Dazzled Stank ....Ready for Duty

For any subject - air, land, sea, military, civil - in any scale of anything in Scandinavian (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland) use or markings.
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DavidWomby
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Re: Dazzled Stank

Post by DavidWomby »

Looking good. Still amazed by the concept of a turretless tank!

David
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Dazzled
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Re: Dazzled Stank

Post by Dazzled »

dwomby wrote:Looking good. Still amazed by the concept of a turretless tank!

David

I think it's got more of a tank destroyer thing going on much like the German Stugs and Hetzer of WW2. It would certainly have difficulty firing on the move which would suggest it's more of a defensive weapon which fits in with Sweden's ongoing military policy.

It looks cool too 8-)
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splash
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Re: Dazzled Stank

Post by splash »

Excellent work it’s looking brilliant.

Have you seen this.

My work bench is starting to look like Portsmouth Naval Dockyard.
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Dazzled
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Re: Dazzled Stank

Post by Dazzled »

Thanks for sharing that Alan. Really interesting stuff 8-)
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DavidWomby
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Re: Dazzled Stank

Post by DavidWomby »

Thanks for the video, Splash. Some fascinating stuff in there - turbine engine, flotation ability, unable to fire while in motion (bad idea) but I think the two things that amused me most were the rear facing driving position and the pooping out the spent shell casings !!!!

David
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Dazzled
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Re: Dazzled Stank

Post by Dazzled »

Recent progress has been stymied slightly by family commitments and my airbrush compressor breaking down. A little engineering intervention succeeded in getting it working again this morning and I was able to crack on and complete the S Tank. It already had the exterior stores fitted from a short session yesterday so all that was left o do was to add a coat of matt varnish; in this case Mig Ammo water based varnish which I'm using for the first time. It's not bad, if a little thin, and cleans up very easily.

Anyway, here's my completed S Tank.

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So, what's the kit like?

Unfortunately, like most Trumpeter kits, it looks good in the box but gets let down by silly little things that are easily avoidable.

Good points include the level of detail and really nice surface detail. The sprues are well laid out and come individually bagged, which is always nice. The kit goes together well too with no filling required. Where they've been able to Trumpeter have moulded some parts so that the mould lines are at an edge and by doing so, either negating them altogether or at least making them easy to clean up. The decals, what few there are, are also pretty nice, going down easily with Microset/sol and having good colour definition and minimal carrier film. So the kit does have quite a bit going for it.

There are, however, a few areas where there is room for improvement. There was some flash on the parts and, where the parts weren't edged in the mould, some burring that was difficult to clean up. Despite a fairly reasonable effort to hide them there were still some ejector pin marks in some places that would have been visible on the finished model. The poly caps are not a tight fit in the wheels and this allows them to move around quite a bit. Also the tracks are pretty nasty. They don't have a lot of detail, are impervious to glue (so I couldn't get them to sag properly) and I'm pretty sure that they're a little too wide. If I'd known how bad they were before the GB started I'd have gone aftermarket for some replacements. Finally, and the worst aspect of this kit are the instructions. They're a bit odd to say the least. Colour callouts, as I previously pointed out, are best ignored and this is a typical Trumpeter trait. On top of the dodgy colours though are instructions that are vague and confusing. There doesn't seem to be any attempt to assemble anything in a logical sequence or illustrate correctly where quite a few of the parts go. For example, a picture could show the tank from the front quarter but parts from all over the vehicle are shown being fitted in that assembly stage. It makes for a chaotic build that needs constant vigilance to avoid missing parts. Also, some stages and sub-stages seem to have been put in as afterthoughts. There's definitely some remedial editing work that needs doing here as it's not really a complicated kit but the instructions do a very a very good job in making it seem like one.

Would I build another?

Yes, I probably would but with a few a/m improvements.
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Spaceowl
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Re: Dazzled Stank

Post by Spaceowl »

Well, that looks pretty good to me, and what problems there are with it seem to be the fault of kit, not builder. A nice first AFV for the group build, in fact.
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Re: Dazzled Stank

Post by Kitaholic »

8-) That's a beauty mate, look forward to seeing it on the table
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Re: Dazzled Stank

Post by planecrazyman61 »

that looks wonderful Dazzled you have built a fine example of a Stank and i think the weathering is outstanding ,its been a pleasure watching your build of this tank and has made me want to build some Scandinavian armor now, btw the matt varnish is it the lucky varnish ,i take it you didn't thin it and what PSI did you spray it at
cheers craig
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Dazzled
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Re: Dazzled Stank

Post by Dazzled »

Thanks everybody :)

Craig: The varnish is indeed the Lucky Varnish that I bought at Telford.

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It comes in a 60ml bottle and cost £4.50 so it's pretty good value when compared to say Tamiya's XF-86 which costs around £1.70 for 10ml. The bottle has instructions for correct use on the side, which is better than most manufacturers manage, and advises that the varnish does not need thinning and ideally should be sprayed at 17psi in light coats. I followed this, using a 0.4mm nozzle, and had no problems at all.

It does have one of those awkward Vallejo style nozzles...

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But it's easy to remove so it is possible to get in there and mix it, although I did give it an initial mix before decanting it and giving it the full treatment with the trusty electric paint stirrer.

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And finally, being water based, it's a lot safer than other varnishes and it's a doddle to clean the airbrush afterwards.

One of my better Telford acquisitions 8-)
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Re: Dazzled Stank

Post by ShaunW »

That is a great piece of armour modelling, Daz, very well done with it. Did you get your compressor fixed? Mine gave trouble a few years ago and I was lost without it - I even had to finish a model using paint brushes, aaaaaagh, the horror of that still gives me the chills :ha:
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Re: Dazzled Stank

Post by rob_van_riel »

Dazzled wrote:Anyway, here's my completed S Tank
I'm no armour guy, but it certainly looks the part to me. Nice work.

If the wikipedia page is to be believed, the lack of a turret was no particular disadvantage in actual use, in fact, with the hatches closed, it acquired targets and fired faster than a Leopard I. Unconventional design, yes, but properly designed for it's unconventional nature.
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Dazzled
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Re: Dazzled Stank

Post by Dazzled »

ShaunW wrote:That is a great piece of armour modelling, Daz, very well done with it. Did you get your compressor fixed? Mine gave trouble a few years ago and I was lost without it - I even had to finish a model using paint brushes, aaaaaagh, the horror of that still gives me the chills :ha:
I got it going but it's packed up again. The same mechanical drive fault I'm afraid. I have a more extreme intervention in mind this time. Watch this space ;-)
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Old_Tonto
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Re: Dazzled Stank

Post by Old_Tonto »

That's a cracking build Dazzled, really lovely work and fun to watch.

I agree entirely with you regarding the instructions, I've pretty much abandoned following mine.
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The Great Auk
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Re: Dazzled Stank

Post by The Great Auk »

Simply outstanding in every way!

You could pose this in front of a color photo of a field or such and no one would be any the wiser it wasn't the real deal.

Dazzled you have some off-the-charts skill!

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