UniModel BA-3/BA-6 Armoured Car in 1/72 "The Winter War" '39-40'.

[rwsmith14]

The winter wash L :thumb2:KS spot on !!!!

[wappynutter]

The winter wash L :thumb2:KS spot on !!!!

Thanks Rob, greatly appreciated mate..
All the best with the awesome ice making.. looks real good to me..

[NonProlificModeler]

Hi, Andy! Wow, that tiny baby looks great! Haven't been on ISM since my return from home, because I had nothing to show. I didn't think of that there could be much to look at! For your question about the tracks, man, that's a difficult thing! I don't know how much they're out of scale, but looking at your dio base I'm quite sure she'd go nowhere without them tracks! The snow ist really deep and she'd just be stuck. And you know me well enough by now, that you can tell how much I love scratch built stuff. I'd go for the tracks! Jens

[wappynutter]

Hi, Andy! Wow, that tiny baby looks great! Haven't been on ISM since my return from home, because I had nothing to show. I didn't think of that there could be much to look at! For your question about the tracks, man, that's a difficult thing! I don't know how much they're out of scale, but looking at your dio base I'm quite sure she'd go nowhere without them tracks! The snow ist really deep and she'd just be stuck. And you know me well enough by now, that you can tell how much I love scratch built stuff. I'd go for the tracks! Jens

Thanks Jens.... I may well go with the tracks and try and lose the scale issue with a covering of snow..
I think the tracks need to be half the scale again that they are at but obviously 1/72 is hard to judge and build for.
Thanks again for taking the time to look and comment, greatly appreciated.
Happy crafting..

[wappynutter]

So this update we are concentrating on the figures, paint up and placement..
We are on the final stretch of a 4 month journey now Guys..... I can see the light at the end of the tunnel... lol...
I am using only 3 of the 5 figures supplied in the zvezda box, and need to doctor one figure....

this one..



He's been given a throwing arm....



Milliput the joint to give him some shape..







That hand will need a quick doctoring later but for now its primer time...

So i primed my usual Auto rattle can grey primer then painted first a flesh colour to the faces then an off white for the all over snow suits...
A Wood brown was used on the ski's and poles and the weapons were painted as per the box art..









Note the small piece of clear stretched sprue...... Can you guess what that will be??



Added a brown wash to dirty the suits and add shadows etc...



















Did i mention i moved the pole to the other hand when i doctored a throwing pose??











Snipers ski poles...



... and i finally painted up that bit of stretched sprue...





So did you Guys guess what it was?? Its not very big...



Neither are the figures really...



So i have to use fire to add fire....... Got to melt a groove in the gloved hand to hold the Molotov cocktail...





It worked.... and looks not too bad if i'm honest...







So to aid in placement of figures in a soft talc powder snow environment i will cut the pins leaving enough to stick in drilled holes...













... and Mr Molotov..













Needed to add a pin to the sniper..













...... and figures are in place and finished..



...and Jens, i decided to remake my tracks using thinner gauge plastic and made them longer and neater.......











Primed....



... and steel coated now sat waiting for a dark wash and fitting....







So hopefully i will sort the tracks sometime this week between work and family time and get it all about finished...
As always, thanks for taking a look guys, hope your builds are all progressing fine...
Take care, stay safe and well....... Happy Crafting...
Until the next time.....

[rwsmith14]

Cool Figures,, love the poses,, especially shooting form the skis !!

[NonProlificModeler]

Wow! Wow! WOW!!! Did you paint the figures useing a magnifying glass? They turned out so nicely! Superb! And I like that you decided to go for the tracks. They look even better now! An epic work of art, Andy! Jens

[wappynutter]

Cool Figures,, love the poses,, especially shooting form the skis !!

Thanks Rob, these new tooling 1/72 figures from Zvezda are really well detailed for the scale. For little snap kits they are just right for a cheap add on to a scene.
Thanks again for dropping by..

Wow! Wow! WOW!!! Did you paint the figures useing a magnifying glass? They turned out so nicely! Superb! And I like that you decided to go for the tracks. They look even better now! An epic work of art, Andy! Jens

Thanks Jens, much appreciated buddy.... As it happens i do actually use some cheap opti-visor type headset that i got for christmas from the Bro in Law last year. Makes detailing these tiny builds of mine Sooooo much easier... lol...
Much of the detail is painted using sharpened cocktail sticks and teeny brushes..
Tracks are being test fitted over the next few days.... got called to work Tuesday and Friday this week with a visit to my Father in the morning some 160 mile round trip with the Wife and 4 kids in tow so no model related action for me until maybe Wednesday... if i'm lucky..
Thanks again mate, all the best...

