1:35 M48A2 Patton Tank First Build

[Astronopolis]

Hey guys, I'm pretty new here, made an account years ago and have been lurking ever since.

Recently a friend of mine got into modeling minis for his games, and as an art student I thought I'd try my hand at it. I've gotten some pretty good results and thought I'd attempt a larger model. I've marveled at a lot of the builds here and thought I'd consult you guys with the things i dont have experience with in my build.

Anyway here's the kit I've got:



I know it isn't the best version, and it's a pretty old kit, but I figured I'd learn a lot from it.

The plan so far is to build it up stock (with the exception of some weld seams and such), paint it a bright color (I'm thinking yellow), and weather the hell out of it (oil stains grease and the awesome looking hairspray method). All I've got are acrylics and brushes so any technique tips would be greatly appreciated. I've got some sandpaper and tamiya putty and superglue on the way via amazon which should reach me on Tuesday. In the meantime I'm going to prep the parts by removing them from the sprues and washing them in soapy water.

I want to finish this over spring break so its going to be a semi-quick build.

[Dave Diaz]

Looks like an interesting project.

Looking forward to new updates.

dave

[Astronopolis]

So I've gotten some more progress on the prep work while I wait for the rest of my supplies to come. All I have right now is a very rough grit sandpaper and superglue and a sharp exacto, so I've been removing parts from sprues and sorting them into containers. Also, I have been roughing up surfaces of the model where parts will need to be glued.



I've run into a hiccup with the main hull of the tank. The two halves fit together tenuously and need to be kept in place with rubber bands while it cures, but the main problem is where the rear 'cap' of the assembly butts up with the rest.





The part itself is warped. As you can see in the second photo it needs constant pressure to stay lined up and if I were to glue it I wonder if it will spring loose. Perhaps I should tackle this when the epoxy comes to ensure a secure hold.

How good of a model glue is superglue? It seems to be working now but I worry about it coming loose later.

Any suggestions or advice is extremely welcome!

[Hunter Rose]

Welcome to the forum dude! 

You should get some styrene cement, its a glue that melts the styrene plastic slightly to weld it together. Tamiya liquid cement is good, its very thin almost like water, you hold the parts together and then brush it over (it has an applicator brush in the lid) and let it wick into the gap between parts and it welds them together.
Its not as instant as super glue, takes a few minutes to set, but its the only glue I would use on a styrene kit.

The problem with the hull and the rear cap, I would say whilst its being held together use liquid cement to weld them together nicely, if there are any gaps through warping or a poor fit, use a good putty like squadron white putty, smear it over the seams, then once its dry sand it down till its flush with a rough grade sandpaper, then you would need to use a finer grade sandpaper to sand out the scratches that will be left by the rougher grade.

Hope that helps

[Astronopolis]

Thanks Hunter those are great tips! Should I separate the parts that I have glued already and re prep the areas for cement or just brush over them again as they are?

So I've started work on a base as well. I've got some sculpey down on a piece of wood and plan to do some rolling hills to place the tank model on. I've got some woodland scenics fine turf and talus which I used to make a very simple scene so we shall see how that goes.

Here's a shot of what I've got so far:



I will stain the wood and bake the clay tonight and see how it goes. Once I see it with grass and rocks on it ill decide if it needs more detail (and if my wallet can handle any more scale plants and rocks!)

suggestions advice and criticism are very welcome!

[Hunter Rose]

As long as it what you've superglued feels solid i don't think you need to re do it.

[Dave Diaz]

Nice start.

Definitely liquid cement is the way to go with plastic models. Also because it takes some time to dry it gives you time to set parts right in case they need to be adjusted.

You can also use a type of liquid cement that’s very strong called Pro-Weld. It dries in 10 seconds and the bond it creates is strong. I don’t recommend it for small parts as it’s so strong it can melt them completely.

dave

[MZ3]

Even if the superglue feels solid, I would take the parts apart and prep them again. Superglue can come apart at any time.

