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A39 Tortoise project

I've made some more progress on my Tortoise, and I'm starting to get into the nitty gritty things - the really fun stuff!

The first task was to put down a gloss coat, and to do this I use my old stand-by: Future floor wax. This stuff is great, and if you haven't used it yet, you should! It airbrushes great and is very, very forgiving to use. After putting down the gloss coat, I let it dry for a couple of days to make sure it was good and cured. Once this was done, I put down a series of filters by Sin Industries. I used three different colors: "Green for Light Green," "Grey for Bright Green," and "Grey for Dark Yellow." I used the Green one primarily for the upper surfaces, and the two Grey ones for the lower areas. I did, however, give a little overlap between them and mixed things up a little in some areas. I did about 3 rounds of this for each color. Once I was done, I put on another coat of Future.

After this, I did a pin wash of Dark Umber with a little Black added in. From there I added the decals, which came with the kit. I chose to do my model as "P5 Adventurer," which was one of the two vehciles which saw "extensive field trials" in Germany following the war. Once both of these tasks were finished, I put down a dull coat composed of Future and Tamiya Flat.

Now, I want to model this vehicle as it may have appeared at the end of the "extensive" trials that it went through. That being said, I decided to do a bit of paint chipping. I did this using a mix of Burnt Umber and Panzer Schwarzgrau. Primarily I used a 10/0 brush for this, but I also used a sponge a little of the engine deck to ostensibly show wear and pealing associated with a frequently heated surface.

Finally, I went back and did a bit of drybrushing over some of the raised details using a mix of Olive Drab, Medium Green, and White. While some may consider washes and drybrushing a bit old fashioned or passe, I still feel that they serve an important artistic purpose on a model if used in a restrained manner. Used together, they give a sense of "push and pull" (as one of my high school art teachers used to say) that helps to give a sense of depth.

Here's some pictures to show where I'm at so far:

2ev46ys.jpg


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Next up, in continuing with my idea of a vehicle toward the end of field trails, I'm going to begin doing some weathering, starting with some mud and dirt on the lower areas of the vehicle. The next few steps should help tone things and a bit and bring everything together.

Davod
 
The kit went together fine; not too bad at all for a resin kit. Not really any air bubbles to speak of. Parts clean-up was easy enough, and the fit overall was good. The suspension is extensive, so you just have to take your time in that area. The side armor skirts didn't match up too well with the fenders and superstructure, so I had to do some filling there, which also required re-doing some details like rivets, etc.

David
 
Well, I've finished my Tortoise! Here are a couple of teaser pictures, until I can cobble together a cheap photo booth in the next couple of days and take some decent pictures.

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David
 
David,

Really nice job.
Thanks for the SBS.
I like the water marks running through the dust and mud on the lower sides.

Inspired!

Bill
 
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