Takom 1/35

MARK IV

Bronco1/48

JSU-152

3 TECHNIQUES ARTICLES
-How to paint a wood cable reel
-Using Photoshop to decide how to paint your model
-A new painting method, the light filtering
Trumpeter 1/35

Voroshilovets

Trumpeter 1/35
T-62
 www.fcmodeltrend.com

Exclusive model ac-

cesorie, decals, resin,
photoetched, printed
self-adhesive bases,
etc.
 Index
5 Wehrmacht base

7 Next target, the news report

12 Sherman M2A2 at Saipan

1/35 Scale
Javier Redondo show us his
skills with this Dragon kit.

19 Tips, tricks & techniques,

Painting wood wire reels
First techniques article that shows how to
reproduce a worn wood texture on a resin
reel kit.

23 Mark IV
1/35 Scale
Javier Redondo tackles the
Takom kit
to show us it’s pros and cons.

30 The FCModelgift, Poland 1939-

1945

31 T34/85 in foreign service

1/35 Scale
The old Dragon kit is an opportunity to test
fitting of the new FCModeltips
products, both resin and decals.
36 Tips, tricks & techniques. Using Photoshop to
choose decoration

39 Voroshilovets
1/35 Scale
Łukasz Orczyc-Musiałek is a very well known
modeller who always surprises with his work
Here he shows how to take the most of the
Voroshilovets heavy tractor.

45 T-62 in Afghanistan
1/35 Scale
Sergio Moro likes to work with scratch, here he
show us his skills with a tank he knew very well
in Afghanistan

50 JSU-152
1/48 Scale
Roman Volchenkov felt in love with this Tamiya kit and
he didn’t stop untill he finished it.

57 BA-10
1/35 Scale
One of the most recent Hobby Boss kits is
the subject of Abilio Piñeiro’s work.

63 Tips, tricks & techniques

The light filtering
This is the third technique article that
will show you a different painting way
that may save you a lot of time.
Is published by Coronel Caramel S.l.
CIF B54483052
Editorial office & administration
Club de fútbol Hercules 6
03008 Alicante
Spain
Te: 965112833
Email: fcmodeltips@gmail.com

Director: Federico Collada

Editor: Federico Collada
Associate editor: Javier Redondo
Design: Federico Collada
Graphics: Federico Collada

Contributors
Abilio Piñeiro, Roman Volchenkov, Sergio Moro, Lukasz Orczyc-Musialek

Editorial
Yet another new modelling magazine, why?

You may be asking yourselves. Aren’t enough modelling magazines around? It’s really necessary ano-
ther one? What can be different in this one that others don’t have?
I really didn’t think about it some months ago when I first got the idea, it just came along and seemed
logical to me. I was already working on a book of modelling tips, thought for novel modellers, a book
that could teach easy tricks and alternatives for the most complicated ways that professional modellers
use and that they are too complicated to control or they require some special skills.
I wanted to show that modelling is not a stressing hobby but the opposite; it’s something to enjoy, to
entertain ourselves and to make us forget of our diary jobs and duties. As I went on preparing the book,
many friends told me that they shared this same point of view. They did enjoy long projects and com-
plicated builds and paintings less and less each time. They all wanted to feel again that special charm
that modelling brought them when they were children.
This is the aim of this magazine, not only showing the pieces of well known modellers but to share and
help everybody to get the most of their hobby time. We will try to share many technical articles in every
issue, secrets, tips and shortcuts that can provide nice results and help finishing the models in less
time.
We will offer you gifts and goodies in every magazine; things that you can use with your models. We
will show you many models, and we will try to surprise you every time we can.

Federico Collada
Cut & paste
Cut the printed base
and glue it on your
favourite base, you will
get a custom
Wehrmacht base for
your military vehicles.
ICM 72471 Mercedes G4 (1935 PRODUCTION)
1/72 scale

The Mercedes Benz Type 31 G4 was a 3 axle car

produced for the Wehrmacht in 1934 for the high
command officers of the nazi party. Too expensive for
a mass production, it was almost exclusively used in
parades or military reviews. Only 56 cars were pro-
duced of which 3 of them are still conserved today in
perfect state.
ICM had already produced a 1/35 scale model of this
car and it has announced another version in 1/24 sca-
le, but this time is the Braille scale the one selected.
Maybe the most amazing characteristic of this model
is that it has been conceived as a snap-together kit, in
my many years of modelling I have seen many kits of
this toy-like category but never with such detail level.
Standard snap kits use to have a few parts with very ICM 35565 Moroccan Goumier rifles, 1943
low detail quality that fits to build a toy, but this ICM kit Scale 1/35
is really a model, it has 92 parts and many of them are
so subtle that it won’t be advisable for a kid or a non The goumiers were Moroccan troops formed by diffe-
experienced modeller. rent tribes that fought as French allies for decades,
Then what is the point in making such a refined model including the WWII. Although they were recognized as
to be built snap? Well the key are precisely these little fierce fighters they were also known for their indiscipli-
and delicate parts, you can choose to use them and ne and the outrages they committed during the Italian
build the kit as a regular one or you can go without campaign.
them to make a simpler kit in the snap way. The new ICM kit includes four goumiers figures as
The decals sheet provides the necessary to build 4 they looked in 1943 during the Italian campaign.
different cars and the full colour instructions will guide They are equipped with a range of guns that include
us through a complicated painting job full of chrome Thompson machine guns, Garand carbine, etc. The
plated parts, maybe here the snap style can be an personal gear is up to the minimum, as it occurred in
interesting option as it can ease the building after the real life. All the four figures are dressed in jellabah
and one of them is even wearing sandals, all the four
painting these parts.
can wear English helmets or turbans. The best are
the faces, very convincing and expressive, mainly the
ones that has beards.
The general detail is very good, something usual in
ICM that is constantly surprising us with new and
original figures sets.
MASTER BOX 72007 y 72008 Austin Mk.III y IV armoured car, Scale 1/72
Master Box has surprised us with two model kits of the Austin armoured car, produced since the beginning of
the Great War for many armies.
The kits are presented in two grey plastic sprues and rubber pneumatics plus a set of decals for 8 different vehi-
cles. The detail is very nice and they are easy to build so they can be the perfect weekend project for any WWI
enthusiast.
MASTER BOX 35183 Pinups, Scale 1/35
Faithful to their policy of offering always new and original groups of figures, this time it’s the turn for some
eye-catching beauties dressed in an all American pin-up style to pose aside of any war vehicle or just to delight
some troops with an artistic show!
The figures are well designed and the details are soft and subtle as they should be. A careful painting will surely
get the most of them to add in any scene.
Master box seems to be decided to lead the way in 1/35 plastic figures, they got zombies, pin-ups….what’s
next? Aliens? Robots?

MENG TS-021 Mk.A Whippet British medium tank, 1/35

scale
Two kits have come along to substitute the ancient Ehmar kit; both
Takom and Meng have produced their own model of this curious Engli-
sh tank.
The Meng kit has delayed some months but it seemed to gain the con-
test as it offers similar quality for half the price.
The kit is presented in sandy colour plastic frets with individual links
for the tracks that fits by simple pressure. The detail is very good and
the parts are big enough for any non experienced modeller to deal with
them with no stress.
The decals sheet provides signs for 4 different vehicles although just
two of them are illustrated at the instructions.
EDUARD 36332 Panther Ausf.D handles and holders.
1/35 Scale
Designed to use with the recent Tamiya panther kit, this photoetched
metal set include all the necessary handles and holders to fasten the
tools in the racks and the extra track links. These elements will help
us improving the look of our kit that has many simplified details.

