Yes! The trio of Shelf Queens have now been finished. Three models in a week. Normally with my glacial progress its three years a model. However lets have a look at where I started. The Emhar kit complete awaiting painting.
Following priming the tracks were sprayed Tamiya Tan and then masked whilst the main bulk of the tank received varying shades of Vallejo Russian Green! No one seems certain what colour WW! tanks were from what I have read and colours seem to vary from grey through karki to green. I am not a rivet counting modeler and green was to hand so that's what colour the tank is.
Following on from this, the tracks were painted Vallejo rust and then the whole tank including the tracks was given a wash of dilute Vallejo Black-grey. A coat of gloss varnish later and the decals were added giving the tank its identity as 'Flypaper' It could have been Fantan as there are alternative decals or it could have been a captured tank remarked in German identity. The decals themselves are thick and by that I mean when you put them on the tank you can see the edge of the transparent carrier film. Now having watched the keen car modelers they do start to use very fine abrasives to smooth the edge of decals so that they do not show, but this isn't a Porsche or a Ferrari - its a WW1 tank so I hoped the weathering would go someway to disguise the decals. How well that went I will leave up to you. A coat of Micro Soll under and over the decals helped persuade them to conform to the surface, especially the rivets. A further coat of matt varnish to protect and seal the decals was applied and then it was onto weathering with some MIG powders to produce...
Someone did ask me how long does it take to make a model? The answer depends upon so many variables and in my case the answer is likely to be too long! However, for this model the basic build took about two hours, then the gap of two years I will ignore, and then about an hour to paint and two hours of decal application and weathering. Five hours in total. I must admit that it was five enjoyable hours and a time to relax and be creative which is what any hobby is about. Why not build a kit this weekend and see how it goes for you.
