Oldie but a Goodie (TBT) - T-55 in Bosnian-Serb service

So around 2003, an old friend sold me an Esci kit for $5.  I figured, hey, what the hell.  As soon as I bought it, a few years later, Tamiya puts out a new T-55.  But for $5, you cant go wrong.  But being we are SICK in the head in this hobby, I had to buy the Etched brass.  Not only for the Esci kit, but for the Trumpeter kit as well CAUSE I had purchased it by mistake.  Add a new barrel for the T-54/55 and new workable plastic tracks and now I'm in for quite a bit. 

So, I started building this sucker and get hung up on the fuel lines.  The model then takes its place on the shelf of unfinished models.  Fast fwd 10+ years later, It finds its way back to my workstation.  This time I am armed with the FAQ2 book and a few good forums.  I attempt to try a few new techniques I learned.  I figure what a better way to learn, try on an old model. 

So I finished the fuel lines using CAT5 strands, #12 electrical wire for bars around turret, finished the rest of the model and the tracks and started painting and weathering.  I didn't really do a good job on the paint job, so I put most of my attention into weathering.  I decided on a Bosnian-Serb tank because I was not interested in making a Soviet tank, and not in the mood for an Afghan tank either.  I wanted this one to have something different about it.  So, I decided on the Bosnian-Serb tank as I had a friend that is Serbian, I had seen photos of Serb tanks that were "irregular" and had M2 .50 cals on them and cool looking battle slogans.  This was the end result.

Photo taken sometime in 2003 or 2004.

Never added satin in the paint, and turned out I could not do my weathering, so I had to spray it with Krylon Satin....went on a bit heavy. 

Adding the battle slogans and Serbian insignias to differentiate the Christian Serbs from the Islamic Bosnians.  The tank was originally in Bosnian service, so that is why the new owners have all sorts of slogans and symbols.  They are part of an irregular militia, NOT Yugoslavian forces.

Sheen from satin removed.

Old pattern wheel taken from other kit.

First time painting wooden crates.  Methods learned from Mig's FAQ2 book.

DONE!