I use both Tamiya and Pro Weld. They both work great. If you use the Pro Weld and some rubberbands, you can get the hull issues to go away.

[Astronopolis]

Hey guys back again! I've cleaned up all the wheels and glued together some of the small assemblies. The plastic cement worked like a charm! I managed to get the parts together with a small gap in between. The previously superglued parts were run over with the cement. I think they will hold.



PUTTY TIME





Now I know what you guys are complaining about around this stage! It will look great in the end though!

Since most of the sanding is done and paint time is looming, what do you guys have to say about brush painting? Any good tutorials or other wips that would be helpful? I have oils and acrylics, but I want to try the hairspray method with chipping. Will that only work with airbrush or spray paint? I do want to use an oil wash in the end to cover this thing in grease stains.

Thanks for looking, any advice and suggestions are greatly appreciated!

[MZ3]

I have tried hairspray under brushed paint before, its a little more work. Hairspray works under airbrushed paint the best. I use oils for my paint chips. Its easier and faster, except for waiting for them to comepletely dry.

[Hunter Rose]

Looking nice and smooth dude!

And I second what MZ3 said, probably best to just paint them on, its definitely easier, I use small rough pieces of sponge held with tweasers too which makes it even faster to do

[Astronopolis]

Thanks guys! Ha yeah that would probably be smarter, It would definitely help me skip a few steps as well.

So I've gotten a lot of work done since last post. I took most of the morning trying to straighten out the barrel. The halves of the mold were offset by a little resulting in a big ugly ridge down the whole thing. Putty and a couple hours sanding seems to have straightened it out:



I even drilled out the cannon tip, although it seems like too small a diameter for a shell to pass through. i think ill look up how big the hole should appear.

anyway, as you can see all the parts have been sanded and are ready for paint! I've set up a dry fit to see where seams lie and what the final fit will look like. I've also threw some props together for the turret 'basket'.



Originally I decided against using the figures that came with the kit just so I can focus more on the tank itself, but I think I'll try my hand with one of them. Most are posed with guns like the typical green army guys we all played with as kids which leads me to wonder if kits like this are the origin of those guys (this kit was originally made in 1966!). Anyway, the tank commander had a mostly normal standing pose, but his arms were bowed out to fit over the hatch on the turret. I've lopped off the arms and plan to resculpt them in a more casual standing around pose, which may or may not make it to the final display.



That's all for today. I'm debating priming it tonight, but we'll see.

Comments and criticism are welcome!

[Dave Diaz]

Nice to see a lot of progress!

I have to agree with the previous comments. The hairspray method works best when airbrushing.

Anyways you should be able to weather it nicely with oils either way. Just make sure you seal the paint with a clear coat (Most of us use Future floor polish) before applying the oils.

On the diameter of the muzzle, the round of the M48 was 90mm, in 1/35 that would make it 2.58 mm. So don’t go under that and you’ll be fine.
 
Keep up the good work!

dave

[Astronopolis]

Thanks Dave, that sounds like a plan! Would it be best to do the hull and everything with oils or acrylic? I understand acrylic dries much faster, but will it yield less desirable coverage than oil paint? I am ignorant to the advantages and disadvantages of these paints.

I've also drilled out the barrel further and compared it to some reference photos. Looks about right now!

 I was just recently checking out chukw1's helldiver build, and he does a lot of interesting things with filters and weathering with oils. I suggest everyone check it out, it was very informative, and a really fun read!

 http://aeroscale.kitmaker.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=SquawkBox&file=index&req=viewtopic&topic_id=109919&ord=&page=1

Anyway I've started priming things. I began with my acrylics on the hull, but then the mailman knocks and delivers my spray primer! The hull looks a little bumpy and I tried to minimize the brush strokes, but I think I'll sand it off and try again with the spray primer once everything is dry.