36330 Panther Ausf.D zimmerit 1/35 Scale

Another set for the new tamiya panther, although I’m not very keen
on photoetched zimmerit, I must admit that they are very easy to use
as you just have to cut and paste them onto your model, you can
have the tank completely zimmerited in a while knowing that all parts
will fit like a glove as they are designed for this particular kit.

36331 Panther Ausf. D Schürzen 1/35 Scale

The third photoetched set for this tank include the schürzen the typi-
cal German side skirts that look so nice on tanks like these. Unfor-
tunately the kit provides some plastic ones that are too thick so this
metal skirts will be welcome. More even, the Eduard set is designed
in separate parts with the holders apart so you can decide if you
want to do without some sections.
A very easy to use upgrade set that your panther will appreciate.
TAKOM Whippet 1/35 scale
This is a great basic rendition of a Whippet tank but
no interior is included except the four Hotchkiss .303
machine guns. The quality of the moulding is spot
on with lots of nice rivets and bolts all along the hull
and side panels and with almost no visible pin marks.
There are a lot of small wheels (74 in four different
types) to remove from the sprue, clean, sand and glue
but most of them will be hidden under the tracks and
outer hull panels. Be careful when removing the whe-
els and hull panels from the sprue as the attachments
point are not in the best parts of the pieces.
The tracks included in this kit are snap together sys-
tem links. Each link (made in brown plastic) have the
inner brackets and the pad rivets included on every
single link so the building is very easy. The position of
the idler wheel is important as there are three possibi-
lities.
Assembly of this kit was fairly straightforward except
the tediuos building of the road wheels. Care is nee-
ded to align the individual hull panels.
Kit consists of:
312 parts in grey soft plastic
A small etched brass set including tiny hooks
146 Individual snap together track links
1 Decal sheet with eight schemes including British and
captured German tanks.
1 x 12 page instruction booklet and colour schemes.
MENG T-10M 1/35 scale.
One of the first thing that caught my eye in this kit was
the excellent attention to the surface texture of the
cast parts including a nice rolled-steel texture to the
upper hull plates, turret and some welding seams.
The running gear and undercarriage is made of
sixteen road wheels, two drive sprockets made up
from three parts each, six return rollers, axle mounts,
final drive housing and suspension bump-stops. Once
assembled you can add the torsion bars with workable
swing-arms but I decided to leave mine glued.
The large hull is packed of storage boxes including the
rear gun travel-lock, engine PE grills and the external
fuel tanks (best to paint them separately). The turret
cast texture is very nice here too with the option of a
rolled canvas or a rear bustle depending of the pain-
ting scheme and version choosen.
One of the nicest addition to this kit is a clear jig
allowing five links to be assembled at one time. The
track pins are supossed to be inserted in the sides
of the track links before they are removed from the
sprues to build the fully workable tracks.
The gun barrel is sadly made in two halves but on the
other hand the slide-moulded muzzle brake is a sin-
gle-piece. Probably an aftermarket turned gun barrel
will be needed to avoid some filling and sanding.
Kit consists of:
328 parts in dark green plastic including two large hull
parts.
10 parts in clear plastic
192 black track links
384 black handed track pins
A clear plastic two-part track assembly jig
A photo-etched fret,
20 polythene caps
Decal markings for four vehicles
After conquering the Marshall isle, the next target
for the US navy in their way to Japan was the
Marianas. At the Saipan isle, the 2nd and 4th
marine division, commanded by General Holland
Smith confronted to the 43rd Japan Imperial
army division.
From 15th June to 9th July, terrific bloody fights
took place in which the Japanese troops showed
a fanatical resistance and suicide charges known
as banzai.
That was the first time that the US army used Although I could have used real wood for the side
their new gelly fuel bombs that they would be protections, I preferred using plastic as I can better
later known as Napalm. control the painting on this material.
The Japanese garrison of 31.000 men was redu-
ced to 921 prisoners.
The kit
The model is reference 6062 from Dragon, Sher-
man M4A2 Tarawa, a nice rendition of the ubiqui-
tous US tank in the Marines version. It is made
of 282 parts made in a light grey plastic with
another 20 made in clear plastic for periscopes
and lamps glasses, a photoetched fret, a metal
turned wire and vinyl T54E1 tracks.
It was made following the instructions, stopping
at some points to add some scratch details made
from evergreen like the wading system, side
extra armour made of wood planks, and the front
steel plates. The water 25g can was made out of
a fuel can, properly sanded and detailed. Some
more small details that can be seen in the pictu-
res were made to complete the job, the rest of
the building was easy and fun with no remarka-
ble issues.

The colours
I decided to represent the famous Sherman
M4A2 called “King Kong” from the 4th Marines
tank battalion at the Saipan battle in June/July
1944. The pictures of this particular tank show
that it could have been painted in Olive Drab nº9
at the factory and the additional armour plates
may be painted in the standard marines Forest
Green nº11. The hand painted camouflage may
have been Sand nº3.
Some photoetched details were needed to hold the
tools, the cloth was made form epoxy putty and the
water tank, from a gas barrel.
Most of the new elements needed for this
particular tank, like the wading chimney
were scratch made using Evergreen plas-
tic.

Turned barrel and MG were used as the kit ones are

a bit rough.

I begun painting the tracks using a dark grey colour
from Agama, I like this acrylics as they got a good
covering and they are very resistant to further ag-
gressive work.
For the lower part of the tank and
bogeys I used Vallejo primer 70608
US Olive Drab, then some filters using
Dark Yellow 76503 and Sepia 73200
letting dry between each filter. I like
to use these filters as they dry quite
quickly so I don’t have to wait much to
keep the work.

To finish the lower part of the hull

I painted the rubber band of the
wheels using Vallejo 806 dark
rubber and once dry I applied
dry pigments with a brush using
colours Dark yellow Ochre, Natural
shadow, beach sand and Brick
dust. These same pigments were
then used on the tracks in order
to get them ready to be placed
and let the lower part of the tank
finished so I could better handle
the model during the rest of the
painting process.

I painted the tracks again, now using

Vallejo dark brown 76514 and some hour
later I rubbed the teeth and edges of the
links with a graphite bar to imitate the
polished metal.
 With half of the painting process ready I started to
work on the wood planks, here I used Vallejo 310 Old
Wood.

Later I airbrushed with Humbrol US Marine corps 161

and waited a while to start rubbing part of the paint
along the planks vein using a brush and white spirit.

I masked the wood protections and

painted the rest of the hull and turret
with Olive drab primer, then I used
Dark Yellow and Black to create
some highlights and shadows air-
brushing them diluted at the requi-
red zones.

