T - 34/85:
I am a regular reader/poster of the Fine Scale Modeler forum and a little while ago I suggested a weekend group build. Lately I have just been bogged down with school and rugby, and have not been able to get much model building done. I decided that I had to complete something! I chose to put the Tamiya T-34/85 together in one weekend. Of course this was not going to be easy for me to do because I suffer from a case of AMS (Advanced Modeler Syndrom). I bought the kit on a Tuesday and immediately opened the box to scrutinize the plastic inside. I guess you could say that I started the build on Wednesday, when I marked the instructions with the necessary improvements that I thought needed to be added. I used the following web references along with the Osprey Modelling Manual for the T34, an old issue of Fine Scale Modeler and a few pictures that I had from my collection of books:
http://www.gjames.com.au/chris/t34/index.html
I decided that I would not use any after market kits for the model, but instead would use Evergreen styrene, some left over brass from an Eduard PE set and .5 mm wire. The following sheet of instructions shows all the modifications that I had planned before the build started:
I started putting the kit together late Thursday night and continued until Saturday night. It turned out that what I had thought would be a free weekend, was actually taken up with a rugby game, a rugby practice, and a study session for a test that I had forgotten would take place the following Tuesday. Despite the unforeseen scheduling delays, I actually completed the model with most of the modifications that I had planned. I had replaced and added all the necessary brackets, added all the necessary weld lines, and modified the fenders. The only major part of construction that needed to be completed were the fuel tanks. The following picture shows the state of the model on that first Saturday night:
The following weekend, I managed to finish the fuel tanks and added some more detailed touches. The fuel tanks were made using the ends of the kit drums, the gas lids from the kit, sheet styrene, old PE sheets, and some .5mm wire:
It was too late on that second weekend to start painting, so painting would start on the third weekend. I started with a base coat of Testors enamels and let dry for two days. Next, the highlights were post-shaded with Tamiya acrylics and a few streaks were added to start the weathering process.
I added a Polly's gloss coat and put several washes on the model. The gloss coat was applied to protect the previous coats from the washes, and let the wash flow freely across the surface of the model. This would allow pigment to easily collect in the corners. The washes were a mix of artist oils and odorless paint thinner. Next a dry-brush of Testors enamels was applied. Before I knew it, the weekend was over and the final touches would have to be completed on the fourth weekend.
The last weekend started with the application of the decals and painting of the tracks. I finished up with some pastel highlights and some artist oil streaks. Finally, Polly's flat finish was applied. One quick note about the application of the decals... I had applied a gloss coat to help prevent air from being trapped under the clear film of the decal. I was under the impression that the decals would adhere snuggly to the model and would leave no visible outline, however this was not the case. As you can see in the photos, the right light makes the decals almost GLOW!!! I will never use decals again! Other than the decals and the seam in the treads, I am quite happy with the model. More pictures of this tank can be seen in Gallery I.
UPDATE (06/20/04): Since I had spent so much time building this model and the decals turned out so bad, I decided to fix it. I removed what I could of the decals and sanded the rest off. As you can imagine, this destroyed the paintjob. I did my best to match the paint over the area that I sanded. As it turned out, I was off, but no big deal because the white numbers distract the eye from the different shades of green. I used Eduard stencils for the numbers and finished with a flat coat. I am very happy with the results and now I just need to replace the tracks. Here are the updated pictures:
