Dual speed-build: KV-5 and JS-4 - Part 1

Right .. so with the T-80 finished ( photos to be taken ), I decided to go for something more simpler. The T-80 was a complicated kit and it really tired me out so I need something to chill and enjoy more. Looking into my back-log, I remembered my JS-4 and my very freshly acquired KV-5. Knowing that those twos are simple kits ( albeit the JS-4 is not as simple as the KV-5 as it is from Trumpeter), and they will take me less time than the other ones, I decided to do a dual build.

I will not be taking sprue shots of this as I have already done reviews for both kits -
JS-4 -
http://modeller-innovation.blogspot.co. ... oviet.html

KV-5 -
http://modeller-innovation.blogspot.co. ... v-5_2.html

so let's get started.

Here's the two box stacked together

I first started on the Takom KV-5 as I can't wait to start it. It is my favourite premium tank in WoT after all and not to mention I want to check out Takom's quality.
So I started with the hull, it was in 4 pieces, the bottom plate, front lower glacis and rear plate are separately moulded.



The fit was not horrible but not great so I had to exert quite some force and had be to careful.

After that, it was the suspension arms, the shock absorbers and the little thingys that stop the arms from swing too much ( I forgot what they are called.. please remind me)


Comes the time for the wheels. Each wheels is made up of four parts but they went on fairly quickly. I glued them on from the first go as the wheels are very loose and keep falling down. 


Before I carried on with the engine deck, I decided to make the track runs. It took me one whole day as this is a freakishly long vehicle. The tracks are moulded well but won't stay together well and keep popping out so a lot of force is required to click them together and glue them.


And I'm sure you will notice the two domes ( R2-D2 ) is textured. I'm pretty sure these would have been casted ( conclusion drawn from my own education background and feasible war time production accounts) and the kit has NO texturing moulded in. So tamiya putty to the rescue -


Painted the tracks and the lower hull ( sorry the lower hull is not showing well. crappy lights) 


Alright, so I'm happy with the KV-5 and now on to the JS-4.
As always, we start with the lower hull -


We start with the little thingys that stop the arms from swing too much and after that, the arms - 


The JS-4 really has a low suspension design giving the vehicle such a low height.

Comes the wheels after that. The wheels are 4 piece a pop and made well.


Now comes the time for the tracks. Strangely, this is the best tracks I have ever done from Trumpy. Took care of the whole thing in just one morning ( about 4 hours ) and voila - 



Painted the lower hull and the tracks - 


I haven't got to the upper hull yet as it still have some works to be done before I can glue the two halves together.

So this is it for now. I will catch ya guys in the next update.

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''Which gunpla should I buy?'' - a question that is getting annoying

I have been brooding weather or not I should be posting this but after talking with GundamUK and both having agreed that this is not a contentious issue I decided to go with it.

I have already wrote something similar 3 years ago ( LINK ) but I guess it got buried under my avalanche of wips and finished product posts.

So....... the issue at hand ... the question of '' What gunpla should I buy? ''.

Like seriously? Really seriously?
The answer to that stupid question is a really simple answer ( and again, I will refer back to the post I made 3 years ago) - BUY WHAT EVER YOU LIKE.

Even if the question is '' I have an option of two; which one I should buy? '', the answer is the same bloody one. Cases like this, budget is out of question. Who ever asking it obviously has enough budget to spend ample money on a kit. Fair enough, if a question was worded differently like '' I have a budget of this amount. What can I get?? '', hell, I would even go out of my way and drop links (ebay, HLJ whatever) on his/her question.

The question of what I should buy is really really moot in gunpla. Let me give you an example taken from the scale modelling world -

That is just one type of vehicle ( an early version Tiger I) made by 7 companies. Just one type of one vehicle made by 7 companies. ( and there ARE thousands of different kits). And this is only all in 1/35. There are other scales. Cases like this, sure ask away because some people have build all, others some of it. Get some insightful comparison from people who build them. 

