Tristar's Flak Panzer 1 A *finished* page 4

A great start Biffa....I'll be following this build closely. I've had my eye on this kit for several weeks.

Off to a great start Ron, looking forward to seeing which way you go with this one. One of my favorite vehicles since it's part of the first wave of "Frankenpanzer" designs the Germans came up with.  

Glad to see you off building another after the last kit you shared.

I've thought this little guy was kinda of cool. No familiarity with Tristar, though I have a Brummbar in the stash. The detail does look impressive enough.

Looking forward to more of this one.

Looks like you are off to a good start. Looking forward to seeing your progress

Thanks Heater Engineer so far the kits going great lots of detail and fairly clear instructions although some of it is quite small and delicate and not always suited for my hammer wielding hands :)

Hey Bill thanks for stopping in its always a pleasure i like this one for the same reasons as you stated also the boxart really hooked me it is one of my all time favourites and i strongly believe that is what i will try copy for the finish :)

quick update to end the day.....

steps 6 and 7 finished out the interior, because i built the tub before installing the transmission it was necessary to install the 2 drive shafts into the transmission first pushing them all the way in (the holes for these shafts are deeper than needed) then once the transmission is in place simply slide them out until they are in the correct position.

step 7, 8 and 9 most of which is dry fit until the interior is painted, i attached the front plate, fenders and engine deck also the visors etc everything else is dry fit.

Thanks Eric glad to have you aboard mate this is my first tristar and so far i am impressed they are a tad more work than a dragon kit but the instrustions and part placement on sprues really makes up for it in my opinion that might just be me though :)

Hi Hercmech i appreciate your interest and comments glad to have you along :)

Alright! Biffa's back in Armor-ville and he has something on the bench!

Welcome back and I'll be watching WIP.

Ron's back and

the factory is in full production.

Off to a great start.

Rounds Complete!!

Looks like your off to a good start.

Biffa, nice to have you back! Looks great so far, seems to be a nicely detailed kit. Will be interesting to see what camo you go for, I like the white wash shown on the box art.

-Stephen

Jeez... he's gone for what seems forever and now you can't swing a dead cat without hitting one of his threads.

But that's a good thing  It makes your return seem more... permanent.  I had forgotten what a mad modeling machine you were.

Nice progress on that.  I too have not tried any of the Tristar stuff.  How does it stack up next to Dragon.  And no wise guys saying, "One on top of the other."

Tristar, generally speaking, tends to be equal on quality of molding or better (depending on the kit in question) on the accuracy front. They do sometimes over-engineer things and produce small parts as a result, but the Tristar kits that I've built have not had any major issues and their instructions also tend to be better laid out vs. Dragon's.

Lookin' good so far biffa! I see they didn't include an engine for the rear, but I guess you wouldn't see it anyways when all is said and done. Will be looking forward to seeing it painted up.

Thanks everyone for the interest and comments its been pretty crazy here because of the weather and christmas but i have found some bench time here and there and managed to get this one together and ready for paint...

Step 10 was the rear hull which presented a couple of issues, the jack block does not fit in its place because it is obstructed by the bracket part D21 and the tail light, no biggy i will leave it off also the support for the tow assembly wants to sit right where that small thing part B8 (not sure what this is?) so i left it off as well but the main problem was with the tow bar itself it was misaligned in the mold and required lots of cleanup to get even looking half way ok.

Step 11 the running gear and tracks was pretty effortless and went well just had to watch for the wheels having an "outside" same thing with the tracks. The tracks were glued together in one long run then starting at about 4 oclock on the rear idler i ran them up and over the return rollers around the sprocket and back to connect then gently set the sag with toothpicks and cotton buds once dried overnight they were removed for painting.

step 12 was the upper hull details again this went without issue.

Step 13 covers the tools etc also no problems here to report.

that pretty much wraps up the construction i left the front fenders off as most of the images i have of this vehicle shows them that way so next up will be the painting.

Everything on for the picture.

Everything off for painting.

Thanks for looking.

edit* photobucket is being really slow for me hope the pics are working.

Moving along nicely.....as for the weather, it stinks everywhere....winter is here!!!

Rounds Complete!!

You made quick work of this so far.  Nice clean build going to look great with some color.  Going to have to try a Tristar, they look to be a very nice kit, for I have still not done one.

Rob

Moving all well at a factory pace Ron.  Looks good.

And Mike, you're right, yesterday was the 1st day of winter. You know what that means... winter's here

Looks like it built up pretty fast Ron, looking forward to seeing it with paint on!

Tracks look great and this looks like a fun little build.

wbill76

Looks like it built up pretty fast Ron, looking forward to seeing it with paint on!

Can't wait to see what you do with the finish!

Thanks everyone this kit did go together surprising fast but the onset of crappy weather also gave me some extra downtime but good fit and mostly clean crisp molding definatly played a part, i have just a small update but first i just want to wish you all a great christmas holiday and hope you all have the best of new years  and more importantly i hope i get to continue to share this part of it with you :)

I painted the interior a couple of nights back but my missus had taken my camera to work so i wasnt able to log the steps but really nothing hardly can be seen once the gun and everything is mounted so it was just really something for me to get used to painting again.

The base was a mix of white and buff nothing fancy just an off white then using cheap craft paints i splotched some chocolate brown around for chips then painted the transmission grey again a craft paint mix of black and white nothing fancy lastly i painted the seat black. 

Now i gave it lots of sloppy washes of van *** brown cleaning up with a cotton bud as it dried until i had a good build up of grime then i scrapped a graphite stick til i had a nice pile of dust and rubbing a cotton bud in it began to polish the metal parts until it suited me all i will probably do now is using clear floor polish redo the vision blocks and instrument panel and call it done again it cant be seen so no biggie.

Ron - What a fantastic mess.....looks lived in....great stuff

Rounds Complete!!

Nice nice nice.  Didn't even have time to put the commas in there.

I need to remember this photo... that's exactly what I want the floor of my Marder III/M to look like.

You haven't lost a step, Ron--looking up to the usual high standards!

Great stuff Ron,,,   I have this one in my stable. You've given me some great pre-build info.....

Will be following, for sure

Like what you've done with the interior Ron, keep the updates coming!

There you go making plastic look like steel again...you are back in the groove, Ron...

the speed of light is about 186,282  miles per second....... Ron .. you have exceeded warp 1

Happy New Year  dude   : D

tread

Masterfully done