Pawel,
Your “S” looks great. Very much like the colour guides. Well Done [Y][Y][Y]
Thank you for the masking patterns. I have cut them out and laid them on the work bench, it has been about a day, but there doesn’t seem to be any tank growing there. I guess I will wait some more. Maybe I should sprinkle some water on it? [:^)]
Tootles [:D]
Lodni, Gamera, Steve - thanks a lot for your kind words! I’m glad you like the painting. I have to admit that I like it too!
Steve - nah, it doesn’t grow on tap water, it grows on blood, sweat or tears - depending on what you got!
Gamera - thanks a lot for the tip. I took a slightly different approach - I have mived a rust colour using almost-dry Testors silver (aluminium) metalizer and brown Gunze paints and I added lacquer thinner for solvent. Tha paints mxied fine, with just a slight tendency to separate after about half an hour standing in a jar. That paint doesn’t flake off my rubber tracks too bad, so it looks like we’ve got a base. I have also used sandpaper on the rubber track pads to dstress them a little. My results look like this:
I have also worked on the wheels for this chassis:
As you can see I have upgraded from bamboo to steel front wheel axle.
I have also noticed, that it’s easy to falsely mount the idlers. As a result your tracks tend to be too long. The photo below shows the right (OK) and the wrong (NOK) way:
I hope it helps you with your build. I’m waiting for the glue on the road wheel arms to set and then I’ll fit the tracks. Thanks for reading and have a nice day
Paweł
Exactly. Hard to “herringbone” a platoon line to cover the flanks without a turret. Really hard to mount a rear guard in the advance, too.
Even eschellon left or right formations are not really possible when turretless.
Pawel,
As always, lookimg good.
Did you note on the phones of the museum tan, they painted the camo right over the spare track links? That’s one it would be really nice to have a veteran comfirm (wonder if there is a swedish tank veteran association on facebook?)
I’d be inclined to go very easy on track weathering. Doctrinally, these tanks were meant to be very close to their dispersed motorpools, and were meant to reside in revetments near highways and other strategic points.
Which is likely to frustrate normal armor modeling reflexes.
I’ll wager the side-skirt diesel can were filled from a bowser driving along side. And no doubt under a watchful sargent’s eye, so spills were likely wiped up right away.
In fact, you get it too dirty, you’d just be forced, forced, I say, to build a dio of it being washed clean again [:)]
Hello Capn Mac!
It’s a pleasure to hear from you. Yes, I did notice those spare track links camo’ed over. I have found it a little strange, but then again those babies are heavy, so I know why one wouldn’t be to eager to remove them and put them back on… And in general those camouflage jobs don’t look too high level to me. It’s obvious thay have taken forrest green tanks, taped over the numbers and warning signs and painted the camo over that somewhere in the units. Things like axes, hammers and shovels were removed, but spare tracks?
So I don’t plan to dirty this baby up much. Just some shading, maybe some camo netting, a tiny bit of light chipping and that would be about it.
And that’s an interesting point about that washing diorama - kinda makes me wonder why you don’t get to see such dios. One thing this is plain hard to do - show realistic water and wet effects on the model. Then I heard this washing is just hated by the tankers - that would be another thing. But it’s a challenge for the modellers out there - a wash rack dio!
Best greetings and have a nice day
Paweł
Pawel,
I just noticed this thread. Most impressive model of an unusual and interesting tank!
Bill Morrison
Pawel,
Absolutely awesome job sir! The masking and paint look amazing. Wonderful WiP.
The water is the easy part, getting the scene to look accurate and finding reference pictures, that’s the hard part for a non-tanker.
Nice work, the tracks look fantastic!
Looking good, Pawel!
Hello everybody!
Bill, Hunter, Gamera, Lodni - thanks a lot for your kind words!
modelcrazy - water might be easy for you! I’d like to learn some day the tricks with water that you do, but for now I would have to start practicing! I agree wholeheartedly about the references, though.
And in the meantime I have put the tracks on here’s what they look like:
Now I have to tackle the final decals. Thanks for looking and have a nice day
Paweł
She looks good with the tracks on. [Y]
Gamera - thanks a lot, I like the looks too!
The work got a little slower since my woman has returned from the hospital. Anyhow, I’m still working. I have added the armored shutters on the 'scopes of the commander’s cupola - white parts, painted, as for now only on one side. The 'scopes are all painted, too:
I had to modify the MG - it’s spent brass chute, to be exact. I have made a new one from copper sheet. Next to it there are two length of “chain” made from copper wire with the “twist and squeeze” method. They will be used in the replica of the mechanism, that keeps the commander hatch with its spent brass tray on top always connected to the 'chute:
I have also assembled and painted the illum mortars (called Lyran) rounds. They will be attached on op of the other hatch:
Now I’m focused on painting and installation of the MG. Thanks for reading and have a nice day
Paweł
a unique AFV built to work in a specific environment. this tank has always interested me. its like a super advanced stug.
Looking very good!
blackdog62 - I also find this tank very interesting, I’d even say it’s been fascinating me since I learned to read, because it was shown in one of the first books I’ve read! In some places this baby is a bit like the A-4 Skyhawk, because it shows this fascinating “inverse feature creep” - where you eliminate one thing, then in turn you don’t need another thing and so on, and you end up with a very compact and capable design. This is not quite the case here, but the end result is very interesting none the less.
Gamera - thanks a lot for your kind words!
And in the meantime I have installed the “Kulspruta” (Swedish for machine gun) on te cupola together with the chains and it looks like this:
Now I’m going to use the cupola to test the weathereing here. My plan is simple - some dark gray wash and some lighter gray dry brushing plus a tiny bit of pin washes and chipping. Let’s see how this turns out. Thanks for reading and have a nice day
Paweł
Another incredible build shaping up here.
I keep thinking in my head about whether this needs something to help set the scale.
But, I can’t come up with a way that an S-tank might share a space with, oh, and M-103 [:D] Or a Mk IV. Or, for that matter, an A4 which would always have a personal connection for you.
“And in the meantime I have installed the “Kulspruta” (Swedish for machine gun) on te cupola together with the chains and it looks like this:”
Thanks Pawel, I leaned something new today. And nice work!
I have a C ready to mud up and put on a base. Screwed up the priming (too hot in garage) but continued anyway. Mine is a winter white and dark green pattern with the blade down. going to try some serius mud and snow base. also have a B and both also in OTS. kinda go on a Swedish kick after my Finnish kick.
CapnMac - thanks a lot for your kind words! First time I have read this I thought maybe I’ll have a photo of an US tanker checking out that weird thing… I could also make a “museum” photo along some other cold war tank…
Gamera - my pleasure and thanks a lot!
waynec - yeah, I have seen that green and white scheme on a model and I think, too, that it looks very cool. But do you have any references on this? I also have 1:72 B variant of this baby, been looking at it short time ago, but I have to tell you: watch out! 1:72 versions of it have some simplifications in their design but I also suspect they tend to confuse some features of B and C. From what I know the B version doesn’t have the illum rounds on top of the drivers’ hatch, but the Trumpeter model has them.
Thanks a lot for your comments and have a nice day
Paweł