1/72 BT-7 mod. 1937

The hull is somewhat assembled and the wheels are dry-fitted to have them and the tracks removable for ease of painting later on. There are some fit issues around the hull, that I will have to fix using MR Surfacer or even Tamiya Epoxy Putty 

Going towards the final details. I did some changes to the detailing on the engine deck and added some to the turret and reworked the edge of the gun shield a littlle. MR Surfacer 500 was applied for subtle armor texture and to fill some gaps and scratches left from the detailing phase. Those surfaces will be finished off with some sanding before going further 

Primed with MR Surfacer 1500 and preshading applied to some areas 

The basic paintjob consisted of spraying first an undiluted layer of AK Real Color 4BO and then highlighting with two lighter layers mixing in Russian Greyish Yellow and Yellow Green from Tamiya. Clear Varnish was also mixed in to improve the flow while airbrushing. You can also see one of the two tarps I added using Tamiya two part epoxy putty. 

The other side of the hull with the second tarp. One may be able to spot the irregular highlight-pattern here and there 

Some brushpainted highlights befor the application of the winter-whitewash 

The rough spots of remaining white were achieved by spraying white (Tamiya in this case) over chipping fluid. I did have some problem chipping off the paint at some places, but refinements will be made anyway. Instead of a second round of white+chipping varnish, I decided to do the refinements with washable white acrylic. The goal is to bring a continous white filter layerr at least to the less worn sides of the hull/turret while keeping some of the contrast on the horizontal/high-traffic areas
 

After adding some layers of the washable white, I got something close to what I had in mind. I went over some areas several times, applying a thinner layer more generously first and then following up with some more pigment-heavy spots or streaks on some of the vertical surfaces. Now it looks like a very well used tank which had it´s camo applied by hand in thick layers making it flake of after a long winter of continous use while some remains streak down the surface due to rain etc. 

 

Stowage items, gun barrels and exhausts were basecoated. I hope to achieve the rusty finish on the latter using enamels 

A dark pinwash was applied giving a noticeable contrast on some details 

The wash was also used to represent a stain on one of the fuel tanks 

 

Some chipping has been applied to the vehicle. Next step will be a quick round of weathering with enamels 

Weathering was done using a somewhat simple approach and enamel paints. to layer a lighter coat using Earth first, followed by some more restricted apllication of fresh mud. This also served as a "pinwash" for the earth-covered areas 

The running gear had the same treatment done to it with earth covering larger areas and some darker mud around details... no bigger mud clumps, but definetly remains of some extended use. Exhausts were painted with a dark rust enamel to give a nice effect