I used both Vallejo colours 988 Khaki Brown and 976

Khaki Yellow mixed to paint the sand stripes camou-
flage using a fine brush.
 A

The front plates were made
of other vehicles parts, to
give the tank a bit of variety
I decided to alter the tone
of some of them. I used An-
drea colour 54 Azul Union,
and Vallejo Neutral Grey
922 and Burnt Umber 941.
With the sponge technique I applied Oran-
ge Rust 71130 (A). Then Light Rust 505,
using the same technique, this provides a
very convincing rusted effect.(B)
Once dry I applied a layer of chipping me-
dium with the airbrush, then I painted with
968 Olive Green mixed with a bit of Yellow
915. Next, with a brush and warm water I
rubbed gently to take off part of the pain-
ting, insisting at the edges of the plates.(C)

I used the special set from

Star Decals for USMC in
Saipan that provides the signs
for this particular tank. After
placing them with the aid of
the Vallejo decal medium, I
painted with diluted Tamiya
colour XF-57 Buff those zones
that tend to accumulate dust.

C
Mixing plaster with pigment and Humbrol 72 Khaki, I painted some fuel stains using diluted oils, pointing
I speckled little dots of mud at the lower part of the around the intakes using a fine brush, and the humidi-
tank. ty around the water tank using clear varnish.

The last touch was adding some dust accumulations

using dry pigments Burnt Umber and Yellow Ochre
letting them deposit on some zones and fixing them
with a little white spirit.
T T ips,
The Blitzscale team
ricks & T echniques

Painting a wood wire reel

1 2

This is the Macone resin kit MAC35122

already assembled; it has a few parts so it’s
Priming it with Vallejo “RAL 8000” provides
built in a while.
an excellent base to start painting.
 6

I apply some washes with different Valle- Now retire some oil using a cotton bud mois-
jo colours to distinguish some planks form tened in turpentine, the wood grain will look
others. now better. The more oil we wash away, the
older the wood will look.

4 7

A small piece of sponge stained with paint This is the look once the oil is dry.
and slipped along the planks produce the first
wood grain.

8
A wash with oils using a dark tone like burnt I apply a coat of chipping medium at both
umber; then wait for some minutes. exterior sides of the reel and wait for some
minutes.
 9 12

Now cover the chipping medium with a bright Using adhesive tape I peel off part of the
colour, you can make subtle variations to get transfers to spoil them a little.
some colour variety.

13

10
With a hard brush and warm water I wash Then I make a pin wash at the joints and
away part of the chipping medium along with rivets using Burnt Siena oil.
the paint showing part of the wood.

11 14
With some Earth tone pigments I make a
The markings are made with dry transfers,
subtle dirt covering applying them dry with a
the Siemens logo is hand painted.
soft brush.
 Rivets and bolts are painted using Vallejo
15 burnt umber and later washed with dark rust
oil. After some minutes I point some rust
pigments to add some texture to the still fresh
oil.

And this is it; the reels are now

ready. They are a great looking
element to add to any scene and
they are very original too.
The Mark IV was the British tank produced in lar-
ger quantity from 1917 with more than 1200 units
of both male and Female versions. It presented
important upgrades form its predecessors thanks
to the battle experience they provided. The diffe-
rence between the two main models produced
was the armament, while the male tank carried 2
Hotchkiss QF 6 pounder guns and 3 Lewis 303
in. machine guns, the female model carried 5
Lewis machine guns.
The Mark IV saw first significant action at the
battle of Messines where they proved high valua-
ble support for the infantry. Some time after they
participated in the Passchendale battle where
they had worse luck due to the muddy terrain
where they got stuck becoming an easy target for
the artillery.
In November that same year, 460 Mark IVs
where used at the battle of Cambrai where they
quickly overcome the enemy trenches. Next
year, during the German aftermath, the first tank
vs. tank battle occurred confronting the Mark IV
against the German A7V, there a single Mark IV
male and 2 females disabled a A7V and made
another 2 withdrew, after they caused some da-
mage to both female Mark IVs.
Some 40 Mark IV where captured by the Ger-
man to which they replaced the original 6 poun-
der guns to the German equivalent and called
them Beutepanzerwagen, forming 4 tank compa-
nies on December 1917.
 separate parts that where a bit difficult to align,
the new ones, instead, they are made in one
piece and are mounted by simple pressure. The
other after market kit I used are the Lion Mark
turned metal barrels that are a significant impro-
vement over the kit ones.

Painting
WWI models are a lot fun to paint and weather,
mostly due to its involving tracks configuration
and the terrain where they were deployed that
justify a wide variety of effects that can make the
model look really stunning.
To decorate my Mark IV I choose the B37 “Bison”
belonging to the B battalion. 5th company, 8th
section, commanded by Liutenant AA Dalby that
took part in the Passchendale combats in August
1917.
The model
Some years ago the only available model to
make a 1/35 Mark IV was the Ehmar kit, too old
and basic, it was not up to nowadays quality
levels and is not a serious option anymore. Last
year both Tamiya and Takom presented their own
kit of this tank providing a good quality option to
the WWI fans modellers.

The one I used is the Takom one, easy to build

and presenting no defects or issues, though I
improved both exhaust and doors with the availa-
ble material at my rests box, and opted to buy the
Takom articulated links for this tank that is sold After washing the model with water and a bit of
separately. I made this decision after checking soap, I applied a coat of Vallejo grey primer that
that the links provided in the kit where made of has excellent covering and resistance properties.
I applied the base colour, to
achieve the greenish khaki
I used the Vallejo Model Air
081 tank Ochre mixed with
some drops of satin varnish.
To outline the panel joints
and recessed lines I used the
same colour with a bit of matt
black.

For the tracks I airbrushed

Humbrol Khaki drill 72 and
after waiting some time for
the paint to be completely
cured I made a wash using
Vallejo 939 Smoke to accen-
tuate the shadowed part of
the links.

I started the weathering pro-

cess using the acrylic wash
522 Desert dust to wear the
base khaki green colour. This
is an easy way to get the first
dirt filter.

I continued painting some

lines and pin washes using
dark oils to enhance the vo-
lumes and details by creating
a shadow around them. This
technique must be done with
the models surface already
wetted in turpentine or white
spirit.
The exhaust was painted
using Burnt Umber oil was-
hes and dropping some
pigments while the oil was
still fresh. Once dry the finish
is very convincing.

The interior of the Tools box

was painted the same way,
the key in this trick is using
the right pigments colours;
depending on the variety the
rust effect can be homoge-
neous or much exaggerated.
One of the main advantages
of this technique is that the
pigments not only add the
tone variety but also a nice
texture.

I rubbed the upper rails with

graphite, using my finger tip
to imitate the polished metal.

The chipped paint was pain-

ted with Vallejo 302 Dark
Rust using a fine brush.
At this point I started to use pigments to dust
the tank, applying them dry with a large soft
brush by simply rubbing them over the hori-
zontal panels, tracks links, etc.

To create the dry mud I mixed; plaster, pigment and Vallejo 872 chocolate paint with water
until I got the right consistency. Then applied with a hard hair brush, speckling at the proper
zones of the vehicle.
 The wet mud was created the
same way, but with different tones
and adding gloss varnish, then
speckled again at the same zones
I did witht he dry mud but insisting
a bit less.

