I am still around. Currently working on RFM's Cutaway Panther.

Real life has bit me in the ass and I am still getting my head around things as well as some complete moron destroying some display kits on the way back from Telford on the train after a sucessful show on HK models' Stand with the boss of HKM.

New Kits will have to be built, but watch out for some pictures.

Snap!

I have used the Meng zimmerit decals on several Panthers. They look great after fiishing them but they are a different beast!  They fall apart if used as designed. They don't stay together if you use them like decals, soaking them in water, sliding them off of the decal sheet and sliding the decal into place. Therefore, I simply soak them after cutting them to shape and slide them onto the model after laying down a thincoating of white glue. The glue holds the decal together while giving me some flexibility.

Good luck!

Bill

Now that you mention it, he has been AWOL for a bit. Hmm, wonder what's up.

BK

Martin9428

I know this is an old post but, I wanted to say thank you. I am starting the MENG King Tiger with interior, workable tracks and the ATAK Zimmerit if I can find it. Great refrence for me, indeed. 

 

He's been awol for quite awhile now,probably someone has the answer

I know this is an old post but, I wanted to say thank you. I am starting the MENG King Tiger with interior, workable tracks and the ATAK Zimmerit if I can find it. Great refrence for me, indeed. 

Wow, this is simply a show stopper. Incredible details and so well executed. My mind is blown.

BK

Thanks for all the comments.

I will be returning to the hellcats... or I might just get some new kit(s) and start fresh.

Oh wow you've made a pile of progress!

Looking fantastic!!!

Just like every other build I've seen you post up.  Fantastic detailing, and the hull/turret camo is perfectly matched.

On a different subject, did you ever get done with the 1/24 Hellcat?  Was following, as I have that one on the shelf.

Thanks to all for your kind words. They keep me building!

I am very sorry for the delay, here is the rest of the build and finished pictures.

There we go.

Questions and comments welcome

James

That's looking really good!

Wow the interior detail there is insane! Love the turret detail but I've seen simular interior detailing on other kits. The driver's compartment blows me away though, I don't think I've seen detail like that in many other kits.

Life away from the bench keeps intervening and slowing things down. I had hoped to have finished this build by now, but not just yet. Here is progress to date.

There you go.  Questions and comments please.

Glad to hear you're feeling better!

Then again the last kidney stone I had I wished someone would just shoot me in the head a couple times to get it all over...

You're making great progress! And I love those zimmeritt decals, they look like they're really working well once you started using glue on them.

`Ok. Here we go now! Thank you for all the kind wishes.

I am feeling much better and I am back at my bench and things are now progressing.

First of all I have tackled the tracks. The early tracks used on the initial turret are a bit time consuming to put together. R- Model have a double pin set and you have to look carefully though listings as Tiger II tracks often get mixed up with manufacturers not labelling them correctly, so for those of you wanting metal tracks just research first then match to listings.

These are now ready to be painted with another set of pins once on the model. I am departing from my normal Vallejo Motal Colour Magnesium and trying something different after seeing a set of real panther tracks come back from an anti-corrosion process and they were a matt black and look like B&W period photos of brand new tanks. Therefore I am going to be painting these tracks NATO black with no primer.

In preparation for the Zimmeritt decals I have to do some building and I am going to prepare quite a few internal pieces too. I am never keen on using these things and try and avoid zimmeritt stuff, but all the initial turret Tiger II Panzers had the stuff applied as far as I know so lets get this over and done with.

Meng has chosen to do the initial turret in an unusual way but it is possible to have the turret roof removeable and with that in mind I assembled the turret. Some adjustment to the roof may be needed to get it to sit properly.

I also partly assembled the wheels ready for priming masking, painting etc.

Full bench waiting for priming and zimmeritt.

Ok. starting with the lower hull, The zimeritt decal is cut from the sheet and soaked in hot water and then applied.

Same with the other major areas.

These things never stick properly and it does say on the instructions that you can use model glue or superglue to fix them on. I am sure that these glues work, but I am not wasting model glue and I am certainly not going to use superglue as you have no chance to adjust fitting. As I did with my Meng Panther A, I use standard white PVA glue. This does the job, jives you time to adjust and press down then just needs to dry.

I carefully peel off the dried decal.

Spread PVA glue over the area.

Replace and settle the decal  removing any glue that comes out. Pressing down with fingers so there is a good contact all over between the two surfaces works.

Now... Time for primer. I am going with original paint orders to get the proper shades of paints and so Vallejo's RAL 8012 Primer is used. Looks like it is in the factory!

Now the Dunkelgelb base coat. For this kit I am using MRP-215 from Mr Paint of Slovakia and is chipset accurate. Vallejo still have not produced dunkelgelb paints and they are losing out!

That's all for now. More shortly.

My prayers go out to you Snapdragon. Had a couple stones for six days back in the spring, I wouldn't wish even one on my worst enemy. Best of luck passing the damn thing.

OOF! Those stones can be really rough. Get to feeling better soon.

BK

My apologies for not getting stuff done for the KT build.

At this moment I have a 2mm kidney stone and infection. I believe that I have had an infection for a while and the stone made its presence known a couple of days ago.

So with Antibiotics and codeine pain killers awash in my system I am not at my bench as I just don't feel up to doing much. Obviously I am working on getting sorted ASAP. I do have some of the build to write up, but the concentration is lacking and the return of the heat, while nice, is not helping at all.

Normal operations will resume as I have something to build before Telford!

Looks like fun stuff. I guess it will keep you busy for a bit 

Now that looks like a nice kit! 

The decal zimmerit looks interesting, I'm curious on how it works. Please keep us informed.