Here is what I accomplished last night. should have been more, but I was conscripted into dyeing Easter Eggs. I am hoping to get to completion in a relatively quick time, as I tend to get sidetracked quite easily.

Here is the bottom hull after some scraping, filing, and sanding. Theres not too many mold lines, but after a dry fit of some pieces, I figured I'd be doing some filling later.

One of the Drivewheels? both sides were left open, I'm assuming to allow for an electric motor for fun and shenanigans. I briefly considered going RC, but I just dont have the time, experience, or resources for it.... yet. I really dont like the gaps left here, and am going to try filling it later.

well thats about it, I took more pics, but they all seemed a little bland. 

overall I got the "On/Off" label filed off the bottom, added the track return wheels for the F version, and sanded some mold lines of the exhaust. I hope to have more progress tonight. 

again any advice or comments are greatly appreciated.

it's a fun kit. Don't get caught up too much in accurizing it. It was produced about 40 years ago! One thing to know is that the bin behind the turret was only used by 2 units (Pz Abt 190 of the 90th Light Division of the Afrika Korps and 5th SS Wiking) -- none of which the kit markings depict. Generally, leave off that bin.  Otherwise build it up and have fun!

hey T26E4, its been fun so far, and I've gotten to try new things out. A storage bin? I was thinking it was an extension to the turret to allow for a larger cannon, makes sense as it doesnt come with anything bigger in the kit. I'm not sure if im reading correctly though, did the ausf F have a pintle mounted machine gun? I remember seeing that the G had additional/different armament, but I keep thinking it was an additional weapon mounted at the commander's hatch. either way, I get to search the internet tomorrow while they pay me for "work"

 anyway, yesterday I just attached parts that I felt I could prime over and not have to worry about, a toolbox, and some hatches, really not too much there. Imnot sure if its me, but when I insert the image it shows the uncropped image... :(

Next I slapped some putty in the holes in the bottom hull, and around the Drivegear I didnt like the gaps on.

and then after seeing Gamera's Chi-Ri looking so nice after the first pic of it after priming, maybe after a few coats for him. I should probably go ask... anyway I tried pre-shading. now I am using spray on primer so it might not have any effect whatsoever. but if it does, then the loss of 5 minutes or so will be worth it.

oh, I went out searching for some plasticard today, and all I could find it in was clear plastic. not what I wanted but it seemed pretty neat, so I bought some. may come in handy some day, as well as some Tamiya weathering master, and some putty tools. more toys for my toys really. got to use the tools today, and I was quite surprised at how the apoxisculpt went. stickier than I thought it would be, and if I used too much water to keep it from sticking to everything, it kind of dissolved away to nothingness.

messy, but much fun. I may try something else with it later, maybe if i can get my hands on a german motorcycle with sidecar, I'll try giving the driver an Indiana Jones makeover

Cool, you choose a great kit to start out with, I think most of us cut our teeth on Tamiya and Italeri kits. And nice work there filling out the motor and battery mounting holes, one of the bigger issues with those classic kits. 

Pre-shading is pretty easy. Just paint the model a little darker than your finished colour. And then airbrush on the raised areas the colour you want or maybe a little lighter. It gives more of a light hitting the upper parts of the subject and shadows down in the recesses look.

Thanks Gamera, I saw your response about the pre-shading, after rereading on your Chi-Ri build. I'm not too sure how it will work with the spray cans I've got, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway. I'm considering picking up an airbrush later this year, so hopefully it'll be good practice.

Next time I use the putty, I'm going to make sure to have some armatures or something handy. It feels like such a waste that I wasnt prepared to do anything with all the excess I had, I shaped it into a sad looking rectangular brick, maybe I can use as a giant stone or chunk of marble later.  ... heh i found the emoticons...

anyway, I should have some pics up later tonight. Thanks for stopping by.

A word of caution from someone who's had the old spray can vs. air brush dilemma lol.

