1,000 Roadwheels - 2009

Dirty Bruckenleger

OK SMJ, I know you're here.    Have you ever had a build that was a struggle at times but came through looking really good?  To the extent that you're almost afraid to do anything more for fear of messing something up?  Well, that was me and the Bruckenleger.  But your comments and some from the armor forum pushed me to go back and dirty the thing up a bit.  Maybe still not to your liking of grime, but I think it turned out better.  Have a look...

My first time using Migs acrylic resin and following Doog's tute when he brapped up his KT.  I like the stuff alot.  Mixed up some Migs resin, pigments (Europe dust and African earth in about 60:40 ratio), some real dirt and a wad of finely cut Scenic Express tall grass.  Brushed it on the bridge slats and while it was drying, I gave the hull and tracks a treatment with the same pigments without the resin/dirt.  The intent was to dirty up the hull and drive train without making the larger chunks of dirt/mud that the bridge collected.  This was first done by dabbing on the darker pigment, African earth, followed by Europe dust.  Fixed it with mineral spirits and after it was dry, I took a stiff brush and removed excess to my liking.  Then, back to the bridge which was now dry.  I guess the real dirt imparted a bit of color because it was a bit darker than I wanted, so it was lightly dry brushed with MM tan.

I'd like to play around some more with the acrylic resin; that stuff has potential and it dries pretty quickly. 

 Don

pordoi wrote:

TD4438 wrote: Here is where I'm at now with my KugelBlitz.I'm not really thrilled with the camo,but I usually feel that way before a build is finished.    Hey TD4438, I think the camo is interesting.  Not something that you see everyday.  Only thing that struck me was that there were no brown spots in the dunkelgelb on the rear left corner in the photo above.  All the other dunkelgelb regions seem to have both rotbraun and grun spots.  Call me weird, but this was one thing that I noticed right away.  What are your plans for weathering?

Pordoi -- what can I say? Fantastic! That extra round of weathering has moved it from a great model to a stunning and engaging one! Now it looks like a used machine, the dirt adhered to the chassis and the mud and grass left from the last vehicle to cross the bridge are perfect additions! You can be very proud of this piece of work!

Mike/TB379

TD4438 wrote:

There is something I don't like about the camo.I'm not sure what.I don't if the spots are too uniform or maybe too big.Oh well.If it sucks when I'm done with it,it'll just have to suck.

Too uniform?  not in my opinion.  You may be on to something regrding spot size.  Might be a bit large for scale but hey, I'm not expert.  On the other hand, I agree with you that here are times during a build when you think something doesn't look right (good) but by the end, things are fine.  I'll lay good odds that this won't suck when your done.  Hang in there and see where this goes.

Thunderbolt379:  thanks, man!

 Don

detailfreak-No worries about hurt feeling here...she right Show her this 144th Stug III.  I am curious if 1/2 the size is twice as cute

Don... WOW that is a real beauty.  The grass in the mud tracks on the bridge caught my eye and looks great.  And point taken on the size of the Elefant tracks

pordoi wrote:

TD4438 wrote: There is something I don't like about the camo.I'm not sure what.I don't if the spots are too uniform or maybe too big.Oh well.If it sucks when I'm done with it,it'll just have to suck.   Too uniform?  not in my opinion.  You may be on to something regrding spot size.  Might be a bit large for scale but hey, I'm not expert.  On the other hand, I agree with you that here are times during a build when you think something doesn't look right (good) but by the end, things are fine.  I'll lay good odds that this won't suck when your done.  Hang in there and see where this goes. Thanks for the encouraging words.As for hanging in there,I have no intention of doing otherwise.

pordoi Love the way thats turned out. That bridge really looks like its had a few panzers rolling over it. I think its just the right amount of mud and dirt you have there.

Whats the story with the dented front pair of road wheels.

 Wow nice work everyone! Geez you go on vacation for one week and miss so much... I also realy feel the need to modle right now and my ausf G is on the bench awaiting work. Hopefully I can post pix later.