I rubbed the links edges and some detail

with a graphite bar to imitate the polished The last Couch was using oils to add some
metal; this is a very easy way to achieve the variety to the adhered mud, using Natural
worn look. shadow and Burnt umber colours.
A familiar shape in a new scenario
At the second half of the 50s Syria bought many
T34/85 tanks from different models and sources,
some 120 of them were of the newest Czech
production but other ones came directly form the
USSR, produced during the WWII.
As years passed, the Syrian army received more
modern tanks as the T54 and T55 so the older
T34/85 were relegated and some of them ended
as still fortifications at the Golan heights front in
the 60s decade.
Some months ago I designed a couple of pro-
ducts to sell in my own online store dedicated
to these vehicles, one of them is the Syrian 50s
tanks decals which includes decorations for many
of these T34/85, Panzer IV, Stug III, etc and the
other one is a resin and photoetched accessory
to add the AA mount to the tank cupola, only
seen in the Syrian model, so to test both pro-
ducts, I decided to use them on a Dragon kit.
The kit I used was the Dragon T34/85M, a model
produced at the Soviet Union in the 60s for ex-
portation that included some of the new T55 tank
parts, to make it look as a Syrian model I chan-
ged the wheels for a full solid rim form another
kit, to upgrade some details I used the Eduard
photoetched set, a RB turned metal gun, and the
most important detail, the AA mount for the Dshk
at the commanders cupola, a resin kit designed
by Pete Hamman and produced by 3d printing,
simply perfect!
The dragon kit 3318 has many years now and
this is something obvious, many of the parts have
mould marks, some are oversized and other ones
are too simplified. The parts arrangement is sim-
ple, maybe too simple, some details are moulded
over bigger parts when they surely would have
looked better if provided as separate parts, an-
yway, it’s a decent model and quite easy to build
for any not experienced modeller.

The Eduard photoetched set for this kit include
a new grille, tools boxes, clamps, handles, etc.
Once added to the kit, together with the turned
metal barrel, I started to build the AA mount. This
is made of few parts cast in resin that are easily
cut form their base with a file and fix together
perfectly as they are
designed to the mi-
llimetre to do it so.
The AA mount rim base
also fits like a globe to the plastic cupola son no
correction or filling of any kind is needed. So with
all parts ready I started with the painting job.
Different scenario, same colours
I used the 4BO colour as a base as the Syrian
army used to leave the original mimetic of the ve-
hicles used in the procedure countries, so being
this one a Soviet tank this was the only option.
Vallejo include this tone in their primers range
so I used it applying in successive thin layers to
cover the model completely.
Then I used a special paints set of this brand,
specific for Russian vehicles that include a
couple of lighter green tones to use for highligh-
tening. In a first stage I used the 054 Zinc green
colour diluted at 50% with the proper
thinner to highlight the upper parts
of the tank and the centre of whee-
ls, etc. avoiding the edges to make
the forms stand out.
The next highlightening filter serve
to detach the details and for this
I used an even lighter colour,
254 Bright green. This time
I diluted it at 75%
and
air-
brus-
hed
it form a
bigger distance
( 30cm minimum ) to
the whole model, this produce
an effect similar to the classic
drybrushing though much
more subtle.
This simple job was enough
to leave a fine base to start
with the weathering process,
but first I had to apply the de-
cals. Some years ago I used
tamiya paints but when it
came to varnish for the got always a lot darker, spoiling any achieved
decal placing I noticed effect of lights and shadows. Now I use Vallejo
that the base co- paints and this is something that never occur, I
lour under the can apply the gloss varnish just where the decal
varnish is to be placed and the colour won’t change, no
way back for me.

This particular tank had a local

martyr name written on both sides
of the turret and a white ring on
top for aerial recognition. To
set the decals correctly I used
the Micro Set and micro sol
products, these adapted
the decals perfectly to the
uneven textured turret.

Once the decaes were

fixed I applied another
filter to the model using
Vallejo acrylic wash 76522
Desert sand to finish integrating the
decals in the base colour of the vehicle, this
 The next phase was to make a
heavy wash at the tracks and lower
part of the hull using an earth tone
acrylic paint diluted in white spirit.
The next wash was a bit more
special, I used a little mechanical
sprayer to create the “pigments
rain”, that’s how I call this easy
trick to dirty my models, I mix the
selected pigment with a lot of water
( just a 5% of pigment ) and spray
it plentifully over the vehicle so
the pigment can spread naturally
filter soften the contrast of the white decals and
and deposit in every recessed zone and around
the dark green colour of the tank creating the
details.
sensation that the painted names and ring are
Once the water has dried, we can eliminate any
not recent.
excess by simply brushing away and blowing,
For the tank to have a worn and a bit neglected
then we can use white spirit or a special fixer to
I painted many little scratches with a dark rust
adhere the pigment to the model.
colour 71042 using the sponge technique trying
To finish the painting I used graphite pigment
not to exceed as I wanted to show an operative
rubbed over some zones to imitate the polished
tank. For this same reason I dispensed one of the
metal at the tracks, steps, handles, etc. This can
tool boxes lid.
be easily done with a little piece of cloth, a pencil
or even with your fingers.
With the rust chipping ready I proceeded to
dirty the tank with the speckled and dragged veil
This unusual version of the T34/85 caught my
technique, this simple trick consists in splashing
attention since I saw it in a Vanguard book some
little dots of diluted paint of different tones to later
years ago, as there was no kit to make it I deci-
drag them downwards using a brush moistened
ded to create both resin and decals to fulfil the
with the proper thinner, this way we can create a
project and for any other modellers friend that
lot of different size, colour and opacity stains in a
could want to make this tank too. I hope I can
moment.
start soon with another classic with a Syrian
To make some details stand out I made a soft
touch, the panzer IV.
pin wash with a dark green tone acrylic wash
applied with a fine point brush.
T T ips,
The Blitzscale team
ricks & T echniques

Testing painting options

Sometimes it’s not easy to decide the painting scheme we want to use with the model we’re working on.
Although we have enough information we can’t always see in our minds the final look of each option. Here is
when a powerful tool like Photoshop can be of help.
Adding colourful layers to your model photograph can help you see how it will look with each camouflage or
different base colours.

1 Select a good photograph of your model with a base colour layer. One with a white background will be the
best.
2 Select the white background and then invert the selection
3 Copy (ctrl+c) and paste (ctrl+v)
4 Turn the new layer black, (ctrl+u)
5 set lightness to -100
6 Add another layer with a different colour or camouflage
7 Go to the black silhouette and select the exterior zone1
8 With that selection open go to the new colour layer and eliminate the outside zone (delete)
9 Set opacity of the layer at 50% and delete the black silhouette layer
If you like the result you can use the eraser tool to eliminate the parts of the tank taht shouldn’t be camoufla-
ged; exhaust, machine gun, tracks, etc. Do it on the camouflage layer, then clip all the layers (ctrl+alt+e) Now
you can save the picture as a jpeg and start a new one.

