SS-23; It's done

FINALLY! The thing is finished YAY!

It's been a long journey but I'm calling it done. Hopefully you will be able to read all about the battle of wills between the two of us in a forthcoming edition of Model Military Int'l but for now I'm happy it's off the bench.

SS-23; Weathering started

Well once again this thing is fighting me and probably will to the bitter end, this time its the weathering. I'm trying to use washes and effects but these have all left tide-marks so I'm going 'old school' with the use of pastel chalks and spraying the dust on with Tamiya XF-57 Buff then using a mix of Tamiya Earth and Black, Pigment powders will be used to build up the dirt deposits but for now this is where I am;

SS-23; New windows again!

After a couple of days away from it and having lost the urge to drop-kick the model into the rubbish bin I've made new windows. I used a vernier gauge to get an exact measurement for the windows and because the clear styrene is fairly thin I knew it would be tricky to fix them in. Doing one window at a time I used a blob of Blu-Tack on the end of a wooden rod to get the piece into place then used liquid polystyrene cement to tack the window to the frame (yes I know poly cement does'nt work with resin).  I thinned down some PVA wood working glue with water then brushed it around the window to hold it in place, finally cleaning the Blu-Tack residue off with IPA.
I did this instead of using cyano glue as it would 'fog' the styrene and I did'nt really want to coat the clear styrene in Johnsons Kleer, also it looks a lot neater than cyano due to the fairly slow drying time of PVA glue.

All that's left to do is paint the rubber window seals then I can continue with the weathering.

SS-23; FFS! A word of caution using masking fluids

Parental advisory as the following contains strong language.

So the thing is finally painted and I'm moving on to the weathering stage which means it's close to finishing....
HOWEVER I used a masking fluid (Winsor and Newton) to mask the windows which is not THAT unreasonable I suppose as I've used the stuff before with no issues, unfortunately this time it has solidified under the paint. The masking fluid had stuck fast so I've had to use a chisel shaped craft blade to try and remove it and of course this has completely fucked up the side windows, fortunately the front windows have been spared as the masking fluid was applied later.
SO I'm back to replacing windows and putting more shit into the cabin, when I can face the model that is. At the moment I've put it back into a box before I trash it as I've really had enough of the fucking thing.

Rant over, we now return you to your regular programmes

SS-23; Finally! The windows are done

Sorted! Looking MUCH better;

So now I'm happy with them I'll mask off the windows, get some more primer onto the model and MAYBE even get it painted green :o)
I might finish the damned thing this year...

SS-23; The windows are out again

Ok this may look a little drastic but I have a cunning plan. Honestly the windows have been a 'mare' and the damned thing is dangerously close to being launched out of the house BUT I've an idea how to make them look pretty once again, unless I just board them up like the real one in a Russian military museum......
Anyway;

By the way those are the SIXTH set of window frames I've had to make mainly due to operator error.

SS-23; Back to the day job

I've hit a major problem. You may remember I replaced the front windows as the kit ones were crap however it's only at the undercoat stage have I noticed that underneath the left window the beading is missing (it must have been during the window fitting).
Anyway I'm having to think of how to replace it. I've tried fuse wire (it did'nt work) and a thin roll of Milliput but the stuff just did not want to stick SO I'm left with the only choice of having to remove what's left of the beading around the window and try again with fuse wire bent to shape all the way around instead of a section (I've already removed a section on the side).
The more I look the more I see just how crap it looks around all the windows and to be honest I'm rapidly losing interest in the whole project. More later...

Edit; I *may* have found a solution (no not a hammer although it's VERY close), it involves cutting new window frames from sheet styrene, fixing clear styrene behind them then dropping the assembly into the space so yep, you guessed it the windows may be coming out AGAIN!
It's my own fault really as I should have made a better job very early on before I glued the cab onto the hull but still this build is getting on my tits, especially as I've spent near enough 9 hours staring at the damned thing thinking of a solution.

SS-23- The Official photograph :o)

Just a teaser today as the next pics you see will be of the finished model. After the photo session the model is off for a wash and a scrub (and probably pinging photo-etch bits off left, right and centre), left to dry for a couple of days then into the paint shop. How's that for confidence? :o)

Hopefully you will be able to read all about the model in a future issue of Model Military Int'l, that's why I can only really post a few pics.

SS-23...Construction complete!

I've bloody well done it! It's only a record shot but I just HAD to share this one as this thing has been on the bench since May 2014. I never thought I would get this far as it has been a 'challenging' build to say the least and many times I've just wanted to put it back in the box and forget about it. Lots of setbacks with this one and even today when I knew I was about to wrap it up I managed to drop the missile on a tiled floor while transporting my portable work surface from one room to another and broke off the guidance vanes, the lower half of the missile body and the tip of the nose cone.
Anyway it gave me a chance to rework the vanes and how they attach to the arse end of the missile so it worked out well in the end plus thanks to my Mrs who found the tip of the missile some yards away from 'ground zero'.
The model needs a REALLY good clean to remove nearly 12 months worth of kak, resin dust and greasy paw prints and a few gaps filling but the main thing is it's finally built. YAY for me! :o)

The 12 inch (or 305cm) ruler gives an indication of just how big the model is.