Moving on the base colour painting of the revolvers grips, I began with another round of masking!
First of all, as you can see, there was the fine masking of the outline of the grips. But then, as I had already base-coated the frame in black, I also had to find a way of quickly masking the rest of the gun to prevent any over-spray...
Yep, a plastic bag (actually a stay-fresh sandwich bag)! Quick and very convenient.
I then laid down a base coat of a hazelnut paint, but as the grips are meant to be wooden I wanted to try and create a multi-tonal background for the fake wood-grain effect I had planned to go over this. So, I did some light dry-brushing with various shades of brown to create a streaking effect...
This completed my base layers onto which I would apply my finishing weathering effects. But before I begin to start these I decided to take a very quick snap of the progress so far and apply a filter to get an idea of how I might approach the final photography for this project...
Will I eventually go with a sepia effect or just a straight noire-like B&W photograph for my set of props for this project? Sepia does give a bit of a vintage look but it's a bit false in my opinion as by the 1930s sepia photographs were already a little anachronistic.
I think I would prefer to go with a slicker and moody black and white. It's more evocative of the hard-boiled detective movies of the time.
While I now start to plan my weathering of the revolver model I'm also starting to look around for the rest of the period props to go with the gun for the photo-diorama (I plan a shot of a detective's desk with several items and nick-knacks relevant to a 30s detective). In fact, I've already picked up my next prop...
Above: Dress Up America 939 Kids Pretend Play Police ID Wallet
I thought a detectives wallet, ID and badge would complement the revolver really well. Obviously I would have to make up a realistic ID and badge - both of which will be the subject of my next project once the revolver is complete. (I was thinking - maybe - an FBI badge?)
Painting the Prop Revolver... Because the cylinder included additional detail - such as the bullets in the chambers - I had to begin the base coating by spraying this part first before installing it...
I'm applying this base coat using a satin acrylic spray. I did some research about how other people painting prop guns and I decided to go for a black base and then to apply a powdered graphite dusting which I would then polish up for a gunmetal metallic finish... Fingers crossed!
But before finishing of the rest of the frame in the black I would have to mask off the grips - which I will be giving a wood effect finish. I began by sketching out where the frame and grips would be before applying the making tape...
Now, the astute among you will probably be saying 'why didn't he spray the wood colour base coat before he masked out the frame'? Good question, and the simple answer is that I don't have the right colour brown at the moment but want to crack on with the job! 😖
One of the down-sides of this current lockdown is that I can't just pop out to my local hobby shop, most of my stuff has to be ordered from Amazon (if they have it). The consequence of this is that when the correct brown spray arrives (and I did toy with the idea of just hand painting it) I will have to re-mask the revolver again to spray just the grip!
Anyway, moving on quickly... 😑
SO, I sprayed the frame - I'm kinda disappointed that my airbrush is out of action at the moment so I'm having to resort to using a rattle can spray BUT because the surface of this print is so uneven (despite my efforts) I'm thinking the extra thickness of basecoat is probably a good thing! 😉
This gives me the basic black I need to start to build up a metallic look and that's what I'll be testing next as well as - hopefully - working on the 'wood' grips!
Moving on from the priming, I've applied my now standard wash procedure for WW2 Soviet armour. A dark staining wash of Citadel Agrax Earthshade, followed by a light dry brushed highlighting of Vallejo Model Color Yellow Ochre.
It's a subtle process, but you might just be able to tell the difference if you study this photo. The unhighlighted SU-122 is on the left and the one with the yellow ochre dry brushing applied in on the right...
It just picks out the raised edges and corners and gives some small amount of 3-D tonal contrast on raised detail. At this stage it does look a little in your face (though I have seen some war-game modellers who like 'high contrast' stop at this point), so I prefer to take a step backwards - of sorts - and smooth out this contrasty highlighting with a overall modulating wash of diluted Vallejo Model Air Russian Green.
This - to me - ties together the underlying high contrast coats and flattens them out again with a rich semi-glaze (no it isn't actually a glaze, but the Russian Green is a rich colour that gives seem transparent jewel-like coating that tones down the contrasty undercoat). It's kinda hard to explain and - again - is subtle...But I am kinda liking the effect...
