March 2017

Spielwarenmesse 2017
The news for this year

BMPT-72
Terminator 2

Ford T ambulance
Secure rescue in
the great War

M40 GMC
AFV or Tamiya?

Two new
gifts inside

RAM 2
The Canadian
“Sherman”

T90MS
From the shows to the
workbench
Sponsored by
Is published by Coronel Caramel S.l.
CIF B54483052
Editorial office & administration
Club de fútbol Hercules 6
03008 Alicante
Spain
Te: 965112833
Email: fcmodeltips@gmail.com

Director: Federico Collada

Editor: Federico Collada
Design: Federico Collada
Graphics: Federico Collada
Models and photographs: Federico Collada

Editorial
Times they’re a changing

As months go by Blitzscales is consolidating as the main free modelling magazine

with more and more downloads, this is obviously something very rewarding as it can
be interpreted as the result of a good communion between our ideas and the ones
of our readers who appreciates the effort giving us their support; and something also
very important is the support of some companies that have decided to sponsor the
magazine as they have seen that Blitzscales fit their own spirit and policies. This
means that the continuity of Blitzscales remaining free will be secured for a long time.
Another fact that tell us that we’re doing the things the right way is noticing that other
people is following this path creating new free modelling magazines, this is also very
gratifying so we wish them the best luck.
I would thank if you leave your opinion about Blitzscales in our Facebook wall as well
as any idea you may think it can be useful to improve the magazine, after all, we want
to make it as useful as possible to help you in your modelling time.

Federico Collada

3
Index Page 6 Page 57

Page 12

Page 64

Page 63
Page 43

Page 48

Page 51

6 - Canada base
8 - Next target, the Blitzscales modelling news
12 - Nuremberg Spielwarenmesse Fair 2017
43 - BMPT-72 Terminator 2
48 - labels
50 - T,T&T; Decals medium and fix
51 - Ford T ambulance
57 - 155 GMC M40
63 - Buildable base
64 - RAM II
68 - T,T&T; All paints are washable Page 69
69 - T-90MS

4 5
 Cut & paste
1- Print the opposite page, resize if you need to fit your wood base

2- Varnsh to protect the printing

3- Glue onto a wood base using white glue

4- Press softly with a sponge to eliminate any air bubbles

7

36351 M4A3E8 Sherman fenders
1/35 Scale
A single photoetched sheet containing the parts to substitute the
Italeri kit fenders, very easy to build and well designed, they will
provide a finer detail to our model as this is a very evident part of
the tank. As they’re provided in separate parts it will be easy to do
without one of the sections or spoiling it to reproduce some battle
damage.
36352 T-14 Armata
1/35 Scale
There are many companies offering their own rendition of the new
Russian tank, the last one in doing so has been Zvezda, Eduard has
made this photoetched parts set specifically for this kit providing the
characteristic side fences and other important parts that will upgrade
the kit to a higher detail level.
36353 T-14 Armata side skirts
1/35 Scale
As a supplement of the former set, this one provides the T-14
Armata side skirts together with their correspondent fixations. Some
of the smaller fixations will require a bit of patience to place them
but the result will surely be worth as they fit better the scale than the
plastic ones of the kit, and as they’re provided in separate parts we
can dismantle some of them to show the wheels and suspension.
8 9
35093 US infantry 1918
1/35 Scale
ICM keeps providing World War I military figures
1/35 scale constantly, this time their new kit
depicts three soldiers and an officer of the United
States army in the last year of the war in a
charging attitude which will fit perfectly in a battle
scene together with some military vehicles or
alone by themselves.
The figures are provided in a standard parts
deployment including torso, arms, head and legs
with other small details as separate parts. The 35094 World War I US medical personnel
plastic quality is very good and the detail level is 1/35 Scale
really high with many subtle elements and fine
rendering of hands and gestures that turns each Another addition to the WWI figures catalogue is
figure into a real individual and not a mere clone. this medical scene depicting a doctor and nurse
All the figures parts are provided in a single taking care of a couple of injured soldiers. The
frame and there is another one dedicated to all box contains one single plastic panel with all the
the personal equipment and weapons, this last necessary parts including a stretcher. As always,
one has been previously released as a separate the quality of the figures is very good with no
kit so we can say that this time you can have defects. The box cover illustrates the group aside
two kits for the same price, obviously once you another of the recent ICM WWI kits, the Ford
finished building the figures you will have plenty ambulance with which it makes a perfect fit and
of spare weapons to add to your models and I wouldn’t be surprised if they decide to market
scenes. them together in the near future.
 shown in a relaxed attitude that will fit very
well any of the numerous kits of Polish military
vehicles available in this scale. The figure is
rather simple and made of 6 white metal parts
that need some cleaning and positioning test as
they don’t have any kind of fixing pins.

