Italeri 1/35 Desert Rats S.A.S. Combat Car

[Ian]

This was an inexpensive buy on ebay, but due to the fact that a few pieces were broken (in the sealed box) when it arrived, I decided to make this one a "techniques" build.

The kit itself is pretty old and I wasn't particularly impressed with some of the molding, but plenty of detail, especially the chassis — I felt like I was building the real thing! Or at least it took long enough.

These were painted either dark green, camo or a very lovely pink depending on location, so I decided to try the hairspray/chipping technique with the idea that this started out as pink but was then re-sprayed later on in its life.





I'm about 75% done, and it's going pretty good so far. Broke a few more things along the way, but this one is more for learning on (since it's my 2nd build after the bulldozer.)





The hair spray seemed to lay down a little 'gritty' and after 2 coats and then the dark green it was starting to get a little heavy. Used room temp water and stiff brushes to wear away certain areas but it required a lot of elbow grease. A lot of stiff brush work to reveal that undercoat of pink. Not sure what I did wrong.

 

[andrei383]

nice work with the chipping! looking forward to see the progress on this one!

 

[ScaleModelMadman]

Broke a few more things along the way...

My ham-fisted-ness breaks things on every build during the paint/weathering stage. Every build lol.

The hair spray seemed to lay down a little 'gritty' and after 2 coats and then the dark green it was starting to get a little heavy. Used room temp water and stiff brushes to wear away certain areas but it required a lot of elbow grease. A lot of stiff brush work to reveal that undercoat of pink. Not sure what I did wrong.

Ian, what kid of paint are you using? That (as well as how heavy your paint was applied) will have a huge effect on how easy, or hard it is to get off.

 

[letsgobrowns82]

I like the chipping and worn out look on this. Its very authentic. Great work!

 

[Ian]

Here's the order:

• Unwashed plastic (I was curious about not cleaning before hand, and it definitely seemed to adhere less)
• Vallejo Gray Surface Primer
• Tamiya Acrylics (pink custom mix)
• Alcad Clear Coat Flat
• 2 coats hairspray
• Tamiya Acrylics (dark green)

I was spraying at about 20-25psi (since I started that way with the primer) so perhaps I need to tone that down a little and then do more passes?

None of the paints were thinned, just straight from the bottles.

 

[Ian]

And hand painting with Tamiya is still driving me mad. It dries so quickly that I can't seem to lay anything down smoothly, even in places like the wheel wells. I end up having to get twice as much on my brush and just blob it in there.

It's like it can't even adhere to the surface of the primer or something —I brush on and even just brushing over that seems to pick it up off the plastic. And different colors behave in different ways. I do have some retarder, and a Vallejo paint set coming however.

 

[Ian]

nice work with the chipping! looking forward to see the progress on this one!

I like the chipping and worn out look on this. Its very authentic. Great work!

Thanks guys!

 

[spud]

get some Vallejo retarder and mix it with your tamiya paints for brush painting it works just as good as Vallejo paints when you do so. and has a longer life on the brush

 

[ScaleModelMadman]

None of the paints were thinned, just straight from the bottles.

Wow, I've never sprayed Tamiya without thinning it. I wonder if this may have been part of the problem?

 

[Ian]

Ah, maybe. What ratio do you use?

 

[ScaleModelMadman]

I couldn't say exactly, I always just go by eye. :-\

I will say however that when I am painting with Tamiya for a solid, finish paint job, I thin with the yellow cap thinner, but when I am using it with the hairspray method I use the white cap thinner diluted with water.

I think this helps the paint to adhere a lot 'looser' and chip much easier?

 

[Ian]

I see, Acrylic Thinner vs Lacquer Thinner. Good to know, thanks Ken.

 

[Ian]

Getting there…

Wheels need a little more work with fine edge detail and some additional muds and wash effects. Loving the AK products — it's amazing how much they can add to the model.

 

[rookie]

Nice work again sir.

My 2 cents worth... Tamiya acriylics are diabolical to brush with, Vajello mixed with a little water is so much better.

 

[Ian]

Diabolical is a great word for it.

I have the Vajello "WWII German Model Color Paint Set" arriving tomorrow and I'm hoping that will do the trick on the last finishing details. I'm also getting a bottle of their retarder to help with the Tamiya paints too.

 

[Ian]

Think I'm calling this done. Too many kits waiting to be built.

 

[letsgobrowns82]

Looks great Ian. That looks like it was a fun kit to build too.

 

[Ravhin]

Looks good your progress has been inspiring. Keep it going .