Clayton has been hard at it building, painting and weathering his 35th scale Takom t-69 type ii Chinese tank. He has finished this one as a famous “desert Storm” survivor that some of you might have seen at the museum. See how it all turned out in Pt.III of today’s review…
Build review Pt II: Type 69-II Iraqi Medium Tank
From: Takom
Kit# 2054
1/35th scale
Plastic sprues, photo-etched material
Decals for four variants inside
Available from Takom’s Distributors Worldwide.
With the build now complete, I set about painting the Type 69-II. I was conscious of the way I would need to weather and layer the paint on this one as I was trying to replicate the battle worn look of the tanks during the Iraqi conflict. I have chosen to paint the model in the scheme shown in the inbox suggestions. This particular tank was used by the Iraqi Army in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm (ODS), and can now be seen preserved at Saumur, France.
Pt IIII: Painting and Weathering:
This design appealed to me due to the unique colour scheme and the interesting lighter panels on the rubber side skirts.
As you will later see, I was really enjoying this model and it was coming along nicely until a slight hiccup halted my progress... the household cat. She decided to play her part in the war against Saddam, and paw the model off the bench and smash it into hundreds of pieces. That said, I managed to dust myself off and salvage some kind of a result from the model, and this is how I went about painting and weathering the Type 69-II.
Lets Begin With running wheels, tracks and BAR armour still off, the model received a primer coat using Alclad Grey Primer. As there were numerous photo etch parts, I felt this was a necessity.
In order to get a well-worn, chipped and layered look, I then spray the body of the tank in a mixture of German Grey, Brown and Black Green. The tracks were sprayed in ‘Dark Tracks’ by AMMO. (Note, these paints were not mixed together)
With thanks to my beautiful wife, I raided the bathroom and gave the model a couple of coats with her favourite hairspray and let the model dry.
Then in an attempt to make the chipping even more interesting, I sponged on, in a number of logical areas, small amounts of Vallejo Liquid Mask. I am hoping the hairspray and the masking fluid will give me the random chipping I am looking for.
Using a mix of Tamiya Buff, Earth and white, the top layer was now set in place. The paint was thinned using water in order for the next stage of chipping to be more effective. Lighter tones were worked into logical places and horizontal areas.
After the paint was touch dry, I would remove the masking fluid using a small piece of Blu-Tak. By gently rubbing it across the masking fluid, the top layer of paint would be removed giving the look of chipped paint.
Now using an old, wet paintbrush, I set about chipping the rest of the tank in the appropriate areas.
The side skirts on these tanks were essentially hunks of rubber, and would chip and wear easily, so special attention was given to weathering these parts. As you can see, some of the results look very realistic.
In truth, a lot of this chipping would later be covered up by subsequent layers of paint and weathering, but for my money, this is one of the most fun things to do on a model. Just be mindful to be logical and show a little restraint. It is very easy to go past the point of no return with this...
Although not shown, another coat of hairspray is set in place, and after it has dried, J.A Green was sprayed to replicate the camouflage pattern, and ‘Warm Sand Yellow’ by Ammo was sprayed in the lighter sections in the side skirts.
I then set about chipping this new layer of paint. (This green would later be manipulated again as I felt it was a little heavy handed and I needed to repair some damage that was just around the corner.)
The model received an all over Tamiya gloss varnish and was then ready for the next stage. Dot rendering using oils was now applied. Small coloured dots of the oil paint are applied over the model. A flat brush moistened in white spirit is then use to drag the paint through and down the surfaces of the model. This technique helps unify the colours and bring the tones of the model together, but add visual interest to the tone in the colours.
A heavily thinned ‘shadow Brown’ oil wash was now applied to the recesses and panel lines, helping definition and giving the model a degree of depth.
BAR armour and machine gun are now fitted to the model.
A mix of North Africa Dust and Sand pigment from the Ammo range was now mixed and ‘flicked’ at the lower surfaces of the model. This would create a random and dusty finish to the model. This can be a messy job...so take care.
Sandy and Earth toned pigments are now worked into the tracks in preparation for them to be fitting to the model. Once the pigment was applied, it was treated with white spirit to lay it through the tracks.
It was now that the cat struck.... With the model not far from finished, the cat decided to throw a spanner in the works. The model essentially flew across the room and broke into hundreds of pieces. Unfortunately, some of the finer pieces were lost and most of the BAR armour was badly damaged. The tracks burst into pieces and the machine gun was in a really bad way. I just had to make the most of a bad situation. Some of the armour parts were simply destroyed beyond repair, so I would just have needed to progress without them. Unfortunately, too, the PE parts around the headlights were bent up pretty badly, so it was going to be just a matter of moving past it and doing the best I could. Lesson learnt though...close the door to the model room next time.
I reassembled all of the parts I could, and tried to mask the pieces I couldn’t and set about tidying the model up. There was a fair bit of superglue and filler used in places, so it was necessary to blow in a lot of the colour again. Whilst this masked a lot of the damaged areas, it also ended up hiding a lot of that beautiful chipping I was working on. Because I had blown over more colour, I decided to go back to the panel wash stage to try and extract some depth from the model. This time, I used NATO camouflage wash and US Modern Vehicles washed by AMMO. Small chipping was then brush painted using Tamiya Iron.
In an attempt to add some interest to the model and perhaps deflect some of the shortcomings in my repair job, I tangled some fine lead wire through the BAR armour. I had seen this in a couple of pictures of captured Iraqi tanks. I’m not sure what it was or what it was for, but I thought it would make an interesting addition.
Rust tone pigments were now stippled around the exhaust cover. These areas got pretty bashed up, so I wanted to give it a heavily weathered look. IMG_8438 Heavily thinned Tamiya BUFF was now sprayed along the lower parts of the model to replicate dust. (please excuse the state of the airbrush!)
Gunmetal pigment is now worked into the metallic areas of the model such as the machine gun and other leading, worn areas.
I really did enjoy building and painting this model. The unfortunate feline incident really did take the wind from my sails. This would have been completed at least a month earlier if that had not have happened. There is nothing worse than being so close to finishing something to then get knocked back down and having to start over again. It is draining. I shouldn’t complain though, I am really happy with the way this one came together, and if the truth be known,
A walk around of the whole tank...
I think I prefer the look of the model with half the BAR armour missing. In actual fact, there are numerous examples of Type 69s with it missing off one side. For that matter, some didn’t have it at all from what I can see. The one I chose to paint (the one from ODS 1991 and now in France), indeed has it missing from that front left side, so technically speaking, the model is a little more accurate than it could have been. There is no doubting that this Takom release of the Type 69-II sets a really high benchmark. It is a must for anyone interested in the war in Iraq, or interested in the evolution of modern Russian / Chinese armour. Thank you again to Takom for the opportunity to take a look at this one.
Here she is in more detail
Special Note – I actually made the headlights myself using a polymer resin. I will be making these available if anyone would like a set. Be sure to email me through the Workbench Hobbies site for details.
Clayton Ockerby
This kit is now available from Takom’s Distributors Worldwide. Thanks to them for sending this kit to build & review.
See more of Clayton’s work at his (all new) website “Workbench Hobbies” or join him on his Facebook page