272001 Weld lines

1/72 Scale

This is a very handful accessory for detailing

those 1/72 models that doesn’t show the welding
lines properly. This very thin wire is flat on one
side and textured on the other so fixing it with a
little ciano should be easy. The only flaw I notice
is that maybe the wire is not all the thin it should
for the scale and may stand out too much form
the model surface, maybe it will fit better the 1/48
scale.

726069 M3 Stuart
1/72 scale

Mirage has produced the best M3 Stuart kits

1/72 scale for some time, far away from the
old Matchbox and Hasegawa ones. With the
years mirage have included many models
to their Stuart family and this time they have
used the basic M3 parts to offer the Australian
version that fought on the Pacific theatre during
WWII. The kit includes some new parts and
an extensive decals sheet with markings for 9
different vehicles. In the box we will find five light
grey plastic parts panels, soft vinyl tracks, the
decals and a few photoetched parts for the finer
details. Building the kit will require some patience
as it includes a few delicate parts that must be
handled with care.

135005 Polish officer 1939 Motorized

brigade
1/35 scale

Mirage has a few metal figures covering the

Polish army of the first year of WWII, this time
the subject is an officer of the motorized brigade

10 11
Spielwarenmesse is a toys and games fair for
professionals held in Nuremberg since 1949
every year. Within the many sections of the fair
there is a special one dedicated to hobbys where
model kits manufacturers show their news and
attend to their customers and distributors. This
year I have noticed again that some important
companies as Dragon and Meng were not
present while some other brands had their space
at the show for the first time.
Some tendencies have been confirmed this year
again; Trumpeter/Hobbyboss seem to produce
more 1/35 military kits than any other company
and Tamiya is not producing any original kit for
this year, instead they are releasing models that
are already in many other companies catalogue
or simply rebox some old Italeri kits.
The exhibitors shown their new kits and projects
for this year, some of them are really interesting
as they concern vehicles that haven’t been
produced before so they really fill the gap, let’s
see some of them.

Tamiya’s new Valentine shown in one of it’s possible painting schemes as one of the vehicles
supplied to the USSR army through the Lend-lease program.

Tamiya’s main attraction for this year is a 1/35 Valentine tank, a kit already available from Miniart, The kit is made of the usual cream colour plastic and at a first glance it seems to be made of lesser
bronco and AFV in many of it’s versions and with very good quality. What is the Tamiya kit bringing? parts than their competitors, some details have been simplified for an easier building.

12 13
The tracks are provided as length and links parts so the boogies will not be workable The kit doesn’t Italeri keeps using the classic Italeri kits providing some new parts, in this case is the Crusader Mk.III,
provide any photoetched parts and even the thinner parts are reproduced in plastic, the more a kit dated back form 1976 that you can have now with a couple of figures and some backpacks,
demanding modellers will surely take good use of further after market upgrades, or simply choose helmets and rolls also originary form some previous Tamiya kits.
one of the many other Valentines available in the market.

Another new from Tamiya, the

release of a “red army” Matilda
Mk.III/IV that includes some new
parts and figures. The length and
links tracks of the TD 5910 type
is a good addition although the
subtler parts are still provided in
plastic instead of photoetched so
The ancient kit still looks good and remains the only one available 1/35 scale, and with the new
some after-markets will still be
additioned accesories will be a nice addition for those who still don’t have this classical cruiser tank.
welcome.
14 15
 The Sturmtiger parts look very well and although some parts have
Another update of a previous kit, the new presentation of the M51 Super Sherman provided with an been simplified it surely will be a very good option for beginners
extense photoetched details set for the most demanding modellers. who will be able to build this massive self propelled assautl gun in
a very short time and without complications.

When talking about 1/48 scale AFV Tamiya rules the market, mostly because is the only brand that The Elefant is antoher classic German self propelled gun that has always caught he eye of AFV
keeps providing us with new models constantly. In the fair they shown two new beasts, the German modellers, this year we will have the choice to have it in 1/48 scale with the option of having a resin
Sturmtiger and Elefant. made zimmerit specially designed for it.
16 17
Just like the Sturmtiger, this Elefant seems to be easy building and appropiate for beginners as are all The italeri Sd.Kfz 231 kit is more than 10 years old and now you can get it too with the Tamiya brand
the Tamiya kits; no photoetched involved and parts big enought o be manipulated without care, this is including some new parts, a figure and a turned metal barrel. The kit omits the italerui parts for the
amusing modelling. aerial antenna frame.

