But wait! There's more! (E-100 pix, that is!)

Hi, juniormodeler!

That was all just done with the ol' airbrush, using gradually lighter shades of Tamiya acrylic Dark Earth and Buff.

This is the first model that I didn't do much drybrushing on. I've been reading a lot lately about the logic and physics of weathering, and decided to give the "no-(well, little!) drybrush" technique a try. Since I wanted to depict a relatively clean vehicle, I thought this technique suited the subject.

I used the airbrush much more than the drybrush on this model. Rain streaks, soot, dried mud, dust, all ABed on.

And the toothbrush! I love that technique! I wanted to get a look of a dry, dusty vehicle that may have been through a puddle or two in the last coupla hours, so I loaded a toothbrush with what was basically a dark brown wash, and just lightly flicked it about the front and rear fenders and other places I reckoned a drop or two would reach.
Looking at the pix, I should have gone a little heavier on the toothbrush splashes. I can barely see them!
I find the look quite convincng, though.

how did u get the faint sign of dirt on the sides af the hull?

Not a bad idea!
Other than the fact that both Tamiya AND Dragon would bust me for casting their parts!
Just a slight technicality!
Thanks for the comments and compliments.

I actually did toy with the thought of redesigning the whole turret (getting rid of that nasty trap shot) a la Wehrmacht '46, but I'm simply not that amitious!

J-Hulk,

You can copyright the idea, cast a bunch of tracks in resin, call it the "J-Hulk conversion for the E-100" , charge $25.00 for it and dopes like me will buy it. You'll be all set.

The tracks look great despite the setbacks - (good info)- it makes the model!

Great job

Thanks, Build22!

My thoughts exactly on the spare trax. Just too much blank space on that huge turret! I wish I would have put the skirt-changing crane on there, too!

The kit comes with a bunch of spare links, but no hangers. I used the hangers that came with Tamiya's King Tiger link trax set. If anyone else is gonna try this, be sure to sand the base of the hangers a bit so they don't angle so sharply upwards. I didn't notice this the first time, blindly stuck 'em all on, only to find the links wouldn't fit on the hangers! The angle made them too short. SO, I ripped 'em all off, and glued a fresh set of sanded hangers on. Luckily, that Tamiya links set comes with a billion of those hangers!

Funny thing, I was never very interested in the E-100 (or the Maus) for the longest time, but then I started playing a PlayStation 2 game called "Panzer Front bis" (ya'll have that overseas? EXCELLENT armor game!) where you can operate a Maus, and caught the outrageously large German armor bug. Got the Maus kit, then did a little research on the E series, and decided to build the E-100 first.

And there ya have it!

J-Hulk,

What makes this kit look so great (besides the excellent job on the camo,the weathering & the detail)is that you - or maybe it's part of the kit - added the spare track on the hull. A lot of the other pictures and models you see of this tank, the turret is just too flat and plain on the sides.

Adding the spare track, breaks that up. I think it looks Awesome
It adds more detail.

I was never interested in that kit because I thought it was an ugly tank. But that looks great.

I know what ya mean about the ejector marks. The E-100 trax were full of 'em, too. I just sucked it up and filled 'em all in...

I tried it and nailpolish remover does on a q-tip does seem "wear away" the polystyrene putty, at least if it's not too set up. But I wouldn't want to use it that way! For those types of things (filling seams, etc.), I'll stick with the regular stuff and leave this stuff for the zimmerit.
I got the lower hull sides (the easy part) of the hull done. Have the rear and front plates masked off and ready to put the putty on them. Yea! I have started glueing up the first set of the tracks. I want to see what they look like, but really am unhappy with the ejector marks. They would be really hard to fill. I am going to do enough to set under the road wheels and see how visible they will be when finished.
I have the AJ Tiger book #2, and there's a picture (drawing) in the back of a white washed tiger 1. I may paint this up as that tank, but it may be an early. I'll have to check it again.

