Luft46's Blog

This was finished about 2 weeks ago. This is the old Extratech kit now being done by Brengun. Its a nice kit but the trailer was surplus.

This is my second kit for 2018 with the 3rd due very soon.

Just a quick update

The first 3 shots are of the KV2 with Wurzberg radar. Despite some difficulties with my airbrush and compressor I am happy with how this going.

The fourth shot is my KV2 which will have a Panther AA turret on it. I used some camo putty and on the second attempt it turned out quite well. I did have to do some touchups with a paintbrush but this turned out fine. The yellow is late war Dunkelgelb as per MIG Ammo. It’s lighter and more creamy than I was expecting but a dark wash should tone it down so it doesn’t contrast too much with the turret.

I found the Ammo paints sprayed quite well with a little thinner straight from the bottle. I will buy more of these in the future although I believe the AK range is similar.

Incidentally a big stir of the contents is helpful, that metallic ball is more ornamental than useful.

The fifth photo is of a recent order from the UK.

The last photo is the start of my diorama which followed some ideas in that AK book I got last year on dioramas. I still need to add the grass for the front section in. The dio will have the 3 storey turret KV2 on it.

I have finished the first KV2 with just a simple conversion with a Panther turret. No major changes apart from using four steel pins cut from guitar strings to help give the tracks some sag. This idea was from a friend and the strings courtesy of my wife. The sag is not perfect but it certainly helps. I am now doing the same on the rest of the damned rubber band tracks. Did a bit of weathering too , mostly 1.35 techniques on a more subdued scale.

Next up is the Panther AA flak gun turret left over from another project. But that still needs paint and tow ropes.

So here is the main part. I have been doing just some basic weathering, putting a few scratch marks in as well as standard things like a dark green wash on the body etc, mostly techniques from 1.35 modelling but writ much much smaller and less is definitely more. A lot will not show in the photos but in real life are there.

Yesterday wasnt too bad but 45 degrees Celsius is a bit much with no modelling today.

Here’s where I am up to on the first of the KV2’s approaching completion.

From bottom to top. This is after the rubber band tracks were first painted with Tamiya rattle can Matt Black. Lacquer paints will at least adhere to rubber band tracks. This was following by a track colour and 4 or 5 rust colours from AK and Mig

The next photo is me stirring a bottle of AK rust. These all require stirring but dry in an hour. The MIG stuff is well mixed but requires a day between coats.

I put these on in random patterns all over the tracks to try for the right appearance.

The next photo shows all the paints with the MIG tracks pigment jar at the front.

The last photo shows the MIG pigment fixer that you apply after putting the track pigment on. You just use a brush to flow it on and leave. With the pigment on it covers over much of the rust making it look less stark. Next stop is the dirt pigment.

Not able to do much modelling when you are moving stuff around to tidy up the garage you model in and it is blocking your access. The architrave is to go on tomorrow, it is just resting there.

Below is a rough order of my modelling over the last few weeks with descriptions where appropriate.

Bookshop oddity – very technical

Poppies in my garden on Remembrance day. Also Me109G-6 from the Australian War Museum

The boxes on the left are 1.72 tow chains for my KV2s. The item on the right is a large set of rust stain decals