Takom Mk.IV Male "TV build"

[Guest]

I like to have a kit in front of me when me and the kids watch a movie and some youtube before they go to bed and last week I chose the Takom Mk.IV Male/Female kit.
I didn't take any pictures in the beginning but I try to take pictures during my builds so I can go back and see where I did something wrong, and to document my progress.
I chose the Mk.IV in order to try something a bit outside my comfort zone since I mostly build German WWII tanks.

It's a really nice kit if anybody is looking for a good Mk.IV!





































I had some CA glue issues which I dealt with in another thread but apart from that the kit was very straight forward to build but a lot of critical panels to fit in the correct order - and this isn't 100% in the instructions...
Some parts I taped before cement to verify that it worked down the line.

The kit comes with working tracks as standard whereas they've been optional extras for the previous Takom Mk.IV kits. It also comes with parts to build either a Male or a Female so if you're unsure this is the kit for you.

It comes with decals for 4 different tanks, 2 British and 2 German. I cut up my decals to create a fictional tank.

Fitting the road wheels were a real pain in the rear end - but I did it without glue - which most people have used. I want my tracks working in order to have the freedom to tweak things in the end.

[Guest]

Normally I would've painted this in a German paint scheme since everything I seem to do is German - but the Mk.IV is such an iconic British tank so it had to be a British tank!
I went with Tamiya XF-49 Khaki since that was pretty close to one of the original colours, and I made a simple pre-shade to make life easy for me. I do that on all my models.















The tracks I primed with my usual XF-69 that I use instead of primer on most of my models. You don't need to use a real primer when using Tamiya paint. That's my opinion anyway and the paint really bites into the plastic due to the iso thinner.

When walking the dogs I realised that the dead and dry grass outside could work as a fascine and after a bit of tinkering I think I've got something that could work!
The figure is just there for scale.

[Guest]

I was now going to begin weathering after spending five days to build and paint it and I decided to do a hairspray chipping for the first time.
That created a second thread here on the forum to discuss the failure. This failure was bad and it even pulled of the varnish and all the underlying layers of paint...
I had to rescue it with heavier weathering that I'd planned, but I think it's turning out ok somehow!





Here you can see the total disaster with the dodgy hairspray. I was brushing and brushing and brushing for 20 minutes and nothing happened, and when I started using a bit more force this happened.
There are also evidence of the paint has dissolved by the hairspray so this brand was crap for modelling. Lesson learned!



























First I used Tamiya black panel liner but I think I'm going to use this less and less in the future because it bleeds a lot and you can't really clean up the "cloud" that's outside the panel line or rivet.
I've now bought oil paints that I'm going to use on the next model, and evaluate the results.
I used "Dark Tracks" paint from Vallejo for chipping but I didn't like the effect so on top of that I used a solid graphite pen 6B, and that looks much better.
The rest of the weathering so far on the hull are Vallejo Streaking Grime and Vallejo Streaking Rust. I also use some Vallejo Oil Stains around axles and where I thought grease and oil could leak.

The tracks were painted with Tamiya XF-64 Red Brown and then I used yellow and red pigments with water to create some tones of surface rust. When that had dried I mixed some Light Dust from AMMO of Mig with iso (to make it dry faster and diluted) and put that on top of the surface rust. When dried I used the graphite pen to create metal surfaces on the track links where they would normally wear.
I'm going to add some dirt/earth/mud as the next step tomorrow, but it's now time to slow down and be careful I think in order not to put too much weathering on the model.
I'll start with adding a little dirt/mud to the obvious areas and see how that looks when it has dried and make a decision based on the results.

The exhaust pipe is just painted with XF-64 Red Brown and a little Streaking Rust added. I might add some red pigments, but right now I'm not convinced it's needed?

The effect of the graphite pen is looking great if you ask me and it creates a plausible look for areas that the paint is worn down to the metal.

I'm also going to finish, and add, the unditching log and attach it on the rear of the tank and then attach the fascine and call it done. I might spray the fascine bundle with some diluted brown colour in order to look more like hazel. At least that's what I think they made the fascines out of? Please correct me here if I'm wrong.

I also need to finish the weathering on the roof, and more importantly the top sides of the sponsons. I couldn't imagine how they would wear on the top side so I left it until I'd seen some real photos.

So this "TV build" is coming to its end and it's been a great little learner! I've also come to realise that I like these WWI tanks. They are very different to the late WWII tanks I've got a huge pile of and I think there's going to be a Whippet in front of me sometimes soon?!

I've still got loads to learn but I'm slowly getting the hang of this I think. I'm having fun and that's the important bit!

I wasn't going to show this build since it was an experiment, and with the chipping disaster, but looking at it now it's a work in progress I like! If I can manage to only do just enough with the finishing bits it can be the base of a nice little diorama perhaps?

