Recently Completed: Tamiya Type 74 MBT

 This model was something of a milestone for me as I had previously only worked in enamel paints on armour. For this one I decided to give a full acrylic paintjob a go, especially as the correct shade for JGSDF Green was standard stock in Tamiya’s range. I won the kit on eBay for a bargain price. It’s the original edition, MM-214, from the days of Tamiya’s partnership with MRC for North American distribution, distinct from the current version of the kit which has markings for a winter scheme.

 The Japanese Type 74 was Japan’s second indigenous post-war MBT and incorporated concepts pioneered by the US/German MBT-70, such as independent, fully-adjustable suspension, and the British L-7 rifled 105mm gun used a few years later on the early production M1, plus laser rangefinder, IR night vision systems and multiple other state of the art refinements for the 1969 – 1975 period. In other ways the tank is very traditional, with the ballistic formula and running gear of the T-34 very apparent.  

The model builds a breeze, it more or less falls together, and has some interesting options, including a wading configuration with vertical exhausts and hatch tower, and posable suspension for a diorama depicting the vehicle on either uneven ground or in ‘kneeling’ mode, in which greater depression or elevation angle was obtained by compressing the hydropneumatic suspension system. There is even a tool for creating a symmetrical offset of the suspension arms. Other features include two figures and a variety of markings for service and training units. The only fiddly bit was the small turret basket which used a lot of CA and taxed my patience somewhat. Less fiddly was the necessity to mount the IR searchlight after applying the forward turret decals, which came out looking most realistic. The kit shows its age in some ways, such as an absence of periscopes under the armoured covers of the driver’s hatch, and no amount of stretching or reverse bending would take the fold-kink out of the vinyl tracks.  

As I began, this was my first acrylic basecoat on armour, and I was very pleased with the result, going on to do a standard triple tonal variation, a lightened shade sprayed into the middle of panels and a darkened shade to the edges as post-shading, which came out particularly effectively on the flank hull. I enjoyed the smooth simplicity of oil wash weathering over the base: I pin-washed as usual, but did some streaking and dirt build-up on the lower hull with soft brushes. I had intended to try clearcoats for applying the prominent decals to the turret, but Tamiya’s decals went on perfectly over the flat finish, so I did not extend things to that range of techniques.  

After that I mounted the antennas from .015” spring steel wire, and used MiG pigments to dust the hull, tracks and running gear. In retrospect the dusting job might have been a bit heavy-handed and I’m toying with the idea of wasing it away and starting again, more subtly, but once again this would be an experiment, I would first study the washing characteristic of the pigment on scrap plastic so as not to turn an aesthetic doubt into a disaster.  

I built this model in 2008 and am very happy with the result (okay, a gap opened up between mantlet and turret in the time she’s been standing, and I’ll have to repair that... Who says model vehicles don’t need maintenance?!) So happy, I have adopted this general suite of techniques as my standard armour finishing procedure and may never spray a tank with enamels again, unless the necessary colour is simply unobtainable and unmixable.