Chinese Chipping

I've now added some chipping to the model, again in lighter tones. These will all but disappear later on giving a hint of some wear. The model is now almost ready for the gloss coat and decals. I've ordered some of the new Wilder washes and filters to try out on this one as I've heard good things about them so thought it's about time I gave them a go.

ZTZ 99 Paint Work & A Little Addition

Here's a small addition to the model a set of fuel drums added to the rear. I made up some straps from lead foil and a bit of plastic rod.

Today I've also given the model it's camo colours. I went for the scheme which has the brown instead of the more common sand just for a bit of a change. I used tamiya XF-9 hull red as the base for this and added white & flat flesh until I was happy with the colour. It's almost a dirty salmon pink  but this will change once the weathering begins. The greens where Mr Hobby colours, H303 & H309. I added a drop of black to the darker green H309 for a bit more contrast between the two greens used.

I have not used my normal method of highlighting the base colours with lighter shades as the colours are very vivid and bright. Instead I will be going over the model with thinned tamiya smoke later to add some darker tones and shadows which I think will work better than making the already bright colours even more brighter.

Pretty pleased with the contrasting colours on this so far. I've started picking out some of the details and will be adding some wear to the model as well.

ZTZ 99 Tracks

I've now finally built up the tracks for the model. Interestingly spade ace supply you with enough tracks to do only half a track run. Not a problem if you are fitting the side skirts as the top run of tracks is hidden but a bit of a bummer if you choose to display the model without it's skirts. However the tracks are very well detailed and slightly easier to assemble compared to the Bronco plastic tracks. In fact making only half a run is not a bad thing when assembling complicated tracks such as these.

I'm also looking at the figure and trying to decide what style of tank crew helmet to use. It seems that there are two types in use by the PLA a hard shell helmet similar to US crew helmets and the more usual Soviet style one.

The hard shell helmet is more usually seen worn by IFV crews but I do have a couple of references showing tanks crews wearing them. The soft style should not be to hard to make as I can adapt a soviet head to match the PLA pattern.

IPMS Belgium Plastic & Steel 2014 Show Report

Last Friday saw Stonehenge Modellers (me & Brian ) hop over to Belgium via the euro tunnel for the annual convention of IPMS Belgium. This is a two day event held in Affligem, not far from Brussels and conveniently located just off the E40.  The drive up from the euro tunnel terminal was a doddle and actually a pleasure compared to British roads. Brian was on bunker lookout on the journey and spotted quite a few (sad bugger that he is).

We arrived in good time and set up that afternoon, my first impressions where that the venue was very large and had plenty of space for all the traders and exhibitors. After a very swift set up and a chat with the IPMS Belgium guys we headed off to Aalst & our hotel. Aalst is about five minutes from the show via the motorway so we did not have far to travel. Hotel found & bags unpacked it was time for a well earned beer or three!

On Saturday we arrived before the public was admitted and had a good hour walking around looking at all the stands and admiring some fantastic models on display. Once the doors opened we enjoyed a very busy day chatting to loads of people who I hope really enjoyed looking at our display. The 109 attracted a lot of attention and made for a good center piece to our display along with Brian's Belgian Scorpion. Of course being a European show beer was available via the bar at a very early hour and I must say I was impressed with Brian's restraint in not having one until lunchtime! I of course was driving so stuck to coffee. The show closed at 1800 hrs and I would say there was a very steady flow of visitors throughout the day.

Sunday was much the same with some different models on display and the judging of the competition. The standards here where very high with some extremely well made models and loads of inspiration. In fact this is the first show this year that the models seen on the tables really inspired me. Firstly to build better and secondly by the subjects modeled.   On the retail therapy side of things there was a very good mix of traders with plenty of interesting models to buy. I certainly took full advantage of this and really went a little nuts!

Friday set up,

Saturday & Sunday,

I took loads of pictures which can be seen here, SHOW PICTURES

A fantastic weekend this I certainly had a very enjoyable time. A big thank you to IPMS Belgium for the invite and for putting on such a good show. Stonehenge Modellers will be there again next year.

Chinese ZTZ 99B (Almost) Complete

Here's the 99B now almost done. The only thing left to do is the tracks which I'm still waiting on. I'm also going to fit a couple of fuel drums to the rear racks courtesy of Craig over on the Modelworx forum who has a couple he's generously donated.

As you can see only a few additions have been made and most of these are on the turret. Chains for the smoke dischargers, a few bits of plastic card and brass and a couple of magic sculpt canvas covers for the wind sensor and that "thing" behind the commanders hatch. Oh and a spares box ammo can for the AA gun.

I'm really liking the look of this one, you can really see the Russian influences as well as ideas from other nations tanks incorporated into this one. And that massive gun really is impressive. It's a big model and packed with some nice details and sensible construction sequence. The build up has been totally trouble free and an absolute joy to make, top marks to Hobbyboss.

ZTZ 99 Turret

Onto the turret and again swift progress with excellent details and an easy build. I've deepened the amour panels with a scraper and just added some chains to the smoke dischargers. A bolt head here and there plus a couple of bits of etch and it's almost done.

ZTZ 99B Swift Building

More swift progress on the ZTZ now and as you can see the hull is almost complete. The details are crisp and the parts need very little clean up. The etched engine deck screens are very nicely done as well. The turret is now starting to take shape and here as well as on the hull I've used a seam scraper to slightly deepen the lines between each panel on what I assume is some kind of reactive armour.  

I've also had a go at building up the Bronco tracks but after some time spent cleaning each tiny part up, then trying to glue them without losing the ability to move each link and scratching my head in frustration I've given up on them.

Life's too short to be getting stressed over silly things like fiddly tracks so yes you've guessed it! Spade ace tracks come to the rescue yet again. A set is winging it's way from Hong Kong as I type. A bit extravagant you may think but really I've always found tracks my achilles heel and although I've built the Bronco type tracks in the past with great success these days I'm all for the fun and enjoyment of building models and a lot less about as much accuracy as I can manage.
And anyway who really notices the finer details of tracks on a model anyway? especially one with side skirts where you only really see a small portion of the track faces. Everything else is hidden away behind the skirts!