James C The successor to the 2SS19 MSTA, but not sure if these vehicles are actually in service yet?
Still early days with this build and am currently undecided on whether to paint it in the generic "Parade Ground" green or do it in a "what if" camouflage of green, grey and black...
I finished up assembling the lower hull today. Now on to the turret...
18 September 2020, 02:07
Ingo F Looks good so far. How is the overall quality and fitting of the parts?
18 September 2020, 06:58
Slavo Hazucha Ha, managed to jump on the train before the end-station this time! 🙂
What a show of detail already - looks like a very good model to work with - even the OOB tracks look definitely fit-for-purpose.
Will you keep it green or do you have a camo version up the sleeve?
18 September 2020, 09:20
James C @ Ingo - Thanks mate. With the exception of the front and rear fenders, the fit has been very good, as well as the overall quality. The fenders needed a little bit of filling and sanding to line up correctly and eliminate the joins. The assembly instructions have been clear and easy to follow, with no errors encountered so far.
But, as I found with the Msta build, this one is even more over engineered, with little thought given to the painting process. I would have preferred to of been able to paint the upper and lower hulls separately, but this was not possible due to how it has been engineered to go together.
By leaving the upper runs of track off, I can detach the tracks and idler wheels, and paint/weather them separately, but the road wheels are fixed in place unfortunately, which are going to be a pain in the arse to do.
I also got the shell of the turret assembled yesterday and the fit was also very good. I found it best to tack the panels in place with a little "Tamiya extra thin", and then follow up on the inside with Revell contact cement as the long needle applicator allowed me to reach deep inside where the Tamiya glue brush wouldn't. To aid the assembly, I cleaned up all the panels prior to starting (including the roof) and assembled them in one go. As the Revell contact cement is a little slower curing, it allowed more time to nudge everything cleanly into final position.
The latest pictures show the turret assembly and test fitting the main gun... which still needs a little work to remove the join. Incredibly, this is only Step 16 of 40 in total to assemble this beast!
With a little luck, I'm hoping to finish it off over the weekend and be ready to throw some paint at it by Monday.😉
@ Slavo - Thanks as well mate 🙂
I'm really not a big fan of link and length tracks like these, as it's always difficult to get them looking natural, as just the slightest misalignment can spoil how they look completely. These however weren't too bad, but I'm not 100% happy with them either to be honest.
However, given how little of them that you can actually see, I think that a set of metal replacements wouldn't be worth the investment.
As for the paint scheme... I'm still undecided from doing it in overall green as per the box art, or just winging it with a "hypothetical" grey, green and black camouflage. A digital scheme would probably be more appropriate, but I don't feel confident enough to try that just yet. I am leaning towards a camouflage though, just to make it more interesting.😉
James C NP mate, It's well worth the investment, and you get a LOT of plastic for your $$$😉😭Y)
18 September 2020, 20:17
Ingo F Yeah, going to get one soon. Need to make some space in my stash first. 😄
Went through my stash and picked a few kits that i am going to sell as i lost interest in the subject or definitely not going to build the model.
18 September 2020, 20:23
James C I've been doing the same... selling off the older stuff and keeping the new.
My current plan is to sell 3 kits for for each new addition as my stash is out of hand now as well.
James C Just another small update showing progress on the turret detailing and one of the two loading mechanisms assembled. I'm quite pleased with how well the barrel cleaned up as it didn't require any filler... just a little gentle sanding and polishing.
Only a couple small items left to assemble now with the smoke launchers on the right hand side of the turret, the machine gun, second loading mechanism (I have no idea what to call these?) and a pair of stowage bins on the back. Then a final clean up of a couple gaps and molding burrs etc.
19 September 2020, 19:11
James C Assembly completed. Just a little clean up to do here and there and will be ready for paint.
James C A small progress update showing it now freshly painted, clear coated (Tamiya X-22 gloss) and decals applied. Next stage is to seal the decals, then apply a wash, before weathering and final assembly. Being a new vehicle I don't intend to dirty it up too much, but just enough to show some field use rather than a clean and tidy looking "parade ground" example.
I also managed to snap the aerial while handling and painting the turret, so will look at replacing that once I finish up.
