Attila's Tamiya 1:35 Tiran 5

[papatika]

Hi all,

I always wanted to have a Tiran on my shelf, so I ordered one from Japan, specially for this GB.



Box is original, bags are intact... yet...
There are 8 sprues: one for the rubber band tracks, one for polycaps, the rest for the parts. Upper and lower hull are separately bagged. Some ropes, meshes, instructions and a small decal sheet are included.
The kit (like the original afv) is based on Tamiya's T-55 with lots of differences. Sprue numbering represents it quite well: "A", "D", "H", "J", "L".


I don't want to go into more details, Paul did a great inbox review back in 2013. Sit back, and enjoy!
[youtube]Y0GVcB3EnhA[/youtube]

It looks gorgeous, can't wait to start it (maybe after midnight )

[TommyKillander]

That is an interesting object, I love the T-5x tanks, with all their variants and adaptions for local operators.

Good luck with the build!


Tommy

[privatepete]

Hi there nice choice I almost chose the same one will be interesting to follow your progress, good luck with your build

[rodrant]

Great ! My first build will be this one too ! Looking forward to see your build ! Good luck Buddy !

[papatika]

That is an interesting object, I love the T-5x tanks, with all their variants and adaptions for local operators.

Good luck with the build!


Tommy

Thanks Tommy! Yes, Panzer IV and T54/55. You can have a long shelf packed with these, without 2 of the same...

Hi there nice choice I almost chose the same one will be interesting to follow your progress, good luck with your build

Then I suppose you'll build this after that great M51 you started with!

Great ! My first build will be this one too ! Looking forward to see your build ! Good luck Buddy !

[papatika]

Hi there!

I love this kit! Perfect engineering, accurate fits, beautiful details, almost no flesh or pinmarks. I took less then 2 days to complete most of the building steps, and it is almost ready for paintwork.


My biggest heartbreak are the periscopes. They are just holes on the hull I did not saw that before I glued the upper and the lower hulls together, so it is now hard to reach it. I glued some small styrene bits there, but I'm not 100% happy with them. There are some more on the commanders cupola, plenty of choices to try something else
An other thing I messed up is the mesh for the grills of the bigger wents. I managed to glue them to the outer face. I hope it will look better after being painted...


All in all, I really enjoyed the last 2 days, and I hope the paint will be same or even better.
Ready for primer:


Thanks for your kind attention, your questions and comments, or just for jumping in!

Attila

[DasAbteilung]

Tamiya don't include the reinforced larger wheel hubs fitted to the first wheel stations after the first year of production. Only 1958 build T-55s had the same hubs on all wheels, a carry-over from T-54. All T-55A would have had the large front hubs fitted. The hubs are about 3mm larger in this scale.
Tank used to do a replacement wheel pair, but these are long OOP now and impossible to find. Not much you can do about it these days apart from spending a fortune on a Miniarm resin wheel set or borrowing some from a Takom T-55. You do see photos of the larger hubs fitted on other wheel stations on T-54/55 and T-62, presumably as replacements. T-54 and T-62 never officially used them: T-62 solved the problem by altering the wheel spacing forward.

[papatika]

Tamiya don't include the reinforced larger wheel hubs fitted to the first wheel stations after the first year of production. Only 1958 build T-55s had the same hubs on all wheels, a carry-over from T-54. All T-55A would have had the large front hubs fitted. The hubs are about 3mm larger in this scale.
Tank used to do a replacement wheel pair, but these are long OOP now and impossible to find. Not much you can do about it these days apart from spending a fortune on a Miniarm resin wheel set or borrowing some from a Takom T-55. You do see photos of the larger hubs fitted on other wheel stations on T-54/55 and T-62, presumably as replacements. T-54 and T-62 never officially used them: T-62 solved the problem by altering the wheel spacing forward.

Hah! Interesting! I checked several pictures, and yes, it is hard to see, but the front roadwheel's hub is larger.