Anyhow, that's all for now I think. More tomorrow night!

[Guest]

Well, there's a first for everything and I jumped in at the deep end with mud, dirt and earth things and after a slow and too careful start I've now created the foundation for the final part of the weathering.
First I applied some thick mud and then I used some dark earth pigment on top of that. I've looked at a few reference photos to see where most of it would collect and I had to go back to the sponsons three times before it looked anything realistic.
Next step is applying some lighter tones and finally some splashes and muddy streaks. I used some diluted dust on the tracks, which I like, but it's not realistic so the tracks are going to get a round of darker mud and dirt too.

I contemplated testing on paper first but paper is nothing like the real thing so I just looked at some photos and did my best. I didn't want to do it totally dirty, but I've tried something in the middle I think.
Takes a log time to dry though...






Sponsons are still wet here so the colour and contrast isn't correct, but is should give you some idea what I've done.
I would like to add more texture and I'm going to raid a few old flower pots tomorrow for larger pieces that can be used for that purpose, perhaps. We'll see...

I liked what I'd done prior to the mud & dirt treatment and now I'm not sure where to go from here, but lighter pigments and a step back and it might be obvious? I hope so anyway.

[Guest]

Magnificent work Jens.
The weathering and the mud effect are superb

[papa 695]

Just seen this one Jens, your doing a fantastic job on it. Like Polux say's the weathering and mud effects are top notch.

[Guest]

Agree with the above, really impressive build Jens, looks like it's been knocked about plenty!

[Snowman]

Magnificent work!!

[Guest]

Very nicely presented and a vehicle i really like very much.

[flyjoe180]

That looks A1 Jens, and I agree with the previous comments re the weathering and mud effects.

[Guest]

I was hoping for some pointers on my weathering since I very much still have the learner plates on when modelling - especially this mud and dirt thing that I'd never done before, so I was pleasantly surprised - and very happy - for all of your warm and kind comment!!! Thank you guys so much!!!
I've really tried my best here even though I lack a lot of experience. A few reference photos have been the inspiration but apart from that I knew virtually nothing about WWI tanks prior to this build. This I do now and I'm going to build more of these fantastic mechanised mud crawlers very soon

After giving it a mud bath my tracks didn't fit in at all, which was sort of sad because I was really proud how they turned out with different nuances of surface rust, shiny and worn metal and some light dirt/sand/dust tones. I even contemplated ordering another set of tracks just to keep the ones I'd made but I decided to fix them instead.
I made a track wash in the same tone as the mud and earth on the tank and applied it to each and every link, and I think it worked.

The reference photo I've mainly used has a lot of mud on the tracks as well, but it's parked uphill in a really muddy situation. That mud would come off when driven on a harder and less muddy surface so I'm not applying any mud to the tracks just yet. I've got a vision of a small diorama/base that could look interesting and if I go ahead with it I can add the mud and earth on the tracks then to match the scenario. That's how I think right now because I don't just want to add more weathering just for the sake of it because I'm worried I'll do too much...

This is how it looks with the adjusted tracks right now.







I'm going to leave it as it is right now and focus on the unditching beam and the fascine. I've used putty on the edges of each grass straw since they were hollow, and I'm going to paint them darker to look like hazel, with lighter colour where they're cut, and then try to fabricobble some sort of chain/rope attachment. The unditching beam is just painted dark brown because there's going to be a lot of mud and dirt on it.

This was my third model and the second I'm pleased with. The first one (a Tiger I) has a terrible chipping job, but served its purpose since I learned from my mistakes. I've got a whole pile on the desk that are (more or less) ready for paint and I now feel ready to pick up my Takom King Tiger again that I had to abandon because I simply lacked the painting skills that was required.
I've learned a lot so far doing this Mk.IV.

I'm going to the C4-Open modelling expo on the 29:th and it's going to be very valuable to see real models for the first time and how they look in real life instead of just pictures on the computer, or in magazines.

There are probably many areas where my Mk.IV could've been improved or done differently - and please tell me these areas because I'm trying to learn and get better - but I can admit that I am a bit proud of what I've done here and that I managed to get some mud, dirt and grime on it that is almost plausible! Most importantly I'm having a lot of fun and I'm feeling creative

Cheers

[papa 695]

Nothing wrong with that at all Jens. Outstanding work.

[Steve Brodie]

Thats simply superb Jens!

[Guest]

Awesome work jens nice step by step account. I think the weathering turned out great

[Guest]

My fascine made of grass isn't going to work unless they were made with bamboo - which they weren't. The grass is hollow and despite putty it doesn't look right.
The only thing I can think of that might work is the bristles of a broom.

Any other suggestions for 1/35 scale coppiced hazel?

If not I'm off to buy a new broom