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InteriorPortada.indd 1 03/10/14 13:39

 PANZER ACES Nº 47 2014

2 RUSSIAN B-4 MOD. 1931 203 MM. HOWITZER

Cristóbal Vergara Durán shows us how to make the necessary modifications and
the lively three color pattern for this heavy Fifth Army of AFV’s from the Guards
heavy gun, which faced the German units in Kursk.
The author gives us an in depth tour of this assault gun transported by a
Voroshovilets tractor which was reviewed on issue 45.

16 PPRU-1M 9S80M SBORKA

An interesting vehicle with radar for aircraft systems control proposed by
Laurent Stankowiak, where we can appreciate an outstanding paintjob, several
weathering levels which confer a very realistic look to a vehicle with many
operational hours behind it.

30 AFKWX 352 DUMPER

Pretty much in his line of introducing unique model kits, in this case one built
with a Masters Productions resin cabin and recreating the rest of the vehicle
almost from scratch, Pedro Andrada gives us a model which was given a high
quality paintjob matching Pedro’s work by Michel Pérez.

42 GTU 1 – CHERNÓBIL
Pascal Renault recreates a clean-up vehicle employed after the Chernobyl
accident. Using the hull of a T-55 taken from an old Trumpeter kit, he scratch
builds this tractor which was abandoned at the access gates of this devastated
territory.

58 SERBIAN SERVICE T-55

Maritn Siska gives us this Russian Army piece employed in the Serbian Service,
with an extremely interesting paintjob, which recreates in a surprising way mud
in different stages of dampness and dirt clusters throughout the vehicle.

www.euromodelismo.com www.facebook.com/PanzerAces.Magazine?fref=ts

1indice.indd 1 03/10/14 11:22

 Rus

By Cristóbal Vergara Durán Pictures by the author

Trumpeter 1/35

On July the 12th 1943 there was in Prokhorovka a Soviet

counteroffensive undertaken by the Fifth Army of AFV’s from the
Guard against the choice German units from the Second Panzer
Group of the SS. The Germans in the southern sector of Kursk had
advanced and had succeeded in arriving to the outskirts of the town
of Prokhorovka in order to face there the bulk of the Soviet Armored
Units and had the intention of eradicating these and continue their
way to the very center of the main German offensive op.

/2

2-15_B-4 203.indd 2 03/10/14 11:00

ussian B-4 Mod. 1931

203 mm. Howitzer

2-15_B-4 203.indd 3 03/10/14 11:02
 T
his advance broke all the initial
plans of the Russian counteroffen-
sive, and what should have been
a well coordinated countercoup against
the German forces became a precipitous
frontal assault against the Das Reich,
Adolf Hitler and Totenkopf divisions of
the SS. A few hours before the attack on
the night of July the 11th, the Fifth Army
of AFV’s from the Guard had to transfer
20% of its tank force to the Second Corps
of Soviet AFV’s in order to be able to stop
the dangerous penetration of the Third
Panzer Corps which was approaching by
their left flanks.
The Russian counterstrike was planned
to take place at 8:30 AM so the artillery
preparations began half an hour earlier.
The counterstrike was basically an artillery
barrier which lasted for about ten minutes
in the Vasilevka Komsomolets-Ivanosvkii
State Farm Vyselok-Belenikhino sectors.
This was followed by five minutes of
methodical fire to the enemy’s rear posi-
tions and another five minutes of direct
fire to targets chosen by the needs and
ASSEMBLY
The B4 is without question the most
spectacular artillery gun of all the Soviet
material from WWII. The Trumpeter kit is
quite good and its level of detail is best
described as excellent. There are many
real units in museums and if we compare
the details on the kit against the real thing
I was able to find only the slightest dif-
ferences on the internal area of the gun’s
bracing. There are two known versions of
the B4 gun: the modern one, which can
be told apart by its four radius steering
wheels and the initial version which had
five. The Chinese brand reproduces the
first one but I wanted to customize my kit
as much as I could, so I recreated the latter
one. So, besides modifying the steering
wheels for this weapon I had to retouch
the hydraulic cylinders under the gun
because its end should be straight and
not curved in this version. There are also
a few other small details I’ve changed that
can best be perceived in the pictures of
the kit before painting. Now I’ll focus on
the improvements made to my kit which
are applicable to any version of the B4.
/4
2-15_B-4 203.indd 4
the petitions of the corps commanders.
During the final ten minutes salves with
the Katiushka were also made.
The 522 Regiment of Heavy Mortars
was the only unit in that area with the
powerful B4 in its ranks. It had two bat-
teries of six guns per battery. The first one
was to the east of the Prokhorovka sta-
tion and the second one to the north of
Tikhaia Padina, on the Prokhorovka road
to the neighborhood of Druznoy. One of
the most frequent problems of the units
was the lack of motorized means of trans-
portation, so the artillery units of the
Red Army reached their positions in the
late afternoon/night of July the 11th, so
scouting missions were quite out of the
question, along with establishing a few
points of observation to gain some knowl-
edge of the exact enemy positions.
The artillery units -strictly following
orders- began their work in time, but did
not make a significant dent in the well
organized Nazi defenses, loosing there-
fore the huge chance of introducing in
the battle all of the Fifth Army of AFV’s
In the area of rotation where the gun
and the bracing meet I added a few
sections of styrene sheet and then I
drilled it in order to be able to insert
in this area the rotation axis for the
weapon.
Using 0.6mm tin wire
and a Plasticard rod
I recreated the bar
which goes from the
gun’s sight to the
inside of the bracing.
from the Guard. What came next is the
greatest AFV battle of WWII, a battle
who took place in a narrow corridor of
hardly seven kilometers wide where about
a thousand Soviet tanks faced almost
300 German AFV’s. The Russians took a
beating on that day, massacred first by the
German antitank and assault guns which
were waiting for them. Later on the effi-
cient Luftwaffe did their stunts and even if
during the first hours of the day there was
a bona fide tank scuffle from both sides,
the Soviets took the worst part with irre-
coverable losses summing up some 200
lost tanks and 300 damaged ones. On
the German side the losses were only 160
vehicles either damaged or lost, but they
were able to fix most of their own vehi-
cles, whereas on the Russian side these
were mostly irrecoverable losses. How-
ever the Soviet reserves were humongous
and hardly a week later, the Fifth Army
of AFV’s from the Guard of Rosmitrov
received backup material and 40% of the
losses suffered on July the 12th were thus
recovered.
Modification on the rear of the gun.
03/10/14 11:03
 Modification
on the left side
of the gun’s
bracing.

Modification
on the right
side of the
gun’s bracing.

Central gun cylinder with rear of gun.

With this wire I replaced the other

bar which goes to the left side on the
central body of the gun.

New five radius

steering wheels.

Certain levers were replaced by All rings were also made anew with
copper sheet ones copper wire.

Detail of the gun’s tracks.

5/

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 MATERIALS EMPLOYED
Kit:
TRUMPETER 1/35 Russian B-4 Mod.
1931 203 mm. Howitzer No 02307
Accessories:
FRIULMODEL Soviet 203 mm. B-4
On the seats I glued a padding made with two component putty. The arm rests Howitzer metal tracks ATL-109
were also improved by changing these for ones made out of copper wire. RB MODELS 203 mm. L/24 Turned gun
RB35B52
RB MODELS 203 mm. Metal Projectiles
RB35P32
ORUZEYNIK Limber for howitzer B-4
OR35PK001

I used putty (two

component one) to
sculpt a canvas sheet
to cover up the sight
when the gun was
being transported.

/6

2-15_B-4 203.indd 6 03/10/14 11:04

 The gun itself was also replaced by
the turned metal RB reference which
has some extraordinary details on its
mouthpiece.

The tracks were greatly improved with a few Friul metallic track links to replace
the kit’s own.

Detail of the modification on the rear

of the turned metal gun.

Detail of gun’s crane.

A most important detail is the two large winches on the frontal area
which were used to coil the cable that reset the weapon right after a
shot was made. In this kit both winches are empty, but it is necessary
to put a cable here. I employed 0.8mm nylon wire.

7/

2-15_B-4 203.indd 7 03/10/14 11:05

 From the very beginning I wanted to assemble the
B4 in a way which enabled me to take pictures of
it both in a shooting position and also while it was
being towed by a tractor. I specifically wanted to
use a Voroshilovets tractor, and this means that
some parts –the crane and the gun itself- could not
be glued in order to be able to recreate a real scene
later on.