The air brush will be a very nice investment. You will have so much more control over it then any spray can. It is definitely worth getting into. But don't think you can just forget your brush skills because of it lol. Good brush skills are the foundation of the hobby.  ;)

However, I have seen some amazing things done with a spray can. Things I myself didn't think were possible.

For shading purposes you can use thinned-down paint and build up some lighter areas in the middle of your panels. The effect is similar to using an airbrush, but it has a unique look to it as well. I typically use such a technique on 1/72 or smaller where the AB is a little harder to manage in tight, tiny places.

Have some fun and experiment with some ideas. You may decide some of the ideas you come up with will work very well for your own personal style.  :)

Nice work so far. I built and posted here that very same tank, but in German grey to depict the early years of the war in 1941. I'll be looking out for this WIP.

thanks M. Brindos, I originally was just going to drybrush to lighten some areas, but that sounds interesting, and this model seems to be making me try all sorts of stuff I havent done yet.

Thanks TigerII, Im gonna search for it for some inspiration. I am planning on the German grey as well. currently I have some black wash on her as a preshading attempt. 

unfortunately the weather here did not cooperate with me last night, it was waaaay too windy to paint outside. this may have been a good thing though. 

I did a dry fit of the hulls and saw some spots Im going to putty later, but what caught my eye was the grills in the back. you can look down in and see the blandness that is the interior.

So, I was thinking of adding random transmission and/or motor bits in the hull, just to have something. I know it wont be accurate in any way shape or form, but it wont be blank.

the other option is to slap some plastic on the underside of the grills and paint it black, but that seems so... 1 dimensional.

Yeah the new layout sometimes does that. No idea why, but when you come back later it fixes itself.

If you decide to try the thinned-down paint option you'll need to know that the paint should be the consistency between 1% and 2% milk. You'll basically be adding a color wash in layers to build up the tone you want. It takes more than a few passes to get noticable results, but if you have the paint thicker it doesn't blend nearly as well. You want a gradual transition so you don't see what looks like hard lines of lighter and lighter paint built up in the middle of your panels.

Play with the technique. It is quite usefull for figures as well.  ;)

Actually the airbrush isn't that much an issue pricewise but the compressor will set you back a bit. You can get a decent brush from either Paasche or Badger to learn on and then move on to a better more expensive model while keeping your old compressor. 

Personally I just blank off the air intakes with a piece of sheet plastic painted black. Looks good enough for a lazy modeler like me. 

Ok, super innacurate on the scale of a 90's sports car transmission in a 2nd world war tank, buuuuut... its something. and really thats all I was aiming for. for the off chance that someone would pick it up and have good enough lighting to actually peer into the engine compartment, well "Something" is now there.

first i blocked off the engine compartment with some plasticard. Its horribly fitted, but you shouldnt be able to see it once the hull is together. added a floor to hide all the hideous battery placement crap in there, and selected the left over car parts to add in.

and after some paint, I dont have any RAL 8012 red primer, so like so many other things, I winged it.

and with the upper hull on. you cant see much, but you can see its not empty. which I am happy with. I decided to not keep adding things or I would attemp to have openable access hatches. and that would keep this going for a few months or so

Now that was a good idea. It shows there is an engine under those grills for those inquisitive people that look in every nook and cranny.

T26E4, those were my initial thoughts/misconceptions on the stowage bin. I had been hoping to play around with a MUCH larger gun. When i first looked at the kit and online for the differences in the varients, what caught my attention was the differences in the roadwheels. If i read correctly, the G didnt have track return rolers with the interleaved roadwheels. I figured I would have to remove and remake basically all of the premolded suspension and roadwheel connection points if I wanted to make a G.

TigerII & Modelrob, Thanks. though I doubt anyone other than I, is going to be looking, but I know it's there.

Really nice work so far on an old classic. One thing I would look into is the use of primer red on the interior. From what I understand, primer red interiors were only used briefly in a short period of time nearer to the end of the war, and the crews complained so much about the lack of visibility that they changed rihght back to elfenbein--the whitish color.

Two questions:

1. What's the top speed of that baby?

2. Can I take her for a spin?