1/35 Trumpeter E-25 German Tank Destroyer - Paper Panzer Build (Part 1)

Okay, I haven't finished the E-100 yet, but I'll get around to it one day.  In the meantime I've reached for this Trumpeter kit as I can't resist the temptation of another 'paper panzer.'

Had this machine ever made if off of the blueprints to become a reality what a beast it would have been.....I mean, just look at that gun!

I can't remember if the kit came with the metal gun barrel or if I ordered it separately, but the kit did supply photo-etched engine grilles and front/rear fenders (if you prefer plastic they also supply those too).  The photo etch fenders are made from quite stiff metal, but I appreciate they were included and even without special tools they are easy to fashion into shape.

I can't wait to get to the painting stages of this build although I haven't quite decided what colours or scheme to go with - being a 'paper panzer'  means I am free to use artistic license albeit with a little restraint bearing in mind the paints actually available in 1945. 

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E-100 Heavy Tank - '46 'Paper Panzer' (part 6)

Due to moving house, long hours working with my business, and starting to learn Japanese, modeling has taken a back seat in daily life, however, when I do get a few minutes spare, I put in some work on my E-100 super heavy tank!

Here are a few sneak peaks of the build so far.......

Above: here is a good view of the hull.  Late-war machines would not likely have had camo on the upper surfaces due to paint shortages, however, there is some thinking behind my decision, and that is  -  if I decided to leave all or some of the side skirts off at the end of the build, I would need some colour to break up all that 'red oxide'.

Above: I am getting very close to completion.  In this photo you can see I have added some wire to the spare track links on the turret. Also, you can see the hull has been considerably 'knocked back' in colour due to the dust and grime accumulated during fighting in the city (on the news, have you seen T-72s fighting in middle eastern cities? They are very weathered and super battered!). In this photo I have done no work on the tracks as yet.

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E-100 Heavy Tank - '46 'Paper Panzer' (Part 5)

It's been a while since my last post, but I have indeed been busy with this project when time allows. I am sharing with you some 'work in progress' photos as I commence the weathering process.

Photo above: My 'steel' road wheels and weathered hull are more or less complete.

at this stage.  

Photo above: I used a mix of weathering pigments & acrylic paint for the 

weathering effects.

Photo above: the exhausts now have 'real' vertical bars inserted inside; I drilled out the molded ones and used very fine stretched sprue to make my own.  

Photo above: the turret on my model represents one fitted as a replacement at some point, but a turret that was unfinished with regards to having primer or any finishing touches, thus I opted for a rather 'raw' look which was further beaten-up by natural elements and urban combat.

Photo above: the dusting has begun!  On this model I decided to also paint and weather the underside.

Photo above: one of the schurzen that has seen some action.  If you study real ones in period photos/movie footage you'll notice just how beaten-up they got.  Just a hedgerow can scratch the paint which then proceeds to rust in the often  damp European climate, so urban fighting would certainly assure a vehicle got rough-looking pretty quickly.

Photo above: a weathered track link that hangs on the turret's side. I have the 'proper' rust pigments for this job, but for some reason have always preferred my own mix of artist pastels.

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1/35 Trumpeter's - E100 Heavy Tank (Part 4)

Hello everyone! I'm back again with some more update photos of this project. As a raw, recently-manufactured and unpainted turret on a 'red-oxide' hull was by far too much of the same tonal value/s (and not pleasing to my eyes), I  decided to use some camo to break up the colour and add some interest. 

Click on photo to magnify image

In reality, had this been a real machine I can assume only the side-skirts would have received camouflage, and maybe the front/rear hull, however, as I am planning to have some of the side-skirts missing I decided to continue the camo pattern across the upper deck.  In these photos you might notice I have started to chip the yellow and also added a pin-wash.  

Click on photo to magnify image

More soon...............  

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1/35 Trumpeter's - E100 Heavy Tank (Part 2)

Since my last post regarding this build I decided, somewhat late in the build I'll admit, that I wanted to try producing texture on the hull, turret, and gun mantlet to simulate the real steel of a German machine of the WWII period. This change of heart came about having been inspired by the extra armour effects created on my Super Pershing, and also by current conflicts and the improvised machines seen in recent disturbing news reports. 

Photo above: you're seeing my E-100's painted hull: I employed the 'black and white' technique to create some interesting tonal contrasts before adding a final base coat - my version of German primer (Vallejo Calvary Brown which was very heavily diluted).

Photo above: the top of the hull is the lightest area, the place where the light would be most prevalent. I have learned from past builds to over-exaggerate this method as future weathering techniques will diminish much of the garishness you see here. 

Photo above: I am very happy with the way my hull looks so far, but am undecided as to whether to add some late-war dunkelgelb - and why this indecisiveness?  Once the turret is added, depicted as unpainted steel, I feel there will be a lack of contrast. I want to create a separation between the primer painted late-war hull and its hurriedly replaced and barely completed turret, which will hopefully be very 'raw' in appearance (and in various shades of rusty brown)

Photo above: 

Wanting raw-looking metal plate and not having a real German tank to hand, I took to the inter-webs to study real German armour, in particular, King Tiger 'walk-arounds'.  It was very apparent that hulls and turrets were anything but smooth, so after watching some videos about replicating texture and considering my options, eventually I went the Mr. Surfacer route, using the 1000 product purely because it was all I had available. 

