I finished up the Kastor a few days ago so here’s the pics of the finished build-up. Overall it went together very well, especially considering it was a preproduction sample. The base is plaster poured thin over plywood then stained with AK-Interactive products. Weeds are silflor horsehair foliage and fine turf. Rubble is plastic shape scraps, plaster scrap embedded with steel wire then broken for the rebar look, and ballast/talus.

You can purchase the Kastor when it comes back for 2nd Edition preorder in a few months at Industria Mechanika.

The Industria Mechanika/ Kallamity Kastor progress continues with the weathering steps. First up I hand-painted almost all of the smaller details that would need weathering such as vents/piping and additional rust chips. The additional rust was Vallejo applied with bits of sponge.

After that I applied a filter of German Ochre 502 Abteilung oil paints thinned with odorless turpenoid. This gives the surface a warmer tone and also creates a nice base for additional weathering layers.

Powdered graphite was applied to all of the engine details to give it a metallic look. In the next discoloration step, that powder will be blended in for a really nice grimy metal appearance.

After letting the filter dry overnight, I applied the first or two discoloration steps. The first is for faded color streaking. I applied white, blue and rust 502 Abteilung oils in dabs then blended them up and down using a flat brush dampened with odorless turpenoid.

Once that dried overnight in a hot-box (large wooden closed box with a 40 watt lightbulb for heat) I applied the next layer of dicsoloration which involves using “starship filth”, blue and rust oils to highlight and darken panels giving the craft more depth and age.

Then finally rot this update I used AK-Interactive’s Streaking Grime and Streaking Rust as well as their OIF wash products to add streaks and small pin-washes where necessary.

Next up I’ll be applying more of the AK-Interactive products, mainly their Dust Effects to create rain mark streaking and some wind generated dusting along the lower chassis.

Over the blue and chips I applied another satin coat of FFA, then more hairspray. Over the hairspray I sprayed on several layers of khakis and drabs and then masked and painted the stripes. Oncedone I immediately set to chipping with a stiff wet brush.

The resulting chips are not only rust toned, but blues and brighter greens chips appear giving the craft a much more worn and reused appearance.

Once that was done I gloss-coated it all with Future (FFA) and then applied decals. The kit does not come with decals, but I have LOTS of spares (as most of us do) from aircraft, tanks, gundams, etc… Once the decals were done I applied a flat coat. Next I’ll hand-paint the mall details, add more chips via a sponge to the delicate parts such as the PE hooks, then start weathering!

I got my sample of the Industria Mechanika / Kallamity Kastor Hovertank a few weeks ago and have been slowly working on it. Not for a lack of interest, but a total lack of available time. I’ve been insanely busy since starting Industria Mechanika so I don’t get to model as much as I’d like these days. But this thing is really cool and fun to work on. Luca did a great job on the master and everything goes together nicely. The kit comes with a sheet of PE which has a LOT of fantastic details.

After cleaning the parts, I started off with a coat of green Duplicolor Self-Etching primer. I followed that with a coat of the red-orange sandable primer.

After that cured I applied several random coats of various grays and rust tones. This was the base-coat for the hairspray technique layers. After that cured I gave it a gloss coat of Future and then a coat of hairspray.

Over the hairspray I applied a random coat of blues, bright greens and dull teals. This layer was chipped away heavily and is only to give the final cpaint layer which will be a khaki drab the look of being repainted over an older blue paint-job. The heavy chipping will allow mostly rust to show through on the next layer overcoat. I’ll post pics of that once done.