/8

2-15_B-4 203.indd 8 03/10/14 11:05

 The Trumpeter kit does include the solid metallic towing wheels which were used with the
initial versions of the gun. The Russian brand Oruzeynik has a resin towing set with wheels of
this kind –with radiuses- suitable for the Kursk battle period.

9/

2-15_B-4 203.indd 9 03/10/14 11:06

 PAINTING
It is curious to know that the Soviet AFV’s
were rarely camouflaged while their own
guns had a wide range of camouflage pat-
terns. This means that the B4 howitzer was
in all likelihood camouflaged. There were a
number of widely used camouflage patterns:
sand and brown color on an olive green
background and the other pattern is the
same colors except for the sand hue which is
replaced by black. Sometimes all four colors
were used combined. I have chosen to depict
the brown and black on green.
I began by fully covering the gun in Humbrol’s olive green and then After having marked the details with
did a number of small highlights and shadows with the same color green and dark brown I applied a light
but lighted or darkened to enhance the volumes. The camouflage coat of the dry brush to enhance some
pattern has straight edges, so certain areas were masked with low of the areas which stick out. The brown
adherence tape. The distribution of the camo spots was copied from hue was lighted up with sand color and
period pictures. I began by applying brown paint first and finished black was lighted with bronze color.
by applying the black areas. The canvas of the seat was painted
with Vallejo’s Soviet Uniform.

Oil paint hues were used for doing light grime streaks and some stains on the entire
surface, allowing for a rather generous amount of drying time afterwards –days in
fact-. I began to apply dirt by airbrushing with a low air pressure a highly diluted
sand hue. Right after having applied it I soaked a brush on
Humbrol’s enamel thinner and removed it in a way
that only the creviced areas an all such had any
traces of this “dirt” left.

/ 10

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 The tracks were covered with a mixture
of black and gun metal paint, and
later on I applied only gun metal paint
with the dry brush technique. Then I
did several washes with White Spirit
using rust colored oil paints. When this
was fully dry I applied a lighter wash
On the upper areas of the kit I created a number of paint chips and scratches with MIG pigments Europe Dust and
with graphite and other ones with dark brown paint. Later on I added some Rubbel Dust. I finished the work on the
Rubbel Dust from MIG diluted in White Spirit because I didn’t want it to affect tracks by enhancing some details with
the sand colored enamel I had previously applied. Aluminum paint and then I placed the
tracks on the kit.

When everything was dry enough I recreated a few grease leaks on the
area where the gun’s axis rotate with a mixture of red, black and gloss
varnish.

The projectiles were painted in a medium gray

For the bar located on the upper left side I employed polished aluminum
paint.
color and I put some thin aluminum colored
strips which were made with decals of that
color. The small carts for moving ammunition
around were painted green but I applied on
top of that a few blue and grass green filters to
create some contrast with the green on the gun.
11 /

2-15_B-4 203.indd 11 03/10/14 11:08

 / 12

2-15_B-4 203.indd 12 03/10/14 11:08

 For the tow with wheels I used the same
green employed on the B4. Mat black was
used to paint the rubber area on the wheels.
The weathering process was the same one
followed on the gun.

13 /

2-15_B-4 203.indd 13 03/10/14 11:10

 COLOR CHART
AK 76 Uniform Green PANZER ACES
AK015 Dust Effects 75 Bronze Green 326 Russian Tankcrew II MIG
HUMBROL 126 US Medium Grey 327 Italian Tankcrew P232 Dry Mud
116 US Dark Green MODEL COLOR 328 Japanese Tankcrew P033 Dark Mud
150 Forest Green 941 Burnt Umber VAN GOGH P234 Rubbel Dust
186 Brown 983 Flat Earth 105 Titanium White P023 Black Smoke
33 Black 877 Goldbrown 227 Yellow ochre P025 Standard Rust
53 Gun Metal 924 Russian Uniform WWII 411 Burnt sienna MARABU
56 Aluminium 950 Black 511 Cobalt blue 1106 05 Gloss Varnish
11 Silver 951 White

/ 14

2-15_B-4 203.indd 14 03/10/14 11:10

2-15_B-4 203.indd 15 03/10/14 11:10
 PPRU-1M
SBORKA M
“DOG EAR”

/ 16

16-29_PPRU 1M.indd 16 03/10/14 11:24

M /9S80M

By: Laurent Stankowiak Pictures by the author

SP Design 1/35

The Russian aerial defense command post PPRU-1M

SBORKA code name NATO: DOG EAR uses the
MTLB-U frame. It is equipped with radar for the
aircraft defense systems control, tactics and artillery
for the SA-19 Tunguska, the ZSU-23 Shilka or the
SA-19 Grison. The Sborka is perfectly capable of
hitting moving or still targets.

17 /

16-29_PPRU 1M.indd 17 03/10/14 11:24

 B
y the late 70’s, and with the inten-
tions of improving the management
of the anti-aircraft fire, a command
vehicle was created to control the auto-
matic anti-aircraft systems, the PPRU-1
9S80 “Taon M-SV” mounted on the frame
of the MTLB-U which was introduced in
1978.
The updating of the PPRU-1 took place
a number of years later and by 1986 the
PPRU-1M Sborka M was introduced. It has
a great capacity to interfere in the radar
jamming system and it can ID the nation-
ality of the targets or objectives, receive
information via the the aircraft defense
division and from the Heep “Dorne”
radars. These communications and the
automatic gathering of the coordinates are
backed up during the operations where the
vehicle is in movement. It can also manage
the anti-aircraft fire, fired by the infantry.
The PPRU-1M Sborka M is equipped
with 9S80 M1 “Dog Ear” radar, with a com-
puter controlled command system, a multi
channel data emitter-receptor, an internal
and external communications support,
a navigational and surveillance system, a
training mode, an emergency equipment
and an electrical M-412 feed, all mounted
on the frame of the MTLB-U.
The five men crew consists of the
defense chief (anti-aircraft battalion com-
mander), the operations chief, operators
and a mechanic in charge of the radio/tel-
egraph or radio/phone.
MTLB-U
During the 1970’s a program is devel-
oped to replace the series AT-P artillery
tractors based on the ASU-57 for a new
generation of vehicles. The MT-L had been
developed to fulfill these demands and
was mounted on the hull of the PT-76.
The MT-LB is the armored version of this
vehicle. Production began in the early 70’s;
it wasn’t expensive to build because it had
several components which were already in
existence, including its engine which was
previously used for a truck. The MT-LBU
was employed as a base for a number of
specialized vehicles. It was built in the
Kharkov tractor factory in the former Soviet
Union. Its compartment in the rear has
13 square meters of volume. The vehicle
is fully amphibious and it propels under
water by its own impulse.
Specifications:
Weight 15550 kg
Length 7.21m
Width 1.85m
Height 1.905m
YaMZ-238N engine, V-8 diesel 300hp
at 2100rpm
Range: 500km
Speed 61, 5 km/h on a paved road
30 km/h in rough ground
5 to 6km/h in water
In 2007 a new version was introduced:
the PPRU-M1-2 (9S80M 1-2), equally
using the MTLB-U as its base. This vehicle
is employed for control on the ground and
during combats the more complex aerial
defense units like the “Shilka-M4” the
“Tunguska-M1” or the “Tor-M1”.

THE KIT
The Sborka kit developed for SP
Designs by a Ukrainian craftsman and
self taught modeler is currently the only
kit which contains different versions using
the frame of the MTLB-U. Even if the
main outlines of the kit are basically cor-
rect, the level of detailing is quite poor.
There are even a few “shrunken” or con-
tracted pieces which need to be filled with
a generous amount of putty. The quality
of the molding is good, but some air bub-
bles need to be taken care of. The radar’s
grille is not included so we’ll have to use
the one included in the Eduard set. The
tracks were replaced by the Friulmodel
ones, because the original tracks even
if finely detailed are extremely frail and
many links are broken. The rings were also
deformed and that’s why I replaced these
for the Miniarms ones. The kit is made in
high quality resin and there are no major
assembly issues.
This short run kit afforded us the oppor-
tunity of doing an original piece, but it has
been a hard labor, including the research
chores and the detailing and detail-cor-
recting work which was most necessary in
order to obtain an updated kit.
Once we’ve taken care of the mold
ejector marks and other residual mark-
/ 18
ings, the pieces are sanded and cleansed
with dishwasher soap. The ensemble has
to be taken care of by assembly groups.
A close study of the pictures of the real
vehicle will give us an idea of the modifi-
cations required for this kit. The assembly
has to be done by sections starting with
the frontal area. The wheel gear should be
assembled last.
The exhaust has been replaced. The
rear of the vehicle was made with a
resin block leaving the exhaust pipes
sticking out. On the front area we
put two stainless steel stubs wrapped
with aluminum sheet.
Once the original exhaust has been
removed from this structure, we make
a cover for it with aluminum sheet.
The template has been obtained from
the original kit’s piece; with it we’ve
etched the sheet.
We now put the hood on top of the
new exhausts without any major
issues. Then we will have to put a
hook on the frontal area.

