Spectacular job as always, Ron.
Love the aged but not worn out paintwork. You’ve captured the look of this one perfectly.
Once again, you’ve shown emphatically that less can be more, and light weathering can be just as effective as heavy.
[bow]
Fantastic job Biffa. The finish and weathering are masterfully done. I don’t know whay else to say, absolutely beautiful.
biffa: The photos are fine…and…another stunner! My eyes jumped right to the tarp/spare track, log and chain…absolutely fantastic! I also like the crinkled fenders, tow cables, exhaust pipes and tools…your attention to the details really bring your builds up another notch!
A couple minor things…a little grease/grime on a tool handle or two would be cool, and…in the first picture specifically, the model has a bit more sheen than I’ve seen in your previous stuff…is that just me?, did you go for that look?..
Any info/tips on how you finished the sticks would be helpful. I expect that you didn’t just grab any twig and throw it on, right? I plan to add one to a future Tiger, so DO TELL![:D]
Does anyone know where to get those realistic 1/35 scale chains? My LHS doesn’t carry them and regular craft store chain doesn’t seem to look as realistic as Biffa’s.
Thanks,
Don
Skullcrusher,
Look for railroad scale logging chain…you can get some really fine chain by poaching from those guys. You want 40 or even 42 links-per-inch (lpi) to get good 1/35 scale chain. I’v purchased that type of thing on E-bay from this particular seller in the past, when he has it in stock it’s for a very good price: http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/tallyhothefox_W0QQ_nkwZQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZQQ_mdoZ
Ron’s looks to be a bit heavier than that though, maybe 20 lpi or so.
Thanks for the info Bill.
Don
From any angle this tank killer looks heavy Ron…and I mean that as the highest possible compliment: the finish and weathering simply make it look like you pulled a 1:1 unit into the tank factory’s giant photo studio…where your kid’s camera did an admirable job IMO…it just looks real…'nuf said [tup]
Cheers
Ron - Words are difficult to describe this build here, stunning, fantastic, unreal, etc. The bent fenders, shading, bits of dirt all excellent.
Very nice!!
Rounds Complete!!
Very nice job biffa! What really stands out to me is the variation in tones of color. The variation makes the weathering look outstanding! The tracks and exhausts also look very nicely done. Great job on your su-85!
Thanks again guys you are all very kind with your comments.
Steve, the sheen is the lights and in real life the model is quite flat but not 100% i think using different levels of flatness or sheen on finishes is another tool in the never ending search for realism, the lights also tend to make the light colour i lay for a base on my wood handles glow somewhat making them appear brighter than they are so they do actually look more worn and used in real life, i do often concider weathering the handles further but they seem to lose something and dont seem as cool to me so i tend to sacrifice realism for coolness on that score and will admit that [:)]
The sticks/logs were simply twigs picked for the way they looked and i added a little shaping on the ends and weathered them with the vehicle nothing special at all just look for the ones that look like mini tree trucks heh .
Hi Don, Bills link is one of the places i get my chains from they are cheap and the 16 link per inch looks great in 1/35 the one on this build however is larger as Bill pointed out and i got this from TrainsHO.com and have been waiting for a build which i thought i could get by with a bigger chain on to try it out because i really liked the shape of the links and the way they layed down together, i really like the way it turned out.
Thank you all once more it does mean a lot knowing others enjoy my builds like i do theirs.
Sorry Eric i completely missed your question these were the kit indies which are not quite as good as magic tracks but work well nontheless i only usually use AM tracks when the kit ones are one peice rubber bandies i really dont like them but as long as the kit ones are indies or link and length im cool with them, thanks for always taking the time to look and comment [:)]
Ron,
All I can say is fantastic! I really like the balance you have with damage, weathering and paint. It’s a fine dance that can be easily overdone IMHO. You nailed this and Boris is awesome as well!
I suspected it was the lighting and camera, either way, this baby is superb…thanks for the “log” info!
Superb job Biffa, did you have any problems with the kit?