Hey Guys,
Just a few quick snaps of my current build whilst I take advantage of an empty house and enjoying my bullet proof coffee. It's Tamiya's Russian BT-7 Mod 1935, being built as a Finnish AFV. First off I have to say that this kit is a real gem. What you see here is no more than two hours of build time, the jig for bending the screen was just what the doctor ordered. I am mainly building it out of the box with a few exceptions. I am replacing the fenders with Voyager PE (finnish version), an Aber Barrel and Friulmodel tracks.
Thanks and shout out if you see any goofs or if you have any advice.
Cheers,
Cam

Well the kit flew together much faster than anticipated. Not much to look at yet. Just waiting on the brass fenders and the Fruil tracks. Adding the brass barrel to the Coax required micro surgery, something my ham sized hands struggled with but I managed to get it in and aligned.

This is looking great so far.Look forward to see how the replacement fenders look.Will be following.

Thanks Jason I really appreciate that, considering it's pretty much built out of the box. Hopefully I'll have the fenders soon and I can get it painted and weathered.

A small update. The build is now finished and the model has been primed in Tamiya's grey primer. I had planned on putting PE fenders on but they were just too fiddly for me. So, I opted for the kit fenders instead. The only other additions are the fruil tracks and Aber turned barrels and a tool box on the fenders. The photo's I saw of Finnish BT-7's seemed to show a lack of external fuel tanks so I left them off. I never used to prime models but I see the importance now. You can see where I scraped off a few mold lines I had missed prior to priming. Now to get some paint on her.





Those metal tracks were so tiny I had a hard time putting them together until I started using my PE bending tool to do a 4" run at a time. Just clamp one end down and attach the links.

Base coat is on and sealed with Testors Glosscote in preparation of decaling. TBH, i stripped and repainted the turret twice because the bison decals I had purchased would not lay down with any decal setting solution I threw at it. I even tried making my own masks, and failed due to the dual colour combo of the Finnish Hakaristi. Hopefully the new set works better.

So, a little more progress. I have added the decals (it took a bucket load of decal softener to get them to settle down) and winter camo. Its the first time I've done the hairspray effect and I can tell I went overboard a bit. I am going to go back and spray back in some areas and lessen the overall chipped effect. But, that said I don't think it looks that bad. Fruil tracks were treated with AK Metal Burnishing fluid. Please if you see anything or have any suggestions shout out.

The weathering is well under way. Products are mostly AK washes mud etc, oils and pigments. Not far to go now.

Really nice work, dried mud looks great.

Looks great to me. I like the white wash look.
Dan

Thanks guys I appreciate the words of encouragement!

The attention to detail with this piece just leaves me speechless. Excellent job!

Thanks Owen! Im really enjoying this one!!!