Gamera

Hmmm I've been just spraying them dark grey and using a hole template from the local arts store to mask off the rubber tires and spray the wheel hull. Seems to work ok for me.

i airbrush the wheel and handpaint the rubber to the rim. though this would not fly with most judges, especially non armor judges judging armor, many times the rubber part facing out above the wheel hub will be the same color as the wheel hub. not from the factory but painted in the field.

Well looking at my Squadron Italilan Medium Tanks book I noticed another thing needing to be added to my Carro Commando, a second antenna pot and the stowage support. So I scratched up those today from a few sources

I still need to go and add a few details to them, but the main parts are done.

Coming along - applied AK Filter and first Wash - Updated Photos - 232 RAD 8 - AK Interactive Africa Korps Filter (AK-065) and AK Wash for DAK vehicle - after applying the wash went back over it with some thinner, next up dry brush and then dusting effects. Armor86

DAK Wash

Well, in for a Penny, in for a Pound. Aside from the prototype of the Carro Commando, all the production vehicles had a 4 piece roof hatch, the two that opened to the sides, plus one each for and aft of those. So today I matched up the drawings in my Squadron book, measured them out, traced out the approximate locations and scribed them into place. Then I used strip styrene to make up hinges and splash stripsn abd some stuff from my spares bin to make some round details on the new hatches. I also glued the goniometer and rangefinder base mount in place.

Then I added some bolthead detail to the second radio antenna pot using thin rod styrene

and I dressed up the rangefinder a little bit using those nubs you nip off of parts. I save the better ones for porposes like this

So now I think I am ready for touch up painting and then the final painting steps here...

Some nice detailing there Stik.

Armour, that is looking really nice, I rather like those AK DAK weathering sets, I got some good result with them recently.

Dan: Fantastic, I love the sand in the tires there!

SP: You sir are kicking the Gonzometer up to 11!!!

Thanks guys... I seriously think I have OCD sometimes. What is wrong with OOB??? right? Aren't kits supposed to buildable just fine as you bring them home from the store?

Started the kubel this morning. Really nice kit almost a shake the box.

Have pics later.

What's the con census on yellow ?

SdKfz222 Update

armor86 - Wow! Nice job. I’m going to have to try those techniques on my next armor build.

Stikpusher - Nice progress. I’m looking forward to the finished model.

Thanks for all the kind words. I’m pretty happy with how this is progressing; although, I still have a lot to learn.

Here the SdKfz222 is glossed up with decals and a dirt wash applied.

Here she is with the turret installed. Too bad very little of the internal work is visible. Oh well, live and learn.

Well, the SdKfz222 is almost done. She needs her wheels, some access doors, the wire mesh nets (whatever they are called) and a final sand wash/pigments with some grey/aluminum brushing and a final flat coat. That should go relatively fast.

Alan, thank you for the kind words. Your Kfz is looking great to my eyes I did not realize that the tup deck behind the turret was mesh, with all the work in there, I can still see plenty showing thru.

GM, I sent you a PM about colors for your Kubelwagen.

So today was mostly spent doing some detail work here and airbrushing. First I drilled and hollowed out the lens portions of the nibs. Once the rangefinder is painted I will put a drop of Testors clear cement in each to simulate the lenses themselves. Not sure if I want to paint the rangefinder itself in Field Gray, the standard color for the Italian Army, or Flat Black. I am kinda leaning towards the Field Gray

then it was time for a new primer coat of Tamiya Yellow Green on all teh work that I have done since I layed down the paint colors and scratch work, and... I tell you what, on planning for this project I give myself a D. Planning ahead would have me saving time and past this point.

But I must say it all looks much better under a coat of paint. Hopefully on Friday I can get a new coat of the Polly Scale Giallo Mimetico 2 on there.

Man Carl does the fun ever stop?!!!! Holy smokes. I learn so much from you man! Great progress.

Scott

Well, I found my subject this afternoon...

I'm just taking it one day at a time here on this build. I am flattered that you can learn from my madness here.

GMorrison, I'm building the Dragon Kubelwagen for the group build also...when I finish the Tiger. I have built 4 of them so far. The best color I used was Vallejo Desert Yellow No. 70.977. I built the Tamiya kit as well as the Dragon kits. All were great kits and as you said they almost build themselves. Hope this helps. I look forward to your build.

Scott

Hey GM, here is a partial view in glorious color of a captured Kubel in Tunisa...

Stik: interesting jeep in the background.......the cross's on the hood and the helmet are OD and not red.

I had not paid any attention to that until you brought it up. Interesting detail indeed.

Alan: Looks great! You're almost there!

SP: Very neat looking, and yeah I think we all paint stuff and then add stuff and go back and paint the stuff again...

GM: Wow, now that's one interesting Kubelwagen, someone musta had some time on his hands to paint all that.

Dan - Oh yeah the RAD is looking....TOTALLY RAD!!! (hehe, old school 80's lingo!)

Alan - I'm really loving the way the 222 is turning out!  The wash looks great and is making the details stand out!

Stik - all the details are shining on your build!!  The scratchbuilt rangefinder is looking better and better!

So here's my update:  Put the Dragon Pz. I on hold while I got caught up on the Italeri Befehlswagen.

