am Nest modeller SMALL-SCALE ARMOUR MODELLING Alex Clark SS) A complete guide to building and finishing = Hundreds of colour photos = Step-by-step instructions Techniques for the expert m Ideas for more creative modelling m Create realistic & eye-catching modelsOSPREY MASTERCLASS Small-Scale Armour Modelling Alex Clark ss Mare us CowperFirst published in 2011 by Osprey Publishing Midland House, West Way, Botley, Oxford OX2 OPH, UK 44-02 23ed St, Suite 219, Long Island City, NY 11101, USA E-mail: info@ospreypublishing.com ‘OSPREY PUBLISHING IS PART OF THE OSPREY GROUP © 2011 Osprey Publishing Limited All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, titicism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, no part ofthis publication may be reproduced, stored ina retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any ‘means, electronic, electrical chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Enquiries should be addressed to the Publishers, Print ISBN: 978 1 84908 4147 POF e-book ISBN 978 1 84908 415 4 EPUB e:book ISBN 978 1 84908 876 3 Editorial by lis Publishing Lud, Oxiord, UK (wonsciospublishing.com) Page layout by Myriam Bell Design, France Index by Sandra Shotter Originated by Blenheim Colour, UK Printed in China through Worldprint Lt 1213 1418 10987654321 ACIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. The Woodland Trust Osprey Publishing are supporting the Woodland Trust, the UK's leading woodland conservation charity, by funding the dedication of tees, wor. ospreypublishing,com Acknowledgements 7d tke to thank my wife Jeaninne for her support {throughout the time I worked on this book. Also my ‘wo young sons, Joshua and Jude, who provided ‘much needed occasional breaks from writing it ‘These usually involved putting me to shame on Video games such as Mario Kart Wi A big thank you ‘90es to another small-scale addict, Bob Grimster, for his advice and allowing me to bounce ideas off him. Vd like to also thank Jorge Alvear for his encouraging ‘words and suppor. Finally tke to thank Paul ‘Aderton and all the other guys at my local club I've been conspicuous by my absence at club meetings ‘over the last year, but | plan to rectly that soon.CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Introduction Tools and materials General construction techniques Advanced construction techniques Painting and general finishing techniques Painting - advanced finishing effects Presentation Gallery Further reading and references Index 15 45 76 112 126 143 180 187INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION I have written this book as a record of my thoughts, experiences and approach to od scale modelling sma vehicles. My prefer is 1/72nd but the techniques T describe for both construction and painting are all equally applicable to the close scale of 1/76th, In fact most of the techniques could be applied to almost any th, 1/48th and others. Unlike previous books scale including 1/ T have written for the Osprey Modelling Series, Modelling the Panzer IV in 1/72 Sele ard Modeling te Tiger Tank in 1/72 Sele, this book mostly focuses on techniques and tips rather than the specifies of ehicle nationality, eta oF type I hope that in doing so this will give the broadest appeal to the book and that everyone who reads it will find something useful to take away. The scope of model raking is so great that I wouldn't be able to cover every technique Tuse in enough derail to do them complete justice. The space and format constraints of the book have directed me co take a look at a selection that I feel is the most usefil, allowing me to cover them in greater depth. I'm a great believer in the old adage quality cover quantity RECENT HISTORY Since the late 1990s many small-scale modellers have talked of a golsen age of small-sale modeling, Ie was around the smid-1990s when one of the major model manufacturers ~ Revell = started to take a serious interest in 1/72nd-scale military whicle kits, Prior to this there were certainly many small-scale kits available from the likes of Esc, Hasegawa, Airfix, Fujimi and Matchbox, but the Revell kits pushed the bar higher in terms of the crispness and finesse of the detail In fact many of these releases had detail comparable t0 that found on good 1/3Sth-scale models, and I feel those frst Revell kits helped to kick stare a revival Along with this there was an explosion of interest from afecemarker manufacturers wit many phoro-etched details sets turned metal bartels and resin accessories hitting the market. Several years Inter Dragon (aka DML) who were usually known for 1/35th-scale armour kits nd scale and have since released many ‘tamed their attention to 1/ excellent models. Some of them, such as the easly Tiger I and early Panzer TV varia; locded phenomenal level of detail equivalent the very best ale kits. Trumpeter of China joined in not long after an there are now other manufacturers producing injection-moulded and resin model kts inthis se cettainly many more than ten 0 20 years ago A BIT ABOUT ME 1 started modelling a 3 young by when my parents bought me an Aiafx Bacio 747 kie asa Christmas present in 1981 From then on I was hooked and would save my pocket moncy to buy all types of models ~ ships cats aircraft and other sub in a variety of scales. Gradual Found myself focusing more and more on small-scale armour models, mostly fuelled by the large sci range in 1/72nd scale and the Matchbox kts in 1/76th. My main interests a¢ the time ‘on World War Il vehicles, largely due to the abundance of these subjects compared to those fom the modern era. Then at some pine in the late 1980s Hasegawa and Bsci released a few modern subjects. This sparked an ongoing ingerest in modern armour. In particular [ became fascinated with post-war Russian vehicles such as the 7-64, 77 and the elusive (at the time) T-80. Frustratingly Iwas not aware of any models of these back them and they were subjectsI could only dream about. Up wnt I started university I was sil avidly building models but then took a complete break for several years as ‘other interests took over. One day after finishing university I was visiting my parents and for a bit of nostalgia decided to stop by the model shop I used to frequent when younger. To my surprise [found a 1/72nd-scale Russian “T-80B tank fiom Matchbox and immediately bought it. I dag out all my old modelling tools and realized then that the modelling Tag had bitten again! I would say my cartent period of serious modelling really started wich that kit My MODELLING PHILOSOPHY [imagine there are many different reasons why modellers enjoy building model, Model construction has a strong technical clement to it whilst painting finishing and presentation allow for artistic expression and eatvty, The creative aspect is farther enhanced with the opportunity to build vignettes and dioramas. The choice of subject can provide an outlet for historical snd sesazc interests. The strength cof model making is that i allows complete freedom to focus on these quite different areas to varying degrees. For me, the construction side fs well with my tschneal/sientfc background and the painting and finishing side provides me with the opportunity I strive for historical accuracy as much as possible too but as the hiscorical side isn't as much of 4 personal interest I tend not 0 build many dioramas or vignettes. The phrase ‘you are your own worst critic’ is as applicable to ‘modelling as anything else and [find myself constantly eying t9 improve. Many years back I became frustrated that I was spending a lor of time on building and detailing models followed by a much smaller ammount of time on the finishing stages. My building skills had a chance to improve much faster than my painting ability and within a short space of « Tid become dissatisfied with my previous painting attempts. This was particularly disappointing when Id spent a lot of time on a complex conversion, or adding many corrections and details to a model. At that point I decided I would take on some simpler builds thae would give me more chance to focus on improving my painting skills. Since then Ive tended to work in cycles of focusing on more ‘complex builds for a while, but then working om a few kits that are more straightforward — not quite out of the box perhaps but ones with lice extra work that needs doing to them. It's only really been within the last few years thae I feel I've reached a better balance between the two. That's not co say there’ no room for improvement in both areas, Far from it and as many other modellers no dowbe often think of theie own models, the best one is usualy their mosto TOOLS AND MATERIALS ‘Over the years I've gradually built up a good collection of modelling tools and equipment, and those I describe here are relevant to all types of scale modelling, not just small-scale armout. Some specialist tools can be expensive and these include things such as lathes, milling machines and others but so far 've ‘managed without these. They can aso take up quite a bit of space, often more than most people without a dedicated workshop or hobby room have and so for both these reasons I won't be covering them in this book. Resin casting materials could be considered advanced or specialist, but beginner casting sets are available at reasonable prices and they dont require much room to use. With these you can make multiple copies of simple homemade parts without the need for expensive casting equipment, and so this is something that I will be looking at in mote detail later in the book Chaprer 1 * TOOLS AND MATERIALS GENERAL CUTTING AND SAWING small-scale work. There are many CONSTRUCTION Although there are many hobby sizes of blade available but I AND ASSEMBLY and crafé knives on the matket almost always use the 10A size 1 use a small, quite basic set of Tye used a simple surgical salpel For sawing I use a very fine tools for most of my modelling for many years now: The all-metal razor saw from JLC of the Czech needs, with other tools being handle is very hard wearing and Republic. I've tied a number of rarely Inthe sections below I cover 15 yeats~ it quite possibly will and this is by fa the best. The most of the tools Ieurrently own last another 15, The blades are blade is thin and the teeth ate v and highlight those I find che extremely sharp and fine, and fine, both of which minimize the J. In the past I may Ive found it to be excellent for amount of material lose when a cut Ihave been tempted to buy the latest modelling tool in the belief that it would solve all my most impor modelling needs. In practice I found this to rarely be borne out. As such I don't believe you need a big modelling budgee fora vast array of tools to build high-quality models, | se afew tol for cutting, Shown here area scalpel, razor saw and Tamiya side cutters and a smal pai of sits, To the right are a compass cutter (for creating iss), Oa panel