Scaffold

I got this scaffold on Amazon a while ago.

It is a really nice kit.

Made in Japan by a company I never heard of before.

It makes a nice scaffold.

It is about 1/32nd scale.  Its a two pack and they stack or fit side by side.
 

Finishing Trucks

Trucks waiting to dry.

Finally finishing painting these many trucks.

Probably close to 100 of the various types in total.

The Soviet Army will have a reasonable supply train.

And the engineers will have heavy dump trucks.

Somehow a Roskopf BTR-60 open top managed to sneak in there.  It's the only one I have, sadly.
 

Painting Trucks

My painting techniques have been getting a workout this last month.

The wheels are very time consuming.

Note to Roskopf BTR-152 in the middle, both have been slightly modified by a previous owner.  I think the one with the flat roof originally had a Roco SdKfz 234/1 turret on it.

These desperately need the window frames painted.

So do these!

I paint with a brush but I keep a cotton swab handy.  I use it to wipe off any excess paint that gets on the windows.  Tamiya can be cleaned with water and so I dip the swab with water if the first wipe does not work.

I use a toothpick to spin the wheels so I don't have to touch them while painting.
 

Trucks and Painting Tips

More Cold War Soviet Trucks in line for there wheels to get painted.

I use Tamiya  X-1 gloss black, Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black, and Tamiya X-18 Semi Gloss Black to paint most vehicle wheels.  In this can get confusing since these are Soviet tactical trucks they are all getting Flat Black.  Since all three jars are similar, I put the little note TRACKS for the Flat Black and TIRES on the Semi-Gloss black.  On a similar project I was painting black civilian construction vehicles and used black for the tracks, and semi-gloss for tires.

On top of all my paints I put a little price tag.  I put the color and other data.  The black dot indicates there is a steel ball for paint mixing already in the container.  The silver circle around the jar lid indicates this jar has been opened.  Tracks and Tires indicate the typical use for this paint.  With three jars that look very similar this seems to minimize problems.

Flat black.

Side two waiting for paint application.

Not just watching paint dry, but photographing it for posterity.