Stokesy's Red Army T72 Tamiya 1/35

[Kevthemodeller]

How have I missed this too busy trying to hit the Helo build deadline

It's all coming together at speed there mate, the paint quality is top notch

[Stokesy44]

Thanks for all the input guys.

Had another good session today. Oil filters and glossing. I have to say dot filtering is one of my favourite parts of the hobby. Doesn't need an airbrush, just sit and potter away, taking the filtering up or down depending on how its coming out, adding colours where required - I love this part of the build.

Opened up my trusty oils - cant see these bad boys running out anytime soon!



Started with the rubber side skirts. White and tan as I'm trying to simulate dust and wear.



The hull and turret got the same plus a rich green to avoid wash out. Too much light colour, especially white, and the base colour just fades away horribly.







I used a chisel headed brush dipped in low odour terpenoid. For the vertical parts its a downward motion, for the horizontal stuff, the brushing goes front to rear.

In the following pics it looks a bit overdone but under the gloss coat it will calm down and even out.









I also filtered the wheels and painted the tracks but didn't take any pics of those.

Do you ever have those moments, when you're at the bench, when the kit really comes alive and you say to yourself, hang on, this is looking good!!!!!! I'm a humble guy but as the gloss coat started to take hold I thought man alive that is really starting to look cool! I did chuckle when remembering the phrase - pride cometh before a fall though!

I'm absolutely thrilled with how the gloss has levelled out the filters and popped all the detail.









I put the turret on just to goggle at it for a bit







I'll let the gloss cure then it will be a wash and wipe, hopefully leaving a nice metallic sheen on the kit to finish. Tracks still to go on and hoses for the external fuel drums then its done.

[CygnusX1]

Looking really great. Nice work on those oils; adds to the overall subtlety.
Just out of interest, what gloss coat are you using?

[digger303]

Marvelous

[krusty69]

look's great. i've tried the dot filter and haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet.
the thought of that tank used to keep me up at night's, a m-47 dragon was no match for that.

[Hawkmoon]

Looking good and nice work.

Glad to see the rash cleared up and the results are top notch

[Stokesy44]

Looking really great. Nice work on those oils; adds to the overall subtlety.
Just out of interest, what gloss coat are you using?

Greetings, thanks for the comments. I use Alclad Aqua Gloss. Straight from the bottle with a 0.2 needle at about 20psi. Its one of those products I have absolute confidence in. I spray it on in light wet coats, making sure not to get too far from the surface to avoid it atomising before it reaches the kit.

[Stokesy44]

Marvelous

Spasiba!

[Kevthemodeller]

Looking even better the dot filter really brings out the surface tonal finish

[Stokesy44]

look's great. i've tried the dot filter and haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet.
the thought of that tank used to keep me up at night's, a m-47 dragon was no match for that.

Thank you for your service.

Its always good to come across someone who did this stuff for real. I grew up wanting to be in the RAF but a spinal condition put paid to me joining the services or the police. So I got into models, wrote a novel and read loads of military history books. Who was it who said you always want what you cant have?

I had a few false starts with the filtering process myself. The biggest hurdle for me was using the right thinner. I started off with enamel thinner but it was way too harsh and left a white residue on everything. Second was to always filter on top of a quality matt varnish or you run the risk of dotting the paintwork where you have applied the paint.

I think I'm building an aircraft next and I've never applied the technique to one before so that might be fun.

[Stokesy44]

Looking even better the dot filter really brings out the surface tonal finish

Thanks Kev. its the difference between the surfaces looking flat and plastic as opposed to having the proper weight. I noticed it first time when I was applying the matt varnish before the filters. As it went down wet it really popped the surface before it dried and I thought the gloss coat would really add to it.

[Stokesy44]

Looking good and nice work.

Glad to see the rash cleared up and the results are top notch

Yep, the tank self-isolated for a bit then was pronounced symptom free.

[Stokesy44]

The Red Army - put very basically - was split between two types of unit: Regular and Guards. The designation being reflected in the unit title thus:
9th Tank Division
11th Guards Tank Division
Confusingly a Regular unit may be part of a Guards one. In late 80's Germany (GSFG) you had the
2nd Guards Tank Army
comprising
16th Guards Tank Division
21st Motor Rifle Division
94th Guards Motor Rifle Division
207th Motor Rifle Division
The Guards units are considered Elite units having been awarded the designation through prowess in combat. The designation originated in the GPW - units showing exceptional skill in combat were formally recognized as such by being "ranged amongst the Guards" (ironically a Tsarist formation).
On your last photo the insignia on the turret denotes a Guards unit. Individual troops would alo wear a unique badge on the left breast of their uniform.

Going back to the autoloader discussion you might find this interesting:

Great post Neil. Interesting stuff about the Guards units. Loved the vid too, especially when the soldier keeps moving out of the way of the shell casings and they seem to follow him!