[wappynutter]

Okay, so back with what may be my final post on the BA-3/6 build.. Nothing too exciting i'm afraid as i didn't take any photo's of my destroying the rear suspension and wheel assemblies to get the tracks on...... Or the ease of adding snow in places i couldn't get with the wheels and tracks attached... The rebuilding of the destroyed parts using good old CA glue were omitted too as i was way too stressed to document my near disaster..

But the finished car is about ready now..... Words of advise from a heavy handed buffoon man handling a delicate 1/72 scale kit........ CAREFUL!!
A poke, a push and a squeeze too much and the rear end will crumble......

Back to the happy build then guys... lol....

My new and improved tracks got a coat of dark brown enamel wash and left to dry..









Shortly after this photo is when it all went wrong.....

I didn't return to taking pictures until after the repair and i had added some "Talc" snow effects to all but the newly attached tracks, rear wheels and suspension...













See..... slightly wonky but not too bad....







Snow up under the arches....







Look how much better the new are as opposed to the old first try at tracks....






.... and finally i add some placement snow to the tracks and rear assemblies..

















... and the underside...









Finally..... like the figures, i am going to add a wire pin to fix the car to the powder snow diorama....











So just needs trimming to size and mounting on the dio....
That will probably be revealed in the final reveal thread sometime over the next week or so.....
Until then, a huge thanks to all who have looked, silently followed, commented and shared my build.

My final review on a UM 1/72 scale teeny kit is a positive one. Not as detailed as a Dragon, Far superior to an Airfix, similar plastic quality to the older Fujimi kits. Easy to break in big clumsy hands... like mine....
UM produces some real gems of some quite rare vehicles.... Ranging from £6-£10 depending on what the subject matter is, all Braille scale enthusiasts should give these kits a try, and at the prices stated what have you got to lose?
My BA-3 kit cost a little over £6 delivered and the pack of 1/72 Zvezda figures cost just shy of £3.50 including delivery. All other products and materials were household items found for free about the house and garden...

Take care, stay safe, keep well..... More soon Guys, Thanks again..
Happy Modelling..

[rwsmith14]

NICE !!!!

Love the idea of using the hot rod to shape the hand to hold the molotov cocktail... missed that last time I reviewed your posts

[NonProlificModeler]

Yeah, a huge difference between the two versions of tracks! Sometimes it's really worth it giving a scratch built piece another try. That talc snow is great. I might do a winter dio again - in fact I've got something on my mind already - and then I'll use this stuff. Your "biathlon" crew chasing the armoured car is gorgeous and I'm really looking forward to seeing the final reveal, Andy. Take care. Jens

[wappynutter]

NICE !!!!

Love the idea of using the hot rod to shape the hand to hold the molotov cocktail... missed that last time I reviewed your posts

Thanks again Rob for your kind comments mate, greatly appreciated.
Yeah i "hot rodded" the gloved hand to mould a groove to fix the Molotov cocktail in.. It was just a quick bright spark of an idea that seemed less "butcher" like than carving a groove with the Exacto ...
Final reveal soon.....
All the best....

Yeah, a huge difference between the two versions of tracks! Sometimes it's really worth it giving a scratch built piece another try. That talc snow is great. I might do a winter dio again - in fact I've got something on my mind already - and then I'll use this stuff. Your "biathlon" crew chasing the armoured car is gorgeous and I'm really looking forward to seeing the final reveal, Andy. Take care. Jens

Thanks again Jens..... always a pleasure to read a comment from you Sir.
Tracks worked out 1000 times better the second time, was well pleased with that, and of course the Talc snow effects have worked a treat at such a small scale.
Gonna share the last 8 images of the construction then plan a final reveal over the next week or so...
All the best mate...


Final construction shots.... The near finished positioning of the Car...

Pin trimmed...



A small mark ready for the drill...







Drilled....



... and in position.....







You can just make out the pin between the wheels... And i haven't given any sneak peeks of the finished dio... Thats for the reveal..
So.... Until the next GB....
Keep having fun, stay safe, be well...... Happy Modelling..