scriber and micro chiselis made, In face one of the uses outed by the manufacturer is the cutting of aircrafe canopies where material loss would be a major problem, Each blade actually has two sets of tect, fine and extra fine, both of which I use egulary When cutting plastic parts from sprucs I use the scalpel for small or delicate parts, bt for most other items I use a pair of Tamiya side canters. They enable a lose cut to the part leaving almost nothing to clean up in most cases. One thing to avoid is cutting wite or anything harder than plastie as the cuters picking up small pars. For those that are particularly small use a small blob ‘of Blu-Tack reusable putty on the end ofa cockal tek Flatnosed pers have many uses but are particularly ‘00d for holding and bending smal photo-etched parts. use a selection of grades of wet and dry paper for sanding pats. tao use these to make my own sanding sticks Metal needle files come ina variety of cross sections and are longer ating than sanding sticks, Fine-grade metal ral fils area realy availble te, Something | gravitate towards when ind mse in a cosmetics shop with ry ite! use another older and slightly Shanks damaged pair for snipping of resin and other rougher parts A tool that I donit ase often but thae can prove very handy is a compass cutter. The sole purpose of this is for cutting varying sized dises from paper, card or plastic sheet and I just use a cheap plastic cone I picked up from an art shop. HOLDING parts Picking up and holdin particularly those chat are small and delicate, can be tricky. use tweezers mostly, although for smooth or curved items care must be taken not 0 apply too much pressure otherwise they can ping forever. Attaching a small piece ofBle Tack euablehowscbld pay Before staring each modeling SE —cotheend ofthe recs will project make aston of BE lpaidhisby providing some homemade sanding ick Fm F —cmporayaheson BluTick splat strip seins ape ° B —akowsfil when ache othe tohese shes They ae then i . enough to pick a part up but not and cheap way to make a lot of Z pik pst op oy - part when you want it to let go. Metal needle files are another 10" scratch-building and converting I should add here that Blu-Tack is useful addition to the toolbox. ‘Thesire seo uel foraimpia deta coat often we the white eof the pred iar pe, © avy Inala Fj eer to as thse ae prec fr widening DRILLING HOLES ie Bitch, whe she clo sal Thy ae al of te Anthro (or me satel cock ick withthe end ceample when opening op ach theme dil i st The mos fmpened can pie enough Tok Meal mal fl a inlar—common uss ae fo opening up This ia chngue Lue when shops Teyfea bit widerand = tomin gn brs and fo eatin sachig tiny es and revisit Aer shan nee lesan end lection oles replace gab ths ne inthe book A good rohaea coupleof these in my Tunes They eae wes to auaiy pit of Macosed lets tool selon expec when saci is useful for holding photo-erched parts when cleaning chem up or folding them SANDING AND CLEANING UP For sanding and cleaning up I use a selection of fine-grade wet and dry paper sheets, Grades 400 and 600 are the two I make the most use of, with the coarser grades only making an appearance occasionally A metal rules a cheap, but essential tool for scratch-bulding. For small-scale models a short one, about 6in, longs {ood enough but occasionally I need to use a lager, foot-ong version. A simple Set of mechanical calipers i aso uel -Atrysquare i aso invaluable,and a set ranging from 0.3mm to 1.6mm provides sizes for most ‘occasions, Other sizes can be bought individually co and I have afew char are larger than any of MEASUREMENT AND ALIGNMENT Steel rules are one of the most basic tools needed for scratch building and conversion projects A 6in, rule isthe size I use most with a 12in, version for the odd occasion, Another item that T tend t0 use often is an engineer's try-square, I have a couple of all steel ones and they ate composed ‘of two parts, a stock and a blade. The stock isa thick slab of precision-machined steel and the blade (despite its name) isnt actually sharp bue isa thinner plate of steel ser at aright angle to the stock, Ie makes cutting perfectly rectangular picces of plastic very easy and is handy for ‘ensuring parts align at 90 degrees, GLUES AND ADHESIVES Glues of course are one of the most Fundamental craft and ‘modelling supplies and this is reflected in the wide choice that is available, I still use good old polystyrene cement for most plastic-to-plastic bonds although not for the smallest parts. For other materials my fitst choice is superglue gel as this bonds most things very strongly and has filling properties. Ie also allows fora small amount of repositioning time and this is something lacking with standard superglic. A strong gle for almost any material is Evo Stick Serious Glue. 'm a big fan of this as its close to superglue in strength but allows about three minates for repositioning, Two-part epoxy glues are also useful in many of the same situations but the Evo Srick glue saves the hassle of mixing the parts, One big difference between polystyrene glues and pony /superglues is chat the former melts the plastic ro form the bond whereas the others tend not to damage the surfaces being bonded. Because of chis i's best, to avoid using polystyrene glues ‘on very thin or small plastic pares as it can damage them, For scratch building superstructure I also steer clear of such glue as it ean cause somal degree of shrinkage that ultimately will Iead to warp PUTTIES AND FILLERS For filling lange gaps betwsen parts use Millipat two-part epoxy putty. Te has along workin set is extremely hard bus easy to sand, MagieSculptis also a two-part ‘poxy pusty and has quite diffeene mechs ical properties compared to Miiliput. Whilst workable, Milliput can tear easily whereas MagicSculpe has a more elastic nature tit When rolled into a thin sheet this makes it ideal for representing tarpaulins and fabric, In fat ic is popular amongst figure modellers for this very reason, There are many types of glues available and | make use of several depending on the situation. Some of them, such as superglue gel and plastic cement, have ‘apriling properties which can save on filing smal gaps ater on,Chapter 1 © Toots AND MATERIALS For fling gaps we Miliput worpart these are easy to cut, sand, gle ‘pony pty. MagieScupt is another and paint, Other materials are tworpart putty with quite afferent characteristics. These make it great for Wtfil duc to their different and tarpaulins. Mr Surface i type selection of thin brass sheet of iuid uty aimed at filing very ranging from foil to about th hickness of pl ‘other things, suchas recreating surtace etched parts texture on cast tures, The extra strength of brass compared to plastic is essential in For filling small gaps and some cases and its properties, such scratches the Mr Surface # 3s pliabilry, are more suitable when of liguid patty is idea. This comes seratch-building items such as sh n several varieties marked with ‘number: $00, 1000 and 1200. The lower this number the coarser the granule size and thicker the putty. For modelling arn STRUCTURAL MATERIALS For any form of conversion or scratch-building some additional seruccural materials will be require. My favoured ones ate those made f plastic such as plastic sheet (or ard), rod, tube ans stip. As wich on-mouilded plastic kit parts metal parts. Metal wite in a range of thicknesses is also very useful Ic can be used to replace overly thick grab handles, hoses, cube and loops. Sofier metals such as bras and copper are good for making 90-egree bends. In this materi they will benefic from being a bit sturdier once on the model. There ate some types of stel wire that are ue springy and very difficult to bend. If thin enough these ar ideal for making straight aerials, as the ate unlikely to bend accidentally, For dealin, scatch-bising and converting kts a election of ferent shapes and sizes of plastic tems is ‘essential. The Evergreen brand from ‘the US i my personal choice due to he extensive range they provide. The aly ofthe plastic i aio very good and it's easy to cut, sand and gluePHOTO-ETCHED BENDING Toots ‘Many yeats back a number of cools ched for working with photo- parts appeated on the matket and since den have become quice bly feature popular. These iew a smooth, flat metal plate with another plate that sits directly on This number of differently shaped and f place may have a sized cutouts, Flat etches metal parts are clamped between the two and can be folded up along the ‘cdges of the top plate. I have quite an old version of one of these but 1 only use it rarely, even though most models I build will involve some legroe of etched parts. A simple pair of flar-nosed pliers and a steel rule suffices most of the cme, with alist cool being useful for nas fenders RiveTING TooLs A punch and dic set is a usefil addition to the detailer's toolbox and can generate a number of differently sized small plastic discs for many purposes. For small-scale modelling the smallest size punch is fine for larg rivets, but for sinaller rivers alternatives to be found. An excellent tool for Let: One ofthe popular types of photo ‘etched bending tool. Although these are ‘well made and designed, | don't really tse them that much, Almost all the sched parts use can easly be bent sing fat-nosed pliers and a steel re Below: A standard round punch and die set, Hexagonal ones ae aio avaiable but I don't own one ofthese. For very small ves and bolt use the Nutter This punches the rivets from a tin, laminated metal ol sheet these is the Nuter, Ie’ specially designed for making small to very small sized bolt heads, nuts and rivets and I take a closer look at it in a Later chapter: PAINTING AND FINISHING As with the tools used to build and construct models, the choice 0 pine brand and finishing materials is a very personal ching. Some modellers can get quite passionate abou their choices but in terms of results I've seen many excellent sodels finished sing many different types and brancls of paint Paints For the majority of my painting use Humbrol enamels. This is partly down to the face that they are readily avilable here in the UK where [ live. They have a fa good range of colours, spray well through an aisbeush and once dry are hard wearing (some of the following weathering steps can bbe quite harsh on the paine tunderneath) I have tried acrylics bur by thar eime Ta invested quite abit in building up a collection of namels and so did switch over Ido find that the enamels arene as good for brush painting and so for simaller details I se acrylics, mostly Vallejo but also some Tamiya and those fron the Games Workshop ranges. In particular the lighter colours brush paine much better than enamel equivalents due to theCHapTeR 1 © TOOLS AND MATERIALS i a a a il a WEATHERING POWDERS AND AGENTS 4 : : :AIRBRUSHES, COMPRESSORS AND SPRAY CANS For serious modelling I unreservedly