KV-85
Comments
1 2 July 2017, 19:37
Ingo FWelcome on board. 🙂
So far the build was easy and fast. Not much parts for this model. I think the tracks will be most time consuming part of the kit. I think i will finish the build till weekend.
2 July 2017, 20:05
Ingo FWelcome on board James. After a few "clean" builds i decided to build a model where i can go all out with weathering and chipping. 😄
3 July 2017, 06:28
Ingo FFinished the build. The most time consuming part of the build were the tracks. I decided to replace the kit tracks with the workable ones from Bronco as the tracks from the kit were wrong. According to 4BO Green the KV-85 used the 650mm tracks and not the 700mm that are provided in the kit.
I also removed the antena mount on the glacis plate. Some welding seams were added to the tank.
I decided to add two more of the fuel tanks instead of the stowage boxes at the end as i could not find WW2 pictures of the KV-85 with this boxes.
The spare track on one side was omited. I also left out the second towing cable. Therefore the hook on the hull side needed some small modification as it is not under tension and just hanging down.
The fuel tanks needed the most putty as there were some bigger gaps between the parts.
The fenders were bend to simulate some damage. Unfortunately i forgot to take pictures after i bend them.
The tank already received a coat of primer and is now drying.
12 July 2017, 19:40
Ingo FThanks James. The tow cables are from the kit. Except the tracks the kit is completely build oob.
12 July 2017, 20:58
Ingo FThank you Rui and welcome. 🙂
James, the KV-122 in your stash must be identical with my KV-85. The only difference is the main gun.
I am planing to build more of this heavys in the future but can not decide if i should build the kit 00359 or 00357. Both looks nice. Maybe i will build them both. 😄
Not to forget the KV-2.😉
12 July 2017, 21:41
Rhys YoungWow this kit looks tasty once built, I like the oob metal gun. Also the little modifications you've made adds a little bit of character. I love russian armour, mostly post war, but the KV line of tanks amaze me, I dont know what it is?
Really tempted to get a trumpy KV tank, but i have alot going on In the stash.
keep up the good work!
Thanks
12 July 2017, 22:15
Ingo FThank you Rhys. I too love russian armour especially late cold war period with all the vehicles and countless modifications like T-72. But i also love modern russian armour. Unfortunately i didnt build much of soviet vehicles in the last few months. I some kind wandered off from my soviet armour course. Time to go back. 😄
13 July 2017, 05:13
Ingo FFinished the painting. The tank was primed black and white. I used russian green 4BO from Vallejo for the base color. Highlighting was done with green and light green from Vallejo 4BO color set. After the light green was sprayed some of the prominent spots were way to bright. I overmisted this spots with the base color. First time using this technique and i think it turned out good.
I think the highlighted spots will lose the brightness after a coat of varnish, filter and wash.
What do you think guys? Are the colors good or little bit to bright?
15 July 2017, 15:02
Rhys YoungIngo F I think the colour modulation looks great, i have only tried it once on my Australian centurion mk.5/1. I got the colours a bit off ( more of a green than khaki drab) but was pleased with the result. And yes it does tone down after filters, washes, clear coats, and weathering. That was my experience.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks
15 July 2017, 16:12
Ingo FHey guys, thank you for your positive feedback. 👍
I will put a coat of gloss varnish over the tank tomorrow.
My plan is to include oil paints into the weathering process and i am hopping it will work fine. 😄
15 July 2017, 20:06
Ingo FHey guys. Added some weathering in progress pictures. The chipping was done with anthracite color from Revell. For the grease, filter and streaks i used different oil colors for more color variation: raw umber, shadow brown, sepia, ocher and a little bit of buff.
For the rust i used track rust pigments and black pigments for exhaust.
European earth, light siena and russian earth pigments were used for lower hull, wheels and also tracks (no pictures yet)
The turret received a fair portion of chipping today and will be weathered tomorrow. I also will add dark steel pigment to the road wheels, tracks and towing cable with some rust pigments.