TD.... I realy like your camo it looks sweet I've never seen a pattern like it.

Pordoi.... The mud on your Bruckenleger look very nice!!

Bish wrote:

Whats the story with the dented front pair of road wheels.

Bish, you're the first to comment on that!  Would you believe the driver hit a speed bump too fast? ...  No?  Actually, it occurred during my photo mishap, when I had my lights too close.  The wheels, as well as the transmission plate started melting.  With the transmission, a quick fix was to disguise it with a set of spare tracks.  But I didn't have a spare set of ausf D road wheels, so I left it as is.  Battle damage of some kind; the crew simply doesn't remember where or when it occurred.  They figured that if this vehicle could keep rolling ....

... then they had no right to complain.

 Don

pordoi wrote:

Bish wrote: Whats the story with the dented front pair of road wheels.   Bish, you're the first to comment on that!  Would you believe the driver hit a speed bump too fast? ...  No?  Actually, it occurred during my photo mishap, when I had my lights too close.  The wheels, as well as the transmission plate started melting.  With the transmission, a quick fix was to disguise it with a set of spare tracks.  But I didn't have a spare set of ausf D road wheels, so I left it as is.  Battle damage of some kind; the crew simply doesn't remember where or when it occurred.  They figured that if this vehicle could keep rolling ....   ... then they had no right to complain.  Don

Well, i know the feeling. I was driving in Iraq once and saw one of my own Warrior road wheels over take me. Some idiot hadn't done his checks properly after fitting new wheels.

Is any one thinking of makeing a Pzkpfw IV with an 88??

terry35 built one last year.... /forums/914012/ShowPost.aspx

could be cool for this GB....

detailfreak wrote:

PORDOI:that bruckenlager is as good as it gets in my opinion,i really dont think it needed all the mud,but on the other hand it looks good that way to.TD4438:i suspect that this being your first ambush camo. that there is always room for improvement.one thing i know has been discussed here before is the fact that if you yourself imagine that you are painting that vehicle,would you be able to make a continuous unbroken pattern?if you look at it from that perspective,in the case of your kugelblitz,you would have to have pretty long arms.just a little food for thought.other than that i consider this to be an excellent build and certainly one i will have to add to my collection.p.s. you think about it theres a good reason you dont see to many three color camo. schemes from this factory.

Pordoi - specTACULAR finish, bro...that looks amazing.

Shoot, great work all around guys! This place is turning into a Panzer IV factory - and it's only March! 9+months of manufacturing to go!

 Hey Guys, Just to let ya know I haven't forgot. Just started on the Brummbar. A pic of where she's at...

                                                                                           ... only 15 more sets to do.

 Thanks guys, LOL. Hey detailfreak, I may need the extension. I worked on the roadwheels until the wee hours of the morning only to find I fixed the wrong hub to them. I had to go back through all 16 sets, remove the old E1 hub and attach the D1 hub. Whew! My eyeballs were going in different directions by the time I finished. I'll try to get them painted sometime today. Looking forward to updates.

I really like that Pz.IV Marc...I really need to get one.

I got a wash laid down on my Jagdpanzer.  Much to my chagrin, my tweezers fell and gashed the paint on the side.  It gave me an idea though, touch up paint added to the camo.  I'm already going for a field applied, mopped on look, so a different shade of Panzer Red is fitting. 

I'll be shelving this for a couple weeks while I try to figure out a mud recipe for the lower areas to accomodate the horrid roadwheels...

Then, on to my Brummbar!

 Hey wing_nut, great looking white wash.

 Glamdring, A lovely Duck, "Guderian's Duck".

 I was planning on doing zim on the Sturmpanzer, but fate intervened due to the roadwheel fiasco so I've decided to build a late Sturmpanzer W/O zim on what looks to be a rebuilt H chassis with only the forward two bogie sets being the steel rimmed, 4 steel return rollers per side along with the tube fabricated idlers. Of course this was only after I built every roadwheel and idler in the kit. On the bright side, I've got a great start on the next build.

pordoi wrote:

Have you ever had a build that was a struggle at times but came through looking really good?  To the extent that you're almost afraid to do anything more for fear of messing something up?

