1945 GB

Don't worry too much about matching the shade of the gun mount to the tank. The mount will likely be made and painted in a seperate factory from the tank. And a top coat of dust/weathering will tie them together.

@EBergrud: 

The other problem is that the mounting of the gun is supposed to be 4BO (supposedly), and I can't get the right shade to match the tank. 

Another problem is that i think I'll have to strip and repaint the gun, as my painting attempt was not very adequate. I tried brush painting the barrel with Vallejo primer, and somehow it lost a ton of detail comapared to when I airbrushed the same primer before.

It'll be finicky to strip it though. I think I'll soak it in Simple Green and use the ultrasonic cleaner. Hopefully I'll get the paint off of the areas I'm worried about. 

It's a rare observer that sees a technicque or lack thereof as a "sore thumb." I've been modelling seriously for about five years and there isn't a single kit that didn't have something that I knew was either wrong or maybe off. I've only made one kit that didn't include a missing part I scratched but no one noticed. (One reason to buy Tamiya - they let the builder make the mistakes.) But I model because it's fun and connects a hobby with an interest in militaty history.

If you enter your model in a show or you want it to look like something made by one of the genuinely great modellers of the time (Mig Jimenez, Adam Wilder, Brett Greene, Phil Florey, Jim Baumann - just to name folk that work with styrene kits) it's probably true that you should follow a sequence that outside observers expect. What happens if history drags you elsewhere?

In WWII automatic weapons arrived painted black or something like it. If never fired, they stayed that way. If fired, they were subject to tremendous heat. (Tank and artillery guns the same.) So a MG or, for that matter, a main gun, would be an area concentrated by heat, gunpowder and oil/solvents. How visible would that have been? I'd guess, not much but accept that in some cases smoke, oil, rust, dirt might have equalled something like what Vallejo calls "Dirty Steel."

Frankly I wouldn't worry about it at all - indeed, I think WWII weapons were drab, dirty and rarely looked like we modellers wish they did. So that's why the hobby is fun - we try to emulate things not reproduce them.

Eric

I've run into a slight problem: with the heavy weathering I've done on the rest of the JS, the DshK sticks out like a sore thumb. 

There are many ways to approach water bases. The best introduction on the Model Warship Forum under “Tips and Tricks” - topic is mostly done by Jim Baumann the moderator – title “Compendium of model-water making links”. (If you have any interest in ships this site has no equal and is simply essential. You must register to post.) Do note that water-base guru Chris Floodberg has three videos on YouTube. He also has about a dozen different ways of approaching a base – I strongly urge you check Flodberg's (tag “sargentx”) post in Tips and Tricks called “Foam and Paper sea , Full tutorial” - go down to the very end and check his latest inspiration which includes styrofoam and a cigarette lighter – it is very effective. (I strongly urge a BBQ or camping style lighter with a long tube instead of a Bic lighter.) Combine that with the YouTube videos and you're well on your way. You would need paper on any surface that would leave any irregularity – especially styrofoam or oat flakes. You cover it in little bits – typing paper is good – and it enhances the texture. Paint over that. Ideally, you don't want to paint on top of the last coat of gloss coating. I'm with Floodberg here – Golden Gloss Medium is perfect, better than other brands – although not much – and better than Gel. It's not essential but art house products will work better than Pledge – worth the extra money. Woodland Scenics also excellent artificial water. Check the paint schemes - royal blue doesn't usually work. (Bauman also has a rigging post in tips and tricks.)

Another fine modeler who works on Model Warship has the tag “Kometa.” He sent me a splendid photo build of his style of water base, but it's in Spanish. Don't worry. Put the web address into your search window - http://www.u-modelismo.com/foromodelismonaval/index.php?topic=1423.0 – it will show up and Google will offer to translate the page. Say yes. (Actually the pics are probably almost enough.) Kometa's technique is less elaborate than Flodberg's but if you're willing to follow the bouncing ball, you'll get a really neat base for medium-calm water. No paper involved here – instead a double coat of white heavy acrylic (he uses house paint, I'd use student grade art house acrylics – both cheap) and that becomes the main texture. I prefer Flodberg's painting technique, but not by much.