1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9
Nordland 1944

panzerjagger abteilung 731, 1944

Vlasov´s army 1945

561 Heeres panzerjagger panzerabteilung Konigsbach, 1945

Alsace 1944

Western front 1944

Western front 1944

Western front 1945

Model, photographs and text Łukasz Orczyc-Musiałek
- Scale 1/35
- Trumpeter 01573 Russian Voroshilovets Tractor
- Friulmodel ATL-108
- VoyagerModel PE 35394
- Zvezda 3634 Gaz M1
- Stalingrad S-3572 Red Army Tankers
at Rest 1943-45
- Resin, metal and plastic elements
from different sets (Plus Model,
Tamiya, RB Model etc)
The heavy tractor Voroshilovets was named
in honor of the Soviet marshal K.E. Voroshi-
lov. It was produced at Kharkov Locomotive
Factory between 1939 and 1941 - during
this time 1123 units were produced. After the
German invasion of 1941 the production was
shifted to the Stalingrad Tractor Factory and
started there in August 1942.
The tractor was used to tow heavy 152mm-
305mm guns (cannons, howitzers and mor-
tars) and for evacuation of all sorts of tanks
with the powerful winch.
The Voroshilovets based on the T-24’s sus-
pension, used the detuned Model V-2 diesel
engine as the BT-7M and T-34 tanks. They
were also produced with 300 hp V-4 diesel
and 400 hp gasoline engine M-17T because
of shortage of powerful tank diesels V-2V
during WWII. It had an enlarged cabin from
ZiS-5 truck, two petrol tanks (550 l), It weigh-
ted 15,5 tons and could take 3 tons of load;
its maximum speed – 36-42 km/h and its
range was 270 km.
According to the experts, Voroshilovets had
an excellent power (the most powerful arti-
llery tractor of WWII), carrying capacity, and
very good cross-country ability but plagued
by narrow tracks in snow and the infamous
“rasputitsa” mud in the spring.

The Kit
This set consists of 383 parts provided in
8 sand colour sprues, another 10 of brown
track links and 1 sprue of clear parts. The
model does not come with an engine or any
interior details.
We can choose between two painting op-
tions: a generic Soviet tractor in 4BO green
and a captured one in German service pain-
ted grey with German unit markings.
Although is a very simply kit with good details
a little overall cleanup is needed.

The idea
When I saw this kit for the first time I stated
it was too boring to make it as a part of the
collection. So I did not put any attention to
it, just until my friend asked me to build it for
an article. I had free hand in composition,
painting and final layout so I started to think
how to make it interesting. My first idea was
to put on the cargo bay some German plane
as the spoil of war and I even bought Revell’s
Salamander He-162 but after the dimensions
checking I concluded that it is too big.
Well if not the plane, then what? I found the
I used a punch & die set to add small pins at
the end of each connector of the metal trac-
ks.
Zvezda Gaz M1 and decided to use it as the
broken one transported to the mechanics. To
supplement the whole idea I collected the set
of civilian stuff (e.g. paintings, chair, suitca-
ses) and the figures.
Now I was sure that my Voroshilovets will be
a unique eye catcher!
The cargo bed was made with balsa wood
and metal parts, far better than the kit ones.
The kit is ready. The cabin’s interior was
painted before closing. The windows were
masked with the painting tape. Then I fixed
both cargo bed and body to the screw for
better handling.
After priming with the classic 4B0 colour, I
used lighter shades of green to paint details
and vary the tone of some zones.
Then i painted the rest of details with the
proper colours. I used Vallejo acrylics and a
fine point brush taking care not to spoil the
previous job.
The wooden planks in the cargo bed are
always exposed for attrition so here I decide
to paint them in different “wooden” colors.
Some washes with synthetic colours provi-
ded the old and worn look I needed for this
vehicle, a tractor that has been intensely
used for a long time.
As always I used the set of oil paints to make
the decolouration. It changes the volume of
the colors and creates interesting diversity
on the model’s surfaces.
Chipping. Not too much because it is not a
battle machine but I like to add some here
and there; first (with sponge and 3/0 brush) I
painted the light green and after that I conti-
nued with dark brown.
after Quick Rust application, some speckling
with first coat of dirt. Then, while still wet co-
vered with mix of pigments and polished with
the pencil to show the real metal.
Now it was the time for some rust. I painted
it with small amounts of oil paints, especially
on the cabin section.
The final touches with pigments here and the-
re. Next to the brush I also used a cotton bud
to tap the lumps of pigments on the horizontal
surfaces.
The whole amount of additional including the To paint the figured I used Vallejo colours
paintings, chair, boxes, crates, ladder, suitca- form the Model Color range.
ses, a wheel, a doll, some tools, music re-
cords, etc. all finished and prepared, except
for the car.

I added a sticker with the word VOROSHI- The Zvezda kit is a beautiful piece, I painted
LOVETS and a metal pin from a Soviet hat it ina satin black colour, placed it on top of
to the wooden block for the model base. the tractor and covered with a tarpaulin.
www.fcmodeltrend.com
A russian forgotten, by Sergio Moro
While in Afghanistan for a mission, I was amazed
by the amount of Russian equipment that I found
in every nook and corner of our scenario, I can’t
understand what kind of army is able to shed
thousands of military equipment, tanks, helicop-
ters , trucks, artillery .....
Along the time I spent there in the five missions
as a member of the team TACP (Tactical Air Con-
trol Party) Spanish Air Force in EZAPAC, I could
figure out, in certain way, that mysterious aban-
donment of equipment to a level below Russian
but significantly.
When you realize the hostility of the Afghan terra-
in you understand that it’s often
impossible to recover the vehicles
that are abandoned, ruined due
to the intense overuse. As a mere
anecdote I can tell that every time
we stopped for some reason we
had to clean the vehicle air filter
for the engine not to overheat rai-
sing a spectacular cloud of dust.
When you see the hardness of
 every time we saw it we knew we
were in a safe area, and we have
arrived home, a small fob that
was shared by the Spanish Army
and the US-Army (Cop Rikett)
with an approximate strength of
100 Spanish and about 80 Ame-
ricans.
The tank was totally canni-
balized, everything that could
have been easily removed was
missing, the engine was at its
minimum expression and at the
inside there was only the struc-
ture that could not be easily
removed or draw upon. The time
was passing by and rust domina-
ted what was once a sleek and
powerful green tank
These circumstances and sha-
the Afghan terrain you make yourself a question, des of rust getting over the green
how does the equipment last so long? colour of the tank caught my attention and I star-
One on the main tasks you have to do when ted thinking in how to replicate it. Once I made up
you return to the base or in our case to the FOB my mind I went out to take measures and photo-
(Forward Operation Base) is the tedious main- graphs to have a good resource for the project.
tenance, hours of cleaning, grease removal and
installation of all equipments, then, you go out
again just to return as if you hadn’t made any
The model
maintenance.
The kit is the T-62 mod.1972 Trumpeter No.
00377 very nice if we want to make it straight
Bearing in mind the idea that the material is just
from the box, it nearly doesn’t require any detai-
something mechanical or electronic and damage
ling as the general quality is very high.
possibilities are enormous, I rea-
lized that there was another point
of view for the abandonment of
Russian equipment in Afghanis-
tan.
Considering that by the time that
the former USSR abandoned the
country in 1989 it was near to
the collapse, made me think that
they simply abandoned what it
wasn’t easy to recover or just not
worth in economic terms. Those
vehicles were better cannibalized
than recovered.
That’s why all of them seem to
have lost many of their compo-
nents.
Once I understood the reason for
this abandoned equipment I can
focus on our special tank, a T-62
Mod 1972 No. 821 at Moqur. It
was our particular Guardian gate,