I also want to check the position of the idler wheel, when I get home. I'm not sure, but maybe the kit's wheel is positioned upper than to be seen on the picture above.

[papatika]

Hi all!

I applied a few layers of paint recently, and now I'd like to show the progress. Tomorrow we will go to holiday for a week => no modelling for a week...

First the whole thing has been primed with MIG's Grey Primer


I also added a few details for the fuel pipelines


Next I mixed up some XF-49 Khaki and XF-66 Light Grey in a ration of 1:1 to get the base color, and darkened with XF-1 Black to have the shadow color. With this I painted the lower hull, the corners, and all those areas, where less light is expected. Also the lower edge of the turret got this color to have more contrast between the upper hull and the turret itself.


XF-49 and XF-66 has been mixed again, but this time without black, and with additional thinner. This thinned mix allowed me to apply the base color softly to achieve nice transitions between the base and the shadows.


For the third layer some white is added to the base color, with more thinner, and applied more or less to the vertical plates and accessories, and finally with some even more white and even more thinner I painted some more fading with some random mottling on larger areas, and some highlights on smaller pieces.


Finally a few details were painted


I haven't painted the wheels yet, because I'd like to fix the first wheel hubs as DasAbteilung pointed out. I don't know yet how. Also chipping, rusting and weathering will come. And I plan to add some stowage too. So stay tuned!

Bye for now!

Attila

[TommyKillander]

Looks fantastic - great detailing with the fuelpipes

Have a nice vacation!


Tommy

[papatika]

Hi all,

vacation is over, so I'm back. A bit earlier then expected (my daughter got scarlet fever, so we had to interrupt our holiday, but she is ok now), but every cloud has a silver lining: I could continue on my Tiran.

Next up: wheels. As it was previously mentioned, the kit's front wheels are not proper. I was thing a lot on how to fix this easily, without damaging the parts, using what I currently have here. I had no good solution. So I decided to put them on as they are.

First wheels have been primed with Ultimate Black Primer, and also some damages were added to the rubber covering of the wheels with a sharp knife.


Then IDF grey (XF49 + XF66 1:1) was applied


and the rubber painted with MIG color (I don't know the number, it isn't readable anymore).


Then I turned my attention to the lower hull. First I used MIG's Light Dust, diluted with white spirit to paint accumulated dust, and dust streaking. Some Streaking Grime from AK was also applied to have more color variation and represent dirt and grime. Just a little since this part won't be visible too much.


After some chipping here and there (MIG Chippig color) and some bare metal effect (Vallejo Dark Steel Pigment) the whole lower hull was put together.


Finally all the remaining parts were assembled and painted. (Note the guns and hatches are not glued in place yet, this is the reason for their funny angles.)
Here is a 360 with 99% complete paintjob:





That's enough for one post...
to be continued...

[papatika]

It was time to apply the decals. All of them went smoothly on, no problem at all. Except the ones desired to decorate the gun. They just didn't want to conform to the small details of the barrel. So I decided to paint it manually.

First I applied 2 even coats of hairspray for two reasons:
if I fail I can remove the overspays, leekins, or the whole paint overall
or if I succeed I can add nice chipping because the shock- and heatwaves just love to crack the paints


Then I measured the width of the decal, and cut a same sized stripe from Tamiya masking tape. I placed it carefully where I want to add white. Using these stripes as guidelines more tape was added to cover the whole barrel.


Now I could remove the initial masking tapes leaving a nice inverted shape behind. Some more masking tape were added to cover the small details and curves.


Painted with diluted XF-2 White


Here is the end result. I have only one small overspay at the very "root" of the gun, so I'm pretty happy.


I also made a 360 with all the decals on, but I just discovered, that these pictures are awfully overexposed, I have to take a couple new pictures.

be right back...

[papatika]

So the 360 (still a bit overexposed... )



(decal feels all right, it is not cracked, just some fibrils of the cotton buds used )





That's all for now.
Next up is chipping.