Have fun, I am!

Bill

Howdy, Ian!
Was that a bit o' the Haka I saw in your profile?
Kamate, kamate...I love the All Blacks! How's Lomu doing?

Thanks for the compliments! You're absolutely right; you really can't do ANYTHING wrong when building German armor!

I don't really get THAT much glue all over the place, but these mitts o' mine are mighty big. I seem to have the worst luck with the cyanoacrylates! Sticky stuff, that!

Bill, I too use lacquer thinner to clean tools. The Gunze stuff.

I've never tried the nailpolish trick, so lemme know how it goes!

See ya!

I still get the big paw prints in mine. At least one per model, it seems. Have been finishing up a 1/72 Mustang D (metal finish, if I can ever get it right, and left a big one on the wing. I managed to get it out, though.
That darn thin glue just wants to go where I don't want it to, and doesn't go where I do!! lol


Brian, "Z'ed" the back hatch on my King Tiger tonight (have to do little bits at a time so I can lear what works!) and it didn't turn out too badly. I put much less catalyst in the mix this time to give me a little longer working time. That seemed to help a lot. Pressing down a little harder on the tool did too. I think I'm getting there. What do you use to clean your tools with? I used a little lacquer thinner and that seemed to work well. Also, have you tried to use the fingernail polish remover trick to clean up excess filler on the model?? Works with "standard" putties like Squadron and Testor's. I haven't tried it yet, but I puttied up some seams tonight and I'll let you know how it works.

Later,

Bill

Hi J Hulk,
LOVE the kit!!!
I think one of the best things about German Armour is that it's almost impossible to go wrong with the Camo. In one of my Panzer Colour books this was expanded on, colour paste's were diluted with whatever came to hand in the field, used engine oil, grain spirits, petrol, diesel... No colour is really wrong!! the urban camo is a great theme.... Love it.
I dont know if I am lucky, or carefull, I havn't got a glue print on a kit since I was about 13... but I see my stepsons kits seem to be more glue than plastic... LOL, one looks like it has been glued together with filler!
Ian

Good choice, that.
Nope, nobody left over there I know. (I left in '86!). I talked to the guy I went with, and he didn't even remember going, let alone where it was, and he was the one driving!! Oh well...
I do chat with a German guy over there, but he's not very near where I was. I think I asked him about it once, but he didn't know what I was talking about. You have to be very careful how you put questions to a German about what went on back then. Still a lot of very bad feelings over there. (That's why many decal sheets, boxtops, etc. don't have swastika's on them.)

Have a good day. (Midnight over here now!)

See ya

Bill

Hi, Bill.
I wonder if it was that huge Cricket SPG (174mm gun) they were working on at Henschel's testing grounds in Haustenbeck when the war ended... Or did that go to Kubinka, too....Hmmmmm.
Mystery! [:0]
No friends still living near there who could check it out for ya?

Yup, ya gotta have water. I wasn't thinking water when I slapped 'em on the rear of the turret, (just wanted to cover those gouges!) but then I thought it might not be such a good idea to have fuel cans right there by your rear hatch, so I put on the white crosses and called 'em water cans.

Brian,

I really don't remember what kind of tank it was, but I knew Kings, and am sure that wasn't it. I'd heard it was the biggest tank Germany made, and that it was the only prototype. Other than that, I'm clueless. I don't even remember where we were. That's what happens when you're not the one driving! Sorry.

When I introduced myself at the local model club, I told them I was working on armor because it's so much easier than anything else. No seams to fill, easy paint jobs, etc. etc. (I was a little green then, what can I say!) But I also told them that one of the neat things was that any mistakes I made could just be charged up to "battle damage"!! I have found this last statement, in my case, to be somewhat true many times!! I like the cans. Pretty prototypical! Got to have that water!

Bill

Ah Ha ...... busted ..... LOL

Even though I now know you're dirty little E-100 secret .... it still looks great !!!!