The M-40 a controverted kit that is too expensive for what you get, almost double the price of the A combination of some previously existing kits, the Tamiya German Tank Repair Setzungs and the old
AFV kit that being 10 years older still included a turned gun and photoetched parts. The recent tamiya Italeri Filed tool shop dated back form the eighties. A nice collection to create a repairing work team in
model includes a group of figures and some ammunition. action.
18 19
The recent M-10 shown with one of the painting schemes included in the decals sheet.

Takom is one of the most exiting producers nowadays, their catalogue keeps growing fast with
original kits that haven’t been produced previously or like these new M-47 E/M that will be highly
welcome for the “modern” AFV enthusiasts who, upt to today, they only had the vintage Italeri option.

20 21
Takom has been the first one to release the T-30/34 a US experimental tank that never saw
The parts of these new Maus looks very nice, crispy detail, transparent elements and photoetched
production. This massive tank trials led to the development of the M-103 heavy tank using an
metal for the more subtle parts.
lenghtened version of the T-26 hull and a bigger turret to accomodate the 120mm gun.

Another new kit from Takom, this Panzer VIII Maus comes to replace the older Dragon model and will
be released both as the finished tank and the trial hull without turret captured by the Soviet army at Ammo has released their first 1/35 scale kit, a 1945 production version of the King Tiger tank using
the end of the WWII. the Takom model as a base. The kit can be built in 2 different options differing in some minor details.
22 23
AFV didn’t have a booth at the fair but some of their news were shown at the stand of their distributor, Miniart releases many kits every month; complete afvs, accesories and figures. Their stand was full
although the kits were not very well appreciated at the showcase the M113 looked very well designed of news including some non military kits like this Cafe furniture and croquery, a perfect set for a urban
with better detail than others brands similar kits. scene.

The M-728 is another long awaited model, even when the finished odel shown at the fair didn’t look The Miniart wonderfull T-85 will be released in many configurations with and without interiors like this
very attractive, the kit will surely satisfy the most demanding modellers. Jagdpanzer SU-85(r) that will include a crew consisting in 5 figures previously released as a separate
kit.
24 25
The next figures releases includes modern US and USMC tank crew, german railroad staff, Soviet The T-54/55 family will keep growing with more versions like the T-54-3 produced in 1953 and the
villagers, Soviet soldiers at rest, Soviet assault infantry in winter clothes, US WWII soldiers in T-54-A which are both predecessors to the T-55.
raincoats, etc. a wide offer for all tastes.

The forthcoming Typ 170V

was shown in a urban setting
together with some figures and
the GAZ-3-30 in its bus version,
all of them Miniart kits, even the
base is one of the company
vacuum formed kit. The new
Typ 170V promises to be an
elegant addition to any 1/35
scene, the kit includes a lady
figure that can be adapted to The dioramas and scenes accesories will be also in constant growing with more furniture, railroad
any european scene during the elements, etc. All of them highly welcome as the modellers who usually need these kind of sets for
40s or 50s decades. their works must look into the rather expensive resin market.
27
The T-54-2 is the last version that Miniart has released and keeps the interior parts and the overall
high quality from the previous kits that have gained so high reputation beneath the modern AFV As other IBG models, this Scammell pioneer seems to have a fully detailed interior and very good
modellers. quality moulding, a model full of details that is claimed to be one of the 2017 big stars.

IBG seems to have hit the bullseye with this new Scammell Pioneer SV2S 1/35 scale, a long awaited
model for all the allied AFV fans. The kit look really sharp and everybody hopes this will be the first of
a whole family to come. Some more news form IBG in 1/72 scale, Japan Type 89 tank in different versions, including figures

28 29
 Both Nagmachon
and Nagmashot
use the Centurion
Shot hull as a
base, Hobbyboss
is releasing three
Hobbyboss has many new AFV for the next months, making use of their T-18 basic parts they will
models at the same
make the family grow with this SU-18, a self propelled gun that never got into production due to it´s
time, it wouldn’t
poor performance.
surpride anybody
if we see some
Centurions coming
on later this year.

It seems that every model producer must have the T-14 in their catalogue, Trumpeter has its own
Many producers are releasing their respective kits of the IDF nagmachon family vehicles and
ready, being the last to enter the game we suppose that they will play the price card and offer it
HobbyBoss is the last one to do it, the one finished for the show was really eyecatching.
cheaper than the rest.
30 31
 Trumpeter and Hobbyboss have many exiting
news for the next months, most of them
previously unreleased. Trumpeter is releasing very large models as this 4K51 Rubezh.

the 1/16 scale M1A2 Abrams is a huge model that every modeller would like to have.
32 33
Another impressive 1/16 kit, this Panther Ausf. G with interior parts will be the jewel in the crown of Academy showed their new M1A2 Abrams TUSK II, a kit that follows the path of Meng, Rye Field and
any modellers collection. If you have room for this beast you can now put your skills to the test as Tamiya, if you are to buy a model of this tank here you got another option.
never before.

