Hey, good for you Moose on scoring a new job!

Here's hoping it doesn't keep you away from modeling altogether. Keep cranking them out, brother!

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http://www.mycyclinglog.com/user_view.php?uid=612

Coffee, hot sauce, cycling, GB's. Coffee, hot sauce, cycling, GB's...

First of all, sorry it took so long, it's been a long week at work.

detailfreak wrote:

PSSTTOFF;i may just have to try that method of zimmerit.and the build is progressing quite nicely.

Thunderbolt379 wrote:

Hi psstoff995 -- The zim is looking very realistic! Squadron white has been my putty of choice for many years and it's great to see this kind of application. You have more guts than me, I could never bring myself to do the "smear and scrape" method, which is why I ended up going with Cavalier (which is looking good, and I hope to get back to the StuG IV before too much longer.)

Thanks- it was really just due to a cost issue, limited funds are the only thing keeping me from the convenience of those well detailed Cavalier sheets. They do look much nicer, my brother's used a set or two before- also they include some nicer raised detail for parts that aren't covered in zim- mine now have left over crusts of white putty lol

I'm curious as to why you filled the joint-line around the top of the fighting compartment -- was it molded too enthusiastically? Or was there an issue with fit? That division was a natural juncture in the armor, the roof would be removed to enable the engineers to crane out the gun for work. This is shown in photographs in Squadron's StuG III Walk Around book, and the IV was essentially the same superstructure. Cheers, Mike

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-Chris

Hi Chris and Mobius --

Ah, Dragon strikes again! (It is the Dragon kit, right?) Their motto seems to be 'never use one part where five will do,' giving rise not only to minimal retooling necessary to crank out other variants from the same molds, but warpage and fit issues. I think you did the right thing filling the gap if it was uneven all around, you could potentially recreate the joint line with a pencil and rule over the paintjob later.

Tamiya tooled the whole upper hull for each of the IV derivatives in one piece, from fenders to roof, and only the rear section of the fenders were seperate, allowing for molding of the intake protectors. This means no gaps other than those tooled. That cuts both ways, though -- if you wanted to build the beast with its lid raised and engineers pulling the gun, you'd have to scribe/saw out the roof panel, whereas Dragon gives you the individual part.

Cheers, hoping to post some progress soon,

Mike

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http://worldinminiature.blogspot.com/

Hi psstoff995 -- Good point, especially on the 3-in-1s, there's so much unused in the box you'd have to wonder if they're driving the price up by providing all that spare plastic.

Very true -- other than the early Dragon Russian armor released by Zvezda, I have yet to alleviate my Dragon-virginity. I've been hankering to do their Hummel, if I have time later in the year it would be a good evolution for me!

I think your stuG will be a real eye-catcher and I can't wait to see paint over that zim!

Cheers,

Mike

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http://worldinminiature.blogspot.com/

Thunderbolt379 wrote:

I think your stuG will be a real eye-catcher and I can't wait to see paint over that zim!

I’ll be looking through color plate refs in the meantime lol

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-Chris

 Hey psstoff, I always manage to get seepies on canopies or any clear part! Had a few with the zimm, but fortunately it isn't a clear part so hey no problem. Anywhew, I removed the tape and this is what I got.

 I'll clean the edges up and lightly sand after the hamburger is dry. Hehe. I have a few spots that I need to go over again on the sides and I plan on doing that when the front plate is attached and I can blend the corners together.  Most of the reference photos I have of the Sdkfz162 have a very rough looking coat of zimm 

psstoff995 wrote:

Hey! Great texture, I like the thickness, mine was too thick on my first try, a KT, now after seeing yours I'm wondering if perhaps the StuG's got it on a little thin... It turned out great! and a quick turn around too, what did you use to mold it? Screwdriver perhaps?

 hey psstoff, I did use a screwdriver that I've filed to get a sharper edge on, not exactly sharp but mainly just thinner and smoother. What I find most difficult is getting a uniform thickness, I went with a larger palette knife and it worked out better than the smaller one I'd been using. It's been awhile since doing a zimm covered vehicle and the Jag has such a small silhouette and few corners it is pretty straight forward, except for the compound curves of the mantlets. They posed the biggest challenge, but with decent reference pics from the Tanks In Detail series Vol 9 which covers the Jagdpanzer series, I just followed the pattern from the photos. I liked how Dragon engineered the front plate seperate, it made doing the front really easy, unlike the Tamiya Jagdpanzer IV or Brummbar I'd done a couple of years ago.

Mobious wrote:

that I've filed to get a sharper edge on, not exactly sharp but mainly just thinner and smoother

Ahhh good call, also nice work on keeping the thickness equal on the curves

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-Chris

Nice zim Mobius!

I scored myself the Cyberhobby Vorpanzer on deep discount.  The jury is out on whether it'll join this party...

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Robert

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Badge of Fame and/or Shame

Great looking builds everyone.

Sorry I've been away for so long. I think once I finish my current build (a SdKfz 250/11) I'll try to get back into my Pv IV D. 

Erik

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On the bench: Michael Whittman's Tiger "SO4"