Oddly most ship modelers still don't weather their models very much. Flodberg has wonderful examples in the board's gallery (an astounding resource) of big ships plowing through fierce seas and clean as a whistle. For wartime service I'd argue that any ship would need some weathering and some a lot. Depends upon the theater.

Hope this is a help.

Eric

Bish

 

 

JOE RIX

 

Bish

 

 

JOE RIX

Thanks Bish and Check. It's going to be a challenge but, not as bad as it could be. As I said, volunteering to make the move and earning hubby points had it's benefits. The wife unit agreed that I could leave the book shelves with all my reference books in the big room, (whew!). And then she blew me away with a very unexpected suggestion. She said that we should put one of the display cabinets with my models in the living room so everyone could admire my models. Say what? WOW! The wife unit is rockin' it.

By the way Bish, GF unit? You wouldn't be picking up any bad habits from me now would you?

 

 

 

 

Girl Friend Unit. And no, of course not. I only do good habits

 

 

 

 

uuuh huh. And I'm going be the Pope too.

 

 

 

 

 

pleasure to meet you your Holiness.

 

JOE RIX

 

Bish

 

 

JOE RIX

Thanks Bish and Check. It's going to be a challenge but, not as bad as it could be. As I said, volunteering to make the move and earning hubby points had it's benefits. The wife unit agreed that I could leave the book shelves with all my reference books in the big room, (whew!). And then she blew me away with a very unexpected suggestion. She said that we should put one of the display cabinets with my models in the living room so everyone could admire my models. Say what? WOW! The wife unit is rockin' it.

By the way Bish, GF unit? You wouldn't be picking up any bad habits from me now would you?

 

 

 

 

Girl Friend Unit. And no, of course not. I only do good habits

 

 

 

 

uuuh huh. And I'm going be the Pope too.

 

 

pleasure to meet you your Holiness.

Bish

 

 

JOE RIX

Thanks Bish and Check. It's going to be a challenge but, not as bad as it could be. As I said, volunteering to make the move and earning hubby points had it's benefits. The wife unit agreed that I could leave the book shelves with all my reference books in the big room, (whew!). And then she blew me away with a very unexpected suggestion. She said that we should put one of the display cabinets with my models in the living room so everyone could admire my models. Say what? WOW! The wife unit is rockin' it.

By the way Bish, GF unit? You wouldn't be picking up any bad habits from me now would you?

 

 

 

 

Girl Friend Unit. And no, of course not. I only do good habits

 

JOE RIX

Thanks Bish and Check. It's going to be a challenge but, not as bad as it could be. As I said, volunteering to make the move and earning hubby points had it's benefits. The wife unit agreed that I could leave the book shelves with all my reference books in the big room, (whew!). And then she blew me away with a very unexpected suggestion. She said that we should put one of the display cabinets with my models in the living room so everyone could admire my models. Say what? WOW! The wife unit is rockin' it.

By the way Bish, GF unit? You wouldn't be picking up any bad habits from me now would you?

 

Girl Friend Unit. And no, of course not. I only do good habits

Thanks Bish and Check. It's going to be a challenge but, not as bad as it could be. As I said, volunteering to make the move and earning hubby points had it's benefits. The wife unit agreed that I could leave the book shelves with all my reference books in the big room, (whew!). And then she blew me away with a very unexpected suggestion. She said that we should put one of the display cabinets with my models in the living room so everyone could admire my models. Say what? WOW! The wife unit is rockin' it.

By the way Bish, GF unit? You wouldn't be picking up any bad habits from me now would you?

That is a great looking DshK, Moff--so detailed and delicate!  Nice work.

Joe:  the thought of domestic clearing out and re-arranging scares me to death.  Good luck with everything!

I am sure with your skills, you will be able to squeeze in there Joe. Hopefully this year, i will be going the otehr way. With the oldest daughter at Uni and away for over half the year, and the youngest moving into her smaller bedrom, the GF unit has said i can now have the larger bedroom as my modelling room, we just have to have a sofa bed in there for guests.

I'll get the GB review up this weeked as i have to do the Star wars one as well, and will add you when your done. Good luck with the room.

Hey There Everyone,

Well, I survived our trip to Las Vegas to celebrate my mother's 90th birthday. It was a wonderful time with my family and friends. Although I did not win any money, I did, however return with cash in my wallet. That was a moral victory. So, a little catching up here.

Josiah: I like how your lentil bean water came out. Not bad for a first try at it. I have yet to build a ship myself yet, it seems that Eric has offered up some very sound advise. Tips that I am going to apply to my upcoming boat.

Moff: That DshK is very cool. excellent detail. My approach to painting guns is to simply use a color that closely matches what I'm seeing in reference photos, often a shade of gunmetal or metalic black, and then I normally dry brush with MM steel.

Alas, my good fellows, the time has come for me to put the P-47 aside as well as any modeling for awhile as I am moving from my fairly luxurious modeling hangar into a smaller room in the house. When I moved in with my wife 6 yrs ago she was gracious enough to offer up the spare bedroom to me for my modeling. Little did she realize exactly how much room my hobby took up. To the tune of the entire room. This of course meant that we no longer had a spare bedroom. A fact that the wife unit was never really happy about yet, tolerated it nonetheless. Now, we have grand children old enough to come visit and stay with us. Hence, we needed to create space, complete with bunkbeds for them. My wife tried very hard to convert her small office/craft room into said space but, it quickly became apparent that it was not going to work well. Thus, much to her surprise and excitement, I offered to move my modeling world into the small room in order to accomodate the refit. Oddly, my wife had never dreamed of asking me to do that and, as such, I've scored some major hubby points. This will pay off later. In addition to the move we are painting, installing much needed flooring and reorganizing the entire house. Trust me, this is long over do. This also affords me the oppurtunity to do some much needed downsizing of my stash and and associated tools and equipment. I must say that I am blessed with a wife who thoroughly respects and enjoys my hobby and she is willing to make consessions to accomodate my modeling needs.

As such, the building aspect is on hold but, I'll still be hanging with you all here. Bish, thank you for the oppurtunity to finish up here but, don't wait on me. Do what you need to do.

Some pics of the impending move:

From this (180 sq ft):

To this (110 sq ft):

It will be tight but, I'll make it work with some creative man skills.

Cheers, Joe

Thanks to everyone who commented on their gunmetal painting techniques. Now I'm not quite sure if I should even give it a gunmetal finish. The DshK seems to have less of a gunmetal finish and more of just a black one: 

Heres the DshK  

And here's an assortment of other weapons  

Notice the difference? 

@EBergrud: 

Please critique my future builds! I'd like some input as to what I could do better next time.  I wish everyone would critique my builds. You're not going to hurt my feelings, and the only way I can improve is if I know what I did wrong.

All great tips there Eric.

Question about covering the sea base with white paper before laying down your water colour of choice, but wouldn't a sprayed on white do the job as well?  Or is the paper applied to also smooth out gaps on textrured surfaces such as oatmeal and lentils?

regards,

Jack

Josiah,

I hope you don't mind some criticism. I think this is part of the group build process, and let me emphasize that everyone has only a point of view but never the solid truth. (Unless you think Spitfires are better looking than Zeros: if you do, then you're wrong.)

Your Mo was a very good and very clean build. You did a good job with Measure 21 which can be easily botched. And there is no such thing as an easy ship. But I think a good build could have been better.

1. Rig the ship. Check out YouTube or probably a few hundred articles on this board much less Model Warship on how to approach it. I'd say that simple is far better than none. Maybe a dozen lines connecting masts to hull, or masts to masts, (the variations are endless) will make a huge difference. Use whatever line you'd like. Depending upon scale I'd using fly fishing tying line, but mono works: so does very thin sewing thread. In the real world WWII warships' rigging varied greatly depending upon the situation and weather. Also, in the real world, you can't really see rigging clearly from a distance. But it's there and you can see something. I like simple knots (like single cross) and ISP or CA, but others use stretched sprue. It doesn't mean that many, but it will change the look of your model a lot.

2. Railings: Ship loonies spend tons of money on PE. (I've just spent $80 on a super PE/wood deck set for a 1/700 Flyhawk Derfflinger and think I might be nuts.) Is this worth it? Ship loonies are even more detail oriented than armor loonies, but the answer is no. I've hung out with my betters on Model Warship for some years and have concluded that three things are true. A.) A ship can be made out of the box if rigged. B.)Railings are easy, cheap and almost essential. You can get generic railings for any scale ship for under $10 - well worth it, but I think it's fine to skip PE catapults, boats etc that will cost you money and lots of time. But the railings you see - like the rigging. Other stuff you don't. 

3. Masts: completely optional. Meister uber-builder at Model Warship is Jim Baumann - if there's a better warship modeler in the solar system I've never heard of him - does everything - all scales, scratch, resin etc etc. He does argue that you should duplicate masts in styrene models with brass/metal. Easily done actually. Brass masts/yards are much easier to rig even if you sacrifice a tiny bit of detail.

4. I've done a lot of work on water bases and like your idea of lentils a lot - I've done similar things with oat flakes and it didn't work as well. However, there's a step between texture and color. No matter what you base is ultimately made of (oat flakes, plaster, lentils, whatever) it must be covered by some kind of white paper. (Unless the base is thin, hard and flat and will be covered with a white acrylic.) I think Flodman on Modelwarship is right that you should cover a surface with ripped up typing paper - stuck with thinned white glue - and then put the paint on top of that. Pretty easy (especially if in small bits) and the resulting paint will be the color you want it. 

Anyway, fine model and keep making ships.

Eric

I like the look of that Moff.

I use a semi gloss black and then dry brush some gun metal and metallic grey, all Tamiya.

Very nice gun Moff. Jack's way would certainly work. You might try a closely related road I encountered on http://www.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.html (WWI Aircraft). The site is run by Des Delatorre from Oz who's a great guy and is building one of the best specialist modelling groups I know of. Anyway, WWI aircraft tires were made from pure rubber which is really gray. So he recommends grinding up a standard #2 pencil (or something softer and larger that you'd find at an art store) and hand brush it on like a pigment. It works really well, and fits nicely with my growing apprecition of pigments for weathering tasks far beyond mud. But as Jack notes, you'd need a paint down there first or it would be pointless - metal needs some kind of base - and matte black would be perfect. Normally I like Vallejo "Dirty Steel" for small weapons, but I'd guess that a simple combination blend of pencil leads (black, silver metallic, soft gray?) would give terrific results if ground into a flat black. 

Eric

Nicely detailed piece there, Moff.

My prefered method would be to spray it flat black.   Once dry, use a soft lead pencil (2B or so) and gently colour it using mainly the side and not the point.  Kind of like dry brushing without the brush.

regards,

Jack

Here's the DshK after a lot of fiddling around: 

Just wondering, what are your prefered ways to paint gun barrels?

Eric, wish granted.

Moff

I'd like to do a Great War GB, but maybe we should wait till next year. Either way, I don't want it to be year specific, since I would want to do Takom's Mark V.

 

We did just have one last year, but it died a very slow death. Didn't help that the host vanished from the site.

Like Stik, i am easing off GB's. Only commiting to a couple at a time and planning some builds that are not part of one.

I'm planning another WWI biplane in the near future, but I am backing off GB commitments on here. I have overcommitted too much in recent years, and it's time to be more honest in my taking on builds for time available.

I'd like to do a Great War GB, but maybe we should wait till next year. Either way, I don't want it to be year specific, since I would want to do Takom's Mark V.

Couple of things:

1. Those of you interested in WWII restored armor or WWII US armor tactics should check out a couple of shows I didn't know existed until yesterday. Both found on the Smithsonian Channel and can be viewed on computer monitor - found under "Full Episodes." (If you know streaming, they work great on Plex, a software program that will bring any online video via a Roku device to you TV.) One is "Tank Destroyer" - an episode detailing the restoration of an Achilles with lots of M4 stuff thrown in. (Phony time limit on restoration and macho image of a loonie crazy about of weapons seems to be needed in this type of show, but well worth it regardless.) Also "Tanks of Fury" - show about USA tank tactics in late WWII - takes off from movie Fury. Might also want to check the scary, sad but very good episode "Day of the Kamikaze."

2. Request to Bish: maybe the pic below could be at the front of the GB. Somewhere during the GB I did a JS2 that was to emulate conditions of end of winter in Pommerania 1945 (as opposed to a beginning of winter US M-8 done for the 44 GB). Nobody liked it and I didn't either after looking at the pics. But now that I'm back in Minnesota and looking at it, I can see the the problem with the project was the serious lack of camera talent. I've done this before and knew that snow/ice/mud/weathered green AFV was going to be a toughie to reproudce. Never did get it right. When I came back to St. Paul a couple of weeks ago, it dawned on me that the the tank was one of the best I've built - it just didn't look that way. That's no reason to bring this up - those of us that don't go to shows build for the group and ourselves anyway - but I knew that I'd stumbled upon some really good products for winter AFVs or dios. In particular was some stuff called Krycell from the Brit company precisioniceandsnow.com. Much else was involved but this stuff gave bit of the surface a kind of crystilline appearance - exactly what you'd see after snow. I've taken more pics and I think this one gets the complexity of the tank better.

The dio was out of size and too ambitious and didn't work altogether. But the same Krycell and other techniques we've talked about (WWII street scene by Panzer36) made for pretty decent components. Anyway, anyone interesed in the same kind of thing, might want to check the build notes - all of the stuff I tried was worth the candle. (Won't help me making my Minnesota Navy - that Pearl Harbor. I can report, however, that real Minnesota in 2016 does evoke the Eastern Front.)

Been a great GB - hats off to Bish especially and everyone else involved. The 1946 GB is an interesting stretch for a military historian (I confess). But I've got a JagdTiger and several late war Japanese fighters. We'll see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Li65P_3lvM

Tiger, I'm saddened to hear about your losses. These past few years have seen many folks I know pass on. And pets... well... their passings hurt as much if not more. 

Dave, good to see you back. Sorry to hear you have had such a bad year. I hope this one is better for you.

stikpusher

Yuppers. I have yet to see any current film that has an actual running Panzer IV. All the Panzers you saw in Band of Brothers, Defiance, Private Ryan, etc. are conversions of modern stuff to look like Mk.IIIs, Jagdpanthers, etc. I did like Bridge Too Far's Leopards dressed up as Panthers. At least that is what I think they were supposed to be....

 

I know the StuG in band of Brotehrs was a mocked up FV 432. I can't make out what the otehr vehicles are. I think they did a stunning job dressing those up. I think your right about the leopards playing the role of a Panther.

So... I am alive. I have had a hell of a last year and this year started out with me losing a friend and my cat... 

I do apologize for my absence. I kinda hit a wall with both my steyr and the 2 1/2 ton. 

To be honest i am worried my weathering will ruin them, and really could use some help.

Everyones builds came out or are progressing very well!

:)

Yuppers. I have yet to see any current film that has an actual running Panzer IV. All the Panzers you saw in Band of Brothers, Defiance, Private Ryan, etc. are conversions of modern stuff to look like Mk.IIIs, Jagdpanthers, etc. I did like Bridge Too Far's Leopards dressed up as Panthers. At least that is what I think they were supposed to be....