Italeri is releasing the old ESCI kettenkrad kit 1/9 scale again, a classic model that has been
Master Box is releasing many figures sets concerning very different categories and scales including marketed under the Dragon label too. If you like large models here you have the opportunity again to
military, far west, fantasy, pin-ups, etc. both in 1/35 and 1/24 scales. add this tiny huge tractor to your collection.
35
 www.fcmodeltrend.com

36 37
The Kettenkrad is not the only ESCI old kit 1/9 scale to see the light again, the BMW R75 with sidecar Another “paper panzer”, this Panther II prototype with the Schmalturm and Tiger II wheels with
is a classic in the modelling world and now is available again. transport tracks. The new Amusing Hobby kit is supposed to be available in March.

The 305mm Mörser Bär will be released by two companies this year, the Amusing Hobby one Tiger Model begun releasing military vehicles 1/35 scale very recently and have chosen some
certainly looks really nice. The “paper panzers” have become a usual inspiration field for many brands interesting vehicles to reproduce, some of them previously unreleased. This time they are offering us
that prefer to reproduce this non existing vehicles rather than real ones. the Leopard 2A4 upgraded to the MBT revolution level.
38 39
Zvezda has a T-14 Armata too, and it comes in time to compete with many other model producers ICM is another manufaturer that releases new kits every month, this year we will see some other
who seem to have thought that they shouldn’t miss the opportunity to release a kit of the newest versions of their panhard 178 AMD-35 like this one, in Wehrmacht service, the Panzerspahwagen P
Russian predator. 204 on rails.

Another new kit from Zvezda, the GAZ Tigr entered in service with the Russian army in 2006 and it
Another exciting new form ICM is this Sd.Kfz 251 Ausf A. 1/35 scale, and surely won’t be the only
has been exported to many other countries since then.
version they will produce of this obiquitous german armoured carrier.
41
 Terminator 2
What can you do if you have a lot of old T-72
in your stock and you don’t have a Budget
to replace them for a modern tank like the
T-14? You can still get those ancient tanks into
some high tech fighting vehicles wit the new
Uralvagonzavod update kit Terminator II. This
new kit turns the T-72 into a modern fire support
combat vehicle in a short time and at a very low
cost. The Terminator 2 is designed to prevail in
the modern urban battleground providing support
42
to MBTs or by themselves as they are fully
armed to attack both heavy armoured vehicles or
softskins and infantry.
The BMPT-72 terminator 2 uses the T-72 hull
and substitutes the turret for a new one armed
with twin 30mm 2A42 guns, four 130mm 9M120
Ataka-T anti-tank guided missile, two AG-17D 30
mm grenade launchers and one 7.62 mm PKTM
machine gun and is protected with the latest ERA
and “Relikt” explosive reactive armour which is
claimed to be 3 times more effective than the
older Kontakt system.
43

Eye of the Tiger
The new China based company Tiger-model
has released a handful of interesting AFVs 1/35
scale in its short career and this is one of their
last kits, although other producers have already
made their own rendition of this ultra modern
fighting vehicle, Tiger-model has decided to
make another one from their own point of view.
The new kit resembles other brands kits in
many ways; their high quality plastic and easy
building is Tamiya like, the many parts involved
and soundness resembles Takom and Meng,
workable tracks which links are connected by
simple pressure like those on some AFV kits
and the photoetched parts and metal turned
guns are the kind of extras that some Dragon
kits used to include in their kits. The instructions
are very easy to follow although they don’t make
reference to the details painting, for this you
44
should look for the actual vehicle pictures before
start.
Final fantasy
Construction of the kit was very straightforward
and stopped only to paint some parts before
covering them with the subsequent steps. The
The suspension arms are workable, so are producer suggests four different decorations 2- Then I airbrushed black colour for the
the tracks. based on the vehicles shown in different smaller stripes.
exhibitions and parades from 2013 until 2015
but none of them were very exiting for me so
I decided instead to paint my Terminator as if
it would have been used by the Russian army
for years and depicted in some manoeuvres,
this would let me insist in the weathering paint
process, something I thought that it would give a
“real life” touch to the model. Lately I have seen
3- Once the black paint was fry I masked
many kits of non existing military vehicles, “paper
using adhesive paper tape and remarked the
The photoetched panzers” prototypes, etc. vehicles that never saw
edges with the previous sand tone primer
parts reproduce with combat so setting them in a real life context is
fidelity the more subtle something very limited, I think that in this cases
details. we shouldn’t fence ourselves and set them in any
imaginary context that allow us to paint them as
we really want, this way military modelling makes
the first steps into the fantasy world…….
4- I masked again the zones that would
remain in this colour and applied a coat of 4B0
primer.
1- I used Vallejo primer 73613 desert sand
as a base for the three colour camouflage.
5- Meanwhile I
primed the tracks with
Slowly the building
black and applied
goes on and soon
a coat of 77702
the whole model is
duralumin.
completed and the
Terminator shows its
real form.
45
 10- Next step was to make some chipping, 11- A home made oils wash emphasized the
for this I used dark brown colours and a piece volumes creating a shadow around the details
of sponge.