The underlying contrast of the shadow wash and highlighting dry brushing is modulated by the overall wash of Russian Green. But, you still get the faint mottling of the darker shades showing through.
In a way I am sort of a fan of the opposite of the airbrushed 'panel shading' effect that you see on a lot of models these days, where the modeller highlights areas of panels with lighter tones to give a '3-D effect'. I prefer to work the other way, with a darkening underlying effect as I never feel comfortable with military vehicles being too bright.
Decals - We Don't Need No Sticking Badges!
Being a Soviet tanks less is more regarding markings. As far as I can see, the SU-122s in particular - being something of a stop-gap - was one of those Red Army vehicles that only got the most expedient of identifications...Principally a vehicle number.
Not exactly exciting markings but this seems to have been as complicated as it got for the SU-122s around the time of the Battle of Kursk. Source: Tanks-Encyclopedia.com
I searched through my decal stash and found a couple of numbers that looked the right size (though they are not historically correct and are really meant for other Soviet vehicle types)...
My chosen decals - '106' went on nicely, but 'Red 3-24' had a very heavy film and silvered despite my use of MicroSet. This particular decal was made by ACE (for one of their kits) and they are generally of poor quality, sadly.
Because these are just for wargaming and indicate examples of types I don't think we have to be too fastidious when it come to markings (they are not intended to be models of specific vehicles from specific units at a specific time). So long as they look the part I'm happy. Next: Tracks and Mud
It's taking some getting used to working on several similar models at one and the same time. I'm really not sure how people manage to do whole 'regiments' of vehicles for large scale games like Flames of War, I'm finding the repetition tiring with just a troop of four T-34s!
Anyway, gripe aside, all the track sets (4 sets, so 8 parts) went fairly well...
The dry-brushed highlighting is somewhat exaggerated for effect (nearly yellow, in fact). But, I'm beginning to get into this whole war-gaming style of painting, though I guess it might be very easy to get carried away.
In this case, however, I shall be toning the high contrast down a bit when I add an additional shading wash. Once that is done and I have pin-washed the shadow areas in the wheels I'll start to think about how much - if any - mud and weathering to apply to the tracks.
Now, onto the hull(s)...
First job is to paint the base colours of all the stowage and gear. I tried out Vallejo's Model Color Cork Brown for the wooden storage crates, it gives a nice light wood tone. The tarpaulins are various shades of khaki-green and metal equipment is metallic-grey (silver mixed with panzer grey)...
I won't bore you by repeating photos that I've shown before as my 1/100 process is starting to become pretty well 'set', so I'll just bullet-point the stages after priming and detail base painting:
• MODULATION WASH: A quick wash of Vallejo Model Air Russian Green (once I get my airbrush up and going again I will simply prime any Soviet vehicles with Vallejo's Russian Green Primer, thus eliminating a stage).
• HIGHLIGHTING: I've begun to highlight in two stages. First a general light dry brushing of a Russian Green/Ochre-Yellow mix to give some high-contrast highlights to raised detail and to give some lightening shade to the upper surfaces angels (tops of surfaces). This is followed by a more focused highlighting (near white) on the very most prominent edges and detail (I used a mix of Vallejo White and German Yellow [806] for this extreme highlighting).
• SHADOW SHADING/ PIN-WASHING: Application of Citadel's Agrax Earthshade (over-all wash) and Nuln Oil(focused pin-wash) shading tints to panel lines and any areas I want to deepen in tone. • FINISHING WASH: This is something new I'm trying out. To *unify* all the previous wash effects I finish off with a wash of Citadel's Athenian Camoshade. Let me explain; using multiple layers of washes one onto of another - particularly dark washes - can get a little messy. You can end up with patches and streaks, and so - to smooth out and counter these unwanted blemishes - I apply an overall wash of Citadels darker green shade. It pulls everything together and adds a rich sheen to the Russian Green.
Lastly, some of these processes are repeated for effect. For example, I gently highlighted again after the shadow wash/finishing wash or, if a shadow in a panel is not deep enough, I might add an additional shadow wash to that specific area. I know...This all sounds like a lot of work. But going down the route of multi-layer washes to build up effects seems to create a complicated tonal end product that suits me more than trying to subtly airbrush shading effects at this small scale. If you are more comfortable with airbrushing instead...Go for it! It's all down to personal taste. :)
Ready for Weathering
And here we are, all ready to start the weathering and advanced detailing/effects stage of painting...
