T-72B ERA I Modelcollect I 1/72

When I first came across the Polish website called Jadar Hobby, I initially looked for kits that were not available in Turkey. I didn't know much about Modelcollect before. I was intrigued by the T-72 tanks I had seen during the Syrian War. I saw the kit of this tank on Jadar Hobby and bought it, thus acquiring a kit from a brand I had never tried before.

 

Upon examining the kit, I noticed that it had a large number of parts and that the plastic was quite soft and of good quality. The lower part of the model's body was also made of metal. Additionally, the tracks were made of a different soft material. The kit passed my quality assessment.

First, I assembled the turret. There were so many details that I got lost in them. After assembling the turret, I placed the bricks called ERA in their designated spots. Such level of detail in this scale is truly remarkable.

When I assembled the entire model, I wasn't quite satisfied with the craftsmanship I achieved. I had always been accustomed to Trumpeter's thin but hard plastic. I ended up damaging the soft plastic too much. I had to make a lot of corrections before painting.

I initially painted the tank with a dark green color. Then, I went over it with a mixture of white and green to lighten the color and break the monotony of the tank.

After finishing the painting of the tank, I worked on the details. Although there were many details, most of them were the same color as the tank. I painted the machine gun anthracite and dry brushed it with metallic paint. 

At this stage, I realized that I had forgotten to paint the rubber parts of the wheels. Since I had also added side skirts, I painted the visible parts. The main painting of the tank was thus completed.

These tank didn't have many decals, but the places where they were supposed to adhere were quite uneven. I only had mark fit at hand. Microsol would have been better for the decals to settle properly. However, the final result didn't turn out bad. 

After the decals settled, I applied a gloss varnish over them. The gloss varnish helped protect the decals and paint.

After the gloss varnish, I proceeded with washing. I washed the tank with AK wash product for green vehicles. But the result I achieved was beyond my expectations. The recessed areas filled nicely with paint, enhancing the overall appearance.

I then applied matte varnish. However, the color of the paint became much darker than I intended. Weathering processes become much easier with matte varnish, but the paint darkens significantly after the varnish.

Initially, I painted the bricks on the vehicle in different colors. Then, I used various washing solutions on them. This helped break the monotony caused by a single color.

To bring out the protruding parts of the tank, I dry brushed them with metallic paint. Additionally, I went over the edges with a pencil. This slightly alleviated the dark appearance of the tank.

I went over the wheel parts with a mixture of pigments I prepared. I filled the spaces between the wheels with pigment. I also filled the hidden corners of the tank with pigment. Then, I went over them with turpentine. This way, the pigment adhered to the tank.

I mixed rust effects with thinner until I achieved a fluid consistency and applied it to the left side of the tank. This side took on a rusty tone. On the right side, I mixed dust effect with water, resulting in a brighter, cleaner appearance. As always, my goal was to break monotony.

Using streaking grime, I created leak effects around the mouths of the fuel drums on the rear of the tank, adding a layer of realism.

Finally, I applied dust effects to the side skirts and soot effects around the exhaust. At this point, I completed the tank. If you're considering trying a Modelcollect kit, I say go for it without hesitation.

After some time, I was no longer satisfied with the results and decided to strip all the paint by soaking the model in DOT3 fluid for a day.

This time, I aimed to build a lighter, more varied-looking tank. I painted the entire tank dark green and then modulated the tone using light green.

I dry brushed sharp areas using the base color heavily lightened with white. Compared to before, the resulting color was much lighter, and I finally achieved the tone I was aiming for.

Once the main painting was done, I moved to the details. I painted the ERA bricks on the hull and turret in different tones to prevent uniformity. The tracks were painted rust, and the rubber parts of the wheels were painted anthracite.

The machine gun was painted anthracite and dry brushed with metallics. I also dry brushed the tracks. I attempted a soot effect on the side exhaust, but the solution turned out brown. The wooden log on the rear was painted to resemble real wood.

Once the painting was complete, I applied gloss varnish and added the decals. Since there weren't many decals, this didn't take much time. I followed with another coat of gloss varnish.

During the oil paint phase, I applied filters in white, burnt sienna, and yellow. Later, I added blue to create subtle variations. This both eliminated the uniformity and beautifully faded the colors.

After the oils dried, I performed a black wash, carefully applying it mainly to the recessed areas. I also adjusted the log's color that I didn’t like previously.

I sealed the tank with a final matte varnish to prepare it for weathering. As I always say, applying weathering over a matte finish makes the process much easier.

I began weathering from the top. Using dust liquids, I washed the sides of the turret and applied sponge weathering to areas frequently handled by crew members.

Metallic weathering was done on the tank’s corners using pencil and graphite. This helped eliminate the plastic look, giving it a metallic appearance.

I washed the rust-colored ERA bricks with rust liquid to enhance realism and added chipping using a sponge.

After completing the turret, I moved to the hull. I reapplied soot pigment around the exhaust and fixed it using pigment fixer.

I added oil streaks on the barrels at the rear and dust washes underneath for wear.

I completed dusting and chipping along the tank's lower and side surfaces using both pigments and washes. Dusty effects suit this tank very well, so I repeated the process several times.

I also weathered the wheels with washes and pigments, then did the same for the tracks, completing the running gear's weathering.

Lastly, I applied downward streaking effects using wash liquids on the ERA blocks and skirts, leaving some residue at the bottom to simulate accumulation.

After going over every missing spot and finalizing small corrections, I completed the tank. The final paint and weathering gave it the look I wanted. 

Compared to the first version, the final model was noticeably lighter. I was happy to have achieved my goal and placed the tank in my display case before moving on to the next kit.