KASTOR-78 ''Fuel Addiction''

[Bill76]

Hello guys,

Well, get so far away from tractors, crawlers, trailers ! As I said before, less building for more painting. So, not more easy but still funny work

Here's is my first Industria Mechanika project and the step by step process will be focused on the painting operation. Thanks Michael for your work.

Nice kit and wonderful pictures inside. Interesting drawings of Kallamity and various inspired overall paintings. I've amazed by the pictures of Scott Robertson final so this is this one that I'm going to represent.

Easy building and good ajustments for the different parts. No more details to add even if I add an antenna and a safety rail on the left side to complete the ladder steps.

Very easy fitting for the front grill. Same for the turrel and a little putty is used to joint the hull to the turrel correctly.
The strong cast is very useful to handle the model and no risk for damage when working on it.

[Bill76]

Next pictures. The kit includes a special little tool to bend the wire to realize the steps at tha same size. I just change the metal rod by a brass rod to shape the steps for an easier job. The holes are about 1 mm diameter and the parts are glued with epoxy glue.

[Bill76]

The overall picture shows the different parts after a first sanding job. I just control if every part gets right with the other one.

Georges.

[Bill76]

Some new pictures of the process.

The building is over and needs to be clean in a soapy bath. This has to be done carefully to protect from any damage on the PE parts as the hooks.

Let it dry for a night.

I spray with the airbrush several thin layers of brown primer. It covers quite well without any excess of paint. This first operation gives a neat depth to the model and unify all the extra parts to the main cast.

Let it dry for a night.

I paint some shades with dark brown acrylic paints to add some more contrast to the model.

The idea now is to represent a Kastor that has been hardly used and repainted over the original color. So, we have to think about the way that the colors were before and how they become. In this case, I'm gonna use a large variation of tones from red to orange.

To create this particular Scott's scheme colors, I use the hairspray technique to realize a very chipped hovertank.

I start to lay the hairspray in very thin coats to avoid any drops of fluid. This will be important for the next operations.

[Bill76]

The front bumper is painted as well.

[Bill76]

When the hairspray is completely dried, I can start to represent the old color so I apply four tones of red and two of orange. The red colors are applied on the panels, tha main hull as the corners are in orange.

This operation needs to be done carefully because the orange paint doesn't colore a lot so many coats are needed.

Very fun job !

In a second time, I use a sponge to create colorful spots just to add some variation in tones and this is made in a random way.

I paint in red the circular lights for a strong effect even if this could be done after.

The last picture shows the paint before any rust.

Next step : rust !

[Bill76]

I use warm water and a brush to remove the paint easisy. Sorry I forget to get a picture of that step. The aim of this step is just to get off some paint on the corners quite soothly and to leave the bright color.

Georges.

[finescalerr]

I'm glad you know what you are doing. I can't think more than one step ahead with paint so, at this stage, I would think I had spoiled my model. (Of course, I often ruin them anyway ....). -- Russ

[Bill76]

@Russ : The result is in my head but not sure to succeed in the same way. This is an experimental painting process by using the hairspray technique. The blue manure spreader was the first real test. It's pretty cool to compare HS to fluids from AK Interactive.

No picture of the model after removing some paint on the corners.
Now, I represent the rust and damages on the corners, panels, in a certain random way but in a logical way. This is made with fewer types of sponge to create different shapes od chipping and rust damages. Quite long as the model is huge.

[Bill76]

I use acrylic paints from Citadel. Very easy work and great constrast on the red / orange colors. Tone as dark brown is perfect. No major difficulty to complete the scheme color.

The red / orange was the real color of the Kastor for one time. After a lot of wars, the Army decided to repaint it in the new colors.

To be continued ...

Georges.

[finescalerr]

Consistent improvement. -- Russ

[Bill76]

This final work with sponge is sealed with a thin coat of matt varnish to protect this primal result. This is followed by several kayers of Heavy Chipping fluid from AK applied with the airbrush. These coats need to be thin to avoid any fluid drops.

Let it dry as long as necessary.

Then, I apply a white color to represent a kind of primer color. This will create a new contrast between the ''old red / orange first color'' and the brand new gray color. I use two tones of white acrylic paint from Prince August. This is made gently with the airbrush to give some variation.

It looks like a winter camo for tanks. Easy to do and hope that the HS technique will work ...

[Bill76]

After a short while, I start to remove this new paint with warm water and a hard / medium brush. It's better to work panel after panel to control this operation. Depending the thickness of this paint, the results can be different in the size of the chips or the shape of chips.

Nice result. Ready to add some more details.

Georges.

[Bill76]

Thanks to the very strong casting of the hull, it's possible to ''scratch'' the brush quite hardly.

Georges.

[Bill76]

I finish this first work by adding some fresh vivid paints to increase the tones variations. This is made with sponge.

The color is sealed with matt varnish. Then I spray several thin layers of hairspray on the model. Let it dry for a white.

Now it's time for the two gray tones colors. I choose a light gray to contrast with the drak gray. I start with the light gray on the bottom without masking the upper part. This is done with the airbrush and in a very unified color, no variation for the moment. Very easy work.

Let it dry. Then I mask the lower part to paint the top of the hull with the drak gray. I use Tamiya masking paper to limit the different panels I want to paint with the new color.