mikegr

With 39°C impossible to airbrush. Paint would get dry instantly. Therefore I finished the job on the right antitorpedo belt this using a more powerful tool. Result with some had work came pretty nice, much better that the original

Today painting was possible. The PE guns shields proved too fragile and hard to be glued on deck. I removed them and replaced them with 3d ones I made, bit thicker with reasonable detail. Unfortunately some glue spots and scratches on deck are visible. Some can be covered but few will remain visible on close looking

this makes all plastic models useless

I trimmed down the belt at an angle. Using a proper tool I created  a slopping effect which is only visible only at close distance. Left side, done need to work at the right. Then I added new bases for the 40mm guns. Those at the bow did not exist at the original model so I added myself

8 hours ago, ddp said:

what time period of the war for NC?

armor belt thickness for that class would be 12" so at 1/700 scale it would be .435mm thick, do you have a dremel tool or similar to remove that belt & replace with 2 layers of .2mm or 1 layer of .5mm thick styrene sheet? 

These old kits doesn't refer the time period but I expect to put  40 Oerlikons which means 1944?

So you mean in 1/700 the ideal belt thickness is 0.5mm? That means I need to remove more material

Unfortunately the wood deck I bought from the same manufacturer was of lower quality this time, somehow deteriorated.

Studying about the painting schemes I found out that the deck could be painted with Navy Blue under Measure 22 system or something like this.That would be easier to do.However because of the sanding the lines on forward part of the deck had been gone. So designed one and printed it out . some PE details were added, bollards and a few other soon.

Finally I sanded the side belt, it looked too thick perhaps one meter in real scale

Next theme 

North Carolina by Aoshima

I wash and remove the unwanted parts. Deck was covered by dozens of tape pieces 0.6 x 10mm before spray. That would give a planking effect. The result wasn't the desirable. Some corrections by hand didn't make the situation better.  I decided to use sticker wooden deck which I usually keep for carrier decks. So much time wasted today on painting. Enough for today. Time to study some books

Great work. 

Too much paintwork for me to deal with.

Did you use brush only on airbrush too?

It is done. I added a simple base, nothing to be proud of, but the overall look turned ok

17 hours ago, king derelict said:

Looking very nice Mike. Great idea for the red lenses, I need to remember that. I just broke my moratorium on new kits and bought the Vespid Leopard.

alan

Thank you 

That would be a fascinating built. I have the Revell Leopard 2 but I'm hesitant about the camouflage painting

Welcome back

The detail is spectacular

What a remarkable job

I improved the "eyes" of the tank, using 3 mm drill. Then filing with silicone to have the glass effect. Silicone was painted with red food coloring. One single brush hair was used for the red dot.

I brushed many times with light color then darker, to make the weathering. Some chipping applied. Next will be oii washing, before I paint the tracks

  Τhe tracks look very detailed. Actually they have some tiny printing supports that need to be removed. It was tricky business some pieces broke in two as they quite fragile.  Attention was given on the lower part. At the upper part single track pieces were not used, fortunately side fenders hide the unfinished job, about 20%.

I replace the cable with a thicker and more realistic one I believe. Wheels are painted not perfect but ok because the weathering effect will cover minor imperfections. Ready for placing the tracks. I have all weekend for this

On 6/12/2025 at 9:49 PM, Landlubber Mike said:

Nice job on what looks like a tough kit!  

2 hours ago, GrandpaPhil said:

Very nicely done!

Thanks, your comments are appreciated

The wheels come in two pieces, front and rear as usual. The unusual is that I have 12 rear and 36 front pieces. That means I can choose those depending the version I want to built. Minus the turret of course.😁

Last details before wheels and trackwork

A made a tow cable and added the wood at the rear. Then paint over as well as the sides of the wheels.

Today was a pleasant day. I had to remove the side fenders so I can access for the track Installation.

The whole body was sprayed with green enamel. This paint along with others was bought 30 years ago. Not only was functional but spraying was super easy. No primer is also needed when use these oils. I think the good painting revealed more the details, feeling somehow compensated for the time spent trying to correct the model

23 hours ago, Canute said:

Mike, how old is the kit? Age and thinness of the plastic could make for sporting builds, as does the lack of internal pins to square up parts in many limited run kits.You're doing commendable work here.👍

Thank you 

I don't think it has to do with age. The plastic is somewhat soft and elastic like in a kit in 1/700 I built before. Good think that parts can come off easily from sprues even thin parts without damage. Also they are easy to sand.

There is a photo showing two double ring  parts and a sign means "weight".

 Not sure what this means, I proceed with gluing the chassis with. the upper part. The fit was perfect.

Next was to put the barrels at the rear which are actually smoke generators. It was tricky to put them in line along with the 4 supports as one broke and had to repair it somehow. Finally I added the wired according to the real model using 0.25mm brass wire.

Today I worked on the main body. I did bit  scratch built in front.

Then another mini disaster occurred. The chassis was warped.

Nevertheless I made it straight with the hot water method. Soon I will work on the wheels and later cornes the track nightmare 

4 hours ago, king derelict said:

That’s disappointing. It’s a seriously busy turret and a shame they seem to have dropped the ball 

alan

They included parts for both edtions, even hatch cover for the driver, but not the turret body for the modified version!

So after the troublesome armor fitting I faced this

Such misfitting it can't be happening so investigation took place.

I discovered that this kit has extra parts depends the tank version  Even an extra set of parts I dont know why

However there is only one turret and this is for the T-90 and not for the T-90A which I was intenting to build. To get the idea here's a comparison 

I tried to look online to find online a 3d separate file for the turret with the straight sides but there were mostly for the whole tank. I only found one, but it would take a lot of work to bring up a good amount of detail and many print tests.

So I had to give up the idea of building the modern version. Instead, I sanded the parts to fit them with the rounded turret. I proceed with the rest of the parts and finally added the machine gun. The lights between the barrel supposed to be removed, they were left in place for demonstration purposes

I started the tower. There are extra parts depends the version anyone wants to built.  I chose the resin part with the double infrarents as shown on my first post. Looks like T-90A. All was ok until I had to add the side reactive armor. Due to the oval shape of tower these were not easily installed on line like they are in the real tank.

I'm not sure if I read correct the complicated instructions but I spend over an hour to figure out a solution. I replaced some square parts with longer plastic ones as required. Definitely not a work to be proud of but most crappy job its under the turret so it can't be seen

 The barrel came in one piece shaving me from sanding the seam line. Its highly detailed like the rest of the turret even I hadn't add most pieces yet

Indeed there is enough details on this kit, even the engine grills look look fine. The side skirts also are finely detailed they even have some bumps at the lower side, like in real tanks after usage

The instructions are a different story. The picture for painting guide is very small I can barely see the camouflage. Fortunately I will go for the green only one. There is also not instructions for decals. The Soviet flag is of no use I think as the earlier version of T-90 appeared in 1992

My second battle tank in space saving 1/72 scale.

T-90 is an advanced Russian tank continuously upgraded from the experience gained at the war in Ukraine

The kit

I got this kit from last travel in Malaysia from a local shop instead of ordering  the Vespid Kit form China as was my initial purpose.It comes from an unknown company called AM.

However it has a lot of pieces and fine details as well as resin made, flexible tracks. The instructions seems to be cramped somehow, too many pieces in one photo. Hopefully the parts will fit well