recommend a double airbrush. When fist starting out I jost brush painted my models and after a while progressed on co using spray cans for singe all over colous This improved the Finishes L achiewed but couldnt be used for sprayed camouflage patterns oF t0 achiewe good weatherin Aer this I quickly moved aicbeush Aicbrushes come in two main flavours, single-action and sdouble-acton. The singl-action types are at the cheaper end of the matket as the amount of paint prayed i st just before spraying begins. In contrast a double-action sirbrush allows you to vary the amount of pan flow whilst painting. This extra degree of control makes them more expensive but much more versatile in the effects they can achieve. My first a cheap Hambrol double-action model, Being a budget version ie had a plastic rather than metal body and the thinnest line it could spray was thicker than more expensive sirbrushes, Sui, i served me well in getting co grips using an a and my next one was a higher range Badger 150. still have this and it’s a very reliable tool that works as well asthe day T bought it. Carrenty use an Iwata Eclipse CS, which is of comparable abiliey, and I keep the trusty Badger one as a backup, Along with a good airbrush you'll ned a supply of compressed air, If you dont plan on using an airbrush much, cans of compresses air might be a reasonable option T used these when frst starting out bout as my demands increased and ‘A good selection of brushes i essenti "have some fine pointed brushes for detail work and fat, broader brushes for applying overall washes and dry brushing, When using enamels | wash the rushes in Humbvol thinners, followed by snsing in warm wate, Aso shown here is a cheap paste pipete find these indispensible for measuring fut paint quantities and thinners I wanted to practise mow i became worthwhile investing in a pressor. You can get models at the lower end of the price range without all the fills and my frst compressor was of this type Te was a bit noisy but did the job viding a steady stream of ait at a constant pressure, After that moved onto a pricier model that is much quieter and has an integral moisture trap and reservoir A moisture trap is a necessity really when paining with enamels as any water vapour that gets in the line will adversely affect the paine uality. They can be purchased separately, so it's not vital that A builtin reservoir allows you to build up spare pressute and then use it fom the tank silently for a while. Some models will also detect when the reservoir is running low and automaticaly turn on agai, This mighe not always be a good thing as a modeller at my local club told me. This happened ro him with his chen new compressor. H almost jumped into the air when ie kicked in again after going silent!Chapter 1 * TOOLS AND MATERIALS Aidorashes are quite expensive bis of kt bout I feel the investment well worth it [Not only do they give excellent paint finishes but they ae perfect for creating 2 numberof weathering efects. | own 2a Badger 150 and an wata Eclipse, bth double-ation modes that are comparable in quality and performance. For those planning ona lt of spray work, a compressor is much more cost effective inthe lng term than airbeush 192s cans, This compeesor has & bin rolstre trap and reservoir fr string compressed ar and thi allows it to ork silently for atime [No coverage of madeling too! would be complete without mentioning Safety equipment. Thin latex gloves ae useful for when atrushing or working with resin as they allow for precie avernent and touch, Adequate entiation also essential, particularly when spraying paint. A good.qualty respirator wil prevent you from inhaling paint fumes. You need to make sure you ‘uy one that has iter for organic sevents. The one shown here has replaceable fers onthe sides| TECHNIQUES “There are some fundamental construction tchnigues that are applicable co any level of modelling, | whether straightforward out-of-the-box builds, minor conversions or complete scratch-builds, Rather than. spend valuable space diseussing these low-level basics I'm going to take a look at some additional tips, tricks and techniques that readers may find asi CLEANING UP scraping Iecan be even more of 2a petty round crsrseetion and PARTS chore removing mould seams fom be comply sight Being mode Even the bestmoulded modern kis ain gun barrels due co the hey also havea greater wil need some wok devoted to ‘length and in the wort cases the sng than plate orn and leaning up the pac By caeily barrel maybe asnge piece at _so won ben or etl sap. Even sxigpig them fom the spe, rall show some degre of mou shift, a tn amount of cara along burs lf behind canbe minimized This is whee rwo parts of a mould barr legth wl be quite nocerble but ae sil ey 1 eed some ae slighty ofiet ater than being by the naked ee. Ae they dost, wiratim Mol mal wamalinn pcflpalind Th cid hure _schie ny long ern will bo be pesent fo varying dastrous consequat 60 danger of ruining the shape either depres and fo olde kis some achieve eset round bared or bares with nize bakes degre of fash might be visible, would involve emoring roo much some of the best replacements have Flash can simply be rimmed anay material thereby resting in a _—_some astounding detail. Most kc wih a scalpel whilst seam tines an barrel hat is fa C00 thin. As such muzzle rakes ae alin soft on the gen scape down, However, Tllalay ook for turnd-metal dei ley devo the complex some kins of pars pose addonal afiermarket replacements These mate of the shape and the holes Challenges when cleaning them up. barrel are made of either presenti t. Many of the Dragon Cc tems sch 5 wheels res aluminium or brass or sometimes 2—_kts se multi-part lide mou for aed gun barrels canbe included in combination of both, Most makes the barrel and this allows them co this cargo asic ro are rasonably priced and thy canbe hallowed out. They even have snaimtin che ingeigyof the provide number of adrantages to quite good muzae brake detail in coxroae wise unig md icbarzels They will ofcourse have most cases. Sl eurmed-metal ‘Atermarket turned-metal bares can save time on cleaning up the hit pats and often offer superior deta. These set rom Aber feature alumioium bare sections with very nel detailed brass muzzle brakes. They are some of the best examples avaiable.Sprue attachment stubs canbe removed ‘by sipping close upto the part with a 0d qualiy pai of side cutters. A short piece of plastic rod that fs tightly nto the whee! wil alow i to be hel my within the rotary tool when leaning # This particular tol flow powered and ‘deal for sll plastic items. Gently holding a fine-grade sanding tick against the part wis it rotates wil Slowly remavethe seam. Only use @ Fite pressure ast’ eter to take abi‘Once the seam line has been ground be removed fom the edges, Giving a sy quick ad fight ran through with a piece of wet and dry paper wil do this Another quick spin aginst a cheap toothbrush gives the part a final polish trample sean vel a the sting clam mad place and ean Rt be oped it ir the crypt raped wud hlreplacements are usualy far superior in most respects A final reason to replace kit bares is for those inaccurately proportioned, Possibly cone of the worst barrels I've se an injection-moulded kit is that on cone of Revell eater 1/72nd-scale kits, the StuG IV. The muzele brake was closer to 1/35th scale and looked grossly out of scale OF course this can also work the other way and I always check with scale plans if available co ensure I'm not replacing an accurate kit barre with an inaceurate metal vetsion, I'm going co Took at ewo simple and similar techniques for cleaning up circular parts, notably wheels The first involves the use of an cleetric rotary tool — the kind used co fit drill bits and grinding heads. The best ones have an adjustable power setting which should be set to the lowest one possible Alkernatively, fied low-power ones ate just as suitable. The soft mature of plastie means tha is all too easy to grind away a sizeable portion of the part itself if the sting is too high. A higher power can generate alot of friction heat hat might mele she plastic A related cechnique involves the ase of a pin vice to which the past is atached. This is useful for more llicate items or as an alternative for those without access to a powered version, DEALING WITH EJECTOR-PIN MARKS. AND SINK HOLES Most kits contain parts cae have these are the results of the sprue b removed from the moulss during manufacture. They are usually small, round impressions found on the rear of larger pieces Cr in the worst cases on the front obscuring the detail). They can also be either raised or sunk into the part. The taised ones are easce to cleal with and just require careful sanding down, perhaps with some Ejectorspin marks of the pression type need filling. For shallow ones I just use a few id applications of Me Surfacer lic putty painted om with a smal paintbrush. For deeper holes Ifill the bulk in with plastic discs. These can either be created with a ices of plastic rod (or stretched sprue) of the correct diameter After applying a small blob of superglue to the hole, the disc can simply be dropped in place and pushed down, Unless the dise is of the exact thickness ic needs to be, you may need to rim a thin layer off the top, or pethaps build it up a litle more with some Me Surface. In cither case I give it at leat a single chin coat of Mr Sufacer at the end anyway to or scratches. Once dry, a light sanding will result in a smooth, lemish-free area Ralsed ejector pin marks are much ese to dea with than the sunken Kind, Sie the bulk of them of with fresh scalpel bade and then gent sand the remaining area lh with the surfaceUnies a sunken eectorpin marks very Shallow, aplastic dsc canbe used to fl the bulk fit The dsc should be made sing a punch and ie set you dont ‘own one of these, or don't have one Containing the ppropdte diameter hol, a slice trom Some plastic rod or stretched sprue wil work equ aswel The dsc is best gue in with superglue 4 and iit sts proud ofthe surface the exces can be removed with a scalpel cor micro chisel. Amicro chisel is seful in these stuations a thas a smaller contact area than a cape blade and isles ely to acidentaly cut nto surrounding deta There may sil be a gap around the sc, or perhaps it was sila ite too shallow to complet fil the hole In these cases apply some Me Surtacer 500 tothe area with a small rush “wo ofthe hoes seen here have are had this treatment fllowed by a ight sanding down,ACHIEVING A SCALE APPEARANCE The limitations of moulding combined with the smallness of the scale means that parts are sometimes overly thick and ‘unrealistic. This is particularly true of sheet metal items or thin appliqué armoured plate as found ‘on German Sehirzen for example, In some cases these can be replaced with photo-etched parts if they’ available, IF not, or for those modellers who aren't