I mentioned this before, but I happened on
a YouTube video which showcased a very cool Bandai tank model which (I will admit) I became a bit obsessed with. I wanted to make a Fellblade from it (it has a sleek look more suited to an Astartes tank rather than anything else, as well as two cannons in the turret). I ordered one from eBay and bought some resin parts from Blood & Skulls. The tank arrived on the 20th with the resin parts coming a few days earlier. The above pictures show the gradual work on it.
The original model is clip-together in the main, and I took advantage of that by spraying components separately to get gunmetal and red in place. I decided that I'd like to paint this using similar techniques to those I have seen used on some military vehicles - a flat coat of paint with pinwashing and small details, rather than trying to shade and highlight a big tank. I've often painted tanks with simple, flat colors and a satin varnish coat (the reflective coat picks out the texture) and I thought this would be fairly quick and easy.
Assembly went well - I got the undercarriage assembled and base coated in the first evening, and I would have been able to snap it all together that night but I wanted to let the paint thoroughly dry. The upper hull is harder work - things have to be cut and rebuilt, but work went quickly enough. If I knuckle down and get it done, I should be able to apply the bright red paint to the hull in a day or two.
One thing which makes the build a little harder is the presence of clear pieces - I can't just assemble the whole thing and spray it. Nor can I apply the varnish once the clear pieces are in - they will frost. I think I will need to leave them until the end and / or mask them off - but this is a minor bother.
All in all, a fun and easy build and I think this will make a very large, dramatic tank for my Blood Angels!
=][= Danforth Laertes
