Tamiya's 1/35 Jagdpanther (part 5 & the final reveal)

At last my Jagdpanther has been completed! She is depicted as partially-assembled and abandoned due to a lack of fuel; she sits among rubble in the grounds of a bombed-out factory where she herself was built and which her crew were ordered to guard.  The inspiration for this build came from a WWII photo of a similar scene.  And so, without further delay, here are the photos!

See part 4: 'HERE'

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Tamiya's 1/35 Jagdpanther (part 4)

The base coat is finally applied to my late-war Jagdpanther and as you can see my black & white shading has been partially lost due to not thinning the paint sufficiently - it's there, just not visible unless the model is sitting right in front of you.  Not to worry though, I'm still very happy with the way she looks thus far.  After a coat of satin varnish I gave her a pin-wash using oil paints, sealed and then couldn't resist some light chipping in applicable areas.

To create the graduated paintwork on the hull I utilized two shades of 'AMMO's late-war Dunkelgelb and also an attractive shade of green (RAL 6011). The red oxide is represented by using Vallejo Model Color Cavalry Brown; I didn't want to over-do this colour so chose only small areas to add a 'warmer' area of interest to the model's otherwise minimalist hull.

I am currently figuring out where I want to go with her next as there are several ideas floating around in my mind.  Throughout the build I've resisted the temptation to add any tools or accessories, so therefore stuck to my own brief of a partially-completed (just running and armed) machine taken directly from the production line. 

Anyway, there will be more soon, comrades!

See Part 3 HERE

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Tamiya's 1/35 Jagdpanther (part 3)

My Tamiya Jagdpanther is back on the bench once again; in the photos below you can see I am trying the black and white method of modulation which seems very popular at the moment.  With this method I'm striving to create artificial lighting effects and although maybe not the most realistic method, to my eyes models that others have finished in this manner look fantastic!  

Okay, so in the photo above you we have a very basic hull minus the tools and any other accessories you might expect to find on a late-war Jagdpanther; in case you haven't read my previous post regarding this build, my machine is going to have been rushed out of the factory, and for inspiration I used WWII photos of actual machines in and outside a Jagdpanther factory.

The paint job was actually a lot of fun (little did I know much of this hard work was to be in vain, but more of that later......) and I'll definitely be using this method again, albeit with more attention when it comes to adding a base coat! 

For the paintwork I simply used Vallejo Air black and white built up in thin layers; I want the light areas to be on all the exposed horizontal surfaces while sloping verticals can be graduated into the black.

Sadly much of my hard work in these photos was lost when I failed to sufficiently thin my base coat, which is surprising considering I was working with such intense concentration - you know how sometimes when trying to sign your best signature, you some how end up spelling your own bloody name wrong? No?  Well, that's what happened here, I'm sure.................

In the photo above you can see a few modifications I made.  WWII factory photos show partially assembled Jagpanthers already adorned in their dunkelgelb  base-coats, yet their stowage bins to the rear are missing although the brackets to which they would affix are present and apparently coated in red-oxide primer - I have recreated this detail.  I also used plastic card as a tiny back-plate to hold the fire extinguisher to the rear of the upper hull instead of the hull's side.

Weld marks were created using putty and brass wire represents my Notek light's conduit.

Not sure if I'll use the side skirts; they've been thinned down using a sanding stick and the then pliable plastic bent on the corners to represent wear and tear.

And above you can see I have my complete model ready for it's base coat. Had I thinned the dunkelgelb paints I would have had a spectacular hull (at least to my eyes, and who elses' are more important on a model built solely for my own cabinet) so the fact I didn't thin my paint frustrates the crap out of me. It's not all bad news though, some of the shading did remain and I'll still endeavour to build my best model to date.

More soon...................

See part 2 HERE

See part 1 HERE

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1/35 MENG M3A3 - (part 2)

Not my normal build, but variety is the spice of life, right? 

I've never built a kit by MENG before but I'm extremely impressed with the presentation, instructions, and the plastic components that I already know will build into a stunning model of the M3A3.

So, let's see...............I started with the laborious task of putting together road wheels................

Road wheels assembled and ready to roll..............(sorry, couldn't resist!)

