Endgame 1946 GB - 1/1/09-12/31/09

Mike: Thanks! The belts are the only PE parts in the pit. The pit is very well molded.

Russ:The Pershing turned out great! I really like the way the additions you made to it turned out. Amazing work! Know I am thinking about using the same idea with but build it as an USMC Operation Downfall Pershing.

Karl: Thanks! Can't wait to see some pics.

sorry, been workin on another ploject, im back now

WarHammer25 wrote:

I would personally start with a brown or tan base color then go with some other colors. Most late-war German tanks had a three color camo of some sort. But the E-25 never saw service so you could make up your own pattern. Then if you wanted to, you could add a whitewash type color for winter. Here are some pictures of built E-25s I found and some E-100s that show different camo patterns: http://www.militarymodelling.com/news/searchresult.asp http://www.militarymodelling.com/news/searchresult.asp

thamx

WarHammer25- pm question inbound.

Nice looking stuff so far guys!

Forgot I had this pic, it's a side-by-side of a "stock" M26 and the theoretical M26 I did for this GB. It shows some of the differences.

Hello all,

OK so REAL slow going with this one but I thought I would but up some WIP of the wee bit I have soe far:

Enjoy!

Mike

Mike,

The ME-309 was very cool looking even if it didn't perform well. From what I can see the cockpit looks good so far. Looking forward to updates!

Thanks for the kind words, and yep, it is a cool looking bird!

The cockpit just needs the pedals and stick glued in and then maybe a little work on the sidewalls.  Not sure how much I am going to do.  I'd like to add a nice yellow fuel line ala the ME109 but I have no real reference for such a thing in this craft. Also, I am a little worried about the wing roots as the fit looks on the bad side and I am not so hot with the filler.  Ah well!

I ended up using the kit wheels as opposed to the True Details ones thrown in as they looked pretty badly cast.  The front one isn't even round!  The kit ones still have pretty nice detail, just need some sanding on them.

Mike

Mike,

Go for the yellow fuel line. I think that would add a lot of interest to the cokpit. As for the True Details wheels they're usually molded with a little flat and bulge on the side wall of the tire to simulate the weight of the aircraft on the wheels.

For your seams check out www.swannysmodels.com . Matt has a very good article on his site on seam filling. I've used on the last two builds I did and the seams turned out very well. The key is really being patient in sanding.

I was wondering if it is too late to get in on this GB.  It would be my first GB, and I have picked up a 1/48th scale Tamiya Do 335B-2 kit that I think would go right along with the GB theme.  It is up next on my bench, after I clear out some armor.

--C. Alan

model geek wrote:

Mike, Go for the yellow fuel line. I think that would add a lot of interest to the cokpit. As for the True Details wheels they're usually molded with a little flat and bulge on the side wall of the tire to simulate the weight of the aircraft on the wheels. For your seams check out www.swannysmodels.com . Matt has a very good article on his site on seam filling. I've used on the last two builds I did and the seams turned out very well. The key is really being patient in sanding.

Well, I got so excited about closing up the fuselage that I forgot the fuel line.  May try and squeeze it in.  Boy it is going to be a lot of work.  Gotta remember to DRY FIT!  The front wheel well was too wide and I had to do a lot of sanding after I had already painted it.  The fuselage it self is going to need a lot of sanding to take care of some seams and uneveness.  Ah well, I need the practice and I wanted  to try rescribing anyway!

As for the wheels, yes they have the flat and bulge that is typical but they also suffer from the other aforementioned maladies!  

Mike

I just started a Ta- 183..can I still get in on the fun????

 Carlos

Well, I popped the top off the Do-335 kit tonight, and started in on the cockpit.  My first stumble came when I discovered that I don't have any gloss black.  I did manage to paint some of the interior parts, but they have not come out as nice as I would have hoped.  I am trying to do the interior without an airbrush.  I do have a badger 350, but my compressor is so noisy, that I cannot run it while my kids are asleep (its an oil-less compressor).  I didn't bank on having to hand brush all that real estate inside and behind the cockpit.

 I also need to figure out some kind of spray booth setup for my garage.  My garage is very dark at night, and I am going to seriously need a lighted booth to be able to do anything out there.

So I don't feel like I am doing this kit justice at the moment....

Thanks there Illustrious leader!!

