See how the Scammell Pioneer SV2S from IBG Models looks after all of the building, painting & weathering is done with the help of some extra tools and rigging from Kamil's KFS-miniatures models & AK-Interactive shades in the last part of his build guide...
Scammell Pioneer SV2S
Manufacturer – IBG ModelsScammell Pioneer SV2S
Kit Number - 35029
Scale - 1/35th
Product Link to the IBG Website
Price - ¥6,160 • $56.50 • £44.50 • €50.50 from Hobbylink Japan
Today - Build Guide Pt II: IBG's Scammell Pioneer SV2S
Last time we left the Scammell fully built, and ready for paint. Time to fire up the airbrush then, and get this big beast finished. I started the painting process with the cab, laying down a coat of Tamiya Khaki to represent the SCC02 paint the Scammell would have been finished in. Predictably, once I'd got that first layer of paint on, I realised there was one thing I'd forgotten to add to the cab. There should be a support strut on the front of the stowage bin, but IBG hasn't included this in the kit. Not a difficult part to replicate though, so airbrush down, and back to the bench. I made the strut from a length of styrene rod, bent to shape, with the ends flattened in the same manner I used previously for the access ladder for the crane. The strut was glued in place, trying not to damage the existing paint work too much, then finished it off with some bolt heads.
After the paint was touched in on the support strut, I could get the decals applied to the cab doors. These are printed by Techmod and they're really nice to work with, being thin and glossy, and they settled down perfectly over the rivet detail on the door panels. IBG supply several red stars for the lend-lease scheme, but I just went with the two on the doors. In truth, a utility vehicle like this in Russian service probably wouldn't have worn any stars or other emblems, but would most likely have retained its British serial numbers. There are no serials provided for this scheme, so I used the red stars on the basis that, if I'd simply painted it in SCC02 Khaki and left it at that, you'd never know it was a Russian vehicle. Sometimes a little artistic licence helps tell the story of a model in a way that pure historical accuracy doesn't.
With the shovel and other details painted, and a little light chipping applied around some of the edges, the cab was given a few pin washes with a couple of brown washes from AK. In some areas, these were used more like filters to darken and shade some of the panels, while also being used in a traditional pin wash style to bring out the rivet detail.
I temporarily sat the cab in place on the chassis, to allow the radiator and engine side panel to be attached. Having the cab in position meant I could ensure the rad and panel were sitting square while the glue set. I'd already weathered the side panel in a similar way to the cab. The streaking effects were actually done with acrylics rather than oils or enamels, mixing them with a glaze medium to allow them to be blended in a similar way to oil paint.
One weathering technique I've been using for a while involves acrylic washes applied using a sponge, in a similar way to chipping, but done over a broader area rather than just around corners and edges. By using a wash that's a similar colour to the base paint, very subtle staining and dirt effects can be recreated. In this case, I used a dark brown wash from Vallejo. It looks quite intense when first applied, but as the wash dries the effect becomes much softer.
The finished effect, seen here on the mudguard and bonnet, leaves a very realistic weathered paint finish, especially when combined with regular paint chipping and other weathering effects.
The bulk of the weathering on the cab was done with acrylics, apart from the initial pin washes mentioned above. I'm starting to use acrylics more often for weathering, as they dry much faster and are far less delicate when you go over them with subsequent weathering steps.
I'd left the cab roof off up until now, as I needed access to the interior to fit the steering wheel column after the cab had been attached to the chassis. With that done, the roof was added, although I ended up with a gap on the right-hand side where the roof met the side panel. That's probably down to the side panel being installed slightly too low when the cab was built up. I could have filled the gap with a thin strip of plastic card, but since everything was already painted, I decided to leave the gap as it was.
With the cab done, I moved on to the rear bed. That was painted the same as the cab, although I added a little more fading to show some difference between the wooden planks of the bed from the metal panels of the cab. Again, I used acrylic washes applied by sponge to start the weathering process.
There are a couple of slogan decals to go on either side of the rear bed, although I only added one to the right-hand side. Like the stars on the cab, it's unlikely a vehicle like this would have carried patriotic slogans but, again like the stars, they help tell the story of the vehicle. I didn't bother trying to get the decal to go into the grooves between the planks. I could deal with that later, once the decal was dry.
Once it was fully dry, I ran a sharp scalpel blade along the decal where it crossed the panel lines, then applied some Micro Sol to help the decal pull down into the plank detail. When I was happy with it, I sealed the decal with varnish, then ran some thinned dark grey acrylic into the panel lines to give them more depth.
