Monday 9 May 2016

1/35 Trumpeter's - E100 Heavy Tank (Part 1)

Having used the last of my primer and waiting for my eBay order of paint to arrive, all current projects are on hold. So, feeling bored I excitedly grabbed another kit from my stash - the E100 Super Heavy Tank!
Beautiful artwork..........Okay, so the word 'beautiful' hardly fits such a scene of destruction but you have to admit, the art does a fabulous job of selling the kit and making Paper Panzer enthusiasts want to built it.  
Photo above for reference purposes only.
This kit is based partly on reality, at least the lower hull existed anyway.
There are lots of road wheels to clean so it took me two boring sessions to get them sanded and cleaned to my satisfaction. 
Photo etch grilles are included with the kit - nice!   
With a 1/35 tanker standing in the hull we can get an idea of this beast's size.
Photo above for reference purposes only.
In the reference photo above we can see the hull minus track guards - I may or may not have them installed on my kit. 
And with the turret (which I believe is fictional) loosely placed on the hull we can see how she'll look a little later.  In the background is one of two attractive colour schemes supplied by Trumpeter. I will probably use a scheme of my own.

Friday 6 May 2016

1/35 - Tamiya 251/9 Kanonenwagon (Part 1)

As if I didn't have enough builds going on right now, I decided to of course embark on a new project. This is a very common habit among modelers, and I'm sure anyone reading this knows exactly what I mean. 

Anyway, this time I plan on building an abandoned 251 half-track and a base to accompany the machine - the 251 will be depicted as though it was either rammed or purposely driven off the road and down a steep embankment where it will sit at an angle of approx. 50 degrees.
Being affordable (and even more so being in the spring sale), the 1/35 Tamiya kit was my choice, after all, if I ruined the model it wouldn't matter too much. However, this hopefully won't happen so I look forward to bringing my vision to life.......... ;)
I was pleased to find the front suspension was workable and the wheels could be turned - this saves me some work as I will need this option.
The interior isn't too bad at all and is perfectly acceptable for my purposes - I am interested in building an interesting scene, not a 100% scale replica. 
Click on photo for larger image.

Above is a quick 'thinking-out-loud' of what I intend to work on - this certainly has the makings of a fun project and I'm quite excited by the prospect of attacking the 251 with my 
airbrush. I have already started building the base so if you want to see more please feel free to check-in again some time.