I'm also thinking on adding some more figures to the scene. I like displaying armors, but in peaceful surroundings. So I thought this would be good:

For me the soldiers look similar to the ones in the kit, they might be IDF soldiers, but I'm not expert in this question. Does anybody have useful information?

Thank you in advance, and enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Cheers,
Attila

[TommyKillander]

Wow!

Excellent work on the Tiran


Tommy

[papatika]

Wow!

Excellent work on the Tiran


Tommy

Thanks Tommy!

[DC87]

Brilliant stuff - looking great already.

Well done on the barrel stripe

[privatepete]

Excellent work, looks really good keep it up

[Kevthemodeller]

Some lovely work going on there

[papatika]

Brilliant stuff - looking great already.

Well done on the barrel stripe

Excellent work, looks really good keep it up

Some lovely work going on there

Thank you guys!


I stuck a bit now. I don't have the vision of the end result yet. Don't know exactly which way to go. For sure, I don't want to too much wear and tear to this vehicle. So I added some two tone chipping here and there, just gently. Also I took the opportunity and chipped away a bit from the stripe of the gun barrel.


Added rust to the tow cables using Abteilung oils.


Created some dusty and highlighted areas with Dust, some dirty and shadowed areas with Earth, and some grime and rust streaking here and there.


Some engine grime ave been applied underneath to turret, and oil and fuel stains onto the fuel tank.


Heavier rusting effects were applied onto the barrel. Heat and shock waves can heavily damage the barrel's paintwork.


Some Brown was applied to emphasize the ripples on the gun mounting cover.


With pigments I created a dusty look for the tracks. I need to repaint the bare metal parts, but it will depend on how the surrounding will look like.


As far I know T-55s and so Tirans had a white interior. It isn't visible too much though.


And here is a 360 of the current state:





I think I want to create a scenery with some road block in front of the tank, with few figures, showing a peaceful but tense situation.
Most of the pictures I saw concrete cubes were used, like here:

Actually this picture is pretty good, I only have to add a tank...

Thank you for stopping by, see you next time!

Cheers,
Attila

[demarcation]

Fantastic work mate!!

[TommyKillander]

Brilliant work, mate!


Tommy

[pourquoi61]

Looking great.

[papatika]

Fantastic work mate!!

Brilliant work, mate!


Tommy

Looking great.

Thank you guys for your support!
3 weeks passed by since my last report. The weather just kills me. Over 40 °C temperature, I was sweating in the evening, too. I just didn't have the will to sit down, and work on the kit. Half an hour at most, and then I was fed up.

But let's see the pictures!
So I basically finished the tank, but did not know how to weather. I started to work on the dio. As mentioned I'd like to have a road block. Usually a roadblock is made of 2 parts: a road, and a block...

First I checked several pictures about roads in Israel. For example this one:


I started to sketch up some layout. First I was thinking in a straight road, but it just not worked. I wanted to have the tank across the road, behind the road block, with turret turned to the left (it looks better then turned to the right), and having figures on the ground, to the right / right front, watched by the loader. I just could not put it together.
Suddenly I thought: why strait road? How about a curve? So I drew a few more sketches... The winner is the one below the pencil.


Next: find the ideal curve line. I took a tape measure and fixed it to the floor at one end with masking tape forming a giant caliper. Now I could move a sheet of paper back and forth to find the best distance and angle for my scenery. To find out the width I need I used my 1:35 Hummer.



With that done I could place the tank and the concrete blocks.



Now I could use the paper to trace out the road's place on a piece of insulation foam. I also built some highs and lows on the terrain.


I covered the whole thing with highly thinned plaster...

... and sanded the road bed flush.


At this point I haven't decided yet how I'd like to build up the road itself.
I gave a try to the cork. It is 2mm thick, which will give a nice thickness to the asphalt, and it is perfect to create damages on the road surface.


Added woodglue...

... and some weight.


I also purchased a bottle of "Black Lava" from Vallejo. Expecting to have a nice texture... But first I filled the holes of the cork with sand...

... and fixed it with some more plaster.