With the initial weathering done with acrylics, I switched to Abteilung oils and started adding some stains and oily patches and streaks. I wanted the rear end of the truck, in particular, to look very heavily used and grimy.
The winch also was given plenty of oily weathering, since this would be a heavily used item, and would get a lot of grease and lubrication. The cable itself was painted in a dark steel colour, then given some rusty brown enamel washes.
The little photo-etched maker's plaque that IBG include for the winch really adds a nice touch to the finished assembly. Since I'd slightly raised the height of the winch's support brackets earlier in the build, it made the plaque a little more noticeable on the finished model.
With the winch added, the last part of the build was rigging up the cable. Sadly, this is a slightly weak spot with the kit, as IBG only supply a length of thin thread for the cable and a small hook which is meant to be tied to the end of the thread.
I'd already replaced the thread with a copper cable from Eureka XXL, but that little hook doesn't really do very good job of replicating the complex arrangement of pulleys and cables that are usually seen hanging from the back of Pioneers.
I didn't really fancy the idea of having to scratch build all that gear, so I was more than a little pleased when I was offered great new recovery tools set from KFS Miniatures. This included pretty much all the stuff you'd see hanging off a Scammell, together with some generic tools, coils of rope, jerry cans etc.
The parts are all cleanly cast in resin, with fairly minimal casting blocks, so clean-up was quick. There are no instructions, but the pulley blocks are the only thing that requires any assembly, and you can easily see what goes where by studying the photo on the packaging.
I linked up a selection of parts from the set to roughly replicate the set-up in the photo above. I added a couple of cable end loops from the spares box, together with an extra shackle, also from the spares box, as I wanted a smaller one for the top link. The cable loops were drilled so they could simply be glued straight to the ends of the two winch cables after the pulley assembly was painted.
With the pulley set-up in place, it really does give the Scammell a more purposeful, and far more realistic, look. It's a slight shame that IBG didn't include more of this gear in the kit, as it's things like that that really sell the model. This set from KFS solves that problem though, and I'd really put it down as a must-have for anyone building this kit.
A few last spots of weathering were added, one being some dusty splatters on the back of the bed. That was done with pigments mixed into a paste with oil paint, then flicked onto the model with a stiff bristled brush.
Another being some work on the glazing. I hate seeing clean windows on a heavily weathered vehicle, as it completely spoils the believability of the model. One answer is the classic 'mask off the windscreen wiper pattern, then spray varnish over the rest of the glazing' method. That works very well, but I wanted to go with a more over-all dusty look here, where dust and dirt had accumulated in the corners of the windows. I did that by just painting over the whole glazing with AK African Dust Effects, then using a cotton bud, dampened with enamel thinner, to wipe the majority away, leaving some around the edges.
Some of the other bits and bobs from the KFS set were painted up, along with some chain, and lengths of balsa wood to represent planks and beams that might be carried on a vehicle like this.
They were then added to the back of the truck. The chain on the pulley was held in place with an application of AK gravel and sand fixer mixed with a bit of rust pigment to counteract the slight sheen that the fixer can sometimes leave.
Some scrunched up tarps, made from tissue paper soaked in a watered-down PVA and paint mix, were pushed into the stowage basket, together with one of the jerry cans from the KFS set.
One last addition; this is a working truck, so to comply with the international laws of workmen, you've got to have a newspaper and a mug of tea (or possibly vodka in this case).
So that wraps up IBG's Scammell Pioneer. It's a great kit, although let down by a few errors, the main one being the incorrect windscreen angle. That does slightly spoil the look of the finished model, but not critically in my view. Actually, for me, the bigger disappointment is the lack of any proper winch gear, since that's what really brings the Pioneer to life. The KFS set does take care of that though.
Here is the finished truck in close up all around the vehicle...
...And a wider walk around the truck to take it all in at a distance...
All done...
That aside, the rest of the kit is excellent, with great fit and really well-rendered details. The construction's very straightforward, and there's plenty of opportunities for going to town and adding extra details, although built straight from the box, it would still make a great looking model.
Best of all, a subject like this is a great excuse for really going overboard with the weathering, which is always a plus in my book. Overall, it's definitely a kit worth checking out.
Recommended.
Andy Moore
This kit is available from IBG's Distributors Worldwide - thanks to them for sending it to Andy to review and later to build.
You can get the KFS Recovery tools from this link at Kamil's shop
Many thanks to AK Interactive also for sending the paints, Oils & weathering tools for Andy to use on this build...