How to create the effect: 

1) Mask off areas you don't want textured.

2) Shake bottle well before opening.

3) Stipple Mr. Surfacer on model neat using an old brush (clean the brush using white spirit after each session and realise your brush won't be good for anything other than this type of rough usage from now on). Using Mr. Surfacer 1000 means several layers may be required, stippling until it becomes stodgy and rough; I was overly cautious and waited approx. 24 hours before adding a fresh layer - this stuff actually dries very quickly depending on temperatures in your area. 

3) Finally, you maybe left with a model coated in a horrible-looking, shiny rough texture, but don't panic! Wearing a dust mask and going outside if possible, sand with sanding sticks using varying grades and sizes where required, and suddenly you will be left with a lovely textured model. 

Remember, if you feel you have removed too much texture, don't worry as it's always possible to add more Mr. Surfacer and repeat the process mentioned above.    

How I made my weld beads: 

Weld beads were simulated using Perfect Plastic Putty, which was probably not ideal as it's fragile but tough enough once dried and painted - it's also all I had available. I guess it doesn't matter what filler you use and I could have even used the Mr. Surfacer.

1) Using regular masking tape I masked the areas around where I wanted my welding beads - this was a long and tedious job but worth the effort as the finished result adds a pleasing effect. 

2) I applied a small amount of filler using a cocktail stick which I then gently smoothed out.

3) The tape was delicately removed leaving behind the wet filler; this should be left until it begins to slightly harden but being impatient, I waited only a minute or two before going in with a miniature flat-head screwdriver to make little indents to replicate welding. 

4) If I went wrong, and I did, it was easy to remove my putty and start again.

While it might not be 100% authentic, the above method works well once painted and is a good representation of real welded metal plates.

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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.

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1/35 VK1602 Leopard update (part 4 - chipping, oil weathering, mud)

After finishing  chipping I always take photos and review them carefully. It's strange, because just like my artwork, in a photo mistakes instantly jump out of a photo that I don't see when viewing the actual model. 

After deciding what my changes will be, I use Photoshop to highlight areas in the photo that need to be changed, adding or removing chipping, oil streaks, rusting, etc. It's then just a question of following my photo guide.  These photo sessions are normally repeated many times before I'm happy, thus the reason my builds take so long.

In the photo above you can see the chipping and streaks that represent rust, dust and fuel/oil. I personally like very weathered machines so use my full weathering arsenal.

Above you can see the tracks have been muddied up.  I wanted a vehicle that had recently driven through mud, but that also had some dry mud caked into the tracks - the wet and dry mud help to create some extra visual interest.  I mixed white glue, pigments and other bits and pieces to thicken up the gooey mess. Later on I added another layer in which I mixed in static grass and pieces found in my garden. To speed up the drying process I used a hair dryer.

I used the same muddy mixture, but watered down, to flick onto the hull. I used a short, stiff- bristled brush dipped it into my mixture, and using my finger  flicked the loaded bristles to create the mud spattered effect. A post-it was used to cover areas I wanted to stay clean,

Here's another view of the lower hull that I was still working on.

See the final reveal HERE

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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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1/35 HobbyBoss VK1602 'Leopard' Part I

The box-art really grabbed my attention and after some research I decided to purchase it.  

I can tell you now it's a beauty of a kit; the quality and detail is excellent, the fit is as near to perfect as I've experienced thus far, and if you like photo-etch there's even some of that, too.  All in all, a very reasonable kit for the price and what's best, it's a unique subject matter.

Now, there's nearly always a 'but', and this kit is no exception - with this one the downside would be the tracks.  Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with the individual links supplied, but having to attach two guide-horns to each track link was over-kill! 

A little bit about the tank: in reality this machine never saw any combat, and I believe only one prototype was ever completed in around late 1943.  The truth was, it was just too expensive to manufacture this tank for its intended purpose - reconnaissance.  It was a version of the already tried and tested MkV 'Panther' that instead took on the 'Leopards' role.

There are two options when putting together the lay-out of the road wheels, and also two styles of idler wheel.  The fitting of the torsion bars is straight forward, and in my kit's case, a perfect fit. These bars are very delicate so there's a spare in the box; a nice touch from Hobby Boss.

And here's a mock up with my trusty yellow tack holding on the spare track links.  As you can see, leaving off the front fenders gives this little beast an aggressive look. 

The photo etch grills for the engine deck are an excellent feature and really make the model 'pop'!  As you can see there are no pioneer tools with this kit. I wanted a minimal look so this suited me just fine. If you wanted to add some extras there are plenty of after-market options for this kit and generic German tools from the spares box could be added with minimal fuss.

See part 2 HERE

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