12- I used the rust paints set to make some 13- A last filter mixing: paints, water and a bit
little stains here and there using a small brush of pigments and applied with a sprayer for the
dust layer.

6- The masks are retired and I apply a coat

of gloss varnish to place the decals

14- I used dry pigments to accumulate a

thick dust layer at the recessed zones, later I
15- The Vallejo new range of effect
fixed the pigments with turpentine.
paints served to make the last oil, grease
and fuel stains.

8- After applying a coat of polyurethane satin

varnish I let the model rest for 48 hours; then I
airbrushed a filter using 71106 Ivory.

7- Using the decals medium and fix I ensure 9- Immediately after that I blurred this filter
a perfect adherence. downwards using a brush and thinner.

46 47
 Do you have any of the models in this magazine
articles? If so here you have some labels for your bases.

48 49
T T ips,
Decals medium and fixer
ricks & T echniques
ICM
The decals fixers and adapters are very useful when we have to work with stiff decals or adapt them 1/35 Scale
to uneven surfaces. Vallejo has two products to help us in this task, the decal medium softens the
decals and the fix ensures a perfect adherence. To test them I used one of the recent Italeri 1/56
scale kits for wargaming.

1 I started as I always do, priming 2 Then I highlighted the details

the model with Olive Drab. with an airbrushed filter.

4 The decals are

submerged in water with
a few drops of decals
medium.

3 A coat of polyurethane gloss varnish protects

the paint and prepares for the decals.

5 I let them in this solution

for some minutes to
ensure the medium soften
them.
The Ford T was one of the civil vehicles
most widely used by the armies of USA,
United Kingdom and France during the
Great War. Its reliability, ruggedness and
easy maintenance made it very popular.
Another reason for its success was that it
6 I moisten the model surface with the decal could be used in many configurations; staff
fixer and immediately place the decal. car, liaisons, light cargo, patrol, tractor and
ambulance.
The Ford T ambulance had a back wood
covered structure to accommodate three
persons in litters or four seated. Being a
light weight vehicle it could run over muddy
or uneven roads. More than 4000 Ford
T ambulances saw service during WWI
and some of them were driven by world
7 The adherence is very good and the decal celebrities like Ernest Hemingway, Maurice
adapts to the raised details like bolts, edges, 8 Once dry I airbrush another layer of Ravel, Jean Cocteau, John Dos Passos and
etc. varnish to go on with the weathering. Walt Disney.
50
ICM is releasing some 1/35 kits based on
the Ford T chassis this year and this is the
first one, a beautiful ambulance for which
they include decals for four different vehicles;
three form the US army and another one
form the French army.
The kit is made of relatively few parts made
in grey and transparent plastic, as in every
ICM kit, it includes both engine and full
interiors. The models builds really fast as the
parts have a very good quality and require
no preparation, so you will start painting
some of the interior parts really soon. I
decided to depict one of the US ambulances
suggested in the instructions and paint it with
a moderate weathering, just a little chipping
and some dust.
51
 1 Building the kit was really easy, the parts fit
very well and need no preparation, just sand
off a few injection marks in the interior. I a few
minutes I started painting the lower part of the
chassis.
2 I used Vallejo primer 70610 parched grass
as a base as I found it close to the khaki colour
used for the military vehicles those times.
3 Then some filters with lighter green tones
served to reproduce the zenithal illumination
and stand out some details.
52
4 With the lightening done I protected the
model with a layer of gloss varnish, the best
finish for decals placing.
5 The decals were then applied with
the aid of the medium and fix (see the
previous tips tutorial)
6 After protecting the work again
with satin varnish I waited 24 hours
and then I moistened the model with
thinner and sprinkled dots of different
filters to create a stained filter.
53
 7 I replaced the kit back curtain for a
vinyl made one, primed and painted as
any plastic part.

10 I used dark brown oil diluted in turpentine

as a wash to create some shadows around 11 The last parts to be added were the
the details to stand them out. windows and lamps glasses, fixed with a
little varnish.
8 The vinyl made curtain looks more
convincing than the plastic one.

9 I reproduced some moderate chipping

using a sponge and rust colour paints.
12 A wash with pigments and much
water created a subtle dust layer that I
later swept down with a brush.

