I just finished this model of a Flak Vierling and I wanted to ask if anyone could give me any tips or tell me if I did anything wrong. Since I am not that great at modeling, I wanted to gat some help from people who actually know what they are doing.
Vzor can you take a closer pic of the unit ? hard to say it is too distant. looks almost like a KM mount instead of a Heer
Nice carpet! We can't see much, but what colour are those helmets? Aren't they shining a bit too much?
Ok, the model is fair enough, but I'd say the crew clothes are shiny, and you don't see shiny clothes in people outside a haute-couture show Other than that, the model is squeaky clean, perhaps you could dirty and wear it a bit, so it doesn't look like it came out of the factory 15 minutes ago. See this: http://www.miniatures.de/int/painting-weathering-vehicles.html http://www.scaleworkshop.com/workshop/paintingsmallscalearmorbg_1.htm http://www.scaleworkshop.com/workshop/paintingsmallscalearmorbg_2.htm http://www.scaleworkshop.com/workshop/paintingsmallscalearmorcw_3.htm I don't go for that pre-shading stuff, one adds so much on the model that the effect is lost.
The piece is basically ok, Zvor, nothing looking really wrong so it's a good baseline to start improving. Read the links I provided for better painting technique. Don't be afraid to come back to us, because we're not used to say anything negative, everybody has something to learn, and you came here with the best possible attitude
can you somehow drill out the barrel ends as that will add quite a bit of realism also look into some inexpensive soft back issue(s) on the Flakvierling for the gun mount itself for painting...... www.missing-lynx.com is a great resource for all armor type related models, there is plenty their to feast your eyes on
Looks pretty good, but if your dirital camera has a macros function, use that to take close pics. It was kind of hard to see! Overall, it's good, but the over all kit needs some weathering. You need to google pictures for this particular piece, look closely at where they became worn down, where did the paint chip away? Were there any greasy areas? Did crew modify the piece for convenience? Did they paint a slogan on it? On something that is a desert yellow like this? I'd maybe take a chance on dry brushing -VERY LIGHTLY- some german grey over the areas where the bolts hold it all together. the raised areas on these things always get worn down first. An added bonus to gooling them, alot of the pictures are of other peoples models, so it will give you an idea of what others are doing as well. Excellent suggestion! Your local hobby shop should have some very small drill bits for just such a thing. I dont know where you are in the wolrd, but if you are in the states, tru Hobbytown USA for drill bits, usually at the front counter (since theyre so small). Squadron carries them ( 2008 Squadron - Your Online Hobby Shop: Mail Order Military Scale Plastic Models and Books ), and actually, if you have an exacto, you dont need the whole kit. Just get the drill bit and use the exacto handle . This will mean you have to drill by hand,and it's slower, but you'll have more control on depth and placement of hole this way. I'd also check out Armorama ( Armorama :: Military Scale Modeling Community - Model and Diorama Features, Forums, Gallery, and More. ) for tricks of the trade if I were you. But be warned, there are a couple of guys on there that will chew up your work and point out every little flaw, while offering absolutely nothing constructive for you to use. I used to post to them, but they got so critical, that I stopped posting altogether. Still a huge site, massive, and full of good ideas, just watch out if your thin skinned!
I also wanted to ask how you guys do the wear and dirtying of the end of the barrels of tanks to make them look like they have fired many shells. Just wondering.
I wouldn't do much on that paricular detail as one runs the risk of exaggerating. The best thing to do is look at photos of wartime originals, such as this: This is a Finnish StuG III. I simply don't see much alteration at all on the muzzle brake, while here: I can't see anything at all, so in doubt let it alone, you may add some discoloration later when you find a proper source This Tiger's muzzle brake looks clean enough to me: http://www.alanhamby.com/Gallery/022_tiger.jpg (sorry, photo can't be linked) Remember, those smokeless powders of the time did leave very little residue, we're not talking about Naopleonic black powder artillery! Always, always, always refer to period photographs.
It never looked very realistic to me but I was just wondering how you do the blackening of the muzzle break.
That's the point Vzor, there isn't much blackening anyway! Look at period photos, as I said in my post. Look at that Tiger photo at the link I provided.
Well, as there is no blackening on real life, why should there be in models? But the models are yours, so up to you to decide what you want... Just do some drybrushing in black around the muzzle and that should be it.