............... but then jumped ahead to work on the suspension which has been designed to work - an excellent detail. This part of the build went relatively smoothly although my rough handling snapped a trailing arm which needed a super-glue repair.

The instructions ask us to cut off some vision blocks to the rear of the upper hull, and this was a scary prospect, not to mention a dangerous one that could have cost me a finger! Bolt-on armour covers the areas where the vision blocks were massacred........I mean, removed with precision, so don't worry about the gaping rectangular holes removing these blocks will cause (if you have the interior, you will need to remove the interior part of these vision blocks, too).

Every hatch/door opens on this kit, so under the bonnet/hood you'll see the engine (that's if you purchased an engine to go inside), the driver's hatch opens, as does one on the rear deck. You'll also find that the rear ramp lowers and the door inside of it opens, however, to take full advantage of these excellent features you'll need to have purchased the interior set.  If you buy your kit directly from the Far East, along with interior components, it will not be expensive and you'll be glad you did so.  I didn't do any of the above because I don't like painting interiors, although the kit is so nice I sort of wish I had now.

There is is photo-etch supplied with the kit, and quite a bit of it.  So far it's been enjoyable with no microscopic components to bend into complicated shapes, but instead nice thin pieces to represent engine grilles and so forth. 

Anyway, the only thing I can say about this kit is, buy it!  (and this is coming from someone who doesn't normally like modern subjects).

The tracks with this kit are workable and click together with no glue required, so no problems, just the boring task of carefully cutting away the three pieces of sprue as per photo above. Take care with the middle one as it's difficult to get sprue cutters in there; I cut off as much as possible with my cutters and then used a very thin sanding stick which did the job perfectly.  And, 160 links later I had two workable track lengths (thank don't fall apart when handled, unlike others I've made in the past), and curiously, quite a few spare links, which is always nice.....................(I think).

After carefully studying a photo of the real vehicle, I took my trusty craft knife and began to gently score the vertical lines of one of the lower armour panels; I'd previously measured the top of this same panel to leave myself a mounting bracket by scoring horizontally. With the remaining 1/3 of this panel I cut off each corner, as per real vehicle, and sanded it down to make it appear recessed; I then drilled three holes to represent the missing bolts.  On the other busk/'skirt' section I removed two armoured panels leaving no brackets. Various bolt heads were sanded down on both left and right sections of the armoured panels and holes drilled to represent missing bolts.

More soon......................

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Tamiya's 1/35 Jagdpanther (part 2)

With so many projects on the go right now there isn't too much progress, but I have at least made some decisions regarding my Jagdpanther and how she will be depicted.............. 

The scenario: at the close of WWII regular German forces are surrendering although hardcore fanatics are retreating to southern Germany and into Austria. Now, at this point I will cut a long story short and just say that these regular German forces turn against the fanatics for prolonging a useless war, and Jagdpanthers, much in demand, are taken directly from the production lines, some barely completed, by the regular German forces to be used against well equipped SS and elite units.  As long as the Jagdpanthers have their main armament and are capable of traveling, they're needed urgently.  

My influence/inspiration came from photos of captured factories at the end of WWII with lines of Jagdpanthers and Panther Gs.

I will let the photos below do the talking..................

See part 3 HERE

See part 1 HERE

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1/35 M4 High Speed Tractor (Part 1)

I must be crazy but I've started another build!  When you feel inspired and excited to start something new, you've got to grab the bull by the horns and go for it - if you don't the ideas could ebb away and you'll be left with nothing.  Anyway, the kit I'm building is HobbyBoss's 1/35 M4 High Speed Tractor.  

The vehicle itself is a very intriguing design, and although used as artillery/anti-aircraft gun tractors during World War II and  Korea, post-war the U.S. Army obviously had many surplus vehicles that made their way into businesses such as forestry, construction, and even airport recovery and fire suppression vehicles.

Although I love the M4 in its olive-drab paint and white stars, it has been done many times before, and what's more, it's been done excellently.  Therefore I see no point in just repeating what others have done, and maybe not doing it as well. With this in mind my idea is to depict a surplus vehicle and my inspiration is below. 