Anyway, as my project was something that
needed special attention on some details I used
the photo etched from Eduard 36112 and many
scratch parts.
Then, for the decoration I used, Ammo Mig, Va-
llejo Model Air, Tamiya and Hobby Color paints
and also some Vallejo pigments.
I started with the undercarriage, the first thing
I did was wearing out the wheel rubber bands
with a mini drill to make them look very old and
damaged.
For the engine compartment I started with the
transmission base creating all the parts with
Evergreen plastic sheets and rods of different
sizes, always using the real vehicle photographs
as reference. Once I created the transmission
I proceeded to build the engine block with the
absence of rocker covers and many pieces that
carry the complete engines, starting with the
blocks made with evergreen and considering
the different angles of engine blocks V 55 12
cylinder. I checked the engine measures were
appropriate and proceeded to install it inside the
compartment with the transmission and several
associated components.
In this process it is important not to glue any part
until we are really sure that everything is in its
right position. Due to the state of disrepair of the
engine, I proceeded to paint the components as
it would be more difficult to do it once installed.
Once I finished this part of the process with the
basic rusting and dust colours, I proceed to paint
the tank body before starting working on the
turret. Here is where I played a lot with oils and
filters to imitate the worn paint and rusting of the
aged plates.
The turret provided in the kit has a very nice
texture, typical of the sand mould castings so it’s
not necessary recreating it by any means, just
added the details and broke almost every ob-
servation glasses. For some of the turret details
I used many of the photoetched parts, but not
all of them, I kept the unused details aside for
further projects, those of us who like to work in
scratch, we really need all this kind of fine details
all the time.
The painting process was the usual in this type
of abandoned tanks, I’ve painted the it with
different rust shades and colours, apply Chipping
Medium Vallejo and the typical Soviet colour
to the whole tank, in this case a mix of XF-14
+ H-312 + some medium yellow 71002 Vallejo,
applied with the airbrush. Then I let it dry for at
least 4 or 5 hours so I could later proceed with
the airbrush and distilled water for the chipping.
I’ve been told that if I use the airbrush instead of
the brush at the chipping phase, I would be able
to better control the effect so I decided to try this
option.
Before applying the dust play with oils in some
more or less rusty areas, combine oil and some
pigments to create that effect.
As we can see the painting of the chains is made
with the same processes we follow for the tank
with the exception of not using chipping medium.
The tracks provided in the kit are made of sepa-
rate links and very nice quality so they were just
perfect for imitating the weight sagging. Once
built I painted them the same way as previously
with the rusted areas, though I didn’t use the
chipping technique this time.
The final phase was to apply a dust layer, con-
sidering that the tank was abandoned decades
ago, and has been exposed to the extreme
weather for such a long time, I tried to recreate
a thick accumulation of dust at some areas. For
this effect I had in mind some vehicles I seen in
the zone, almost buried after being abandoned
for more than 20 years.
I used dust colour pigments mixed with some
lime at the mudguards and other horizontal sur-
faces to add, not only volume but also texture to
the dust accumulations.
The last touch was to rub some details with
graphite pigment using a small make up brush
to get the effect of the worn metal that has not
been rusted. giving me this opportunity to show this model and
I hope you have liked this article of such an dedicate it to my wife for the long times that “I am
iconic tank, the T-62 of which in Afghanistan may not” and she still always supports me.
be thousands of them of waiting to be definitely
covered with sand. I thank Federico Collada for
By Roman Volchenkov
Model, Bronco
Scale 1/48

from Tiger I tank from single hit. Basically at the

From time to time I enjoy building 1/48 scale mo-
dels as a break from 1/35 stuff at the same time
experimenting with new approaches (at least for
me) and ideas. What stops me from making more
quarterscale is limited range of kits and rather
poor detail on Italeri and Tamiya offerings. There-
fore as soon as Bronco announced new SU-152
(KV-14) model I was counting days until it hit the
stores and my door.
time of appearance SU-152 could destroy any
German tank simply by massive blast produced
by high-explosive ammunition.
Powerful armament was however combined with
not very thick armour therefore leading to use of
these SPHs from ambushes and at long range.
SU-152s were produced in 1943 at Chelyabinsk
Kirov Plant (ChKZ) and they made a considera-
ble contribution to Soviet victory during the Kursk
battle.

Historical background
SU-152 (KV-14) was a Soviet self-propelled
howitzer developed on the chassis of KV-1s hea-
vy tank and was equipped with a powerful ML-20
152mm howitzer.
Although this vehicle was initially designed as
mobile fortification destroyer it was rather quickly
adopted as tank killer.
It is SU-152 that got nickname Beastkiller (Zve-
roboy in Russian) for its ability to blow the turret
The kit
Keeping the same style as Staghounds (Bronco
1/48 scale kits) we get a cardboard box that con-
tains 4 styrene sprues, 1 piece lower hull, clear
parts for head and tail lights, small PE fret with
rear ventilation grill mesh and a piece of twine for
towing cables.
That kit was so appealing that I started building
the same day I received it from post office. 3
evenings later it was ready to paint and then I
spent around 2 weeks to finish the model. No,
I was not working 8 hours per day on it. I am
a regular person with full-time job and family
besides modelling. What was that? Love at first
sight? Spellbound? Honestly I don’t know, but I
hope you experience similar emotions with scale
models from time to time.
Construction
As other modellers I tend to jump from one buil-
ding stage to another especially when I want to
take many in progress images in one go, but here
it is important not to get lost and not to do some-
thing that would make final assembly impossible.
First I built the rear hull wall with the tail light and
the photo-etched mesh was set aside until atta-
chment of the engine room roof.
The road wheels swing arms have a square
location point and some of these fit the hull tightly
while several have rather loose fit. Here I did the
following – first attached the tight ones and pla-
ced the hull on the table to check they are evenly
touching the surface. When these were cemen-
ted I installed the ones that had loose fit.
The tracks were installed when the chassis was
finished, my kit included an extra instruction
sheet that showed correction for track assembly.
The kits tracks are given as link and length sec-
tions with individual links glued around idler and
drive sprocket. The top section features pre-for-
med sag.
I have to agree that individual links or metal trac-
ks might be a better solution but that would have
been out of my plan.
152mm gun barrel is provided as single piece
together with perforated muzzle brake. The mol-
ding quality is excellent here and only delicate
sanding was required to remove the mold seam.
The gun can be assembled movable on the crad-
le and can be adjusted vertically and horizontally,
however I glued it as I do not like movable (mea-
ning unstable) parts on static display models.
 natural way instead of doing it on top of the base
coat. The paints used were Soviet camouflage
colours from Ammo. First I applied ZB AU tone
for darker base and covered it with Vallejo chip-
ping fluid. Next I mixed 4BO Russian green, Pro-
tective green and white and sprayed the mixture
on top creating extreme highlight. As you might
already understand this layer would be the light
scratch and chipping layer afterwards.

