{"id":1716,"date":"2006-01-26T20:09:55","date_gmt":"2006-01-27T04:09:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/?p=1716"},"modified":"2009-02-11T20:11:09","modified_gmt":"2009-02-12T04:11:09","slug":"in-progress-%c2%bb-russian-kv-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/in-progress-%c2%bb-russian-kv-2\/","title":{"rendered":"In Progress \u00c2\u00bb Russian KV-2"},"content":{"rendered":"

11.18.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Concepts
\n\/ Intro<\/p>\n

It’s big, ugly, unweildy, and green.
\nThe KV-2 is one of my favorite tanks just for
\nthat reason. I love the boxy impracticality of
\nit. Like a big moving target. I had been toying
\nwith the idea of modeling a tank for a while now
\nbut wasn’t sure of quite which one to do. When
\nI saw this tank that someone had brought in promer
\nat an IPMS meeting I had to get one.<\/p>\n

This is the Trumpeter 1\/35 scale
\nKV-2. So far it’s going together smoothly and
\nseems like a well molded kit. Most of the reviews
\nI’ve read on it are positive as well. Here’s
\na good one.<\/a> As for colors, mods, etc… I’m
\nplanning this to be mostly OOB with a replacement
\naluminum barrel. There’s a barrel for the old
\n(and I hear bad) Tamiya kit that works here with
\na little modification. What’s nice about it as
\nopposed to the stock barrel aside from a lack
\nof sanding is that the stock barrel lacks rifeling.
\n(sp?) Color-wise I’m unsure. Someone is bringing
\na book to a show for me to look at Russian tank
\nschemes from that era. Here’s a pic of the lineart
\nfrom the manual. (not the actual and final intended
\ncolor)<\/p>\n

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11.23.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Building<\/p>\n

Here’s my first in-prog of my KV-2.
\nNot much to see yet. So far everything’s been
\npretty straight forward and easy. Minimal flash
\nexcept for the “A” tree which seems
\nto have been modled slightly off so that there’s
\na lip on most parts. Those parts require a little
\nextra effort, but are generally not too much trouble.
\nI decided to add a rough-cut texture to the side
\npanels and other panels that were lacking it.
\nThis was done with either my scriber or the blunt
\nend of a razor blade. Looks good and I can’t wait
\nto see it primed. I’m planning on using the plastic
\ntracks over the vinyl as they’ll just look\/function
\nbetter when done. The plastic track have a nice
\nsag built into them.<\/p>\n

As for what I have left… I’m waiting
\non my Aber aluminum barrel to arrive. I also need
\nto sand many injection marks from the tracks.
\nThere’s some hatches, rungs, etc… that I need
\nto deal with as well. It’s about 1\/2 – 2\/3 way
\nthrough the construction phase I think.<\/p>\n

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11.30.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Almost
\ndone building<\/p>\n

Here’s the latest in my KV-2 progress.
\nThe building is all done and ready for paint except
\nfor the aluminum barrel which I’m waiting on.
\nThe individual track links with pre-built sections
\nwere a huge pain in the ass. I managed to do them
\nafter researching a bit at ArmoramA. I also decided
\nto add some stowage in addition to the storage
\nboxes. I’m not sure if it was ever carried this
\nway on the KV-2, but it looks cool so I’m doing
\nit. I placed a 1\/35 scale fig next to the tank
\nfor size reference. This thing was a monster!<\/p>\n

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01.19.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Painting
\nhas begun<\/p>\n

I’m waiting on some parts for my
\nGp01 project so I’m back on the KV-2. I was waiting
\non the Aber barrel which was the last thing that
\nneeded built, but then got side tracked and set
\nit aside. The barrel was a snap to replace. You
\njust cut the inside part off the plastic barrel
\nand glue the aluminum barrel to it. Great fit!<\/p>\n

