Lost Turrets - IS-7 Construction Blog

Finally IT's Here

9/26/2017

The IS-7 is finally finished. Please check it out.

Making Progress AGAIN...

9/1/2017

I'm in the process of migrating away from the Model Master enamel paints to the Vallejo acrylic finishing system. I've had bad experiences with acrylics in the past but I've been persuaded to try them again. So far the results have been positive.

The IS-7 has been repainted a base surface colour of Russian Green using Vallejo surface primer 73.609. Light over-sprays of successively lighter colours of green have been used to give the vehicle a light sun-bleach look. The weld lines have been accented with 73.609 and so far I'm pleased with the results. Next steps will be the extensive weathering using chalks and graphics to simulate wear, tear, exhaust ans smoke residue.

Oh Crap......

8/12/2017

.My efforts to do the winter camouflage have flopped. I simple was not happy with the results. it just looked. - well like crap!! New plan!! we are going to do the beast in the standard default camo. The vehicle has been repainted in Vallejo Russian Green and will be overspread with highlighting green to simulate the WOT effect. in In the meantime I've pulled out my books on painting and weathering and going back to the drawing board. I've not given up on doing this scheme on another tank.

Also my apologies for not doing an update in a while. There was a family emergency that took priority

more white Paint Please....

7/22/2017

The entire tank has been under-coated in Olive drive and then oversprayed with dirty white. Consistent with the ingame IS-7 all the corners etc will be accented with drab-green. This is done with a very fine stiple brush. When that has been completed the overall vehicle will be very lightly (I mean lightly) dry-brushed with drab-green followed by a very very light spray wash of drab-green to dirty the vehicle up. In the foreground you can see that the fuel tanks have been prepped and are almost ready to go on

GUNS, GUNS. GUNS ....

7/12/2017

In addition to her 130mm main gun the IS-7 had 8 additional guns. Three were mounted in the gun mantle, 2 rear facing machine guns on the turret, two forward firing machine guns on the hull, and one honking large anti-aircraft/anti-personnel gun mounted on top of the turret. The NRA would have loved this machine. Today was the day for manufacturing and mounting most of these guns. See the slide show below.

Visit Lost Turrets Home Page

But ...The Gun Mantle shroud !!!

7/10/2017

Kubinka IS-7 Gun Mantle Shroud

World of Tanks IS-& Gun Mantle Shroud

We're making good progress. All the photo-etched parts including the rear deck screens have now been mounted. Little bits and pieces are being prepared. Some have been mounted, others are waiting to be mounted. The major challenge right now is the problematic canvas shroud for the gun mantle. From videos about the construction of the Trumpeter IS-7 there is a well documented flaw. It just doesn't go on easily, leaving gaps which need to be careful filled. Initially I thought I could bypass the shroud because the World of Tanks IS-7 does not have one (see picture at left). Presumably this a game mechanic where the game engine cannot simulate the shroud movement when the barrel is raised or lower. However the gap between the turret and the mantle on the kit is far too large and I have to mount the shroud. This will take a few days. Grrrrr...

Visit Lost Turrets Home Page

DecisionS Made - Race to the End

7/6/2017

I have had a problem with the base colour I have been using for the IS-7. Conventional Russian tanks have been painted in European Green or Russian Armour Green. Neither really matches the green found on Russian tanks in WOT. I have decided to go with Drab Green which is much closer to the WG colour although not a perfect match. It was an easy change. However I have also decided to do the vehicle in the winter camo (I have always loved winter camo).

The construction is proceeding smoothly. The kit is excellent although I anticipate some issues with the gun barrel mantle shroud, More on that later .

It starting to look like an IS-7

Visit Lost Turrets Home Page

June 2017 - The IS-7 Has Paws

7/1/2017

For personal reason I had to put this project on hold for a few months but now I'm back and I'm targeting completion by the end of July.
The road wheels, idlers and drive sprockets have been painted and mounted. I have also lighted dusted them as part of the weather process

The tracks were painted a base colour of flat black and then over sprayed with Vallejo Track Primer 304 followed by a light wash of burnt umber

The next step will be to apply rust to the track and then powdered graphite to the treads to highlight where they touch the ground to give them a warn look

Visit Lost Turrets home Page

January 2017 - The Turret comes together

6/29/2017

The Turret was assembled. A straight forward but time consuming task. Russian Turrets of the period were made of cast steel and had a much rougher surface than the hull. The surface of the turret was textured with Mr. Surfacer 500.

The hatches and fittings were then applied.

Visit Lost Turrets Home Page

Late December 2017 - Assemble The Hull

6/29/2017

Work on the hull begins. The hull was textured to better simulate the rough texture of rolled steel.

The torsion arms were then mounted and The underside of the hull was then painted in a base coat of Russian Army Green

Visit Lost Turrets Home Page