Here's the rest of it drying on the porch:



I must add, most of the stuff I'm doing is just monkeyshines. I understand why a lot of it is done and I realize when I'm doing it why it's easier to do this way, but my only experience doing this is watching others through WIPs on this site. Really makes you think how that scene in the Matrix where Neo plugs himself in and learns Kung Fu isn't too far off from reality.

Oh almost forgot, here's the base as it stands now. I realize now that I should have painted it before adding the grass, but it looks like really chalky ground like the cliffs of Dover or something. I may apply more grass to cover it up, but tell me what you guys think:



Is it possible to apply an even coat of Future with a brush? And should I add that before or after adding rust effects? And if I were to apply filters, would that go over the rust layer or am I to add another coat of future for every new paint operation?

Anyway, thanks for the encouragement and tips guys! And as always, advice and criticism are welcome!

[MZ3]

What type/brands of paint do you have?

I usually do rust and chips after base coat and seal. I have actually stopped using Future and use Vallejo satin. I also airbrush almost everything though. If you use acrylic paint, you can pin wash or filter with enamel or oils without seal coat/Future. You have to be careful doing it like that and if you haventdone it you should use a seal/Future.

Most people have different steps for their armor. I usually go
Primer
Base coat
Fading
Seal
Weathering (which can be any number of steps depending on what I am doing)

I don't add a final seal anymore. I use oil paints to do most of my weathering. Sealing messes with the effect and colors too much for me. And when the oils dry they are very strong. 

[Dave Diaz]

Glad to see everything is moving along.

Like MZ3 said it depends on what brand of paint you are using, but here is my take on it. For the base color I use Acrylics. Tamiya and Vallejo both work really well. If you are planning to brush paint don’t use Tamiya, I have found it works better when airbrushed. You can use enamel base paints, but I haven’t used those in over 20 years.

I use oils only for weathering, filters, rust streaks etc, not for actual painting. You can apply Future with a brush, I have done it but only to small areas I have to admit.

Here is a link to one of my armor blogs. Here you can see an SBS on a tank and I figure it’s a lot easier than explaining the process.

http://www.planetarmor.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8565

Keep up the great work!

dave

[Astronopolis]

MZ3: I must admit I have acrylic paint that I use primarily for canvas painting.



Now that I think about it this is probably not suited well to model painting. I would use enamels, but I have had bad results in the past, like brush strokes and clumping.

Dave: that tank of yours is gorgeous! I thought doing my road wheels was bad, but damn those treads looked like they were murder!

With you guys's comments I think I'm going to reconsider my painting strategy. I'm thinking I will go to the model shop and pick up a can of spray paint and a semi gloss clear coat I have future, but I think It will leave brush strokes over such a planar surface. I may use it for the headlamps.

This is the set of oils I have:


Please let me know if these are appropriate for my purpose

if possible id also like to try experimenting with pastels. I have a nice set of art quality pastels that I think will be appropriate when crushed into powder:



I'm going to read up on their use and application and see what I can learn. I know that they can really add some punch in the color department though!

I'll probably take a couple days to get more progress up since today is St. Paddy's and I have activities of a different sort planned, and tomorrow I go back to classes.

Thanks for the continued support, and drink responsibly!  

[MZ3]

I think picking up some rattle cans will make painting much easier. I have no experience with acrylic like that from a tube. Oils should be cool for weathering. Pastels are hit or miss with me. I've used them in the past for dirt, pile them up and hit them with drops of Tamiya thinner. Again, you have to be careful. The thinner can(will) craze the plastic and ruin the paint job. I've tried pastels to do fading and other detail work, I usually go back to oils. The control you have with oils is much better then with anything else. If there is an unseen finger print on the model somewhere, the pastels will go RIGHT to it.

[Dave Diaz]

Thanks for the nice comments!

I agree with you, artist acrylics like that will not be suitable for the base coat. You can get OD in spray can that's ready to use, both Tamiya and Testors make them.

I use artist oils often, so those will probably work. I use odorless turpentine to dilute them. Also, artist pastels work. I used t grind them an apply them as pigments.

Dave