too keen on etched sets, they can be made from thin plastic sheet. My preferred thickness for these is 0.25mm, Thinner sheet is available but is «quite flimsy and docsrit maintain its shape as well. Any thicker thane this and it stares to look out of scale In ict 0.25mm will normally be on the slightly thick side, but by lightly scraping around the inner ‘edge at an angle in effect giving slight bevel, you can get an even thinner look to i. More complex shapes such a5 gun shields can be a bie more problematic as they are often composed of several connected plates sot at different angles ro each other, In some cases it's possible to sand them down, thereby avoiding the need to make a complete replacement or to purchase a pphoto-ctched set, Ths will require replacement of any surface details ‘but will peobably still be simpler than making it from scratch I take 4a number of approaches when sanding parts like this down. These include the use of sanding sticks, scraping with a blade and rubbing the part on a sheet of wer and dry paper over a fat surfice ‘Often a mix of these approaches is best and it all depends on he exact size and shape of the part ‘The Schirzen pate on this early ‘tuG WV were cut rom 0.25mm plastic sheet using the kt parts and scale plans 58 guide, Thinner plastic i avallable but there isthe danger ofthe panels warping.This gun shied is accurate ins Smensons but i too thick. There wat very tle surface detal tobe ot, 0 1 felt the best option was to sand it down to give a more in-scae look tt Scrubbing the part ace down in a Crcule mation over a flat sheet of wet and dy paper wl tw thin it down possible when doing this and constantly beeping the thickness consistent, The plastic can abo be thinned using @ scalpel by applying a scraping motion, The tip ofthe scalpel can be useful in reaching the harder to access areas. aAl the faces of the shield have been thinned from the outside and some ditional bltivet deta added, Ardhough it requies afi bit of foe the result are woth it There ia separate curved section to the ‘un shield that also needs thinning from past strip that was bent tothe required degre of curvature. Siging the part up and down this thinned it toa more consistent degree (Once the part started to get quite thin "held i against the underside oftheThe thinned ports look much beter on ‘he completed gu. CATERPILLAR TRACKS ways flexible sing type is often in the form of single links forthe cur Thvee commen approaches to tracks ‘hat manufacturers use are shown here, othe lft are ink an length tracks from Revell Nashorn it. nthe middle are individual inks from Trumpeter’ Fame bit. A smal past is provided to help algn these correctly. Finally theres an example of ot, flexible trac taken from Dragon's Tiger kt for the straight track runs. This type, known as ‘link and length simplifies and was popularize mmid-1980s and later by Revell an sag, This approach isnt particulaey = TT | innit 23 common though, with single-picce suns being favoured by Dragon nd Revell championing the link wl Iengeh approach. There are a range but one of Hasegawa's firstth smal tracks, oF vehicles withbuildin 1/35th scale with ‘options being more limited. Thete seems to be an abundance of plastic, resin and white metal eacks ses For ee larger scale bust fi les «for small-scale modellers. quite a number of photo etched teacks sets available and my best sited to tin tracks such a8 those on light tanks or for plate-like tracks as found on the Russian T-3M4 tank, There are resin sets atound too, some of which require heating of the sections in onde co bend them to shape bus these can be time consuming and tricky co get right ‘Some link and length plastic sets re available bat there arent many of these out at the moment For kit-provided tracks, [prefer the link and length variety asi easier to get realist sag and, wonlike some of the flexible alternatives, they take paint and glue with no trouble at all. Many “This Panzer 1V/70 (A) has had the tack tnd running gear al lued to the mode! before painting. | wanted to represent a rudy vehicle so gave the lover half a stippled covering of ready-mixed ‘mode filer fist. Since they were covered in mod | did't need to wory to much about panting the tyres and tracks separate colours lates, sellers of small-scale vehicles will have experienced the horror of sack mele with some of the older kits from the likes of Aitfix and the eater Esci kits. This will cause paint eo fill away and, worse, it can melt the plastic of the wheels where the tracks come into contact with them. A recent innovation from Dragon known as 'DS Styrene’ claims to solve these problems. This material daes seem co be an improsement in terms of both paine and glae adhesion Thete are several alternatives for approaching the assembling of link and length tracks. Pn always keer to build as much of a model as I can before painting as it means handling the model less once the paint has been applied. Running can be completely assembled prior co painting but doing so will make it harder to paint later IF you plan to give ita good coat of mud then this approach may be suitable, 2s The method I use most often is to assemble the track around the running gear but co only glue the track sections to each other and to the idlers and sprockets. Ths allows removal of the track and makes painting both ie and the wheels a lor ‘easier AS most road wheels appear in pairs, gluing the inner ones to 1 hull bue leaving the outer ones separate will allow you to slide the track away once assembled, Ie also rakes painting the outer wheels ‘easier too. The track joins will be delicate, however, s0 cate is needed when hanalling them, These ae times when I've gone a step farther ant assembled the tracks without sling them to the sprockets and idlers. This gives the easiest route when it comes to painting but the This is exacerbated because the track runs need to havea break at the sprocket area in onder for them to be removed from the mode"start by gluing together enough individual inks to wrap around the de. ‘Shown here are links from a Revell 1-72 kt that have been cleaned, had the Inaccurate guide hoens replaced and the track pin ends dried out. Using polystyrene cement allows some time to work with the completed strip belore (Once complet the section canbe held steady using metal calipers to ensure al the inks are aligned correct, They ca abo be pushed more snugly together and will maintain thee alignment, Whilst sil workable the section can be ‘glued around the ier. Ensure al the links remains perpendicular o the ies aisThe single length of tack that runs from the ir tothe fist road whee is glued on now, but only tothe ier. ‘The lower run of rack can be temporarily attached tothe wheels with Blu-Tack and glued tothe shorter {tack length, Note that only the iner road wheels are glued to the hull to ‘make both panting and emoval of the complete track runs easier, ‘The next step i 10 repeat the previous procedure but this tme atthe rear wth the sprocket The fel step involves adding the top ru of track. may turnout that it ends ~ being sgh oo short or too long, Ths wont be a problem ifthe veil i to have sie sits ited but i not then abit of extra work withthe ile wil be enough to fx these. Most real vehicles have a movable ier ‘arm to allow the track tension ta be adjusted. Slicing off the kt ier arm and repositioning it should provide enough leeway to fi the top run of aac corey 27REPLACING KIT GRAB HANDLES Kit grab handles and rails are usually to0 thick and in some cases are moulded a8 solid lumps. Replacing these isan easy way to {0 a model. Even those tha are separately moulded and close to scale will still require careful lean up and due to their fal nature will be easy to rack of break IF the kit has moulded-on grab handles then these need to be removed frst. You may want to note the length of che handle before you do ths, unless you have some scale plans to hand to base the new version on. Alternatively Te found that even after removing the handle completely a strip of dlarker plastic will remain guide. The bulk of the handle can be easily clipped away first using side cutters, Even cutting as close to the part as possible won't remove the entire handle and T sometimes turn to a micro chisel to get rid of the rest. A scalpel sn alto be used for this but the narrow cutting surface of the chisel means that accidental damage to surrounding detail will be minimized, If there is still any final residue this can he sanded away with wee and dry paper. This is another instance where I ike £0 tase homemade sanding sticks as. they ean be made in any size needed for almost any task. For the job illustrated in the photos I made ‘one of just the right wideh to sie between the rivets that st ether side of the handle. In onder to make drilling the mounting holes jer I mark their postions by ing a needle ot pin into the right locations. Fitting the rede inte a pin vice fise will make this easier. Now when the holes are drilled the dell bit will be less likely to slip along the surface of the plastic. I always select a drill bic size that is vey slightly larger than the wire diameter as this gives room for the glue. Too tight a fit will more than likely cause the wire to bend out of shape. Once the holes have been deilled I cut a length of L-sectioned plastic strip thar will fe juse between them, If you haves’ any of this available then two strips of plastic of the same length can be glued together at right angles along their lengths. Now's the time to actually make the grab handle. A length of wire (chat isa least as long as needed! requites a right-angled bend to be made in it at one end, Holding i ina pair of flat-nosed pliers and then bending the protruding part clown with a metal rule is good way to do this. The longer section of this wire can then be dropped {nto the channel of the plastic L-shaped holder. The other end of This truck cab door features long vertical grab handle moulded asa solid piece. I began by clipping the bulk of it off with side cuttersMost ofthe remains ofthe handle car be removed with a micro chisel othe tip ofa seapel bade. A thin sanding sticks deal for ensuring the surface is smooth and fush, | dled out holes to accept a new grab hance that | wil be making frm wire "usually mark the postions of the hoes by genty pushing a pin nto the appropriate locations as this prevents the eile rom sipping 29Alength of the chosen wie needs to be bent toa ight angle at one end and the longer section paced dovin the ‘channel ofthe plastic stip, Holding the wite and plastic togethe at one end makes sue they Keep Postion. The ther end of the wire ‘an be grabbed firmly with small fla-nosed plies ‘The guiding piece of Lshaped plstic can now be removed to leave te piers in the comect postion for making thethe w now needs to be gripped with a pair of flat-nosed plies in reparation for making the