13 The last touch,

some oil and fuel
stains.
 AFV
1/35 scale

The M40 GMC was conceived to substitute the M12 SPG using the M4 Sherman chassis instead of the
older M3 lee one, the shortage of the M1917 gun caused the use of the 155mm M1 Long Tom instead.
The chassis of the m4A3 Sherman was widened to accommodate the new gun.
The M40 didn’t arrive in time to play any role in the WWII and only one vehicle was tested in Europe.
When the war broke out in Korea the M40 was sent and played an important role. Before production
ceased 600 units were provided to both US and British armies.

A couple of months ago Tamiya surprised everybody releasing a kit of the M40 that was both double the
price of the AFV one and unlike the (now old) Taiwanese model didn’t include neither turned aluminium
gun nor photoetched parts, instead Tamiya kit provided some figures and ammunition, something that the
AFV kit didn’t, to cap it all Tamiya decided to sell a turned alu gun separately increasing the kit price even
more, the controversy was served.

In my opinion, and having seen both kits, the AFV kit, although it has some 12 years old now is still the
better option for both the price and detail quality and the only weak point I find is that the tracks included
are not the model used at Korea but the ones used in the test vehicle deployed in Europe in the WWII,
so if you want to depict one of the Korean M40s you should get the right tracks. Tamiya’s kit is simply too
expensive for 8 figures and some ammo extra and if you still want to add the turned metal gun the price
can raise three times the AFV kit.

57
 1 6 8

7 9

3 2

4
Building the kit was rather easy as the many parts fir very well and just a
few of them require some sanding off the moulding marks (pictures 1,2 &
3), the transparent cupolas are a very nice addition, easier than placing the
periscopes glasses one by one later on. I even didn’t have to mask them
as the paint doesn’t cover this special plastic very well, once finished I just
rubbed the glasses with a felt pen and erased the paint.(4)
Pretty soon I had the kit completely built and added a few Eduard
photoetched parts to detail up things like the towing cable clamps, light
protectors, etc. To ensure the fixing of the PE parts I used primer paint mixed 5
with talcum, by the way, this served to imitate the soldering points. (5)
I used the Vallejo primer 73608 olive drab as a base for the kit (6) and started
painting some parts like the workable boogies and interior before finishing the
building process; once I had the whole model primed I used lighter tones of
green to highlight it airbrushing the bigger zones first (7) and from a zenithal
direction and lighter green colour later (8). With the basic paint finished I
started painting the details like tools, wheels rubber band and spare links. (9)
59
 12

13 14

dirty enough I painted the recoil cylinders with

77712 Steel colours. (14) For the rusted look at
the ramps I repeated the standard paint wash but
this time using dark brown and orange colours.
A wash with a mix of rust pigment, water and
alcohol served to accumulate some rust deposits
at zones like the ramps, spare links, etc. (15) the
same process was repeated later using a light
earth tone for a last dust layer.
The tracks were primed black and
then received a hand of 73821
AFV provides decals for 7 vehicles, form the
10 rust texture and later a rust
WWII test one to many used during the Korean
and dust washes.
war, unfortunately the tracks provided are the T66
model only usable with the WWII vehicle as the
rest of the used either the T80 or the T84 model.
I decided to depict the vehicle form the 204th FA
in 1952 with the colourful dragon on the side so
after checking the photograph of the real one I
looked for the T84 tracks, after some searching
on the modelling shops I found the own AFV T84
workable links tracks, fitting was perfect.
I applied a layer of gloss varnish and once dry I
11 place the decals with the aid of the medium and
fix products. (10) Next I painted some chipping
here and there using a sponge and dark brown
colours (11)
I used different washes and effect paints to
reproduce some vertical stains sprinkling little
dots on the surface and fading them down with
thinner (12) then I used paints 71138 and 71141
diluted in water for successive washes to lay the
first dust deposits. (13) Once I had the vehicle

60 61
15 16
Do you have a Ford T ambulance too?
Here is a base you can use for your model.
1-Print on a paper
2-Glue on a cardboard, a wood or MD board
3-Bend the sides and glue the flaps inside

17

The last touch was painting some oil

and fuel stains and with that I called
the model finished, I prepared
a base using the FCModeltips
“magic earth” that took me just
some minutes. Once finished the
model is very impressive, the
massive gun and chassis
give it a very aggressive
look, something that we,
military modellers,
really appreciate.

