BTR 152E WIP pictures Updated 3-30

Modeling Subjects Armor
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Well, after the insane amounts of indies on my T35, I couldnt stand one more track for a while, and then I found this vehicle, and loved the look of it. Unfortuantely the only offering in 1/35 is the Skif kit. I’m not saying its horible, but compared to most stuff i’ve built, its by no means a joy. The instructions aren’t great, in my experience fit was horible, although im not very skilled at building or filling, so a lot is my fault. Detail also wasn’t great, so I picked up the Eduard photoetch set. This was a life saver on the interior and gun, as well as some other places. Anyways, its still got some filling/sanding to be done, and then maybe a basecoat later tonight once I play around with my airbrush and remember how to thin paint right after my last model, I forget easily. I’m going to leave the gun turret un glued, both for easy painting and viewing of it and the interior, and Im leaving the headlights and window films off until after painting.

By the way, its my first time touching PE, so hit me with some constructive criticism, other than excessive glue, which Ive already noticed in a few places.

Here she is so far:

And the Turret:

Lots of little snid bit thingys to bend n’ glue:

And the back…It looks a lot cleaner in real life, the camera just picks up all kinds of bits of putty and glue until you put some paint on

Again, looks way rougher than really is, still got some sanding to do:

Annnnnnd turns out the whole things crooked…oh well

Atleast we’ve got a nice interior:

And last, some headlights, using a method borrowed from biffa, I hollowed them out, painted the insides aluminum, put in some glue, and dried them upside down so gravity formed the glue into bubble shapes.

Sorry for the TERRIBLE lighting, I don’t bother until its completed or atleast painted, thanks for looking!

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not bad but go easy on the glue with the PE. glue spots (especially supergule) will show through the paint.

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Thanks…I just threw down a basecoat, and although I was having my doubts, since before paint there was excess glue and poorly filled seam everywhere, it actually is looking pretty good. Ill take osme pictures before I start fading.

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Looks like you had your work cut out for you there Ian im sure this will look cool with some paint and weathering on it, i cant take credit for the headlight method it was a tip i picked up from another forum but i do give it my approval. [:)] for being new to PE i think you did very well.

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is that regular jo-shmo model glue in the headlights? i might try that on my M-41 Walker Bulldog. otherwise, looks good! great job, Ian! (on an unrelated note, just how new to the hobby are you?!?) (and yet another onrelated note, what is PE?) thanks!

sam [C):-)]

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Thanks southern Dragon. New to the hobby…well, I beleive this is my 6th armor build, but only the last three or so have been serious with an airbrush and oil paints, washes and stuff. For your second question, PE stands for Photo-etched, usually Brass or Nickel. Its thin sheets of metal that replace parts in the kit that arent there, or are oversized, since you can make smaller things out of metal than out of plastic. It adds extra detail such as screens, seatbelts and other fine parts. Some kits come with a bit of it, or you can buy extra full upgrade sets like I did. It gets a bit complicated however, since instead of plastic which comes molded in shape, PE only comes in thin flat sheets, so you have to bend it into curves, boxes, etc… And the last question…I used regular model glue, and it looked fine at first while it was drying, but when It was fully dry, it had levelled itself out again and no longer had a “bubble look”. Ive read that 2 part epoxy works better, but if you just want the illusion of glass, no bubble, this works fine. Hope this helps!

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I use 2 part clear epoxy you can get it at most auto parts stores its cheap and dries fast and clear, if i want the bubble look i wait until it it about to set which is usually just several minutes then i apply it with a toothpick this way it doesnt have time to level out so much.

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thanks! im new too. ive done a couple of cars, mostly 1/72 aircraft. for my b-day, i got a 1/48 P-51D and i used b-day $$$ to order a coupleof tanks off the internet, a 1/32 M-61 bulldog, and a !/72 M-1 abrams. ive havn’t gotten to the airbrushing yet, still saving up for that. as for PE, do i ask for an american tank PE set, or a 1/38 M-61 bulldog set? id never even heard f photoech until i got an account here. im gonna take a break for now and see what i can do about my p51. later!

sam [C):-)]

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Id check out eduard and check for that specific tank. Anyways, I got a basecoat down, and did some heavy fading sinc the pictures, so right not its a lot lighter and mintyer colored. I didnt really try to get accurate with color, since this thing served uner dozens of countries for decades, so I found references of tons of deiferent colors, even a bright blue one, kinda weird for an AFV. Anyways, the decals are drying, and then comes a wash, so more pictures later.