The only case like this that I can think of in the Gunpla modelling world is the case of the Grand-daddy, RX-78. There are so many version of it ( 6 versions of it if memory serves me) and if something like '' Guys, which version of RX-78 should I buy?'' is asked, people would be happy to help. I see that as a question with a little bit of research behind unlike the other spoon-feeding question

Apart from that, there's hardly any case of the same suits being made in different version. Fair enough some of the suits was given the 2.0 but who's gonna buy the 1.0 version at this time and age anyway? So question of '' What (or which) gunpla should I buy?'' is a really really moot question and it's just annoying. I see that question at least once a day on no less then 5 different FB groups. 

The answer is simple - BUY WHATEVER THAT ONE YOU LIKE. 

I am well aware I am coming down as very blunt and could well be sounding downright arrogant but I been in this hobby for 7 years ( in both the scale modelling world and gunpla world ) and seeing that question all the time is just piss-taking ( my intent, however, is not to offend anybody but rather a heads-up of the stupid annoying thing that is happening). I'm not the only one at this as you can see from this screen shot -

I would like to post this picture that basically sums up what I and other liked minded people ( and my friends included of course) think about that stupid question ( one of the many, in fact) -

 Happy modelling. 

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HobbyBoss 1/35 ZSD-90 IFV

Hello Dear readers.... 

I have another finished kit to share with you. and no, this is not the T-80 I have been building. Yes the T-80 is finished but I haven't got around to taking photo of it yet. 

Anyway, this is a kit that I bought on impulse. I was at Hannants one day grabbing some paint and Tamiya cement and my eyes fell on this little IFV with a retail price of £25 so I bought it on impulse. Little do I realize that this will be Part of my IFV fleet after I am satisfied with my MBTs and SPGs fleets. 

The box contents consist of 10 sprues, lower hull, upper hull, single chain links, copper wire, PE parts and a decal sheet. The parts are very fine and clean sprayed -. beautiful details and absolutely clean, the kind of quality one can expect from 2010+ HobbyBoss kits. To my surprise, the single tracks in this kit is workable. You just basically click it on but it's not that well made so it falls apart so frequently BUT it made putting on the tracks a wee bit easier. All I had to do was glue them once I have successfully installed them. 

A little bit information about this vehicle, I don't know why HobbyBoss name this kit ZSD-90. This is the IFV version of the ZSD-89 ( type 89 ) APC armed with a unmanned turret with a 25mm and a co-ax 12.7mm machine gun. This IFV version of the ZSD-89 is actually known as the YW-307 IFV in the PLA arsenal. ZSD90, known also as Type90, is an entirely different machine. However, some sources say the exact opposite of what I have just typed. At this point, I really don't care what is what any more. Researching about PLA machine is just too hard.

The entire kit was painted with Mr.Hobby Aqueous as it was the most closest and best colours for the PLA vehicles. I painted the ZTD-05 with the same paints and in turn, the ZTZ-99 and I was happy so I just used Mr. Hobby Aqueous.

The paint scheme is obviously the digital camo from the 60th Anniversary Parade. The instruction do not show any example of the digi cam and I haven't seen videos of picture of the machine taking part in the parade or with this scheme but I wanted to paint it in the digi cam regardless. The  vehicle number is my girlfriend's birthday, July 13.. well, my ex-girlfriend now as of since yesterday (Nov 11). Had I knew that this would happen, I would have put on a different number. Oh well, I guess we just can't foresee things. ''' sigh ''' :( :(. ( I'm ok.. well, trying to be ok.)

Much like the ZTZ-99, I used pre-cut masks. I just recycled the masks I used for the ZTZ-99 so as to save valuable masks.

I was going to build it absolutely weather free but I didn't like how it looks. While pin-washing it, an idea struck me - '' what if I weather it entirely with oil? '' and that's just what I did. I am quite weak in applying dusts so I killed 2 birds with one stone with this. I thinned down Naples yellow just a little bit and started making streakings with that colour. In that state, Naples yellow lose its yellowish colour and become more of a grey colour. Once dried, I thin it down to completely milky consistency, pour it in my Airbrush and apply a layer with low pressure. I then wet ( just slightly ) a brush with white spirit and started blending the first layer. It takes me 4 layers to achieve this looks

It's time for the photos - 
(Just click on the smaller ones and they will pop out )

 The running gears -

Some close ups of the sights ( here you can see how Vallejo Matt Varnish F**ked up my finish... damn you Vallejo) -

