I think that would have been just right the way it is. I've seen the same stains on field vehicles after a light rain.

Psstoff- Thanks bro!  Believe it or not I used MIG Pigment 'Fading Panzer Grey' for the five o'clock shadow.  Learned that from one of the masters a while ago... I can't remember who now.

Nice work Andy! I really like that 'infantry' figie with the cap and five o' clock shaddow!

Hey Doog!  Really DO appreciate you taking your time to share tips as I am still learning.  That's what I did when I worked on the eyes.  I am afraid I need a stronger magnifier while I work on the eyes!  LOL  Not just shaving the top and bottom, I also applied dark flesh paint between the dots too.  Apparently I need more practice... eyes looked good on couple of figures while others need more work.   Eye painting is probably the hardest part for me at this moment and I hope to master one day...

Quick question for you... what do you use to shave the black dot?  I used tip of X-acto knife but sometimes it would cause more damage than good. 

Good for you, Andy!

Figures are great to give a "human interest" side to what is just a big cold piece of metal!

They look pretty good--keep working on the eyes though. When you put that dot of black in, try to "shave" it on the top and bottom both with some flesh color, and your figure's eyes will have more of a "squinty" look that's a little more pleasing.

Still, that only improving upon what's already very well done!

Bill- Thanks buddy!  Nice work on your Pz III for BITW GB.  Didn't have chance to check til just now... 200 parts just for the wheels?  

TD- Appreciate you taking your time to stop by. Thanks!  You'd be surprised how good the figures can look if you take your time.  Learned from the masters here in FSM like Indy (Adam), Bodge (Andy) and Ed if you remember who has left a while ago and many others.   

Now I need to work on the base but gonna jump into next build for my Pz III GB. 

I really need to apply more I effort to my figures.I'd love it if they came out half that good!

Nice work on the figs Andy, truly does add some "life" to your builds!

Guys- If you know me, I like to include figures to all of my builds.  It brings life completely and show the true scale of the armors & vehicles.  I have been working on five figures for last 2-3 weeks... 3 for the Panzer IV from Ostfront GB and 2 for my earlier build Marder II from Marder Madness.

The Tank Commander:

The Infantry:

I realize I need to apply little heavily thinned flesh paint to the figure on the right especially around the nose after looking at the pictures closely. 

If you can remember my earlier build Marder II 'Coal Thief'... I finally added two figures to it so it is not vacant anymore.  Here's the Marder crew...

Comments and feedback is always welcome... thanks for looking! 

RBaer- Thanks man!   Appreciate your comment.  If I had to do it all over again, I would have gone for those Fruil tracks... it was one of few things I have learned when I built this.  ModelKasten tracks don't go well on older kits....

Boyd- Thank you my friend... do appreciate your input.   I completely forgot how system works at AMPS.  We only have annual IPMS event here in Indy and I might enter few of my builds for the first time.  But I am afraid I will go crazy because I can be very competitive sometimes. LOL  That's I am just doing it for fun...

Andy, one word: Excellent!

Makes we want to dig up the same kit, add some Friuls and go to town........

Gotta love the old Tamiya kits.

deafpanzer

 Bring it to AMPS East?  You got to be kidding me!  After looking at many pictures posted recently, I said to myself I am so glad that I don't live in your area or I will have to compete with all of you guys!  If I ever come, I will buy all of you a of course! 

Andy,

You are selling yourself short. That build would stand up well to the builds at AMPSEast. You'd do fine (and remember, with the AMPS style judging, you don't compete 'against' anyone... but yourself )

Satch- Yes I do remember Dupes 1000 wheels GB and it was great GBs I have seen so far.  I didn't participate because I was relatively new here but I lurked ALOT!   That's why Kitty GB is perfect to come next... however its too soon for me.  You know I am in middle of hosting my Pz III GB and I have already signed up for Eric's BITW GB ending in March.  If you can push the start date to January that will allow me enough time to finish three builds for two ongoing GBs.  I loved the idea of doing nine month because of nine lives cat have... 

If you can push the start date, I will sign up with a Panther Ausf A or G. 

Boyd- Glad you didn't miss this... better late than never!   I recently bought a new Pz IV Ausf H and Ausf J kits from Dragon but I don't think they will be as special as my old Tamiya. 

Bring it to AMPS East?  You got to be kidding me!  After looking at many pictures posted recently, I said to myself I am so glad that I don't live in your area or I will have to compete with all of you guys!  If I ever come, I will buy all of you a of course! 

Thanks for the compliment... looking forward to see you more in Pz III GB when you are ready. 

Andy

I don't know how I missed this build up. The Tamiya IV H is one of my favorite kits, even with the 'newer' and 'better' offerings out there. I've got one in the "On Deck" circle next to the bench with a whole bunch of extras. I only hope I can do it half the justice that you did to yours. WOW, man. That came out GREAT!

Super, super work Andy!

You need to plan to bring that up to AMPSEast next year!!

DoogsATX

 

deafpanzer:

 

Doogs- It was fun building our Pz IVs for Ostfront GB.  Hope we can do it again.  I have signed up for Blitz in the West GB Eric (Tigerman) is leading.  Will think about entering it at a local contest... normally I just do it for fun.  Thanks again! 

