[Gallery] Trumpeter IS-7 Painting & Weathering

Hey folks!

I finished Trumpeters 1/72 IS-7 yesterday! Now I´ll let you enjoy some pictures of the painting process as well as some pictures of the fininshed model. Let´s get started!

First off all I sprayed the parts shown in my Built-Review with Vallejo´s Grey Primer so the paint would stick in a proper even layer. For the base-color I used Vallejo ModelAir Olive Green mixed with ModelAir Light Grey and Light Brown to achieve a somewhat worn Russian standard paint.

As you may be able to see, I varied the mixture around the areas to create shades and more worn-effects on the exposed areas of the vehicle. Tracks are left off for separate painting.
Speaking off which... that´s what I did next.

For a dark metallic look as seen on the original vehicle at the Kubinka Tank Museum, I took Vallejo ModelColor Dunkegrau as it seemed to fit nicely into the overall base-paint. The exhausts were then painted with Humbrol Rust.
For the tools on the sides I mixed myself some woody-looking color from Vallejo ModelAir Mud-Brown and Olive-Yellow. As wooden parts tend to have a variety of colors even on the same type of vehicle I didn´t aim for any specific wood-tone.
Metal parts of the tools and the machineguns (there are plenty around the tank) also recieved the same color as the tracks.

To add some variety to the vehicle and to make it more realistic I used AK Dark Streaking Grime as a paneliner for the recesses as it fitted to the green basecolor nicely. Also Tamiya X-10 Gun Metal found its way into the paintjob as a part of some chipping around the tank.

Then I began the "real" weathering by applying Valejo Sepia Shade Wash to the wooden parts giving them a feel of texture. Ammo of Mig Engine Grime was applied over the engine deck to represent oil-stains and -leaks.AK Interactives Light Rust Deposit is a really cool thing to use, so I applied it around the places where I thought rust would accumulate during intensive trails in the muddy and wet Russian wilderness.

Ammo of Mig Streaking Grime and a flat brush moistened with AK Interactive White Spirit were used to apply some brown-ish streaks and marks around the vehicle - just another thing that can´t easily be avoided in Russia. Also the KPVT heavy machinegun found its way on top of the turret.

Vallejo Dark Brown Wash was applied around the lower areas to serve as a fixer for Vallejo Burnt Umber and Natural Umber Pigments that represent leftover mud and dirt on the tracks and the lower hull.

So here we go - a dirty prototype heavy tank ready. I personally am quite satisfied with the result but maybe another type of streaks would have been cool... Enjoy the final reveal!

All in all that was quite a pleasant vehicle to build and paint. And I now got some stronk Soviet Tenk in my collection XD

Hope you enjoyed the picks! Regards,

Tom