SCW tanks, part 1

The first of my Republican FT-17 tanks is slowly coming together:

Does not look so good, does it?  I am using Vallejo Grey Surface primer on this vehicle.  I have found in the past that gesso does not cover plastic figures very well, so I was hoping that this primer would be better.  By brush, it looks a mess.  But, I did try it on a piece of sprue first, and coverage of the paint after priming works just fine.

The decision to not fully assemble the FT-17 was deliberate, as the tracks have some details on the other side, and painting the hull sides would have tough if the tracks were mounted first.  Also, the issue of the turret was still undecided at the time of this pic.  It might have been possible to leave the turret unglued to the hull, but test-fitting of the turret showed that it does not always go on in a level fashion.  After the base coats and basic weathering steps are done, I will glue the turret onto the hull.


Here is a pic of the FT-17 after the beginning of base-coating: 

The base coat went on surprisingly smoothly, after the awkward primer coat.  I need to experiment with a color for the tracks, as I do not have anything that looks like rust right out of the bottle.

Also included in the above pic - infantry!  The first section of Republicans is almost done, just need to finish off the weapons.  And the first section of Nationalists is coming along...


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