63

The RAM was the first Canadian built tank;
based on the US M3 medium tank it shared
many components with the Sherman. In 1940 it
seemed that the United Kingdom would not be
capable of producing tanks enough for the war
and the US capacities were focused in providing
their ally so Canada had to develop its own tanks
if they were to help in the war.
The M3 was too tall, under armoured and its
64
1/35 Scale
75mm gun had little traverse movement so the
Canadian Interdepartmental Tank Committee
decided to improve the design maintaining the
M3 chassis but providing a cast hull and a turret
capable of mounting a 6-pounder or 75mm gun.
Due to the shortage of 6-pounder guns, the
first batch was armed with a 2-pouder gun; the
second model received the 6-pounder. The RAM
I and early RAM II had the characteristic side
doors on the hull and front machine gun cupola,
these elements were deleted in the second batch
of the RAM II. When the production ceased in
favour of the M3A1 Sherman in July 1943, nearly
2000 RAM had been produced. The RAM tanks
were not used in combat but to train crews in the
UK until mid 1944. Some specialized vehicles
based in its chassis and hull did participate like
the Kangaroos and Sexton.
The kit????
I bought this kit, half made and painted in a buy-
1 sell modelling forum and the former owner didn’t
remember the brand. All I can say is that’s a resin
kit, few pieces and built over the ancient Tamika’s
2 M3 Lee parts. As the kit had a thick paint layer
on when I got it I had to clean it all. The first thing
to do was preparing a caustic soda bath and
leaving the model submerged for a whole day.
After removing any paint left with a soft brush I
dismantled the model throwing away the ancient
Tamiya parts; instead I used a more decent
base, the Tasca Sherman II (M4A1) (picture 1)
Unfortunately the resin parts were not designed
to fit the Tasca kit so I had to adjust a bit the fitting
of the hull, but after some putty and sanding here
and there I had the model built again, this time
with the best Sherman parts available. (2)
65
The colours 9 11
Inspired by some colour pictures of the RAM
during the WWII era I opted to use an Olive Drab
base (3) enlightened later with a couple of green
filters; the first one using Vallejo 71094 Zinc
chromate airbrushed diluted at 70% at the
centre of the bigger surfaces (4) and the
second one using 71081 Panzer ochre 10
diluted at 80& and airbrushed form above
creating a zenithal illumination.(5) I looked 14
through my spare decals box for the ones
I needed and found the necessary from
different kits, I placed them and varnished to
protect the job.
I didn’t want my RAM to look too weathered so
I didn’t pay much attention on the chipping and
concentrated instead on the different kind of
stains.
I used standard paints from the Model Air range
12 13
of many earth and dust tones sprinkling little dots immediately after with a brush and thinner. (6&7) while still wet.
all over the model and blurring them downwards I let the model rest for some hours; meanwhile To finish the painting I rubbed graphite pigment
6 I started painting the tracks, as I already had on the constant rubbing parts and used oil and
in mind making them look really muddy I didn’t fuel effect paints to make some stains at the
3 pay much attention on the painting, just a black moving parts and around the fuel intakes. (13)
primer base and then drybrushing with steel And the last touch was adding a little stowage
colour.(8) over the engine cover, for this I used some resin
The front lights are solid parts but instead of parts and latex glove that I painted with some
hollowing them and look for lenses I painted airbrushed highlighting and washes. Then some
them silver and applied three successive coats of pigments to dirty them and that’s all. (14)
gloss varnish to create a glass over them. (9)
I mixed some pigments and water in a little
sprayer and poured the mix all over the model to
7 cover it with a pigments rain, once dry I swept the
excess with a soft brush (10)
4 Next I placed the vinyl tracks and prepared them
to adapt the typical weight position between
the return rollers placing balsa wood sticks
between the tracks and the hull. I used the
hair dryer to heat them from a safe distance
and let cool down again with the sticks
still in position. After some 10
minutes I retired the sticks, the
tracks kept the new shape.
8 (11)
5 I wanted my RAM to look like
driving over muddy terrain,
for this the new Vallejo mud
was of great help, with many
colours to choose form I opted for
a dark mud that I applied directly
with an old brush on the tracks and
lower part of the hull (12) To imitate some dry
mud I sprinkled some pigment over the mud

66 67
 T T ips,
All paints are washable
ricks & T echniques
Thinners are as important as paints, they can not only dilute them but also be used as faders for
the paint layer, this way you can use any standard paint to represent a washed away or spoiled
camouflage.

This Italeri 1/56 wargaming panzer III has been Then I protected the paint with a layer of enamel
painted with a white camouflage that has been varnish. this step is very important if you don’t
washed away with thinner. want to spoil the work in the next one.