second bend. The Leshaped holder can now be removed as i's served its purpose of acting asa guide for the length of the handle The two major benefits of this ‘method ate thatthe new handle should be a perfect fe for the holes Asie earlier. Ie also allows further copies to be made using the same L-shaped template ensuring each fone is identical in size, For tis particular model I needed another for the opposite side cab door. After removing the second handle I used the template asa guide for the distance between the two holes that had to be drilled on the other door. The job of attaching the handle still remains and ie can be tricky to ensue i sits at the correct depth and remains level with the s To make this easier use a plastic strip spacer of the same depth as the handle height and place ic under where the handle will st, Superglae gel is good choice far attaching these handles due to its ‘gp filling properties and slightly longer drying time than standard liquid superglue, This wil allow you to correct any slight mistakes in the positioning. REPLICATING CAST-METAL AND RUST EFFECTS There are occasions when a rough-cast me I finish is requieed and the kit part may be smooth oF have a barely discernible texture The techniques for achieving this look can also be used to create a rusted Finish on tems such as exhausts. A popular method for reproducing these surfices involves stippling Me Surfacer $00 onto the surface with a brash Ie does tend to dry quickly and so the stippling action has to be quick, although additional layers of Mr Sarfacer can be applied later, For tis method Tse a cheap old brash and, tonce done, remave the excess puty with liquid polyseyrene cement. For small parts T use just a fine round brash and for larger items a later brash is more suitable Creating a cast-metal appearan can be done in a very similar way using Me Surfacer: When doing this T use more of a dragging motion, eather than stabbing the brash against the part, Again some light san ng at the end can recluce the stength of the effec if fe looks a bit overdone. This technique is particularly usefl for vehicle with cast rursets, such as those of Soviet and Russian origin, Me Surfacer 500i ideal for achieving «rusted effet on exhaust pipes and ‘lindes. Stipple it quickly by rapaly stabbing atthe surface.‘Once the Mr Surface has set hae, 5 10 apply more Me deepen he eect, The frshed & flaky texture tot, This wil really coms A cast effect hasbeen achieved on this tank turret by dragging Mr Surtacer result in a lay appearanceMAKING REALISTIC _painced. A few companies sell clear from overseas it's not such a HEADLIGHTS AND asic lenses in diffeent sizes chat problem these days MIRRORS we Far beter appearance, with Fitting the replacement lenses Creating reflective surfaces such as oth the glass frome and rs is straightforward and just requies those found in lights and mirvors rear being realistically repress ling ove the solid plastic one is always a challenge as painting have a small collection from the Marking the centre witha pin or them in metallic paint never looks MV Lenses range that I purchased needle will make i easier to get che particularly realistic. The at a model show in the USA a rl bit centred initially and will headlights provided in most kis couple of years back, Items such also prevent i slipping once you are almost always solid plastic as this used to be hard to find sear drilling. would never use an items and will never look that sometimes, but with the advent of electric dil for this type of work, | selected some appropsately sized —————————————— WY PADDITTS headlights rom the MV Lenses range LIST, IGHT LENSES F jODELS Figwno LS 20 +, Dia. = 0.86"/2.2 mn. Drill #44 (4 Clear Lenses) Copyright 19994 P. o Marking an impresion atthe centve of the light is important for keeping the dl bit in the right area. You can do this by pushing a pin into itt eave a small guiding hoe‘The kit ght has now been cilled out and the process needs tobe repeated ‘on the other side, “The new lights test fitted and sits well, Ie can now be lf separate from the ‘model and glued in place once the ‘model hasbeen painted and fished ‘These wing mire are very small and it'll to get a really close photo of ‘them that does them justice, Theye ‘made from the inside of plastic fi chocolate bar wrappers Thee have a good reflective surface but don crinkle In the way metal fil does. | attached these once the made! had been painted with waite glu. M any glue overspils it an be wiped of withthe commer of 2 damp doth asGrilling it manually is easy anc less likely co damage any surrounding detail, Once the holes have been created the model ean be built and pained with the lenses jst being clropped in with a litle glue to hol them as the very last step, Most softskin vehicles will be feed with mitrors and, ff done wel, they can really enhance a model and add an exta touch of realism. [tried metal foil a couple of times wien ‘experimenting with methods and although it had a relist shiny look ica a propensity to wrinkle. A much better at native is something that T already had inthe house, especially with two childven around. Many chocolate bars these days ae packed in a plastic fil that has a similar appearance to metal foil but loesrieerease or wrinkle. This can be cut ino sinall strips of the appropriate size and simply attached with some white PVA glue once the model has been painted. IMPROVING WINDSCREENS An area of particular relevance ¢0 sofeskin vehicles is that of glass parts such as windscreens and side windows. There area few ways that kit makers have deale with these kinds of parts, Some kits contain a clear plastic sprue forthe windows, ina similar way vo the rest of the kit just with a differene kind of plastic. In other cases a stip of thin acetate is included that may or may not, have the outlines for the windows marked on. The modeller then has the task of cutting the shapes out. Not surprisingly there ate pros and cons to each approach, The frst, approach where hard plastic versions are provided has the benefit of the items being ready shaped. They just requite snipping from the sprue and a bit of the usual clean up. On the negative side these patts ate invariably too thick or even worse may have scratches and other surface imperfections due to the moulding process. Thin acetate will give a realistic glass appearance atthe expense of a bit more effort in getting there. This is sy preferred solution, and in those cases where the manufacturer has provided hand plastic parts Ill replace them myself ith acetate Sheets of acetate can be from office stationery of purchas are shops but Ive collected several spare ones from kits that have included far more than is needed for a single model. The kit items can be used as a template around which thi copies can be cut from the acetate. A good way of dloing this is to use a pencil to draw around the kit piece onto a piece of plain paper, Try and keep the pencil as close to the edges as possible to avoid creating a copy that is too lange. I use a mechanical ‘The aliss pats in this kit are included fn 2 clear plastic sprue. In this particular case they were quite thin but aint ‘quite capture the look of sale gaspencil available from art and graphics shops for this asic has a lead that keeps the sume, thin diameter all the way down allowing for precise strokes. Once this is done a strip of acetate can be placed over it and the pencil template underneath used asa cutting guide, Even for simple rectangular windows, drawing them conto paper first gives usefl guide for cutting the acetate versions Straight edges can be cleanly cut against the side of a steel rule and for many windows this will be ate rounded enough. If the edg then one option is co cut these freehand although thin metal templates can be found at att shops that usually have many different sizes of curves, holes and other shapes. Viny similar to these are model aircraft panel scribing templates that some model and hobby shops sel. An area where particular care is needed is when attaching clear parts to the model. Accidentally marking them with glue can be disastrous and difficult to pat right. [use white PVA glue mainly becau dries transpatent. Also being water soluble it’s easly leaned off when dry and sive rise to the clouding effect that suiperglte vapours can sometimes lead to, VEHICLE STOWAGE Most military vehicles, especially those in action, will carry some degree of external stowage. The amount will vaty from vehicle to vehicle but think is an important consideration that can add a lot of interest to a model. As well as adding extra realism, a model will benef from the exera splashes of colour and detail that stowage will ada. Unlike on-vehicle tools that ate covered a Tittle late, i’ rare to Find stowage included in kits as standard. Some of the old Esci kits contained the odd item such as a rolled tarpaulin of two but they to the modeller to decide on the amount of stowage, if any, that they wane to inehide with a model ancl where to source i Thete isa lot of scope for making your own but there is also a lor of ‘opportunity inthe aftermarket area with there being a great range of resin sets avilable, Most of these contain far more items than are needed for a single model and so different parts For Future use. Common types of stowage inclu spare ammunition boxes, crates, tarpaulins, jerry cans, tow cables and fuel drums. Thete are aso the Some examples of ein stowage and tools avaliable to buy as aftermarket items. These are from a numberof dierent manufactures,‘This haltrac has 2 fl cargo bed, Vehicles such as these are crying out for Plenty ofstonage, otherwise they end up with a large and empty rear that, doesn't atrat the eye, Soe vehicles can be seen with spare track pled up around the front to add eatra protection, The spate box sa good source for these pats. On this Parcular example added some track from a diferent vehice to add an extra te toueh, Years ago the mast realistic way of creating tw cables was to use fine nylon thread, Nowadays you can buy pretwisted copper cable in many ses to help you make your own. You can even buy deccated tow cable sets with resin cable ends includedcrew's personal isems such as kit bags, helmets and ration boxes amongst other things. All of these ‘can be found in resin sets or can in some cases be easily scratch-buil Many miliary vehicles carry tow cables and some kits ignore these completely or provide them as hard plastic parts. I've never encountered any plastic versions that have looked pacticulaey realistic and as they are pre-formed to shape they ‘often donit fi well. They are usually fiddly to clean up too, In the good old days the most realistic way of creating replacements was had a characteristic twisted appearance to to use fine nylon thread eh it, After drilling out the kit tow cable ends you could glue sections ‘of the thtead in to give