20 July 2017, 19:12
EnsignExpendablLooks great! I opted for the Eastern Express kit because it cost half as much, but in retrospect I really should have just paid the extra and spared myself some torture.
20 July 2017, 19:27
SpanjaardLooking fantastic, your weathering is usually excellent, but this one seems getting really to a new level
20 July 2017, 20:21
Rhys Younglooking really good now, the weathering has really dulled down the bright modulation, giving it a very realistic tone with variation. Weathering is also coming alone nicely like the soot, oil, and general rusty wear and tear on the panels.
keep up the good work!
Thanks
20 July 2017, 20:26
Ingo FThank you Spanjaard and Rhys. 🙂
Was looking at the pictures right now and found a spot that i need to touch up tomorrow.
The rust on the exhaust is only on the top but not on the sides. Looks not that good.
20 July 2017, 20:35
Holger KranichWooooow, the weld seams on the front glacies plate are awesome!!!! The rest is awesome too but the seams stand out!
21 July 2017, 13:33
Ingo FThank you Lars and Holger.
@Holger: That was my first try to create the weld seams and i didnt like them at first. After some paint and wash the turned out good. 🙂
21 July 2017, 14:04
Ingo FBad news guys. Somehow i destroyed the tracks. I weathered them yesterday and as i picked them up today they literally crumbled in my hands. 🙁
I am not sure what cause it. The new glossy varnish from AK or that i used turpentine for pigment fixer.
I guess it was the new varnish as it was a little bit sticky even after i let it dry for more than 24 hours.
The good news that i already ordered new tracks and they should arrive tomorrow evening.
21 July 2017, 20:35
Spanjaardstrong turpentine can have devastating effects with some plastics. my Bandai xwing had minor damage (luckily) due to that. that plastic reacts a lot with white spirit.....
My Tamiya Honda NXR was never the same after the weathering... I literally saw the completed model crumbling in front of my eyes. I manage to put it together with quite a few metal inserts where the plastic was not longer strong enough... but it was never the same again. to be honest, i am trying to restrict enamel based washes now... and for sure, I prime everything before painting.... just in case.
21 July 2017, 20:54
Rhys YoungNever had this porblem, im sorry i cant help. Hope the new tracks turn out better!
21 July 2017, 21:05
Ingo FThank you guys. For the weathering of the tracks i only used the ak and vallejo pigments and turpentine to fix them. The tracks were primed and sealed with a coat of gloss varnish before.
For the new tracks i will use acrylic based washes to fix the pigments.
21 July 2017, 21:08
Spanjaardi may be wrong, but the material is not the same as the one of the model right? if it is some form of more flexible plastic, it may be a weaker to the action of turpentine. even if primed, there may be some minuscule cracks (being flexible plastic) and that is where the turpentine attacks... i had the same with my Bandai. some small holes the primer and paint did not fully enter, and that was exactly where the pieces cracked when i was weathering... the rest of the model was not affected, because it was better protected.
21 July 2017, 21:27
Ingo FWhat should i say now? Lesson learned. 😄
Never use turpentine on workable tracks. 🙂
21 July 2017, 21:39
Murad ÖZERor anything with a base other than water soluble acrylics. enamels and lacquers even if they may not harm the vinyl right away, they'll most likely eat into them in the long run.
21 July 2017, 21:41
Ingo FOk guys, sorry for some missunderstanding. The tracks you see are not vinyle and not from the kit. These are the workable tracks from Bronco. I just forgot to add them to the project. Sorry, my bad.
21 July 2017, 22:02
Dan MIngo, most plastic workable tracks due to their very small parts and (very) fiddly plastic are extremely vulnerable to enamel-based products. I remember you had a similar issue with the Meng tracks fom T-10. Turpentine is too strong.
You can try with odorless thinner from AK which is considerable milder than pure turpentine or use only acrylic stuff on such tracks.
And if the weathering is with pigments you're better off with a matte varnish as it will retain the pigments better and the tracks also look better in a matte finish (my opinion anyway) since they tend up to be pretty beaten up. You can polish parts of them with steel pigment or a graphite or even steel paint in order to give them shiny metal look.
