Centurion MkIII - Tamiya 1/25

[Guest]

The levels of realism you achieve with your paint effects are simply beyond belief. You create textures and finishes that emulate real metal finishes so perfectly it is easy to forget you are looking at a model.

If I may be so bold as to offer a suggestion though. I think because your paint effects are so incredibly realistic things that are not as physically perfect tend to stand out a bit more. One thing that caught my eye was the bulkhead on the left hand side of the driver's compartment. Above the Centurion III sign is an item with what looks like a cable or a handle coming from it. Your wash accentuates the fact that it is simply moulded into the bulkhead whereas if you cut it off and replaced it with a piece of suitably painted copper cable core it would have maintained the illusion of absolute perfection. It may well be that this part isn't even visible when everything is together but if you are going to put so much effort into a perfect paint job things like that might be worth considering.

[Guest]

Thank you all for taking the time to comment.

All of the suggestions are taken on board with a view to improving and learning.

[Guest]

I really like this build!!

Very nice so far.

Polux

[flyjoe180]

Amazing work Graham. I can smell fuel and oil from here.

[Guest]

So here is the finished 1:25 scale model of the Centurion mk.III British main battle tank. It has been built out of the box with no extras, apart from the camouflage netting around the barrel which I made myself.

The paints used were as follows:

Primer was Vallejo grey polyurethane acrylic. This was also used for all of the interior surfaces. It gives a lovely smooth and resilient surface for the following paints.

The main overall colour was Tamiya Dark Yellow Matt XF-60. This was mixed about 40% paint with 60% Tamiya X-20 thinner.

Panel line preshading was done with Tamiya XF-1 Matt Black and overhead light simulation presahding was done with Tamiya XF-64 Red Brown.

Some weathering effects and shadow areas were done with Tamiya XF-49 Khaki.

The matt finish was thinned Vallejo matt varnish.

Chipping was hand painted with MrMetalColor MC24 Dark Iron. Exhaust and metal tool parts were also airbrushed with this paint as were the tracks and tow cables.

Weathering and rusting was done with a combination of Rust and Sand pigments. Various Tamiya weathering master sets for were used for streaking, rusting and staining effects. Lighter colours from these sets were used for edge highlighting.

Once the track pieces were buffed where the wheels ran and also where the locating lugs rubbed between the wheels, the pieces received a dunking in first rust, then sand pigments, with a good brush scrubbing between the two.

The exhaust parts were treated in the same way.

Although this was an old kit that I picked up from ebay for £30ukp, it went together reasonably well. There were plenty of moulding lines that needed scraping off before painting and the instructions had a couple of anomalies. The old decals were very yellow, so the markings for my choice of variant were spayed using a template that I cut out with a laser cutter, from a CAD drawing that I made.

I learnt a lot from trying various weathering methods on this build and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

As usual, and observations or comments are welcome. Enjoy the images.

[Alan 45]

Truly stunning work , I can just see this going through the desert.

It's been a pleasure following this build and thank you for sharing this with us

[flyjoe180]

Amazing work Graham, I'm lost for words other than fantastic!

[Guest]

This is one of those rare models that really does look like you have taken the real thing and put it through a machine and shrunk it to size. Absolutely beautiful. I can't believe you got it for 30 quid as well, that's pretty cheap entertainment.

[Guest]

Could you give some info on the lighting setup you used for the main pictures (ie., not closeups)? Was a tent used (with a highlight light)? Or two umbrella lights? The balance between shadow and highlight detail is impressive.

[Guest]

Could you give some info on the lighting setup you used for the main pictures (ie., not closeups)? Was a tent used (with a highlight light)? Or two umbrella lights? The balance between shadow and highlight detail is impressive.

Hi Steve

I used 2 flash guns for the lighting. 1 clamped to the radiator in the modelling room, and the other clamped to a storage rack shelf. The 'shelf' flash was fired directly into the ceiling ensuring that there was no spill onto the subject. The 'radiator' flash was bounced onto a white door behind the camera. Both remotely fired by a Canon ST-E3 mounted on the hotshoe of the camera.

The images were shot in RAW and edited in Lightroom 5.2 to give a better dynamic range.

[Guest]

Absolutely stunning work

[Guest]

Excellent build Graham.

Speacially like the subtel weathering.

Polux

[Guest]

I will not say anything but I have a bottle of champagne and fireworks for when this is finished.

Francesco

[Guest]

I will not say anything but I have a bottle of champagne and fireworks for when this is finished.Francesco

Get the bottle opener out then Francesco - I'll be around later :^)

Seriously, thank you all for watching and taking the time to give your observations and comments. It helps to keep me going on those days when I shouldn't even go near the 'cave'.

[Guest]

I really cant remember when I saw better modeling than your work here

fantastic job all around

cheers

Roman