It's been a while since I posted a 'featured work' and I think that's possibly because I've been working in 1/100 scale recently. There are some terrific examples of beautifully painted 1/100 scale armour around if you Google them, but not so many tutorial examples (at least, not as many as - say - 1/72 scale tutorials anyway).
So, it was great to come across this wonderful example of what can be done at this diminutive scale. Particularly so as the modeller - Carsten - uses a lot of techniques and medium that are more usually associated with larger scales...
Another delightful aspect of this video is that Carsten's subject if the 'Object 704', which is a late WW2 prototype Soviet tank destroyer. I'm quite familiar with this monster as it's a tank which is available in the PC game 'World of Tanks'. Indeed, it's one of my favourite tanks to play in this game...
Computer games aside, though, this is a very useful tutorial on with some very interesting pointers about advanced painting techniques for 1/100 armour. I'll undoubtedly be trying out some of these tips in the various tanks I'm just producing.
...So, moving along briskly, it's on with the painting. And, because I've a pretty well defined painting plan for these Soviet tanks 'briskly' is the operatively word...
[Note: I took the pictures as I went along with my mobile phone - for convenience sake - so, unfortunately, the colour reproduction varied wildly, depending on the lighting. My apologies.]
1. Priming - Humbrol Light Olive Green
2. Modulation - Vallejo 'Russian Green' Wash
3. Painting Tracks - Basics
First stage in my track painting (for these 1/100s) is to base coat the tracks with a mix of 70/30 Vallejo Model Color 'German C. Black Brown' [822] and Game Color 'Plata Silver' [052]. This just gives the tracks a vaguely rusty-metallic lustre...
This shot shows the very basic nature of the track detail (or rather, the lack of track detail)!
Next I brush on a dark brown wash of CitadelAgrax Earthshade (slightly diluted). But, be careful, as this wash doesn't seem to like too much water added and will sometimes dry with a white residue. I've been told that to avoid this you should dampen the surface you are applying the wash to first.
Anyway, the wash gives nice definition to detail and gives the base colour a slightly dirty look...
Compare this to the picture above. Notice how the wash has picked out the details of the road wheels in particular.
On top of this I dry-brush a highlighting colour of Vallejo's Model Color Yellow Ochre [913] (mixed with a little Vallejo Model Air Russian Green for effect). This is just to make the most prominent detail 'pop' out a bit.
And finally (prior to weathering anyway), I do some pin-washing using Citadel's Nuln Oil shade [wash]. This is to deepen some of the most shaded detail in the road wheels...
Yes, subtle I know, but believe me, some of the deeper detail is now better defined and shaded. I may re-highlight a it, but otherwise onwards we go!
4. Highlighting (Dry Brushing) the Hull These stages repeat the wash, highlighting and pin-wash processes described above. This stage is very subtle so I've skipped photographic it. BUT, it is worth doing as once the next stage of shading wash has been applied it gives some very subdued highlighting to raised edges and panel lines.
(As these are war-game models I've started experimenting with some high-contrast highlighting by using a little white. It's not very realistic per say but it is a nice effect. I highlight with my yellow/green mix, then dry-brush a little whiter mix on top - just on the very most prominent features.) 5. Shadow Shading - Citadel Agrax Earthshade
6. Pin Wash - Citadel Nuln Oil
With the pin-washing done, this brings the hull and the tracks to the same stage of basic painting.
7. Decals
I'm not basing this tank on any specific historical vehicle, so the decals are just to add character to the model. I begin by a flicking through my collection of spare decals and found a set of - appropriately - large Cyrillic numbers ('14') that I thought would compliment such a big tank.
The model was prepped with a light patch of Humbrol's 'Gloss Cote' on the hull where the decal would be placed. As usual, Microscope's Micro Set was used to help seat and set the decal in place...
Sometimes less is more with Red Army armour!
(Another light coat of Humbrol varnish would be applied on top of the decal to seal the transfer permanently.)
8. Chipping, Grime & Weathering
As this is a war-game model there will be plenty of character about it, and this includes a slightly exaggerated amount of weathering. This is definitely 'just for fun' and not strictly historical.
