CTAPT BA-20M nearly done

[dierk]

Well, I've gone and done it and - almost - finished my first model of the year. Still have to fill in some chips.



This is the kind of kit the Russians lovingly refer to as "дрова" - firewood ;D And, boy, does it deserve the name! I just wanted a quick build so I could try out some weathering, and at just over 80 parts it should have been maybe a couple of evenings - HA! Only about 10% of the parts actually fit...the wheels were utterly unusable and were replaced with items from Tank Workshop, originally ordered from their UK importer. But, one of the wheels was marred by a bad casting-fault and two others were marginal. At this point a big THANKS has to go to Jay from TW, who sent me a complete set free of charge in ultra-quick time as a replacement.



The only other after market parts I used were ELF reflectors and headlight lenses - unfortunately, the lenses are just ever so slightly smaller than the headlight-shells. Do you think I can get away with it, or should I try and fix it?

Guess who forgot to fill in the chips on the spare-wheel?


It doesn't seem to matter how much Future I slap on the 'mud' - once it dries it goes matte again - what am I doing wrong?



I just couldn't bring myself to muddy up the lovely resin wheels...



Hope you like it, but hints and tips are always welcome - especially as the number of finished models in my collection is still in single figures.

Cheers,
Dierk

[TRM]

It's not the amount completed...it's the quality Dierk!! This is quality! Well done on this!!! Love that aged 1st pic!!!

[bigjohn]

That lookls sweet man! Head lights and mud look fine to me!

[wbill76]

Looks good from here despite the struggles and fight it put up to get it to this point!

[WigWag Workshop]

Looks great! The chain and front-end is sharp looking, the rust on the chain is outstanding

-Steven

[multicam]

Mud and streaking look really good:) well done!

[bbd468]

Hey, i think it looks pretty darn good myself. Nice job.

[dierk]

Thank you all for your very kind comments!
I took the photos before the Future had fully dried...now it's back to being matte again - I'll give it yet another coat to see if I can achieve the wet look I'm after. What I was aiming for was what it would look like after a quick down-pour, having gone through some mud and then being back on a fairly dry road.
T - I wish I could take credit for the aged picture, but it was literally achieved with a single mouse-click
Steven - the reason the rust looks so good is because it is real the chain is from Langley in the UK, who specialise in railway stuff, soaked in some salty water for a few hours and then left to dry - hey presto, rusty chain.
If I didn't like the shape of the BA-20 so much I really don't think I'd have bothered - it was almost like all the parts had come from different kits that were never meant to be assembled on the same model...I had to shave about 2mm(!) off the back-plate and use tons of Mr. Surfacer 500 & 1000 to fill all the gaps.
Although I'm not 100% happy with it - hey, what do you expect? I'm German - I've tried quite a few things for the first time on this model: chipping with sponge and brush, MIG rainmarks (fave new product) mud using plaster and the first time I used Vallejo's 4BO - up to now I'd been mixing my own from three enamel colours.
Definitely going for a shake and bake next for some R&R ;D
Again, thanks for the words of support - much appreciated!
Cheers,
Dierk

[406 Silverado]

Very cool Dierk, and great to see you get some bench time finally. Looking forward to seeing more....Stug that is.