a nicely flexible tow cable. These days h you can buy ewisted copper cables in many sizes to help you make your own and these are sft enough to bend into a realistic shape, In fact there are tow cable secs targeted at specific vehicles available now; notably from a company called Eureka XXL, These sets have resin cable ends that are pre-drilled and also the lengths of ewisted copper cable of the correct diameter CREATING TARPAULINS I’m going to take a look at creating your own tarpaulins using two-patt epoxy putty rolled into thin sheets In the particular example I use here Tm going co make a single piece that will be draped against other items of stowage in a truck cargo bed, Once this technique is mastered there is no end to the variety of shapes and sizes that you ean ereate at will, Relled-up stowage, bags and other soft materials can be easily reproduced in miniature and the small amount of putty needed makes it very cost cffective too, MagieSculpe epoxy putty is my favoured type for making tarpaulin and other similar items of stowage Tonly mix small amounts, enough to make either a few or perhaps ven just one tarpaulin, This allows enough time to make each one without rushing before the putty starts to harden, I work over a plain white ceramic tile that can he purchased from hardware and DIY shops. This has a very hard smooth and perfectly flat surface that is perfect for rolling putty on. Rolling the putty into a thin sheet is similar to rolling oue pastry and has the same issues of the material sticking to both the surface and roller, Whereas flour is used to prevent this when working with pastry, odour-fee ta 2 good solution for putty and it can be sprinkled in a thin layer cover the tile first. Once the putty bas been mixed I roll it into a ball and then squash ic into a dis | mix some MagiSculpt putty and sprinkle talcum powder over a smooth flat surface suc as ceramic te. This will ep to prevent the putty sticking totshape onto the tile. Applying some more taleum powder on top helps avoid it sticking to che roller The roller iself is just a lenge of wide plastic tube. I sprinkle powder om this coo but if it gets bits of hardened putty on overtime it can just be thrown away and replaced. One of the difficulties is gvting the rolled shest to a consistent thickness and this can be overcome by laying a couple of plastic sips of the desired thickness either side of the putey. When the roller reaches these i will have given uniformly thin sheet. Tes wise +0 apply more talcum power ‘occasionally, especially if the patty starts to stick tothe surface oF roller, as this will keep the sheet from tearing. Trimming the edges and removing the excess purty will give the final piece thar can then be worked with into the final shape. It can be rolled up to form bedrolls and other similar things oF just kept as a flat shect co drape over the vehicle, In hoth cases wrinkling and folds will need to be ad and for this T use a cocktail stick with the ends rounded off. Uni i sets the putty will remain quite fragile so it needs to be handled dllicaely whilst working with i Any damage will be difficult co repair so it’s worth taking things Poto-etched sts sometimes contain parts forthe tools Unless the real, Im ae ft then these are unl ook reali slowly to avoid this. Once the requited shape is achieved and the putty has hardened it's also important to clean away any © talcum power, The very first time Tused putty in this way I didnt do this In fact there wasn really any taleam power visible bur it had formed a very thin, almost waxy layer over the part, After applying a ed to rub «coat of paint its away when adding highlights and shadows and woulda adher properly. Scrubbing with a sof toothbrush will do the trick in removing this and the surface will then accept paints well ON-veHICLE TOOLS On-wehicle tools that ae found as standard on the real vehicle ae different from other types of stowage as they usually will be included in the it. The best kinds ate moulded as separate parts but often they are moulded directly 0 43 the model. When provided in this way they are both harder to paine and in many cases less realistic Te seen examples thae are far 100 flat with lie relief and barely any undercuts, Thankfully there are a number of solutions to these problems, Ie may be possible to replace the tools with some from the ever-present spates box or failing thae either scratch-build them or use aftermarket set. Resin tool sets are available from several manufacturers and there are also some photo-etched sets that contain tools, I've never actually used photo-etched items for these situations though as the cools appear too flat and unrealistic in most cases. This is especially rue for items such as shovels and other tools with » cylindrical handle or element to ther, Photo-etched parts will never be able to match the appearance of plastic oF resin equivalentsFor smooth fenders and surfices the tools can be just cut off and the surface sanded fla, Fenders that feature any sort of tread plate pattern pose more of a problem 28 it will be almost impossible to remove all of the tools without slamaging the pattern underneath. In face the atea directly under the tools worst have any pattern there once the tools have been cut away There are many photo-etched fender sets available that can be used in these eases and usually the tread pattern in these are better than that found in the original ki Some of them also include the complete framework to support the tread plate but I usually clon’ bother using these and simply remove the kit fenders to replace them with an equal sized plastic strip. The tread plate can then be glued directly to this Dragon's Panzer IV Aust. Fcontans 2 mix of moulded-on and separate too, leat the fenders off and fited plstic strip replacements. These were covered In tread plate sections cut fom a photo-tched sheet. | sahaged most of ‘the mouldec-on tools by cutting them ofthe discarded fenders which also ‘gave the opportunity to improve the Lndercuts tha they acke. A fw of the Items ae rom resin sts, such a the [Note light and fre extinguisher body. read afew extra ones myself using Plastic rod, srp and copper wire. This Revel Panzer also had the tools ‘moulded tothe fenders. This is an example ofa kt where the tool are far to flat i shape and can really be salvaged. Once replaced the fenders with photo-etched versions replaced most ofthe tols with ones {rom the spares box along with afew homemade ones and the resulting fenders are 1 bie stueiee than all etched versions. Rectangular sheets of 1/T2nd-seale photo-etched tread plate are aso available with differene patterns such as lozen dot and others, Stips cut from these are more economical than c individual fonder buying sep: sets — but require a bit more work of course n using the pre-cut versions45 ADVANCED CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES “There is no clear divide between the skills required for basic and advanced model construction. In fact there are many shades of grey between building an out-of-the-box kit and creating your own fully scratch- built model. Many of the techniques I look at inthis chapter would cleasly be considered more advanced, bt even these can be applied to simple ke builds. Replacing a poorly detailed or moulded pare with a scratch-built version can really imptove a model and prove to be a very satisfying element of model making, IMPROVING KIT PARTS. A common issue particulary relevant inthe smaller scales is that of oversize detail. In Chapter 2 looked at ways to chin overly thick kit parts bat for more complex pieces it may be necessary to replace some of all of the part in onder £0 achieve a etter appearance. Some details may not be present a all or say be inaccurate and in all these cases the modeller’ only option will be co replace the item. Trying to cover every ype of improvement chat ean be made to the huge varcey of differen kit parts ist possible and would need a whole series of books this size, So T'm going to take a Took in detil at couple of specific examples along with brief descriptions of some others. These two examples look at opening out sold and simplified Right: The tools and materials that, we wil need to modly the par are shown here. Tey ince a sanding stick, scalpel, dl bt, pin and some plastic sheet kit parts t0 give a much more realistic appearance t0 them. HoLLowiNG ouT A COMPLEX EXHAUST Revell’ T-72 tank kit has a solid exhaust piece that lacks the gille-shaped opening at the front. Unlike a solid gun barrel, this cant Right: The exhaust on the left ofthe picture is moulded as solid piece but should havea gileshaped opening The improved pieces shown on the Fight. ts shape makes it abit more of ‘challenge to reproduce than a simple cireular or rectangulr hole be simply drilled out and requires more effore to get a realistic appearance. The following photos illustrate how a few simple steps can give a more complex-looking pare, In face no matter how complex a partis, it can always bee broken down successively into chunks. more manageabTECHNIQUES CHAPTER 3 © ADVANCED CONSTRUCTION The rounded ends of the opening ean be made by dling hoes ofthe required cfameter, Mark two guide hols fst with the pin atthe centre points ofthese, The location ofthese ‘width ofthe opening minus height The central prt of the opening is 19 two ses across the gap between the two holes, removed by c Time to pop the central strip out ~ the basic shape ofthe opening isTe straight edges ofthe opening need ‘bit more attention to make sure they are para to each other and aio the comet distance apar. The opening has now been trimmed to more manageable size, The kt part, has had its sla face cut down by an amount that matches the thickness of the plastic sheet. ‘ter ging the roughly trimmed pat to the exhaust pece | sanded around it to ensure a seamless ft 47CHapTeR 3 © ADVANCED CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES IMPROVING A KIT EXHAUST The M977 HEMTT truck kit fom Academy provides a single-piece exhaust with perforated sheet metal guard around it, Being moulded in one piece results in a lack of depth to the perforations and the gap between the shoot and the exhaust is missing. This is one of the trickier kinds of pare co fix but witha bit of Aloe anit sx difficult asic may at st appeat: Visualizing the gradual breakdown of the part and the steps ‘The exhaust piece in Academy's M997 ruck s moulded asa solid tem, This ives ita simplified and urveaisic ‘appearance that can relly do with The vertical gil sections are added next by gluing plastic strips int the ‘pening and timing ther so they st flush, Once done the modified exhous piece was complete, As {planned on bling several mal with this type (of part went on to create some rein «copies. Home casting wil be covered later in this chapter, The approach I tok here was to remove the cyindical body ofthe