 It is the Tamiya kit with the Kettenkrad...which is a cool little kit in itself. My original idea was OOB but I couldnt hep it...added some PE from my spares to the cockpit...and a bit wiring and levers in both the Krad and pit...will upload some pics. The jet will be NMF with some litght mottle on the tail and splinter on the wings. It my first go with mettalizers...

BTW..do we have a badge???

Carlos

Ok, here's what I'm working on- a PanzerSpahwagen 234/4 Nachtjager.  This 8-rad already packs the potent PaK 40 7,5cm and so why not cram some Infrarot-Scheinwerfer technology in there as well? 

Here's the layout- DML's superb kit #6221, the IR equipment from DML's E-100 Nachtjager and some more IR and quite possibly the entire Pak 40 itself from AFVClub.  Oh, and some PE from Griffon...

As I've been planning this in my head, I've come up with some things that I'll need to work out-

• is the IR system active or passive?  Is there a big ol' spotlight or what?  How many units do I need? One for the driver, one for the gun, and ....I've got lots of parts.....?
• what juices the lamps?  How did they wire the power to the IR systems?  Is there a separate generator or is it PTO'd from the Tatra motor out back?
• if there is a generator, where does it go?  Space inside is tight and I don't want to unnecessarily clutter up the lines of the machine with a crude slap-on.  Scratchbuild a generator, ok... if I have to.
• speaking of clutter, I want to look into more ammo stowage.  Somewhere.  It's not looking too good for that, though.
• this thing was already overloaded leaving the factory.  I'm going to address this issue by beefing up the suspension a little.  Some thicker springs up front and wider tires all-round will do the trick.
• what would spaced-armor panels look like?  Not necessarily on the final build out, but I'm curious to see it.
• assuming this vehicle lived to see 1946, how would it be painted?  Factory '44 was dunkelgelb over primer and I think it was planned to go all-green from the factory in late '45; so who knows how I'm going to paint something that is intended for night fighting in an open terrain environment?

So, let's build!

I started with the lower hull and suspension pieces, and 43 individual parts later, I'm not yet finished with this section.

I'm going to tackle the shackles soon, so that's pretty much what needs to finished there so I set that stuff aside to work on the other suspension upgrade- the tires.

Thanks to DML's molding the tires in two split mirror halves with a hub in the middle, my job of adding a .020" shim was really easy.  Seriously easy, but a little consuming!

1. trace the tire half with a pen onto the styrene stock, cut that out and a cut out a middle section to fit the hub.  Make 8.
2. fit the crude square of styrene in between halves and let the wheel hub worry about the alignment.  Glue liberally and adjust the tire tread offset.  Make 8.  Let cure.
3. after curing, cut the excess stock off and stand roughly and then sand with a finer grit to get the right finish.  Yep, still 8... at least it isn't a Pz. III.
4. since the glue wasn't fully cured, I was able to rescribe the highway bead on the tire with a pointed object by carefully allowing the point to follow the natural lines.     

So what does all that get me?  A slightly wider tire for a heavier look.  This is one set next to a standard profile tire on a 234/1.  It's not going to be an obvious effect, but it will be there regardless (have you seen the price on resin tires?).

That's all for now.  I've got the springs on my mind and I think that I've worked out the obvious solution for the two that need it.

The other issues, well they're getting noodled as well and any input or insights would be appreciated.

I was able to work on the 4 leaf springs today.  Since I am only adding 1 or 2 leafs to each spring, I sanded off the molded-on shackles and fabbed some replacements from spare PE.  The new springs are just thin .020" styrene glued down, sanded and detail seams added with the pointed object.

This is a subtle effect by itself, and ought to blend in nicely with rest of what I've got in mind.

While working on those springs, I was thinking about the up-armor questions and thought of shrapnel plate over the engine vents.  That might be an sweet touch....

C. Alan- I am a little confused. Are you still going to include the 335B-2 in this GB? I hope so. The interior is actually a dark grey if that helps at all. Keep working!

carsanab- You're welcome. The Ta-183 sounds interesting and a cool paint scheme. Yes we do have a badge and it seems you have found it. Looking forward to some updates.

