A good looking kit from Tamiya in a not so popular (like 1/35) scale for military vehicles. It's not a new kit - it was introduced in 2004.

There are two marking options which suits this GB - I didn't choose any yet. Option with a camouflage is more interesting, but I want to find some photos of this particular tank.

This kit contains an unusual part - die-cast chassis. I really don't now why it's better than a plastic part, but model will weight more than usual. Kit itself looks like an easy to build and has not a lot of parts, so I want to add some details.

I've replaced plastic handles with a bended from wire. Also I've added welds for additional and frontal armor plates and applied an extra thin Tamiya's cement on all other welds.

So, that's all for now.

4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Looks good. I've never built armour in 1/48, but this looks like a great kit.

Looking good, Dmitry.

Left part of suspension. Not glued for now, because I want to paint rubber bandages before final assembling.

1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

I've primed model with Mr.Surfacer 500 and then made preshading.

2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

A small update. In addition to black color I've also painted some ares with dark brown XF-64 (chassis especially). Then I've applied a base color - a lighter olive drab (because weathering will make it darker in the end). I've used Vallejo's Olive Drab + Blank White.

Also I've made masks for wheels with a masking tape and hollow punch set (actually I have two punch sets for leather - metric and imperial sizes for the best fit). It's more easier than do it by hand and gives more precise results I think.

4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Thank you for your responses - it helps me to keep up enthusiasm for this build!

Good question, George! I think I should start with preshading with black (and maybe with addition of dark brown for rust effect), then add some polished metal color for the pins and inner parts of the horns. Then apply a darker variant of olive drab for the metal parts and for the rubber parts - the same color as I've used for wheels ("new rubber"). After that - a dark brown wash and pigments I think.