1:35 Camouflage Paint Masks For T-14 Armata MBT

The T-14 Armata and its unusual layout

The Russian Armata was shown to the public for the first time in 2015 and immediately drew attention by how far it departs from Soviet tradition. The crew sits together in an armored capsule in the front part of the hull, the turret is unmanned and operated remotely, which fundamentally changes the shape of the whole machine. The tall flat superstructure, the long overhang of the gun and the modular armor panels along the sides give the tank a silhouette that cannot be mistaken for the earlier types.

How to use the set

The package contains pre-cut self-adhesive elements corresponding to the camouflage fields. The whole model is first oversprayed in the lighter tone, the film is stuck on once it has dried, and the darker layer goes over it. Taking the parts off leaves a sharp transition of a kind that cannot be hit repeatedly freehand, not even with an airbrush at low pressure.

A sharp edge as an intention

Not every camouflage is meant to be soft-edged. On patterns applied in the factory or to a regulation the transition between the fields is hard, and it is exactly this property that the stencil carries faithfully into scale. Tape would manage the same on a flat surface, but the broken-up sides with their side panels and tools turn it into a tedious assembly of strips, in which the shape of the field is inevitably simplified.

The weak points remain the places where several surfaces converge at once. Around hinges, tow cable eyes and in the corners of stowage boxes the film has to be cut and pressed down piece by piece, otherwise it lifts and the edge stays blurred. Patience pays back double here.