Takom T-55 AM2B - Paint

Prior to piant... 

Kit broken down and primed with Mr Surfacer 1500 Grey... 

Mmmm... Turret Texture... 

Mr Surfacer 1500 was thinned with Mr Levelling Thinner in a 1:1 ratio... This stuff is by far the best primer and surface prep paint available... Sands to a feather edge... Has micro filling properties without clogging detail... You can flood it on without fear of buildup... Truly a no fuss primer... 

Love looking at a kit all primed...  

After going round in circles researching Post War Soviet Green I simply reverted to my reference photo which shows a distinctive olive green colour...Starting with XF58 Olive Green, I used Sky to lighten and threw in some yellow green and flat green for shits and giggles...
Mix ratio was approx the following:
6 parts XF-58 Olive Green
5 Parts XF-21 Sky
2 Parts XF-5 Flat Green
1 Part XF-4 Yellow Green 

Finally was able to bond the loose items to the turret and hull after an initial coat under these items... 

Base colour on... 2 thin coats... Honestly I think I stumbled on the recipe for NATO Green..?? Afterwards everything got 2 thin coats of Mig Heavy Chipping Fluid ready for the distressing... 

Distressing Colour clouded over the hull... This was the original mix Desaturated with XF19 and white... 

Distressing the paint begins... 

Paint distressed... 

Comparison of distressed versus no distressing... 

Close up of the distressing technique... some Postshading and Filters to come... 

This technique could work especially well for predusting during the mud and dirt phase of the paint job... 

Distressing coat to the turret... 

Turret distressed... 

All sealed in a clear coat of Tamiya XF86... 

Overcoat of highly thinned Olive green mixed from Tamiya paints... This removes the chalkiness from the distressing and unifies the surface... Well... That's what I was hoping... 

Olive green distressed base paint done... Onto some acrylic filters... Should help create with demarcations between elements...  

Setting up for acrylics... My idea is to use acrylics to glaze/filer large blocks of geometry to create demarcations... Also add highlights to details... 

Kinda worked..?? I think... 

Acrylic filters done... Very subtle but you can see the change in hue between elements...  

Vajello colours Green Sky, Golden Olive, Medium Olive and Neutral Grey were diluted down with VMS Slow Mo and a little water to a filter... The slow mo works well preventing tide marks and hard edges... 

I'm hoping these filters don't disappear during the oild rendering.. 

After much deliberation... Let's rust the hell outta her instead...! 

I'm guessing some maybe mortified at what I'm doing... Lo 

This is a bit of a first for me...But what a blast... Lol... Lifecolour's Rust and Dust set used to the extreme... They are incredible paints,...  

I'm looking forward to accenting these with enamels and oils... 

A few more darker tones tomorrow night and I'll call the rust to the turret and hull complete... 

Darker tones added... Not too shabby me feels...  

Rusty... 

Turret and Hull Rust complete...  

Experimenting with oils...