Winter 23-24. And the wall came down

[Meter rat]

It looks as if the green did not go on evenly. Yet the white--the one 'color' that consistently gives me the most trouble, brush, can or airbrush(es)--worked well. If you are also using black and then weathering, well, no problem!

The green was even, until I started to touch it in with a brush. Tamiya NATO green from a can is slightly lighter than from a jar.

[Meter rat]

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Come to the conclusion that I have completely screwed this up. The more I looked at it, the more I realised it was going to look crap, and would never look how I envisioned it. I should have stopped when I saw that the paint was not going on well. Just ordered some more paint to re-do it. The white was too white, and should be more grey, and the green, as I have over painted it, now has a mis-match, the black has no place to go. Normally weathering will cover small mistakes, and I work on the theory it is a tank, so will not be perfect, but this just looks horrible.
Sorry! Probably won’t now finish this.

[Ecam]

...so will not be perfect, but this just looks horrible.
Sorry! Probably won’t now finish this.

I still think it looks great and you are your worst critic. I'll bet a wash/tint applied to the white only could change the color more to your liking. Add the black and give it a wash. It's a tank and not a Ferrari, one of my reasons for enjoying armor over any other modeling. Heck in over forty years of loving automotive things, I think I only waxed three vehicles...

[Herr Dr. Professor]

HOLD IT! Meter Rat, go have a wee dram and CLAM DOWN . Take to your shell a bit. That T-72 is a heck of a lot better than you think. Ecam is right. And I agree with his idea to go ahead with weathering.

However, I do understand your feeling: I go through it with every model I build. Then I move on, learning more and more, albeit slowly. A week or two later, I come back and think: "Hey, that's not so bad after all." For example, I was really disappointed when I decided not to sink even more money into the FAMO to get it running at all, much less decently. Now I am back at it as a static model, have already made a modest (O.K. super simple) scratch built-part, and I am enjoying it more than ever.

If you do insist on repainting, keep us informed, for I will be interested in how you handle it. But above all, remember--and I am quite serious--you do far better than do I.

[Meter rat]

I still think it looks great and you are your worst critic. I'll bet a wash/tint applied to the white only could change the color more to your liking.

HOLD IT! Meter Rat, go have a wee dram and CLAM DOWN . Take to your shell a bit. That T-72 is a heck of a lot better than you think. Ecam is right.

Thank you both.

Herr Dr, I took your advice and participated in a libation or two. (Ledaig 10 year old) It still looked crap, even through alcoholic red eyes.
So decided to de re-do it.

Repainted green, and masked up for the light grey.

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That looks better.

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Masked up for the black.

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A lot more happier now. Just the wheels to finish painting, a few bits to touch up.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

So months ago, you wrote: "all I intend doing is a little detailing and a repaint in the same colours, as it is already in East German winter camouflage. The main work will be inside. Money is very tight at the moment, so this seemed to be the perfect opportunity to build in some more functionality with out splashing out too much."

You have done a remarkable amount of work on this T72, with fine results. Do you now think you accomplished the goal of low expense? I know I went way over my intended budget. Then, too, where did you get the information on the East German winter camouflage?

[ColemanCollector]

That winter camo is cool. Yes, I said that!

Weathered and dirtied a bit and it will look really beezer! I think I read that expression years ago in a Brit cartoon mag.

Mike.

[Meter rat]

HDP, Asked.

So months ago, you wrote: "all I intend doing is a little detailing and a repaint in the same colours, as it is already in East German winter camouflage. The main work will be inside. Money is very tight at the moment, so this seemed to be the perfect opportunity to build in some more functionality with out splashing out too much."

You have done a remarkable amount of work on this T72, with fine results. Do you now think you accomplished the goal of low expense? I know I went way over my intended budget. Then, too, where did you get the information on the East German winter camouflage?

I think I have. This has been built up using parts and stuff I had in the house. It was also an investigation into what can be done. For instance, fitting bearings to plastic wheels, using Louis’s idea for the recoil. Other stuff was to try repurposing scrap materials that could be obtained for free, like using old van inner tubes for the side skirts.
The only things I have had to buy were the wheel bearings, cannon smoke and flash, and a can of paint, due to cocking up the paint first time. I think the total cost is about £40-£50 pounds, with the main expense being the cannon smoke.

One of the last jobs was to mask up the wheels and spray the tyres.

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A a short video showing that the beast lives. The mussis was doing the video and hit the slow-mo button by accident.

https://youtu.be/8lDa_RCE0Kc?si=b3pwqYYivrQ5Rc5h

I now need to adjust the suspension as it is to hard, fit the glassing, and I’m not really happy with the elevation and depression. A few other bits need fixing and finishing.

The paint scheme is from this one plate. I found on the internet.

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If I have understood the details of the paint the original colour was similar to NATO three colour camouflage. However NVA wanted a camouflage that could be used year round, so changed the brown to light grey. I also found out that it was only applied to about 0.5% of the NVA fleet, as 18 month later Germany was reunified.

[Ecam]

Great little video. The missus may have solved our "scale speed" issue by mistake. Well done for working flash/recoil/smoke. I fully support your idea of using stuff already on hand or "around the house". Great build!

[Meter rat]

Great little video. The missus may have solved our "scale speed" issue by mistake. Well done for working flash/recoil/smoke. I fully support your idea of using stuff already on hand or "around the house". Great build!

Thank you. The scale speed isn’t really a problem. I have worked on the principle, if it looks right to me for a while..