Tamiya 1/35 scale M24 Chaffee Tank Crews

I reckon I should also include the tank driver. Fortunately, I was able to find a spare crew from Tamiya 35347 US Tank Crew Set (ETO). 

Cheers,

Calvin

Tamiya 1/35 scale M24 Chaffee Tank Crews

I guess I could not resist taking a stab at painting the tank crews from Tamiya's new M24 Chaffee, released earlier this year. I base-coated the figures with Tamiya paints thinned with AK Perfect Cleaner. No primer or flat coat was necessary, as Tamiya acrylics seem to adhere quite well to the bare plastic. 

Once the base colours had cured, I used AK Interactive’s 3rd Gen and Quick Gen paints to render the highlights and shadows. It feels as though everything has come full circle. After years of priming in black followed by a grey/white zenithal overspray, I've returned to starting directly with the base colour and working my way toward the darkest and brightest values 

The game changer for me was employing AK's Ultra Matt Varnish and 3Gen Thinner as painting mediums in lieu of water. These two items are quintessential to my workflow, as they help to resolve the one big problem surrounding painting with acrylics, water marks. If you are reading this blog post, I strongly recommend that you try them. 

That said, I am currently preparing another painting article that showcases an update to my painting technique, so stay tuned. In the meantime, here are some photos of the tank crews completed in under 6 hours. 

Cheers,

Calvin

Tamiya 1/35 German Infantry Set (MID-WWII) - 35371

I just managed to just get this completed in time for SMC later next week.

Cheers,

Calvin

Tamiya 1/35 German Infantry Set (MID-WWII) - 35371

Moving on to the third figure from this set, precariously perched on a pipe from MiniArt Models. 

Cheers,

Calvin

Tamiya 1/35 German Infantry Set (MID-WWII) - 35371

Moving on to the second figure in this set, applying the exact same painting workflow as the first.

The key distinction here is the stone-grey trousers—a subtle historical detail that pins this figure specifically to the early stages of Operation Barbarossa during the Battle of Kiev, Summer 1941.

Cheers,

Calvin

Alpine Miniatures - Panzerschütze, LSSAH, Kursk 1943 - 2

 All done for this piece.

Cheers,

Calvin

Replicating Brass Metal - Fast, Easy and Effective

This is a short tutorial on how to replicate a rather convincing "mock" brass metal finish on a plastic injection-moulded brass cartridge. The brass cartridges are from MiniArt 35375 7.5 cm Sprgr., Nbgr. & Pzgr. Patr. Kw.K.40 (Stu.K.40) SHELLS WITH AMMO BOXES. 

A deep hole is drilled into the cartridge and plugged into a cocktail stick for easy handling. 

AK Interactive RCM032 Gun Metal is applied as an undercoat. 

A 2:1 mixture of Tamiya Clear Orange and Clear Blue is prepared and thinned with AK Perfect Clearer and airbrushed over the Gun Metal undercoat. Working in such a manner allows subtle variations of tones to be developed, creating a more random and natural appearance of brass. 

The finshed result placed alongside an actual brass rod.

Cheers,

Calvin