Tamiya R35 Some Filters & Washes

Today the model has had a very light dusty filter added followed by some pin washes. As you can see the details have really popped very well. I'm not going to add much more to the model as I feel too much would spoil it. The figure has had a coat of vallejo leather belt followed by some raw umber oil paint which was then removed with a soft brush. This was followed by some burnt sienna to start the shadows on the leather jacket. 

R35 Gloss & Decals

With most of the tools fitted I sprayed the model with gloss varnish then added the very colourful markings. The only tricky one was the front hull roundel which struggled to conform to the hull due to the manufacturers plate. So I just removed the top portion of the decal and mixed up suitable colours from vallejo paints and carefully painted the missing section. 

I really like the colourful camouflage and vivid markings on this, you certainly can't miss that it's French!

Tamiya R35 Tool Modification.

Whilst starting to paint the tools for the model I was unhappy with how the spade, hammer and axe handles looked due to the fact they had a solid rear section. So I decided to remove the handles and backing and after a bit of a clean up new handles where fashioned from plastic rod. They now look much better I think. So I can now get them painted up.

Tamiya R35 Camo Complete

The camo scheme is now all done on the model. In the end I opted for brush painting as masking seemed a real chore on such a small vehicle. So I mixed up some colours using various vallejo paints to roughly the same shades as the tamiya ones in the painting guide. Each colour was laid on using three thin coats which worked very well. 

Finally a fine brush, black and a steady hand were used to add the distinctive black bordering to each colour. I'm very happy with the result and it only took me most of today!

Tamiya R35 Painting Begins

I've now started painting the tiny terror by first spraying the lower hull with tamiya XF 58 olive green. I did add a couple of drops of Xf15 flat flesh to this to slightly lighten it. I then sprayed X F21 sky onto the turret and areas on the hull. I then changed to vallejo 977 desert yellow and hand painted those sections on the turret before lining the borders with vallejo black.

I'll give the turret a quick coat of gloss next to stop any paint lifting once I mask it prior to spraying the rest of the pattern on. The hull will be tackled in the same manner. My reasoning here is that by painting the two lightest tones first it's much quicker than trying to add a lighter colour over a previously painted dark one.

Tamiya R35 In Primer

The benefits of building such a small uncomplicated model are that it takes only a short time to wash and then dry the parts before primer. Hence why I've been able to get it all sorted in one afternoon. 

Also as luck would have it I've actually got all the paints needed for the five colour camo scheme in my paint supply as well for a change. I'm thinking of tackling this the same way I did the Somua back in 2015. First spraying the lightest colours then masking as I go along to the final colour of olive green. Of course the model is half the size of the Somua so it shouldn't take too long.

Tamiya R35 Built!

The model is now all built and that's with me sitting on my hands in an effort to prolong the construction phase! That's the thing with these new tamiya kits, they just build up so well with everything fitting as it should building them is super quick. My only addition was the use of some mr surfacer for the exhaust to add some texture and a little bit on the turret seams that need to be blended in. 

I also used some tamiya extra thin stippled on with a small brush to restore the fine cast texture in those areas. The figure is also very nice and fits the turret perfectly. So now I'll give the model a wash before primer so had better check the paint stocks to see if I have the right colours. 

Tamiya R35 Mojo Kickstarter!

In an effort to get the modelling mojo going again I decided to order the tamiya R35 as I felt a change of era & subject might just do the trick. The kit arrived yesterday and I started building last night. As you would expect from the new tamiya kits it builds up like a dream and the details are superb. 

I've already got most of the hull done and one set of tracks built up, I need to pace myself here as I'm enjoying it so much. So I think a change of era to WW2 subjects might just do the trick. Trouble is I don't have many kits of that era so I'll have to buy a few, any excuse to increase the stash! 

Fangus The Cat

It seems my bench has become our spoilt cat's favorite afternoon snooze spot over the last few days. The cheeky sod has discovered that he can get as much attention as he wants and have a good nose out of the window before settling down for a snooze on any handy plastic or optivisors that may be lying around on the bench. Just as well I'm not building at the moment cos all the cat hairs would drive me bloody mad!

Still Not Modelling & No Model Shows

Well I'm still not doing any modelling but am getting lots of other stuff done including some much needed admin and file sorting as well as going through a lot of old documents. I've shredded quite a lot of junk that I've had for years and now don't need. 

The man cave has also had some attention, putting everything back in the right place and sorting out my spares etc. So with everything squared away I'm just waiting on the return of my mojo!

This year as you all know has been a total washout regarding model shows with Stonehenge Modellers only managing to attend On Track in February before the lockdown came into force. Since then every show we were due to attend has been cancelled. With all that is still going on in regarding the virus and travel, distancing and venue restrictions we have come to the decision that we will not be attending the annual IPMS Belgium show in October.

Although this is still scheduled to take place there are already restrictions for the show such as no competitions or hot food this year as well as possible social distancing provisions. It was a very difficult decision to make as we enjoy our time at the show immensely. But both myself and Brain felt it would be in our best interests not to go this year.

Perhaps that and the fact I've got no deadline to build to, for example getting a kit finished for a show, that has knocked the old mojo out of kilter slightly lately. So updates to the blog may be few and far between until modelling commences again.