16-29_PPRU 1M.indd 18 03/10/14 11:24

 We’ve replaced the kit’s resin
reflectors for Eduard P.E. parts made
for the MTLB, because the P.E. pieces
are much finer. Each deflector has
eight pieces assembled with a small
blow torch. Once we’re done, we’ll
need to sand the surface with 600 grit
sandpaper. The 6 vertical rails are
set in place and fixed with
cyanoacrylate glue.
Materials employed to make this piece: liquid weld, blowtorch, fast glue and
drying accelerator.

The radar is
given further
detail by adding
antennas made
out of drilled
styrene cutouts
with added
copper wire
which was cut
two millimeters
on each end.
The optics has been replaced by pieces
taken from my box of spare parts, and
the locks had to be reworked. The
wiring was made with lead wire.

On the rear of the radar dish, the articulated arm and

all the wiring of the small antennas and the details on
the boxes have been recreated by closely following
the graphic research materials. Some resin pieces
have been replaced and were remade out of copper
or Plasticard, always with the intention of keeping
everything in the proper scale.

16-29_PPRU 1M.indd 19 03/10/14 11:25

 The frontal grille is taken from an Eduard set. It has
been set in place and glued with contact glue pressing
the P.E. piece against the resin one to get it to adopt
the right shape. Leftover P.E. materials were sanded
until the surface was flush.
In the front part we can glue now all the small antennas which
had been built earlier. The two frontal antennas are slightly
larger than the rest. The receptor and the boxes are built out of
Plasticard and then we recreate the wiring for the antennas. The
cover on top of the radar was built out of copper sheet.

MATERIALS EMPLOYED
Kit: PPRU-1M 9S80M Sborka M:
SP Design 1/35
Tracks: Friulmodelismo/Friulmodel
Rings: Mimiarm
Accessories: Eduard, copper, Evergreen sty-
rene, white metal, lead wire, AK lenses.

The antennas were taken from an RB-Model

set. This kind of antenna is common to many
Russian vehicles and it provides an interesting
contrast once the kit is painted, because its
color is white.

The upper half of the

frame is now glued
in place; the lower
half does not need
much adjustment.
With a little bit of
Games Workshop’s
Green Stuff we can
adequately conceal
the union.
/ 20

16-29_PPRU 1M.indd 20 03/10/14 11:25

 The rear deck is entirely replaced because of the sorry
estate of the original piece. The new piece gives us a flat
base for gluing all the items which will be glued to the
generator.
The trap door pulls are remade using copper wire. The
rear generator is entirely covered with Plasticard sheet in
order to get a totally flat and straight surface to put all the
details. The supports and the hooks are made with either
aluminum or copper. The support mast is entirely made out
of Plasticard to make sure that we get a thin enough piece.
The wiring for the position lights is made out of lead wire.
16-29_PPRU 1M.indd 21
The front part has been almost fully remade. The shutters
which were originally closed and were part of the hull have
been removed and replaced by P.E. pieces taken from an
Eduard set for the MTLB. The hinges have been remade
with Plasticard and the window openings have been drilled
open on the hull. The headlight covers have been built
with welded copper wire. The horn and the headlight
are both wired and their support is made out Plasticard.
The frontal ventilation trap door and the vent have been
opened and were made out of copper and aluminum sheet.
The lower part of the hull has been detailed with Eduard
P.E. pieces.
The two deflectors are held in place with hooks, a copper
support bar goes through both of these hooks. The pulls
are all made out of copper wire and the wire supports are
further detailed with Grand Line’s bolts.
The fastenings for the deflectors are level with the tracks
and are built out of aluminum sheet. The trap doors and
the locks are replaced by Plasticard made pieces.
21 /
03/10/14 11:25
 The trap door for gaining
access to the electric
transmitter feeds is left
open and its details are
properly reproduced.
The nuts are made out of 0.64mm round
Plasticard sections cut to 1mm and drilled
holes. The towing cable has been formed
around a real cable.
The engine’s ventilation grille has
been fully replaced. The ventilation
vents have been made out of
Plasticard sheet and these have been
left closed. A grille is placed on the
upper surface and then it is deformed
in order to convey the wear and
tear caused by the crew. The front
deflectors are placed on one side and
then two lead sheet straps are used to
fix them in place. The small trap door
on the upper surface is replaced by a
new one made out of aluminum sheet.

The two resin tracks are extremely fragile so these do easily loose a fair
amount of cogs. That’s why these have been replaced by the Friulmodel ones
(ref. ATL-56).

Once we’re
done with the
kit’s assembly
we wash it with
dishwasher soap
and water. The
metal parts are
primed with Mr.
Metal Primer in
order to optimize
paint adherence.

The Frilumodel metal cog wheels are

used to replace the resin ones along
with the rings which are also Miniarm
replacements which –unlike the ones
from the kit- are in the proper scale.

You should choose the right priming

because otherwise paint will clog the
radar’s grille. Bear in mind that the
priming is not the only coat of paint
which will be applied here.
/ 22

16-29_PPRU 1M.indd 22 03/10/14 11:25

 The hull is made with an aluminum alloy, so when it comes to Then we use several rust colored hues applied with
recreate the paint chips later on we spray now an XF-9 Hull Red a sponge. Later on we apply over the hull three coats
base on the areas where we want to recreate rust. of hairspray allowing between coats 15 minutes of
drying time.

The treatment applied to the radar is identical, but in We apply now a base color coat containing XF-58 (3) and H312
order to obtain the desired results we will have to use (1) covering up the entire vehicle.
the AK products.

During this
stage, in the
areas we are
working on,
we should
be able to
see some
of the color
underneath
and the
different rust
effects.

Once we’re
By using a stiff haired paintbrush or a done, we
wet toothpick we remove the green apply again
paint to recreate the paint chips. We three coats
work on the areas where X-9 had of hairspray
been previously applied. allowing again
15 minutes of
drying time
between coats.

23 /

16-29_PPRU 1M.indd 23 03/10/14 11:25

 The radar and the hull
are not painted with
the same hue; these
elements are painted
with a green color
containing a mixture of
XF-58 and H312. This
hue was modulated in
three stages by adding
white and spraying an
increasingly thinner
coat on the areas
which require greater
highlighting.

Now we take the stiff haired

paintbrush and rub paint off to reveal
the first paint coat.

Now we apply the base color: AK’s

Sand 725. This color has to be lighted
up several times with white (XF-2) in
order to recreate the light effects on
the upper part of the hull.

The green camouflage bands are made

with XF-58 (3) and H312 (1), the
central area of the camouflaged zones
on the upper surfaces are retouched
with XF-58 (5) and H312 (5).

The superimposed black bands on top

of the green areas have been painted
with XF1 and the upper edges of it
have been lighted up with XF-69.
/ 24

16-29_PPRU 1M.indd 24 03/10/14 11:25

 The dry Verlinden transfers
are now fixed in place and
then we do two kinds of
paint filters: a lighter one on
the upper areas (P242) and
the other one with AK’s 76
on the rest of the hull.

Paint weathering is recreated

with MIG 502 Abteilung
oils (White 001, Ochre 155,
TSB, Green Grass o94, Olive
Green 050, Dark Mud 130).
The colors are applied by
following the pattern of the
camouflage hues.

Oil paint is melted on the

kit’s surface with White
Spirit; this is done by color
groups. This is made to
either tone down or create
further nuances with the
original gloss of the
original color.

