Kits kits kits!

Quarter kits!

A week ago I was pretty drunk and in front of the computer with some money to burn... Alcohol, web shopping and money to burn is a bad combination! So I ended up shopping a bunch of stuff from quarter-kit.com

No regrets though! The Hobby Boss kits were €8 each (more on that in a sec) so an all tricked out M4A1 (76) W (barrel, crew, photo-etch etc.) ended up just as "expensive" as the Tamiya kit.

The KV-1 with all it's rivets and boxy appearance will be perfect to practice color modulation and stuff on. I will probably build it straight OOB with no modifications, although it apparently has a lot of inaccurate details like staggered roadwheels and such.

Building the KV-1

While building the superstructure of the KV-1 it was clear why they only cost €8... there is flash everywhere. Nothing really fits as it should and there will be gaps to fill! So if you're an inexperienced modeller (like me) I wouldn't recommend it. Especially since Tamiya has a most likely better detailed and easier to build KV-1. But meh... it was only €8.

Now I gotta go cry because I only have super glue to eat for dinner since I burnt all my money on scale models! Ta-ta! ;)

ICM Sdkfz. 222 Part2

Meep meep! Ich bin ein staubiges Auto!

It's pigmenting time!!! My favorite part of modelling! Inhaling small particle dust and sneezing like a mad man.

I'm trying a different approach this time without using any fixer. For the first layers it's just distilled water, some flow-aid and pigments (African Earth, Rubbel Dust & Light Earth [4:1:1] from MIG) applied like a wash to the entire car.

I then use more of a traditional oil painting approach and move the pigments to where I want them with a moist/damp brush until I've removed all the tidemarks and gotten the streaking like I want it. This first application is more of a "getting the dust where I want it".

Picture was taken when considered myself done for today, but not done with the first application of pigments. There are still a lot of areas to touch up.

After that it's some sealing (which will eat up some of the pigments) to tone it down further. After that even more layers of pigments (mostly the underside that will get a slightly darker tone) and perhaps some rust & oil stains.

I guess the rust stains will be kept to a minimum. Unless the Libyan desert was really rainy in 1941. :)


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Work has started on the SAFS as well. I painted up the interior while listening to the latest D6 Generation (the vanilla ice-cover was hilarious). Not much to see/photograph now since I've masked it all off in order to lay on the basecoats on the SAFS itself. Hopefully I have something to show next week.

Quick Review: Agama airbrush thinner

Agama Rozcienczalnijk!!!

More a tip for you airbrush-users out there than a proper review I guess... Anyhow! When I airbrush I usually mix my paints in the cup while adding thinner. Earlier I've been using some window cleaner that although it worked good it made me worry about all the solvent I inhaled. So I resorted to the "less toxic" acrylic mediums such as the one from Liquitex and the thinner from Vallejo. Both of those are a bit "milky" which in turn makes the color you mix much lighter than it really is. Once the thinner dries the milkyness disappears.

So when I ordered that Sdkfz 222 I got myself this Agama thinner as well. I think I read something about it on Armorama and thats why I got myself a bottle to replenish my almost empty bottle of Vallejo Thinner.

I have absolutely no idea what it contains. But it does wonders with the airbrush. Firstly it's transparent, so you can mix in the cup and directly see what colour you will be spraying. It also extends the colour and acts as a thinner. So if I want to spray really transparent layers I add a mix of 1:5 ratio paint to thinner. With the Vallejo & Liquitex thinners they usually extended the colour much much more, making transparent layers tricky.

Mixing a 1:1 ratio just makes the Vallejo Air much thinner but keeps the color more or less as opaque as it is straight from the bottle. My Model Air colors might be a bit old since they feel a bit thick, and I usually dont want to dial up the PSI to 30 just to be able to paint without sputtering.

It also seems to contain some sort of slow dri additive since the acrylics dont clog up as much as they did with the other thinners I've used (apart from the window cleaner). But it still evaporates quick enough to not create runs if you paint on too much.

So... highly recommended product. Especially if you live in the EU.

The only downside is the packaging. There is no spout on the bottle, so I have to use a pipette. I guess I'm spoiled by Reaper/Vallejo and their dropper bottles. :) It might be that the smaller bottles come with a spout on them.

I got mine from Jadar Hobby. A polish retailer. They send the stuff pretty quick. Or at least quicker than what we're used to when ordering stuff from our Friendly Online Gaming Stores.

Thats it. Back to chipping and stuff on the SdKfz 222!