I'll start with chipping as, it seems to me that, grime and dust would naturally occur on top of chips and scratches (maybe). I use Vallejo's Panzer Aces Dark Rubber [306] and dot and dab it in minute patches and scratches on areas I think would see wear and tear...
It's debatable whether - at this scale - small detail effects like chipping are needed. I shall decide when I see the finished model.
Aside from the grey ('flakey paint') chips I'll additionally add the occasional speck of silver to simulate chips that have gone down to bare steel (like chips on hinges and wheel rims, etc). I could add some touches of graphite pencil to get that metallic look to the surface (I shall try this out on the bottom of the hull first to see if I like it.)
And finally, I'll add a few grime, stain and oil streaks to the hull and slightly discolour the decals to get rid of that 'new' looking brightness.
9. Finishing Tracks - Weathering
As above, there will be a touch of chipping and silver flecks to imply scratches (I also did a little silver dry-brushing to give a metallic sheen to the steel tracks). But the main job will be to add dust and dirt (or mud if I want a very weathered look). This is the bit I always dread as it's so easy to get carried away. So, before the mud...
(Edit: I thought the tracks looked a bit flat - in tone - so I added a wash of Vallejo's Game Color Wash in Sepia Shade [200]. This added a nice tinge of rust to the bare steel of the track links.
And, after the mud...
I'm not happy with my 'mud' technique yet. I keep trying out new medium, in this case it's Tamiya's Weathering Sticks. I think I prefer powders.
10. Finishing Up...
Well, I just can't resist tinkering and I did some more chipping and streaking. But that's normal with me - I just can't leave well enough alone!
I'm fairly pleased with this model, though a little disappointed with how the tracks turned out. It's perhaps half to do with how simplified the tracks were - offering scant detail - and half my poor 'mud' painting technique (I shall have to practise with some other medium).
But, let's not get too negative...This is a perfectly fine war-game piece for GF9 Tanks, and that's the main thing.
All that's left if to varnish the model. I'll probably go with several light coats as it's intended to be handled. Other than that, it's on with the next models in this project - my T-34s.
One Track Mind...
Er, make that 10 track mind! The downside of production line model making for war-game is; yes, you get a nice little army of models at the end, BUT this means that every stage in building and painting becomes a intimidating and repetitive chore...
Tracks all-over primed and track links painted base colour.
I'll be discussing my exact paint process for these 1/100 scale tanks and their tracks in my next post (about my SU-152), but here's a quick overview in bullet-point form:
• Prime tracks (mine are all over light olive)...
• Paint tracks base colour - I've chosen a metallic dark-brown...
• Apply dark wash (Citadel Agrax Earthshade) all over...
• Dry-brush highlight green on road wheels...
• Highlight track tread with metallic colour or graphite pencil...
• Pin-wash road wheels and track treads with black (Citadel Nuln Oil)...
• Apply dust of mud effects (to your tastes)...
• Seal with varnish.
Cleaning, Priming & Base Colour Planning
A process I - and other modellers - do, and yet I have never mentioned it on this blog, is to wash the 'raw' plastic sub-assemblies before priming! I don't know why I have never mentioned this before as it is quite an important stage in the painting process.
It's also a very simple process (maybe that's why I have overlooked it before), but novice modellers tend to either not know about this process or chose to ignore it.
To be fair, I didn't clean my raw models before priming when I started, but when I did eventually try it I immediately understood why people do this. For example, I tend to file and sand my models a lot - either to remove sprue nubs or moulding seams or to correct details - and this causes microscopic particles of plastic dust to cling to the surface of your kit.
For some reason, you only seem to notice these small grains of plastic once you have primed, and then it's too late. Sometimes the tiny blemishes can be scraped off and the primer can be retouched, but there is nothing more annoying than discovering particles of dust spoiling you nice neat primer coat!
So, I bath my sub-assemblies in warm, soapy water. This gets rid of most particles and any surface grease left behind by your fingers (this can be just your natural skin oils, but can form a barrier to the primer paint).
Priming
Before spraying I mounted all of the sub-assemblies onto little plastic shot glasses that I got from a local thrift store. I like to mount parts for spraying and painting as I like a 'handle' to hold onto the part. It makes it easier to manipulate for painting details.
