Beute T-34/76

[wbill76]

Small update in honor of Thanksgiving here in the States! Hope everyone who is celebrating has a chance to spend time with friends and family on this holiday.

Did a little bit of work on the hull underside by applying a light thinned wash of MM enamel Flat White and installing the road wheels and idler wheels. The road wheels also got some added treatment via the Flat White wash to supplement the previous airbrush work. The hull treatment is aimed at providing some subtle contrast background for the pigment weathering to come as opposed to the dark green color of the hull prior to the wash.



Applied a sealing coat of Future by airbrush to protect the paint work and lay the foundation for the decals. Markings are simple, just a pair of crosses for the turret. These were treated with Solvaset to ensure no silvering or air bubbles remained. After they had set, I airbrushed a 2nd coat of Future just for the turret decal areas to seal them in and protect them from the weathering stages.



Now it gets to sit for 24 hours to thoroughly cure before starting in on the next stage!

[eastrock]

Bill, taking pays off Happy Thanksgiving

Cheers!

[deafpanzer]

Bill, I had feeling you will post something today. Your strategy didn't throw me off this time. LOL Always looking great... can't wait to see it weatherized soon!

[TRM]

Happy Thanksgiving to you Bil!!

Looking great!!! Nice to see you getting the Decs on!!!

[wbill76]

Thanks ER and T!

Andy, figured this one wouldn't slip by you...you're catching on!

[Deleted]

Just about there Bill ...... i'm liking your weathering !

[wbill76]

Thanks Carl! Took advantage of the day's nice weather to clean up the leaves in the front yard (tree is stubborn this year, only dropped about 1/2 to 2/3 of its leaves so far) so hopefully that will buy me enough time to get started in on the final weathering steps tomorrow.

[spud]

looking fantastic Bill

[wbill76]

Thanks Chris and Spud! Much appreciated fellas!

[bullardino]

Really nice, I'm looking forward to seeing the weathering phase

[ogrejohn]

Looks great Bill!

[wbill76]

Thanks Luigi and Ogrejohn! Should have an update here in a little bit...stay tuned!

[wbill76]

The weathering process is always one of the most enjoyable steps in a build in my opinion but does have the downside of requiring large blocks of time to tackle it effectively. Fortunately the holiday weekend provided the perfect opportunity to start in on this stage.

I started by applying an overall wash of roughly 90/10 thinner/MM enamel Raw Umber to the whole vehicle. I used a round 0 sable brush to apply the wash. This of course darkens the finish but is meant to provide a foundation for the dot filtering step to come and not something that will stand on its own.



The dot filters came next and I opted for only two colors in combination with the Raw Umber wash from the previous step. Using small spotter brushes, I applied dots of MM enamel Panzer Olivgrun and Light Gray, working in small sections at a time. Using a square tip blender brush lightly dampened with thinner, the dots were drawn together and blended away until the filter and streaking I wanted was achieved. Since this process involves using lots of thinner, I wore a breather mask throughout in addition to the usual ventilation precautions for my workbench area.



Here, using the front glacis plate as an example, you can see the before/after with the half of the plate around the hull MG with the filters applied while the half around the driver's hatch yet to be treated.



Here's how the entire vehicle looked after the application of the dot filters.



This led to the next step in the process, getting some of the detail level to 'pop' via the use of a pin wash. I used a roughly 90/10 thinner/paint ratio using MM Burnt Umber and a pointed 10/0 brush to apply the pin wash around the raised detail, various panel lines, and the weld seams. The pin wash was adjusted using the same brush and clean thinner to remove any excess or blooming that had occurred.



Next up will be working on the tracks and getting ready for the pigment weathering on the lower hull and suspension.

[eastrock]

Once again thanks for sharing the Tips, Bill much appreciated

[wbill76]

My pleasure ER, thanks for commenting!

[bigjohn]

The finish is really starting to POP now Bill!

