Home-made 1:48 3D printed resin AAT tank kit

[AFC]

Around 3 months ago, I got my first resin 3D printer and started printing some miniatures for a CIS army I'm working on.
I downloaded a bunch of 3D models from the internet, and printed some batches while deciding what to add to my army next.
I decided that I need at least one AAT tank.

I found a pretty low poly model ripped from a game that someone posted online. I wanted to print it as is and move on to the next model, but when I opened it in a slicer, I didn't like how low quality it was.

I decided that I will at least remodel the biggest and most prominent part- the hover plate.
It took few dozen hours and when I was done, I didn't like how the new shiny hover plate sits next to all the other angular pieces.
I decided to also remodel the front hatch. And the top ammunition cover. And right before I knew it, I had 1/3 of the tank remade.
I decided that I'm too far gone into it and the only way out is to see it trough.

With around of 1,5 months of modeling in my free time, I completed the model.

It's divided into 28 parts, that are meant to closely simulate injection molded parts, but I didn't strictly adhere to the rules of designing molded parts, since I knew they probably would never be used for that anyway.

While making the model, I had to look up a bunch of reference material for the tank, since while the ripped model provided the general shape and proportion of the vehicle, it lacked a lot of details.

While doing the research, I also read up on the 1999 1:32 AMT Trade Federation Tank kit and 2020 1:56 FFG Trade Federation Battle Tank kit, and took some inspiration from the way they were assembled. I never had neither of them in hand, so while the construction might look similar, the kits are not compatible.

The tank came up to measure 203 x 161 x 84 mm and will sit on a round 150 mm base via an acrylic rod leg nicely.

I started by printing up the pieces on my new Elegoo Saturn 3 Ultra resin printer. The larger size of the print bed really came in handy for some of the larger pieces. I had few failures, still being new to the process, but in the end I managed to produce all the parts.

I used ABS-like resin for this construction and am really happy with how bendy and non brittle it is, compared to the standard one.

With all the pieces printed, I cleaned them up a bit and assembled the tank.

It took around 3 hours and I streamed the whole process, while talking about the designing process. The full stream is available to watch on YT also, but here's a shorter edit covering just the construction process:

I primed the assembled tank for better visibility and here's how it turned out:

I'm super happy with how the model turned out. I think it was really worth it to invest 1,5 month of work into developing this kit.
It might've taken a lot more time that I initially planned, but now I have the much better quality model kit that assembles like a professional product, but also gives that garage kit vibe.
Plus now I can print a bunch of those tanks, for my army or any other project.

Now, the only thing left to do is a full paint job.

 

[StevenBills]

That's cool! I have the old AMT kit in the stash that I'll get to one day. You've done a great job of mimicking an injection molded kit with these parts! Well done!

SB

 

[rbeach84]

Wow! Super job, "AFC". 1/48 scale is my favorite scale for most all my modeling, so hats off to you for producing such an excellent model. Truly a look into the future of 'scratchbuilding'. By taking the 'raw' design and applying the high fidelity scale process to it, you've produced a much better result. I look forward to your final paint.
Thanks for sharing!
Regards, Robert

 

[modelerdave]

Excellent, excellent work. I wish I had the design skills to clean up models like that.

 

[Duncanator]

You've done a fantastic job modeling that!

 

[AFC]

After the tank was assembled, I could start the painting.

I'm not much of a painter but I wanted to give this one my all, considering I made the model itself.

First thing I did after priming the model, was to cover the entire tank in base color of RAL 1000- Green Beige. I found a store online that fills spray cans with any color from the RAL pallet so it was a breeze.

Most of the tank was supposed to be this light tan color, but few specific panels should be a little darker, so I covered them with Balor Brown by hand.

Next, I covered all the exterior with Agrax Earthshade wash. My initial plan was to basically end there, just to pick out some different color details by hand. But I really didn't like how the tank looked. It was too dark after washing and the wash didn't distribute evenly on such big surfaces.

In an act of improvisation, I tried stippling with almost dry brush some Ushabti Bone on lighter panels and Balor Brown on the darker ones and it worked out great. It brought back the rich bright colors, while leaving a very nice and realistic grain like color texture.

At this point I decided to put a little more effort into this paintjob. Few of the panels I covered with darker tan, should actually be a third shade, that sits somewhere in the middle.

I mixed a healthy portion of Ushabti Bone & Balor Brown in 2:1 proportion, and covered the appropriate panels by hand.

Next were the side Power Converters and back Power Plant. I saw other models where people make them black but very shiny with silver or completely rusted up, almost red.

I really don't like that look, plus it's not very accurate to the movie.

I base coted them with Abaddon Black and did highlights with Eshin Grey and extreme highlights with A39- Neutral Gray. And to darken and blend my shadows, I coated these details with Nuln Oil, twice, giving me a nice, subtly shaded black coating.