I added the Black Lava, and spread it out the best I could. To have a flat surface I added water drops here and there, and dragged a cardboard sheet across several times.


It's a fantastic stuff! Dried hard, has great texture!


By drybrushing it with grays it became even better.


I used the paper sheet for masking the center divider.


Applied hairspray, Tamiya white, water and a stiff brush:


Similar procedure the create the yellow sidelines:


Here I just got loose. I was just working and working, and forgot to create pictures...
Gray send was added to the sides with Vallejo's Ground texture. I added some rocks from the garden, and some vegetation, too. Black and brown pigments were used to darken the "tire-lines" on the road, and Light Dust to add light dust to the less frequently used stripes. Cracks have been painted with Revell's black.


Now I let it dry, and then apply some washes onto the ground.

Thank you for dropping in, see you next time!

Attila

[DC87]

The short break seems to have done wonders, fantastic base and a very useful tutorial.

[papatika]

The short break seems to have done wonders, fantastic base and a very useful tutorial.

Thank you, Dan!

Next up is painting the track marks. As you can see on the youtube video below, metal tracks can leave nice marks on the road:
[youtube]CazKpPm5tVI[/youtube]
I spent an hour or so to figure out the story, how the tank arrived to it's current position. At the end I decided to have a straight line, without turns. Arched scratches seemed to be complicated...
So here is the layout I'm aiming for:

I marked the sidelines with masking tape, and also marked the center position of the first and last road wheels.
As part of the story the tank ran into one of the concrete blocks, and pushed it a bit further, then reversed to it's current position. I marked the center of the first wheel also in this position. The cubes have been numbered.


I mixed up a light gray tone from Abtailung oils, and painted the surface of a small track section on both sides...


... and gently pushed it onto the road.


The road blocks are made of the same sealing foam. The edges were rounded off.


Then they were covered with plaster, and sanded down. The plaster accumulated around the corners, so they could be sanded to have sharp edges, but in the same time it allowed to add damages, too. I think the surface texture is great to replicate concrete.


Primed with dark grey, painted with gray, highlighted with light gray. And also painted those yellow stripes you can see on the photo in one of my previous posts. They are now a bit shiny, but they'll receive a flat coat at the end.


They tend to look something like this:


Some weathering done with Humbrol pigments on the bottom, and AK's streaking grime.


Next up: figures, stowage, accessories, and bringing the whole thing together...

Thanx for stopping by, have a nice day!

Cheers
Attila

[pourquoi61]

Wonderful so far,but your last two images have not shown themselves on your blog or is it just me?

[papatika]

Wonderful so far,but your last two images have not shown themselves on your blog or is it just me?

Thanks for pointing that out, google likes to change the url of the images... I fixed it, hope it's fine now.
Maybe I'll move to Flickr with my next project.

[TommyKillander]

Top notch work, there buddy!

I love your attention to details and making a storyline, very impressive result sofar!

Keep it up


Tommy

[papatika]

Top notch work, there buddy!

I love your attention to details and making a storyline, very impressive result sofar!

Keep it up


Tommy

Thanks Tommy!

Ok, so scenery and storyline. This is what I have in my mind: Israeli soldier makes friendly contact with Palestine civilians. Barrier divides the two party, but the kids don't care, they do not differentiate between people. But the tension is there: the commander looks outside the picture, towards where the gun is pointing at. And also the woman keeps a fare distance.


Figures ready to be primed (WWII German soldier for the Möbelwagen in the background as a bonus):


Eyeballs painted white:


Then a very thin black line was painted for pupils. At this point if the line gets too thick, you can thin it by applying some more white to the sides.


Flash color applied all over:


Shadows...:


... and highlights...:


... and the rest of the body:

I also added some black shadows to the guys in the tank.