So true!
And I'll be honest with ya'll...see the water cans on the rear of the turret? I decided to put those there to cover up some ugly, deep, jagged gouges caused when I removed (read: ripped off) a scratchbuilt rear hatch that I wasn't satisfied with. I was gonna putty 'em up and sand it all flush again, but I was thinking about dressing up the rear of the turret with something anyway, so I slapped on a coupla j-cans o' H2O! Saved myself an hour of painful sanding right there.

Of course, it did add a coupla hours of scratchbuilding the mounts, detailing the cans, and painting the cans and white crosses, but at least I didn't have to SAND anything!

Ooooh, Hulk not like sanding....

And thanks for the compliments, Frosty!

Hulk do what Hulk can...

QUOTE: just got a HUGE fingerprint on an airfix bren carrier model last nite.. i painted it anyhow, and was planning to cover it up with stowage and camo netting

Now you've discovered why most armour models have stowage all over the place.

QUOTE: Originally posted by J-Hulk [[And then, I sand off all the globby glue fingerprints before I paint!

LOL.... now u tell me ! (i just got a HUGE fingerprint on an airfix bren carrier model last nite.. i painted it anyhow, and was planning to cover it up with stowage and camo netting. i'd like to do something like the version featured in the current FSM, but in smaller scale...)
that E-100 looks really great ! very nice work...
frosty

Howdy, boys!

OOP? Geez, I can't walk down the street without tripping over 'em here!
I picked both of those kits up a couple of years ago, and they seem to come and go. We seem to be in a "come" phase right now. I was thinking about getting another E and that Flakzweillig(sp?) turret that Chesepeake Models (I think!) makes. Twin 88s!! Stop the insanity!!![:0]

Wehrmacht '46...not a bad idea! That Luftwaffe '46 stuff is VERY cool.

Hey, if I was designing tanks, they'd all be this big. I couldn't fit in anything smaller!
Remember, I'm called J-Hulk for a reason!

Bill, you reckon the vehicle you saw in Germany could have been a Tiger II or Jagdtiger? From all the info I've seen, there never was a complete E-100 assembled, and what they did have was shipped to England for testing, where it was eventually scrapped.

I believe the remaining Maus is in the Kubinka Tank Museum in Russia.

Which reminds me, I gotta get a 128mm barrel to replace the one I stole form my Maus kit for Big E!
I would have used a metal barrel on the E, but I was afraid of trying to drill such a big hole in that nice resin mantlet. The Maus gun just glues straight on, so I took the easy way out. I would have liked the rifling the metal barrels offer, though.

Compromises, compromises!

QUOTE: Originally posted by wipw Brian, Both the Maus and E-100 are oop! Aint it always the way!

They're both supposed to be re-releasing in the next 4-6 months from what I hear.

Eric

Brian,

Both the Maus and E-100 are oop! Aint it always the way!

I think you should coin a new tag line...Wermacht(?)46. I mean the winged guys have Luftwaffe46. Oh, and by the way, I think it's probably a good thing the Nazis didn't have you designing for them. Who knows what they would have come up with!! lol
We're glad you're here now.
The tank looks fantastic. I was in Germany for 3 years and saw a tank in an armor museum that was supposed to be the biggest they made. I am wondering if it was the E-100. Unfortunately, at the time, I didn't know or care enough to pay close enough attention. I remember they said it was so big they couldn't have transported it anywhere because the bridges would not have held it up.

Have a great day.

Bill

I wanted to jump into my Maus right after the E-100, but then I committed to a contest in October, and of course we've got the 1/16 Tiger build going, so I don't know when I'll get to it!

LOL,
thanks for clearing that up...i am going to attempt a Maus after i get this Tiger 1 and my Panzer IV done...(no i have not forgotten about the panzer..after my decal issue i found stencil kits to fix the issue:)
Anywho Brian keep up the fantastic work..and show us more pics:)

QUOTE: Originally posted by ILuv3ggs man, that looks great ! i am curious to know how everyone gets such a clean build up !

