Recently, I began playing around with some new model paints and an old airbrush, using some of my test prints to test the paints. So far, I'm happy with the results, but for serious painting, my setup needs improvement. Therefore, I decided to print some jigs for holding tank parts:
All tanks in my collection have standardised turret ring sizes, such that all tanks in the same weight class have interchangeable turrets. Because of this, all tanks of the same weight class will fit on the same painting fixture. These fixtures also keep paint off the mating surfaces of the turret and hull, so that they will still fit, regardless of how thick the paint ends up being. There are three weight classes: light, medium, and heavy. The fourth isn't a spare, it's for an odd size, as you'll see later.
I marked all of these with my sigil, as well as the weight class in English and Russian: LIGHT (ЛЁГКИЙ), MEDIUM (СРЕДНИЙ), and HEAVY (ТЯЖЁЛЫЙ).
Here they are, straight out of the printer.
I was able to pry them off the build platform very easily, mainly because they don't have any delicate features that I needed to worry about.
The supports also came off the models very quickly and easily, again because I didn't have to worry about damaging any delicate features.
Here they are in use. The top one is for light tanks, and I don't yet have any light tanks in my collection. The Type 97 Chi-Ha is a medium tank that is so small that I had to put the light tank turret ring on it, so that will fit on the light tank jig, when I finally print it.
The VK 30.02 Ausf D (Panther prototype) fits on the medium tank jig. Both the turret and hull fit snugly enough that the airbrush won't move them.
The U-3 (KV-2 prototype) fits on the heavy tank jig. Again, both the turret and hull fit snugly. You may have noticed that the lettering on the jigs is barely visible. It's marginally better IRL than in a photograph, but tweaking the exact parameters of the printing process may fix that.
Object 279 gets its own painting jig, because it has an odd-size turret ring. Because I wasn't able to go as deep with the turret ring as I normally do, I decided to make it wider, primarily so that no-one would try to put a different turret on it and then wonder why it's sticking up. However, the shallow turret ring also requires a larger diameter to provide the same contact surface area, and thus the same amount of friction, this way it doesn't fall out.
This is the VK 30.02 Ausf D hull in my bench fixture. In order to paint the top of the tank hull, I will flip it round and hold it by the tracks, leaving the painting jig in place to keep paint out of the turret ring. You can probably see my surface primer in the backrground, even though it's not in focus.
These painting jigs are not simply for my own purposes, but for anyone who wants to paint these models that I offer for sale. If you have a 3D printer, you can buy the files for both the tanks and the painting jigs, and if you don't, you can order printed models from my Shapeways shop or my website.
Light Tank Painting Jig
model file: https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/light-tank-painting-jig/
printed model: https://www.shapeways.com/product/8L3XAMMSR/1-285-light-tank-painting-jig?optionId=177915280&li=shops
Medium Tank Painting Jig
model file: https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/medium-tank-painting-jig/
printed model: https://www.shapeways.com/product/YQXPENA6B/1-285-medium-tank-painting-jig?optionId=177915191&li=shops
Heavy Tank Painting Jig
model file: https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/heavy-tank-painting-jig/
printed model: https://www.shapeways.com/product/LPTVVA4AP/1-285-heavy-tank-painting-jig?optionId=177915117&li=shops
Object 279 Painting Jig
model file: https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/object-279-painting-jig/
printed model: https://www.shapeways.com/product/YD6T3ZEED/1-285-object-279-painting-jig?optionId=177914545&li=shops