Sorry, my photobucket account wont let me upload right now so Im using Imageshack, and dont know how to use it really…So ill just post all the links it gives me…hopefully one is a direct link to the image, if not, sorry, your out of luck for right now.

First Picture:

[img=http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/2822/jan2007062ln8.jpg]
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
http://img142.imageshack.us/my.php?image=jan2007062ln8.jpg
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/2822/jan2007062ln8.jpg

Second picture:

[img=http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/835/jan2007068cn7.jpg]
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
http://img122.imageshack.us/my.php?image=jan2007068cn7.jpg
http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/835/jan2007068cn7.jpg

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BTR is looking excellent Ian-- [tup][tup]-- nice job --keep us updated–i like the looks of this vehicle and the job you are doing[^]— tread[8D]

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Its really great to see you buildin’ somethin’ like this Ian. Excellent progress!

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Thanks guys, I liked the look of the vehicle too, something about the look. It really reminds me of the US wwII halftracks as well, and I had the old Tamiya 1/35 one, and comparing them, they are a lot a like IMO. Anyways, My ski seasons done, both from the warm weather, and from a broken collar bone, so I havent had much to do but model, and Ive been getting a lot done. Before paint, I had my doubts about this one, with my terible filling, excess glue, and attempt at PE, but I think its coming along nicely now. Like I said, I applied some heavy fading, painted in details like seats and tools, Threw some decals on, and then gave a it a heavy black wash. As you can see, the decals didnt accept the wash too well, you can clearly see where they end, but oh well. Im gonna give it some dusty weathering and maybe a tiny bit of dried mud, and then some homemade shell casings scattered around and posibly a net curled up in the back or something. Im thinking of putting this on a base, maybe a bit of a field or jsut some desert ground or something. All Ive really got left is putting in the windshields and wipers, and attaching the turret legs to the turret and attaching the whole crazy contraption.

Heres some pictures:

Before wash:

After wash:

Any suggestions? Thanks for looking!-Ian

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Just one, box it up and send it to me. It would look alot better on my shelf than yours. Outstanding job on this one Ian. You did an excellent job and I really like the subject too.

Ron

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Wow Ian, that is a fantastic truck you have there. I like the large fenders on the front, it certainly is interesting. Your fading really adds depth to the vehicle, it brings your builds to the next level. You convinced me, now Ive got to buy an airbrush! How are you going to make your bullet casings? Ive got a 7/1 halftrack I plan to make some casing for too, but am not sure how to make them.

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Thanks guys, and yeah, I love my airbrush! my first cou;ple builds, i just said bah, who needs an airbrush? REAL men use brushes! I thought it was just for the fancy guys, than my dad got me a cheap one for chrsitmas, and god I love it! I might even have the courage to attempt camo some time now. For casings? I plan to paint some wire a brass color and cut it. Unfortunately, 14.5mm shells in 1/35 scale, are something like 3.mm wide. So they will be hardly noticebale in the size Im making them, but I still think they will add a little more life. For you casings, just find the size of the bullets, and divideby 7 i think, since 17/1 is your scale, i think you said. For something that big, I think it would be cool if you drilled them out, to make them seem hollow. The Flat coat jsut dried, and Im gonna put some dust on tomorow. Thanks guys! -Ian

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Oops, when I said 7/1 I didnt mean the scale, I was talking about the actual type of halftrack. Its a german Sd.kfz 7/1 half track with the quad flak gun in 1/35 scale. A 7/1 model? That would be gigantic! For the casing mayby there is a brass wire that could be used, instead of painting wire then cutting it. Mayby some jewlery brass wire would work.

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Woops sorry, I was thinking a 7/1 scale halftrack would be huse too! Yeah, Ive been thinking about brass wire, but Im not really sure where to find it, and I would need some tiny wire for such small casings. you can buy pre made aftermarket brass shells, but only for common stuff, like 30cals, 50’s and of course all the big artillery and tank sheels. In my opinion, these brass shells look amazing
Heres a link to someone else’s BTR with real shells, unfortunately the version he built has a diferent gun mounted, so shells for mine will be sonsiderably smaller:
http://www.missing-lynx.com/gallery/modern/btr152oa_1.html