Heller 1/35 Somua S35

[LyleW]

That is some mighty fine tank building!

[Stikpusher]

Thank you Lyle!

[keavdog]

Advanced skills there my friend!

[Stikpusher]

Thank you. But it is hardly advanced skill. Not at all. I used to do Japanese blotch camo the same way when I was in junior high. Probably using these same Testors white handle brushes back then too.It’s extremely simple to do. The only difference is using Mr Surfacer, which is essentially really thick grainy paint.

[Medicman71]

That's really cool. You should run some Tamiya Extra thin glue in that hatch that was rescribed. It'll remove all the burrs and such and make it cleaner looking.

[Stikpusher]

Good idea! Thanks for the suggestion!

[Stikpusher]

This afternoon I did most of the last of the final bits, and one bit of scratch work. On the hull at the side of the drivers position there should be a vision flap. There is an outline on the plastic for one but no part included in the kit. So I scratched one up from styrene. It’s not exact, but looks the part. There is also a flap and it’s hinge missing from the side of the TC cupola, so I scratched that up as well.





Lastly I built up the suspension armor/mud chutes assemblies, added the side stowage bins, rear cargo shelf, and front & rear lights... the side armor is just tacked into place for now. I need to get some paint in there before I permanently glue those in position.





All that is left to add are the tow shackles and a couple of side steps.

[Stikpusher]

Well I’ve been doing small bits of work during the past week to finish up assembly. I painted up the areas of running gear that would be covered by the side armor and tracks and would not be able to get at after those items were installed. Once those were installed, I added the last few small bits, so assembly is now complete. I did have a few small set backs, but they were easily repaired.





And then looking at photos, I saw that tow chains were commonly installed on the rear tow shackles, so using stuff from my spares bin, I created a set and used Tamiya’s S35 instructions as a guideline.



and lastly a photo with a Tamiya 1/35 French soldier that came with their UE Armored Carrier kit for a bit of scale reference



Let the painting begin!

[LyleW]

Sling that pigment, cowboy! Lookin good.

[Stikpusher]

Pigments have been slung Lyle. Had family in town over the weekend, so it’s been kinda busy here until a few hours ago.

I did an airbrushing session this afternoon. A base coat of Humbrol 30 Dark Green. I’ll let it dry overnight, then mask off and do the secondary colors tomorrow.





and a couple of close ups to show how the Mr Surfacer casting texture looks under a coat of paint...





Until tomorrow...