Now, about vinyl tracks. Vinyl is much stronger IF it's pure vinyl (like they used in the '70s). That stuff is nigh indestructible but at the same time paint is not adhering well, details are too soft etc. Nowadays the flexible tracks are no longer vinyl but rather a mixture of plastic styrene and a little vinyl to make it flexible. This is what Dragon is using in their DS tracks, and also Tamiya, AFV Club etc and which is why they can be glued using normal plastic glue. Unfortunately they are just as vulnerable to enamel stuff as the plastic workable tracks. The difference is, just as Murad pointed out, it will not happen right away but you might discover in a 2-3 years that the tracks are starting to break. That's a nasty discovery that many folks had with DS tracks.
AK track wash is wonderful but I stay away from that stuff unless i'm using it on Friuls 🙂
21 July 2017, 22:34
Dan MAnyway, long rant, as a conclusion, sorry to hear about the tracks, it's always a bummer when something like this happens. It happened for me with Dragon magic tracks (which are not workable). They separated in all their pieces as the previously glued plastic bonds were melted by enamel.
21 July 2017, 22:38
Ingo FThank you Dan fo the information.
I heard somewhere that you can also use Tamiya Thinner XF-20 as a fixer. Can someone confirm?
Anyway the tracks will be here tomorrow evening and i am going to sacrifice the Sunday to clean and build them. 🙂
21 July 2017, 23:12
Spanjaardand for sure the result will be excellent. all the best with the second attempt!
21 July 2017, 23:16
Ingo FHey guys. I added some pictures of the turret. Its almost done and only need to add some dark steel pigment to the barrel of the rear mg, some black pigment to the barrel and here and there a little bit of rust.
The new tracks are assembled and will be primed tomorrow. It took me a whole day to build them. 😄
24 July 2017, 21:01
Rhys YoungTurret looks awesome I real love the worn metal effect around the edges, looks very effective!
Keep up the good work, hope the tracks turn out better!
Thanks
24 July 2017, 22:08
Spanjaardexcellent result Ingo, a pleasure to the eyes, as usual 🙂 congratulations on another beautiful model 🙂
29 July 2017, 10:51
Ingo FFinally completed! Took me a little bit longer but now its done. I dont know why the rust is that bright on the pictures but its more dull on the modell.
Enjoy the pictures. 😄
29 July 2017, 10:52
Ingo FHmm ok, checked the pictures on my desktop computer and they looks ok. I think its about the settings of the monitor on my notebook.
29 July 2017, 10:55
Rhys YoungBrilliant finish to a quality model, Ive really enjoyed following this one, and seeing how it has changed. Top result, keep up the good work!
Thanks
29 July 2017, 11:24
Murad ÖZERIngo it's a lovely build. i don't recall what happened after the track incident but if you repaired em nice save there! great wx all around, my only comment would be against the light brown wash, color itself does create a nice contrast with the 4bo base alright but it's just too prominent / pronounced to me.
29 July 2017, 11:29
Ingo FThank you Dan and Murad.
@Murad: Hey mate, do you mean the paint around the hatches for example (pic 62)?
29 July 2017, 11:37
Ingo FThank you Martin.
Thank you James. 😄
Belive me, you will see lot more WW2 vehicles from me in the future. Right now i dont have that many WW2 kits in my stash but it will change. 😄
I am also planing an What if WW2 scenario with my own story and paper tanks from Trumpeter, Amusing Hobby, Hobby Boss and Takom.
In the near future i am planing on building either the Jagdpanther or a King Tiger. Can't decide which one it will be.
29 July 2017, 21:50
Ingo FThanks. Can only give it back to you. 🙂 I mean you have your awesome kitbash/ scratch build style. 😄
29 July 2017, 21:55
Markus Kutsch The Plastic BenchTop Ingo. ...great colors and great weathering.Very subtile chipping.Very great work.
30 July 2017, 08:42