I have used cheap corks before, but I prefer these shot glasses as they can put down and stand on their own, which is great for when paint is drying. I stick the parts to the glasses using BluTac...
And from there it was onto the spray booth turntable. As usual, I'll be breaking out the Humbrol [86] Light Green Olive Acrylic Spray as a light base for my 'Russian Green' wash...
As much as I am enamoured by this particular make of rattle can, I'm starting to question the economics of aerosols as primers, more especially when you have several identical models to spray. I'm considering moving across to airbrush primers once I have gotten back to using an airbrush again.
But, in the meantime, I am still impressed with the nice smooth coat that the Humbrol spray gives me...
Planning the Colour Scheme
Being mid-war Soviet tanks you could get away with a very simple colour scheme, Russian Green. But I'd like to do something a little different, just to give some visual variety (I know some people like uniformity when it comes to war-game tank squadrons), so I looked around to find examples of those rare occasions that the Red Army used camouflage schemes.
While the Soviets made great use of winter schemes, summer multi-coloured camo patterns are relatively rare as far as I can see. But I found one example that looks interesting...
I've seen this two-tone green and tan/brown scheme a couple of times and quite like it. I'll probably just do one of my T-34s in this, just to imply that different regiments are involved in my game. Just for fun! :)
As for the other three, variously weathered plain green, I think.
Before I actually get down to the nitty-gritty of painting a camouflage pattern on my IS-2, there is the little matter of applying the decals. There isn't always insignia on WW2 Soviet tanks, in fact sometimes they left the factory and went straight into action 'as was', but more usually at least a vehicle number was applied.
IS-2 model 1943, 88th Independent Guards Heavy Tank Regiment, Berlin, April 1945. Source: Tanks-Encyclopaedia.com
As a graphic designer I really like the Soviet fonts, but finding good decals in 15mm scale can be a little challenging (Zvezda does not supply any with the model). My usual source of smaller scale armour decals is Minibits.netas they have a rather good selection of historic and generic numbers, letters, military emblems and national symbols in 15mm scale.
I had already purchased their 'Russian WWII 'Cryllic style' numbers [1:100-1:76]' decal sheet for my 'Battle of Kursk' project's T-34s and was tempted to use it for my IS-2 as well...
But at the last minute I changed my mind and went hunting through my decal stash for something more suitable for the IS-2's larger turret. I managed to find a nice set of Cyrillic numbers which had been for a 1/72 BA-10 armoured car, but seemed to just the size I was after.
As usual I prepared my model surface for decals by painting on a small area of gloss varnish, just where the numbers would go. Once the varnish was dry, I used some Microscale MicroSet setting solution to seat the decal. I find that MicroSet and MicroSol liquids help prevent silvering and hide the decals carrier film (although it can be clearly seen in the above photo, for now).
Once satisfied the decal is smooth, straight and adhering perfectly I let it dry and the dab on some MicroSol around the edges of the decals carrier film. This should further help the film blend in to the model's base coat and make the decal look like it has been painted on.
I conclude the process with a thin coat of satin varnish, to permanently fix the decal and protect it during the weathering stages.
The Camouflage Pattern
I'd decided that I wanted a winter camo pattern for my IS-2. Should I decide to add more late WW2 Soviet tanks to it (for a game of GF9 'TANKS!') I wanted to distinguish these Soviet vehicles from my mid-war 'Kursk' collection (which will be in plain Russian Green for the summer months of the war).
I didn't really want to do an all-over 'white-washed' winter scheme, so looked around for something a little different. Tanks-Encyclopaedia came to my aid with a couple of very nice examples of winter camp schemes...
Initially, I favoured the 'dotty' pattern, but the thought of painting all those on at 15mm scale eventually put me off! The 'snow tiger' pattern won me over as it's just the sort of thing that can be done well with just a brush.
I'll began by sketching out the outlines of the 'snow stripes' using a white chinagraph pencil...
Having broken the ice with this easy little build it's time to see how rusty my brush skills have gotten. I began by having a look back over some of my old 15mm tank posts and realised that I don't really have a set 'process'...I surprised myself to realise that my whole modelling technique is based on 'winging it'! 😀
Well, too late to change my ways now, so lets just see what happens. However, if you'd like to see and example of a more structured process for painting a 15mm IS-2, then have a look at the excellent Herbert Erpaderp's tutorial for some alternative ideas...