I was dreading working on the rocket Launch Tubes corrosion, considering them the most difficult part of the paintjob, but I could wait no longer, so I just dove in.

My plan was to stipple a series of very thin triangles based on the tube openings, each one getting smaller, going from most outside to the most inside color.

I started with stippling the first triangle with Eshin Grey. It's the most outer one and will dictate the shape of all the rest, so I did this one very carefully. First I made single line going back from the middle of the tube, connected it's end to the sides of the tube with two additional lines and filled the resulting triangle.

Next I repeated the proces with Abaddon Black, but this time I went only half of the way back, leaving an outline of the grey.

Then I made even smaller triangle on top with Ushabti Bone, but this time I put an uniform layer of paint, instead of stippling. This layer will simulate a chipped edge of the tanks paint, around the bare metal.

Speaking of which, next layer was painted with Stormhost Silver, leaving a very thin line of the tan uncovered.

And finally middle of the silver was covered with Leadbelcher, giving a nice two-tone effect to the exposed metal.

I also covered the edge of the tube with Stormhost Silver and added few random scratches, and stippled some additional noise with Abaddon Black, completing the task.

With my silver paints out, I covered the details on the surface of the tank, like handles and buckles. I covered them all with Leadbelcher, except the silver on barrels, which I painted with the lighter Stormhost Silver.

Next I did something I wanted to try for a long time, which was edge highlighting all the tanks edges using a pencil. It was a little more difficult than I expected and my hand slipped few times, marking the neighboring surfaces. Luckily it gave a nice scratch effect also but I really need to practice this technique.

The other technique I've been learning recently is using ground down dry pastels as powder pigments.

I covered the tank with shades of yellow tan, dark grey, reddish brown and dark brown in random places. I think I overdid this at first because it darkened the paintjob quite a bit but I pulled it back of a bit with a damp paper towel and I really like how it ended up looking in the end.

The last step was shading, so I covered the entire model with a gloss clearcoat to help the shades flow better on the surface. It unfortunately dulled the pencil lines down to grey, destroying the effect, but they still look better than if they were clean.

For the panel lines, I used, appropriately, a heavy dose of Black Panel Accent.

I also tried using watered down Nuln Oil to create ambient shadows in the recesses of the tanks shape, but they came out too dark and concentrated to middle line still, so I'll have to come up with something different for the next time.

Wit the the paintjob complete, I covered the entire model with matte clear coat, to protect the work.

I'm really happy with how the model turned out in the end. Sure, there's room for improvement, but I exceeded my own expectations, so I'm pleased.

I'm particularly proud of the Launch Tubes corrosion, which was very scary to me, but I think I pulled it off.

It was a pure joy to assemble and paint the very first scale kit I ever designed. Now, I can finally release this kit knowing, that I did a good job with designing it so expect the premiere of the kit soon.

Special thanks to Wayne Peters for designing and releasing the awesome Battledroids, of which I used one for a driver.

Driver will not be included in the kit.

 

[rbeach84]

Kit? How does that work exactly? I'd love to have a 1/48 scale model that was accurate and *not* from the animated series.... ha!
Regards, Robert

 

[AFC]

I will be releasing a small run of these in form of physical assembly kits. I have most of the parts printed already, but I still need to design the instructions and pack everything, so it'll probably be a few weeks.
Kits will be available on Etsy and I'll be sharing updates on the premiere date on my social media.

 

[rbeach84]

Revell put out a injection molded AAT kit a while back, but as I alluded to, it is from the Clone Wars animated series and somewhat simplified. Your work is far better looking than that model which doesn't follow the design from the movie.
<AAT (Armored Assault Tank), Revell 06670 (2010)>

 

[AFC]

Oh yeah, I saw that one. It really does look goofy. I thought it's smaller though. 1:50 is very close to 1:48.

 

[rbeach84]

Aye, it is 'tagged' as 1/50 scale which I suspect is pretty close, if the 1/32 scaling of the AMT AAT is any measure to work from... ha!

Regards, Robert

 

[rbeach84]

Adam, I was watching of the release of the kit on your Etsy shop, but must have missed it... I hope it went well!
Regards, Robert

 

[AFC]

I never got around to actually releasing it, sorry I put it on hold due to some health problems and then got sidetracked with other projects.

But I got the first batch of parts for the tanks fully printed. I just need to draw an assembly instructions for the kit and actually post the listing.

I'll try to get to making them available as soon as I can.

 

[rbeach84]

Thank you for the update! I am patient, especially for a 'good thing' (and looking at some of the other tank designs, I prefer it in this case-ha!). If I may assist with drafting the assembly instructions or be of other assistance, please reach out - I believe in collaboration as a successful strategy!
Cheers and Regards, Robert