@ Slavo - Yeah, I really didn't want to build it per the box art, and had been leaning towards doing a "hypothetical" camouflage because of it. But with no references (excluding some brief glimpses in the video link) to look at, I decided to do it in overall green instead. The guards unit emblem decal was a left over from the Msta build. One of the very few gripes that I have with this kit (and the Msta) is the lack of marking options out of the box.
Anyway, I got the decals sealed yesterday, so today the plan is to apply a wash to accentuate the surface details, then a clear matt coat to knock back the glossy sheen.
4 October 2020, 17:14
James C I gave it a coat of Tamiya XF-86 flat clear yesterday and along with final assembly began the weathering process with the exhaust staining.
I still need to paint the tail and front running lights as well as replace the snapped aerial, but will leave these until last.
I'll never get used to seeing how different the same colour green can look under both a clear "gloss" and "matt" coat.
5 October 2020, 20:05
Treehugger Why do you add a flat coat before adding wheatering effects? Not something I know much about,
6 October 2020, 07:13
Treehugger Ah, yes. A gloss coat will darken the color, and the matte varnish will brighten the underlying color.
I am using Vallejo acrylic paint myself. On my very first airbrushed model, when airbrushing on matte varnish, I added too much accidentally, and the surface in a place turned white'ish. I never fixed it. 🙂
I have too experimented with matt varnish to create effects on aircraft surfaces - basically according to what Treehugger explains - there is potential in working with the matte for tonal effects, as well as simulating depth in surfaces 🙂
@ Treehugger - It's just down to how I approach the painting process and what I find works best for me.
Once the base coat is done, I seal it with a clear gloss coat as this helps protect the paint finish beneath it and also acts as a good foundation for applying the decals on (minimizing the risk of silvering) and also helps with the following step of applying an enamel wash. The wash flows much better over a gloss coat and tends to run into the corners and recesses of any raised detailing (which is what you want) where as if you apply a wash to a matt surface it will tend to stain the surface instead and becomes impossible to remove or clean up. With the gloss surface, you can easily clean any excess away with a cotton bud lightly moistened with white (or odorless) spirits. Once that is done, I apply a clear matt coat over the top to seal and protect the wash ahead of any further weathering... usually with oils etc.
With oils, I find they work best when applied over a matt surface as they will soak into (or stain) the surface that they are applied to... basically the reverse of what I'm trying to achieve with the panel wash in the previous step.
Lastly, the clear flat coat dulls down the sheen which looks more authentic (to me) as armour in the field always tends to have a flat finish when compared to some museum exhibits etc.
I finished it off yesterday, so if the sun comes out I'll see if I can take some pics of the completed build.😉
6 October 2020, 18:08
James C With the length of the massive barrel, it's a little tricky to get decent pictures with everything in focus without zooming all the way out unfortunately.
Anyway, this was a very good kit by Zvezda and given it's overall impressive size, I found it to be fantastic value for money. If care is taken while removing parts from the sprues and cleaning them up, the fit is every bit as good as current Tamiya new releases.
The only minor issues that I found were that several of the sprues were quite large and awkward to handle which risked damaging some of the smaller and more delicate parts, and out of the box there wasn't much choice in the way of unit options to paint and decal etc.
But, unlike the previous Msta build, I didn't encounter any discrepancies with the instructions at all.
I highly recommend this kit if you haven't got it already.
Slavo Hazucha Came out spectacular, totally fits into the forming line of your modern Soviet/Russian green heavy metal! 👍. You really have the highlighting & weathering process mastered, it looks very convincing & makes the single color green machines looks very realistic while bringing out a lot of details, nooks & crannies 🙂
The Zvezda kit really seems to deliver - details sharp (particularly the ammo handling assembly in the back), posable gun barrel & transport position gun-support... Great OOB value indeed
James C Many thanks Bob, Ingo, Eelco, Neuling, Slavo and Guy.
Cheers guys, I really appreciate your feedback 🙂👍
@ Slavo - I started the year with the goal of representing the British army... and having done that, these latest Russian units are all a bonus!
I do have 1 failure... in the form of an Italeri F-14.... I'm in two minds whether to put it back on the bench or not....
James C
Ingo F
Slavo Hazucha
Treehugger