At this stage AK paint can

be easily removed because
even if it covers up the
surface pretty thoroughly,
it is quite porous, which
makes the task easier.
Tamiya paint on the contrary
covers the surface well
but is quite airtight. These
characteristics are used to
our advantage when it comes
to creating some relief on the
kit via the paint chippings.
A fiberglass grate helps us
recreate the weathering of
the camouflage colors and let
the yellow hues surface.

25 /

16-29_PPRU 1M.indd 25 03/10/14 11:25

 The vertical streaks are made with
AK’s 045 “Dark Wash for Green
Vehicles”, by doing vertical brush
strokes insisting on the relief
areas and the paint chipped ones.
Once dry, we apply White Spirit
in downwards motions in order to
narrow down the streak and make
it stretch. Now we apply the rust
streaks. Dirt is recreated the other
way around -going from the lower
to the upper surfaces- using AK’s
074 “Rain Marks for NATO Tanks”.
This color is applied on top of the
streaks.

We’ve employed color pigments to

recreate dirt on the upper surfaces.
The mixture is applied in a rough
way and then once dry, we use
makeup brushes to remove excess.
What we get is dirt accumulated
around the relief features which
had been previously shaded.

A paint veil with Tamiya’s XF-52

“Flat Earth” and XF-57 “Buff” is
sprayed all over the lower areas of
the hull and in a very subtle way on
the mid areas.

We prepare a mixture of plaster,

AK’s 080 Summer Kursk Earth,
synthetic grass and sand. A few
paint splashes are made with it
by using an old toothbrush and a
toothpick on the lower areas
of the hull.

/ 26

16-29_PPRU 1M.indd 26 03/10/14 11:25

 We apply on the tracks a
coat of Games Workshop’s
black paint as priming. Then
we apply a paint veil with
XF-52 “Flat Earth” (75%)
and XF57 “Buff” (25%) and
AK’s 083 “Track Wash”.
Once dry, we use color
pigments (Standard Rust/
Light Rust/Russian Earth/
Dark Mud/Concrete) fixed
with Pigment Fixer. We put
some graphite on the tracks
at the rings’ height and
also on the cogs, smearing
it later.

The exhausts: first we apply black color

pigments on these and on the edge of the
hull. We recreate oil streaks with Mig
The radar is given further detail with different colors and then we apply “Oil and Grease” which is darkened with
some paint chips with AK’s 711 “Chipping Color”. black oil 160 “Engine Grease”.We make a
few splashes by using a toothbrush and a
toothpick.

Paint chips on the door allow you to see the rust
color and the green color underneath, thanks to the
superimposed coats of paint. The wires are painted
with PA’s 865 steel color, and on top of that color
we’ve made a wash with AK’s 083 “Track Wash”; I
finished the work here by rubbing graphite powder
on the corners which stick out.
On the tracks, the wheel gear and the lower areas of the hull we
apply Vallejo’s pigment 73105 Natural Sienna and 73103 Dark
Yellow Ochre in order to integrate the chromatic hues of the
different areas. We now pass the graphite bar on the metal band
of the rings as a way of conveying the wear of the tracks’ cogs.
27 /

16-29_PPRU 1M.indd 27 03/10/14 11:25

 A light coat of dirt is applied on the rear of the radar using The weathering on the radar is much subtler.
the same general hues we’ve employed earlier.

Paint scratches are made by using
a toothpick during the chipping
stage. Red lenses are employed to
recreate the position lights.
Some washes have been applied
on the hull to get more nuances on
the base colors. The two trap doors
allow you to see the pigments
we’ve deposited.
The vertical
-reconstructed-
stretcher frame gets the
same retouching than
the rest of the hull does.

In order to make a
more realistic headlight
we’ve added a lens. The
periscopes are painted The pigments
with Pa’s 997 silver deposited
and also received a in a vertical
transparent blue coat of disposition stand
Hobby Color’s H93. out particularly.
The headlights (notice The retouching
how its casing has lost made to the
its original color) air intake for
are retouched with a the engine
sponge soaked in PA’s accentuates the
“grey black”. realistic results.
/ 28

16-29_PPRU 1M.indd 28 03/10/14 11:25

 On the rear of the radar we
do the same retouching we’ve
done to the rest of the hull. The
jack’s bellows are painted with
Tamiya’s “NATO black”.

The paint chips

starting with the
yellow hue have
allowed us to run the
range of the entire Tamiya
camouflage getting from all
this paint a natural relief. The
pigments applied on top of this
have been clustered around the
different transmitters and supports
giving –along with the shading- a
greater depth to the ensemble.

The different colors for the

antennas, the radar, the hull
and the vehicle offer a very
interesting contrast.

29 /

16-29_PPRU 1M.indd 29 03/10/14 11:25

 AFKWX
DUMPER

/ 30

30-41_Dumper.indd 30 03/10/14 11:43

X 352

Assembly: Pedro Andrada

Painting: Michel Pérez Pictures by the author

Scratch 1/35

GMC and Chevrolet began officially the production of “COE” (Cabin over
engine) trucks in 1939. In spite of the fact that these trucks had no frontal
drive, during WWII the trucks were modified and were mainly used for
military purposes. The initial ACKWX model was based on a GMC which
predated the war. The numerals 353 and 352 were assigned by taking into
consideration the length of the frame; with 4.17 m. for the long one and 3.68
for the shorter one. The first units of this model were manufactured with a
closed metal cabin which was later on modified to an open one armed
with a machine gun mounted on a circular assembly.

31 /

30-41_Dumper.indd 31 03/10/14 11:43

 T
he code for the naming of this
model is as follows:
A: Year of the model (1939);
F: Cabin over engine (COE); K; optional
drive for the front wheels; W: double
drive for both sets of rear wheels; X: spe-
cial frame. Just like the AFKWX, a large
amount of well reputed models were built
using the base of the CCKW both during
WWII and afterwards being used not only
by the armies of many countries but also
by many construction companies, trans-
portation enterprises, firemen, etc, all the
way into the 1970’s.
It has been calculated that over 600.000
models of the different truck versions were
manufactured by GMC.

THE KIT
The idea for building this kit came to me after I was given
a railway company AFKWX manufactured by Wespe Model.
By following my habit of looking for rare and not commercially
available kits, I found the only picture I know of the dumper
version, and I prepared myself to work on a kit that with some
hindsight can be qualified as a torment. I’m saying this because
the Wespe kit is out of scale and that’s why I couldn’t use it.
The final kit is sort of a scratch built piece, made out of different
available pieces and a number of other ones which I made from
scratch.

The frame
The frame used was a 353 manufactured by Italeri which needed
to be shortened down to turn it into a 352. After I studied this model
in question I determined that the transmission employed was the
“banjo” type. (Plate 1) Employing Masters Productions’ transmission

/ 32

30-41_Dumper.indd 32 03/10/14 11:43

 2
system (Ref. VV35028) as our starting
point we built the transmission for the
wheels and for raising the dumper box.
The brake pump, exhaust, fuel deposit
and the support bars for the dumper box
were all rebuilt. The wood texture was rec-
reated by using large grit sandpaper.
The wheels are the ones made for
the Dukw by Mig Productions (Ref. MP
35-016). This kind of vehicles usually car-
ries the spare wheel behind the cabin, so
its support was made by using the vacu-
form technique because we needed to rec-
reate its peculiar shape. (Plate 2).

The cabin
The Wespe cabin was unusable because of its disproportionate size, so the truck required a Masters Productions’ replacement. The
Masters Productions cabin is without question a high quality piece, but the 58 price is a little abusive, bearing in mind the price tag
of a brand new kit.

33 /

30-41_Dumper.indd 33 03/10/14 11:43

 Elevation system
American vehicles usually employ two different kinds of elevation systems for the
dumper box: the Gar Wood Hoist and the Heil Hoist (Plates 3 and 4). After a careful
observation of other models manufactured by GMC, I decided to use the second system,
which is somewhat more complex but definitely more appealing. It was built with dif-
ferent Evergreen styrene products. For the piston’s stem I used a Minimeca rod.

/ 34

30-41_Dumper.indd 34 03/10/14 11:44

 The dumper box
Built entirely from scratch, it is definitely the
“star” feature which once painted will “enliven”
the vehicle if painted right. In order to build the
opening system for the cover and the fastening
to the elevation piston box, we had to con-
sult once again the vehicle’s manual. We
have to be careful and precise, because
the small details are the
ones which may
ruin your kit.