Some minutes later I took water and several

The inside portion of the barrel, including the gun
brushes to rub off the top paint.
breech and breech lock are provided although litt-
Small amounts of water work fine and it is very
le is seen if you open the hatches and put figures
easy to control the process when taking small
inside.
areas one by one.
The gun shield has realistic to scale cast texture
Next I applied another coat of Vallejo chipping
and casting numbers on the right side which mat-
fluid with the airbrush and then less highlighted
ches the period images.
mix of 4BO Russian green and Protective green.
The superstructure has correct weld detail and
Keeping in mind the colour modulation concept
also correctly depicted raised edges of side
I did some distinct contrasts between elements
armour plates with grinded portions where the
and panels on the roof of the superstructure as
periscopes are located.
well as gradient of highlights on the sides.
As I already mentioned the cast texture of the ar-
Again using brush and warm water I carefully
mour plates is a problem but it can be easily fixed
rubbed off the paints top layer. Sometimes I used
by spreading putty to cover the deep recessions
toothpick to fine scratches.
and then more delicate surface texture should be
The sequence that I used worked fine for me
formed.
I used Vallejo plastic putty and an old brush. The
advantage of that putty is that you can remove
excess using a brush with water.
Texture was re-formed using a brush and someti-
mes a finger!

Painting
When I was looking for references I found one
image of SU-152 captured by German 23rd tank
division, 22nd ordnance battalion (Feldzeug-Ba-
taillon 22) during the heavy fighting on Mius front
east of Taganrog (areas between Rostov-on-Don
and Donbass). Although I later discovered that
it was late production vehicle depicted on the
images I decided to finish my model like that as
there was a report that at least 2 SU-152 were
captured there.
I started painting by application of primer coat
and then when it was dry several hours later I
took a piece of kitchen sponge and rubbed the
surfaces a bit to make them not grainy. This tip
I’ve learned from Jose Luis Lopez Ruiz and I
think it really improves the surface regardless of
primer brand.
With this model I really wanted to experiment
with paint chipping. The idea was to make it the

and resulted in realistic to scale multi-layer worn
paint. Afterwards I decided to add some brown
toned chipping with a piece of sponge for further
contrast.
Having finished the chipping I painted small de-
tails like tools and exhausts using acrylic paints
and brushes and started painting the tracks. Here
I used AMMO and Vallejo acrylic paints.
The markings were inspired by the reference
images from Internet with 51 painted yellow re-
presenting original Soviet ID while white inscrip-
tions were applied by the “new owners”.
I painted those with acrylics and fine brush. Fina-
lly the model was coated with gloss varnish and
prepared for application of enamel wash.
I used an enamel wash for green vehicles but this
can be done using any preferred product (oils,
enamels, self-mixed or commercially available).
Mostly applied around the raised or recessed
detail it gives a model a grime look and serve as
a good start for weathering.
The pigments were applied dry using a brush on
the lower hull under the fenders as well as on
the wheels and other chassis components. Then
these were fixed at place using heavily diluted
enamel paint of a different earth tone. This way I
was not only fixing the pigments but adding tonal
variation to surface.
Above the fenders I used heavy diluted light
coloured enamel (Rainmarks from AMMO) for
replication of dust coat. Although many modellers At this stage I felt that
prefer doing dust with pigments as well, I feel the model was almost completed and asked
that especially for quarterscale thin enamel coats fellow modellers for their opinions.
provide more realistic appearance. I know that I have a tendency for more balanced
This is also a very flexible way to add effects as and realistic weathering but at the same time I
they can be adjusted or erased if desired. After would like to have more attractive finish without
24 hours I continued with further weathering disturbing my “style”. John Tolcher, quite known
– adding darker enamel tones to the hull thus Australian modeller, who has really nice finish on
creating areas of visual interest. his builds, advised toning down the running gear
The enamel effects were either applied in fine with darker pigments, so I did.
lines using fine coats or were speckled from the At the same time delicate streaking on the si-
brush. des of the fighting compartment
Dark green-black enamel entit- was added.
led Dark streaking grime was
rubbed in the area around
hatches to replicate accu-
mulation of grime and areas
wiped from dust by the crew. Finally, to
On the wheels and road gear I added imitation add feeling of
of oil leakage and more enamel paints were scale a resin
speckled on the model. These were then either figure from
rubbed into surface with thinner and brush or Cast48
using vertical movement the streaking effects (com-
were imitated. pany
Soot from exhausts was depicted by airbrushing founded by
matt black acrylics and spots of fuel from external Tomas Cas-
drums were made using glossy enamel products tano, sculptor
and black oil paint. that made 1/48
As the pigments dried on the running gear I trea- figures for Mig
ted the worn metal surfaces with metal pigment productions long
from Uschi van der Rosten – on the tracks outer time ago) was pain-
surface I rubbed it using my finger, on the inner ted. Here I used Vallejo
surfaces and wheels – using a flat brush. acrylics, the best ones for brush
painting in my experience.
The basic colour of the tanker
jacket and cap were airbrushed and
then further highlights were added
using a brush. I have to admit pain-
ting flesh is a real challenge for me at
the moment, but I am sure it is not impossible in
the future.
Finished!
 BA-10

The BA-10 (Broneavtomobil 10) was an armored car
developed in the Soviet Union in 1938 and produced
till 1941. This scout light vehicle used a 47mm 20-K
gun as main armament and two 7.62 mm machine
guns. There were three versions, BA-10, the BA-10M
(an improved version with new radio and external fuel
tanks), and the BA-10ZhD (equipped for dual railway/
road use). The basic BA-10 design was developed
from the BA-3 and BA-6 heavy armored cars. The
BA-10 was in Red Army service till 1945. Significant
numbers of captured BA-10s were used by Finland (at
least 24), Germany and other Axis nations in Europe.
By Abilio Piñeiro
Model; Trumpeter
Scale 1/35
hull has some of the reinforced welds like on the ear-
lier BA-10A. There are some other minor issues such
towing hooks, machine gun shield on the hull, double
rear towing hooks mainly because the kit includes
some of the features of the Finish vehicle displayed
in Parola museum. There is a detailed engine which
will be mostly concealed if the access panels are left
closed. No turret interior parts are included.

