevating crank - one of my resin bits, a gearbox from the old Tamiya T-34 kit, a styrene disk punched with a Waldron punch set, and a bit of stretched sprue.

More bits...

Painted black. While they were drying I made a couple of vision blocks out of styrene, thin sheet and strip.

Results of more chipping practice!

I painted all of the resin ammo boxes that I had made. Vallejo Russian Uniform over flat black primer. Followed by a wash of Russian Green. Then I painted the grab handles a mix of Khaki and Russian uniform lightened with White. Finally some chips using lightened Russian Green. I actually have more than I need so I can use the others in future projects, if not another T-34/76 then I'll use them to fill space on a display base. You'll remember that I made boxes with lids on, empty boxes, and separate lids. I want the turret floor to look like someone ransacked the tank looking for ammunition. There won't be any left inside.

The result...