nightshiftmodeller

Early video

It's almost a feature-length movie! 

New project

And it's not gonna be a tank! Today I finished the JS-2 diorama video (it's 36 minutes long!) and was wondering what to start next. I was torn between two ideas that I had while building the JS-2. Panzer Of The Lake diorama with a Pz IV, or a rotting VW Beetle in the forest. 

Today I thought it would be the Panzer ...

HD photos

Finally some nice photographs, and the finished video is 36 minutes long! 

The deed is done

My friends, another diorama goes into the display case! 

The resin water went super smooth this time, I used a few pictures of flowing rivers as reference, everything was good, until I decided to add some water foam using a dedicated AK gel. The foam turned out great around the bridge, but for some reason, I decide...

Resin time!

My friends, the trees are painted, weathered with earth effects, and I also finished painting the remaining groundwork. 

Painting every log individually would drive anyone insane, so after a few attempts, I resorted to dry-brushing with various acrylics ranging from dark brown through reddish-brown and finishing wi...

A little bit of painting...

My friends, some elements of the diorama are ready. Quite the difference, right? :) 

The brick wall was treated with Bergswerk Lightweight Putty. I've spread it over the wall with a sculpting brush, pushing it inside in irregular patterns. This method is so much better compared to the dry sand + plaster mix! The we...

Airbrushing!

My friends, I've got the entire diorama airbrushed in basic colors. Now it's time to give it a more realistic look with paintbrushes! 

Pretty much everything was sprayed with various mixtures of Tamiya acrylics, no masking involved. I'll approach each element individually, most likely starting with the brick wall b...

It's alive!

My friends, the diorama is laminated, the tree bridge constructed, and I'm almost ready to start painting. 

Laminating wasn't as difficult as I imagined, it just needed a bit of planning. It's easier to wrap the 0.4mm veneer when the woodgrain is pointing vertically. Then you just need a lot of PVA on the styrofoam...

Early video

Full weathering and finishing!

Some work on the diorama

My friends, yesterday I built the bridge and the bank of the river. These two elements had to be done first so I could laminate the sides with veneer. The bridge is now glued in place and yes, everything will have to be glued together before I can start painting :( 

So the bridge is made from Evergreen sheets and 2...

A new diorama is born

My friends, yesterday I made the foundations for the new diorama "Bear Crossing". The reference/inspirational photo is at the end of this gallery, and it will represent a collapsed bridge hastily repaired with wooden logs. 

This time I opted for an oval base, and I was surprised how large the whole scene turned out...

HD photos...

... and some meme material to brighten up your day! 

Finish!

My friends, the JS-2 is ready to be placed in that crumbly tree bridge diorama. 

Adding the final weathering effects would've been fun if it wasn't for the tracks! They started falling apart! My suspicion is that the wires reacted with the VMS blackening fluid and this could've been caused by two things - the track...

Early video

How would it look if everything was painted with acrylics, but there was no enamel or oil weathering? 

Rust effects and lower hull weathering

My friends, the rust tones are in place and they especially stand out in those places where the fenders were ripped off!

As for the earth tones, I started with the lower hull and wheels. Reference photos show these tanks rather "clean" in terms of mud, so I'm going with a rather dry, dusty look. Once I finish the tracks...

Washes and rust

My friends, after editing the video I returned to the workbench and applied a pin wash mixed from oil paints (Industrial Earth from 502 Abt.)

This was a rather quick job because the IS-2 doesn't have as many surface details as, let's say A7V, and because I still had some time, I also added the rust tones on the turret. ...

HD photos

With everything dry fitted again, you can see how a model would look with everything painted, but without any weathering!

Figures! Wait, what?

My friends, the unimaginable has happened. Instead of painting two figures for an entire week, I managed to finish them in one day (and one extra evening)! 

So the commander's leather jacket was painted using the good old drybrushing method, just like those suitcases. A few extra controlled highlights were required...

Early video

It's airbrush time! 

Stowage time!

My friends, continuing with the "paint everything with acrylics first" approach (just for fun), I painted every piece of stowage. Oh, how naive I was thinking it could be done in one day, just like chipping! 

I had to repaint some pieces because they weren't fitting into the overall composition. My goal was to make...

Sheeping in one day? Shur, y not

My friends, I had some quality bench time the other day... because the result is a completely chipped model :) 

Now, there's one undeniable fact... yes, the chipping on this model, and the more recent ones as well, isn't as refined and perfectionistic as it used to be. No more 70-hour chipping marathons, that's for...

HD photos (reupload)

My friends, I had to reupload and adjust these photos because the tank isn't as saturated and vivid as it was in the previous batch. These should be much closer to reality! 

Markings and stuff

My friends, I had a tooth extracted on Thursday and it's been driving me up the freaking wall ever since, but I managed to finish the base coat on this grizzled JS-2, and it's now ready for weathering!

The decals (stars and numbers) from the kit are fantastic! They needed a bit of time and a lot of decal softener until ...

Early video

IS-2 build! Well, it's mostly about textures :) 

Some basic paints

My friends, it's painting day. I laid down some basic tones and got it ready for markings and additional shading. What I quickly noticed is how difficult is to shade such a rough steel surface, it's very similar to Zimmerit! 

But at the very least the textures are now singing!!

The base color was 4BO from MRP...

HD photos

Heavy stronk tenk in its full motherland glory... right before I disassembled and stripped it down for painting 🤣 

Ready for paints!

My friends, I think the IS-2 is ready! 

Stowage was fun, I used stuff from Plusmodel - the milk cans, a crate, and suitcases, and a mixture of Legend accessories. One thing I totally wanted to add are wicker baskets, also from Plusmodel, but these are so huge they would barely fit on the tank... very strange! ...

Early video

Let's talk about models from my childhood! 

Ready for stowage and figures!

My friends, switching the Eduard PE set for Aber was a good choice. It's not just more detailed, but accurate - some details, such as the parts on the inside of the hatches, were completely made up by Eduard. On the other hand, Aber is just not for me... it's for the cool kids when it comes to detailing! Voyager, with their "...

Ready for PE

My friends, the tank is standing on its own, I added some remaining plastic and wire details, assembled the Eduard PE fenders and now it's ready for the final round of PE detailing! The Aber set arrived today so the timing is pretty spot-on. 

What wasn't fun but worth the effort was adding those tiny intermittent w...