[SMAddict66]

Wonderful work sir, an amazing skill

[Quax]

Great series of posts on the dot filters, it's really brought the green and the vehicle itself to life
Paul

[Stokesy44]

Thanks Guys

I'm calling this done. After a messy but very pleasant sessions the wash is done, the tracks are on, the hull is glued in place and the fuel hoses all connected up. The only thing left to do is apply some matt varnish to the rear mud flaps. For some reason they have retained their gloss too much - I must have taken the wash clean off with a cotton bud that was too wet. Still, all things considered, quite pleased with my first modern(ish) MBT









Piping for the fuel drums, a bit messy and the measurements from Tamiya were WAY OFF



See what I mean about the rear mud flaps



Painted the big MG and brushed on satin varnish to match the rest of the kit. One thing I've noticed, the T72 doesn't have a co-ax or internally mounted MG, maybe the hatch mounted one can be operated remotely or else someone has to be exposed to use it for close in defence.



Toying with the idea of a light mist varnish, maybe satin, just to take the smallest edge off the shine. Not sure at the moment and there's the danger it will go too far the other way....









So there she is, in all of her iron curtain glory. I'll post the reveal pics once I've sorted out some kind of background. Thanks for looking in and all your comments and info on the real thing. Its been great fun, thank you

[RangerNeil]

More factoids - the turret mounted MG on your build is the 12.7mm NSVT that has replaced the DsHk (or Dushka) that dated back to the GPW. On the T-72 there is no remote control for this from within the turret, the commander (usually) gets the joy of opening the hatch to use it. Primarily provided for AA defence as the Soviet operational dogma was for MBT's to be supported by infantry in BMP's.
Life as a Soviet Tankisti was not all vodka and cumbers!!

The build is amazing - I am very, very impressed. Congratulations on a job very well done indeed.

[Stokesy44]

More factoids - the turret mounted MG on your build is the 12.7mm NSVT that has replaced the DsHk (or Dushka) that dated back to the GPW. On the T-72 there is no remote control for this from within the turret, the commander (usually) gets the joy of opening the hatch to use it. Primarily provided for AA defence as the Soviet operational dogma was for MBT's to be supported by infantry in BMP's.
Life as a Soviet Tankisti was not all vodka and cumbers!!

The build is amazing - I am very, very impressed. Congratulations on a job very well done indeed.

Thanks Neil, on both counts.

[digger303]

More factoids - the turret mounted MG on your build is the 12.7mm NSVT that has replaced the DsHk (or Dushka) that dated back to the GPW. On the T-72 there is no remote control for this from within the turret, the commander (usually) gets the joy of opening the hatch to use it. Primarily provided for AA defence as the Soviet operational dogma was for MBT's to be supported by infantry in BMP's.
Life as a Soviet Tankisti was not all vodka and cumbers!!

The build is amazing - I am very, very impressed. Congratulations on a job very well done indeed.

Thanks Neil, on both counts.

Spiffingly ( made up a word just for you ) wonderful build start to finish.

[CygnusX1]

I think it looks great. Fantastic build from beginning to end.

[KalebB]

Excellent build bud I absolutely love the look of it

[krusty69]

look's great. i've tried the dot filter and haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet.
the thought of that tank used to keep me up at night's, a m-47 dragon was no match for that.

Thank you for your service.

Its always good to come across someone who did this stuff for real. I grew up wanting to be in the RAF but a spinal condition put paid to me joining the services or the police. So I got into models, wrote a novel and read loads of military history books. Who was it who said you always want what you cant have?

I had a few false starts with the filtering process myself. The biggest hurdle for me was using the right thinner. I started off with enamel thinner but it was way too harsh and left a white residue on everything. Second was to always filter on top of a quality matt varnish or you run the risk of dotting the paintwork where you have applied the paint.

I think I'm building an aircraft next and I've never applied the technique to one before so that might be fun.

thank's. I think the thinner may have been the problem, and if I remember right I may have tried over a glossy coat. will have to give this another chance

[Stokesy44]

Spiffingly ( made up a word just for you ) wonderful build start to finish.

Thanks Digger. The build made me realise just how much I appreciate Tamiya's engineering. Its a 28 year old mould but it holds up superbly. It doesn't fight you at all, in fact it actually encouraged me to go back to it with much more frequency than I had managed before.

Looks like we'll be on lockdown for at least 12 weeks and there's more Tamiya in the stash - armour AND aircraft!

[Stokesy44]

I think it looks great. Fantastic build from beginning to end.

Thanks Cygnus, it was certainly a pleasure to work on.

[RangerNeil]

<snipped>

Looks like we'll be on lockdown for at least 12 weeks and there's more Tamiya in the stash - armour AND aircraft!

Not to mention the stock in the likes of eModels warehouse!!

[Stokesy44]

<snipped>

Looks like we'll be on lockdown for at least 12 weeks and there's more Tamiya in the stash - armour AND aircraft!

Not to mention the stock in the likes of eModels warehouse!!

Don't tempt me Frodo!

I have to admit I have a RFM M1 Abrams in the stash but I've been looking at the 3 Abrams offered by Tamiya that would definitely be a simpler build - mostly due to the rubber band tracks!!!

[Stokesy44]

Final reveal pics are up

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