I’ve been dabbling in armor for a change lately, a little something different from the 1/48 aircraft I usually mess with. I picked up this Dragon BRDM-3 kit at a vendor table for $4, so what’s not to like?
Assembly was pretty straightforward. Armor really lends itself to a quick build, at least for me, since if you screw up usually you can cover up with some weathering, rust, mud, etc. I got her put together without incident-a little seam filling here and there is all. Preshaded with black along weld lines and whatnot, then threw on a coat of Model Master Medium Green. Decals were fairly thick, but don’t look too bad in between two coats of Future. I finished by making some thick mud using backyard dirt, brown paint, and a little thinned Elmer’s glue to slop up the underside, then blended it in and dusted the sides using the same color in an airbrush. I also used the ol’ toothbrush flicking trick to spatter some tire spray on the sides. Didn’t come out as nice as I’d wanted, but not too bad, I guess. Lastly, I built a base for it and threw down a layer or two of static grass, with some scenic grass sticking up to give it a little life. Anyway, here’s some pics of the beast:
Nice work Dirk; I would hit this with a bit of pin washes and a light drybrushing to give it some “pop”. Also, thought photos will often show tools painted over by lazy soldiers, it’s a little more visually exciting to paint the tools as you’d find them in your garage.
Just some suggestions, as you normally do aircraft, apparently? SOme nice models you’ve posted recently though!
Nicely done, keep an eye out for the tires. The Dragon tires were made of a vinyl that often split along the seam where the vinyl met when it was injected into the mold.
I build one of these. My only complaint with the kit was the missile tubes. They had weak attachments and trying to get all of them parallel was beyond my patience. I agree with DOOG about the tools, especially on single color builds. I like the splatter on the sides. At least this one doesn’t have the front hull swim vane which falls off my BRDM-2 every time i look at it. This is really a nice kit to oil pin wash though i am biased as i have turned into an oil wash freak. Hope my first a/c build in forever turns out as well.
Thanks for all the tips, guys. You are so right–I don’t know why I didn’t give this a pin wash. Musta slipped my mind.
I had heard about the tires as well–after I showed this off at my club meeting, I learned you can dust the tires with talc, or give them a coat in Future to help prevent the rubber from degrading and splitting. Oh well, we’ll see what happens.
Wayne, after hearing of your troubles with the swim barrier thingy at CoMMiESFest, I decided to not even mess with it. I had found some research pics of this vehicle without that plate, so that was justification enough just to leave it off.
Finally, just a note: this one won 2nd in Armor at the local HobbyTown USA model contest yesterday. Good enough for me.
The problem with the tires is that the slight external pressure the wheel places on it causes it to sometimes separate where the spot the vinyl normally would meld together.
Melting tires is a Trumpeter trait that often requires the Future dip.
Great vinyl tip guys! I’ll have to remember that one. Does it translate to tracks also, or isn’t it a problem just because of the differences? Nice build by the way! Bob
There is not normally an issue with tracks. It’s just that for some reason, armor model companies haven’t figured out something that car model companies figured out decades ago and use a type of vinyl that doesn’t react with plastic.
There is some very good resin wheels alternatives now for this subject, starting with the excellent Hussar set and the reasonably priced DEF Models set, that i both have on my stash.
Besides, Miniarm and ET Model also have their version.
SOme nice models you’ve posted recently though!