While drying I scratch-build some antennas using packaging wires. You can find them everywhere, mostly in toys. And I have 2 kids... The biggest problem is that they are pretty badly bent. Here is a good way to straighten them out.
First you need some pliers to grab on, and something round, like a screw driver. I think these can be found in most of the households. Grab the wire on one end, bend it over the screw driver, and pull it. While pulling it gently press the wire against the screw driver. Not too much, it might burn your fingers. When done, rotate it, a dot it again in a different angle. With each steps the wire will get a bit straighter. When ready you can remove the wire's cover if any.
So here are the tools I used, a bent and a treated wire:


In progress:


and installed:



And here are the figures and antennas in place:





I want to have some straps for the antennas, and make some stowage using green stuff. This will be my first home made stowage...

Until next time!

Cheers:
Attila

[papatika]

Hi all!

I'm almost ready!

Time for stowage! First I checked what kind of stuff do I have for stowage: barely nothing. All I could find is a spare T-55 box from this kit.


Ok, that should fit, but I need something more... I have some green stuff, but never used, and some Millyput. Great option give green stuff a try! I made a big bag. I was really happy to achieve this on the 3rd try...
To protect the tank I wrapped it in transparent foil. And broke the left antenna...


I really enjoyed working with green stuff, but to fill all baskets with various packages ... ummm ... maybe not now...
So I decided to fully cover the lower one. I stuffed in some paper tissue to act as stowage underneath the blanket, and covered with foil again.


It wasn't easy. The foil was constantly moving, and I just could not shape the stuff to my liking. When it dried, I still not liked it. But from the leftover I made 2 rolls for the upper part, they are fine.


Next test subject: Milliput. It is a totally different material. It is like clay, and messy to work with. It was pretty tough job to make it thin. At the end I applied some mixed milliput to a foil, and spread the stuff with gentle finger strokes. Then I placed the foil on the tank, and let it dry.
I was not happy with this at all. I think milliput is not the best choice to make thin blankets...
I was so disappointed at this time, that I forgot to take a picture. I made one later on though.

Lessons learned:
- milliput is not my choice to create blanket
- foil is not good, it moves around constantly, it is next to impossible to make fine adjustments.

3rd attempt:
This time I used green stuff and masking tape. A covered all contacting area with masking tape, and added the fake stowage.


And then the green stuff on top, with some highs, lows and wrinkles. And now it was so easy, so fluent, so satisfying, I instantly new this is my way.


I did the same on the turret's basket, but this time I want the blanket to be lifted off, showing up the content underneath. (Story: the box of chocolate was here, and the soldier on the ground took it to give some to the kids, and left the basket open)


From the leftover I made a backpack. After it dried I could remove the masking tape. Ready for painting!


ahh yeah, the milliput:


Painted...


and dry fit test:



Last todo: antennas.
As you probably remember I added antennas made of wire, and some strapping thing is needed. And I also broke one of the antennas, so it is pretty fragile.
The real antennas are straight, and they are strapped down with some rigging. The tension in the bent antennas keeps the ropes straight. In my case there is no tension. On the contrary: gravity pulls antennas down (which is not good for the plastic joints).


First I tried to use thin copper wire, but I could not straighten them enough. The smallest bend ruined the overall effect.
Then I used thread used by my wife. I added some wood glue the give sturdiness. But it was not enough to withstand to the gravity.
Third option was the pulled sprue. Although it is the thickest of all 3 solution, it can hold the antennas giving the plastic joints on the turret some breathing space, and it is almost straight.
I cut some thin slices from the sprue and got some circle shaped disks. I cut them to half, and glued them to the wire with superglue. This way I managed to have a big surface to glue it to the wire (the diagonal of the disk) and another one for the sprue.


So, Ladies and Gentlemen, I think this is it. There a few todos left, like adding satin finish to the helmets, more chipping to the opened hatches, some pigments to the blankets, some oil leaking to the road wheels, but basically it is done. Final reveal is coming soon, but until that here are some pictures of the almost finished product:





Tiger, here I come!

As always, thank you for having suggestions, leaving comments, or just stopping by and reading all the crap I wrote.

Cheers!
Attila

Update: Final reveal