LAST OF ITS KIND

[HERMAN BIX]

The washable white paint arrived (Ammo Mig-0024)and its really good for this application. Easy to apply and such a small amount diluted with water goes a long way.
I dabbed little spots here & there then basically washed it together to blend it in & make streaks where the stuff would naturally run off the roof & down the flanks of the turret.
Tow ropes painted & fitted,also with a suitable level of white carelessly applied.
While the pictures are very bright, the actual coverage of white looks a lot greyer to the eye, and quite dull. I did use a bit of Magic Grime for white vehicles on a test spot but to my eye it made the look too grey for me.
Still need to blend the muddy foot-tracks on the roof & drivers access and add the snow in limited areas, but its almost done. A bit of minor stowage like a tarp or two, perhaps an ammo crate and some yet to be decided contents for the only remaining tool box will close it out.

Should have used a drop sheet!!

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[HERMAN BIX]

Thought I’d try a black and white to check the look

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[tankme]

It's coming along nicely.

[blimp]

Beautiful job ! You nailed it , again . Well done.

[HERMAN BIX]

Cheers fellas, appreciate you looking in and commenting.

I’ve had a go at applying snow in small areas around the suspension and likely spots on the guards & hull.
Undiluted PVA glue and the AK snow product sprinkled on then left to set.
I will remove the excess today and see how it looks .
You can see how grey the white wash looks when compared to the snow, it’s almost a sea grey shade rather than white, but it does photograph a lot whiter.
I can always darken the snow if needed.

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[Herr Dr. Professor]

Bix, since not all the "snow" sticks to the glue, I used a fan, set up about six feet away, to blow the "snow" off as if by wind (exactly as it is here today in Wisconsin, US.) Blown snow in cold weather (Cloudy, below zero C) looks like what I see in your photos. Consider all the places that blown snow would accumulate and where it would blow off with wind from a given direction in relation to the tank. I image the tank sitting all night in a snowstorm blowing from a northerly direction. (...the crew half asleep, shivering, trying not only to cover up, but also to keep something underneath to insulate them from the metal)

If the snow were a few days old, it might look a touch dirty, even with footprints in it, perhaps muddy footprints, depending on the time of winter. Fresh snow would be stark white, even if windblown.

[HERMAN BIX]

You have the snow theory spot on I'd say Herr Dr , local and regular exposure to it and all!, but I need to maintain the idea that this is not a static model sometimes.
The 1/35th diorama makers certainly have a bit of an advantage in that their models are not required to articulate and the effects they use will always be in place.
That aside, getting snow effects right is not easy. All the experts say that, so Im happy just to get mine close enough to be plausible.
The tracks will not hold any effects for long when in use, no point burning material on that concept, so we will have to imagine the idea of snow packing in the links and throwing off at the rear when the big girl is on the move
I added the flicked up mud over the top track run where it should get chunked up & flung off the track when on the march.
Vallejo Russian Splash Mud 73.802 flicked with a skewer and stiff old brush.

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[Herr Dr. Professor]

Yes, indeed, I wish there were some way to make the "snow" stick to the tracks as if the tank were moving through snowy areas. Thanks for the tip on Vallejo Russian Splash Mud 73.802. I didn't know Vallejo produced a specific mud for the former USSR. I'd bet you had great fun creating all the grunge flung about! (And, by the way, we in Wisconsin are learning more about snow this very day as you are toasting away. So if you would like to send 528 here, I can get some photos in the snow for you. Of course, the US Postal Service has been known to lose packages. )

[HERMAN BIX]

My desire for an actual white xmas/summer would be almost enough to get me to send this over to you for pics and a bit of light relief!!
Coming from New Zealand and having a very small thermostat installed, I dont do summer in Aus very well !! but its home to me and my family & i'm very grateful to share this country with the locals and Air conditioning.

[HERMAN BIX]

A little more done. A regulation tarp and a single ammo crate. The crate is one of the Value gear set versions & scales to within half a mm of the single round crate the M10-T howitzer ammo was packed in.
A wee bit of snow in isolated spots & thats about her done I think.
A crew member or 2 might happen, but for now its ready for action.

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