So starting off, I primed everything
\nwith Mr. Surfacer 1000 from the jar. If it was
\nwarm out I would had used a can of dark-gray Duplicolor
\nprimer and saved me the next step which was painting
\nthe kit a dark color for preshading. I looked
\nthrough my stash of paint and found Tamiya RLM-Gray.
\nI bought it for something, but don’t recall ever
\nusing it as the bottle was new. It’s a dark green-gray
\nand great for a base coat. I painted all the wheels,
\nturret, chassis, and bits with it. I wasn’t too
\nworried about an even coat as it’ll all get covered
\nwith the next few lighter coats. The next step
\nfor the green is a few more coats of lighter gray-greens
\nto give the tank a sun-bleached and faded\/shaded
\nlook. I’ll be using a dark gray next on the tracks,
\ncables, and stowage. Here’s a few pics of the
\npaint so far with the new barrel attached.<\/p>\n

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01.20.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Painting
\n– Next Coat<\/p>\n

So next up was a layer of a lighter
\ngray green sprayed on as highlights in the centers
\nof panels and objects. This left a faint bit of
\nthe RLM Gray show through as a pre-shade. Doing
\nthis gave the model a lot more depth than it had
\nwith the first coat. This was my first kit that
\nI did a full-magor pre-shade with and I think
\nit turned out well. It’s time consuming, and IMO
\nnot wonderful on Gundam kits, but for tanks it
\nreally brings out the details. The color I used
\non top was JA Gray mixed with Neutral Gray, White
\nand a little RLM Gray. This gives it the light
\nand sun-faded look I’m going for. It looks light
\nin the pics, but is a little darker in person
\nand will darken more with weathering and washes.
\nNext I’ll add the decals, a little more of the
\nlight mix, then lightly airbrush the top flat
\nareas with a lighter color to add just a little
\nmore sun-fading. I also sprayed the tracks with
\na coat of German Gray tonight to start with, but
\nthey’re not pictured. Here’s some pics:<\/p>\n

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01.21.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Decals,
\nFades, and Clear-coating<\/p>\n

Last night I gave the kit a coat
\nof Future Floor Acrylic (FFA) thinned with Tamiya
\nThinner 50\/50. When cured as long as I felt like
\nwaiting which was around noon today, I applied
\nthe waterslide decals that were supplied with
\nthe kit. These consisted of a slogan, unit number
\nand red star for each side of the turret. The
\ndecals went on pretty nicely with some Microsol
\napplied.<\/p>\n

Then when the decaling was done
\nI used a medium-dark gray and the same light green
\n+ white and added some paint chips. This gave
\nme a layerd look which makes the chipping look
\neither faint to deep depending on the color. I
\nwent sparing on the chips since I didn’t want
\nit to look over-done. After that I used the light
\nshading green and gave the decals an overcoat
\nto blend them into the tank color and covered
\nthat with another coat of FFA. Pics below \u00c2\u00bb<\/p>\n

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Next up I’ll give the kit a wash
\nusing oils and mineral spirits, flat coat, then
\nairbrush dirt on the lower half.<\/p>\n

01.21.2006 \u00c2\u00bb More
\nprogress…<\/p>\n

Two in-progs in one day? Must be
\non a roll! Anyway, I wanted to take some pics
\nof what I worked on this evening. First up is
\nthe tracks. I started with painting the sections
\nof pre-assembled track-links with German Gray.
\nNext I clear coated them with FFA and gave them
\na wash of MIG Standard Rust Pigment Powder thinned
\nwith lots of water. I wanted them to have a little
\nrust, but not tons. Next I’ll give them a wash
\nof dirt-colored pigment powders. Here’s the first
\npic:<\/p>\n

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Below you can see the pre-washed
\nand weathered wheels. They were painted the same
\nway as the rest, but were hand-painted with German
\nGrey around the outer edge where there’s be only
\nbare metal. I still need to metalize the gray
\nand weather these up a lot. I also painted the
\nstowage today. I’ve heard that the Soviets didn’t
\nload up their tanks like the Americans with piles
\nof equipment, but even so, I did see some external
\nstowage in photos and besides… I have lots of
\n1\/35 stowage and I need somewhere to make use
\nof it! I painted all the stowage in German Gray
\nfirst. For the wooden boxes, I gave them a coat
\nof red-brown, then a post-shade of Buff sprayed
\nat a steep angle so that the buff didn’t settle
\ninto the cracks leaving the red-brown show through
\nas a shading color. I then drybrushed the boxes
\nvery lightly with Buff + White. The latches were
\npainted with German Gray before the drybrushing,
\nthen highlighted with MIG Gunmetal Pigment Powder.
\nThe bed rolls were painted in various shades of
\nbuff and military greens much like the boxes then
\nlightly drybrushed. Lastly is the fist step in
\npainting the tow cables which was painting them
\nin what else…? German Gray!<\/p>\n