 

 

You know, when Pz.III ends, I think an Official Pz.IV and Variants would be a perfect follow-up... 

Well...it would be if anybody made any Panzer IV kits. You'd think Dragon would at least have a few...

Dupes just did the 1000 road wheels Pz IV GB.  The perfect follow up is the Hello Kitty GB.

Just sayin'....

Thanks SL!   Glad you had the chance to read thru my WIP.

Andy- OUTSTANDING work! It was a pleasure to read through your WIP! 

Doog- Thank you my man!   Really do appreciate you taking your time to post.  Your comment made me look back at my old WIPs last night to see the differences.  Now I don't think I want to share my first few builds with anybody now...

Bet you are starting to love the weather in NC... I liked the fall season best.  Be sure to take a drive to Asheville if you have the chance.   

WOW< that's outstanding, Andy.

There's always the satisfaction of finishing a kit and doing a good job, but there's nothing like taking one of these old buggers and making it into a masterpiece.

You've definitely stepped it up a notch! AN excellent model!!

Doogs- Thanks for the push!   I have called a local shop here that sells Fruils for $32.75.  Right now they are out of ATL-19 Winterketten tracks but they have ordered for more and they will arrive in 2-3 weeks so I will stop to buy one to save me $7 in shipping. 

Good luck with the move!

deafpanzer

I am thinking about ordering Winterketten tracks from Fruil this time.

DO IT!

Seriously. I've never had luck with (and have always hated fighting) indy and link-and-length tracks. Friuls are a bit pricier, yes, but IMO far easier to work with, fully workable when assembled, and for any tank with track sag, well, nothing quite gives the impression of weight like weight!

Pacific Coast Models sells friuls for like $32 - cheapest I've seen.

The only things I wouldn't necessarily recommend them for? Shermans and other VVSS and HVSS chassis vehicles. Rubber band are actually very suitable for those since the tracks were under tension all the time, and the friul links (I have some flat block tread I was going to use on the Achilles until they wouldn't fit the sprocket) have a weird and fussy design. 

Ben- Thank you so much mate!  Something special for my next build for Pz III GB?  I sure hope so... I will be building another older kit but not as old as this Tamiya kit.  It will be Dragon Imperial StuG F/8 as it was a gift from a special friend.  I have about three sheets of upgrade PEs and I am thinking about ordering Winterketten tracks from Fruil this time.

It will be fun just like the old days... I never forget Battle of Norway GB. 

Rob- You just gave me a great idea... I should quit my job and go back to school to be a plastic surgeon!  I can make ladies look 35 years younger?  And little bigger at the top...   Thank you so much for the nice words! 

I plan to jump into my own GB this weekend... not tonight!  My wife and boys will be gone for a night...

Will- Thank you so much for the info about Fort Benning!  I definitely have to do a trip down there one day...

My brother says he heard something about the tanks heading down to Benning from Knox, too.

Andy, OUTSTANDING!!  Nicely built and weathered to perfection!  Would never know the age of the kit, fits right in with the current ones out there.

Hey Andy,

SOOOOPERB! Wow, you've really set the bar high with this build! Your Pz III for the GB will have to be something really special to better this one!

This kit is what, 4 years older than me and it looks a lot better than me too so top marks.

The cammo is just perfect, the weathering bang on and the overall quality of work - amazing.

Very well done matey. Now let's see a Panzer III!

All the best,

Ben

Psstoff- If you are going to Fort Benning, can you check if there will be a museum for all of the tanks from Fort Knox?  I am not sure if I am correct but somebody said all tanks were heading there... if so, then I will make a trip to see that place one day!  Have a safe trip and tell your brother we say thanks for his service! 

Gamera-  Thanks!   This is the main reason why I wanted to build this kit because it was a great kit 25 years and I had fun 25 years ago... for now I am taking a break from building old kits after that Italeri Chaffee you saw in Korea War GB and Tamiya Panzer IV.

Hey Andy, fantastic job! Love how she came out. The Tamiya kit is a little old but as you showed here it only takes a little extra elbow grease to turn her into a winner.

And my first 1/35th tank was a Panzer IV though the Italeri kit instead of the Tamiya.

Great work Andy!!

Turned out fantastically. Glad you could fix those weird pigment buildup marks. I'm in Huntersville, NC on my way down to Ft. Benning, GA to see my brother, but as soon as I get back I'm going to start the painting process for my KT camo pattern. You've inspired me to knock it out before first quarter ends for school.

deafpanzer

Mac- Many thanks!  I have been to Buffalo last July to see my parents and family.  I didn't have the chance to visit Ace Hobby in Niagara Falls that I have been hearing about.  Maybe next time!  Which shop do you like to shop in Buffalo other than one I have been to next to Galleria Mall?

 

Not a problem.  I have been wanting to get a Panzer IV for some time.  Seeing your build made me order one.  Thank you. 

I usually go to Ace up in the Falls. Ron keeps an interesting selection available there.   Every now and again I will go to Niagara Hobby by the Galleria Mall.  My kids love all the train stuff they have there.  Plus they have every color paint offered by Model Master and Tamiya.