Another new build - Tamiya's 1/35 Jagdpanther (part 1)

The kit below is quite old, not as old as the Tamiya gun tractor I've just completed, but quite old none the less. There are no model shops where I live - not one........  Therefore I have to buy everything online. So, when this particular kit (one which I've seen many times for silly high prices) suddenly appeared for an unbelievably reasonable price, I of course had to buy it immediately. One of my favourite armoured machines of WWII is the Jagdpanzer 38(t), so this big brother to  the little tank hunter is an exciting machine to build.

Below: Okay, so last night, despite having a few kits on the go, I reached for the top of my modest stash with the expectation and excitement most modellers must feel, and lifted my Jagdpanther down. As with most Tamiya kits, the parts are clean so I don't expect too much trouble while assembling the kit.  I have previously made a few notes about little changes I would like to make, and I'll document them on this blog as I work on them.

Below: I have managed to add a lot of components to both the upper part of the hull and the engine deck.  I also fitted the escape hatch which has some nice interior detail enabling it to be left open if I wish. I didn't replace the grab handles with brass ones as the kit versions are good enough.

Below: As you can see I bought myself some photo-etch engine grills.  These are the ones recommended in the kit instructions and are for a late Panther G which has the same engine deck complete with crew heater.  Strangely enough, the instructions that came with the PE state the set is not suitable for this kit!  I have offered the pieces up and they look like they'll fit just fine - fingers crossed :) 

Below: I used my trusty sanding sticks and thinned out the plastic mud guards/fenders.  In reality these were very thin metal.  Once thinned they can be slowly manipulated with your fingers and bent into your required shape (be patient and don't over do it or they'll snap off, especially if you've over-thinned the plastic).  To make sure they look natural, I use WWII photos and emulate a real machine's mud guards.  You can also add some glue underneath to soften the plastic and help manipulate the shape.

Below: in this WWII photo that I used as one of my references you can see the mud guards/fenders are bent inwards towards the tracks, and it looks as though one is actually rubbing on the turning track. My Jagdpanther is a later version than the one pictured and will not have any Zimmerit. 

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

See part 2 HERE

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1/35 Quad Gun Tractor Completed (depicted in service with a German unit somewhere in Italy)

Above: Well, she's finished and very glad I am too!  Not that I didn't enjoy this build, but after three resprays it was all getting a little but repetitive.  My first attempts at a camo job were overly ambitious in my chosen camo pattern, so in the end I opted for something a little easier, although definitely authentic.

Above: my truck depicts a machine that was perhaps captured in North Africa and found its way to Italy, or maybe it was captured in Italy...............either way, it ended up in German hands. My only reason for choosing this option was that I wanted something a little different, and as German-captured trucks had already been created by other modellers, I opted for an unsual camo pattern taken from WWII photos of German trucks.

Above: the worst part of this old kit is the 'glass' and that can easily be fixed; I only replaced the top pieces as they looked really awful from the outside, even if fitted as instructed.  As replacements, I used clear plastic from commercial packaging, such as found when you purchase print cartridges - you know, the clear plastic?  I like to recycle when I can! Cut to shape, with a little excess around the edges, and this new 'glass' can easily be stuck using white glue which is also very easy to clean up and quite strong once dried properly.

Above: an amble supply of Jerry cans (from the Great Wall Hobby set) and a Tamiya oil drum completed the load.  The German Balkenkreuz came from the spares box.

Above: I used many oil weathering techniques on this build including a filter, fading, a pin wash, streaking grime and rust streaks, pigments, pastels.  It was only after the filter that I started to like my build - the filter tied all the camo and base-coat of self-mixed dunkelgelb together.