And as usual, my show case photos from various angles -

This is not one of my best works but my experiment with the oil only weathering was a bit of a success IMO. I'm actually very satisfied with this except for one thing - the F**King vallejo matt varnish f**ked up the finish by leaving those bloody white frosted blobs ( you will see some of them in some of the close up photos). I try and I try but from time to time, those white frosts happen. "££$£DRHEB TY$%^$%T$£%$%"$£%%&%^~@{%$}$£&$%^ 

Ahem.. forgive me, lost my temper there. Anyway, does anybody know how I can avoid that? Cos it's really annoying the F out of me. I don't have that problem with the Vallejo Gloss or Satin varnish but only with Matt Varnish. Can anyone, someone, help me with this? :( 

I couldn't keep building if not for my supporting friends and comrades. Thank you guys for always supporting me. Thank you dear readers for your patronage as well.

Until Next time.

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''Its your model so your choice'' - is it getting overplayed?

So, as you all are aware, I am building my T-80 and after my latest update as I was stumped on how to weather it so I asked at the end of my update '' any idea how I should weather it guys? ''. 

As or now, I have shared the T-80 WIP across 4 forums and surprisingly, there was only one suggestion/discussion/advice regarding my question. 

Much as I am more than grateful to that forum user ( for privacy purpose, I will not be disclosing his username), he ended the back and forth discussion of how to put on the weathering with ''Its your model so your choice'' and reading that makes me think this -
'' That sentence is so played-out, overplayed to the same extent as there have been many movies and TV series about Romeo and Juliet ''. (ok that example may not be the perfect one but it was at the top of my head :P )

I have been seeing this sentence used by the people giving advice and getting advice over the forums and many facebook pages and it has been bugging me for quite some time.

Feedback is a very crucial thing to improve as you may all know. All these pages and forums exist so that we can share our work and give/receive feedback on top of making friends and chilling out. So, why in heaven's sake is this sentence so overused? Why do most people respond that if they any kind of comment? Why do people say that at the end of their input/suggestion should they are given? 

Fair enough there are dicks out there; I myself have faced quite a bit of dicks and their sarcastic words that normally come from Aholes. Cases like this, one can say '' it's my model so F**k off ''. It is justified. ( After talking with my good friends I choose not to show what was said to me.)

But what about this kind of situation?

I really enjoy getting feedback like this. I replied with my most sincerest gratitude and thanks.

But you know what? I have seen people respond with the same ''' its my model, my choice '' or a much more widely used ''I build models for my enjoyment'' to a properly written and positive constructive critique/feedback. I have faced such response myself, being told off like that after giving a constructive comment ( sadly, I forgot where though but I distinctly remember more than twice response). What I don't understand is why do people respond in such way.

Why do people who give suggestion or advice use that ?
Why do people answering question use that?
Why do people respond to critiques with that phrase?

''It's my model so my choice '' - is it getting really used too much to the point it's starting to annoy you? What do you guys think ? 

Just some food for thoughts...

P.S - my apologies if I offended anybody. Just sharing my thoughs.

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W.I.P - Trumpeter 1/35 T-80BVD; Part 5

Alright ... last update on this baby gal -

Now that I have finished painting, it was time for the pin wash. Doing pin wash on this wasn't exactly a quick job. So many surface details.
Per the suggestion of a talented modeller who goes by the name of Coen, I used Burnt Umber for the pin wash colour.









Being tired of making too many kits with clumps of mud; dry or wet, I decided to weather this gal in a setting where it is stained with muddy water rather then mud itself.

First, I applied AK's Earth effect via airbrush -






The very stained front portion of the tank was brush painted with the same effect. Mud splatters have been added by speckling a brush loaded with the effect wash with a skewer stick and by blowing air onto the brush.

After that, I thinned the MIG pigments '' Dry mud '' with tamiya thinner, draw some streakings and wipe them off with my fingers so that only some fade effect is left. This is to show the dried streakings of muddy water on the side.









I'm pretty sure I might have to spray some more AK's earth effect on top of the streakings which I will do so later.
As this point, I have already painted the vision ports, and the machine gun along with a very light black smoke effect underneath the exhaust.

So this is it. This wip has now come to a close. I will take the showcase photos later on and put up a finished product gallery very soon.

Thanks for the supports through out the build.

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