YES!!!  I'm struggling with that right now...if you can believe it!  My Jagdpanzer is 90% done...and still clean, by my standards anyway...I'm thinking about how much I should dirty her up...if at all...did I say that?!!

I like how you pulled this one off! The dirt on the lower hull and road wheels is just enough to be convincing and the mud/grass/straw on the bridge gives it some real interest...nicely done.  One last thing you might consider doing is adding a few mud clods that dropped off the bridge and on to the top of the tank deck...during transport, etc...it might add even more realism without covering all your hard work...food for thought  

SMJmodeler wrote:

pordoi wrote: There she is.  finished... I think.  I was considering adding some mud to the chassis and bridge and dirtying the tracks a bit with a pigment treatment.  But I kind of like the thing as it is.  What do you think?  Does it need more dirt and mud? ...Don, you do realize I am part of this GB, right...Now what do you think I'll say???  Luckily Disastermaster isn't here... Joking aside, this baby looks really good, another outstanding build!...but based on its intended use its feels a bit too tidy, IMO. I'd dirty her up like you mentioned...

  Not to get into the quagmire of "realistic weathering" or anywhere near it, IMO I like the level of weathering you have achieved. An excellent representation of the actual vehicle.

 Mobious,

 PS, If you do any additional weathering please post pics.

Geist wrote:

Whooo! My MK tracks came in! I'm going to go mess with them now...   EDIT: Grr, I forgot to order a 36cm sprocket! I also just noticed that the main gun barrel is missing. Would anyone happen to have a L/24 laying around for a Tamiya they don't need? geist:if you still need that barrel,i have a couple from an e model dragon you may be able to adapt.let me know by pm.just drop a note and if you want to try then i'll drop it in an envelope.   Erik

SMJmodeler wrote:

pordoi wrote: Have you ever had a build that was a struggle at times but came through looking really good?  To the extent that you're almost afraid to do anything more for fear of messing something up?  YES!!!  I'm struggling with that right now...if you can believe it!  My Jagdpanzer is 90% done...and still clean, by my standards anyway...I'm thinking about how much I should dirty her up...if at all...did I say that?!!

Clean or dirty, I can go either way, although I will say that I've yet to do a vehicle that was really gunked up.  Maybe sometime soon, though.  That and I've yet to get the hang of modeling realistic paint chipping.

Mobious:  There are a few shots of the Bruckenleger with some added dirt and mud on the previous page.  If you've seen them already, I'm not planning on adding more wear and tear; I like it the way it is.

Espin:  Thanks.  Look forward to seeing your builds, both here and in the 251 GB.

 Don

There is some seriously beautiful work going on here guys!!!!!!!!!! Here are two of my contributions, both built OOB except a barrel for the Jagdpanzer that I had laying around for a long while. I think that they are 99.9% done. I messed up the towing pintles on the jagdpanzer, they're turned out when they should be turned in( if that makes any sense).Forgive me on the quality of photos, done in a real rush ( was starving and wanted to just hurry up and get some dinner).

first up is the Jagdpanzer.

Now the Panzer IV Ausf. J

 Hey Pordoi, Sorry me bad. i didn't see the DIRTY BRUCKENLEGER post. See what happens when ya miss so many great builds. I'll be stickin close to this one from now on. Very cool stuff, guys.

 I had a bit of a problem with alignment of the steel roadwheels. They didn't line up with the rubber ones or any of the other driveline components. I had to inset drill them and shave 1/32 from the "spindle" to get them to line up correctly with the drive sprocket and everything else. Now that everything is lined up, It's on to the next step.

 Mo

 Heck, I almost missed one while I was posting.

 Panzer 88, I really like the looks of the screen shurtzen, well done. 2 very nicely earned stripes.