Dre- Great work so far. I really like te additions you have made and the direction it is going. To try to help you with some of the questions/areas of interest:

• German IR gear was passive. Actually, all IR gear is passive. The newer NVD that use ambient light are active. Usually, there was a IR lamp and scope for the commander and a scope for the driver. I would possibly give the driver and gunner a scope and mount the lamp provided over the barrel or mount a larger IR lamp in the same spot. If you go with the smaller lamp, it would kind of imply it "hunted" with a 251 Uhu. Just to point something out before painting, I am pretty sure German IR lamp lenses are were black. Here is a link: http://www.achtungpanzer.com/articles/ir.htm
• For a power source, either a battery or wired to the engine would be my guess.
• Most likely no generator.
• Thicker springs sound good and the fatter tires look great! Maybe beef up the leaf springs if it has those. (I am not real familiar with the 234) Edit: Seems you beat me to it. Looks good.
• If you decide to go with some schurzen, I would recommend either left-overs from other tanks like the Pz. IV and Panther and paint them different colors/camo patterns to give it more of a  1945/1946 feel. Or go with some wire screen or mesh type schurzen. 
• For a color scheme, I am thinking some darker colors like green, dunkelgelb, and red oxide primer. I would look at some of the late-war King Tiger and Panther schemes and maybe some of the colors other modelers have put on E-100s, E-10s, and E-25s by searching the internet.

Hope that helps a little.

WarHammer25, thanks for the GB- this is fun.  I must have my laymen's terminology mixed up- I thought that passive meant sumthin' else entirely.  Your thinking if pretty much what I've considered on the scopes layout.  I've been considering a driver's lamp mounted somewhere down on the fender neat the Notek... like I said, I've got parts!

It's beginning to look like this is going to be a 'factory rebuild' design, because that philosophy allows me lee-way in the way of practical solutions to my plans.  I can build up the IR and run the wires into a junction box on the firewall and that seems like Deutsche Ordnung to me.

I've also considered the left-over schurtzen approach, but my thinking is that thin enough as those sheets actually were, they might be too much for what I've got in mind.  But I can certainly envision variations of more heavily skirted 234's roaming about.  Right now I'm liking the idea of anti-shrapnel panels over the engine vents.  That'll be a believeable and fairly simple addition that fits into my plan.  More panels elsewhere?  I haven't figured that out yet.

But it's funny that you mention green and red oxide....... here's a glimpse at a Panther F I did a while back that was mostly a hairspray technique experiment for a "badly applied spray of green paint over red primer that has started to wear off quickly".  I haven't finished weathering it yet because I don't know what I want to do to it further. 

Something similar, but with green over dunkelgelb ...?  It's a possibility.  Thankfully, major decision painting is a ways off.  I'm confident that a solution will present itself.

WarHammer25:

I am going to continue the Group Build.  According to the kit directions, the ejection seat is semi-gloss black, and I managed to get out Tuesday evening, and drop by the LHS, and pick some up.  After all the paint dried, the cockpit does look better, but still not up to the quality I am used to.  I hope this weekend I can get my airbrush up and running, and paint the rest of the interior/fuel tank assembly.

Warhammer25,

can I join the group build?  I've been out of commission for a few years but I'm slowly getting back into the hobby.  i purchased Trumpeter's E-25 recently and plan to work on it this weekend.

C. Alan- Good to hear. Thought you might have been withdrawing. Will be looking forward for some updates.

jcheung5150- Yes you can join! Glad to have you aboard. I will put you down for the E-25.

Bish- Can't wait to see some pics. It looks like a cool build.

Finally got around to taking some pics of the completed 262 today, so here goes....

...the view you don't want in the rear view mirror...

Showing off the black drop tank and mismatching engine panels...

...and the corresponding panels on the port side.

Despite the thickness of the canopy, I don't think it looks too bad after a dip in Future.

As you can see from this shot the wheel bays are devoid of detail, but for a £7 kit you can't complain.

You can just see a peice of masking tape in the main wheelbay I missed!

I left the exhausts Tamiya Sky Grey, as most pic seem to show a pale sooty colour.

About to take off for another strike..

I wanted a washed out & faded look to the paintwork, as would befit a machine hidden in forests, with access to minimal maintenance of a non-essential nature.

Thanks for lettinhg me share.

Karl

Hello everyone,

Got a few more pics of the ME 309 WIP.  She is a good looking bird(the real one, not necessarily mine!)  Two main problems/errors.  The control panel was not even so has a slight lean inward and I didn't get enough weight in the front to keep her from being a tail sitter.  Bummer!  I think I will add a pin into the front landing gear and glue her down to a wood display of some sort.  And hopefully with the closed canopy the panel won't be as obviously goofy!

Enjoy!

Mike