Thanks, Iluv3ggs!
I think the airbrush helps a lot with "clean" builds. I know it has for me, anyway.
That, and just make sure everything fits the way you want it (notice I didn't say "the way it's supposed to!").
I try to think a lot about physics and gravity, and how things would interact with each other and the environment. In other words, just position things where they look right, or natural.

And then, I sand off all the globby glue fingerprints before I paint!
I have HUGE hands, fellas...can't be helped!

Thanks again for the kind comments, guys!

Horus, like the Maus, the E-100 never made it past the prototype stage, but unlike the Maus, it never got an engine or even a turret. Only a hull and running gear were assembled, and after the war the British stuck a Maybach in it and supposedly puttered around a bit before scrapping it.

The Maus was actually test-driven quite extensively with a dummy turret and finally what would have been a "production" turret. It is speculated that this same turret would have been used on the E-100, with either the 128mm (same as on the Maus) or a 150mm, or even a 174mm gun! Plus the coaxial 75mm cannon. This is the fictional configuration that Dragon chose to represent, and I took it from there. I like the long, skinny 128mm gun, no muzzlebrake (makes no difference on guns over 105mm, I've heard), so I yanked it from my Maus kit for the E.
So Horus, the turrets would have been essentially the same, but the chassis, running gear, engines, and hulls were all completely different.

Dirk, I get my history from a lot of great books, like Michael Green's "Tiger Tanks" and all the Osprey New Vanguard books, particularly those by Jentz, Doyle (and their big Tiger II book!), and Sarson, and the great reference books by Verlinden Publications. Then there're all the great magazines here in Japan, like Ground Power, Panzer, and Armor Modeling (they always have TONS of great reference material in every issue). The Tamiya News reference books are great, too. I'm basing my current project, Bovington's Tiger II, on a pictorial in one of those books right now.

For this E-100, I was thinking early fall of 1946, so I looked mainly at the final and proposed improved versions of the Tiger II, Jagdtiger, Panther F and II, and the like, and tried to think about a year or so past that. I wanted to put night gear on it, but couldn't find any, so I told myself by that time, it might have been completely internal. That is a big turret!
I also thought at some point they might have replaced the coax mg with a 20mm cannon. Again, why not? I'm sure they had the room.
But then again, maybe not...the 128 was a BIG gun, and probably did a good job of filling up that steel barn. Might not have been room for the side-mounted mg's either, but I liked the way they looked, so on they went!
Other details, like the twin antennae, travel lock, extra track link placement, and tow rope placement, were just things that I thought would look cool and be fairly easy to rationalize.
Hopefully it all makes some sense, and has a feel of "plausibility" to it. That was my goal, even with the unorthodox camo.

Caveman, I'm definitely going to make a more interesting base sometime in the near future. I just threw this one together in about an hour at a cost of about 3 bucks, Just to have something to carry it to Shizuoka on! Lots of rubble would be good! Or a flattened New York taxi cab...

Speaking of Shizuoka, I can't tell ya'll how happy I was when Mr. Hasegawa himself (Hasegawa distributes Dragon here in Japan) showered me and my E with praise. We even exchanged business cards! Real nice guy.

What's the E-100 going for over there, guys? I got mine for 3,500 yen ($29 US) about 2 years ago when I was living in Tokyo.
I hear Dragon kits are pretty cheap over there!

Again, thanks for the comments. It really means a lot to me, coming from great modelers like ya'll!

man, that looks great !

i am curious to know how everyone gets such a clean build up !

Again awesome work man, now here's a question...is the E-100 anything like the Maus?? Or are they 1 in the same?

Like always, a great job, Brian. You really brought a great kit to life. The figure makes the scene, too.

demono69

Hulk, you do yourself an injustice on that paint job. I think you did an outstanding job

Eric