The kit consists of 10 tan plastic sprues, a single piece

hull and turret casting using multi slide-moulding
technology, 1 clear plastic sprue (headlamps), 2 pho-
to-etch frets, 12 rubber tires and 1 decal sheet with
Soviet and German markings. The booklet guides you
trough 14 steps. There is a couple of color plates with
4 camo schemes and marking options.
The kit itself is a hybrid as includes many characte-
ristics of a BA-10M as the fuel tanks located over the
rear fenders on each side, but on the other hand the
1.- The assembling of the kit is fairly strai-
ghforward, almost free of ejector pin marks
and with very little flash lines. I made three
sub-assemblies. Turret, hull and undercarria-
ge but finally I decided to glue it as the front
axes were so fragile.
2.- The rubber tires provided are very well
done with a nice thread pattern but the fit-
ting it’s not that good. There are a few after-
makets resin wheels options if you are loo-
king for a replacement. I glued the rim with
some CA glue and once dry I applied a few
layers of matt varnish to seal the gap.
3.- The 47mm gun barrel has been replaced
with a turned brass from Lionmarc. Hobby
Boss doesn´t provide any pistol port covers
for the 3 turret pistol ports of the turret but I
leave as it is.
4.- I added some round rivets missing in
the turret roof but in fact should have been
round head screws. I also scratched a new
visor according to my references but again I
want to note the kit is not 100% accurate.
5.- The tail light was glued in place on the left
rear fender and wiring was added using thin
cooper wire. I also added the wires from the
front lights to the hull sides.
6.- The model was covered with some layers
of Squadron green putty solved in Tamiya
extra thin glue to fill in all the possible gaps.
7.- The BA was first primed with a few coats
of Ak grey surface primer. This acrylic primer
is very resistant to paint thinner or the further
weathering once dried.
8.- Once dry, the kit was sanded smooth with
the help of a 3M ultrafine softback sanding
sponge as enable me to sand hard-to-reach
areas. This helps me to eliminate finger mar-
ks, dust or airbrushing defects providing a
smooth surface.
9.- Preshading is a very important step in
my way of painting. I used a mix of Tamiya
flat black and flat white thined with 80% of
Tamiya thinner. The idea is to use a very dark
grey instead of pure black in the darker and
lower areas of the model, a lighter grey in
the upper areas and off white in the details to
enhance the 3D effect.
10.- Next step was to airbrush the base coat.
BA-10’s were mostly painted in protective
Green 4BO but there were some nice camo
schemes too. According to RKKA instruc-
tions from 1941, 4BO was a mixture of
40-60% yellow ochre, 15-20% zinc chromate,
10% ultramarine and 10-20% white. If these
instructions are followed using modern equi-
valents, the result is a range of fairly light
greens with a distinct yellow tint, close to
FS34257. In the fall of 1939, a system of ca-
mouflage colors was adopted to be applied
over the Protective Green 4BO. Dark Brown
6K (a dark earth brown) and Yellow Earth 7K
paints (light sand). Differences in the dilution
medium and/or the mixing proportions cau-
sed significant variations in the final colors.
With this idea in mind I made my own mix of
4BO Protective Green. I used Tamiya acrylics
thinned with a few drops of lacquer thinner.
I airbrushed the entire model with a few thin
layers trying not to cover the preshading.
11.- The next step was to touch-up most of
the small details such bolts and rivets with
Vallejo acrylics. I used a bright green as I
know most of this work will probably be hid-
den under the further weathering so better
not to be conservative at this point.
 14 -I applied a couple of filters to this model,
12.- Decals/Markings. I try to avoid wet de- an overall light green filter, and a second and
cals as much as I can because they can ruin much more controlled one to very located
your work in the twinkling of an eye. I prefer areas such lower hull and darker zones.
to use aftermarket stencils, dry transfers or
even hand painting job as they a safer than
wet decals.

15 -I used a dark oil to make a pin wash at

13 - I painted the rust chips using both a fine the recessed areas, weld seams and on
brush at the smaller details and the sponge rivets as it flows perfectly along panel lines
technique at the larger surfaces. and joins.

16 -I painted several stains with oild, blen-
ding them downwards with a brush moiste-
ned with white spirit, using lighter tones at
the upper surfaces to increase the cenithal
lightening effect.
17 - I used the pigments in a very careful
way, applying them only where I think the
dust or mud would have settled. The dusty
look is a better effect if you don’t cover the
whole model.
18.- The wheels were painted using Vallejo
acrylics. Once dry I applied pigments mixed
with artists oils and thinner as if were a wash.
Finally I drybrushed the wheels with Acrylic
black and added some grease stains on the
hubs.
19.- AK Wet effects, fuel stains and various
tones of dry mud thinned with enamel thin-
ners were randomly flicked onto the lower
hull of the model using an old brush. I used a
piece of paper to control the amounts applied
onto different parts. The final touch was to
add some wet areas to further break up the
areas of dry mud.
20.- AK dust deposits were applied the
same way I did with the pigments to add
some tonal richness to the recessed
lines of the hull and fenders. This
product dries quickly so you can
see the results in seconds.
T T T ips,
The Blitzscale team
ricks & echniques

Light filtering In this brief tutorial I have used three Tamiya

1/48 kits; the Volkswagen, a Gaz 67 and a Het-
zer, none of them has been detailed or upgraded
as they only served for illustrating this article.

The idea of this technique is painting the model

with the highest light tone, this is White. Then
we can cover part of this base by accumulating
a too diluted colour creating zones where the
white remains almost unaltered and others whe-
re is covered in different degrees until we get the
colour that the model should be painted.

This is an alternative painting technique that

doesn’t require any special skills and provides
a subtle tone variation in the base colour crea-
ting instant shadows by accumulating filters.
The key is starting with a white paint base;
this will be the maximum light that we will be
covered unevenly with successive filters of
the definitive colour we want the model to be
painted.

Using filters allows us to use them with a brush as the

heavy dilution prevents to leave traces of any kind,
even if you see a trace when you pass the brush, it
will soon be blurred in the filter.

There are many possibilities for using filters, we can

make our own by diluting any kind of paint in the
proper solvent, or we can use standard commercial fil-
ters, be them acrylic or synthetic. I have chosen to use
Vallejo ones, as they have a nice colours range and
many of them can be used to paint regular WWII and
modern military vehicles as Dark yellow, dark green,
olive green, sand, etc. The main advantage here is
that if you like the result you can be sure that you will
always get the same one as long as you use the same
product.
Prepare the model, once you got the main
parts groups assembled you can start pri-
ming it, you can use the airbrush or a spray
paint. White will be the maximum light that
we will successively cover with filters.
You can use standard commercial filters like
Vallejo washes applied with the airbrush
or with a normal brush. The advantage of
this washes are that they always keep the
same tone and dilution and that they tend to
concentrate the pigment around details and
recessed zones keeping the centre of the
bigger surfaces less covered. This creates a
subtle effect of shadowing at these zones.
With the model already primed in white you
got a perfectly homogeneous light base so
the idea is to cover it unevenly with the filters
creating zones where this base is covered
more than others.
Or you can also use standard paints diluted
at 75% or more, again applied with a brush
or the airbrush. In this case is a good advice
to prepare quantity enough in order not to
alter the dilution along the painting process.
Using a brush to apply the filters is a good
choice as the covering may be even more
controlled by panels or zones. You will notice
that with the first filter, coverage is very subt-
le, don’t worry, you can add as many filters
as you wish, just let the previous one dry
before starting with the next.
This Soviet GAZ-67 received 3 filters with
the diluted paint and a last one with a dark
green wash that enhanced the coverage at
the recessed zones, edges and around de-
tails. This way of painting is an option to the
preshading, the general washes, the colour
modulation, the highlightening and the dry-
brushing.
A second filter will increase the coverage,
the correct colour of the vehicle is closer
now, and still the light of the white base can
be seen in some parts, we are creating an
uneven layer of colour that add interest to the
model.
In this Hetzer, I decided to apply one last fil-
ter at just some plates and zones to create a
contrast between them; it can be clearly seen
at the side skirts where one of the sections
is darker than the other two. No need for
masking here, just don’t charge the brush too
much and the filter will stay where you paint
it.
The different elements of the model
are now ready to assemble and we
can start painting the details as there is
nothing left to do with the base colour.
In a further session we can paint some
chipping, dust and stains to add more
interest to the vehicle.

Although you have to wait for a filter to be

dry before applying the next one, this is a
very fast painting method and doesn’t re-
quire any special skill, just remember our
classic advice; “test first on an old model”
eduard