As usual work started with the suspension and I found no real problems with it.  I filled the sinkholes in the sprockets and went to work on the main bogie units.  Suprisingly, they assembled almost exactly like the Dragon units....in fact they are almost identical, with the Dragon unit being slightly more detailed, plus a little sharper.

The return rollers were a different story.  At first I thought the Italeri rollers were quite poor with their two part assembly, but after doing a little research I found that they are actually closer to the real thing!  Although there are gaps when assembled, when filled they do a better job of representing the actual return rollers.....shocker!  The hubs on the Dragon rollers are inset, but on the Italeri and actual rollers the hubs are raised. 

I found the same situation with the idlers.  Although both lack the divided cast rims, the Italeri idlers represent the outer part much better than the Dragon idlers, which look like its supposed to have a simple rubber rim.  Granted, I used the LionMarc resin idlers on the Dragon kit, but I was curious to see the difference.

As an experiment I decided to see how hard it would be to cut out the middle of the idler rim, so I drilled a hole right through the hub and used a screw and nut to chuck it into my Dremel.  I forgot to take pics of this, but you can see here how I did it using a larger saw blade. The end result was quite promising, but I'm skeeered to try it on the actual kit idlers.   I think I'll hold off on this until later......

So with the suspension done I was curious to see how it "stacked up" to the Dragon kit.  What do you think?

Another shocker!  The Dragon and Italeri main bogie units match up so closely they are perfectly interchangeable with each other!  Who would have thunk it??

Moving along with the rest of the build:  I used the intake screens from the Eduard PE kit, but there was no screen for the larger louver section so I used generic diamond mesh PE.  Then I blanked off the open area of the crew compartment with sheet styrene.

The kit grill for this open area didn't fit well at all so I used the grill from the Eduard PE set.  It consisted of 2 long slats and 3 small joiners, all assembled with CA glue.  Much better looking in my humble opinion.

On the upper hull the front glacis plate was too wide for the casemate so I trimmed the sides for a better fit.  In addition I noticed that the rivets around the view ports on the sides were misshapen.  I was going to remove them and reinstall better rivets, but after doing some research I couldn't find one photo that showed ANY rivets around these view ports, so I just sanded them completely off!!  Hey....anything to make the job easier!!

Lastly I worked on the hull MG.  I couldn't figure out why there was a large groove running laterally around the ball mount.  I could not find any photo showing this, but during my internet research I found that the preserved example in Bovington has this exact same groove!  So I chalked this up to Italeri using the Bovington vehicle for its basis and that the ball was a post war replacement, so I decided to fill the groove with plastic rod and reshape when dry.  The molded MG looks more like a late version MG34 so I cut it off and replaced it with a more appropriate version of an MG34.  Yes, I know that Panzerbefehlswagens were originally supposed to have a MG13 mounted, but I've seen several war time examples in North Africa where a MG34 was used, so it made sense to go with that.

Sorry for the long update fellas!  I'll try to keep them more frequent and therefore much shorter!

Happy modeling!

Nice work there Earnest. I think that your post here just re inforces my opinion that those old Italeri kits (which I get some ribbing about at AMPS meetings), are not bad at all. They just need a little fine tuning to really shine. I am looking forward to your next update.

yes Italeri Italian and 1930's German subjects really are great. I'm a wingnut turned sailor modeler- armor isnt my thing. But  they make a nice Italian airplane.

I have yet to do an Italian aircaft. Although there are a handful in my stash. I may need to build one, one day soon.

Here's an African subject...

Those all have that art deco look of the 20's/30s.

You ought to pursue in depth the history, Carlos.

The Italians were in North Africa for about 2000 years before the Germans, and many hundreds of years before the French and English.

There was a recent feature on NPR concerning who if anyone came out ahead after WW1.

IMO if anyone it was the people of Africa.

These guys Caudron, Marchetti and others were premier deco designers. Loewy in the US.

GMorrison - What's the model of the red/grey Italian float plane?  I love it.

Ernest: Nice work there. My first 1/35th tank was an Italeri Panzer IV, I've always liked them and too think they'd often overlooked.

GM: Those are some beautiful models of beautiful planes.

Yes, Italy has been something of a powerhouse in the Med for Millenia. They do not call it "Mare Nostrum" for nothing. Although I must admit that my knowledge of their full activities in /africa is quite limited, that does sound like a good suggestion for me to improve upon.

Gamera, those Italeri 1/35 Panzer IVs are real good kits and another one that has held it's age VERY well over the years and all the new tooled releases. I have a few on my shelves that I built between 20 to 30 years ago and they still look great I think.

AlanF

GMorrison - What's the model of the red/grey Italian float plane?  I love it.

The Italaerei (old boxing) Cant Z 501 in 1/72.

Looks like Porco Rosso!

Stik, Gamera, thanks for the comments guys!  Yes, those old Italeri kits can be gems if you're willing to put some extra work into them!

 Love the Italian planes GMorrison!!

Instead of an update I have some photos I took of North African armor on display at the Silicon Valley Modelers Society 2014 Kick Off Classic in San Jose today.  Not much in this genre, but what was on display was pretty good!  Some dupes in there...sorry about that!