Here we go: it’s been probably 12 years since I’ve built a tank kit. I’ve recently returned to military modeling after picking up an airbrush and it’s been quite an awakening (spent much of the past decade on European racing cars, mostly F1, all sprayed with Tamiya can lacquer).
After (mostly) finishing two Tamiya 1/48 aircraft with airbrushing techniques — a Zero and a Bf109 — I’ll attempt this simple Su-100 in Eastern Front winter whitewash camo:
What started as a simple build ended up being a bit of a headache. While most of the kit takes maybe 30 minutes to assemble, sanding the seams on the barrel and external fuel tanks took at least an hour.
To top it all off, I’ve run into some novice airbrush issues I thought I had solved. I’ve run out of Tamiya thinner so switched to plentiful, cheap ISO alcohol. With the fast evaporation of alcohol I ended up with a rough finish which I had to sand off. It created a cool effect with the primer, but I’m not ready to weather yet!
Picked up some paint retarder, sprayed it again and got somewhat decent results until the airbrush started spitting [:@]. Oh the perils of the noob modeler! My Tamiya Olive Green seems to be drying up on the side of the airbrush cup, and for some reason it’s spitting, but there is no tip dry. Will have to figure things out before moving onto the whitewash. I plan on using the Ralph Koziarski technique:
That is a nice 109. I’ve never had a problem with tamiya paint and iso before that is what i always use to thin with. What ratio are you mixing at? I find that around 50/50 for coverage then for hi-light coats thin it down to 30/70 paint/iso
Well I was going to show you my progress but I’m having trouble posting from photobucket. The photos are just links instead of embedded in the post. Anyone know how to fix this?
Had to leave work early today sick, so had the opportunity to get some work done. I’ve moved on to the white coat using the Ralph Koziarski method: thin cloudy coats on the horizontal surfaces, streaks on the vertical:
Building more color. This takes a long time and my hand got cramped, ergghhh:
The final product: nearly full coverage. You can’t see it in the photo but there are subtle streaks of the olive green.
On to the fun part: dry brushing the base color and scratching up the white.
It seemed to be a problem with just that green paint. Perhaps I didn’t mix it well enough in the jar/with the alcohol. The white sprayed just fine at 50/50 with a couple drops of paint retarder, until I had spraying a little while and it started to clog/spit. I’ve recently switched from nasty laquer thinner to the ISO alcohol to clean the brush, which isn’t as effective I’ve noticed, so perhaps I’m not cleaning the brush well enough.
Couldn’t put this down, so jumped right into scratching the surface with a toothpick while the white acrylic is somewhat soft. This is a lot of fun, I gotta say, but I think I went too aggressive. Will have to knock it back with some mist coats later in the process.
Got yet more done today, though I’m not completely pleased with the results (first try, but call me a perfectionist!). Started dry brushing the tank with the base color but I ran into two problems — when the paint is thin it has a much brighter, grassy color, and when it’s thick it’s difficult to apply without the cheap “hand-painted” look.
Will have to knock back/erase some of my mistakes with the airbrush and try again, but in some ways I’m happy with the results.
You’re doing a great job on the tank. I’m doing the SU-85 from Tamiya currently and I think I’ll try the snow camo as well; it breaks up the plain look of Russian Armor Green! I like the fact that they include the weathering kit with the model.
Thanks Mikey, and agreed, the Soviet armor of that era can get pretty bland! I’ve found this whitewash technique fairly simple for someone who has little experience with armor. The simple lines of the SU-100 help.
A quick update: moved on to dry brushing and some selective paint chipping. A little heavy but again this is my first tank in over a decade. I’m really enjoying the weathering. It will be ready for a clear coat and oil wash next:
Clear coated, decaled and did the oil wash last night using burnt siena and odorless thinner. I was pretty unhappy with the results (looked too aggressive) but once the thinner dried it started to look better.
Once I shoot a flat coat over it I think I will be pretty happy. Again, this is my first tank kit using these techniques, so I’m starting to meet some of my goals! Scuffed up the USSR star using a toothpick. I do enjoy the process of “destroying” these kits once everything is painted! It’s a nice change after babying the F1 cars I’ve built over the years.
Just an observation, but it looks like you might have steel on the right side portions of some of the wheels. It looks like your kit has the rubber tires.
You caught me Tigerman! Good call on the rubber wheels. Painted over those. Wash is done, tracks are done, now I just need to finish some of the exterior details and flat coat everything. In the home stretch, will post again when it’s all finished!