Above: I quite liked the plastic 'canvas' that came with the kit once painted, but decided to experiment with a tissue and some watered-down white wood glue. I cut the tissue to shape, and placed it on the roof.  I then took an old brush and lightly stippled my glue mix onto the canvas which to my delight instantly started to wrinkle and look just like material! I spent the next five minutes gently dabbing the tissue and 'moulding' it across the frame beneath, using a cocktail stick to gently re-arrange the wrinkles when needed.  I also thought a tear would be suitable for such a well-worn machine used by two different armies; I must admit, that my torn tissue 'canvas' is something I'm quite proud of............ 

Above: the kit's solid plastic grab handles on the top hatch were sanded off and replaced with brass wire; I also added a brass grab handle to the inner hatch door which had nothing in standard kit form. The metal loops to tie the straps securing my canvas roof were cut from an aluminum and the straps themselves made from Tamiya tape cut to shape.

Above: most German soft-skins and some armoured vehicles had white  visibility markings on the bumpers and these I hand-painted. Chipping on these areas and other parts of the truck was done with a tiny piece of sponge held in tweezers. The chain is a cheap jewelry piece from a craft shop, the bucket is from Tamiya, the number plate holder is scratch-built from aluminum and plastic card; decals are for a 'German truck in Italy' which I took from an old Italeri kit. The front windshields are from the kit windows to which I painted window frames.

Above:  again, the number plate holder was scratch-built.  The dust effects were added with Tamiya Buff, which you have to be careful with, especially on a machine this colour as it can obscure a lot of your previous hard work and without the dust effect being achieved. I avoided near-disaster by adding copious amounts of Klear on my build BEFORE dusting began. My first attempt was not favourable so luckily a damp cocktail stick soaked in thinner saved the day - I do NOT advise you to try this as it was very risky. Lady luck was with me that day as I was able to clean off the dust. I re-dusted again, even more carefully, sweating as I went while utilising a fake post-it note to mask areas I wanted left clean.  NOTE TO SELF - in future builds I will mainly save my 'buff dust' for darker-coloured vehicles.

Finally, the wheels were weathered using Mig Pigments for the tyres while the underside and wheel arches were given a mud mixture made from white glue, water and pigments (, dry & fresh mud, and of course my favourite, European dust).

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1/35 VK1602 Leopard update (Part 5 - completed model! )

Above: I think this is my favourite build thus far. I'll admit, I've not built many models since I picked-up my childhood hobby once more, but yes, this is my favourite.

Above: I was originally going to have this tank depicted as a captured machine and had even hand-painted my white allied star on the hull, however, it just didn't look right to my eyes. I will save this idea for another build.

Above: a mud mixture with grass scatter works well to add some realism, even though my aim is not to try to solely make it look real - which sounds weird, I know, but to create an interesting model which is visually satisfying in its own right, whether or not it looks real or not; a realistic model is, of course, a nice bonus.

Above: I just had to use the lovely photo-etch hinge/bracket supplied with the kit. I used my trusty artist pastels to rust it up and fixed it with thinner - this might be my favourite little area of the tank simply because I love the colour contrast it provides and think it also looks quite convincing as rusty metal.

Above: I added both Mig dry and damp mud pigments to the underside of the hull and behind the tracks/running gear.

Above: cheap jewelry chain from an art shop adds some visual interest to the engine deck. It's weathered using pastels and pigments.  The red-oxide thing to the far left is a scratch-built spare road wheel holder and securing clamp.

Above:  a plain black base 'frames' the model nicely without distracting the viewer from all my hard work.

Above: I did plan to have a spare road wheel/extra armour on both sides, but wanted to have a different look to the model on both sides, thus opted for one to the port side - that meant on the opposite side I could show off my scratch built wheel bracket.

Above: oil and fuel stains finished off the engine deck

Above: using brass wire I added loops to the turret which enabled me to hang any natural vegetation the crew wanted to camo their machine with.

I often find that the little extras like a bucket finishes off a machine nicely and adds a human element, after all, without a human this machine is just a static piece of steel. The exhaust pipes were weathered using artists' pastels fixed with thinner.

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