30-41_Dumper.indd 35 03/10/14 11:44

 PAINTING

Imagine for instance that you are great

basketball fan and suddenly out of the
blue Pau Gasol invites you to play shots
with him. How would you react?
Something akin to that happened to
me when Pedro wanted me to paint his
truck. When I started building model kits,
he was already one of the best. So all of a
sudden I turned from being an admirer to
being a collaborator. What a fix!
Obviously this has been a very special
piece of work as far as I am concerned. I
always give my best efforts to every kit I
do, but this time I had more reasons than
usual to give it my best. Additionally,
because of my profession I have been in
contact with an unusually high number of
dumper trucks.

I simply couldn’t fail.

The goal was to portray an operational
vehicle with a realistic amount of weath-
ering for a truck which has carried tons and
tons of debris after helping to clean up a
war stricken Europe. I didn’t have to portray
a “destroyed” cabin or frame, but I had to
accentuate the weathered dumper box.
On the other hand, this truck is a true
canvas full of opportunities to recreate a
range of weathering effects. I was specifi-
cally keen to try my hand at recreating the
weathered steel on the dumper box, the
many paint chips created on the dumper
/ 36

30-41_Dumper.indd 36 03/10/14 11:44

30-41_Dumper.indd 37 03/10/14 11:44
 box when this is being loaded; the dirt
clusters on the roof of the cabin, the
embedded mud on the rubber surface of
the wheels, the rust on the lower surfaces
of the doors, the contrast between the
accumulated dirt and sand on the foot-
boards revealing the naked metal surface
on the area where people’s feet usually
tread, the fuel spills; the mud splashes on
the lower areas of the vehicle…
With these ideas in mind I began to
work. The base color is simply Tamiya’s
XF-65. It is however true that at some
point in the past I must have inadvert-
ently dipped a dirty paintbrush soaked
with XF-64 in the paint can, because as
you can see, this color tends to gray. This
however turned out pretty well, because
the color I got resembles quite closely the
“American Green” seen in many period
pictures. I lighted up very slightly the roof
of the cabin to recreate the intensity color
loss typical of this area. On the other hand
I darkened some corners and specially the
ribbing of the dumper box.
The next step was to plan the paint
chips. It is quite important to carefully
study where to place these, their shape
and size and all of this by learning how
they all happen in the first place. That’s
how I tried to recreate multiple small
chips made by stones on the sides and
the edges of the dumper box. Other chips
similar in shape and size but more sparse
were made in the roof of the cabin. I also
painted on the sides and on the doors a
few more scratches. The front bumper
is the ideal spot for doing a number of
chips of different shapes and sizes. All
paint chips are painted one by one using
Panzer Aces acrylics and a good paint-
brush, except the ones on the sides of the
dumper box which were also made with a
flat tipped hard haired paintbrush. I guess
that using a sponge I might have obtained
similar results.
In some areas, especially on the edges of
the dumper box, I also used the dry brush
technique to recreate the paint loss pro-
duced by friction and then covered by rust.
Then I applied a white oil paint veil
over all areas which tend to accumulate
or receive dirt and on those areas where
paint is weathered. This translates to: the
sides of the dumper box, the lower sur-
faces of the vehicle and the roof of the
cabin. This paint veil was supplemented
by a Naples Yellow oil paint wash to “flesh
out” the areas with a larger dirt accumula-
/ 38

30-41_Dumper.indd 38 03/10/14 11:44

 tion. Then I used sepia colored oil paint to do a few stains here and there
and at the same time I took the opportunity to correct some dirt accumula-
tions that were either much too light or in the wrong places. On the go I also
shaded some corners with this color.
Then with highly diluted acrylic paint and a not very loaded paintbrush, I
did new stains with Model Color’s Burnt Umber and also with a mixture of
several green hues and black, insisting on the doors, the cabin roof, frame
and the dumper box. The parts of the door which are subject to intense
handling are drybrushed with a dark brownish hue.
The lower areas of the vehicle have been weathered basically with
splashes in different sand colored hues, using both acrylic and oil
paints. By varying the dilution of paint we will obtain more or less
defined stains. Both the size of the brush and the stiffness of the
brush’s hairs influence the results obtained.
Dry mud accumulated on the wheels, lower surfaces of the
dumper box, interior face of the fenders, and basically all the
lower areas of the vehicle, is recreated with different sand
colored pigments fixed in place with Humbrol’s enamel
thinner.
The fuel spills are recreated with Titans bitumen
colored paint.
The inside of the dumper box was first painted
with a glossy black coat which was subsequently
covered with Alclad’s Duraluminium product.
Afterwards I did a small color pigment treatment,
fixing pigments with water. Once dry I took
a stiff haired paintbrush and proceeded to
“scratch away” dirt accumulated on the
floor and the sides of the dumper box,
just the way it happens in real life.
The wheels get many acrylic and oil
paint washes, retouches with pigments and
dry brushing with black and gray hues.
The white stars were painted with
a template made out of transparent
adhesive tape. The numerals however
are painted with a P.E. template.

39 /

30-41_Dumper.indd 39 03/10/14 11:44

 / 40

30-41_Dumper.indd 40 03/10/14 11:45

 BIBLIOGRAPHY
- PANZER ACES Nº1 - Accion Press
- WHEELS & TRACKS Nº 64 - After The Battle
- MILITARY ARMOR INTERNATIONAL Nº 5 - M.A
Editions
- GMC CCKW 353 & 352 - Frantisek Koran, Jan
Mostek - Wings & Wheels Publications
- THE GMC 6X6 AND DUKW, A UNIVERSAL TRUCK
- Jean Michel Boniface, Jean Gabriel Jeudy -
Foulis Military Book
- TM 0-801 TRUCK 2 1/2 TON 6X6 GMC CCKW
352 - 353

41 /

30-41_Dumper.indd 41 03/10/14 11:45

 / 42

42-57_GTU 1-Tchernobyl.indd 42 03/10/14 11:56

 GTU 1 Chernobil

By: Pascal Renault Pictures by the author

Trumpeter – Transformación 1/35

On April the 26th 1986, in Ukraine, some 110km northwest of Kiev,

the second civil nuclear accident –right after the one which occurred
in Tree Miles Island U.S. in 1979- took place.
Contrary to its American counterpart, the Chernobyl accident had
then, and still has consequences considered extremely grave in
terms of the radioactivity released and the contamination of the
surrounding European areas as a whole.

43 /

42-57_GTU 1-Tchernobyl.indd 43 03/10/14 11:56

 C
hernóbil, had 100.000 inhabitants
during that period and its pros-
perity was due to the 4 RBMK
reactors (High power tube reactors) which
were common in the countries which
formed the old Soviet Union, but did not
exist in the western countries.
These facilities had (already) two con-
ceptual mistakes which proved capital: the
lack of a confinement perimeter (found on
the pressurized water reactors in Western
Europe) and the need to regularly control
the power of the reactor.
A number of human errors; foremost of
which is the eradication of the moveable
bars to control the nuclear fission, pro-
voked a rapid rise in the reactor’s power
which blew up the roof of reactor nº 4.
4% of the radioactive elements pre-
sent on the nucleus of the reactor were
released to the atmosphere. Afterwards,
the strong winds spread these elements
throughout Europe: a part of this radioac-
tive cloud rose 10.000 meters high.
From April the 26th to May the 6th, 80
tons of sand, lead, clay or borax spilled
over the debris of the reactor.
Many of the individuals who fought
against this fire died during the following
days, weeks and months because of the
extreme radiation. Even today, the health
issues for the population are still quite
dramatic, as they are also for the veg-
etation and animal life because of the
contamination of the soil, the plants and
even the contamination of the buildings
on the area.
The GTU 1 dumper
After the accident an ample display
of means was deployed for cleaning
and clearing the debris and most of this
equipment was not decontaminated.
Numerous buildings of all sorts: trucks,
civilian vehicles used to fight the fire, mili-
tary artifacts and so forth are rusting away
after the catastrophe which took place in
the exclusion area which is closed because
of the contamination and the high dosage
of radioactivity which prevails.
After browsing a number of pictures
on the Internet, I stumbled upon this
vehicle; a GTU 1 dumper, abandoned in
this nuclear no man’s land.
Using the frame of the T55 or the T62
there are 5 or 6 variants of this moving
artifact employed to move sand or clear
patches of land. Some of these vehicles
are equipped with a BTU Dozer shovel,
and others have a system like the IMR’s.
In both cases the turret has been
removed and has been replaced by a large
chest covering the hole left by the missing

The stocky looks of this set is strengthened by the large shovel. This is the “BTU 55” type, which is found on several
AFV’s and it’s not specific to engineering vehicles. The driver’s compartment is a 0.5mm thick Plasticard rectangle with
cut out holes to recreate glass and doors; the frontal glacis also has Plasticard sheet with the adequate holes and other
items which are partly concealed in this version.