exhaust leaving us the curved metal shet portion. | began by clipping the bulk of the exhaust away with side cutters,[Amicto chisel s useful for removing ‘more material belore sanding the remaining section any. ‘Abeveted or round cross sectioned needle files very handy in these cases ta remove the rest of the plastic The perforated exhaust guard now ata reasonable thickness and the solid holes can be opened out As the pat bit more fragile now, supporting i with a cyfnerical sanding sek ensures it doesnt get bent or damaged PatTECHNIQUES Cuapter 3 © ADVANCED CONSTRUCTION Running the sanding tick along the rear ofthe piece and giving ita quick brash with an old toothbrush will remove any straggling bis of plastic The new guard ia big improvement on the Sola it piece. Now the exhaust itself needs tobe replaced and this is The completed exhaust assembly The main body is jus a section of plastic tube withthe ends sealed wit laste dics, The smaller sed plastic od forthe cured pipe.RIVETS AND BOLTS find myself lookin ifferent cicumstances. Whatever A biuntneedle fited to a pin vce can reverse sie of thin plastic shee o stp. nother piece of plastic ora frm rubber mat underneath is ako necessary, a a surface that is oo hard wil prevent the rvet forming propery Anumber of rivets have been pushed through ths test piece. The technique requires practice inorder to consstentiy create rivets ofthe same depth and to v0 pushing too fa and piercing vets oF bolt heads in small scale pllenging due to their size I’m going to take a ook at som doing this PUNCH AND DIE discussed briefly in Chapter and the smallest hole on most sets plastic placed over a eubber mat Ie can work well but without the help of a surrounding die the ratio of well-formed rivets to those that EMBOssING Rather than p individualside of a thin sheet of plastic I've found this solution eo be useful daring scratch-building when I've been creating the stevctural parts as well asthe rivets chemselves. The resulting rivets ate also domed shaped rather than just flat dises as a punch and die set would produce, Ise a blunt pin held in a pin vice to impress the pattern and after king the positions cout the pin ean be gently pushed inca the pla ic at each point a rivot is required. The best way to do this isto apply minimal pressure to avoid cutting through the plastic and ruining the effec. Having a firm rubber mat underneath is also necessary as a surface that is too hard will prevent the rivet forming properly If the surface is to0 soft it won't support the plastic very well and it will bend and buckle. The tricky part of this method is firstly getting the rivets properly spaced as once one is created it's not as easy to remove it cleanly again Also the depth of the river depends on the pressure applied s0 getting this consistent across all of the rivets requires care and practice, Ive found a good way to solve the first problem is to use a piece of photo-etched, rectangular holed mesh to act as a template and guide. [have a number of these with different-sized holes and I can usually find one that is of the correct dimensions, For the «co solve it. Plus applying less pressure to give a shallower rivet isnfe a problem as it’s easy enough to repeat the procedire to deepen ik, When a satisfactory set of rivets an be has been made the plas laminated a¢ the rear to give it added strength, I se superglue gel for this as it will also fll ehe small hollows atthe teat of each rivet giving them a bit of extra strength. PLASTIC ROD AND. STRETCHED SPRUE ‘One of my favourite methods of rivet making requires lengths of plastic rod or sometimes hheat-stretched sprue. Slicing rivets off the end is a simple procedure and with a bit of practice + scalpel or razor blade can be used freehand to do this, Usually Take this sproach when only making a few rivets, and for mote than one you can glue plastic rod sections lengthwise at one end, A set of rivets can then be cut in one go. A slightly different approach is to ‘mark small holes with a pin at che location of each rivet and drill a hole out at each of these locations. Sections of plastie rod can be inserted into each hole and pushed through until the desired height is achieved, A small blob of superglie applied at the rear of the surface will hold the tod in place and then the excess can be trimmed away Fitting lengths of thin plastic rod to predlled holes sone of my favoured ‘methods of making rivets and bolt heads. Aer marking the postions of the vets the holes can be dled outA small blab of superglue ge! placed near the top of a section of plastic rod wl old the ished rivet n pace Inserting the rod from the underside of the pat wil ensure no gle gets onthe top side. Once the glue has died you the bolts have been added they can be lightly sanded rom the top ta ensuce a onsitent height Gently sanding the surface o se rivets with a sanding stick nsute they all sit a the same igh. [ lke this approach as the will remain firmly on the one be knocked THe Nurrer Apart from th rivets. This is the Nutter, avail from The Small Shop, and sists of a punch, a number of interchangeable heads that sctew into it, some metal sheets and a ony base anit. Details Chapter 8, The base unit has small flac rubbery section on top. of which the fil is placed and a clamp holds icin place. The punch the foil, knocking outa flat rive lead core sheet. The surroundinCHAPTER 3 © ADVANCED CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES The Nutter a specialized tool for ‘making tiny bolts and ves that Finroduced in Chapter 2. The thin laminated meta sheets ae secured to the base unit and st over a uber mat. They can be punched out using a em degre of downwards pressure unl you The eves get embedded into the ruber mat and can be gently removed withthe tp ofa scalpel bade, To attach the rivet | use ether superglue ge or two-minute epoxy gle. tend to get the eve inthe right pace the fst time, The slower-rying eposy glue {ves time to epostion andi ideal n cases here i's mare dificult to get the right postion straight off. apply the glue tothe part with a sharpened the stick with a peneDDampening the other end othe stick wl allow you to temporarily pick up the rivet and place it onto the gue ‘The iy sizeof the rivets can be appreciated here. two methods ely on the most - the [Nutter and plastic rodsprve methodmodels. A good way to attach them to the model isto dab a small blob ‘of epony glue on the surface and place the rivet on top. The hollow don fills the interior and when dry shape means that the glue gives the rive strength, This also gives good adherence co the sueface of the model. The downside of this method is the high cose of the initial unit and the ongoing cost of the metal sheets. Having said that the sheets provided in the initial kit have lasted me a long time and this method is my favoured one for the smallest-sized rivets and bots OTHER METHODS There are other methods of making rivets but some of these Tve only tried once of twice, of not at all in some cases. This int to say that none of them are any tse, just that the ones I've just described in more detail work well ‘enough for me so far, There are some photo-stched sets containing rivets and bolts in multiple sizes and shapes and I've made use of the hexagonal type on a number ‘of occasions, Slicing rivets from another kit is an old method of sourcing rivets. This is probably smote suitable in lager scales and has the downside of the cost of the original donor kit. Another method involves the use of 3D paint co dot the rivets onto a surface. This type of paint is designed to create relief effects boat after tn ig this out I found ie ve and shape of rivets Another method uses dry transfers Archer are a well-known source of dry transfer markings and also have a range of surface detail transfers including rivets, tread plate and weld beads MODELLING GERMAN WorLD ‘War II ZimmerirT Anyone whos interests in GGeemnan armour fiom the latter half of World War I wll probably have buile a model ae some point that required Zimmer Although my intent for this book is that i will contain hints and sips for modelling in general creating Zi rit is challenge thar many modellers will face at some point due co the popalarty (of the subject. Zimmert was an anti-magnetic mine paste applied for a period during the later half of the World War I, being dliscontinued before the end of the was, [eas usually applied on vertical or sloped surfaces rather than horizontal ones and the incent was to prevent magnetic amines from sticking to the sides of vehicles. Photos show it was ‘This scratch-buit gun cariage for a Jagdlige interior features & umber of exagonal bolts taken from an Aber photo-etched rivet and bolt stalmost always patterned in some way and there were many diferent iged pattern and the waffle pattern, OF these the ridged pattern is probably the on modell cone I'l be looking at here. Ther x several options for representing his in 1/72nd scale, far more back when the only option was co make it yours Zimmer pattem engraved on the pats, ‘ving adtiona work forthe modeler This is Dragon's Porsche Tiger I turet and te pater is very well done, Two comman approaches for photo-etch i that it's only suitable for lat pats or those that are sight curved, Resin ses often come asa mix of sheets along with whole replacement pars for more complex shapes, 5? COMMERCIAL PRE- MOULDED ZiMMERIT methods, Also when nor done well it's impractical to try and remove it al for an alternative solution, notably from the Dragon Thin sheets of resin Zinnerit range, have Zinn pre-moulde are available that a modeller can conto the parts, Ive generally beer at panels from and these can be impeessed with this as the kits Ive applied to both flat surfaces and sccn have shown an often accurate those that curve slightly along oni nd in-scale pattern. A minor down axis. This doesnt solve the problem side is thar representing damaged of those cases where it needs t0 Zinsser, with chips and missing be applied to compound curve than with some of the other specific vehicles solve this byproviding a mix of flat sheets and completely moulded parts for the ‘occasions where those parts are ‘more complex in shape. There are also a number of sets ‘made for individual vehicles done as photo-etched pieces, These ate generally restricted to slab sie whicles due to the inflexbiiey of the medium around compound and tight curves. [prefer the resin approach over phoco-etch as the etched type is naturally very flat looking, Although thi, Zinmarit has some relief to the ridges that phoco-etchjast doestit reproduce well Homemave ZimmeniT Making your own Zinmert used to be the only option available and there are ewo common approaches hac Tim aware of The frst involves imprinting the pattern directly conto dhe model using either a heated screwdriver head ot a small pyrogravure. A pyrogravure is just an clectriclly heated