For whatever reason I seem to be making very little progress with getting models finished! It’s not that I’m not busy, since I’ve prepared and primed a few models and figures, but I just seem to be drifting along with that instead of finishing things off. So I thought maybe a small step is the way to go!
The model above is a French Renault R35 light tank in 20mm/1:76th scale, a 3-D print by Paint and Glue Miniatures. I went for a basic print, although Garry at Paint and Glue will also print most things in higher quality resin. I opted for a simple olive green scheme without any markings, since I wanted a bit of flexibility about where and who could use this vehicle (in this plain finish it can be used by the French, Yugoslav, and Romanian armies in WW2). I primarily wanted it to go with my French 1940 army, but it’s a useful addition to my fledgling 1941 Yugoslav tank force (see below).
The new R35 is on the right of the picture, next to a metal R35 by SHQ, again in the plain green finish. The Paint and Glue R35 is the correct size, so the SHQ model is a bit big (having said that, it is a very well detailed model) but I’m pleased with both models. The two vehicles on the left are S-I-d tankettes, these being 3D prints from Shapeways, painted last year (see here for more info). At some point I’ll add some Yugoslav infantry to go with the tanks, but I’ll probably opt to paint some Serbians for my Balkan Wars forces that can be used for either period.
It didn’t take too long to paint the R35, so I might look round to see if I can find a few more “quick wins” to paint!
Just Needs Varnish! 
Great looking tank John, and another one finished, take every little win as a step in the right direction mate, and hopefully the muse will descend, and you’ll have another flurry of miniatures finished.
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Thanks Dave! 🙂 Handy just being able to do one tank that fits in with the rest! I’ve maybe gone overboard with the cleaning up and priming in that I’ve got too much to choose from that needs finishing! But there are a few more ones and twos that can be done to keep making progress!
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Very nice! Quite a nice print, I assume this is a PLA and not resin. I might have to experiment with printing tanks, I sort of reserve that for terrain in general because I’m worried about the layer lines showing up on models but this looks very smooth.
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Thanks Nicolas! 🙂 You’re right, it’s a PLA print (I was going to note that in the post but had a last minute panic that I’d got the term wrong so I left it out). I’ve found that with a decent PLA print (that’s been done in fine layers) a coat of primer, two top coat layers and a spray with matt varnish tends to “hide” (or maybe make much less obvious) the layer lines, although you have to be careful if you drybrush higlights (like I do) that you don’t brush too hard where there are a lot of layers. Obviously layers will show up more where there are sloped or curved surfaces, particularly shallow angles. My view these days is that if the only way I can get a specific model is via a 3-D print then I’ll be happy enough, even if it has some print lines on it (I’ve had enough mis-cast metal vehicles in the past to have basically given up on them). I did see some criticism of Butlers Printed Models on a forum somewhere but I’ve always thought their models come out reasonably well for PLA models in 20mm scale. Resin models are better quality, but relatively brittle (PLA models are pretty tough and light).
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Very nice, I like the R35, I’ve got a couple of “Frontline” ones in my 20mm Romanian force, they are tiny!
Cheers Roger.
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Thanks Roger! 🙂 R35s have a bit of character to them I think! Stashed away in the loft I think I have another one converted to the Romanian 45mm-gunned version, patiently awaiting me to do some WW2 Romanians (not sure if or when that’ll happen now though)!
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Great job on the tank! I can see a few print lines on it, which is always the downside to 3D printing, but it looks fine, especially at that size.
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Thanks Matt! 🙂 You’re right, the lines are there, but not too bad! Tricky to sand this turret although that tends to work on bigger models with less raised detail. Having said that I’m pleased with it!
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Very nice- that has come out well for an FDM print.
Cheers,
Pete.
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Thanks Pete! 🙂 It’s a bit plain in its basic green but I wanted a vehicle I could use for more than one army.
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Nicely painted!
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Thanks Harry! 🙂 I deliberately had to be careful with the drybrushed highlight to avoid picking up the layers too much, but I’m happy enough with it!
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Excellent work on the tank and thanks for the heads up about a supplier that I didn’t know about. Paint and Glue miniatures have a great range and I will pick up a couple of their Russian Comsomlets tows for my Finnish army.
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Thanks Dave! 🙂 You’re right, they have an excellent range. I’ve got a couple of their models printed in resin and the quality of them is really good (and I think worth the money).
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We seem to be in the same position right now John in terms of just drifting along and going at a slow pace. Small steps is the way to go as you say and this looks like a great start to me. 🙂
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Thanks Dave! 🙂 I’ve been discussing this with my wife, since she’s making progress with her decoupage creations! We’ve come to the conclusion that a couple of hours spent preparing stuff is a lot less hard work than a couple of hours of finishing stuff off! But finishing small bits and pieces does help, so I might try just painting a couple of figures at a time and see how that goes!
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That is one small tank, John! I think it came out very nicely with the usual Just Needs Varnish painting style, if I may say so 🙂 I hope this gets you revving your hobby engine as I know I never like it when I hit a hobby lull.
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Thanks Jeff, that’s much appreciated! 🙂 The lull is really only in getting things finished – it seems easier to prepare and prime stuff at the moment, but we’ll see what happens!
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That’s good to hear! Well if that’s the case, I’ve got some unopened boxes of minis to send you! 😉 I’m usually the opposite and can always be more motivated to paint and finish something instead of doing the prep phases even when I should be doing those!
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Haha, I think that’d work Jeff! 🙂 You send me the stuff to prepare and I’ll return it with my stuff for you to paint and you can return that with the next batch of your stuff to prepare and so on! Since my figures are 20mm scale they’ll be easy to do but you’ll have to drop your standards quite a bit so they match my current painting style.
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Haha, that does sound good! Although I think the catch would be trying to paint in your style, not the standards part. I don’t know if I can match your style or not! It would be a fun hobby challenge for me anyway. I reckon there’s some others in our little circle that I might be able to get close to too. This could be a fun idea for the future, I think.
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Lovely tank John… A couple of small steps gets you to exactly the same point as one large one, so do what’s best for you at the time… At the moment, I’m running backwards!😁
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Haha, thanks Justin! 🙂 I’m still doing a bit each day, so not too bad!
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That isn’t bad at all for an FDM print, is it? Nicely finished too.
Regards, Chris.
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It’s not bad at all, Chris, thanks you! 🙂 You have to take some of the blame, since it was in following your blog and seeing your nice STZ tractor that I found out about Paint and Glue Miniatures!
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Nice work on the little fellow John and yep! keep drifting! that way I might catch up!!
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Thanks Pat! 🙂 I think you’ve just about caught up!
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😅😅😅
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