/ 44

42-57_GTU 1-Tchernobyl.indd 44 03/10/14 11:56

 turret. It has a rectangular stall resting
upon the frontal glacis and inside it
there is a driver’s post.
For this transformation/partial
scratch built project, we’ve employed
an existing T55 kit which was rather
old and obsolete… enough said. It is
Trumpeter’s T55, a kit which includes
a Dozer shovel.
The detailing on this kit is rather
poor and we have to point out that
the kit is slightly oversized (1/32
scale). At any rate we can still use it
as a base to build our kit providing the
necessary transformations.
We will keep the lower section of
the hull or frame and the upper one
as well. We will also keep the tracks
and the shovel, the remainder has to
be built out of Plasticard and other
materials.

A mooring bar and some other features are built by closely following the research
pictures found on the Web. Frontal view of the lathe; this has been the piece
hardest to recreate.

45 /

42-57_GTU 1-Tchernobyl.indd 45 03/10/14 11:56

 Close up of
the BTU
shovel,
notice the
two mooring
hooks on
both sides of
the frontal
glacis, set
to work like
a jack. This
system wasn’t
standard
either.

Front view of the driver’s

compartment. Transparent Rhodoid
has been glued on the window holes
to recreate the broken glass of an
abandoned vehicle. Different copper
wire sections shaped to look like
electric wiring.

On the rear there is a large dumper for

transporting tools and other items.
The Friulmodel tracks improve the
kit notoriously and this brand surely
doesn’t need to prove its excellence!

/ 46

42-57_GTU 1-Tchernobyl.indd 46 03/10/14 11:56

 Details on the mooring shovel: It
has been made out of 0.5mm thick
Plasticard. It was based on pictures of
a shovel attached to the VT34’s; it is
not absolutely accurate because it is
really tough to recreate.
The three Plasticard panels are glued
in a somewhat arbitrary angle which
is anyhow quite realistic. The vertical
supports are cut from a 0.4 mm thick
Plasticard sheet and the angles are
calculated with a protractor, a cheap
tool, which is most necessary for this
kind of work. The other option is to
“play it by ear”…
Two heat stretched styrene “weld
strips” softened with glue are placed
on the inside to match their real life
counterparts, judging by the research
pictures.
We now glue the arms to the shovel.
These are made each with three 1 mm
thick Plasticard sections shaped with
a file. These are fastened in two slots
located in the rear panel.

47 /

42-57_GTU 1-Tchernobyl.indd 47 03/10/14 11:56

 The two crates on the roof are
items taken from the Trumpeter
kit, improved –one of them- with a
copper wire handle and round shaped
Plasticard.
The fastenings on the roof had to
be completely remade by closely
following the research pictures. Bent
and pierced P.E. pieces have been
used and round shaped 0.64 mm thick
Plasticard placed in the right spot has
been used as well.

Some vehicles were equipped with a searchlight placed on the roof

and protected by a metallic armor.
This ensemble has been made out of copper wire properly given shape
by using a template.
The rear was built with P.E. pieces and diluted (with acetone) Tamiya
putty applied with a brush to enhance the solidity of the ensemble.
The elevation ring has been carved in a very rough way and is triangle
shaped. It was built out of 0.5mm thick Plasticard sheet whose
contours were filed down. Then we drill an adequately sized hole.

Working on the lathe, I cut its shapes by closely following the research pictures, The lathe has been installed on the
and a sketch of the lateral panels of this machine. rear of the engine’s cover and has
By using the first one as a template, we can correct the second one with a file; been detailed with different circular
then we have to carve it and glue it in place and smooth down its contours. sections. We should not forget the
The horizontal rings are made out of 5.5 mm thick Plasticard tube, closed on two return horizontal handles placed
one end and adding a copper wire rod in order to be able to put it in place towards the engine cover (cannot be
without effort. seen in this picture).

The rear crate which contains the reel with the lathe is without doubt
the simplest element of all! A panel on top, lateral stanchions cut to
identical measurements with a cutting tool (available in fine arts’
stores; it is an adjustable tablet with a set-square and a knife which
provides a clean and symmetrical cut both for paper and up to 0.5mm
thick Plasticard sheet).
We put on both sides the triangular stanchions and on top of these the
rear crate will rest.
The bolts are water demineralization cartridges, stuck with liquid glue
and evened with a flat file. The hardest thing here is to find balls with
identical diameter…

/ 48

42-57_GTU 1-Tchernobyl.indd 48 03/10/14 11:56

 Making the tool bars isn’t a very complex labor,
but it does require time and patience. You’ll need
2 mm thick Plasticard sheet and cut from it two
precisely cut squares which will be glued on both
ends of the bars. These are further cut with small
scissors. The hook shaped areas are retouched with a file.
The cable supports are P.E. pieces bent into a “U” shape. We then introduce
some copper wire through a drilled hole. On the end where another piece of
thinner copper wire sticks out, we roll it in a spiral shape to recreate a spring. The doors where built by gluing a
smaller panel previously cut and then
placed on top of the spot where it
goes. This panel had been previously
cut in order to be able to put the
stanchions where the Rhodoid for the
windows rests.
These are the hooks, handles and
other pieces of metal which have been
used to recreate the hinges which
complete this ensemble.
Making a pulley and its two arms; this very particular tool which appears in one
of the research pictures is made out of:
- A pulley made out of two wheels glued on a circle of a lesser diameter for
the rope groove.
- Several round or flat shaped arms.
This is a pretty complicated assembly, so patience is advised. It is also necessary
to understand the shapes of the different elements before we begin to glue
all this stuff together. Anywhere from 4 to 5 hours’ worth of trial and error
juggling, different approaches and ideas have been necessary to obtain the
results pictured.

I have taken some liberties with

the engine’s cover because I didn’t
like the pieces included with the
old Trumpeter kit. Bearing in mind
that this GTU could quite possibly
The rear crate is equally easy to build, it is composed of rectangular bands and be employing a T55AMB2 (and why
on top of these we’ve glued the 1 mm semi circular Plasticard supports, the not?), I’ve copied quite accurately
frame rests on top of two lateral angles on top of which we place the clamps the engine’s trap doors from the
which are small 0.4 mm thick Plasticard pieces, perforated with a drill with conversion kit manufactured by
a rounded shape obtained by filing. We place the piece of copper wire on the LEGEND. In this picture we can also
inside of it in a 90º angle. The upper clamps are different; the hook is inserted in see the cover for the horizontal rings
two rings which have been made with tiny sections of electrical wire insulation. of the lathe.

49 /

42-57_GTU 1-Tchernobyl.indd 49 03/10/14 11:57

 The compartment for the BTU’s hydraulics had to be made out of Plasticard sheet. The Trumpeter pieces are made in a
much smaller scale than they should be and have only been used as a reference. The wiring on the crate was made with
electric wire and its insulation. We have to pay attention to the two jacks employed to fix the shovel’s hooks. Two
elevation hooks are located on the front fenders; one has been replaced for a metal piece in order to be able to twist it
at will. Three hooks are added to the rear of the shovel; the final step is to put small 0.64 mm thick Plasticard rods and
other sections of wire insulation to cover part of this artifact: The point here is to recreate the different mooring and
fastening spots.

In this picture we can see how all the wheels have been covered The lower areas of the hull and part of the shovel
with a mixture of tiling putty, water, sand, all of it sieved plus have received the same treatment.
carpenter’s white glue. This mixture has been applied with an
old toothbrush.

We now cover the

whole kit with Tamiya
Gray spray primer. We
allow it to dry for 48
hours and then the
kit will be ready for
painting.

