• The exhaust was painted with the LifeColor rust set, then washed with AK Interactive “Light Rust Wash for Green Vehicles” (AK046) and drybrushed with Mig Productions 502 Abteilung “Light Rust Brown” ABT060 oil paint.
• Chipping was done with AMMO “Chipping” (A.MIG-044), applied with sponge and brush.
• The entire vehicle was washed with AMMO’s “Dark Brown Wash for Green Vehicles wash” (A.MIG-1005), with the excess being removed after 30 minutes by brush or cotton bud.

Primer: Tamiya “Fine Surface Primer” (light grey) spray can, applied to the hull and turret.

Black base: A 1:1 mixture of Mr.Finishing Surfacer 1500 Black and Mr.Color Leveling Thinner was sprayed all over. I wanted to get a dark colour in the recesses and to help with toning down the base coat colour.

Basecoat (tank): Adapting the Tamiya suggested colours, a 1:1:1 mixture of Mr.Color “Olive Green” (120), Mr.Color “Olive Drab (2)” (38) and Mr.Color “Sand Yellow” (119) and Mr.Color Leveling Thinner (1:2 ratio of paint mixture to thinner) was sprayed.

Basecoat (tracks): a 1:1 mixture of Tamiya “Flat Black” (XF-1) and Tamiya “Red Brown” (XF-64) (with the addition of 5% of Tamiya Acrylic Paint Retarder) and Tamiya lacquer thinner (1:2 ratio of paint mixture to thinner) was sprayed.

Details:

• Machine gun: AMMO “Matt Black” (A.MIG-046)
• Fire extinguisher: Xtracrylix “British Deep Bronze Green” (XA1814), Vallejo Model Color “Brass” (70801)
• Rear light: Vallejo Model Color “Red” (70947)
• Tools (metal): Vallejo Model Color “Black” (70950), Vallejo Model Color “Black Grey” (70862), Citadel “Boltgun Metal”
• Tools (handles): Vallejo Panzer Aces “Old Wood” (310)
• Jack block: Vallejo Panzer Aces “New Wood” (311)
• Periscopes: AMMO “Matt Black” (A.MIG-046)
• Mirror: Citadel “Mithril Silver”
• Mud flaps: Vallejo Model Color “Black” (70950), Vallejo Panzer Aces “Dark Rubber” (306)

Gloss coat: A 1:2 mixture of Mr.Color “Clear Gloss” (46) and Mr.Color Leveling Thinner was sprayed over the entire model. The decal was applied to the turret and this area resprayed.

As expected this went together very well, except one or two places (e.g. the engine compartment door hinges)  where larger than expected gaps had to be filled with bits of plastic card. To keep costs down I went with the plastic barrel – a metal one would undoubtedly look better. I did swap the tracks for workable plastic click together ones by Bronco.

The vehicle

“In Soviet service, the Valentine was used from the Battle of Moscow until the end of the war, mainly in the second line. Although criticized for its low speed and weak gun, the Valentine was liked due to its small size, reliability and good armour protection. Soviet Supreme Command asked for its production till the end of the war.” [1]

The kit

Tamiya 1/35 kit [2].

I have previously done a Valentine tank, in British service. I thought that turned out OK so had no real desire to do another. However, the present kit is a newly released Tamiya one and I am usually interested in seeing their armour kits. This time I will model a lead lease vehicle in the service of the Red Army.

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine_tank
2. http://www.tamiya.com/english/products/35352/index.htm