The T-90MS Tagil is the latest version of

And after some hours I airbrushed a white acrylic
First I painted the kit using a special paints set for
paint for the camo that I later spoiled and faded
German panzer grey military vehicles.
using alcohol mixed with water, obviously the
same brand thinner will do the same effect.
the T-90 that includes the newest armament
and protection and power updates. The T-90MS
was first presented in 2011 proposed for the
Russian army as well as for exportation; the
Russian army finally decided for the T-14 but
the T-90MS has caught the attention of other
possible customers like India who has ordered
464 tanks.
The T-90MS has been upgraded with a new
composite armor, Relikt explosive armor, Shtora
1 countermeasures system, a remote controlled
station armed with a 7.62mm gun, another
coaxial 7,62 gun and a new 125mm gun capable
of firing APFSDS, HE and 9K119 Refleks anti-
tank guided missiles, all deployed in the carousel
auto loader maintaining the crew of 3. The new
kalina fire control system allows the commander
engaging new targets while the gun is aimed to
the previous one automatically.
Although the weight of the T-90MS has
been increased in more than 1500k is still
underweighted if compared with the Leopard 2A6
or the M1A2 Abrams.
hull.
The
kit
box contains
a lot of sand colour
plastic parts as well as turned
aluminium ones, photoetched, and
transparent for the glasses and periscopes.
Building the kit is very easy as the parts involved
are very well engineered and problem free. The
instructions are easy to follow but lack of painting
indications of the details during construction so a
bit of investigation is required to fulfil the painting.
Tiger-model provides a little decals sheet with
just a couple of stars and flags for 2 exhibition
examples which I didn’t consider interesting
so I altered the markings a little to depict an
imaginary vehicle in the Russian army service.

The new Tiger-model kit has been released at

Having used the dark panzer grey primer as a
base I airbrushed a medium grey filter then to
create some highlights.
68
The finished model with some weathering. This
is a very fast and simple painting suitable for
wargaming.
the same time with the BMPT-72 Terminator 2
and shares with that model many parts as both
vehicles share, in fact, the same chassis and
69
 7 – The main gun
includes a soft vinyl
canvas but is fixed to the
turret with no movement
option.

1 – The kit includes workable suspension 2 – The many inner reinforces prevent the larger
and tracks, very easy to build and adapt parts to bend or deform.
to any surface. 9 – The new Relikt
ERA integrated 8 – The machine gun
3 – Although it’s made of blocks give the T-90 station, one of the most
many parts, the kit builds turret a new shape. eye-catching elements
easy and fast, a very of the T-90MS.
amusing project.

10 – Soon the model is ready to start

painting, in my case I started with a
5 – The photoetched parts provide Vallejo 76613 desert sand primer.
the more subtle and thin elements like
the inner guide of the sprocket.

4 – The upper part of the hull

with the inner reinforcements,
solid as a rock.

6 – The turret builds rather fast

too and the turned metal smoke
dischargers are a very welcome touch. 11 – After masking the sand patches I applied a
coat of 71093 Uniform green.
70 71

12 – Before retiring the masks I
highlighted the green zones with a
71094 Zinc green filter.
14 – Another subtle filter with a mix of colours
71094 and 71107 over the green zones mitigated
the contrast of the three camouflage colours.
16 – After placing the decals I protected the
model with polyurethane varnish and let it rest
for 48 hours; then I started with the first stains
using a home made dark brown oil wash.
72
13 – I repeated
the process with
a medium brown
colour and then
retired the masks.
15 – Time for the details painting, here
some research will be necessary as the
manufacturer don’t provide any clue
17 – The acrylic dark brown wash served to
enhance the details, create some shadows at the
recessed zones and make some more faded stains.
18 – I used the camouflage
base green colour again with
a piece of sponge for some
subtle chipping on the sand
coloured patches
20 – The 76503 Dark yellow wash served as a
filter to alter the tone of one of the fuel tanks.
19 – And then again some sponging
with brown and orange colours for the
rusted chipping.
21 – Another home made wash, this time
mixing an old Humbrol earth paint with
much turpentine and airbrushed at the lower
side of the tank for an early dust covering.
73
 22 – Fading down this filter
is easy with a brush and
white spirit.

23 – Many earth tones washes

sprinkled all over the lower
part of the hull and wheels
enhanced the dirty look.
27 – The pigments layer is perfect for further
stains absorbing, using the Vallejo special effects
paints diluted with water and applied with a fine 28 – The petrol spill paint is perfect for some staining
point brush. at the exhaust.

29 – Some black
pigments applied
over the still
wet effect paint
increase the dirty
24 – The tank is now beginning to get appearance of dust
the dirty look I was looking for. mixed with smoke
and oil.

25 – The tracks
received a
black primer,
then some
steel colour 30 – The Russian flag is one of
drybrushing the FCModeltips adaptable decals
and then a mud softened with the Vallejo decals
coverage. blender.
26 – The final dust layer
consisted in a pigments rain, a 31- The last touch was adding some dry earth tone
technique that I like very much for pigments for a dust accumulation on the hull and some
a rapid and homogeneous result. mud sprinkling on both sides, and hull front and rear.

74 75