/ 50

42-57_GTU 1-Tchernobyl.indd 50 03/10/14 11:57

 Now we use masking tape for the windows and “glass” pieces and proceed to Different green hues (XF-5, XF-26,
apply some mixtures of red, brown and orange (all Tamiya acrylics) in varied XF-58…) are mixed and airbrushed
proportions. We cover the whole kit with these colors in order to create a throughout the kit. In this picture
“rust” base which will only be visible after we make a few paint chips using the we can see how we do this work by
hairspray technique. Then we apply a coat of hairspray and then airbrush a coat zones; and each zone may receive a
of XF-63 Gray, which is peeled off with water and an old paintbrush. slightly different hue.

On the engine’s cover and the right frontal area of the vehicle we work to let rust reappear. The final area which has
been chipped away is a yellowish green hue patch representing an area where the green paint has faded by weathering
and chemical rust.
Abandoned car lots and vehicle cemeteries have been checked out in order to be able to recreate the looks of abandoned
vehicles.
It is unbelievable how the different and varied color hues which appear on an abandoned vehicle!

We use on the frontal glacis a piece

of Scotch-Brite scrub soaked with
a little gray paint and we pat the
surface slightly recreating deep paint
chips which could not be obtained
by rubbing on the hairspray covered
areas. A few Burnt Sienna streaks
are added next. Mud is recreated
with oil paint in different ochre and
brown hues.

51 /

42-57_GTU 1-Tchernobyl.indd 51 03/10/14 11:57

 The wheels are treated in
pretty much the same way
but varying the hues
a little bit in order
to obtain a less
uniform hue
throughout.

Three different weathering

and corrosion approaches
obtained by varying the colors
employed on the rusted areas;
the dumper is redder than
the rigging and the towing
hooks.
Here we can see the use
of a mixture containing Mig
This side of the dumper
Productions’ Oil and Grease stains
has rust hues different
used around the screws to recreate
to those found on the
greasing.
opposite side.

/ 52

42-57_GTU 1-Tchernobyl.indd 52 03/10/14 11:58

 The mooring shovel is placed in the
ground; the rear of the vehicle is
less corroded on purpose.

The steel colored paint

and the pencil lead is
used almost everywhere
to recreate bare metal
surfaces. In this picture
we can see the elevation
hooks and other surfaces
which have been treated
with both.

The tracks have a broken link to increase the abandoned looks of the vehicle.

53 /

42-57_GTU 1-Tchernobyl.indd 53 03/10/14 11:58

 A piece of 5 mm thick foam core board is glued on a picture frame; then we cut some rough slots to recreate the concrete
slabs. Now we begin to glue the vegetation –natural or artificial- we sieve the sand and then we glue it on a bed of white
carpenter’s glue diluted with water.

We make a barrier out of Evergreen strips and do a series of tests to place it on the supports which will allow it to be left
either open or closed.

The patch of pavement is painted gray and the sand colored areas are painted
with Tamiya’s XF-52. The vegetation –obtained from my own garden- is mainly
placed between the concrete slabs.
On one side of this diorama we glue a piece of Mini Nature’s lawn; these
references sold in different sized sheets are basically ready to use.
A sand colored and green and ochre paint veils are used to enhance these items.
A slight spraying with matt varnish will help with the adherence of the
artificial grass.

/ 54

42-57_GTU 1-Tchernobyl.indd 54 03/10/14 11:58

 Rectangular bevel cut strips are employed to make the
concrete posts; rings are glued on the perforated holes.
A mixture of acetone and caustic soda is carelessly
applied here to convey the roughness of concrete.
The leaves are present just about everywhere; wind
has placed these here and we can find leaves on the
mooring shovel and all over the vehicle.
Two more steel beams were placed on the opposite side
of the fence to prevent vehicles from entering the area;
nonsense! The radiation warning signs are far more
effective!
The two posts which hold the barriers were painted after
being masked and alternating the use of white and red
paint. Light paint veils are applied next.
42-57_GTU 1-Tchernobyl.indd 55
The posts are then set in place and painted in a concrete like
gray hue. Then we apply on top of this some green, black and
ochre paint to weather the posts.
The trees are stems taken from my garden.
The warning sign which marks the perimeter of the
radiation risks is printed on a piece of paper, then glued on a
rectangular piece of Plasticard sheet, varnished and painted
to weather it a little bit.
The steel beam on top was abandoned along with the vehicle;
the first concern of the rescue teams was not to cleanse the
premises…
Contrary to what I’ve seen on the pictures and following
the advice given to me by my friend Laurent Stanowiak, the
tracks have been reworked with a thick ochre paint and rust
colored hues along the surface where these touch the ground.
If the tracks are left all in the same color it would seem like
this vehicle has been recently used, which would be a little
incongruous for the diorama that we are creating.
03/10/14 11:59
 A radioactive waste barrel was left next to the vehicle.
Contaminating liquid leaks from this barrel. The leakage has been
recreated with the outstanding “Oil and Grease Stain” mixture
manufactured by Mig Productions.

The rear dumper is full of beams

and it also contains another
nuclear waste barrel with some
leakage as well.

42-57_GTU 1-Tchernobyl.indd 56 03/10/14 11:59

 CONCLUSION
Shifting away from the trodden paths,
I wanted to portray something other than
an AFV; it took me more than a year to
complete this project.
I’ve searched the Net long and wide
for reference pictures, because no scaled
plans of this vehicle are available. Between
that and the careful elaboration of the
necessary missing pieces this work has
been everything but easy…
There are evidently some areas where
the kit doesn’t match its real life counter-
part, but I’ve tried to get as close to the
real vehicle as I could, always avoiding the
The barrier stanchions are painted in a lively red hue. The internal steel bars
have to be painted just like the vehicle and then create paint chips by using larger errors.
again the hairspray technique. The final coat has to be the blue colored one I’m sure that other projects of this
employed in the other items. Now we put the signs made with Plasticard nature are going to surface; the old Soviet
rectangles, the radiation symbol reminding us of the radiation risks and Union had the gift –unthinkable in the
another sign warning us of the danger ahead and forbidding all entrance. west- of providing an important range of
assorted transformed vehicles.

Overviews of the diorama; the pavement has been treated

with several oil paint colors ranging from red ochre to titanium
white. Green sand color is quite useful to recreate the
weathering created by moss.

57 /

42-57_GTU 1-Tchernobyl.indd 57 03/10/14 11:59

 By: Martin Siska Pictures by the author

Tamiya 1/35

For a long time I am going to build some

Serbian tank. When I found a nice you-
tube video on, which passed two Serbian
T-55KY muddy path, I knew that this tank I
must have. These machines were probably
on the road to Pristina during the Kosovo
war. Once I bought a great T-55ky kit from
Tamiya. This kit has only one flaw and
that is rubber tracks, I decided to replace
the beautiful white metal tracks from Friul
model. I also bought metal barrel from RB
model. When I had everything at home so I
slowly began to build.

/ 58

58-63_T-55 IN Serbian Service.indd 58 03/10/14 11:57

 T-55 in Serbian
service

59 /

58-63_T-55 IN Serbian Service.indd 59 03/10/14 11:57

 BUILT
The assembly is as accurate fitting as it
may be expected from a Tamiya kit.

The assembly stage ends by

placing a piece of tinfoil on the
frontal area of the vehicle.

The lateral
protection for
the fenders is
made out of balsa
wood. These
were fastened to The tubes going from the fuel tank to the engine’s
the frame with compartment are made out of copper wire.
wire.

The protection for the

headlights is made out
of copper wire; it is a
rather complicated job,
but the results are quite
worthwhile.

Gradually, I glued together

the whole model, adding
only a handles and wire
to the reflectors. I welds
made using with putty
magic sculpt.
/ 60

58-63_T-55 IN Serbian Service.indd 60 03/10/14 11:58

 The surface is primed with Mr.
PAINTING Surfacer 1000, and once dry we
apply brown and black paint
to create the base for the
camouflage pattern.
Then we apply a 50%
mixture of XF-61
and XF-58.

We add to the mixture XF-21 and X-8

and apply it randomly on some areas.
Then we add some more Xf-21 to this
mixture to do the final touch ups.

The numerals were taken from a picture I

found online of a Serbian T-55. The numerals
were printed in paper and then these were
cut away, obtaining a template for the
airbrush.

