Military Vehicles vol.25: BRDM-3

Subject:	BRDM-3
Scale:	1/35
Manufacturer:	Dragon
Price	US$30,00 plus shipping
Construction:	Out-of-the box construction; replaced vinyl tires
Extras:	none
Paints:	This is my BRDM-3 Soviet AFV from Shangai Dragon. Overall a nice kit, although now surpassed by the Trumpeter model with full interior. Fit is very good and detail is nice. I don't like the vinyl tires. In my sample, they were already releasing that oil that damages all the plastic parts that came in contact with it. Fortunately, i found a resin replacement set made by a local manufacturer (Eletric Products) that were quite nice. Painting was done with Tamiya acrylics and weathering was obtained with AK products. The process i made is described below. I hope you like it!

First i painted the hole kit in a dark grey shade.

Some parts received the same dark grey primer coat. Others were painted with AK rust primer.

I then sprayed some red brown color, specially around areas subjected to heavy weathering like corners, edges and engine deck.

I sealed everything with Humbrol gloss coat in preparation for weathering.

I then sprayed AK models "worn effects" over all the previously painted parts.

Next i sprayed a coat of green color. I did not bother to find a perfect match. Everything would look worn up during latter weathering process.

To increase the worn effect, i used the basic green color with some white on the central of most panels and hatches.

Then , with a brush i applied water over the surface of the kit and gently removed the paint in some areas . I used several different materials to scratch the surface, depending on how much damage to the paint work i would like to do.

Here you see some samples of the weathering

To stop the process, i used a coat of future. The gloss finish makes impossible any further scratches. Then i applied a dark wash to highlight the details.

Below the finished project: