1945 GB

Ok guys, the front page is updated with the latest completions. I also completed another kit that would qualify for this GB, but did it for another. A Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka, rocket powered manned flying bomb. This is the 50+ year old Hawk kit reboxed by Testors. I added a lot of work in the cockpit, as well as some exterior details such as the ring and post sight, pitot tube tip and warhead fuse plunger.

 

 

I am not a fan of DS tracks myself. They have been re releasing kits that are only a few years old under the same kit number but with DS tracks. This of course means you don't know what you are missing.And i grudge paying the same for a kit with DS tracks as i would for magice tracks and then having to spend another 30 quid on AM ones. I don't see why they can't offer both types of track, especially given how much they cost. I know Trump does it on a few kits.

I've got a Cyber-Hobby 1/48 Ju-88 in Mediterranean dress, and a ME-110D (slightly stretched) - have my fingers crossed with both. If they work, especially the 110, they will be very neat indeed. Building a DML kit in my experience is a little scary. (Bad instructions are a blemish that is impossible to understand - every critical review of a DML kit includes a complaint. Also hard to explain why they don't sell optional DS tracks for every armor kit - the best single track in the business and available on only a few kits. Figure. Do you need Magic Tracks on a T-34?) Hard to knock the detail. And the fit is sometimes amazing. But it can lull you into complacency. One should go on the assumption that the pieces don't fit, so you're ready for the ones that really don't fit. And some won't or the instructions will trick you into a bad sequence. Pity - they were so close to being the premier modelling company in the world three or four years ago, but seemed so interested in the engineering tricks (which I think led to unneeded part bloat) that they let the basics slide a little. And now they've got serious competitors. Obviously there is Tasca: I've got two and they look incredible. And Tamiya is getting back into the armor game and is building on it's splendid c.year 2000 aircraft in 1/48 with stunners in 1/32 (the two much newer "Zekes" and the IL-2 in 1/48 look terrific - they're at my house) So I'm starting a dump Dragon program. Tamiya has a new tool M4 "Easy Eight" and a Kursk era Panther - scratch two DMLs right there. But as luck would have it, my son gave me a costly DML PKW III - at least I don't have it, so that will stay. So will about five others. But honestly the new tool Tamiya Jagdpanzer I built earlier this year was a revelation - terrific kit. I'm even starting to look at some of my Hasegawa aircraft and seeing which are also made by Tamiya. Hasegawa quality also varies a lot because they rebox and rebox kits that are actually pretty old: they work, but get putty ready. I'll be gone for a while. Will be in St. Paul for a month where I'm going to start my "Minnesota Navy" - vessel #1 will be the ancient 1/240 Revell Campbelltown which will appear as USS Ward. (Ward's Minnesota NR gun crew fired the first US shots in WWII and actually hit something - a IJN mini-sub in Pearl Harbor. The gun is at the state capital in St. Paul.) Then I'm off on my oft threatened Great War cycle. Not sure how long it will take to get out of the trenches. So all the best to you all. I look forward to future GBs. Thanks especially to Bish for keeping the last two running so well. Eric

JOE RIX

Thanks for the tip Bish. Yes, it is the 1/48 Ju-88/P-1 w/75mm/pak 40 gun mounted on it. Cool looking kit for sure.

 

Thats the one. I was trying to think of a Dragon 88 kit i had seen. Would love to do one of those in 72nd.

Thanks for the tip Bish. Yes, it is the 1/48 Ju-88/P-1 w/75mm/pak 40 gun mounted on it. Cool looking kit for sure.

JOE RIX

Very good to see you making progress on the King Tiger. Sure is looking great so far. Although I've yet to build a Dragon kit, I do have a Ju-88 and an sd.kfz.234 Puma Dragon kits and I recall the "mmm, I dunno 'bout this " moment I had when I saw the parts count and directions.

 

Dragon kits can be a mixed bag. There newer Panther kits are a dream to build. But the first thing i do when starting a Dragon build is go through the unused parts and put them in the spares box. That can really lower the count.

Would i be right in thinking the 88 is a 48th kit. I have built a few of their 72nd and despite the bad press, i really like them.

Very good to see you making progress on the King Tiger. Sure is looking great so far. Although I've yet to build a Dragon kit, I do have a Ju-88 and an sd.kfz.234 Puma Dragon kits and I recall the "mmm, I dunno 'bout this " moment I had when I saw the parts count and directions.

Eric, got your build added to the front page. Thnaks again.

Ken, look forward to seeing those pics.

Bob, nice progress. And of course, no need to worry about not getting done by the end of the year. Please continue to post your updates into the new year.

Got to love those Dragon kits.

Hey all-excellent builds by you guys-I've been following on a daily basis-sorry I haven't taken the time to comment on your builds.

The King Tiger is starting to come together-still a lot of work to be done and it's not realistic to think I'll be finished by the 31st but I'm going to stick with it until it's done.

In typical Dragon fashion, the directions are misleading at times and the part content is a little overwhelming-lost a couple of C hooks and ended up fabing one out of some plastic stock-no one else would have noticed, but it's what we do, right?  I think I'm going to stay away from Dragon kits (unless they are 'Smart Kits') for awhile.....

Hope to get the turret complete by the end of the weekend-then it's treads & painting....I hope....

A Very Merry Christmas everyone!

I'm just sitting here on a quiet snowy Christmas morning with a cup of joe and the critters waiting for mom to wake up so we can begin our festivities. Having swept the walk of snow and finally having no other X-mas responsibilities it is high time to get caught up on the fabulous modeling going on here.

Moff: Your JS-3 came out fantastic. Regardless of perceived inaccuracies, you achieved some remarkable results with your techniques. And to me, that's what it's all about. You really have done a top notch job on it. Thank You for taking the time to walk us through your process. It is very helpful and insightful. Congrats on completing it.

Tony: The pit looks quite good given what you are working with. I know on mine I had some troublesome steps/gaps at the forward wing root that I had to deal with. Did you encounter the same issue? Nice work so far and looking forward to some paint on there.

Josiah: Great progress and paint. Lentils for water effect? Wow, now that's a first for me. I am rather excited to see how that all turns out. Love what your doing.

Eric: Absolutely love your Kubelwagen. Your detail and weathering are righteous. You did a spectacular job on it. Just a note on the versatility of these vs the 4wd jeep. I grew up driving and repairing VW's as my father owned a VW "museum". Rather a collection of over 400 old restorable Volkswagens of every type. Anyway, with the weight of the engine over the rear drive wheels, these had remarkable traction. I grew up driving VW's over some really rugged terrain here in Utah with relative ease. Sure I got stuck and broke some equipment but, they were easy to repair and light enough to get unstuck with ease. I laugh a lot these days as tourists flock here with their multi thousand dollar "rock crawlers" in order to conquer the treacherous trails that I used to cruise around on in a '68 Beetle.

What with the hectic pace of the holidays passed, days off from work and the wife having to work, I foresee some quality bench time at hand.

Well, the wife unit is astirring and the present opening festivities are at hand.

Happy Holidays All! 

Hi everyone, Sorry I haven't been in, Its been pretty hectic latley with the holidays and all.

I'm still working on the Dio. I don't think I'll need extra, it should quiet down here after tomorrow, So I'll have time to get back to the bench

I'll get some pics asap

You can best see the paint colors in the pic done before weathering. I didn't get the lighting quite right for some of the pics, but the last two are very close to what the kit looks like. Post-1943 Dunkelgelb has a real hit of green in it.

Eric

Eric, great job on the Kubel, Thanks again for sharing your builds with us, I think you have more than earned your badge.

checkmateking02

Interesting technique for water, Josiah. I'll be watching closely to see how it works, since this is an area I need to develop more skill.

Thanks guys, checkmate, I'm not sure if it'll be any good. This is my first time with any water but I'm forging ahead! 

Interesting technique for water, Josiah. I'll be watching closely to see how it works, since this is an area I need to develop more skill.

Great looking Kuebelwagen, Eric. Looks like it's got a lot of miles behind it.

Eric, great job and presentation on the little Kubelwagen. 
The photos don't do it justice, as something is going on with the colour hue.  To me, the third last picture looks to be bang on for colour.

regards,

Jack

 

OK Gents, 1945 is a wrap for yours truly.

 

 

 

 

 

1:35 Bego (Tasca) Kubelwagen

Paints: Vallejo Model Color, Golden High Flow

 

Weathering: Iwata Com.Art paints; Gamblin pigments

 

 

The Kit:

 

 

I'll be in Minnesota for a month and I just couldn't see trying a major project in a few weeks, so think of this as a stocking stuffer. A fun build – cries for a proper dio with a Panther or something else ugly.

 

 

The pre-Tasca pedigree shows here. One can see why “made in Japan” meant a lot a few years back. Twenty years old but the fit, by and large, was very good. But not up to contemporary standards in some ways – a lot of eye ball was required. And considering the very small size of the Kubelwagen (it reminded me of a 1/72) the part count was pretty high and a lot of detail present. No easy full hull here – everything is a separate part but they fit usually very nicely. Some surgery was involved but it got done. I've heard Tamiya has a good KW, Bego's has been reboxed by Dragon. The kit had an engine so I decided to display it despite no note in the instructions and scratch built a gizmo to keep the cover open.

 

 

 

A little more scratch building was needed when I lost the dashboard. It's a big part, but I was futzing with it, left the kit for 24 hours, and zip, gone. Went into my part stash and found a dashboard for tractor made for moving aircraft. The shape was actually quite close, although there's no big speedometer. If the frame looks a little odd, the real part is quite irregular.

 

 

 

 

This kit was painted and weathered in acrylics – water based at that. May not be the best way, but I don't have a spray booth and I've grown to enjoy using paints that you could basically drink with no harm. (My wife thinks Tamiya smells bad – I don't but her opinion is not irrelevant. Can't see Alclad around anytime soon.) A very good Vallejo military color conversion chart done by a Brit ship fanatic has proven very reliable for some time. The call for Dunkelbelb was Model Color Middlestone – looked really good. (I have Vallejo DL primer and the AK DB weathering set – my color was spot on and the paint a lot better.) I mixed the stuff with Golden airbrush medium, Vallejo thinner and just a drop of glycerin. I recommend the glycerin for at least water based paints – it did lengthen dry time but laid down beautifully and was a snap to clean from the nozzle. (I think too much might soften the paint a bit, so try it on a medical experiment. Just a drop or two.) The green was my High Flow green that I cooked up for the recent Zero and likewise worked very nicely – I was able to freehand the green lines which can be hard, but worked nicely. Here's what it looked like prior to weathering:

 

 

 

I tried to emulate a spring 1945 Kubelwagen – I think that allowed some serious weathering. I made a very nice wash with Vallejo wash acrylics (everyone should have at least black and sepia – really versatile). I did everything else with Com.Art – transparent black for panel lines and pin wash, transparent smoke and “fertile soil” to grime the thing up. The chipping was almost all done with AK “Worn Effects” - the same stuff I used on a Kamikaze Zero a while back. The base color was sprayed on Vallejo Dunkelgrau primer (Pledge between primer and Worn Effects), and used a tooth brush and an airbrush reamer to chip. I'm beginning to conclude that for this task – or creating boot wear – I think it works well to something off rather than put something on. (Mike Rinaldi does something he calls “reverse dry brushing” where he uses a lighter base over a dark primer and removes some base with a brush dampened with thinner: works good.) And the Com.Art texture has to be seen in person to really appreciate. It's splendid paint but really made for paper or fabric. On plastic transparent colors leave a light color (black is quite visible and perfect for panel lines) and can be removed after it has dried. It also works nicely for streaking. I put on a tad of rust but wish I hadn't (doubt anyone will see it). I'm thinking a KW would have had a lot of mileage on them and would have picked up a lot of wear, and certainly would have been very dirty and dusty. It works. Here's a detail:

 

 

 

The general grime effect from Com.Art did the job overall. I did use Tamiya weathering pigments to fade the top panels and fenders. It's a little subtle but very evident at my house. I didn't want heavy mud, but dry mud and lots of dirt was on the menu. I bought pigments from art house companies Sennelier and Gamblin – absolutely the best available (it's made art loonies that insist on making their own paints) and gives you a lifetime supply for $4-$10 a bottle. (Gamblin is preferable – their's are about $5 for 8 ounces: that will weather a lot of models.) I attached it with ISP and some thinned matte varnish. Used a paint brush for everything. I like it:

 

 

 

I decided to stick the model on a simple base – gave my grandson an opportunity to cover something with brown paint. Flock and gravel is from Koch, Woodland Scenics and Scenic Express. Had ideas of sticking a lot of equipment in the back of the KW, but ran out of time. The kit comes with two bottles of wine – those are going onto a DML Priest – also going to try to scratch a carton of Lucky Strikes: the currency of choice in Europe in 1945.

 

 

I usually say something about historical context of the model. I write that kind of thing for a living and it can lead to overly long posts. But short and simple work here. Think of a Kubelwagen, one of the most widely produced German weapons, that served without change throughout the war. Something like it had been from Paris to Stalingrad. Germans were very keen on the cheap and simple creature (and unlike almost every German motorized vehicle it was very stingy on gasoline) and considered it a good off road recon vehicle two wheel drive or no – equal to the Jeep. (Americans and Brits scoffed at that claim. Many chances to compare on both sides. The KW, and jeep, were the kind of things that were widely used by armies when captured. Why not? Nothing went wrong with either. And as my outdoors-geek brother would say: “the better the four-wheel drive vehicle, the farther you get into the woods before you get stuck.) And this kit is to emulate a Kubelwagen on May 1, 1945. Where? The Ruhr? Maybe a unit bypassed by Patton? Doesn't matter. It did it's job very nicely, certainly better than the King Tiger. Pity those that built and used it were serving history's most wicked regime. But for once history worked as it should, and there's the KW, sitting on the side of the road, going nowhere and out of gas. Just like the Reich.

 

 

Eric

 

 

Pics below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking nice Josiah, interesting idea for the base.

Here's a little update for ya'll. Got the base laid down and first step for the water. So the article I read uses lentils as the base, then several layers of acrylic gel medium. THe article featured a 1/800 scale waterline ship so I figured it work fine with this 1/900. Since this is a full hull model though, I'm doing two layers of lentils as opposed to the one layer in the article. 2nd photo is of all the lentils in place. I'll paint them tomorrow and then start adding medium after Christmas.

ygmodeler4

Moff and Tony, your builds look excellent!

 

 

Thanks, I can't wait to see how your ship turns out!

Here's an update, I have all the upper vertical surfaces painted. I agree Checkmate, it is quite dazzling other than the just plain grey ships.

Once I paint the lower verticals I'll have to go back and touch up the horizontals.

Moff and Tony, your builds look excellent! Thank you all for the comments on my Mo. Tony: it isn't something I would usually buy, or build for that matter. It was a raffle kit (one of a few that were left when I won) and my girlfriend said it looked "the coolest" so I got it and am building it for her.

Double Post

Thank you, i'll add that now. And I very much look forward to seeing that as well.

It was Tamiya.

And thank you! You tolerated a lot of whining from me. I can't wait to sink my teeth into the Waffentrager.

Ok Moff, got you added. Can you just remind me what brand that kit is again.

Thnaks for joining in and showing your build here. Look forward to more of your work next year.

Bish

 

 

Moff

 

Bish

Looks good there Moff. Couldn't read through your whole post this morning. I did read your comments about pigment fixer. I have never used that. I mix my pigments in water. This gives a nice dusty look. For mud, I mix them with a little plaster of paris but more often I will use the celluclay that I use for the base.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, well, IMHO pigment fixer is good for heavy mud, just not for sealing lighter dirt or dust. 

And you use Celluclay? It always acts lumpy for me. I want to find the exact product that Hamilkar Barkas uses, it seems just about perfect.

 

 

 

 

I don't have a problem with it, but of course it depends if you wnat heavy mud or not.

What product is that.

 

Aesthetically, I like the weathering. And if everybody else is fine with it as far as accuracy, then I guess I am too. 

I'm not sure what product Hamilkar uses. He usually just refers to it as modeling clay. I have tried both Celluclay and Crayola Air Dry Clay. The Celluclay was too lumpy and too difficult to work with. The Crayola clay was too brittle and delicate when dry. 

And about the photos, just use one of these. I don't know when I'll get around to buying an aftermarket DsHk.

Moff, do you want us to use one of those pics or are you adding the gun and antenna first.

Like the look of the pit Tony, and nice to see it coming together, soon be time for some paint.

Moff, great work on that JS-3, I loved the detailed description of your technique.

Rob, I think your Tiffie is ace too !

Josiah, nice progress on the Mo. That's an interesting choice of kit.

Joe, I'm looking forward t oseeing the whole jug. It's good when you can finish one of those old builds.

Here's some rather modest progress on my rather modest FW 190.

Cheers

Tony