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01.22.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Weathering
\nand Washing Continued…<\/p>\n

Next up on my list of things to
\ndo was applying a wash to the tank. For the wash
\nI mixed up a gray-green slurry of oil paint and
\noderless mineral spirits. Probably a 10:90 ratio
\noil paint:thinner. I never measure. I applied
\nthis with a wide brush to the kit in sections
\nand as it dried, wiped it off with wads of paper
\ntowel in a downward motion to simulate streaking
\nfrom rain and dirt. Afterwards I applied a thin
\ncoat of flat Future to seal the wash before the
\nnext step which will be adding stains and more
\nstreaking with oils and thinner. Pics:<\/p>\n

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01.23.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Weathering
\nand Washing Continued…<\/p>\n

Todays progress is brought to you
\nby dirt. Dirt, in airbrush and now pigment form!
\nAnyway… first off I mixed up a dirt color to
\nairbrush onto the chassis, fenders and road wheels.
\nThis consisted of Flat future with brown, german
\ngray and buff mixed in. The result was a semi-transparent
\nmuck color. I sprayed this where I thought dist
\nand dirt would get kicked up and collected. Mostly
\non the bottom, but a fait abount on the bottom
\nof the turret as well. It doesn’t look like much
\nof a change from in-prog pic to pic, but like
\nI said, it’s a gradual build-up of effects.<\/p>\n

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Continuing with the track-progress,
\nI gave the tracks a second wash. This time it
\nwas MIG Europe Dust + Russian Earth mixed with
\nlots of water. This was brushed on heavily and
\nleft to just dry on it’s own. Below is the result.
\nI think I want it a little lighter in color so
\nI may do a 3rd wash with some russian earth +
\nlight dust. After that I’ll fix the pigment with
\nthinner then drybrush it with a metallic color
\nto bring out the wear. I haven’t decided on what
\nto use yet though metal-wise… MIG Gunmetal,
\ngraphite, or silver rub-n-buff… I’ll have to
\ntest it out.<\/p>\n

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01.23.2006 \u00c2\u00bb New Technique…<\/p>\n

This kit is forcing me to learn
\nnew techiques that armor modelers often use. I
\ncan’t wait to do my next MaK kit now to give these
\na go! First off was a technique for making the
\nsurface look worn and tarnished. Basically you
\nbrush clean thinner onto an area, I did a panel
\nat a time, and then dab small dots of oils onto
\nthe area randomly. These will begin to spread.
\nI used white, burnt sienna, and ultramarine blue.
\nThen you take the same clean thinner brush and
\neither brush\/blend these up and down for rain
\nmarks or swirled around for flat surfaces, tops
\nof turrets, etc…. The end resultis fantastic
\nand adds a lot of depth to the paint. I was nervous
\nabout trying this, but will be using it again
\nfor sure! When you’re done blending, except for
\nthe burnt sienna, (the rusty color) it mostly
\nblends in and makes subtle color changes.<\/p>\n

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Next up is the tracks again. I mixed
\nup another MIG Pigment powder wash of Russian
\nEarth, Light Dust and Europe Dust. This was a
\nlighter wash than the last one as you can see
\nbelow.<\/p>\n

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After that dried, I rubbed the tracks
\nwith my finger which was coated in MIG Pigment
\nGunmetal Powder. Gave the tracks a nice metal
\nsheen on the wear-surfaces.<\/p>\n

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Lastly I took powdered graphite
\nand used my finger and paper towel to give wear
\nto some of the surfaces where I added chips and
\nwhere there would be wear and tear from friction
\nand useage. The main area I applied this to was
\nthe drive sprockets in the rear. Since these would
\nbe poking the tread-holes, the paint would be
\ngone and the metal worn to a shiney finish. I
\nalso rubbed the road wheels with this powder to
\ngive them a worn metal sheen.<\/p>\n

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01.23.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Dried
\nMud<\/p>\n

