Alan Panzer II ready for paint! *PICS*

Hey alex!  I agree with you on the limited operational use of the Ausf C.  I'm not even sure these were used in Russia, but if its a Russian or African theatre Pz II you interested in, then I recommend Cyber Hobby's brand new Pz II Ausf F!!  Its awesome, with great details and even a full interior, but definitely more costly than Alan's kit.  I got mine for $40 (ouch!) but it was a promotional deal and came with some free PE sets! 

I have to say Alan's decals suck major !!  My turret decals also broke and I had to replace them with decals from Dragon's Pz I Ausf B kit.  Probably not accurate, but I've got no other decals that look appropriate.  The ones on the hull managed to stay together but I had to use the all-white crosses because the black&white crosses were misaligned.  I'm almost done with the decalling so I'll be posting photos in a few days. 

In the other thread (where Buffle dissed the Alan kit as not great,) I mentioned I actually like this kit (not perfect, but for about 20$ CDN, no complaints).  I was thinking of getting another one, to do better than last time, and Buffle's postings sure are a hard sell in that direstion!   Very nice model, looking good!

One 'beef'; according to my research, the Pzkw I Ausf c, as represented by this kit, is very limited to where it would have been used; in short, the tank would have been up armoured (and looking VERY different) just before Barbarossa.  So, 1939 to early '41, Poland, France, Norway, the Low Countries.  Even placing this vehicle in North Africa wouldn't be quite right.  Mine's going to the crossing of the Meuse by Rommel;s 7th Panzer, June 1940.

Hey!  A thought; I had a dickens of a time placing the decals onto the turret (they broke, it was quite trying, so I am marking the tank per some different methods I could find photo support for); how were the decals for you, Buffle?

bufflehead wrote:

By swearing off coffee for a week and strapping my hand to a vise! LOL!  Actually its not that hard.  The trick is to use a post it note and slip it under, over, between the tools and whatever you don't want to get paint on.  Then a lot of touch up painting!!

A post-it note! Here's me slappin my forehead. I've been looking for just such a technique.

ps1scw wrote:

Other than swearing off coffee for a week and a steady hand, how do you paint the pioneer tools.  I always leave them off until after everything is painted.

By swearing off coffee for a week and strapping my hand to a vise! LOL!  Actually its not that hard.  The trick is to use a post it note and slip it under, over, between the tools and whatever you don't want to get paint on.  Then a lot of touch up painting!! 

That's shaping up real nicely Ernest.

No problem roo!  The tape and putty method works too!  I just like to experiment and try different methods.

I tried to post this last night, but the forums were down.  Then I tried to post today, but turns out my work has blocked photobucket.  Anyway, this is what I've done so far:

I primered with Mr. Surfacer 1000 in a spray can, then preshaded with Tamiya XF-17 Sea Blue (suggested by fingerseddie), then mistcoated with Vallejo German Grey.

My lights are bright and wash out the subtle shadows created by the preshading.  Ugh, in fact the shading on the turret is practically gone....guess I got carried away the the mistcoating!  Looks like I'll be doing some postshading tomorrow!

The tracks were sprayed with an enamel mix of MM Flat Black and MM Rust to achieve a milk chocolate color.

thanks for sharing ernest. i just finished a T-34 where i had to make the weld seam on the turret, and i just masked it off with tape, and applied some tamiya putty. i have some aves and i'll have to try that method, or the thin rod treament with glue and a hot knife. thanks for the helpful tip.

roo

Thanks for the good words everyone, I really appreciate it and am glad others are enjoying the build so far.  Its already primered, basecoated and now is getting the highlight treatment.  I'll post some in progress photos in a couple of hours or so.

roosterpelo - I used 2 different methods for the weld seams.  For the turret I used the method Tom Cockle uses in his fine Osprey book, "Modeling the Early Panzer IV".  He uses a 2 part putty called ZimItRite (very similar to Aves Apoxie Sculpt) and rolls it very thin.  The thin string of putty is applied to the area and then a toothpick with a convex tip is used to make the weld beads.  He makes it look so easy and the results are fantastic, however I found the putty hard to use.  It kept sticking to everything and had a hard time laying straight.   

I then resorted to the stretched sprue method for the hull.  I simply stretched some sprue to the appropriate thickness, cut it to size and glued them in the seams.  If there wasn't a seam I made one using the reverse edge/tip of a #11 blade.  This method is so much easier and less stressful!!  Once these were dry I used the hot knife method using a sharp blade tip to make the weld beads.  I brushed Tamiya Extra Thin Cement on these to soften the beads and to remove any stringers leftover from the hot knife.  The results may not be as nice as the putty method, but I at least I still have some hair left!

Very nice. Can't wait to see it after it's painted. Thanks for sharing.

Mark

Very nice so far! Beats the heck out of the old Tamiya one in the detail department. I am eyeing off a resin 1:72 Millicast PzII currently.

Love to see an IM release one day.

cheers

Mike 

Looking good, man! Nice work on the jack assembly there!

Git 'er done! 

Ernest wow you have really done a number on this one dood and i know from experience it couldnt have been easy but to say this is only number 8 this is quite impressive, a very well done and i look forward to seeing her painted.

Ron.

you have done a great job.even if they are not the best kits to do you did it and thats a great modeler who can fix that is not right.Digger

Thanks Eric.  The tracks are broken into two runs each for painting so they're not glued in those spots.  They'll be glued together on the suspension when the tracks are fully painted.