[Deleted]

Top notch Bill !!! Thanks for the "how to ".

[bullardino]

Great idea the green dot filters after the WW. It gives depth and a subtle worn look perfectly suited to the subject.

Thanks for sharing

[TRM]

Always a pleasure to follow along Bill!!! She sure is a pretty one!!! Fantastic stuff Sir!!

[ogrejohn]

That sure is some fine looking work Bill!

[deafpanzer]

Your dot filter approach always does it job... looking real good and you are about to bring it across the finish line!

[bbd468]

hello Bill,

I must say, this is one of my favorite builds of yours. Just brilliant stuff once again from you.

Gary

[wbill76]

BJ, Carl, Luigi, Dicky, and Ogrejohn, appreciate the comments gents, thanks as always!

T, glad you like the way it's turning out and that you're enjoying the ride with me. Been a quicker than usual build but still just as much fun along the way.

Andy, the dot filter approach really gave this one a transformation more than usual. I thought quite a bit about the color choice since I wanted to knock down the white but not too much. White wash always presents a different set of challenges vs. the usual German colors.

Gary, high praise indeed and much appreciated sir!

[tonylee-Rest In Peace]

Bill you are a DOT doin dude you are

More More More
Tony

[wouter]

wow Bill, this is a great start with the weathering, that WW looks great! Nice photos and explanation as well, as usual!

Cheers

[406 Silverado]

Yep, that is the fun part Bill, and your off to a great start. MK tracks of course...lol

[spud]

looks fantastic bill

[johnt]

Hi Bill nice T34 mate! And thanks for your expalining the processes you used.

Cheers
JT

[wbill76]

Tony, dots are what makes the world go 'round!

Wouter, thanks as well, glad you like where this one's headed.

Rob, MKs of course! Tracks are built already, just need to get them painted and ready for the pigment process. I'm also debating with myself whether or not to apply a thinned white filter/wash to the rubber portions of the wheels as a foundation for the pigment weathering to give a little hint of snow mixed in with mud/dirt...after looking at some winter vehicle photos and seeing how dark the rubber looks now as-is, I'm thinking that might provide a nice additional layer to help bring that out some as well. Plenty of time to ponder on that this week I guess.

Spud, appreciate your comments as well!

JT, always happy to explain the steps in case someone else wants to try out something crazy (or how to avoid doing someting crazy depending!).

[wbill76]

Big progress to report on this build as the weathering has been completed and it has crossed the finish line!

First up were the tracks, these were airbrushed with MM enamel Burnt Umber and dry-brushed with MM enamel Steel to prep them for the pigment weathering.



Next I applied a light wash of MM Flat White to the rubber portions of the road wheels to give them a little added color also in prep for the pigment weathering. The entire finish was sealed using MM Lusterless Flat in the spray can and left to sit overnight.



Pigments were applied using a dry mix of MIG Dark Mud and Russian Earth added to regular tap water with a drop of dish-washing soap added to break the surface tension and make it easy to apply with a brush. This was allowed to air dry before making additional adjustments.



I used a series of stiff bristled brushes to remove the excess pigment while wearing a sanding mask to avoid inhaling the fine particles. More adjustments were made using both wet and dry Q-tips to get things to where I wanted them.



Tracks were weathered separately using the same pigment combo and adjustment process. After the pigments were done, I went back over the track contact surfaces and lightly dry-brushed some MM Steel to show a little wear.



Then the Beute Baby got her shoes fitted and the idlers adjusted slightly to get the sag and tension needed.



The clear lenses were added to the front headlights and the glass blocks installed into the cupola. The cupola was fixed permanently in position and I also added a flexible rubber mount and RB Models brass 2m antenna as another common 'beute' feature.



Then it was time to take the walk-arounds and check for any last-minute adjustments that the camera might reveal.

More finished pics can be found up in the Gallery: modelerssocialclub.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=gallery&action=display&thread=922&page=3