needle that can be ‘sed to shape soft materials such as plastic. Ie can be used to engrave the characteristic Zimmer ridges into the surfice of the model. The other ‘option requites a thin application of putty to the model and the pattern can then be imprinted with some form of Zinmer tool. [five the latter approach fora number of reasons, The pyrogravure method leaves very little room for error as it ivetly affects the surfice of the model. Is also hard co represent realistically chipped Zinmrit this way. Real Zimmer has depeh of course and, although very thin at this scale the pyrograrure method wot give this For the second approach ny preferred medium is Millipue epony putty ts long drying time leaves plenty of scope to fix errors and co even remove it all if youre unhappy with the resale. Once dry fics very hard and crab but be realistically chippest away just like the weal ching. As always there is ‘negative and achieving a thin enough ‘uniform layer can be a challenge but cone that I dni eink is beyond the capabilcy of most modellers, Te star I roughen up all the surfaces that will have an application of the Zimmer Doing so gives the putty a better surface to adhere to, preventing it from faking off when set. A coarse piece of wee and dry will do the trick and scouring the surfice with this will give ita rough feel. I often score some criss-cross lines ver the surface 100 just to give it an extra bic of texture. One of the keys to creating realistic Zinment i eo gee a scale thickness, For small-scale models this is thin indeed, but epoxy putty is resilient and pliable ‘enough to make this possible, Ive seen and attempted a few different ways of getting a goos coverage ‘over the years. For fla, featureless surfaces I've tried rolling out a chin sheet of putty, draping it over the area and farther flattening and "ve used a couple of homemade Zimment oo for mary years now and theyve served me wel. The fst one, to the top ofthe petri just plastic hse made with apiece of sanded plastic stip and aplastic tube handle [tthe bottom ia thin stip fom the ledge ofa CD case fitted toa makes handle,Roughening up the surface with coarse wet and dry paper wil ive the putty ‘apply the mixed putty with anol bat scalpel blade by pres and forcing small pieces of Smoothing the putt of should b withthe scalpel blade liberally covered in wate. Using plenty of water ensures doesn't pl away rom the surface. 59CHAPTER 3 © ADVANCED CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES ‘ny excess putty hanging off the edges can be sce vay. With a nice smooth application of putty in place the next step is to start, imprinting the pattern ont it. Foe this | ue the tol made from astip of CD case edge. This ceates a single column of idges a atime and moving along the model wl bul up the fll pattern, The previous step creates al the ridges but they look too unfrm, The chisel shaped tool can then be used to deepen these ridges and give them a more natural, rougher look. Once this done and the put sary, a ight sanding is sometimes necessary to femave any pertculrly rough bit left overthen trimming it.I done take this approach any more and now apply small pieces of patty, squashed initially beeween my finger and thumb, to the model worl all che aeas are covered, This allows you to push down each piece firmly to further flatten it and co gt it to adhere better to the surface. By the time this is finished the model will This rear plate shows some chipping damage applied to the Zimmer Chipping smal areas away along edges ‘or areas of most wear and tear with a seapel vill ive a realistic faking and chiping effec. bbe covered in all che right areas but the putty surface will appear very rough, To temove this I take an ‘old blunt scalpel blade and use it like a small trowel Is essential that yous use plenty of water at cis sage to avoid getting the putty stuck to the blade and then palling away. From the surface. Applying pressure with the blade helps fAseeen the purty even more against the model. This will produce some ‘overhanging puaty thar can be scraped or trimmed off with a kif, giving ie better adhesion. This approach will work for any area, no matter how small or large, and by the time it’ finished there will bea smooth, thin and niform layer of purty over all the areas requiring Zammert, Next the pattern has to be applied before the purty sets hard, otherwise you'll end up with a lor ‘of work trying to remove the harsened purty in onder to start again, Fortunately Millipuc gives an hour or so of working time before it starts to Grm up and quite a bit longer uni i has fally set. For flac aeas T use the first of my own two Zimmert tools to lightly mark out the ridge pattern, This is just a ehin 6strip from the side of a CD case thac has a series of ridges with spaces that match that needed in this seale. Note that there are different types of ridged patterns fon the cases and one other type I've seen, for example is too lage for this. cat stip that is just the ight wideh fora single column of ridges and of a height thae would cover the height of the slabs om a large vehicle such asa Jagdtiger. This ensures i¢ can cover any vehicle in small scale. Adding a small handle to it will make it easier to control and a piece of plastic tube i good enough for this. ‘Start working from one end of cach area and apply lots of water to the surface and tool to make sure it dloesne pull away bits of putty. The ridges on the tool can quite easly trap small picces of patty which in turn can stick to the surface and pull further bits off: Genely pushing the tool into the patty and. palling away again should resule in nice straight column of ridges. Gradually moving along the pare 4 column width ata time and. repeating the procedure until the whole area is covered will result in a very neat pattern of ridges. Photos of real Zinmert show ie to be a bit rougher than this so to reproduce this appearance I switch to the other Zinmeri tool. This is no more than a chiscl-ended strip of plastic ‘of juse the right width co create single Zinmert ridge. Using the ridges jus created as a guide I then _g0 over each one again with this, ac righe angles ico the surfice, an angle of about 45 degrees from under ic will push cach ridge along a ltl, giving Rather chan pushi 4 more realistic appearance, The other use fo tis tool is fr areas that are too small fo the frst rool to reach, In these cases the chiseled tool can be used alone to recreate the parce, Simiasy curved surfaces will also require just he use of the chisel. Once the whe snodelis covered it should be left tun the puty is rok has Sometimes the surface may appear bit eough still anda very lighe sanding can fx this. Doi sand 00 much though asi will give the tops of the ridges too flat an appearance, which looks sntealisic. One othe thing you may wish to do at his poine is recreate damaged areas. This is one ofthe strengths ofthis approach due tothe similarity ofthe hard pte with real Zinmerit Carel examination of photos shows that Zimmer often chipped away in certain patterns. [Along the inner areas of the vidges is one place where i would be weaker and in general areas whore the crew would be mot likely to knock against i. Just che ip of a scalpel blade is enough to gently prise off flakes of putty: If you have a micro chisel then dis useful for doing this too, Pushing the tip into a vge and pushing up and avay ftom the model will crack a piece of the putty off in realistic fashion. Chipped areas are often seen following along some of the ridges where the Zinmzrit paste fs at its thinnest and weakest CASTING YOUR OWN RESIN PARTS The idea of casting your own resin parts may appeat daunting but I hope to show here that casting simple items is relly easier than mighe be thought. In face {aisly complex items can be cast without the need for specialized cquipment ~ i just requires a bit of thought om how they can be spl into simpler part, Professional casting facilities will be able co produce complex multi-part moulds and ase expensive pressure equipment. This will force the resin into the smallest of decails in the master whilse minimizing the number of air bubbles. The time and money reeded to invest in this approach will be out of the reach of the vast majority of modellers, so ‘over the years Ive used a very basi setup and some lel ericks to give surprisingly good results DESIGNING AND SCRATCH- BUILDING A MASTER Tm going to look at how eo crate a complex item, in this case a Maybach HL230 engine block as found inthe Tiger Tl eank and its devvatves. Once the master is done I'l look at how to create 4 mould from it and finallyhow copies ean he east in resi Building complex parts lke this bie able ta cast copies from i¢ that can be removed easily from that mould. With specialist cas | used two thick pices of plastic strip forthe buk of the engine block. Gluing and provides handle to make holding 1 forthe duration ofthe process ‘The detail ate now being built up on the sides. ls important to remember hat the pats wll need to be removed fem moulds, Undercuts ae ine as long ‘aso aim to avoid very thin gaps asthe ‘mouiding rubber can get stuck in these and tea when removing the par ceude shape of th he. Creating cach sub-iten ler de n be moulded od moulds farther in ter nd imagine Mac-sided d thae it could be side pieces that would join on their flat sides and a top part thac would ne the and fromCHAPTER 3 © ADVANCED CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES gin block is being built up. Again it hae ft The top section of the and cast. ve attached it here witha smal amount of superglue. This wil lta added but wil alow it to be separated later when creating Two ae fiers sit on the very top ofthe engi ‘only tem | soured fom kt and provided with Dragon Tiger Il As far as easting will go, the engine socks finshed and one ofthe fies temporal sting on top to give an idea of what the engine wl utimately ook ke. I requites some plumbing and wiring tobe added but these wil have tobe done alter the parts haveat one end only, Doing this keeps as a handle, making it much easier or making the master moulds. Its CREATING A MOULD assembled the engine back into ts component parts. These were 4 toa shoot of plastic car ound groups of them using plastic strip. The material used 10 make the moulds is om ;emperature vulcanizing rubber RTV). This come thick ubbery solid with the addition RIV co catalyst is usally given based on weight, and so T measun this out using digital kitchen se These are accurate to 1g which ine forthe amounts of RTV 1 safety, RTV and the catalyse in particular are hazardous materials and need to be treated with great are. Always weat gloves when handling them —1 use latex gloves as they give adequate protection ontral. You should also wear eye a perfectly good level of protection of work. Final mounted ina sallow box created from plastic stip and shee