And now, on with my very unstructured method...
Base Coat/Priming
I begin with the one procedure that hasn't changed that much over all the vehicles I have made, and that is to prime the tank with a coat of Humbrol's 'Light Olive' Acrylic Aerosol. I've mentioned before that I like this colour as it can be easily modulated to become any of the WW2 Allied 'greens', from British Bronze, to US Olive Drab to Soviet 'Russian Green' (and even Finnish 'Moss Green').
To modify the base olive coat to something a little more deep and rich for Soviet armour I will be trying out a wash of Vallejo's Model Air 'Russian Green [71017]. This paint is really intended for airbrush use and is already pre-diluted so *should* work quite well as a wash (fingers crossed).
The IS-2 hull (at back) has been modulated using Vallejo's Russian Green, while the turret is still in it's primer coat of light olive.
It worked! ...Er, I'm not surprised at all. Cough. The difference is subtle, but a richer and deeper green. It is a little patchy and streaky (being a wash) but I like that as it adds some wear/fading effect to the overall appearance of the tank.
Note: I could also have achieved a similar effect more quickly by simply spraying Vallejo's Acrylic Russian Green Primer on to begin with. But, I can't actually find my bottle of this at the moment, plus I need to reacquaint myself with the workings of my airbrush before I take on a live project with it!
Highlighting and Shading
And so, moving on, I will try out Herbert Erpaderp's suggestion and give my base green a bit of a highlighting with some dry brushing. I'll simply mix some of the Russian Green with some lighter buff paint to produce my highlighting colour. Though, again, I will be going for a subtle effect...
It's very subtle, but the front set of tracks has been highlighted, while the rear set is just flat Russian Green. The hull and turret are highlighted.
Well, I like the effect. Is it too subtle, and will the following shadow wash negate the effect? I guess that's what experimentation is all about though - if it doesn't work I will modify the technique.
The paint I used was Vallejo's Model Color Yellow Ochre [913] as this gives a warmer and more 'sunny' highlight than using straight white. I built up the strength of the ochre, mixing it with the Russian Green paint, until it hit the strength that I was after.
Right...So, the moment of truth, will the shadow wash destroy the 3D highlighting effect I've just created? ------>
The shading wash phase, at this scale this can also pass for pin-washing adding depth to panel lines and joints. Washing is a quicker way of creating depth than outlining each area edge with individually.
Actually, and I am surprised, this worked. Yes, the dark wash (created using Citadel's Agrax Earthshade wash) did darken some of the highlights I had previously applied BUT not so much as to have made the prior highlighting a waste of time. The contrast between the highlighted bits and the base colour areas is still noticeable through the translucent wash.
It is - once again - very subtle so I guess if you wanted something more obvious the trick might be to exaggerate the highlight before applying the dulling wash. I'd do this by dry brushing with an even lighter shade of ochre (bordering on yellow).
The Tracks
Now to to what is perhaps the least satisfying part of the Zvezda model, the tracks. The model has very simplified tracks with practically no tread pattern to speak of, just regularly spaced slats. The challenge here is to make something interesting out of these rather dull and uninspiring components.
The easiest 'cheat' is to disguise the lack of detail by slapping on a thick layer of 'mud' effect (which, I admit, I have resorted to doing before). But, we shall see...
First off, I mixed some Vallejo German Cam. Black Brown [822] with a spot of Vallejo Game Color Silver [052] to make a rusty steel colour. This will be my base coat for my tracks. That done, I'll give them a wash of good old reliable Agrax Earthshade mixed with a little Citadel Nuln Oil to give the tracks a greasy oily look.
Still a bit wet, but hopefully rusty steel looking.
And finally, I'll apply some powdered graphite to give the raised tracks a metallic sheen and also some dots and spots of silver here and there to simulate the raw steel of the tracks showing through where damaged...
Hmmm, tempted to add a mud layer.
Well, that's the base coat painting done. I have some minor detail painting to do on some of the none green parts but otherwise it's onto the decals. Not that there are many (remember, no decals come with the Zvezda kit), the wartime IS-2s seem to have had little more than numbers unless they were a Guards unit.
