Neon
Member
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2022
- Messages
- 22
Hello fellow humans,
The short and sweet of it is this: I got caught in a loop watching people build scale models on YouTube during the early days of the 2020 lockdowns. In '21 I (slowly) started buying some supplies and reading some materials. In '22 I bought my first 3 kits and built 1.75 of them. Now I finally have time to finish the first build. I suppose I'm deciding to share this to keep the motivation to bring this thing across the finish line.
The first project is an Mk. A Whippet in 1:35 by Meng. As a totally green beginner I don't know enough to really say if it was a good kit or not, but it seemed exceptional to me. Lots of details and fancy parts. The pieces fit well enough (some needed some inspiration to fully seat) and the build was fairly easy overall. I added a few aftermarket pieces - some purchased, some made - and I'm pretty happy with it as a first attempt. If you're a sucker for only the most historically accurate models, you should probably look away. I would say that, even though I'm looking at reference photos, I'm only going for semi-realistic. Here is the progress so far:
I watched some tank documentaries (on Netflix I believe) and I recall the story of the first Mk. I being painted in a beautiful camo by a British artist, but after 5 minutes in the field, the tank was covered in mud and uniformly just brown. After that, they just started painting the tanks brown. Anyhow, the part I really remember was that some of the first tank crews referred to the color as "dog **** brown." Accordingly, I mixed an array of Tamiya paints until it looked like poo. Perhaps I will come to regret this.
So that's where it is now. I'll briefly outline my intentions going forward and, to any of you who are taking the time to read this, please feel free to send any suggestions/feedback/commentary/tips, especially if you spot any red flags. I hope to learn from anyone.
I'm planning on hitting this with AK 3rd Gen Satin Varnish to preserve this two-tone look. Then some chipping fluid before hitting it with my lightest coat of paint. It's a similar brown but I've added Tamiya Buff and Deck Tan to lighten it up quite a bit. My whole goal in this process is to really give the base layer a distressed, worn look. Like, maybe this guy saw some hard action in the fall of 1917, survived the winter, and is still rolling in the summer of 1918. I don't know, but that's the story I've developed in my head.
After I apply the highlight coat of paint, and after I chip it, I'll seal it again with the satin varnish. At this point it seems sensible to consider the white and read markings over the track tensioners and decals. My plan was to strategically apply some gloss varnish where the decals would go. I guess I would also look to paint all of the kit and tools with acrylics at this point too, but I'm uncertain if this is the best approach. With this business out of the way, I would then seal the model again with a good coat of the satin varnish and move on to weathering.
For weathering I'm thinking mostly of pin (and or panel) washes, mud, dust, scratches (I guess actual chipping), and rust. I've been considering going with the AMMO of Mig Jimenez enamel products. I'm completely open to other suggestions but please keep it, you know, beginner friendly.
Finally, once the paint and weathering are completed, I'd look to seal it again with a varnish. It seems like a matte varnish would be more fitting, but perhaps I should use the same satin varnish all the way through? I am totally ignorant on this front.
Anyhow, thank you again for your attention and any suggestions. I'll post some more updates in this thread if there seems to be any interest. Thank you all for the inspiration I get from your builds and I look forward to hearing back from you.
The short and sweet of it is this: I got caught in a loop watching people build scale models on YouTube during the early days of the 2020 lockdowns. In '21 I (slowly) started buying some supplies and reading some materials. In '22 I bought my first 3 kits and built 1.75 of them. Now I finally have time to finish the first build. I suppose I'm deciding to share this to keep the motivation to bring this thing across the finish line.
The first project is an Mk. A Whippet in 1:35 by Meng. As a totally green beginner I don't know enough to really say if it was a good kit or not, but it seemed exceptional to me. Lots of details and fancy parts. The pieces fit well enough (some needed some inspiration to fully seat) and the build was fairly easy overall. I added a few aftermarket pieces - some purchased, some made - and I'm pretty happy with it as a first attempt. If you're a sucker for only the most historically accurate models, you should probably look away. I would say that, even though I'm looking at reference photos, I'm only going for semi-realistic. Here is the progress so far:
I watched some tank documentaries (on Netflix I believe) and I recall the story of the first Mk. I being painted in a beautiful camo by a British artist, but after 5 minutes in the field, the tank was covered in mud and uniformly just brown. After that, they just started painting the tanks brown. Anyhow, the part I really remember was that some of the first tank crews referred to the color as "dog **** brown." Accordingly, I mixed an array of Tamiya paints until it looked like poo. Perhaps I will come to regret this.
So that's where it is now. I'll briefly outline my intentions going forward and, to any of you who are taking the time to read this, please feel free to send any suggestions/feedback/commentary/tips, especially if you spot any red flags. I hope to learn from anyone.
I'm planning on hitting this with AK 3rd Gen Satin Varnish to preserve this two-tone look. Then some chipping fluid before hitting it with my lightest coat of paint. It's a similar brown but I've added Tamiya Buff and Deck Tan to lighten it up quite a bit. My whole goal in this process is to really give the base layer a distressed, worn look. Like, maybe this guy saw some hard action in the fall of 1917, survived the winter, and is still rolling in the summer of 1918. I don't know, but that's the story I've developed in my head.
After I apply the highlight coat of paint, and after I chip it, I'll seal it again with the satin varnish. At this point it seems sensible to consider the white and read markings over the track tensioners and decals. My plan was to strategically apply some gloss varnish where the decals would go. I guess I would also look to paint all of the kit and tools with acrylics at this point too, but I'm uncertain if this is the best approach. With this business out of the way, I would then seal the model again with a good coat of the satin varnish and move on to weathering.
For weathering I'm thinking mostly of pin (and or panel) washes, mud, dust, scratches (I guess actual chipping), and rust. I've been considering going with the AMMO of Mig Jimenez enamel products. I'm completely open to other suggestions but please keep it, you know, beginner friendly.
Finally, once the paint and weathering are completed, I'd look to seal it again with a varnish. It seems like a matte varnish would be more fitting, but perhaps I should use the same satin varnish all the way through? I am totally ignorant on this front.
Anyhow, thank you again for your attention and any suggestions. I'll post some more updates in this thread if there seems to be any interest. Thank you all for the inspiration I get from your builds and I look forward to hearing back from you.
