Hi guys, looks like some good builds have started up. I am sure there is going to be some nice eye candy to oogle in the near future. My build has progressed to the painting and the beginning of the weathering phase. I have decided to try out a couple of techniques that I either have no experience with, the use of filters, or have only tried once before - chipping.
The diorama I am planning will show an 88 emplaced in the middle of an engagement during the time period of Operations Battleax and Brevity. My research shows DAK vehicles during early desert operations were painted with a locally produced tan/yellow color over panzer grey. The overspray worn very quickly, as most field paint jobs tend to do; and the pictures in my reference books do a good job showing this wear and teat on the paint. This makes for a perfect setting to practice chipping and scuffing the paint.
I sprayed an enamel panzer grey base coat and let that cure for 3 days. You can see the parts with the grey base coat in photos 1 and 2. As an aside I normally complete a lot more of the general construction on kits before I spray, but this one has quite a few nooks and crannies and I decided I could do a better job spraying major sub-assemblies first; we shall se how this works out when it comes time to put it all together.
After the curing was complete, I sprayed the parts with two coats of AK Interactive Chipping Fluid. As you can see, I then sprayed the cruciform platform and gun shield a yellowish/tan I made by mixing Tamiya XF57, XF59 and XF60 in a 2/4/4 ratio thinned 50/50.
The only other time I have tried chipping was using the "salt chipping" technique; so time to try something new! Using clean water and a couple of fairly stiff brushes I began to work on the gun shield; the effect I am after is a moderately heavy worn look. I will say that this technique gives one very good control once you learn how long to wait for the water to work into the area you are working and how hard to stroke/scrub the area. Obviously I have some practicing to do to get the technique "down" and the first effort on the kit part, I practiced a while on scrap, leaves something to be desired, but is - barely - good enough for a first run.
Enough blathering from me, enjoy the photos!