After doing all the paint chips I

employed oil paint to apply first a
light coat of dirt and then I subtly
mapped the surface where dirt tends
to accumulate in larger amounts. Then
I did more mapping by adding “Dark
Mud” oil paint.

I began the weathering processes

by applying a filter (AK’s “Dust”)
conveniently diluted and doing a few
irregular shaped washes. This thin coat
of dirt was the base for the weathering
processes which followed. Then I made
a wash using a Mig Productions dark
wash. Afterwards I did some dry brushing
throughout the surface with several
Vallejo colors.

61 /

58-63_T-55 IN Serbian Service.indd 61 03/10/14 11:58

 When I was satisfied with the layer
of dust, I reworked the camouflage
colors in some areas, using several
yellowish hues and green going in this
range all the way to a darker greener

hue. Gradually I began to add some

“Streaking Rust” while adding at the
same time some rust on the paint
scratches.
I continued the work with the
color pigments by airbrushing
the areas where these
accumulate with XF-57 “Buff”.
At this point I began painting with
a sponge mixing pigments such as
“Dry Mud”, “Light Dust” and “Africa
Earth” fixing the pigments in place
with pigment fixer. I repeated this
process several times.

Then I did a wet mud mixture using

“Dark Mud” in a 50% proportion. The
darker mud mixture was an excellent
base to apply later on the wet one.
After having applied this pigment
mixture I added a little thinner for
washes (the Mig Productions one) and
did with it some sort of “porridge”
which was placed on the tip of a
paintbrush and blown onto the kit
with the air from my airbrush kit. This
is how I did the dry mud with with
small deposits of wet mud.

This procedure was used both on the

wheels and on the tracks. On some of
the wheels I also added some grease
on the axles. I cleansed the pigments
on the surface of the wheels which
is in contact with the tracks and
polished the areas prone to suffer
more friction. Afterwards I airbrushed
some of AK’s “Striking Grime”.

/ 62

58-63_T-55 IN Serbian Service.indd 62 03/10/14 11:58

 Materials employed
for painting the lateral
protections.

I recreated the rust on the exhaust

with different Vallejo hues.

The final step:

creating some fuel
stains.

Adding some smoke on

the exhaust and the gun.

63 /

58-63_T-55 IN Serbian Service.indd 63 03/10/14 11:58

 Publishing Manager
Rodrigo Hernández Cabos
Editor in Chief
Rodrigo Hernández Cabos
Have collaborated in this issue
Cristóbal Vergara Durán,
Armour Modelling Magazine Laurent Stankowiak, Pascal Renault,
Pedro Andrada, Michel Pérez y
Martin Siska

EDITORIAL
Photographers
Rodrigo Hernández Cabos
Fernando Cañellas Planchuelo
Illustrations
The contents of the previous Panzer Aces issues have been organized around Rodrigo Hernández Cabos
a common thematic thread which articulated the issue in question, giving the
Lay Out
ensemble of the magazine a certain sense of unity. Upon occasion this organi- KOMMAD S.L.
zation was made based upon the typology of the vehicles in question, like for
Printed by
instance on issue 42 where we saw vehicles with wheels or half-tracks. Other
Imprimia Artes gráficas
issues have dealt with the designs created by different armies, dedicated to either
Scanning & filmsetting
German or Russian AFV’s. There have also been some issues centered on a spe-
ACCIÓN PRESS, S.A.
cific vehicle type or even an issue dedicated to a particular scale –issue 41 dedi- J. David Hernández Chacón
cated to 1/48 vehicles- and issues such as number 40 which paid homage to
Computer Graphics
Tamiya as a brand.
J. David Hernández Chacón
So it was about time to dedicate some space to a discipline which has been
Editorial and Technical Staff,
lately somewhat forgotten by other publications in spite of the highly interesting
Administration and Advertising
projects associated with it. This category names the Class 15 entries on the Euro- ACCIÓN PRESS, S.A.
militaire contest. Naturally we’re talking about the converted/scratch built military c/Ezequiel Solana, 16
vehicles. 28017 Madrid
This was achieved with the concourse of two French collaborators which make Tel.: +34 913 675 708
their debut in Panzer Aces magazine with two improved and customized vehi- +34 914 086 135
cles creating other models which are clearly different from the commercially avail- Fax: +34 914 085 841
able kits. We are proud to showcase Pascal Renault and Laurent Stankowiak’s accionpress@euromodelismo.com
work in our pages. The first author has reproduced a curious vehicle created for Suscripciones
cleaning debris after the Chernobyl catastrophe; a strange hybrid with a dumper Tel.: +34 913 675 708
box mounted on top of the hull of a T-55. Laurent Stankoviak develops and greatly Published by
improves the PPRU-1MSBORKA M manufactured by SP Designs. ACCIÓN PRESS, S.A.
We also feature the return of an old collaborator; Pedro Andrada, always in ISSN: 1886-4457
the lookout for rare and unavailable kits builds an AFKWX DUMPER. A modeling
masterpiece explained step by step; also featuring the outstanding painting skills The reproduction of the images
of Michel Pérez. and texts is prohibited, using any
Cristóbal Vergara Durán explains how he built and improved the initial run B-4 current or future technical medium
203mm gun which accompanies the tractor featured on issue 45 of this magazine. without written consent of the
And last but not least, we’re introducing a new collaborator which may stray a author. ACCION PRESS, S.A.
does not necessarily support its
bit from the subject of this issue because his Tamiya’s T-55 has few improvements
collaborators’ opinions.
–simply some customization work like the lateral wooden protection beams-.
However his painting skills and his technique for creating mud has been some-
thing of a pleasant surprise. With his article we wish to encourage him to share
with us some of his newest projects.

www.euromodelismo.com
www.facebook.com/PanzerAces.
Magazine?fref=ts

editorial.indd 1 03/10/14 12:03

2_SuscripcionesOK_Perfiles 17/12/13 17:25 Página 1

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Publicidad_CR_ING_Indice 169 17/06/13 20:41 Página 2

Tanks in Russia

17€ Sold Out 17€ 20€

Tanks in Russia I
•Tanks of the Eastern Front,
1941-1942: Painting and
camouflage
•Pz.Kpfw. I Ausf. B:10. Pz.Div.
•Pz.Kpfw. II Ausf. F:7. Pz.Div.
•Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. H:3.
Pz.Div.
•Tracks &
accessories:Painting and
varnishing
•Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. E:6.
Pz.Div.
•Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F-1:5.
Pz.Div., Pz. Rgt. 31
•Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F-2:14.
Pz.Div., Pz. Rgt. 36
•Identification symbols:The
emblems used by German
crews in the Eastern Front,
1941-1942.
Tanks in Russia II Tanks in Russia III Tanks in Russia IV
•A further analyse on •Emblems of Armored •Pz.Kpfw. V Panther Ausf. A,
camouflages based on new German Units on the 5.SS-Pz.Div. “Wiking”
information. Assembly and Eastern Front, 1943-1945 •Perfiles: Pz.Kpfw. V Panther
superdetailing of Russian •German Camouflage Colors, Ausf. A
and Germantanks and 1943 (RAL 840R) •Pz.Kpfw. Vi tiger Ausf. E , 2.
specially the following •Russian Camouflage Colors, Pz.Rgt., SS-Pz.Gren.Div. “Das
models: 1943 Reich”
•Pz.Kpfw.38 (t), •Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. M - •Perfiles: Pz.Kpfw. Vi tiger
•T-26 Pz.Rgt.3., 2. Pz.Div. Ausf. E
•T-60 •Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. G - 20. Pz. •Pz.Kpfw. Vi tiger Ausf. E ,
•T-34/78 mod.1940 Div. Sch. Pz.Abt. 509
•T-34 mod.1941 •Pz.Kpfw. V Ausf. D - 51. •Pz.Kpfw. VI tiger Ausf. E ,
•T-34/76 mod.1941/42 Pz.Abt., III Pz.Rgt.53 Sch. Pz.Abt. 509 versión
“Ekranami” •T-34/76 Mod. 1943. 30th invierno
•BT-5 Guard Armored •IS-1 (KV-85), Unidad de
•BT-7M, , entrenamiento cerca de la
•KV-II mod.1939, fábrica Kirovski
•KV-I mod.1941 •IS-1, 13 regimiento de
•KV-IE. choque de carros pesados
de la guardia

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Contraportada.indd 1 03/10/14 13:39