Time for some crusty mud on the
\nchassis! I needed to crud-up the chassis first
\nin order to have it weathered realistically before
\nputting the road wheels on. Otherwise it’d be
\nhard to get behind and weather properly. I used
\n3 MIG Pigment powders to do this in various combinations.
\nRussian Earth, Europe Dust, and Light Dust. First
\nI did the dusting and smudging using an old brush.
\nOnce that was done I shook clumps of powder onto
\nthe lower edges and then applied dabs of mineral
\nspirits to fix the pigment clumps into place.
\nApplying different shades of pigments gives it
\na nice worn look. Here’s some pics.<\/p>\n

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01.24.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Last
\nbut not last…<\/p>\n

The tank is almost done except for
\none finishing touch which will be to tie the unditching
\nbeams (logs) to the back of the tank. For my final
\nsteps, I applied MIG pigments (same colors mentioned
\nabove + black smoke and rust) with small and large
\nbrushes. Instead of me describing how to use them,
\nI’ll direct you here to this great hot-to page:
\nhttp:\/\/www.missing-lynx.com\/rare_world\/rw05.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

Next up is the base then final photos.
\nHere’s some no-final pics \u00c2\u00bb<\/p>\n

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01.24.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Display
\nBase<\/p>\n

The tank is all done now and is
\njust awaiting it’s base before final photography.
\nFor the base I wanted to do a section of inclined
\nroad that was slightly off-level to show off the
\nmuddy underside more. I started with a scrap of
\nthin plywood which I cut to fit the wood finished
\nbase. The red lines are so I know where not to
\nadd rises to keep the tracks flat on the ground.
\nI stuffed the underside with the scraps I cut
\noff and popscicle sticks for support and then
\nsome aluminum foil for bulk to keep me from using
\ntoo much celluclay. I applied the celluclay very
\nthin and flat then dusted it with crushed talus
\nwhich I’ll fix on better when it’s dry for texture.
\nWhen dry, I’ll prime, paint and weather. Here’s
\nsome prog pics:<\/p>\n

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01.25.2006 \u00c2\u00bb More
\nDisplay Base, Less In-Prog Images…<\/p>\n

Oops… I got a little ahead of
\nmyself and skipped a few steps in the photography
\nin-progress for the base. First I primed it today
\nwith dark gray duplicolor primer (Walmart). I
\napplied the primer thick to help fix the crushed
\ntalus. Then I airbrushed the base with Apple Barrel
\n(AB) Craft Acrylic, Country Gray (like a gray-buff
\ncolor), thinned with water. Then I mixed the leftover
\nwith AB Black and Brown, getting a color very
\nclose to my pigment color for the tank and sprayed
\nthat on so the base had a mottled dark gray brown
\ncolor.<\/p>\n

When dry, I then mixed up the leftover
\npigment mix from weathering the tank with water
\nand airbrushed that all over the base. Airbrushing
\nthe pigment worked BEAUTIFULLY! It gave the base
\nthe earth-color I needed to match the tank and
\nhelped me use less pigment than I would had otherwise.
\nIt also dried very flat and virtually smudge-free.
\nWhen that dried, I took the dry lighter pigments
\nI applied to the tank and dabbed and brushed them
\naround the base to give more variation to the
\ndirt color.<\/p>\n

After that I added some tall grass
\nand a few spots of turf. The final step will be
\nusing a technique I found on Armorama to make
\nleaf litter<\/a> from the many fall\/dead leaves
\nthat blew into my garage-way after I was done
\nraking. Here’s a few pics:<\/p>\n

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01.26.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Lastly
\nLoads of Leaf Litter<\/p>\n

And here’s the final in-prog before
\nuploading the final images. For the leaf litter,
\nI extra-dried out some oak and maple leave on
\nan old cookie sheet for about 1 hour on 200 degrees
\nfarenheit. I then crushed them up with my fingers
\n(since my blender got smashed a few months back)
\nand sifted out the excessively large chinks. I
\nsaved them though for future use. To apply them
\nto the base I merely brushed on small dabs or
\nwide swaths of white glue and sprinkled and pressed
\nthe leaves down. When done I shook off the excess.
\nI added some to the tank as well since I know
\nmy car always gets lots of leaves stuck in the
\nnooks and crannies in the fall. Last pic:<\/p>\n

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