(photo credit-google images-for conversational/reference purposes only)

While I may not depict this actual machine, the colour will most probably be the same on my model and I may or may not have my vehicle abandoned and dilapidated. I did have the idea of building a exploration vehicle, perhaps one that explored  Antarctica or other such hostile environments.  We shall see...........

If you like your sanding sticks and filler, that's good - you'll need them as there are loads of ejector pin marks on the interior.  The fit of the engine wasn't perfect, but it's do-able with a bit of work and determination.  I'm probably going to have my engine exposed so have dealt with any ejector pin marks, just in case. The road wheels are quite fiddly to build up but are nicely detailed when complete, and luckily there are not that many of them.  

The components supplied are nicely detailed.  As with most kits, after-market components are readily available if you want to throw extra money at your build.  

It's slowly starting to come together.  The road wheels can not be glued in position yet as I need to paint the road wheels. The next factor to determine is whether my vehicle will be complete or have missing/extra components.  It's time to decide the final 'look' of my model.

More soon.................

The rear ammunition boxes have a lot of ejector pin marks to fill. I won't have the bottom section with the shell racks on show, although I have filled all ejectors marks.

With the storage container lifted off there's a nice view of all your hard work - I won't glue this part in place. 

The build itself is nearly complete.  I still have lots of photo-etch to attach but am leaving it off as long as possible - you know how delicate that stuff is!

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Building Tamiya's old T-62A (Part 1)

Most armour modellers will have seen and heard about this kit, after all, it has a reputation of having some dimensional problems, the shape of the turret being just one of them.  So with that in mind, can she be built into an eye-catching representation of the T-62, albeit a loose one?

Only one way to find out!

To start off let me mention it's an old kit, and secondly, it has a reasonable price tag. So far, so good, right? 

Inside the box you'll find sprues of components that have been manufactured from time-worn moulds, or at least that's the impression I got when I looked at my kit. With this in mind, get your sanding sticks and filler ready for action - you will most certainly need them.

The tracks are the rubber band variety. I've never used them before so that will be interesting. And don't expect any photo-etch because you'll only be disappointed. 

Finally, throw in a modeller with mediocre skills but fanatical determination, and we'll see what can be achieved with this vintage model kit.

Note: I never learn - always use reference photos! The small seam around the circumference of the tyres are meant to be there, so don't sand them off unless you want to represent very worn rubber. 

More soon...............

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Base coating - the VK1602 'Leopard' (part 2)

I love 'paper panzers' - they give us creative license as modellers, or dare I say, as artists, to to let our minds envisage how a tank, vehicle, or airplane might have appeared had it actually made it into reality.  It all depends on how far you're willing to venture away from reality as to your finished model's final appearance. 

Personally, I like to have some sort of pre-knowledge about my subject matter and its time-frame, so as to create a machine that was at least plausible. This being said, don't let anyone else ruin your fun, although be prepared to take the flak from hard-core history buffs who are not so open-minded,  

To summarize, we build models for ourselves using our precious time and money, our aim being an attractive model to admire on/in our display shelf/cabinets, and if we're lucky, we'll produce a model that others may also be excited and inspired by.

Okay, back to business!  With my primer and pre-shading complete I moved onto my base coat.  I might add that most of this work was lost in subsequent paint coats, but it's better to have it present, just in case 

                       

I wanted a late-war dunkelgelb, a much lighter version of the earlier shade which I personally don't like. I had previously bought Mig's 'Late War German camoflages' which concentrate on the 1944-1945 time-frame. The paints are excellent and I can thoroughly recommend them; as a side note, I thin them in my airbrush cup with Vallejo airbrush thinner (71.061). although they can be sprayed neat.

You can hopefully make out the subtle shading with the darker shade at the bottom of the turret; you can see the pre-shading on the turret's near corner,

I had real fun with these road wheels introducing some lovely shades from the Mig paint set and a couple from Vallejo. Although this tank is destined for a single colour camo scheme, some might still consider it quite an insipid choice compared to alternative schemes, however, invoking some visual interest by using brighter colours is a good option.  I  always try to remember - weathering will dull colours right down, so don't be afraid to go bright!

With the base coat in place the whole model was given a couple of coats of Klear floor polish to protect the paint beneath,  I normally wait a few hours for a Klear coat to dry before repeating the procedure.

See part 3 HERE

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